He wondered about the letter that sat, rather uneasily in his jacket, of what reason his father's lawyer had to contact him. He knew that his father had disinherited him after the unfortunate incident involving Mary Wells, the one that had sent him into the Marines and from there, into two dusty hell holes.
As the bus carrying him into town slowed, he could not help but notice how much his home town had changed.
Gone was the drive-in, replaced by a chain fast food place, and just outside of town he had seen the strip mall with its big box store and supermarket. As the bus traveled further into to town it was not hard to notice that all the small mom and pop stores were gone, replaced by antique and specialty shops that he had no memory of.
He got off the bus and looked around, wondering if his father or his lawyer had sent anyone to pick him up. After waiting a good half hour to 45 minutes he decided that they had not, and being that he was tired and the hour was late, he decided to walk towards old man Ryan's bar and see if anybody he knew was around. He was sure he would find someone he knew, as many in the area had always done the same thing, graduate high school and either go to work on one of the ranches or in the mines, or for those lucky few, would go off to college. Even they usually came back to work in management in the mines, have families and continue the cycle.
As he approached the bar, it was hard not to notice that it, and the area surrounding it, now looked much like areas around some of the bases he had been stationed on during his service. Old Man Ryan's was now called "The HELLCAT XXX" and there were two more places nearby with similar names.
Deciding to see what was up, he entered The HELLCAT, paying his cover at the door, the doorman giving his beard and hair and his clothing a long look, which had all seen better days. But with all the time he had spent down range, his wardrobe was quite limited and lacking of anything not made for comfort.
The inside of the bar was as dark as he had expected, but what was going on up on the stage surprised him. He had thought bars like this were restricted to places outside of the US. Up on the stage was a pair of girls doing a full on lesbian show, with a strap-on, and not far from the seat he had chosen was a girl giving a guy a hand job under the table.
Shaking his head and wondering what was going on, he almost did not hear the waitress speak to him, "You're new around here?"
"Yeah, sort of," he replied.
"What can I get you?"
"What you got?"
"Well we have beer on tap, the usual brands, hard liquor and if you are looking for a good time, any of the other girls or I who are working."
Again shaking his head, he asked for a Budweiser and a shot of whiskey.
The girl nodded and said she would have his order in a few minutes.
So as he waited he looked around the bar, he did recognize a couple of the men in the place, many of them where older than him, some closer to his elder brothers in age. He really was starting to wonder about things and reached into the pocket of his over jacket and pulled out the letter he had received.
The letter still read strangely, as it was not in his father's handwriting, but was a personal note and not a business letter.
Junior,
Your presence is required as soon as possible, I will inform you of the reason when you arrive. Please expedite your arrival post haste.
Your Father
As he put the letter back into his pocket, he observed the girls who were up on stage working the room for more tips and what he assumed where offers of more of a private show.
The serving girl arrived and put down his drinks on the small table, asking him if he wanted to run a tab to which he nodded his head no and handed her a twenty, for which he got a 5 back. She looked at his reaction, and his face was stone-like, so she moved on to her next customer. One of the girls from the lesbian show approached him, "Hi, my name is Crystal." A loud 'sure' went through his mind as she continued, "Are you looking for a dance or more of a good time?"
"I am just enjoying the scenery at the moment, but maybe later," he said, using a stock line he always used at places like this outside the country. <em>
He wondered again how this was possible.
</em>
Over the loud speaker the DJ called the next act to the stage saying, "And here is the what many of you have been waiting for, its Mary!" As the curtains at the back of the stage moved, the old school rap song by Run-DMC 'Mary Mary' came on.
Within the first few seconds of seeing the girl, he was shocked, because here was someone he knew well, and she was the reason for his long absence from his home town and family.
TWELVE YEARS EARLIER
It was a typical day at high school, the jocks razing the nerds, the dead head types planning the next party, and the outcasts and wallflowers just trying to stay out of the cross hairs of everybody.
Then you had the social butterfly types, the ones who befriended anyone and everyone.
It was on a day such as this that the lives of so many would be affected.
Bill Grove was the golden child of the school, star athlete, scion of the wealthiest family in town, and the target of every female in the school , for to catch his eye, even for a short time, was both socially helpful and could get you into the upper crust of the local gentry. And maybe you might end up the next mistress of his family's vast ranch, as he was the only child, thus due to inherit the family business.
But if Bill and a few of his well-heeled buddies had a vice, it was that they thought every girl thought this way. They were wrong.
"Hey, Mary, wait up," called out Bill as he walked out of the classroom. Mary turned to see who was calling her name. Her first thought was, "Oh great, it's God's gift to woman, will he ever get the idea and leave me alone?"
Instead she answered, "Yeah , Bill, what you want?"
"I was wondering what you were doing for prom?"
Mary knew that she was the one junior or senior girl that had ignored Bill's advances, wanting no part of him or his money. "I have no prom plans as of yet, but I am waiting for someone to ask."
"And who would that be?"
"Junior."
"Junior? That overgrown retard?"
Several of Bill's posse laughed and chortled at his statement, " Mary, I hate to tell you, but that boy is half a deck short of all there."
Mary let out a little laugh, as she had to work in the office as an aid and had seen everyone's GPA and class rankings, and she knew that Junior was far from dumb.
"And what's so funny?"
As this transpired Junior was walking up looking for his friend Mary, to tell her he could not give her a ride home as he was leaving early to help on the family ranch.
He had become friends with Mary at a young age since both of their older brothers had been friends for years and the two of them had spent many a night at a sporting event or some such other thing together. He had never looked at her as anything more than a friend, well at least not until recently, and he could not help but hear the conversation as he approached.
Walking with him was another friend, one who had a secret, one that only Junior new about. Her name was Katherine Karol Kolby, and yes everyone including her parents acknowledged what a bad idea the name was, but it was the first names of her grandmothers. It was an
sop
to both of them, as neither had really approved of her parents' marriage.
It was Mary who started to fight, innocent as the comment was, it was a unfortunate case of not knowing that someone was within hearing range and would hear a comment that could be misconstrued .
"Bill , I hate to tell you, but your grades are far inferior to his and as a matter of fact, he is in consideration for an appointment to the naval academy. While I hear the only appointment you have is one for marriage.
Katherine gasped, "Junior, I thought you were not going to tell anyone!"
Mary and Bill both spun upon hearing what Karol had said. Junior just looked down at her, his eyes showing that he was hurt and Karol immediately knew her condition was out of the bag and decided to just let loose. "Bill, I have to tell you something, my baby, it's yours."
Gasps and other sounds of shock resonated throughout the hallway. It was a tense scene. Bill stared at Karol, his eyes intimating that she was lying. Junior, who stood a touch to the front of her, wondered if some else knew about Karol and Bill, which would be a scandal in the area, seeing as Karol was half Black and half Native American. That was something that his family would not like. And Mary stood there, realizing that an inadvertent jab had hurt a friend.
Bill was the one who escalated the incident from a simple shocking claim to a confrontation. "What do you mean your child is mine? How do I know that you have not been fucking everyone and are just claiming it's mine for money?" Karol let out a sobbing cry, "Because you are the one that took my virginity and I have not slept with anyone else. Not to mention, in this day and age, a simple amniocentesis can provide DNA and prove paternity!"
Junior stepped towards Bill, "Let's not have this out here, let's find someplace private."
"How do I know it's not yours, Junior?"
"It's simple, have her take the test, and if it's not yours, what do you care? But, if it is, then you have to deal with the consequences of not keeping your dick in your pants or at least being smart enough to use a condom."
