Chapter 69

I awoke in the small bed wrapped in strange blankets and in a small cold room. I was pretty miserable, but I realized that I should be happy to be alive. Even if sitting up was so painful it took at least ten different attempts in different ways to manage it. The bathhouse was a lot like the ones in campgrounds from kiddie camps. There were ten shower heads on the wall and ten sinks on the wall. There were not any doors on the partition around the eight toilets. It was very much a kids camp ground at least in design.

There was no heat in the bathhouse, so I decided to wait until later in the day. Meanwhile I hoped I got invited to use the bathroom in the main house. Hey it could happen, I thought. I figured the odds at about the same as me running into town for breakfast.

I went back to the tiny house and tried to settle in. I managed to get a fire going it was painful but I managed it. Being in the field as a air force policemen helped with those basic camping skills. Now and then we built a real fire at one of the guard posts. Probably wasn't a good idea but we did it anyway. So the fire in the bucket stove was doable for me. The fire made the tiny house survivable. I would hardly call it livable. I was in constant pain from the damaged rid.

About an hour after I awoke the probably illegal maid came down with a tray she called breakfast. It was some oatmeal kind of gruel and a boiled eggs. It was probably one of the simplest breakfasts I had ever eaten. It was also one of the blandest. Eggs without salt, no matter how they were prepared, were terrible. The same was true of gruel. I had a feeling I was getting a feel for being an 18th century orphans diet.

I wrapped myself in the blankets and lay on the bed. I must have slept some because it didn't seem like a long time before the maid was back with a bowl of beans and a bowl of greens. There was no meat, but the beans had some kind of sauce that made them pretty good. The greens were just greens. One thing for sure, if it kept up I would be healthier than I had been.

If Barry had expected me to cringe when he came in, he was disappointed. I pulled back some to make him feel safe. "Get up bitch," he said. So I had a pretty good idea where I stood. "We found out it wasn't you who tipped off the rip off guys."

"I told you that last night," I replied.

"Well you gonna stay here till you healed up some. The Greens said you could move into the big house, if you wanted." he said.

I fought real hard not to tell him to relay a go 'fuck yourself' message. Instead I said, "I'm okay here. I would like some better food though. Looks like they are feeding me from the field hand pots."

"I'll relay the message. Oh Karen, I hope there is no hard feelings. It was just my job, I had to do it." Barry tried to sell it to me.

"Yeah, I could she how much you hated it," I said.

"Honest, I did not enjoy beating you or Bruce." he informed me.

"Where is Bruce?" I asked.

"They kept him in the Hospital. We are taking care of him. He won't talk. He has nowhere else to go." Barry informed me.

"Ain't nothing to me if he talks. I just drove a truck and picked up a package. I didn't assault anybody," I informed Barry. But once you relax that is all going to change, I thought, but didn't say it.

"True, we are all going to plead ignorance, for some of us it is true." he said with a smile.

"That sounds about right." I agreed.

"Well, I'll pass on your message about the food," he said and left. I didn't want to rush out and give him a beating. I wanted something more subtle for him. Maybe something more permanent, I thought.

I knew I needed the maid to bring food for a few more days, then I needed to get a burn phone and make contact with the state cops. It was about time to get back to work. I had no problem putting the Greens away, even if they were taking care of me. Without their 'help' I wouldn't need taking care of at all.

Dinner that night was late, so I was beginning to think I had pissed them off, and that was fine as well. A nice long prison stay was just the vacation for them and their pet Barry, I decided.

Dinner finally came, it was some Italian dish with pasta and tomato sauce. I really didn't care for it, but I had to admit it was better than the garbage they fed the farm hands. I got myself ready for bed after dinner, since there wasn't much else I could do. There was only one electrical outlet in the workers camp. It was in the screened dinning hall.

The more I looked at the place the more I was convinced it had once been a church camp or something like it. The tiny house I was staying in could easily have been a camp cabin designed for four bunk beds. It probably was reconfigured for a couple of families. A few might be empty now, so that furniture could be used to reconfigure it on short notice.

"Hello in the house," I heard Molly voice say.

"Hello yourself, come on in," I said through the storm door, which was the only door.

Once Molly was inside she looked around for about half a minute. "Get your shit together." she said to me. Then she screamed to someone outside. "Get you ass in here and load Karen's thing in her truck, and get them up to the house. Have them put in the guest house for now. I'll figure out tomorrow where she is going to stay, but tonight she will be in the guest house."