A Tale from the Hills (24 page)

He soon developed a hunger for late night encounters. His appetite hinted of a sexual need that only his gun and a stranger could ultimately satisfy. He began to think of his potential targets merely as pieces of a game, pawns in a lethal game of chess. It was exactly two weeks to the day after the shooting at the pier, that he set out on another adventure.

William had a preference for Sunday night rendezvous for more than one reason. There was less activity on the streets on Sunday nights. He could not afford to have any witnesses to his big adventures. On Friday and Saturday nights the nightlife went on until the wee hours of the morning. On weeknights he did not want to be out late because he had to get up early and go to work. But he could lie around and be sluggish all day on Sunday and be well rested on Sunday night. If he happened to get lucky on Sunday night, he would be full of energy on Monday and be in good spirits for the rest of the week.

The next week after he shot the man from the pier was one of his most productive at work. No amount of physical activity could even begin to tire him. His coworkers thought that he must have been dabbling in some type of illegal narcotics because of his sudden bursts of energy. He could have told them that his illegal narcotic was hidden in his pants, and he would have gladly showed it to them, but he would have to kill them afterwards. He visualized himself walking along the docks and felling his supervisors and coworkers with shots to the head. The bizarre fantasy helped him through boring days and weeks at his job.

The Sunday night that he chose to pay another visit to the pier was a big disappointment. There was no one there or anywhere in the vicinity. The whole neighborhood was practically deserted. There was a chill in the air and the breeze off of the ocean made it especially cold. He felt a need to meet with someone in the worst possible way. He thought about going to the pier where he worked but his intuition stopped him. He was concerned that someone who knew him would see him there and ask questions, especially if a body turned up the next day.

He was curious about the downtown section of the city on Sunday nights. Since the incidents at Paradise in Wilkesboro, he was completely repulsed by prostitutes. Every time that he saw one walking down the street, or standing on a street corner with her much too friendly pose, he imagined a huge appendage dangling in the front of her skimpy silk panties. Women or men dressed like women, they were all the same to him. He would not even waste a bullet to put them out of his misery, that is, unless he could not find anyone else to be with in that way.

He had not been inside a bar for what seemed like a year, but the sign out front of a dimly lit night spot named
OFFSHORE,
drew him inside. It took him a few seconds toadjust his eyes to the darkness of the room. When he was sure of his step he walked over to the bar. He noticed that the bartender was eager to take his order before he even got to the bar. The man looked him over from head to toe as he walked across the open space between the tables and the bar. At first William thought that his pants must have been unzipped, and he quickly checked to make sure that they were not. His suspicions were laid to rest when the bartender spoke.

“Hi handsome, What can I get for you?”

“Just a beer please.” William replied.

“Sure thing.”

The bartender winked as he pulled the bottle of beer from the icy depths of a barrel that had been cut in half and filled with ice and beer.

“First ones on the house.” he announced as he sat the bottle down in front of the stranger.

“What if I only have one?” William asked.

“Hey man, don’t break my heart so early in the night.” he said and laughed.

William pretended to laugh too.

Business was slow. William figured that Sunday nights were about the same all over the city, even in places like that. He knew something about bars such as this one because Alex used to tell him stories about them. He warned William that even casual conversation might lead certain people to believe the wrong things about certain other people. He said that it was best to avoid bars that catered to certain types of people.

Under most circumstances William would probably have left the bar as soon as the bartender spoke to him, but tonight something was different. He had a hunger that he needed to satisfy, and he was willing to sacrifice a minute portion of his manhood to accomplish that goal. He pretended to enjoy the bartender’s flirtations.

“How long has this place been here?” William askedcoyly.

“At least as long as I have been living in Wilmington. Imoved here five years ago and I have been working here for about four of those years.” the man replied.

“Where did you move here from?” William asked.

“The high country. People like me don’t belong in small towns. Life is too hard. People are too cruel. It’s easier to blend into bigger cities.”

William was looking at him and pretending to be keenly interested in what he was saying, but his mind was fixed on the hard piece of steel that was in his pocket. He wanted desperately to share that secret with the bartender. He had a strange way of knowing that his new friend would be able to keep a secret, maybe forever if things worked out.

“I’m from a small place too, in Virginia.” William said.

“We were practically neighbors.”

“Yeah, small world isn’t it?”

“Do you live here now?” the bartender asked.

“Yes.” William answered. “For about three monthsnow.”

“That’s nice. By the way, my name is Drew.” he said as he extended his hand to William.

William was impressed with the man’s firm handshake.

“My name is William.” he replied.

Suddenly he was not afraid to use his real name because if everything went as well as he planned that it would, Drew would not be around to pass it along.

“Nice to meet you William. I have a good feeling about that name.”

“Thanks, I have a good feeling too.” William replied but for a different reason all together. “Let me have another beer because I have to hit the road soon. Work comes early in the morning.”

“Where do you work?” Drew asked.

“On the docks. I load and unload ships.”

“A manly man. Do you live close by?”

“Not that far.” William lied.

“Then stay for a little while longer. I get off soon and maybe we can walk together.”

William knew exactly what Drew had on his mind.

“Sure, I can do that.” he replied.

He had other things on his mind.

**********

The last time that anyone saw the bartender named Drew alive, was that Sunday night. His bullet ridden, nude body washed ashore four days later a couple of miles down the coast. The medical examiner could not determine the exact time of his death, but the pattern of the bullet wounds suggested that he was tortured before the fatal shot was fired into his brain. Witnesses at the
OFFSHORE
bar remembered seeing him leave with a man that they had never seen before. One of the patrons thought that he would recognize the man if he ever saw him again.

William went to work the following Monday morning in an unusually good mood. Nothing that happened at work that day could make him lose that wonderful feeling that he was the King of the World. He remembered a story that was in the book that Alice won on the same day that she disappeared. The story was about an Emperor and his new clothes. He felt just like that Emperor with new clothes too, but his new clothes used to belong to someone else. His face became flushed and his breathing quickened when he thought about the things that happened just the night before. He would never forget the fun that he had with a bartender named Drew.

He had tried to tell Drew to meet him around the back of the bar, but Drew would have none of that. He wanted to walk out with his new friend named William. He wanted to show off in front of the men who were there night after night. William turned his head so that none of the men could get a clear look of his face. He could not afford to let them remember what he looked like. They quickly walked out of the bar with William in front and Drew close at his heels. Drew placed his right hand on William’s shoulder as a sign that they were leaving together. William did not see it but Drew turned and winked at a few of the patrons as

William opened the door. He wanted them to be envious of his new friend because in four years he had never gone home with anyone from the bar. He never mixed his work with his personal life. But there was something about this new man that had made him change his attitude. He had a good feeling about this guy who was barely even old enough to drink beer.

They walked down the street until they came to the alley that led to the boardwalk. Drew was hesitant about going that way because shady characters were often seen there late at night. William assured him that they were quite safe. Reluctantly Drew followed him. They walked for several blocks before Drew finally spoke up.

“Man where do you live?”

“Just a little further. We’re almost in sight of my building.”

Drew could not see anything that even resembled a boarding house. Panic was only a breath away. They finally reached a section of the boardwalk that had not been used for what looked like years.

“Here we are.” William sniggered.

“I don’t see anything.” Drew spoke and turned to face William, only to see a pistol aimed between his eyes.

“Don’t worry, you will soon.” William added.

He grabbed Drew by the arm and pulled him into the shadows.

“Take off your clothes!” William demanded.

“Come on man, I’m not into that kind of stuff. I just wanted to be alone with you for a while in your room.”

“I know exactly what you wanted, but you’re going to get something else. Now get on with it!”

Drew was too upset to cry. He did just as he was told and hoped that the stranger that he thought that he could trust, would not hurt him. He made up his mind right then and there, that he would never leave with a stranger again. Soon he was naked.

William admired Drew’s naked body. He was handsome and surprisingly well built. A stirring in his pants made him aware of urges that he wanted immediately to suppress. He knew that he would have to finish his self appointed task or suffer the consequences of his wanton desires. He demanded that Drew walk to the end of the pier. As much as he tried not to notice, his eyes were fixed on Drew’s nakedness as they walked to the end of the lonely pier. In order to get his mind off of wanting to reach out and touch the man’s firm body, he shot Drew just behind his right knee. Before he could even fall into the frigid water, William shot him again behind his left knee. As his legs gave way Drew turned and looked at his assassin before he tumbled into the water. He knew by then that he was going to die because of the look of sheer hatred that was in William’s eyes. He had the look of a scary monster from a silent movie that Drew saw when he was just a little boy. He had trouble sleeping for weeks after seeing that movie. And now the monster was back and there was no escape. He resolved himself to his fate. He prayed to the Lord that he always knew in spite of what the old country preacher told him about his one way ticket to Hell. As the bullets were piercing his once proud body, he had gone back to his innocent childhood. He was visiting with his grandmother on her front porch. He died at peace with himself and his God.

William wanted to hear the man beg for his life. He wanted to possess that power of life and death over his humble prey.

“Hey man, do you want me to stop?” he screamed into the night.

Drew looked up at him with peace in his eyes.

“Yes please.” he said.

It was all that the madman needed to hear. He felt power in his hands and body. He smiled at his humble prey, winked, and fired the shot that ended Drew’s pitiful life. He tenderly picked up the clothes that Drew would never wear again and returned to his room at the boarding house. That night he dreamed wild, exciting dreams about running naked in a field of clover with a perfect stranger. A stranger that was perfect in every way like someone named Drewfrom his recent past. He woke up out of breath and sticky all over, and he remembered that the stranger was full of bullet holes, just like Drew.

**********

The bar was closed on Monday, so it was Tuesday before anyone suspected that anything was wrong. Drew did not show up for work at his usual time and his boss knew that something was not right. He had never missed a day of work in the four years that he had been working at that bar. He had even pulled his shift when he was sick. When the owner of the bar called the rooming house where Drew lived, he was told that Drew had not been there since the last Sunday afternoon when he left for work. A couple of the regulars at the bar told the owner not to worry because Drew was probably shacked up with the guy that he left with on that Sunday night. Nevertheless the owner was concerned anyway.

By the third day Drew’s boss called the police to report that he was missing. The police were unconcerned and unsympathetic right from the start. They believed that he left without telling anyone because that just happened to be the way that ‘those people’ were. It was a repeat of the same old tired story. Flighty people do flighty things, with no conscience or consideration for others. But the owner of the bar knew differently. He knew that the police were wrong, but he was powerless to voice his objection. He realized that his business license could be revoked at any time because of the inclinations and characteristics of his clientele. Discrimination was alive and well in North Carolina and throughout the South in 1937.

On the fourth day of his disappearance the nude body of a man washed ashore a few miles down the beach from the city limits. Although the body was in terrible shape, the owner of the bar could still identify the once handsome Drew. He would never understand why anyone could hurt such a lovable young man, much less torture and murder him. The medical examiner recovered three slugs from the body but they were not compared to the slug that was taken from the petty criminal’s body two weeks before. The police never asked for a description of the man who was seen leaving the bar with Drew on that particular Sunday night. Another patrol was added to the boardwalk area but that was the extent of police activity after the murder. The owner of the bar buried Drew in the city cemetery. It was a very sad occasion for him. Drew’s family in the high country never knew what became of their troubled but loving son. The newspaper ran a two column story about the murder. William read the grisly details about the discovery of the body over and over while he ate breakfast on the morning of the fifth day after the murder. He felt very proud that he was responsible for the sensational story. By the time that he was through reading the story for the third time, his ego was fed even better than his body. He saved the story to add tothe clothes that were just the start of his collection.