XI. Justice.

A Village—MORNING

I am walking along a canal with Mary. I swing a machete at the vegetation to make us a path through. She looks to me in serious earnest, but I look at the ground and the swooshing of my trench coat mostly. Soon she tugs on my arm.

“What do you think of the other girls on the staff?”

“They are just little girls, Mary.”

She smiles coyly back, and I gulp. I think I have made the wrong impression. “Well, not that I am that old, Mary.”

Mary purses her lips and walks faster, past me. She doesn’t press any further; she is a good 20 years older than me and it is nothing personal even in my depression, not to fool around with her. I want kids. My own. Someday.

Maybe a dog too.

Back in the crew van, I ask the Boss if there is any more pertinent work to do; and since she says no and even hands back my bucket full of tools to me, I decide to work putting together my notes down in my journal as I promised Andrea, I would keep back at it.

Mary is milling around, and I don’t care whether she is happy or not with me. The new cute redhead, is coming back to the van now.

I ignore her.

X. Wheel of Fortune [Reversed]

A Village—LATE AFTERNOON

The last thing I remember is getting grabbed from behind by two huge thugs while sitting at the snack bar in the village. My guess as I am blindfolded, dragged off and shoved about is that my kidnapper must be Spike (likely assisted by Gunny Bill).

After all what other nemesis do I have?

Soon I find myself unbound, unmasked and hurled into the stagnant water at the bottom of a sand pit on the edge of town. In the struggle to toss me into the pit, Spike and Bill have broken a bottle and the broken glass and it is embedded in my hands. I am not waiting around to find out what is next. When they look away, I pull out a large shard from the palm of my hand and counter attack, aiming to slit both of their throats, but knowing that Spike will never be so easy. I grab at Spike's legs and he loses footing on the slumping edge and falls in, pushing me backward unto a pile of trash. I snatch the heaviest metal pieces and hurl them at his head as Bill tries to help him out of the pit. I head through the muck to the far side of the borrow and eventually make my get away.

I make it back to the snack bar where some guys from the crew are still are hanging out. The Sailor is boring everyone with a story. I sit next to Iris and since she currently is disgusted by me, decide to apologize.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her, “I must smell awful, I’ve been kidnapped in the woods for god knows how long and I don’t want to bug you.”

She turns, and says, “But I want to hug you.”

“I’m sorry, I said ‘bug you,’ not hug you.”

“Too bad,” She shrugs.

“Of course I want to hug you. I’ve wanted to for a long time.”

She hugs me. She smells like flowers and is soft in her burgundy angora sweater. We leave the bar and I put my arm around her tiny frame.

“Don’t hold me like that,” she hisses. I am crushed for a second, but then she adds, “No hold me this way. Pull the strap of your shoulder bag over my head too and then hold my hand so we look like school children.”

It is getting dark as we reach the end of the boardwalk, and we decide to cut through a field to the ranger station.

We come across two dead bodies lying in the grass.

“Spike and Bill did that, as I recall,” I say, mostly to myself.

“Who?”

“My kidnapper’s gang. Listen, let’s quietly continue on our way for now.”

We do so. The ranger’s station, where the crew van is still parked slowly gets closer. However, a pickup. Spike’s. Now tears across the field and cuts us off. Guillo-Tina lolls out the driver’s window.

“That you, Frank?” she demands.

I nod.

“Where the hell’s Spike?”

“I don’t know. Haven’t seen him.”

“Well, he told me to hold you if I saw you, so stay put. Right there.”

More trucks, which had been prowling the village, now begin to converge on our spot in the field, as Tina radios in our location. We slowly back away, but Tina, waves at one of her gang who leaps out of the back of a truck and trains a shot gun on us.

I whisper to Iris that I will make a distraction and she should run as fast as possible. I prepare to jump at our guard’s shot

gun, suddenly willing to die for Iris.

Meanwhile one of the figures approaching is not one of Spike's gang, but as he approaches the truck headlights, we all see the new comer is the Park Ranger who had been patrolling the grounds. As we all realize what is happening together, our guard, quickly shoots the Ranger and he goes down.

On the ground, the Ranger unholsters his revolver and levels it at the shotgun wielder, and I figure the next round of shots that will likely ensue will cause a distraction allowing us both to run, though I feel guilty choosing to save Iris over trying to help the Ranger. When the guy aims I give her the signal and we both run, but she doesn’t run very fast, I get behind her and push her along. A human shield. Figuring if they shoot they will only hit me.

Five of Pentacles [Reversed]

A Bar—EVENING

I walk into a bar. People wonder why I sit in this depressing place. True, even the sad waitress, Iris never changes.

But right now her shift is over but still. Iris is sitting and drinking.

Iris is talking to other people and ignoring me. Iris is parading her new boyfriend around. Bragging about him. Ex-navy. She thinks he is so cool.

So I loudly talk about how depressed I am and talk about my recent camping trip to outdo the other dudes’ stories. I talk about my recent trip In The Mountains. I camped drunk and miserable. I went sleepwalking and woke up in my underwear surrounded by mountain lions. I didn’t give a shit. Just climbed back in my tent and freezing sleeping bags.

She doesn’t seem to notice my tales. She tells me about how her boyfriend has hurt his back so he is now a security guard, and just sits, buzzing people into a plant.

“At my job I find and protect—!” I yelp I am exhausted, just having returned from an assignment documenting rural village.

She shrugs. Seemingly unimpressed. Not to be outdone though, I start to tell tales of where I’ve been for the federal government and some of the adventures I’ve had. I tell about a war zone I had to pass through on a bus, and had to be armed with an M-16.

“What are you working on now?” Iris asks, slowly being won over. I shrug at my shoulder bag on the bar.

“Paperwork.” I sigh. With no more chance of impressing her, I grab a scotch bottle and hit myself over the head. I fall to the floor.

“Poor baby,” she says and lifts me up, “Can I and walk you home?”

“Perhaps.”

“Does your company ever hire? It sounds fun.”

Page of Pentacles

A Village—LATER

When we spot it, on a dangerous curve, the van swings into the on-coming lane as I try to slow down. The place is a caterer on the edge of the main Village. The Boss must have ordered something for the party. 

We are surveying a smelly dumpster when the caterer comes out and Sailor Lou talks to him.

Meanwhile, I am attracted to something next door, which catches my eye. But between it and me is a screened-in porch and bushes. I open the porch door. The porch is crowded with junk and kittens that scramble for the open door. There is no way through the porch or the bushes beyond. I don’t know how to get through.

Six of Cups

A Farm—EVENING

Sailor Lou, Mary and I get to the compound late for the party. Rather than wait in line for the bathroom to shower up as Mary does or do nothing as Lou, I decide a middle-of-the-road approach. I can change out of my field clothes quickly in the bushes and freshen up a bit with the garden hose.

As I am changing out back I can smell that there are some burgers are being grilled. I can also hear Iris calling me with a “Psssst! Frank!”

It is coming from some open French doors on a low balcony behind me. When I get close and peer inside I cannot see Iris per se, but do see some movement inside. I grab a curtain blowing out of an open window and yank it off the rod to cover my semi-clothed body when I realize I have not finished changing.

Now I can see Iris. She climbs out of a four poster bed, naked and comes up behind the blowing drapes of the French doors to call to me again. She is now feigning modesty, I think, as Sailor Lou and Mary have also heard here soft call and now crowd me, and we can all see at least her breasts from our vantage. She soon gives up the façade and flings back the curtains, and steps out unto the balcony barely attempting to cover her nakedness with her hands.

She is as smooth, well-built and pink as one would have thought and she tells Lou that there are some errands for him to run. He looks disappointed, and says he will just grab a burger and go. I say I will come with him and also grab a burger.

Although I too would rather bask in her pale glow. The stop is in a bad part of village, down a winding, mountain road, and I am obligated to back him up on the mission.

Page of Pentacles [Reversed]

A Flophouse—DAY

By the time I hoof it back to the Flophouse I really have to make a bowel movement and am afraid I might soil myself if I am a moment late, but there is no way I am using the public restroom in the lobby. So I sprint up the flights of stairs, down the hall, fling up my door with a jangle of keys and run to the bathroom.

As I sit on the toilet the door pops open. I kick it shut it and lock it. But it is the Sailor who is pressing against it. As I try to hold the door back, it bulges out until he completely rips it off the hinges. He is angrily smashing and breaking things in my room. I am not sure what he is on about but now I am mad too because of the privacy I expect in my room.

“Get the hell out of the bathroom!” I yell, “At least while I finish my business.” I have taken this place in order to disappear, not have uninvited guests stopping by and barging in.

When I am done, I find he has quieted and has made himself at home. I also find he has brought a stunning red velvet footstool that kinda matches my lazy boy.

He jokes “Now that we have such a comfortable thing to sit on, I shouldn’t have to hide girls in my room anymore. I can bring them into the open.” I see now. The Sailor needs a place to bring his extramarital dates.

“This is my room, not yours.” I tell him “The stool won’t change me wanting privacy,” and he begins to spout nonsense about furniture, faithfulness and flatulence as he tears up the room again.

“Don’t go there!” I yell back, “In a battle of facts I will win!”

It is no use arguing. He eventually calms down again. He has also brought some fish he caught in the canal, and has invited some of the Chinese cooks over from downstairs to prepare it for him.

Soon there is a crowd that has made a mess of fish parts and dishes and is eating the fish that the Sailor caught. I stand at the stove stirring some leftover vegetable soup, trying to get each type evenly mixed.

Soup. This is as best as I eat nowadays. I cannot keep anything else down. The fish sickens me. The Sailor jokingly needles me as to why I won’t join them.

I don’t want to admit either being ill or hating fish, so I say “Someone has to finish the soup.”

Ace of Pentacles [Reversed]

A Village—DAY

There is a small cluster of souvenir and food stands near the canal. Some people are pushing out of a bar with drinks. I go in and ask the bartender where the boat ramp is. He says the pull out spot is on the outskirts of town. I have come too far and must double back.

I decide I better grab a quick bite because I am suddenly hungry. There is a pizza stand and a woman is buying slices for her kids. The woman behind the counter charges her almost thirty bucks. She only has a few singles and asks why it’s so much. A slice is only a dollar. The woman explains that only the first slice is a dollar, after that they go up to $9. The woman says “Fuck that!” and makes her kids give back the slices.

The woman looks to me to order. And I say, “Fuck that too!” and head off. I really should get to the Sailor anyway.