Desperate Times Three - Revolution (20 page)

Pops stopped ten feet short of the table and hung his head. “I’m sorry for going off on you like I did,” he said. “If I had paid attention to what was going on in the world, I would have already known about this. Can you forgive an old man for being a fool?”

Jimmy nodded his head and was just about to speak when he heard the unmistakable sound of ATVs approaching up the trail. “Oh, shit,” he muttered. “What the hell do we tell them?”

“What do you mean?” asked Pops. “We tell them the goddamned truth, that’s what we tell them. Look, I don’t know what you plan to do, but I’m sure as hell not going to sit here while the bastards who killed Thrill and Katie think they’ve got the one-up on me. No sir! I’ll find those dirty sons-a-bitches and make them pay for what they done. I can promise you that. You and your friends can stay here, if that’s what you really want to do.”

Jimmy thought about that. He had no idea what to do. Ken had always been there to make decisions like these and had taken that for granted. He was going to have to become their leader, and the first test of that leadership was less than a minute away. Jimmy looked to where the trail began at the edge of the woods and wondered how he should explain things to the others.

“Well,” asked Pops, stepping over to Jimmy and placing an arthritic hand on his shoulder. “What’s it gonna be? Are you going to stay here like a kicked dog, or are you coming with me to kick some ass?”

Jimmy clenched his teeth together as he pictured his old nemesis, Mars. “We’re going with you,” he said. “I’m going to kill that son of a bitch.”

“Not if I get him first,” swore Pops. “Remember what I said. Give it to them straight up.”

And that’s exactly what Jimmy did.

“A President needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it.” ~ Harry S. Truman

Patty, dressed in shorts and a red cotton shirt, looked out the window as Sonya negotiated the winding back road that led north out of Rochester. Physically, she hadn’t felt better in many months. There was still some pain in her head, but her doctors had told her that was normal for a healing skull, and that she needn’t worry about it. With her appetite restored, she had to fight the urge to eat like the old Patty. She hadn’t been this thin in decades, and more than anything, she wanted Ken to see her this way. Now they just needed to find him.

Sonya had finally allowed her to watch the news and to surf the internet. The truth hit her hard, and she was speechless for a long while. Ken was running for president, and it boggled her mind. With Sonya standing behind her, Patty replayed the television interviews and saw how the whole crazy idea had been hatched. She thought that Katie Flourish (God rest her soul) had baited Ken into his presidential bid, and that Thrill Melbow (may he rest in peace) had simply added fuel to the fire, practically daring Ken to jump into the fray.

Patty wrestled with the truth and finally came to the conclusion that Ken was only standing up for what he believed was right. Why couldn’t he be president? He was a good, decent, hard-working man with more moral fiber than Washington D.C. had seen since Abraham Lincoln was elected. He was also smart as a whip and didn’t stand for any monkey business. The more she thought about it, the prouder she became of her husband. The further she read, the more likely it looked that he’d actually win the election. He had somehow managed to climb into the middle of a dead heat, and there were still four months before people went to the polls. The experts were already predicting he’d win the race in a landslide.

“President Dahlgren,”
Patty said to herself. She suddenly put her hand to her mouth to conceal her smile.

“Are you okay?” Sonya asked from behind the wheel of the Toyota Camry. “We should be to Minneapolis in about twenty minutes.”

“Oh, I’m fine,” said Patty. “I just can’t believe all of this is happening.”

Sonya nodded. She also felt as if she were living inside a dream. She had known nothing about the woman seated next to her, only that she was in great need of a friend. Sonya and her uncle had rescued her from certain death not once, but twice. She had assisted Uncle Hideo in the tumor removal and had nursed this poor woman back to health, only to find that she was the wife of the man who would soon be president. The thought made her giddy with pride and excitement. At the same time, she couldn’t be happier for her patient. They would find Patty’s husband if it took them all summer.

“You’re going to love Ken,” gushed Patty. “Everyone does.”

“I love him already,” replied Sonya with a big smile. “He’s going to lead the revolution. That’s what this country needs—someone to take charge and make real changes.”

“With God’s help, he is,” agreed Patty, nodding her head. “He can do it, too. Ken’s the type of guy that take any problem, and I mean
any
problem, and look at it with absolute clarity. He sees things all the way through, without preconceived notions, and he doesn’t let anyone stand in the way of his decision making. The more I think about it, the more I know that he’s just the man for the job. He can do this, Sonya. You just wait!”

“You must be so proud of him. I can’t wait for him to see you.”

Patty beamed at the thought. “And I can’t wait to see him.”

They drove the last miles with Crosby, Still, Nash, and Young, playing softly on the radio. A squad car passed them, lights blazing, followed by another. Patty and Sonya exchanged a nervous look as they approached downtown Minneapolis from Interstate 94. There were people lining the overpasses, and the crowds continued to grow as they approached the blackened skyscrapers that had once stood like gleaming obelisks. Up ahead, the freeway had been blocked off, and the few cars that traveled west were being forced to exit on Riverside Avenue.

“This doesn’t look good,” said Sonya. “Look at all the cops.”

The roadblock was manned by no fewer than a hundred police officers dressed in full riot gear. Most held shotguns and rifles, and it appeared they were quite ready to use them. Banners hung from the overpasses, and Patty was speechless as she read her last name in many of them.

“Oh, dear,” Patty finally managed. “What’s happening?”

Sonya signaled her turn as a State Patrol whizzed past them. “I’m not sure, but it sure looks like the revolution has started without us.”

“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.” ~ John F Kennedy

Julie spent the remainder of the day in a fog of tears and denial, and nothing Jimmy said seemed to help. She loved Ken like a father and hated Mars with a passion. She lashed out at Jimmy when he explained the situation, but he had been prepared for that and plowed ahead, only leaving out the part about who had taken Ken. He thought it was better if Julie and Bill read the note on their own. Julie screamed when she got to the bottom of the page and continued screaming for nearly two minutes. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she stuck a finger into Jimmy’s chest. “This is all your fault, Jimmy! How could you have left him alone like that? You should’ve known this would happen!”

Jimmy tried to reach out and take her into his arms, but she leapt back as if he were the Devil, himself.

“Don’t you touch me!”

She staggered away, lost in a torrent of emotions that Jimmy knew he had no control over. With Pops and Dunn up in the house, he was now left alone with Bill at the picnic table.

“I don’t think it was your fault,” Bill said, sitting next to Jimmy on top of the table with his feet on the bench. The blue sky had been blanketed by high clouds, and a welcome breeze had kicked up. Bill, barefoot, sat wearing his bellhop pants and a white cotton t-shirt. He hadn’t shaved or showered in days and Jimmy was thankful to be upwind of him. “She’ll come around,” Bill added, pointing at Julie who stood a hundred yards away at the back of the barn, arms held up in the air, screaming obscenities at the sky. “She’s just got to let it all out. You know how women are.”

With nowhere to go, Jimmy felt like a caged tiger as Bill continued to talk.

“How do you think Mars found us?”

Jimmy thought about that as he stared down at the lawn. “I’ve been thinking about that,” Jimmy said with a heavy sigh. “Well, he spent a long time in the military before he got together with Pluto. I suppose he marketed himself as the man who could find Ken and offered his services to the highest bidder. I really don’t know. What I need to know is: what is his real name and where did he take Ken? Did you ever hear him give his real name?”

Bill scratched his chin and looked up to the sky as Julie continued ranting from behind the barn. “I think Wart may have told me,” Bill finally said. “But for the life of me, I can’t remember it. I’ll keep trying, sometimes these things just pop in my head.”

Jimmy nodded his head and looked over Bill’s shoulder at Julie. She was now sitting with her back to the barn, holding her head in her hands. He wondered if Bill was right about her; he certainly hoped so.

“So, what is the plan?” Bill asked, slapping Jimmy uncomfortably on the thigh.

Jimmy got to his feet. “Pops said he’d take care of it, whatever that means. I think he knows a lot of people; at least I hope he does. I agree with him, I think we’ve got to get moving and find them as soon as possible. I don’t think there’s a chance in hell that Mars would let Ken walk away after the election. He hates Ken.”

“Yeah, he sure does,” agreed Bill. “Ken’s lucky if he isn’t dead already.”

Jimmy rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth. “We can’t think like that. Do you understand me? All of our people are alive, including Ken.”

“Oh, I know Cindy’s alive. She’s just laying low somewhere. She may have met a boy. That’s what I think. You know how kids are at her age.”

Jimmy nodded, but he wasn’t listening to Bill. Julie was on her way back, walking slowly with her head down and her shoulders slumped. Even from fifty yards away, Jimmy could tell that she was still sobbing.

Bill turned and spotted Julie. “Oh, great. Here she comes, and I’ll bet she doesn’t even apologize to you. Why is it that women think that they can get away with anything if they cry? Like that’s supposed to make everything all better. Look, this is what I’d say to her. You say: you owe me an apology or you can talk to the hand. Then you hold your hand out, like this.”

Jimmy fought the urge to sock him in the jaw as Bill held his hand out in front of him. “Look, why don’t you head on up to the house and get something to eat? I need a few minutes alone with her, okay?”

“Don’t put up with any more of her bullshit, Jimmy. I’m warning you…”

At the zenith of his anger as the very last thread of Jimmy’s sanity began to fray, Bill stood up from the table and rubbed his stomach, then quickly held out his left hand and pointed to it. He turned and walked up to the house. Jimmy took a deep breath and tried to shake off the overwhelming urge to kill Bill. He took another breath and prayed for a little help. That didn’t seem like too much to ask for; at least he hoped it wasn’t. Thankfully, Julie had slowed her walk to almost a crawl. He took that as a good sign.

“I’m sorry,” Julie said, still staring straight down, watching her teardrops fall. “I’m so sorry, Jimmy. Can you please forgive me?”

Jimmy took her into his arms and held her as she nearly collapsed into him. She cried as if she had lost her own father, and Jimmy finally let go and cried himself. They stood there together for a long time, holding each other, lost in a mutual sea of sorrow.

Finally, Julie tossed her hair back over her shoulders. Her face suddenly became full of rage. “I’m going to kill that son-of-a-bitch,” she hissed. “I’m going to do it slow, and I’m going to make him beg me to do it. Don’t you dare forget that, Jimmy. His ass is mine!”

Jimmy rubbed the tears from his eyes, and oddly enough began to smile. “You’ve got it, baby,” he said, taking her hands into his own. “Let’s go see what Pops has in mind. I don’t want the trail to get cold.”

“Right,” agreed Julie. “We’ve got to get moving. I’ve got a score to settle.”

“
Aggression unopposed becomes a contagious disease.” ~ Jimmy Carter

Sonya pulled the Camry to the curb, and she and Patty got out. The sidewalk was filled with people heading toward downtown. They joined them, unsure what they were heading into. They walked at a slow, but steady clip as Sonya knew that Patty was still weak from her treatments. Still, Patty surprised her by showing an incredible amount of stamina for a woman her age who had just fought the battle of her life.

Up ahead was a scene of pure anarchy. Hundreds of people were out in the street, throwing stones at a line of shield-wielding police officers. A young, scruffy-looking man with a bullhorn was urging the protesters on as a television news crew captured the scene on camera. Patty suddenly broke into a run, and much to Sonya’s shock went straight for the man with the bullhorn. It was all Sonya could do to keep up.

“Stop that, right now!” demanded Patty, sticking a finger in the young man’s chest.

Sonya growled as he watched the man swat Patty’s hand away. She held her hands to her mouth as Patty reared back and slugged the young man with a haymaker that connected straight to his scrubby chin.

“You bitch!” roared the young man, holding his hand to his bloody mouth. He held his hand out as if he was about to slap her, but Sonya was suddenly standing between them.

“Don’t you dare,” spat Sonya. “Do you know who this is? This is Patty Dahlgren. Have you heard of her, the woman that’s been in the news, the one that everyone has been looking for? Does that ring a bell? This is Ken Dahlgren’s wife!”

The young man stared at Patty for a long moment with hatred in his eyes, but the hatred quickly faded away as it seemed everything suddenly clicked into place. “No way,” he said in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?”

The television crew caught the exchange and herded around Patty as she tore the bullhorn from the young man’s hand. ”Do I look like I’m kidding?” she asked, her eyes wild with anger. She studied the white bullhorn and found the trigger. She held it to her mouth and paused, gathering her thoughts.

“All right, Patty!” shouted Sonya. “You go, girl!”

“Everyone listen to me!” Patty roared into the bullhorn. “Stop what you’re doing and listen to me. My name is Patty Dahlgren, and if that means anything to you, you’ll stop this nonsense and listen to what I have to say!”

Sonya looked around and saw that Patty had caught the attention of those people within fifty feet of her. Slowly, others stopped their rioting as Patty continued to plead with them.

“Please, stop all of this! I know you’re angry; we are all angry. But throwing rocks and burning things isn’t going to solve anything! Can’t you see that? Please, for the love of God, you have to stop!”

Sonya gasped as word spread throughout the crowd that Ken Dahlgren’s wife, the woman he’d been pleading for information about, suddenly appeared before them. A crowd began to form around her, and it seemed to double in size with each passing minute.