Chapter 7

cabin tents rented for‭ ‬$25‭ ‬a day summer.$30‭ ‬a night winter rate
trailer rentals:‭ ‬larger‭ ‬$75‭ ‬mid size‭ ‬$60‭ ‬small‭ ‬$50
John Boyd‭ ‬28yrs old
Gabby Boyd‭ ‬25‭ ‬yrs old.
Alice Boyd current owner of the Gatehouse
Edwardo world famous catfish chef‭ (‬according to mom‭)
Joy and Jen wait staff for Alice Boyd’s catering‭
Jasper Amos hunter, ‭ ‬guide, ‭ ‬knife make
Sylvia Amos sheriff’s detective lieutenant
deputy Angie Davenport
Marion davenport‭ ‬Angyie’s mom
Clyde Summers suicide victim
Edward Gaines suicide victim while serving time with John
Max Bork Gabby’s fancy man
Willow computer geek
Tom Jasper’s cousin and half ass builder
Martin cameraman
Vanessa producer
Walter Pickering Vanessa’s boss
Lamar the mechanic and junkyard owner.

Vanessa quickly repeated her desire to be called Van.‭ ‬She also proved to be funny and self deprecating.‭ ‬Both those qualities made her good company.‭ ‬During out conversations leading up to the opening of my segment, ‭ ‬I learned that she was a full time paid associate producer.‭ ‬It seemed to be a big deal with her.‭

It was also a big deal that she was in complete charge of the start up show The Real Swamp Men.‭ ‬She was counting a lot of Jasper’s kinfolks to inhabit the show.‭ ‬She was proud of it all.‭ ‬She had big plans for the show.‭ ‘‬Parachute‭’ ‬three camera men into the area, ‭ ‬film for a week, ‭ ‬then make a dozen episodes with the footage.

‭”I’m not sure you can get enough usable film in a week. It might take you more than a week in the field,” I suggested.

‭”We have the ideal situation for the work. We can do it. I promised everyone in the office and I’ll make it happen,” she said with a large amount of determination in her voice.

‭”Gee you sound all grown up,” I said with a laugh.

I had no idea it would upset her.‭ ‬Fortunately the show started before she found my set of kitchen knives.‭ ‬She probably would rather have watched it on a seventy two inch screen TV, ‭ ‬rather than my nineteen inch one.‭

After the first scene I was ready to shut it down.‭ ‬However Vanessa insisted on adding commentary to the show.‭ ‬Her comments continued for the full hour that the show ran.‭ ‬I could tell she was proud of the show, ‭ ‬so I let her run on.‭ ‬After the show ran she had more wine as she slowed down.‭

All of sudden she was too high to drive, ‭ ‬so she fell on my bed and slept.‭ ‬I was surprised, ‭ ‬but she wasn’t the first person to fall asleep on me.‭ ‬Just first to have driven seven hours to do it.‭ ‬I laughed as I walked to cabin five with my light weight sleeping bag in tow.‭ ‬In this day and age of women crying rape, ‭ ‬it was the‭ ‬thing for a man on parole‭ ‬to do.‭ ‬Especially when dealing with a slightly unstable woman.‭

As usual I awoke at‭ ‬6AM to use the bath room.‭ ‬I walked into the chilly morning air.‭ ‬There were two‭ ‬’no contact‭’‬ check outs‭ ‬that night.‭ ‬The sounds of their cars interrupted my sleep.‭ ‬I carried their two trash bags as I walked back to my truck.‭ ‬I threw them into the bed before I walked inside to wake Van.‭ ‬She was sleeping like the dead and refused to get up.

I wasn’t smiling as I fried a couple of wild bore sausage patties too long.‭ ‬I also added a couple of eggs to the mix.‭ ‬Since Van didn’t stir, ‭ ‬I ate alone at the‭ ‬folding table on the front deck.‭ ‬I finished and washed my dishes.‭ ‬She still hadn’t moved so I went fishing.‭ ‬It was barely warm enough by eight to run the line, ‭ ‬but I decided not to sit around looking at the unconscious Vanessa.

It was a fairly successful morning so I was pretty impressed with myself.‭ ‬It did take until eleven since there were a lot of catfish to remove from a lot of hooks.‭ ‬Then the limb hooks had to be re-baited.‭ ‬It was a bit time consuming, ‭ ‬but it was the‭ ‬way things were done on the river.‭

When I arrived back at The Gatehouse, ‭ ‬I was cold and tired.‭ ‬Of course I noticed that the land rover was still in the driveway.‭ ‬I put the bucket of fish in circus tent, ‭ ‬then went inside the Gatehouse.‭ ‬Van had made the bed, ‭ ‬and a fresh pot of coffee.‭ ‬I sure as hell needed the coffee, ‭ ‬so I sat down to beat back the chill.

‭”I thought you would be gone,” I said.

‭”I wanted to apologize for falling asleep on you,” she said. “Too much wine.”

“That’s a good excuse.‭ ‬I hope that is all it was, ‭” ‬I said.‭

“What did you think it was‭?” ‬she asked.

‭”I was afraid that I bored you to sleep,” I said

‭”Not a chance,” Van said moving to kiss me. “I had to do that before we had the next chat.”

“What kind of chat is that, ‭” ‬I asked.‭ “‬I’m supposed to come to some arrangements with you.‭”

“About what‭?” ‬I asked.

‭”Well we want to rent your three campers for a full week first. Then after that we will see what we can do. That is if we need more time or to come back later. It will keep us from pulling our trailer down here.”

“That’s easy one thousand for all three for seven nights.‭ ‬If you go over seven it’s the daily rate for the extra days, ‭” ‬I said.

‭”Do we get to shoot background shots of you included?” she asked.

‭”If I don’t have to talk to the camera man, and he doesn’t talk to me. If either of those things happen it will be a hundred bucks a day period,” I said.

‭”Even if it’s only one word?” she said.

‭”Even that,” I agreed.

‭”How about me staying with you?” she asked.

‭”That would be borderline sexual harassment,” I said.

‭”There is too much of that in this business,” she said.

‭”So I hear,” I agreed.

‭”I’ll go home and get an approval for the expenditure. Just in case they wont go, can we park out own trailers here?” She asked.

‭”Of course ten bucks per trailer per night,” I said. “Five bucks extra if you need to charge your batteries on my electrical system,” I informed her.

‭”Okay, I’ll get back to you,” she said. There was a quick but passionate kiss goodbye before she left.

I forgot all about her as I went back to my work schedule.‭ ‬I started by getting all the fish cleaned and cut.‭ ‬Filleting was just to fancy a word for cutting up catfish, ‭ ‬I decided.‭ ‬I should have decided that a year ago.

I went to the pro/con website where I noticed a message to all the cons about hacking.‭ ‬In order to protect out privacy they suggested we add another operating system to our computers.‭ ‬The one the guy recommended was a Linux system.‭ ‬I spent the rest of the night researching the system.‭

I only took the time‭ ‬because I was going to be doing more business online.‭ ‬It wasn’t just giving out information like before.‭ ‬In the future I would be accepting payments on line.‭ ‬That thought had scared me since mom suggested it.‭ ‬The Linux system seemed a good alternative to the ordinary windows system with‭ ‬it’s‭ ‬hundred extra costs for‭ ‬various‭ ‬anti virus software.

I decided to try the software out.‭ ‬Hell it was free what did I have to lose.‭ ‬Instead of downloading it, ‭ ‬I ordered a copy of the software on a CD.‭ ‬The CD cost barely more than a blank CD.‭ ‬I paid five buck for the software including shipping.‭ ‬Since it was kind of a business expense, ‭ ‬I had mom order it and pay with the company credit card.‭

For the next few days I forgot about it and returned to my normal boring life.‭ ‬Time was slipping by.‭ ‬Time normally moved at a crawl, ‭ ‬but it seemed that something or someone had greased the rails.‭ ‬It just flew by.‭ ‬It was five days rather than a couple before Vanessa called to book the trailers.‭ ‬They were planning to begin shooting after thanksgiving.

Mom planned on doing a turkey‭ ‬with all‭ ‬the traditional trimmings.‭ ‬I really don’t like turkey, ‭ ‬but I learned that it was easier to go along than deal with mom‭ ‬laying a guilt trip on me.‭ ‬She did work hard with the meal.‭ ‬Also there were fewer people each year.‭

Thanksgiving day actually slipped up on me.‭ ‬I hadn’t made any plans at all.‭ ‬Not that there is anything‭ ‬that needed doing.‭ ‬All I was needed for was to show up for dinner.‭ ‬Well dinner called for me to take a cleansing shower after my morning trip up river.‭ ‬I barely made the‭ ‬1PM lunch on time, ‭ ‬but I did make it.

We had my dad, ‭ ‬his new girl friend, ‭ ‬mom’s vet, ‭ ‬Chisum and me.‭ ‬It looked like Chisum and I were the only ones flying solo.‭ ‬I didn’t mind nearly as much as I should have.‭ ‬I was also shocked when the skinny girl with the bright red hair walked from the kitchen with a platter of corn on the cob.

‭”Vanessa what the hell are you doing here?” I asked.

‭”Did you forget we are starting to film day after tomorrow. I came down early to have thanksgiving with Alice and her family. That just happens to include you,” she answered.

Since no one told me about her visit it must have been a conspiracy.‭ ‬Everyone else was grinning like an idiot band.‭ ‬I allowed her to kiss me on the cheek, ‭ ‬before I came out of my state of shock.

She seemed to be really into my family.‭ ‬They of course enjoyed her tales from the Country Channel.‭ ‬She explained how all the shows worked.‭ ‬Mom especially enjoyed the stories about‭ ‬’Aunt Jessie At Home‭’‬.‭ ‬It was one of mom’s favorite TV shows, ‭ ‬at least that was what she said.‭ ‬She also knew a lot about the set they used for‭ ‬that show.‭ ‬Aunt Jessie did a cooking‭ ‬show.‭ ‬It was supposed to come from her home in, ‭ ‬or‭ ‬so the story went.

Vanessa explained that Aunt Jessie was from Arkansas about twenty year ago.‭ ‬The show was shot in her house in the suburbs of Atlanta at that time.‭ ‬Vanessa was filled with that kind of information and didn’t seem to mind sharing it with all of us.‭ ‬She pretty much kept us all entertained during dinner.‭ ‬Without Vanessa it would have been an awkward gathering.

Fortunately it never seemed awkward, ‭ ‬and the food was all delicious.‭ ‬So I expected everyone had a good time.‭ ‬Everyone with the exception of me that is.‭ ‬For one thing I had to avoid the turkey.‭ ‬For another I avoided being alone with Vanessa.‭ ‬She had managed to insert herself into my life without any encouragement from me.‭ ‬That worried me.‭ ‬When people didn’t act logically it bothered me, ‭ ‬a lot.

I felt a little uneasy when the dinner ended.‭ ‬I drove back to the Gatehouse to settle in.‭ ‬My plan was to skip that evening’s hook baiting and go right to the TV/computer evening.‭ ‬Vanessa showed up at the door‭ ‬several‭ ‬minutes after I got home.‭ ‬Since she left mom’s house when I did, ‭ ‬she had to have gone somewhere during that time.‭

She had a plastic grocery bag when she entered the Gatehouse.‭ ‬Inside the bag was a two liter bottle of coke and an unmarked brown bag containing a fifth of Canadian Club liquor.‭ ‬She gave me a hello kiss which I didn’t try to avoid, ‭ ‬though I should have.‭

“You can drink that shit from a peanut butter jar or a coffee cup thermos, ‭” ‬I explained.

‭”I think I’ll go with the Skippy jar,” she said with a grin.

‭”I need to run out to the Circus Tent to get you some more Ice,” I said.

She didn’t comment but she did tag along taking pictures with her cell phone.‭ ‬She made picture of everything.‭ ‬I had an idea what they were for, ‭ ‬but didn’t stop her.‭ ‬I filled a plastic grocery bag with ice cubes from my commercial ice machine.‭ ‬Then we went back inside the Gatehouse.

Vanessa proceeded to get drunk, ‭ ‬while I pretty much ignored her.‭ ‬She gave me her insightful opinions on every TV show we watched.‭ ‬She also cuddled with me‭ ‬on the‭ ‬cabinet with sofa cushions‭ ‬on top.‭ ‬ I used‭ ‬it‭ ‬to watch the TV.‭ ‬The computer table was just a folding, ‭ ‬wooden TV tray from the drug store.‭

“Would you like to go to bed‭?” ‬Van asked as soon as it got dark.‭ ‬She had also had a lot to drink.‭ ‬I’m sure‭ ‬that had more to do with her decision than the darkness.

‭”Actually I’m not sleepy yet,” I said.

‭”I didn’t really have sleeping in mind,” she suggested.

I stood and moved to the narrow‭ ‬bed.‭ ‬It was still‭ ‬slightly wider than a bunk bed.‭ ‬Even skinny Vanessa and barely fit in the bed.‭ ‬Like most other men I wasn’t wired to refuse sex.‭ ‬At least not with a new lover.‭ ‬Also like most other guys, ‭ ‬I rated Vanessa as a lover.‭ ‬She fell somewhere between what I imagined a warm cadaver would feel like, ‭ ‬and a woman having sex for money.‭ ‬Her seeming lack of enthusiasm convinced me there was no hope for her ever getting better.‭ ‬At least not with me.‭

I decided right then we could be friends, ‭ ‬but she would not be sleeping in my bed again.‭ ‬Well maybe if I was out of town‭ ‬it might happen.‭ ‬I got a terrible nights sleep.‭ ‬She rolled around in her sleep.‭ ‬God knows she was drunk enough to pass out.‭ ‬She should have slept like the dead, ‭ ‬but she didn’t.‭ ‬Something inside her made her restless.‭ ‬It certainly wasn’t anything in the night.‭ ‬It was dead quiet‭ ‬like it always is in the country.‭ ‬The bed might have seemed uncomfortable.‭ ‬It was certainly new to her, ‭ ‬even though she had slept in it before.‭ ‬It was also a bed she was‭ ‬not likely to become used to.

When the morning came, ‭ ‬I was thrilled to take a kayak and head up river.‭ ‬I remove a few catfish from the limb hooks and re-baited any empty hooks I found.‭ ‬When I made it home, ‭ ‬it was after‭ ‬10AM.‭ ‬Halleluiah Vanessa was gone, ‭ ‬I thought.‭

She left me a note:‭ ‘‬I’ll be back with three cameramen.‭ ‬We will need the large and the middle size‭ ‬campers for seven full days.‭ ‬I expect a deal‭’‬.‭ ‬The deal was full price for five days and two for free.‭ ‬No services provided.‭ ‬If you choose to live like a pig, ‭ ‬that’s on you, ‭ ‬I thought.‭ ‬Cleaning up after them would be on Joy or Jen.

I had two days before they descended on me like the plague.‭ ‬I wasn’t thrilled to rent the trailers at all, ‭ ‬especially not to Vanessa.‭ ‬As mom would say, ‭ “‬It’s business.‭ ‬You don’t have to like it, ‭ ‬but you do have to do it.‭ ‬That is true even if you owned the business.‭ ‬I was dependent on all the businesses for my livelihood.‭ ‬Even those parts I despised.‭ ‬Damn, ‭ ‬it was a lot like being in prison, ‭ ‬I thought.