Katheena looked
over at Tellesco, and she nodded at him. She grabbed me by the arm and said,
“Will. You need to tell
Tellesco something for me.”
I said, “OK. What?”
She said, “You tell him that there is a little girl who wants to
talk to him. Then you need
to bring him back to that wagon behind us. Just tell him to follow you. It’s too soon for these other young
men to see.”
So I did. I
didn’t know what the hell was going on. I
was chust along for the ride.
“Uhh. Tellesco.”
He smiled up at me and arose. “Mr. Will. What is it?”
“There’s a little girl who wants to talk to you. Follow me.”
He looked up at me and his face got all screwed-up looking. He said, “Mr. Will. Please don’t make fun.”
I said, “I ain’t. Just
come with me over here.”
He shrugged but his eyes got all misty. Jeez. Friggin Katheena making the weepy dude
cry again.
He caught up to me as I walked to the old wagon hearse. Mayhem snorted and flipped his blue
tail over his rear quarters. He
looked back at the barn with them young fellows all sitting about. They were watching us.
They saw their two friends walk off to the desert, no destination
visible, no X on the map.
Then they turned back to the angry punk on the ground.
Tellesco said, “Her name is Avison Talon Wenondinnay. She was buried with her momma in the
desert.”
I just kept right on walking.
He went on. “She
and her momma were buried in the desert, and them Purple Robes built a mansion
over their graves.”
I just kept right on walking. Shit happens, right? Shit has always happened. Probably will never stop happening.
He stopped and tapped my shoulder. He said, “She and her momma, and all
them other lost souls, they looking to me to do something for them.”
I had enough. I
turned around and said, “Look, Tellesco. I don’t know what in thee hell you are
talking about. So please
shut up and just follow me.”
He shook his head. He
said, “I can’t go any further unless you say that you believe me.”
I said, “Whatever. OK,
I believe you. Now let’s
just go!”
He said, “That ain’t good enough!” Then he began to cry. I mean, full on crying. He slumped down onto his knees and put
his hands up to his eyes and he wailed like a kid who lost his marbles in a bad
game of snake-eye.
Ah, fer fack sake, Francis. I turned back to him, and back there
beyond, I could see them others shaking their heads and turning away. Even that angry punk looked
away. I sat down on my
haunches and patted him on the back.
I said, “Dude. I’m sorry. I really don’t know what you are
talking about. But you
should know that all of us will always protect you. We ain’t got much left, but we gotta
remain true to each other. We
are all we have now, in this fucking war thing.”
He quieted his crying a bit, and he nodded. He took in a big breath and let out a
huge sigh. He wiped his
hands on his naked hips and looked up at me. He had snot smeared and dripping
across his meaty cheeks.
Damn. I forgot
that he was naked. So, I
mean, damn. I Made an
executive decision. I took
off my leather, pulled off my shirt, and put my leather back on. I handed my t-shirt to him.
He said, “Thanks” and then he blew his nose on it and wiped his boogery face off. He began to cry
again. He said, “I really
means a lot to hear you say that, Mr. Will.”
I said, “Damn it, Tellesco! I wanted you to drape that shirt
across your front side. You
about to go see a little girl!”
He started to cry again. He
said, “Oh. Shit. I wasn’t thinking.” Then, in his tears, he did something
very strange. He laid back
in the desert mud and put his legs skyward.
What the fuck?
I turned away. Dude
lost his marbles. I wasn’t
interested in seeing his muddy junk. Hell,
I wasn’t interested in seeing his junk even if it was clean.
I looked up ahead at that giant black horse with the mane and tail
of burning flame and wondered why no one else appeared to be able to see
it? Was I truly
hallucinating now all the
time, from that bump on the noggin I’d taken back at the purple mansion?
Mayhem whinnied and it sounded like he was laughing. He nodded back at me, or was it behind
me?
I turned around. Tellesco
was standing again, and he was wearing my t-shirt. He had thrust his legs through the
armholes, and the t-shirt was pulled up and tied in a knot on the front
side. It looked like a
diaper. His man junk hung
down from the neck hole.
I didn’t want to wear that shirt ever again.
I couldn’t help myself. I
laughed. Tellesco looked
down at himself and then he was embarrassed. Em-Bare-Assed. And bare-balled. Etc.
He pulled the shirt down across his huge thighs and tied a new
knot on the neck hole.
For all his manly girth, now it looked like he was wearing a
fucked-up white speedo.
I couldn’t stop laughing, and he began to cry again.
Damn.
That made me laugh even harder.
Then I heard a whisper in my ear. “Will. Compose yourself. This is a very important moment. Tellesco is about to understand
something new here. It’s a
connection he’s meant to make.”
Awww. Damn. It was happening in the worst way for
that sort of important thing. I
whispered back, “Uh, Katheena, what the hell? Look at him there. He’s all fucked up.”
She said, this, and I could not fucking believe it. I still don’t.
She said, “You need to lend him your leather jacket. He can use that as a kilt."
Oh.
Fuck that shit.
I said, “My leather? No
fucking way.”
The air around me grew very cold. She whispered again, “It’s very
important. This is what
it’s all about honey.”
My damp hair grew icicles and I found that it was actually a very
good idea to comply with my dead girlfriend. I think my balls crawled up inside
me. It got very cold, you
see.
I said, “Hey, Tellesco. Here. Tie my leather around your front
side.”
He came over and said, “You sure? Always mind your leather, that’s what
you always say. Hey there
Miss Katheena. How ya
been?”
Katheena said, “Been busy. Now
do as Will says. You have
some work to do here. You
ready?”
He nodded. He
said, “I know. I thought
she was gone forever.”
Katheena said, “At the fight in the backyard of that ugly mansion,
I saved them. They have
come back to fight, with you. Now.”
I was floored. Hah? He could see her? Then I realized that he could see her
when he was crying. And
now, if he looked up ahead, he would see the wagon hearse and the mighty Mayhem
steed.
I said, “Tellesco, no need to worry. Just keep your speedo diaper on. Here. Just get it cleaned before you return it to me,
cool?”
He smiled and draped it around his front, and the put the arms
into a knot on his backside.
He said, “Miss Katheena, is her mom with her as well?”
Katheena nodded. She
said, “I think you should talk to them. There
is nothing that I can say. It’s
what they have to tell you that you should hear.”
Tellesco said, “She’s really still alive? I thought she was gone…”
Katheena said, “Um. They
are… still not alive. But there is a way that they can move
on.”
Tellesco frowned. His
eyes got wet again. He
said, “I know. I mean, I
know. I just meant to say
that I was hoping that I’d get a chance to see her again. The way that they
were buried together… Her
and her momma. Nobody
should ever…” Then he was
all blubbering again.
Jeez.
So we moved forward, and Tellesco’s shoulders kept heaving, and
when we reached the wagon hearse, I nudged him. He looked up.
He said, “This is that wagon that Mr.
Glinty drives. Look at that
beautiful horse!”
He looked back at the wagon hearse, and the side door
opened. From within the
dark depths of the interior, a face appeared.
It was little Avison.
Tellesco took a step back and his waterworks began anew.
She hopped down and ran to him with her arms outstretched. Thank goodness he wasn’t
completely naked. That
would have been gross.
He stooped down and pulled her up and they hugged and he kept
right on bawling.
God Help You.
God Help Us All.
---willies out.
.
