Published: 26 Dec 2019

Alabama Area Code

Nemesis

It was Saturday, and I didn’t dare sleep too late. Gary was busy all week with his businesses, the foundation and corporate donors who supported the orphanage, lawyers, and Family Services. He had always reserved Saturday for himself, though. Now, he reserved Saturday for himself and me. He always planned something special for just the two of us.

I shivered a little when I thought about that. Gary had taken the one day he reserved for himself, and shared it with me. I love him so much!

When I got downstairs, Gary was at the kitchen table with a coffee cup and a book. He put the book down, and returned my hug and kiss.

Gary

We were in the middle of another snowstorm when my phone rang. I looked at the screen: 205 area code. I didn’t recognize the number. “Hello, this is Gary.”

“

Gary? Don’t y’all mean Cap’n Cubbie?” the voice on the phone asked.

“There aren’t but six people who ever called me that, and only one of them talks funny,” I said. “How are you, Sergeant Eye-gor?”

“That’s Deputy Sheriff Igor to you, sir. I’m doin’ fine, Gary. How about you?”

“Doing fine, Daryn, busy, but I have a couple of helpers, now. You never were one for small-talk, though; what’s up?”

“Got a problem; I’m hopin’ you can help. Two missin’ boys. Parents got put in jail this summer for fraud. Nobody noticed the two boys wasn’t around ’till after school started and the truant officer reported on one of ’em. Took another couple of weeks ’afore somebody – meanin’ me – put two and two together.

“I got last year’s school picture of the 8-year-old and a snapshot of the 6-year-old. Can I send them to you and would you put them on that foundation website of yours?”

“Sure, Daryn, I’d be glad to. But what about local law enforcement?”

“That’s the problem,” Daryn said. “My boss don’t want to have nothin’ to do with it; told me to drop it. I got a bad feelin’ about this.”

I looked up. Nemesis had come back into the room. He wore his chiton and sword and his eyes were glowing.

I took one look, and said, “I have a real bad feeling about it, too. Yes, send the pictures and descriptions. You’ve got my email. And, Daryn? I’m going to send some help. You’ll know when you see him, because you’ve never seen anything like him before.”

I paused and listened.

“No,” I said. “I’m not going to tell you anything else. You’ll understand.”

I hung up the phone.

“You got all that?” I asked Nemesis.

I was, as always, worried about sending Nemesis out alone. On the other hand, I had served with Daryn, and knew his strength. I hoped it would be enough to protect the boy I loved. Not that I could have stopped Nemesis, in any case.

Nemesis

“Yeah, I was listening to what you thought,” I said.

Gary had gotten used to that … me listening to what he was thinking. Just on the surface, though. I think I could hear deeper, but I was afraid to – even though I knew he loved me. I had heard him say that he loved me, and I knew he meant it. And I loved him, too. Still, I was afraid to look too deeply.

“Eight- and six-year-olds? I think Benji,” I said. Gary nodded. He held out his arms for a hug.

I knew he worried when I went off without him, and more when I had one of the mortal boys with me. I knew I could take care of myself and them, and he knew it too. Still, he liked to feel he was my protector. I liked to feel that way, too.

I stood on tiptoe for a kiss. Gary kissed me on the forehead.

Benji

Nemesis popped onto my room at Erewhon. I ran to him for a hug. It was a good hug, but a short one. I knew what that meant. We had a job.

“Where are we going? What do I need?” I asked, while I ran around the room pulling my backpack from the closet, grabbing my windcheater and camera, looking in a drawer for clean socks …

“Slow down!” Nemesis said. “Camera, yes. Windbreaker, yes. It may be cool tonight. Socks … no, we won’t be gone that long. I already signed you out at the desk. They think you’re visiting Gary. Ready?”

I nodded, and grabbed his hand. We popped from my room to a gravel road. We’d moved east: the sun was lower in the sky than it had been. South, too. It was warmer. Gary had explained all this to me the first time it happened. Nemesis pointed to a mailbox. I took a picture. We walked down a driveway that wasn’t much more than a couple of ruts in tall grass.

Nemesis

The first thing we saw was a farmhouse. I heard chickens, and knew there would be a coop behind the house. There was no chimney, but a stovepipe stuck out the side of the house. Wood stove, I thought. Just like we had …

I stopped walking for a second, and stared. I had forgotten that I lived in a farmhouse until I was in the 7^th grade. Now, I remembered. I remembered Mama cooking on a cast-iron, wood-burning stove … the chicken coop behind the house … riding the bus to school … skinny-dipping in the creek with Tommy from down the road … picking wild blackberries, and Mama making cobbler with them … I was innocent, but somewhere, somewhere I had lost that innocence.

Before I could explore that thought, Benji tugged my hand, and pointed.

A school bus behind a house in rural Alabama wasn’t unusual. A lot of the bus routes started at someone’s home and worked their way to the school. This bus was unusual, though. The tires were flat. There was an air conditioner hanging out one window and a yellow electrical cord leading from the bus to the house. The boys who were the reason we were here would be inside. I stepped carefully onto the front bumper and then looked in the window.

Two boys sat on the floor, cross-legged, facing one another. One looked about six; the other, eight. Turn and turn about, they dipped a single spoon into a bowl between them and ate. A light bulb in a porcelain socket suspended by wires lit the scene. Behind the boys, I saw piles of blankets and clothes. I’d already seen and smelled the outhouse.

“Benji?” I whispered. “Tell Gary we’ve found them, and tell him the name and number on the mailbox.”

Benji pulled out his cell phone and hit the Number 2 speed dial. I looked back into the bus.

“I can’t see!” Benji said. “Gary wants to know if they’re okay.”

“Tell him yes, and that we’ll guard them until his friend gets here.”

Gary

I called Daryn, and said the boys were in an old school bus behind some rural house with the number 2062 and the name Petty on the mailbox.

“Damn it to hail! That’s the aunt! She denied knowin’ anything. Sum’ bitch. I’m on the way. Your man there?”

I smiled. “Actually, two of them. They’re waiting outside the bus. Remember, I said they’d not be like anything you’d ever seen.”

Daryn acknowledged; I knew he didn’t believe me.

Deputy Daryn

The house was dark, but I saw a light from the school bus in the back. I went as far as the ruts would take me, and then seesawed around so that the patrol car was facing out … just in case. I took my tactical flashlight and walked toward the bus. There were two kids standing in front of it. Where were Gary’s … wait a minute! How could Gary get people here that fast anyway? It’s not been an hour … What the … Ghost of Jefferson Davis! They ain’t the missing boys!

There were two boys standing in front of the bus. The littler one was wearing regular clothes – jeans and a windbreaker. He was carrying a backpack over one shoulder. The other one was wearing a little skirt held up with a strap over his left shoulder … and a sword. A sword that was damn near as big as he was. I put my hand on my gun. Before I could say anything, the boy with the sword spoke.

“Hi, Deputy Sheriff Eye-Gor. Gary told you that you wouldn’t believe us. I’m Nemesis. This is my friend Benji. The boys you are looking for are in the bus.”

“You’all know Gary? How in tarnation did you get here so fast? And what are you laughin’ at?”

The one who called himself Nemesis stopped laughing. Actually, he’d been giggling.

“I’m sorry,” he said. The look on his face said he didn’t mean it. “You and Gary were friends, really good friends. Gary and Benji and I are really good friends, too. We figured you could be trusted to keep our secret.”

The boy’s entire demeanor changed. The giggles and the smile disappeared from his face. His voice got deeper. “Were we right?”

It didn’t take me any time to answer. “Yeah. If you know anythin’ about me and Gary, you know he saved my life. Twice. There ain’t nothin’ I wouldn’t do for him … or for anybody beholden to him.”

The boy in the skirt nodded. “Let’s get the boys,” he said. “Then we can talk.”

“If I go in the front door, they’ll run scar’t an’ bolt out the back. They might get hurt,” I said. “Benji? You’re about their age. How would you feel about goin’ in the front door of the bus, sayin’ howdy to ’em, and makin’ ’em feel not scared of your friend and me?”

Benji thought for a minute. “Do I get to be a deputy?” he asked.

The boy called Nemesis grinned and looked at me.

“Sure, Benji,” I said. “Raise your right hand. Do you swear to uphold the laws of the Sovereign State of Alabama and obey your superior officers’ lawful orders?”

“Yes, sir!” the boy said.

“Okay, you’re hereby a Junior Deputy of _____ County.”

Nemesis

Benji was thrilled to be a deputy. He knocked, and waved through the glass on the bus door. The older boy opened the door a crack, and Benji squeezed in. After about 10 minutes, he stuck his head out and told us to come on in.

Deputy Daryn asked Benji to take a bunch of pictures. Benji was not only a deputy, he was part of an official police investigation. He was going to be hard to live with when we got back to Chicago. On the other hand, I was kind of glad … he needed happy things and thoughts to help overcome his little brother’s death.

The aunt still wasn’t home when Daryn loaded the boys into his patrol car to take them away. He promised he’d let Gary know what was happening, and that he knew somebody who might be able to get the boys assigned to Erewhon.

He asked if we wanted a ride, and I said no, that we had one coming. He just shook his head.

Daryn

I turned the two boys over to Family Services. I wasn’t happy about that: as poor as folks around here were, they’d probably be put in a situation not much better than where I found them. I told the caseworker they were related to a friend of mine, and that I’d be visiting them. I said it friendly-like, but I think she got the point. I hoped it would help.

Back at the station, I was writing up my report when the sheriff came storming in. Slammed the door and stomped his pointy-toed cowboy boots on the floor. The man wore cowboy boots, even though he’d never ridden a horse in his life. Which is probably a good thing, since he weighed more than 350 pounds and would have broken the back of any horse in creation, except maybe one of the Budweiser Clydesdales.

“I tol’ you to let it go, boy. What you mean goin’ out there and takin’ those boys away from their aunt?”

I was ready. “Didn’t go out there for that, Sheriff. Got an anonymous tip there was a couple of boys livin’ in an old school bus. Didn’t know who they was ’till I talked to them.

“Couldn’t leave ’em. They was dirty, smelled bad. And the older one was truant. Took ’em to family services just like I’m supposed to, sir.” I tried not to sneer on that last word. I didn’t want to lose this job and have to move.

“Sum bitch!” the sheriff said. “All right. Write it up. And, you better keep your nose clean. I’m watchin’ you.”

My shift was over. Actually, it had been over for a couple of hours, but I didn’t dare complain. I got back in my patrol car to drive home. After I pulled out of the parking lot, a head popped up in the rearview mirror.

“Hi, Deputy Daryn.” It was the older boy, the one who said he was Nemesis.

“I thought you said you had a car coming. I didn’t know you meant mine.”

“We have some unfinished business,” he said.

“Can we talk about it at my house? I’ve been on duty more than 12 hours. I’m almost as smelly as those boys were, and I’m hungry, too.”

“Why aren’t you talking funny, any more?” the boy asked.

I laughed. “Because I guessed you were something special … and you just proved me right. Do you want to tell me about it?” I nearly ran off the road when the boy disappeared from the rear-view mirror, and appeared on the seat beside me.

In the next twenty minutes, I heard a story that I wouldn’t have believed if I hadn’t seen him pop from the prisoner cage in the back seat into the front seat, beside me. I asked Nemesis about that. He said it was just something he did.

“How are you and Gary related?” I asked.

Nemesis

“Gary’s kind of like … my daddy … ” I said. “He loves me an awful lot, and he takes care of me … and I love him, too.”

Daryn nodded. “Gary’s a good man. You could do a lot worse. But I’ve got a bad feeling, again. You say you’re retribution. And we have unfinished business. That doesn’t make me feel easy.”

“It’s worse than you think,” I said. “The reason the sheriff didn’t want you to go after those boys? He had plans for them.”

We had reached Deputy Daryn’s house. I told him I needed to check in with Gary and could I use his phone while he showered.

“Why can’t you just run back to Chicago?” he asked.

“It makes me tired, and hungry,” I said. “I took Benji home and came back here. I’m starving!”

“Um, I’m not used to feeding kids,” Daryn said. “Or gods. What do you eat?”

“Pizza?”

Daryn chuckled. “Phone’s in the kitchen. Pizza delivery number is on the bulletin board beside it.” He tossed me his wallet. “Tip the delivery guy five dollars, okay?

“First, though, let me see if I got some clothes for you that don’t show off your butt.”

I switched from chiton to school clothes in the blink of an eye. Daryn just nodded. I think he was getting accustomed to me. I giggled, though.

Daryn got back from his shower just after the pizza guy left. We sat in his kitchen eating and talking. Daryn’s kitchen, not the pizza guy’s.

Daryn

“I saw you go from the prisoner cage in the back seat of my patrol car to the front seat. And then change clothes in a microsecond. That’s impossible, of course. You traveled from Chicago to Alabama in less than 30 minutes. That’s impossible, too. You say you’re the avatar of justice and retribution—”

The boy interrupted. “Avatar of retribution; I work for the avatar of justice. Sometimes I help with justice.”

“Frankly,” I said. “And please don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t care who’s avatar of what. I’ve seen enough things that aren’t possible to upset my whole worldview. Can we stick to reality and facts for a while? What’s the problem … what’s got you so riled up?”

The boy grinned. “You’re a pragmatist. I like that. You are grounded in what you understand, and you learn new things by creating links to what you already know.”

“How old did you say you were?” I asked.

The grin disappeared. “Too old,” Nemesis said. “Let’s pretend I’m 12, okay?”

I saw tears form in the corners of his eyes, and then drip down his cheeks.

“Hey, I’m sorry, kid-o,” I said. “No more personal questions. Just tell me what’s going on that kept you here after those two boys were safe. You said it had something to do with the sheriff?”

“Everything to do with him,” the boy said.

I listened, and my blood boiled – or ran cold. I wasn’t sure which cliché was worse. The sheriff and his nephew who worked for Family Services had been running a porn video operation. It started a few years ago. The sheriff had responded to a silent alarm at a store, and caught two teen boys having sex in a storeroom. Rather than arrest the boys, or turn them over to their parents, the sheriff made a deal: they would perform for the camera, and he’d overlook the breaking and entering charge. It worked … for one filming. Then the boys got scared. The sheriff had cuffed them, and locked them in a barn. They made a few more movies for him, until he got worried, and killed them.

The next pair of boys came from the cousin. The sheriff knew his cousin was in debt to a loan shark from gambling at one of the Indian casinos. It wasn’t hard to get the cousin to come up with a couple of throw-away boys from the Family Services system. And then, a couple more.

Make a few movies; kill the boys; find more. It was a sweet racket until the Russian Mafia figured out who was horning in on their business of milking hard currency from the USA. After the Russians murdered the sheriff’s cousin and two of the boys … and strung them up on some of the props in the barn the sheriff was using for a studio … the sheriff agreed to their terms.

“There aren’t any boys at the barn, now,” Nemesis said. “But, his new contact at Family Services is going to bring three, late tomorrow. We have some time.”

“There’s no way we can do this, alone,” I said. “I don’t know how high this goes, but I know the sheriff has connections, political connections, that go all the way to Montgomery.”

“Not to worry,” the boy replied. “May I use your phone?”

Nemesis called Gary. Their conversation was muted. Then, Nemesis disappeared. Fifteen minutes later, he reappeared with Gary.

I briefed Captain Cubby on the situation. He took it in.

“You need outside help. Maybe the State Police?”

I shook my head. “Alabama State Police and the Sheriffs’ Association – too many connections. Too much risk.”

“FBI?” Gary asked.

“Not a federal crime unless we can show interstate trafficking or, maybe, the Russian involvement. I believe you, Nemesis, but I’m not sure about taking you to the FBI to testify, especially dressed like a kiddy-porn star.” Nemesis had changed back to his little skirt thing. I smiled to show I was kidding. “And, we have only until tomorrow afternoon.”

Gary opened his cell phone and pressed a button. I watched his eyes while I listened to what he said.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “Nemesis and I are in Alabama … yes, ma’am, the infestation may reach into the state police … yes, ma’am. US Marshalls? Yes, ma’am … I’ll call you when—”

“She hung up!”

Nemesis giggled. “Who’s she sending? Scions of Hermes?”

Gary nodded, and Nemesis’ face fell. “Oh, shi … ” he began, before Gary put his finger over the boy’s lips.

Gary

Dike knew where we were and what we were doing. I wondered about that, but she didn’t give me a chance to ask. She said to plan a raid on the barn studio as soon as we knew for sure the sheriff and the new boys were there. She’d see that we had US Marshalls to conduct the raid. When she said US Marshalls, I knew who she meant: those green-scaled guys Nemesis said were the scions of Hermes. Her chuckle told me she knew what I was thinking. Then, she hung up on me!

Nemesis guessed, too, that US Marshalls meant the green-guys. I don’t think he was really afraid of them any longer, though.

“We are to plan a raid on the barn, timed to catch the sheriff before he can harm the new boys. We’ll have US Marshalls to lead the raid. They’ll have whatever warrant is needed,” I said.

“I’m going to be there,” Daryn said.

“Me, too,” Nemesis added.

I wasn’t happy about that, but knew I really had no choice. I knew Nemesis could be hurt: I’d cleaned cuts from his arms the first day I knew him. I knew he healed, quickly. I didn’t know if he were immune to a bullet.

Daryn

“Nemesis has already made the pizza delivery guy rich,” I said. “How about supper at a sit-down place, and then you guys R.O.N. here?”

“You don’t have to spell stuff you don’t want me to know,” Nemesis said. “What’s r-o-n, anyway?”

Garreth explained. “Remain Over-Night. Daryn’s inviting us to stay here, tonight.”

Something about that didn’t sit well with Nemesis. Gary saw it, too.

“Daryn,” he said. “Nemesis and I … we sleep together … it’s innocent … but we both … we both need each other … if that’s not okay with you … ”

There wasn’t anything I could say, but, “Gary, even if you hadn’t saved my life, twice, I would have known you were a good person. Even if you hadn’t kept our platoon … and then your company … out of harm’s way, I’d have know you were a good person.

“This boy told me straight away that you two loved each other. If you want to sleep together, it’s okay with me.

“Now, who’s for supper?”

Nemesis

Daryn took us to a country restaurant for supper. It wasn’t one of those chain things. I dimly remember those from the time I did a lot of over-the-road driving. I couldn’t remember why I was driving, though. This place had fried chicken, vegetable soup with okra, buttermilk biscuits, over-cooked green beans, and apple cobbler for dessert. It also had liver and onions, which Gary ordered. Ewww! I was going to have to talk to him about that!

Gary and Daryn talked a lot about their time in the Army in the Middle East. They tried to bring me into the conversation, but there wasn’t much for me to talk about. I played with the peg-board game on the table, and then talked Gary into buying one for me when we left.

I think Daryn wanted to talk more to Gary about their time together in the army. So, when we got back to his home, I pretended to be sleepy, and went to bed.

I woke up when Gary got into bed. Actually, I’d fallen asleep right in the middle of the bed, so he pretty much had to wake me up.

Gary wrapped his arms around me; I snuggled close. We were touching from my head to my toes. It felt good.

“You’re worried about something,” I said.

Gary

I slid into bed, trying not to wake Nemesis. I knew he would wake up, but I still made the effort. He rolled over and put his arms around me. I hugged him, and kissed his forehead.

“You’re worried about tomorrow,” he said.

I nodded. I knew he would feel it, and that he would be listening to what I was thinking. You’re not invulnerable; you’ve been hurt. I’m afraid for you.

Daryn

The new guy from Family Services had the three boys in the barn when the sheriff arrived. I was ready, but Nemesis said to wait; there were two more people coming.

“What about the boys?” I asked.

“I’ll let you know before he hurts them,” Nemesis said. “Wait … wait … now. Look, there’s the car.”

Two men from the car walked into the barn. Nemesis signaled. The marshals moved in. I was able to keep in front of Nemesis.

We caught the sheriff, his new contact in Family Services, and two members of the Russian mafia. Nemesis wore school clothes … appeared to be wearing school clothes, anyway … and took charge of the three boys. I shot the sheriff. Three bullets in the heart. I was pretty sure he was reaching for his gun.

Two of the Federal Marshalls disappeared with the Russians. I mean, disappeared like, vanished. Nemesis wouldn’t tell me where to, but said it would be taken care of. After seeing what the marshals looked like for real, that was good enough for me.

A US Attorney from the 11^th Circuit was part of the package Gary’s contact in Chicago had arranged. He showed up with a crime-scene team right after the two marshals disappeared with the Russians. The next day, he took my deposition. Two of the marshals stayed long enough to be deposed, too. I’m not sure they were human, but didn’t press the issue. Their depositions and the report from the crime-scene team were good enough for the local district attorney. I was off the hook for shooting the sheriff.

I was afraid some of the sheriff’s buddies would try to get back at me, but it turned out he didn’t have any, really. Mostly people like me who were intimidated by him and afraid of losing their jobs. If anyone had been a friend of the sheriff’s, they were probably afraid to say so after the whole story got out, and eleven boys’ bodies were dug up outside the barn.

Nemesis

We still had to deal with the two boys from the bus. The local family court judge thought they would be better off in Alabama near their kin, but the foundation Gary worked for made sure it was in a good home, and not some dead-end throw-away-kids foster care home. Benji promised to visit, and Gary made sure he could, too.

The aunt? Seems that the way she took care of the boys … letting them live in the old bus, and feeding them Hamburger Helper, was considered okay by local standards, and she got only a suspended sentence for not sending the older boy to school.

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