But today I thought I'd share Chapter Four of the novel. The first time we see Lenny (full name, Leonard Leonidas) in action. Now you have to remember something; this novel is set in the mesquite country of West Texas. If you're never been to Texas, just remember this. That part of the world is basically flat semi-desert country filled with mesquite bushes large enough be considered trees, Texas Longhorn where the bulls come equipped with a set of horns that can measure up to three meters from tip to tip. And oil.
But damn few people. Its wide open and empty out there. So murder is rare out there. Mostly.
Here it is. Chapter Four
Two
piercing shafts of white light cut through the inky night like surgical
scalpels, revealing an alien world of vast loneliness. West Texas flatland
surrounded the fast-moving truck as it rolled down an arrow straight country road,
the truck’s high beams barely able to cut through the clawing darkness. But the
driver in the heavy Dodge short-bed crew cab knew where he was going. Knew the
territory. It was a quarter to midnight and he was eight miles south and west
of Ballard, traveling down as county maintained dirt road at high speed,
throwing up a massive dust plume behind him in the process.
Inside
the truck with him was Maria Fuentes and her three sons, Mark, Rafael, and
Daniel. Maria was a third or fourth cousin. Hell, nobody in the family was
exactly sure how the family tree twisted and turned in connecting her familial
ties with his. And frankly, it didn’t matter. Maria was family. She, and about
thirty other members of the family had all come together at the Leonidas house
to welcome him back.
Now,
almost midnight, he was taking Maria and her boys back to their ranch out into
the county. Down a dirt road hardly ever used and about as empty as a West
Texas road could get at this time of the night.
Glancing
over at sleeping Maria Lenny couldn’t help but smile. In high school she was
the best-looking girl in her class. Now, some twenty odd years later, and even
after having three boys, she still was the best-looking girl he had ever laid
eyes upon. She had smooth, dark brown skin. Flowing brown hair falling just to
her shoulders and the largest almond-shaped brown eyes he had ever seen.
Tonight, slumped down in the first seat, her head turned toward him and resting
on the backrest of her seat, part of her hair partially hid her lips from him
in the glow of the truck’s instrument lights. She was still something special
to look upon.
Behind
them, in the truck’s rear seats, her three boys were all splayed out across the
backseat, somehow defying gravity as they slept but still buckled up in their
seat belts. The boys were ten, seven, and five years in age. All full of piss
and vinegar. All with naturally infectious grins which lit up their faces every
time someone looked at them.
Their
husband and father was missing. Missing for over a year. Maria married a high
school sweetheart by the name of Donald Parker. Donald and his parents had a
big ranch out just south and east of Ballard. A ranch close to three thousand
acres in size. One Sunday morning Donnie saddled up a horse so he could ride
out into the ranch’s backcountry to check some cows who were calving. Rode out
smiling and waving at Maria and the kids. Riding high in the saddle proud and
strong and full of life. But never came back.
His
horse came back. But not Donnie.
There
was a smear of blood on one of the stirrups. Apparently, the horse came back
wet and lathered up as if he had ran for miles in panic. The sheriff’s
department and about twenty ranches around the country mounted up and rode the
back country in search parties hunting for Donnie. But nothing was ever found.
Donnie disappeared as if the sage and mesquite country of West Texas just
swallowed him whole, leaving nothing behind.
Donnie’s
disappearance devastated Maria and the boys. Maria became a recluse. She hardly
ever drove to town. Rarely answered the door when neighbors came over to visit.
She stayed in the rambling ranch house, taking care of the boys and making sure
they got on the bus and went to school. She hired three of her cousins to come
in and run the day to day operations of the spread for her. Older cousins,
seasoned vaqueros, who knew the ranching business forward and backward. But
Maria rarely left the ranch.
Until
tonight.
Tonight
she and the boys drove into town in the pickup to attend Lenny’s homecoming.
Tonight, for the first time in a year, she found herself laughing at old family
jokes and enjoying long conversations with the family as her boys, along with
about a dozen or more of their cousins, romped around the house playing all
kinds of crazy games. And tonight, for the first time in a long time, she drank
some wine. Too much wine. When the party began to break up, Lenny volunteered
his services to drive her and the boys home in their pickup. Maria agreed,
telling Lenny he could use the pickup to drive back the thirteen miles to town.
She’s send her cousins over to pick it up later.
So
Lenny, in the silent of the pickup’s cab, sat behind the wheel of the Dodge and
drove while Maria and the boys slept the sleep of tired souls. The dirt road ahead of him stretched out
straight and true for miles on end. In fact, it was said, all the way to
Mexico. It was an empty road. Rumored to be used by Coyotes, professional human
traffickers, smuggling in Mexicans sneaking into the US. And various drug
cartel runners bringing in shipments of cocaine and heroin.
Of
course, it was obvious. If the rumors were true, as most suspected they were,
everyone knew what happened to Maria’s husband. He rode off into the back
country of his ranch and saw something he shouldn’t have seen. Probably drug
smugglers bringing in a shipment. Saw them. And died for it. His body would
never be found. No one would ever know for sure what happened to Donnie. But
everyone in Ballard County was pretty sure what happened to her husband.
Thoughts
like this occupying the moment, Lenny drove with one hand on the wheel and
stared off into the night. Come over a hill something caught his attention. A
flash of light sweeping vertically across the sky. A streak of light which
lasted only a half second before disappearing. Off to his left. Off the road
and out in the mesquite bushes. Unconsciously slowing down he stared off toward
his left waiting to see if he caught another glimpse of the strangeness.
He
did. Just a fraction of a second. But this time the beam of light was
horizontal. The light moving from the south and sweeping around to the north.
As if someone with a flashlight was looking for something in the thick
darkness. Automatically he let up on the accelerator and stabbed lightly on the
brakes, slowing the big truck down. He also stretched forward and clicked off
the headlights. Bringing the truck to a slow halt he stared off to the left, a
severe frown on his face.
“Lenny?
What’s wrong?”
Maria’s
voice, thick with sleep, as she stirred from her seat and sat up half in alarm.
Lenny
glanced at her and smiled, a hand reaching out naturally and brushing some of
her hair off her cheeks.
“You
up to driving home? Think you and the boys came get home tonight without too
much trouble?”
A
curtain of panic slid across Maria's brown eyes as she sat up straighter,
glancing first at her boys in the back seat, and then back to Lenny. She wanted
to ask questions. Wanted to hear what had spooked her cousin enough to stop the
truck in the middle of the road. But she didn’t. She saw Lenny’s face. Saw the
server slash of lips set firmly on his lips. So she just nodded silently to
Lenny as Lenny reached down and for the door latch and opened the door.
“Drive
for as long as you can without turning on the lights, Maria. Drive without
lights until you go over that little rise in the road. And then go home. I’ll
call you tomorrow. Okay?”
Maria,
looking at her boys again for second, looked back at Lenny and nodded.
Hurriedly she opened her door and got out of the truck and hurried around the
back end to the other side. Lenny held the door open for her and closed it
after she slipped in behind the steering wheel. He waved as he stepped back.
Maria, very frightened, looked pleading at Lenny and then looked down the road
and reached for the truck’s gearshift.
He
watched her drive away. Without headlights. Only the black shadow of the
truck’s mass in the darkness disappearing down the road. Not even the tail
lights revealing her presence.
Only when the truck went
over the slight rise in the road and disappeared did he turn one hundred eighty
degrees around and stare off into the darkness.
Someone was out there in the darkness with a flashlight.
Someone who shouldn’t be out there at this time of night with a flashlight. He
wanted to know who it was and why were they stumbling around in the darkness so
awkwardly. Stepping off the road quickly he bent down and slipped through the
prickly stubbing’s of barbed wire fence and stood up.
Someone was out there in the darkness. Someone who
possibly needed help.
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