Sins of the Family Chapter Nineteen

“I gotta go,” Mike said as he sat up the car’s back seat next to Randy who snored. John arose from the front seat, rubbing his eyes. After their encounter at the camp ground, he had pulled off the road to allow them to sleep a few hours. Driving again he noticed a convenience store in the distance and glanced at the gas gauge.
“We’ll stop here.”
A clerk, tall, rangy and with too many pimples, mopped the floor as John, Mike and Randy walked in. He looked up and smiled.
“Hello.”
“Hello,” John replied without a smile.
“Can I help you?”
“I need gas.”
“I gotta go,” Mike said.
“I can set you up for pump one, sir, and the rest room is through that door and to the right,” he said.
Mike disappeared through the door, and John went out to pump his gasoline. Randy wandered around, looking at displays of candies, chips and beer.
“You guys on the road all night?” He smiled with good nature and resumed his mopping.
“What do you want to know for?” Randy asked suspiciously.
“No reason.” He ducked his head and concentrated on his scrubbing.
Soon John returned from pumping gasoline and went to the counter to pay. Mike appeared from the restroom zipping his denim jeans. He noticed an ice cream case.
“Hey! I wanna get some ice cream!”
The clerk looked over at Mike, his mouth agape at the wide selection of brightly wrapped frozen confections before him.
“Just slide the cover up,” he said.
“I can’t get it up.”
The boy with pimples sighed and propped his mop against the wall. Randy circled around him, unbuckling his belt. By the time the tall, clerk was at the ice cream case, Randy had his belt off and looped, ready to lob it over the guy’s head.
“No, no,” he said. “I said slide, not lift.”
Randy slid his belt around the clerk’s neck and tightened it, causing the young man to gag, spit, and kick violently against the ice cream case. As Randy wrestled him to the rough wooden floor, squeezing his belt and making the clerk’s face turn purplish red, Mike slid open the top of the case and took out an ice cream bar, opened it and began to eat.
“Yeah, I know,” he said with a laugh. “Slide, not lift.”
The clerk’s kicks became less and less violent until they stopped, his last gasp left his lips, and his body went limp. Randy released the dead man’s head, turned to a magazine rack and picked up a girlie magazine to flip through.
“I want some of these books,” he muttered. “And some beer.”
“Yeah, me too.” Mike wiped dripping ice cream from his chin as he headed for a beer display.
John walked around the counter to open the cash register, pulling as many bills out as he could.
“Get anything you want, but hurry.” As an afterthought, he selected a carton of cigarettes from a rack behind the counter.
Each brother grabbed a six-pack of beer and turned for the door. Mike paused long enough to stare at the dead clerk’s bulging, glazed eyes.
“He don’t have as much spit as the other one did.”
As John drove along Interstate 40 near the Tennessee-North Carolina border, he smoked a pack of cigarettes as he pondered his mission, and wondered if he had chosen his compatriots with prudence. They did not seem to understand the difference between killing because they had to and murdering just because they could get away with it. And they did drink more beer than anyone could ever enjoy. He looked over his shoulder to see them asleep, almost childlike in their slumber. Concentrating on the road again, John dismissed his doubts as he remembered the first Moses. His own brother Aaron built a golden calf while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments. Like the first Moses he would overcome any setbacks brought about by the failings of his followers.
Eventually, Knoxville’s skyline appeared on the horizon. John became aware of an ache encompassing his skull after the long cold drive. He noticed a man getting out of a large sedan at a deserted bowling alley parking lot. John pulled in next to him and got out of his car.
“Excuse me, sir.”
The fleshy man, in his late thirties, wearing lime green polyester slacks and a pullover knit plaid shirt that had trouble hiding his hairy navel, turned to smile. Even in the autumn chill, perspiration beaded his brow. “Yes?”
“Will you tell me the location of the television station that broadcasts news hosted by Bob Meade?”
“Sure.” The man turned to point down the street. “You take this road and turn left ten blocks from here and go another four blocks. You know, I was a journalism major in college. I could do a better job than Meade, but my uncle, Pinky Pinkney, the famous bowler, wanted me—“
“Do you have any aspirin?” John said.
Mike and Randy roused from their sleep, rubbed their eyes and leaned out the window, focusing their wide-spaced eyes on the talkative man.
“Great, fantastic.” He motioned for John to follow him. “I was just about to open the bowling alley, Pinky Pinkney Lanes. He’s my uncle, you know, and a very famous bowler. I run it. Up until recently I edited Pinky Pinkney’s World of Bowling magazine. Maybe you’ve heard of me. I’m Joe—“
“The aspirin?” John repeated, losing his patience.
Mike and Randy started laughing. Joe looked at them.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. The aspirin?”
“Great. Fantastic.” Joe began walking toward the bowling alley. “Come on in.”
As John, Mike and Randy followed Joe past the lanes, he waved his arm.
“Thirty-five lanes. The most in the state of Tennessee.” Leading them into a small office, Joe bent over to go through his desk. The knit shirt rode up, revealing the hair on the small of his back. “Oh yes. I’ve done quite well in the bowling industry.” He paused to catch his breath and to shuffle papers around in a drawer. “Now where is that aspirin?”
Randy moved close to John. “Is that Pharaoh?”
“No,” John replied in a whisper, shaking his head. “He’s just someone who talks too much.”
Randy moaned, and John noticed his dull little brown eyes narrowed in anger as he stepped up to Joe.
“Caleb,” John said, hissing, “don’t.”
“Ah, here it is.” Joe picked up the aspirin and turned, smiling. “I’d still be running the magazine if it hadn’t folded. Incompetent staff—“
Joe’s eyes widened as Randy rammed the hunting knife into his gut. He looked at John, uncomprehending. Randy jerked his knife up under the rib cage, and Joe groaned before falling on the floor.
“Like a stuffed pig, eh?” Mike patted his brother on the back and laughed.
Randy wiped blood from his blade on Joe’s lime green polyester pants, and then looked with apprehension at John.
“He was awake, so it was okay to kill him, right?”
“No, it wasn’t okay. All I wanted was aspirin.” John leaned down to pick up the aspirin bottle. “We weren’t going to rob him.”
“I didn’t like him, anyway,” Randy said.
“We can’t kill everyone we don’t like,” John said in suppressed anger. “Caleb, don’t kill anyone unless I tell you, understand?”
“Okay,” Randy replied, mumbling.
“Not okay,” John said, correcting him. “Say yes, Moses.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, who?”
“Yes, Moses.” Randy’s eyes narrowed again.
Within an hour, John found the television station, parked and walked through a double glass door, followed by Mike and Randy who had just finished the last beer in their six-packs. Looking around, John focused on a desk where a middle-aged woman with flaming red-dyed hair sat. A sign hanging from the ceiling read “Information.” He walked to her with efficient determination.
“I want to talk to Bob Meade.”
“He’s not in right now.” The receptionist smiled.
“When will he be in?”
“I really couldn’t say.” She batted her eyes.
“You mean you won’t say.” He stepped closer.
“I really don’t know what you mean.”
“I demand to see Bob Meade.” John slammed his hand down on her desk.
“I told you he’s not in the building.” The smiled faded from her face. “Now if you don’t leave, I’ll call security.”
“Very well.” John stared hard, deciding he should avoid a confrontation with the police. When he tried to fight the police he always lost and ended up back at the mental hospital. Then he would never find Pharaoh. “Good day.” He nodded before turning to leave.
“I gotta go.” Mike rubbed his crotch and looked around.
“Me too.” Randy frowned.
John scanned the doors in the foyer until he saw the sign to the men’s room.
“There it is.”
They ambled over and went in while John waited outside the door, continuing to stare at the receptionist who was punching buttons on her intercom.
“Hurry,” she muttered. “Hello, security? This is the front desk. Get up here fast. Those escaped mental patients are here.” She frowned. “Of course, I’m sure. I’d recognize the scar on his forehead anywhere.”
John touched his head and turned away, wishing the boys would hurry in the restroom. They needed to leave, but he still wanted to find Bob Meade. Maybe the red-haired woman would talk under pressure. At that moment John saw two women enter, one very young and attractive. The other was the older woman from the television news.
“Come up stairs with me, Jill,” Joan said laughing, “and I’ll give you this picture of Bob I have in my drawer.”
John’s head snapped to attention when he heard the name Bob.
“It’s a candid shot. He was looking up from his desk with the sweetest, most innocent expression on his face.” She led Jill to the elevator. “I know I give him a hard time, but between you and me I always had this Mrs. Robinson fantasy about him.”
Jill laughed as they entered the elevator.
“I’ll have to keep an eye on you now, knowing you have a thing for my husband.”
John’s eyes narrowed as the elevator closed. Her husband, he repeated to himself. This must be the wife of Bob Meade, the man who could take them to Pharaoh. She would be a valuable asset in persuading him to do John’s will. They could not approach her here because the red-haired woman had already alerted security guards. They must leave and watch for her outside. John opened the rest room door to hear Mike and Randy laughing and splashing water at each other.
“Quick! We’ve got to go!”
“We was having fun,” Mike said.
“Joshua and Caleb. Now,” John ordered.
The boys came out of the rest room and followed John outside. Dodging traffic, they crossed the street and trotted down the block. Looking back, John spied Jill emerging from the station. He pushed the brothers down behind the car they had stolen.
“Is she gonna take us to Pharaoh?” Mike asked, peeking up.
“Yes.”
A security guard and the red-haired receptionist ran out door and stopped Jill as she was about to step from the curb. They both looked around. John edged closer so he could hear the conversation.
“Where did they go?” the guard questioned.
“Where did who go?” Jill said with a smile.
“The escaped mental patients,” the receptionist replied, fear tinging the tone of her voice. “You know, John Ross and the two boys.”
“He was here?” Jill asked. “Bob’s out looking for him right now.”
“I saw the scar.” The receptionist’s lips quivered.
Subconsciously, John touched his forehead. He became angry that they talked about him as though he were a monster with a scar, a scar inflicted by a monster. He was the monster killer. He was going to kill Pharaoh and free his people from their oppression, and free him from his oppression. Bob Meade’s wife would lead him to her husband, and he would take him to Pharaoh. Then all this misery would be over. What would his life be like without the misery; he wondered but could not even imagine it. No matter, he dismissed the thought and concentrated on the people across the street.
“I think you should come back inside,” the guard advised Jill.
“Don’t worry. John Ross doesn’t even know I’m alive,” she said. “Besides, what would he want with Bob?”
“Ross was very angry when I told him Bob wasn’t here,” the receptionist told her with conviction. “He actually hit my desk with his fist. I thought he was going to do something to me.”
“I appreciate your concern, but I’ll be all right,” she said, turning to walk away. “I think Ross would go back to Cherokee. His parents should be notified. They’re in more danger than I am.”
“I’m calling the police,” the guard said. “I’ll ask them to contact the Rosses and put an officer at your apartment.”
“Thank you, but I really don’t think it will be necessary,” Jill said, as she continued walking away.
“Be careful,” the receptionist called out.
John watched as the woman and the guard went back in the building and Jill went to her car. He nodded at the boys, and they ran across the street, catching up with her as she unlocked her door. John pushed Jill into the car and across the seat as he took the wheel. Reaching behind him, he unlocked the back door to let Mike and Randy into the back seat. They sat there, leaning forward, laughing, exposing their brown, rotting teeth and smelling of beer, candy, peanuts and sweat.
“What do you want?” Jill said.
“We wanna slit Pharaoh’s gut.” Randy pulled the hunting knife from his jeans and brandished it in her face.
“Pharaoh?” She shook her head.
“Where is your husband?” John grabbed the key from her hand and stuck it in the ignition.
“Why do you want him?”
“He’ll lead us to Pharaoh.” Gunning the engine, John raced away from downtown Knoxville.
“Who’s Pharaoh?” Jill’s voice was filled more with confusion than fear.
“She wants to know too much.” Randy placed the tip of his knife to her soft chin.
Jumping at his touch, Jill looked at Mike who was pulling her top open. She jerked away and clasped the buttons on her blouse.
“She’s pretty.” Mike laughed as he wiped his runny nose.
“Shut up!” Randy hit his brother with his free hand. “Let Moses talk.”
“Moses?” Jill peered into John’s eyes.
“Your husband talked to Pharaoh on his news program.” He paused. “He was in trouble with the government, but he won. Pharaoh bragged he always won. We will make sure he never wins again.”
“Oh.” Suddenly Jill’s mouth fell open. “Him.”
“Where is Bob Meade?”
“I don’t know.” She looked away, out the window.
“You lie.” Randy grabbed her hair, pulling her head back and exposing her neck to his sharp blade.
“You better tell us, Mrs. Meade.” John smiled with evil knowledge. “Caleb has a temper.”
When she paused Randy pulled her hair again, causing her to gasp.
“He’s in North Carolina, at the mental hospital.”
“There?” Mike spat in disgust. “I don’t want to go back there.”
“Shut up,” Randy said.
“Very good, Mrs. Meade. You may let go of her now, Caleb.”
Randy obeyed, put his knife away, and rolled into his fetal ball in the back seat. Mike continued to lean forward breathing on Jill’s neck.
“Why are you doing this?” She pulled forward to get away from Mike. “The old man hasn’t done anything to you.”
“You sound like a follower of Pharaoh.” John glared at her.
“No.” Jill forced a smile. “I just asked a question.”
The back of John’s neck burned with anger and remembered how sweet vengeance tasted, his triumph over his father, crumpled at his feet, and the acrid sting of blood as it dripped from the knife to his tongue.
“Take care, Mrs. Meade. We may have to sacrifice you to Yo He Wa.”
“All this is making me thirsty,” Mike said. “I want some more beer.”
“Me too.” Randy peeked out of his cocoon with a hopeful eye. “It’s been a long time since I had a beer.”

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