Chapter 2

Cabin tents rented for $25 a day
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 maker

I was perfectly content to allow things to just move along at a snail’s pace. I was making a decent amount of money and my rent on the Gate house was only three hundred a month. Since all the utilities ran through the company accounts, they were tax deductible. So the only bill I had was the propane gas to run the small wall heater and the on demand hot water heater. All in all I had a very good life.

Gabby came home from her new life in Biloxi. She was an accountant in one of the luxury hotels. It also had a casino, so they needed an on site accountant. She mentioned she wanted to come see me. I advised her to wait a month or so. She needed to give me time to settle down a little.

“Which one of the trailers can I have for a three day visit?” she asked ignoring my advice.

“You need to stay with mom. She will be hurt, if you don’t,” I suggested.

“Okay, but I plan to spend the days with you,” she informed me.

One thing about Gabby if she had something in her head, nobody was going to shake it out. I just gave in quickly to avoid the battle altogether. With Gabby even if I won the argument, I always lost something more valuable.

“So when are you coming?” I asked.

“I’m driving up Friday. I should be there by lunch or maybe in the early afternoon,” Gabby said.

“Okay, I’ll keep Friday open for you,” I said.

The BMW sports car pulled into the small area in front of the Gatehouse. Gabby got out and I swear to god I would not have recognized her if I met her in a restaurant. Her hair was a beautiful honey blond color. She also had her nose done. It was straight and a little longer than I remembered. She had lost at least forty pounds and her butt was higher than I remembered. Not to mention her boobs looked perfect. She looked like a million bucks and her look might have cost someone that much, I thought.

I rushed out and hugged her. “God it’s good to see you,” I said.

“John, I’m so sorry I didn’t visit you, but I just couldn’t stand to see you in there,” she said.

“Don’t worry hon, I didn’t want anyone to see me there,” I said.

“God John, you look so good,” she said.

“Well it’s hard to stay fat on prison food. You have to eat everything to get your recommended daily nutrition intake. If you hate one thing on the menu, you are going to lose weight. I stayed away from the canteen food. I tried to do the time and use as a learning experience. Rehab is easier when you do it that way. I even tried a little Zen, but it wouldn’t take,” I said.

“God you are so together, not at all like I remember you,” she said. “I remember you being all over the place.

“Well, I am for sure no philosopher. I’m trying now to forgive those who I once wanted to kill. If I succeed at that, I will find inner peace,” I said.

“And you don’t mind living in Uncle Keith’s tiny house,” Gabby asked.

“Not at all. Honestly I hope he will come back and I will have to build one of my own,” I said.

“Surely you want one with more space in it?” she asked.

“Have you been to see mom yet?” I asked changing the subject.

“No, but I will go after I leave here I promise. Why don’t we all have dinner together. My treat,” she said.

“Fine, but the only thing worth having as a take out item here is pizza,” I said.

“I can do pizza,” Gabby promised.

“Well come on, if you still want a trailer, I’ll find you one,” I said.

“Actually, I’ve changed my mind. I want to stay in a cabin tent,” she demanded.

“Okay, I have a couple empty. You will have to share a bathhouse and toilet,” I said to try to dissuade her.

“That will be fun,” she said.

“I will stand by with Uncle Keith’s shotgun just in case,” I said.

“This place isn’t that rough is it?” she asked with a smile on her face.

“Honey the way you look, it won’t take a backwoods redneck to get ideas,” I explained.

“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” she said.

We walked the twenty yards to the closest cabin/tent. Like all the others it had a metal bunk bed, a kitchenette, and a desk complete with two chairs.

“It isn’t much, but I warned you. Sure you don’t want to upgrade to a camping trailer?” I asked.

“Nope, I plan to have mom find my old sleep over bag,” she said.

“Well, here is your key to the door. The locks on the inside, shower and toilets are just bolt locks. Give the water about a minute to heat up then go for it. There is just a little heat in the bathhouse this time of year. Most of the time you don’t really need it at all.

“Got ya,” Gabby said.

“Okay while you visit with mom, I’m going to run up the river and check my hooks,” I said.

“Tomorrow morning I’m going up river with you. I know you have an extra Kayak. Uncle Keith never bought one of anything,” she observed.

“Yes, he was a man ready for anything,” I said.

“Yes It’s a shame he was gone when you got into trouble. He probably could have found a way to figure something out,” Gabby said.

“He might have had problems of his own by then,” I said.

“I wonder what happened to him. I’ll bet I could find him if I wanted to badly enough,” Gabby said.

“How would you do that?” I asked.

“Simple, follow the money of course. It’s what I’m good at,” she said.

“Well, if he wants to be found we will know first. If not, leave well enough alone,” I said.

“Okay, I’m off to see mom,” Gabby said. She leaned into me and kissed me. It was not the kind of kiss I expected from my sister. We had never ever even flirted as kids. The kiss was hot and with a lot of tongue. It also included a more than friendly grope.

“What the fuck?” I asked after she broke the kiss.

“I just wanted to make sure jail hadn’t changed you too much,” she said with a smile.

“Well I hope I passed your test,” I said.

“Yes you did, and it won’t happen again. Well not unless you start it next time,” she said.

“Go to mother’s and take a cold shower,” I said.

I was still embarrassed when I pulled up to the boat launch ramp. It stayed with me till I removed the first catfish from the limb hook. I had to concentrate on the task at hand. Otherwise I would likely get gored, or worse get a hook embedded in my hand. For the next half hour or more I concentrated on the fishing,

When I got home with the sixteen fish, I skinned and gutted those along with a lot more from the refrigerator. It was time to fillet and freeze them, I decided. It was a nasty smelly job, but I really didn’t mind it. It was time for me to take a long hot shower anyway. The trips to moms for dinner with the family was a good excuse to do my city boy impersonation. I did it now and then. I was just to bad my appointment with the parole officer wasn’t first thing the next mornings. I could have gotten even more mileage from the shower.

It was difficult to get the ‘party fresh’ clean smell after handling catfish. First I showered using dawn dish washing soap on a sponge. Then after I finished that I put a mixture of lemon juice and bleach on to the sponge, and did it all again. It seemed to do the trick. It was also a lot of trouble, so usually it was just lather up with a bar of soap and rinse a couple of times.

That night I had to smell good for Gabby and probably my dad. Yes we allowed him to attend our family dinners. Hell mom was so over him, she even allowed him to bring his girlfriend dejour.

“John your dad will be here at 7:30. It would be nice if we all were together when he got here,” Mom made it clear she expected me to be in attendance.

“Sure mom, I just got out of the shower, but I should be able to make it fine,” I informed her.

About seven I was planning to leave when a large new black sedan pulled into the drive. The guy blew his horn and I ignored it. I could afford to ignore him. He obviously was not a customer.

Finally he got the sedan and walked up to the gatehouse door. When he was standing on my low deck he spoke. “Hey I’m looking for Gabby Boyd. I hope I’m in the right place,” he said.

“And you are?” I asked.

“I’m the man looking for Gabby Boyd,” he said in his fake bad ass voice.

“Try calling her,” I suggested. Closing the door. I also moved to Uncle Keith’s shotgun.

“Do you want me to kick this door down?” he asked.

I opened the door with the shotgun pointed at the wannabe hard man. “I think that would be a bad idea. I’m on parole and it wouldn’t look good, if I blew your ass into next week. So get the fuck back in your shiny black crew car and move along.

“You think you are some kind of bad ass?,” he asked.

“Not at all, but I will kill your ass and not lose a minutes sleep. You see asshole, Gabby is my sister, and you are some city boy pretending to be a tough guy.” I gave him a smile. “The cops around here keep a close eye on me, you might want to consider that as well.”

He wanted to say something more, but he decided it wouldn’t help. Instead he got back in his car and drove away. I got into my truck and drove to mom’s house. But only after I checked to make sure he wasn’t following me.

Gabby met me at the door with a kiss on the cheek and a laugh. I debated what if anything to say about her visitor. I finally decided it could wait until we returned to the campground. As mom had planned I arrived before dad.

“Doesn’t Gabby look great?” I asked mom.

“She looked better as a brunette,” mom said.

“And with natural boobs,” Gabby added so mom didn’t have to do it.

“And with the ugly pub nose,” I added just so I wouldn’t be left out.

“Well I wasn’t going to say anything,” mom said.

Gabby made a face. We spend the next twenty minutes sitting around asking “What is (Insert name here) doing now?”

Since I hadn’t seen the old dog since the day before, I had to pet Chisum. I didn’t mind of course. He was everybody’s pet.

I noticed Gabby’s phone didn’t ring, which I was pretty sure wasn’t normal. Especially since I knew there was a man looking for her. She obviously was ducking him, which I thought showed her good taste.

“Are you trying to become a hermit like Uncle Keith,” Gabby asked.

“Maybe, but what makes you ask?” I asked.

“Mom tells me to ask you for your number. She won’t give it to me,” Gabby said.

“Well she is trying to make sure none of my prison buddies contact me. Temptation, bubba is thy name,” I said with a smile.

Within five minutes Fred Boyd, aka dad, rang the door bell. Mom might have forgiven him, but that didn’t extend to giving him a key. He carried three large pizzas for four ordinary people. There was destined to be left over pizza for someone.

“Hello everyone,” dad said.

We all mumble versions of hello back at him. I took the pizza and opened the boxes. I placed them on the table.

“You look absolute fantastic,” dad said.

“Gee thanks dad,” I said. Everyone laughed.

“I meant Gabby, but you look good as well,” dad said with an embarrassed smile.

After an hour dinner began to drag on, I wanted to leave. I didn’t much care if Gabby came with me or not. I just felt as though I needed to get away. I didn’t do personal chatting very well, and the questions were getting personal.

“Well guys it’s getting late. I better be moving on,” I said to them all.

“How about I go home with you. I’m kind of tired myself,” Gabby suggested. “Well dad now’s your chance. You and mom alone with a bottle of wine. Hell you might even get lucky.”

I didn’t wait around for their replies. I started moving toward the door. I shook dad’s hand and hugged mom before I walked out the door.

“Mom can I leave the BMW at your house. I’m not sure about leaving it in the parking lot of the campground,” Gabby asked,

“Sure honey just call me if John gets too busy to run you back for the car, and I’ll pick you up,” mom suggested.

Once we were out of sight of the house, I decided the time was right. “You had a guy come looking for you. He tried to threaten me. So we played who’s is bigger. The only question I have is will he be back?” I asked. “And why are you hiding out?”

“Since I have no idea who it is, I don’t know if he will be back,” Gabby said. “Would you sleep in the lower bunk tonight?”

“Who knew you were coming here? It was someone who knew or thought he knew something,” I replied.

“I told my boss and some others around the hotel about you, and this place,” she said.

“Well that narrows it down,” I said. “Let me get Uncle Keith’s shotgun.”

I carried her sleeping bag and two quarter duffel bags into the cabin/tent. From the cabin/tent I walked carefully to the Gatehouse. It was only twenty yards, but I knew a lot could happen in twenty yards.

The intruder alert trap was still set. Every time I left the compound for an unknown amount of time, I set the visitor alarm. Since I don’t use a smart phone I couldn’t check the online video, So I uses a fake leaf on top of the door frame. It is secured from the wind by a tiny bit of double stick tape. Anyone tampering with door will dislodge it for sure. That night I saw that it was still in place. Either it had not been entered, or the person who did it was James Bond.