the empty road - 19. the circus

by bofa xesjum

part nineteen of forty

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daggett was born under a bad sign, and raised in the hills by wolves who were loyal to no man. when he was old enough to walk , he walked into town and was picked up by a traveling circus. he was billed as the world's youngest geek, by the maestro, shady ray meadows, a hardened con man. ray meadows taught young daggett everything he knew about playing chumps for suckers, and suckers for chumps. daggett was a quick learner, especially in the art of the double cross, to ray's cost. there was a hoochie-coochie dancer with the circus, named lily, and she belonged to ray. little willie, as dagget was then known in the circus, began following lily around. lily laughed, as did most of the performers and roustabouts, but ray didn't. ray could not stand to be crossed , even by a little kid. lily was his girl, see, and it was no laughing matter. but daggett had learned a few things from the wolves. they found ray one morning with his throat cut. or maybe torn out - so some folks said. little willie was gone - so was lily. they kept it in the family. ray's brother sam took over. the show went on. town to town. nobody talked. circus! next

the empty road - 18. the ant

by bofa xesjum

part eighteen of forty

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the rain stopped and the sun suddenly came out, and john blinked and remembered an incident from many years ago. he had somehow escaped from james and eileen and was waking down a cracked sidewalk all alone by himself. a big blade of grass stuck through up one of the cracks - the biggest john had ever seen. he heard a dog bark somewhere but did not see any dog or any other living creature. he realized he was all alone in the universe, and was being watched all the time. that was all very well, but who was watching him, if he was all alone? then he saw an ant , and everything was back to normal, just like before. the ant then crawled away to its own destiny, leaving john to his. john never mentioned his experience to james or eileen or anyone else. now the sun was in his eyes through the mcdonalds window. daggett and the director were walking across the parking lot. the director had his eyes fixed in the ground. the ever vigilant daggett looked left and right. suddenly john saw both of them clearly. just like the blade of grass. so many years long ago. in the bright sunlight. blade of grass. dog barking. grass. next

the empty road - 17. the mall

by bofa xesjum

part seventeen of forty

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the morning had been sunny, but it started to rain just as daggett turned the limousine on to highway 66. the director was in the back seat, and the body of the unfortunate redheaded messenger was in the trunk. having escaped, for now, the minions of the directory, the director was pondering what new identity to assume. a wandering minstrel, perhaps, or an old salt shipping out on a tramp steamer. he discounted becoming an assassin again - the commission would be expecting him to do just that. and besides, he told himself, he was tired, so tired, of the whole killing game. a somewhat less violent occupation might, perhaps, be more suitable to his advancing years. his doctors had been telling him for years to reduce his stress level. this reverie was interrupted by daggett, as they approached a roadside mall.. it might be a good idea to get something to eat. i suppose if we must, we must, the director sighed. you can’t go wrong with mcdonalds, daggett assured him. you can go in, i will wait here. you should eat, keep your strength up. yes, you are right as always. so what will it be? get me a sandwich. and black coffee? black coffee. look! next

the empty road - 16. the window

by bofa xesjum

part sixteen of forty

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the road runs on and on and on, as the night turns to day, but no wanderers walk beside it. there are no lonely cafes with a single gas pump, only malls with huge parking lots and liquor stores. john pulls delilah into one of the lots, gets out in the rain and heads to a mcdonalds. there are no other customers, only two women behind the counter, one of them a teenager. not a likely spot for the beginning of an exciting adventure, but john is not disheartened. he knows his prospects will improve when he gets deeper into the heart of america. the bleak land where the flowers of violence bloom in the undergrowth of desperation. where. everybody had a story to tell, and all night to tell it. but now it is morning and john suddenly feels a great weariness. he orders a bacon egg and cheese breakfast sandwich and coffee. the woman who is not a teenager watches him pay.. his card is not accepted by the little machine. neither of the two women make any comment. john pays with a ten dollar bill. the older woman gives him change. he leaves a dollar tip. john finds a seat. beside the window. and looks. outside. next

the empty road - 15. the wanderer

by bofa xesjum

part fifteen of forty

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andy and al fisher sold the pizza shop, and the new owners decided to convert it to a nail salon. the nail salon did not employ any drivers, and john prester was out of a job, just like that. he was entitled to three months unemployment under the state law, but made no effort to collect it. he decided to become a wandering adventurer, and to fight crime and evil wherever he found it, he had been saving his hard earned money, to get into some kind of police academy now he took the money and bought a 1992 ford f-150, to roam the countryside. john named the 1992 ford f-150 deiilah, and painted it a dark military green.. he hoped it would strike fear into evildoers, all over this great land. over this once great land, now brought low by corrupt spineless bureaucrats and by even more corrupt and evil politicians, and the media. all that was just words - it was time for action. john eased delilah on to highway 66, heading west. the night was cool and calm, like john himself. maybe his heart was pounding, a little. he quickly got into his groove, bad guys, here i come! the night was dark. it was time. payback time. now. next

the empty road - 14. the dreamer

by bofa xesjum

part fourteen of forty

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when the smoke cleared, the manager of the pizza shop fired joe dave rogers, whom he never really liked anyway. bill grady, the manager, was the brother-in-law of the owners, andy and al fisher, whom hardly anybody ever saw . the other employees, especially the drivers, mostly sided with joe dave, whom they considered a real good guy. but mot enough to actually do anything except to ignore john prester even more than they had.. for a while, joe dave would come around to the shop sometimes and buy a slice. but then he stopped and everybody sort of forgot all about him and the fight. all the other drivers except john went back to school or found other jobs the last was janie jones, who gave john a hug when she left. john continued going to the library and reading about the intelligence services. which he still continued to dream of joining, somehow, some way. once in a while, he suddenly thought of janie jones. and of her hug, which he had never expected. he guessed some things were hard to explain. and that had been one of them. maybe janie was just a hugger. that must be the answer. john dreamed about janie. not every night. just sometimes. janie. next

the empty road - 13. the job

by bofa xesjum

part thirteen of forty

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thwarted in his attempt to become an assassin, john got a job delivering pizza and other types of fast food. he delivered mostly to the suburbs and to small towns so the job was not was not particularly dangerous . how john wished it was more dangerous, so that it would give him a needed feeling of self-worth! he saved his money to take classes in martial arts and to buy weapons to practice with. everybody in the modern world is a dreamer and wants to be more than they are. john did not hang out after work with the other employees at the pizza shop. the other employees did not like him much and did not like his attitude, a fellow named joe dave rogers took a particular dislike to poor john. one night john got lost delivering a pizza with anchovies to westwood. it took him forty-five minutes to get back to the store. joe dave rogers saw fit to give john the business. john ignored him, but joe dave kept on going. you think you are something, don’t you, preston? maybe this will teach you some humility. janie jones, another driver, butted in. it started to get ugly. don’t you get involved. you don’t approve? too bad. fight! next