Chapter 5: Stolide - Stupid

I remember driving back from Vegas in a rented red convertible. We were on the edge of the high plains leading to Reno when the headache started to kick in. I remember saying something like "I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive..." I remember thinking that it looked like the sky was full of huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car.

I woke up in what looked like a loft. The air was cool and I could hear the sounds of the bay off in the distance. A beautiful brown haired, olive complexioned woman leaned in over me and smiled a small, wan smile. "Ah, at last you're awake, Carter. We have to talk."

I got up out of the large brass bed and went downstairs and sat at a small cafe table. As she puttered in the small kitchen making tea, I looked around me and noticed that Natalie was sitting on the balcony. She was watching the bay and sipping coffee.

The dark woman returned with a pair of over-sized tea cups and sat with me. "Carter, there's bad news."

"Who are you, and what am I doing here?"

"Don't you know who I am?"

I Looked closely. She seemed familiar. I probed her and recoiled. "Martin? You're Martin?"

"No, I'm Martine. I spent my time with you as your preceptor, being a man, because it was easier for you that way. Near the end, it was hard to keep up the illusion."

"You've been a woman this entire time?"

"Yes, Carter."

She looked no more than thirty five. She was thin and elegant, everything I remembered Martin to be. As I thought about it, it made more and more sense. There had always been something comforting, warm, and almost delicate about Martin's work, his power. The answer sat in front of me. She even smelled like Martin. I liked that.

I shook my head and smiled to myself. "Bitch."

I expected her to laugh at me and say something like 'Idiot'. She didn't. She just looked at me and a tear formed in her left eye and drained down her cheek.

I got worried. She looked at me and said. "It's time for you to remember what happened, but I'm not strong enough to force you. Please let me in."

I allowed her power to enter me, and I began to remember.

I'd pulled the convertible over to the side of the road outside Reno and was mostly passed out. Natalie was worried about me. She didn't go for help though. We both just waited. Sometime later a huge seven passenger Bell helicopter landed close by. The sand and gravel whipped up by its landing darkened the air briefly until the rotors slowed down.

Four men got out. Two of them were the big hired muscle I'd seen at the Illusions. They looked every bit as slow and stupid as when I'd seen them in the casino with the fat woman. In front of the pair of muscle twins was a greasy looking fireplug shaped guy with a flattened boxer's nose. Behind the three goons came their boss. He was a really big, fat man. He had to be six foot four and maybe four hundred and fifty pounds. There were rolls of fat under his red, ugly face. He wore rings on each finger. He was wearing a silk Armani suit. There were sweat stains under his armpits. Together, they all walked up to my car.

I was unable to move more than just a little. I grunted and twisted a little onto my back, looking up. The big man was a powerful, powerful telepath, and he was controlling me. I could feel the air, all thick and resistant about me. My limbs weren't working right, but I was still able to think. He walked up and leaned over the side of the car. He slapped me and then spat on my face.

"You fucking piece of shit. Fuck you."

He hit me again.

"No one fucking takes me, no one takes Vincent Palmieri."

Another stunning slap across the face.

"You think you can walk into my fucking town and fuck with me? Huh, you fucking piece of shit? You can fuck with me? You can FUCK with ME? ME?"

I couldn't think or speak. Natalie sat in her seat and stared out the window, smiling at something. I wanted to ask her to do something, but I couldn't.

"FUCK YOU, punk. FUCK YOU! Then you fucking steal this nice piece of ass from me and fuck her head up? You think you can ruin one of my girls and walk away? FUCK YOU. Your time is up, asshole."

He slapped me a couple more time. He was red faced and sweating in the hot desert sun. Somewhere distant a bird cried. He paused and collected himself. He took an expensive silk handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his mottled red face with it. He looked at me and smiled a sick, nasty smile.

"I'm a generous fucking kind of guy though, asshole. All those movies, when the fucking punk dies, what does he always do? A punk, he calls for his momma, doesn't he? He begs for momma."

I couldn't move or reply. I knew something really, really bad was about to happen.

Vincent took a cell phone out of his pocket and waited a moment. His face took on a distant look, and I could feel his power reaching out. The phone rang. He looked at me. "It's for you." He handed the phone to Mr. Broken Nose.

"Clean this up when it's over, Manny. My money is here somewhere. Bring it with you when you come back." Vincent and the muscle twins walked back to the waiting helicopter. As Manny leaned in over me with the phone, holding it to my ear, I could see the helicopter rising in the distance, headed back east.

"Carter baby, this is your momma, Sweetie. God spoke to me darling. Jesus woke me from a dream baby. Jesus had a message for me. I got everyone here with me to hear the message baby."

"Daddy's here, with Charlotte and Bill and the babies. Everyone came right over. Your brother Mike is flying in, but I don't think he's gonna be here in time for Jesus' message. Pastor James is here with that pretty wife of his too. I'm so happy Sweetie. I wanted to give you Jesus' message first. Here it is, here's what our sweet Lord said to me."

"Welcome to hell, you piece of shit."

"I'm taking us all to heaven now, Carter. Bye-Bye Sweetie, see you in the arms of our sweet loving Jesus." I could hear her drop the phone but it didn't hang up. There was a moment of silence, and then I heard distant screams and gunshots.

My face felt hot and wet.

Manny folded up the phone and tossed it into the car. He shoved me over into the passenger side, and pulled the car back onto the highway. He drove for a long time, out into the empty countryside. After a while, we arrived at an abandoned gravel quarry. There was a dark black lake at the bottom of the quarry. From where I lay in the seat, I could see the blue, blue sky and a little of the quarry. Something inside me was screaming. Manny grabbed me by my shirt and belt and dragged me out of the car like a sack of potatoes. He dragged me in front of the car and dropped me like a rag doll where I could see the radiator and the driver's side.

Then he grabbed Natalie from the back seat, and she came along with him silently. He dragged her out of the car by the hair and shoved her up against the hood where I could see both of them. He laughed in my face and then turned to her.

"Hi baby. You're one sweet piece of ass, you know that?"

She smiled at him distantly.

"I love it when Vincent gives me jobs like this, you know?"

He reached out and tore her blouse open. One of the buttons bounced off of my forehead and landed in my lap. He smiled at her and jerked her bra up off her breasts so hard that the underwire left a red welt. He leaned down and licked her nipples, one after the other, then he bit her left breast so hard that it turned white and then began to darken with blood under the skin.