The
Continuing Saga of:
”ICICLE BILL and Tommy Two-Head”
Chapter Three: Icicle Bill Meets Tommy Two-Head
I buried Gangster G in the best grave I could manage with a tire-iron shovel under a Mesquite tree in the most desolate place I’d ever had had the misfortune of being. I had no ill-feelings towards G, even though our meeting was the result of a car jacking. He’d done what he’d done for survival, for his family, for honorable intents...I’d just happened by. As it turned out, G’s death had saved the life of Tommy Two-Head. Tom introduced himself and filled me in on the circumstances that had lead to him being tied to that tree while I worked on the knots. He was pretty beat up but he helped me with G’s body.
I cleaned up the blood on the seat as best I could and covered it with a blanket I kept in the trunk. The dope and gun I stashed under the front seat for the time being, along with G’s personal effects. I had my own problems and going on to Vegas to warn G’s sister that she might be in peril didn’t play into things. Now I got this half dead mutant looking dude with a way-out stare to look after. The sun was beginning to set and it created this alien world effect with the sand blowing all around as the wind kicked up. It was a golden dusty lifeless gloss that seemed to settle over everything in the desert. Dust to dust I guess. Tom was finishing off my and G’s cheeseburgers and iced teas and in a garbled mumble posed the question, ”So, where we headed Chief?”
Now there was a question that needed an answer, and I didn’t particularly have one. I didn’t ask for these people’s problems, I surely didn’t need them and they sure as hell didn’t need mine. It reminded me of something somebody had said somewhere, ”Some men are born to a destiny, for others it’s thrust upon them without want or warning.” Yeah, and sometimes you just step in it.
I was standing over G’s grave when I thought that it seemed as an appropriate epitaph as anything else. I knelt down on one knee to brush the debris from G’s probable final resting place. That’s when I sensed a slight movement just out of my vision range, to the side and behind. A surge of panic and adrenaline swept through me. Rule number two, when you rescue someone tied to a tree in the desert, don’t turn your back on them, especially after leaving a loaded gun within reach in a not so well hidden spot.
The pain shot up my arm and leg like a lightening bolt. The next thing I knew I was on my back looking up at the fast darkening sky. Tom was standing over me and he had G’s gun pointing down at me. I’m thinking, ”Damn, I just saved this guy’s life! I guess it is true that no good deed goes unpunished.” Then, BAM!!! An ear shattering explosion filled my brain, gunpowder smell permeated the air and smoke blinded me. Nothing but a shrill nonstop ringing could be heard. As the smoke cleared, another explosion. This one I barely heard.
As
the smoke lifts, so do I. I’m floating outside of my body and
see myself lying on the ground, Tom standing over me. I’m hovering above
the entire scene below. Tom is bending over me now, checking to see if I’m
dead, I am. It’s not so bad, no pain, it’s quiet and peaceful. I
always thought when you die, it’s over, cold darkness...but it’s
not. It’s like you’re still you, just not in the body anymore, you
can still see and think. I can vividly see it all, the colors are brilliant
and every detail is clear. Tom’s dragging my body.
I’m a kid again and it’s summer. It feels like a dream and I’m running through thick cool green grass, my dog Kokomo is beside me. I’m thinking, I have to get to G’s sister, but I’m still running, barefoot in an open field. I have that feeling when you’ve going really fast, your feet barely touching the ground, raw speed and enthusiasm of youth, the feeling of invincibility.
Now I’m at the beach or a lake, wading deeper and deeper. The water is over my head now and I’m looking up at the surface. I’m drowning. Kokomo is on the shore, now he’s standing right over me, barking right into my ear. Incessantly barking. I’m losing consciousness like when you get hit in the head really hard and on the verge of blacking out. A bit like drifting off to sleep. To let go and pass out, to give in to the drowsiness is so tempting, the peace of letting go. But Kokomo won’t let me sleep, ”Bark, bark, BARK, BARK!!!” Alright already! I take a breath and fight to wake up.
Now I’m in a strange room and I’m back in my body. A dark exotic woman is tending to my wounds. My arms and legs are blistered, my mouth is dry. But I’m alive, I’m really alive! I croak out the words, ”Where am I?” The dark woman calmly gives me a sweet smile but says nothing. From the corner of the room, Tommy Two-Head appears. My assassin or would be killer, here to finish the job? My head isn’t clear, I’m confused and everything is cloudy. Tom grins and approaches the bed, he doesn’t appear threatening, perhaps just confident. I gasp out the question, ”Why’d you shoot me?” He seems perplexed at the question.
”I didn’t shoot you Chief, I shot those rattlers that were biting you.” I try and shake the fog from my head, get my thoughts gathered. ”Snakes?” Tom explains, ”Yeah Chief, you musta disturbed a snake pit when you were digging that grave. Four foot ratlers, a bunch of em. They hit all at once, arms, legs...if I wouldn’t have found that .45 under the car seat, you woulda been a goner.”
My car. ”Where’s the car?” Of all the things to be concerned about, it must have seemed strange I’d be worrying about an old junker. Tom wasn’t surprised though. ”Easy Chief, your car’s safe and secure. You probably want it out of sight, huh? I mean with the burying the body and all the blood on the seats, that bag of dope and all. Don’t worry, we’re miles from anywhere, ain’t nobody and nothin’ out here much.”
I whimpered a relieved sigh. ”Yeah, well, I can explain all that.” Why I’m defensive I’m not sure. Guilt? A hint of conscience creeping through my clouded thoughts? One thing I was sure of however, I needed to check the car. Especially the hidden compartment in the trunk. Tom wasn’t in any hurry to hear any explanations though. Easy Chief, you don’t owe me no explanations. You don’t show up...I’m dead. I sensed a but. ”There is one thing I am curious about though, where’d you get the hundred-thousand dollars.” I quickly realize that the hidden compartment wasn’t hidden anymore. I scramble to manage an intelligent response, something coherent that’ll buy me some time. Subtle, yet evasive. ”Huh?”
The dark lady interrupts, ”Enough talk. You rest now Estrano. You drink my tea and rest. You feel better later.” I hope she’s right cause that snake venom coursing though me has got my head spinning like a merry-go-round on bad mushrooms.
