Charit Creek Page 3

  “It’s about time, you big jerk. I’ve been laying here for days.”

  “Hey, I was there when you went into surgery and when you came out.”

  “I don’t remember much other than I was itching like crazy and you wouldn’t scratch me. “

  “Dude, you called the nurse Nurse Ratchet and you asked me to scratch your backside!”

  “Don’t make me laugh, man. It hurts. Seriously, I itched all over, like things were crawling on me. I needed some help. I thought we were buds! Morgan wouldn’t scratch me either.”

  “I love you, man, and we are buds, but not good enough buds for me to scratch your backside. I did buy you one of the back scratchers from the gift shop, though.”

  “I know, and thanks. I’m just messing with you. I hope that nurse forgives me. I was really drugged up.”

  “She was laughing when you said it. I think you’re good. She said it was the narcotics making you itch. Anyway, I called to let you know I’ll be back in town late tonight. I need to be at C-Town tomorrow.”

  “C-Town?”

  “Some of the residents at the different Chartertowns have been giving them nicknames. I guess Chartertown Carrollton is too long. They started saying C-Town, and I liked it.”

  “Cool, I do, too.”

  “The people in Colorado are calling that one SOP-Town.”

  “How’s Uncle Dave like that?”

  “He seems to like it fine. He said it’s ‘charming.’ Louis is mostly living there full time and has gone native. I even hear he is sweet on a woman there.”

  “Nice. I like the names, and good for Louis. Will you be stopping in tonight or tomorrow?”

  “Probably not tonight. I’ll be in tomorrow for sure, but it might be later.”

  “If you come tomorrow, try to make it early. They say I might get out tomorrow, if…”

  “If what?”

  “Well, they gave me two conditions to getting out, and I’ve met one.”

  “That’s great news! What are the conditions?”

  “First, I have to make it down the hall and around the nurse’s station with my walker.”

  “I know you can power through. Even though you feel weak now, you’ll get your strength back. What’s the second condition?”

  “Arrgghh…I wouldn’t tell anyone else other than you or Morgan. It’s embarrassing. I have to pass gas or have a bowel movement.”

  “Haaa! That should be easy for you, man! You’re full of—”

  “Well, I can’t. The surgery and narcotics put everything to sleep down there, and this big male nurse keeps offering me a suppository to help, and I keep saying no.”

  “Take the suppository, Vince. It’s no big deal.”

  “I guess I should. I’m having pains that may be related to not being able to go. It’s hard to tell with all the nerves in my stomach cut from the kidney removal and the drugs I’m on.”

  “I’ll be there in the morning. If you pass your second test, I can take you wherever you want to go. Are you going back to your place?”

  “No, I’m going to C-Town. They have a clinic there that Matt’s parents are working at. I can rest up in the townhouse Uncle Dave set aside for me. It has most everything I need. The big house in Goshen is kind of lonely.”

  “I thought you were going to sell that house?”

  “I was planning to. Then this cancer thing hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought I was going to die and Kate could have it.”

  “Well, you aren’t dying now. So put it on the market and move to C-Town permanently. Everyone loves you there.”

  “I might. I don’t want to crowd Ellie and Malcolm, though. They appear to be enjoying life there.”

  “Man, you can be thick sometimes. I thought you all got over that stuff on the way down from Chicago and are good.”

  “We are. Sometimes I think too much, I guess. Don is coming to pick me up tomorrow, and that’s where I’m going, so you don’t have to make a special trip. He even got me one of those recliners that stand you up for me to lounge in while all these muscles heal.”

  “Tell him not to. I’ll take you home tomorrow. Get some sleep, Vince.”

  “Okay.”

  “Oh, and Vince, one more thing...”

  “What’s that?”

  “Man up and take your suppository. ‘Cause if you don’t, I’ll make you take it tomorrow with me standing right there.”

  “You would, wouldn’t you?”

  “Try me.”

  <>

  Ellie and Malcolm discussed moving back to Chicago. Ironically, it was Malcolm who was most firmly resolved not to. The events six months ago had shaken him. He didn’t have a lot of close friends in Chicago, and he loved Ellie and Kate dearly. Living in Chicago might get them killed, and that scared him deeply. Distance gave him the perspective to understand that Chicago hadn’t been the same to him after his dad died.

  Malcolm had finally gotten in touch with Jeremiah Walker, one of his neighbors who helped defend their hometown block on North Kilpatrick Avenue during last year’s chaos and crisis. Jeremiah had described a slow rebuilding effort and crime rate that, while under control, was still high. More than anything, Malcolm was depressed when Jeremiah said that their block and many others resembled the teeth in a ten-year-old’s mouth; some houses stood tall and strong, and there were gaps in places, missing a home that once stood. The constant reminder of all they’d lost in people and property was depressing.

  Ellie’s job had always been flexible about working from home. Malcolm’s supervisor was currently allowing a remote working arrangement due to the damage of Malcom’s home. However, he was constantly reminded that this was temporary. Malcolm knew he would have to find another job or take a pay cut and a different role if he stayed with his current company.

  Kate was adjusting well. She and Matt were best friends at the moment and becoming closer every day. She was taking classes at the University of Louisville after ensuring the classes would be transferrable to the University of Chicago when they moved back. She hadn’t given up hope of going back there. However, her friendship with Matt was making this time so much easier.

  The Carrollton community had arranged a shuttle into Louisville for some workers and students who needed to go into the city. Guards were armed and ready to get people out of the city at the first sign of danger.

  Elli and Malcom were amazed how fast people were able to pretend what happened recently was merely a blip on the radar.

  “Babe, can you believe how normal things look when we go to the mall or grocery store?” he said to Ellie. “I can’t shake the surreal feeling.”

  “I know what you mean. Madison, Indiana, isn’t all the way back to normal yet. The National Guard hasn’t left yet, and there are lots of damaged and burned-down buildings.”

  “Yeah, they never did catch all those thugs from the gangs.”

  “Vince and Levi took out lots of them. I suspect the rest scattered.”

  “They caught Lew and Javier, who were running the town, though. Once those two were sent to prison, that broke the back of the Madison gang.”

  “What about Tidwell Smith, Malik’s sidekick?”

  “They never could pin anything on Tid. He’s a little simple minded, even if he ran with a bad gang. He says he would have been killed if he ever left Malik, and he’s very sorry. He keeps offering to come to C-Town and do some community service to show he is sincere.”

  “For now, I’d rather not see him. He can just stay in that little cabin on the Indiana side of the river.”

  “I hope you don’t mind, hon. I have gone to see him a time or two. I gave him some fishing equipment and a bit of food. I know he ran with a bad crowd, but I do feel sorry for him.”

  “You’ve got a huge heart, Malcolm. I may not want to see him, but it makes me glad you’re such a good person. Just be careful and go armed.”

  “I always do.”

  <>

  Carol, Tom, and their son Matt
enjoyed the fine three-story condo at Chartertown Carrollton, or C-Town as some were calling it. The first level was mostly a garage and a basement recreational room. The middle floor had the front door, kitchen, and living room, while the bedrooms were on the third floor. It would have been a terrific view of the Little Kentucky River and the new docks had it not been obscured by the walls around the city.

  The Hanovers also had a lovely home in Prospect, the suburb city of Louisville. They normally spent the summer on their 42-foot luxury river cruiser yacht now docked here at Carrollton. During the chaos last year, the Hanovers and some of their boater friends weathered the crisis at Twelve Mile Island in the Ohio River near Louisville. They made do by not running the engines or generators for long, pooling their food, and fishing.

  During that period, two of the men left the island to go to their homes near Louisville for supplies and didn’t come back. That discouraged anyone else from trying. Weeks later, when things cleared up, no sign of either man was found. The other man was divorced and lived alone. The problem was further exacerbated by the fact that so many bodies had been buried as “John Does.” The city hadn’t had the resources to keep the bodies cooled until they could be identified, and no one knew at the time if or when things would clear up.

  Twelve Mile Island hadn’t been immune to problems. At one point, two men in a fishing boat landed on the island and stole supplies and captured one of the Smith family daughters. A group of the men saved that daughter a few hours later and ran the men off with knifes and clubs. They had to be on high alert after that with worry that the men would come back. None of the boaters carried guns since they had always counted on the government to keep them safe. Poor Chloe Smith had cried for weeks after her capture and abuse and eventual rescue and was now in therapy.

  “Tom, do you think we should go back to Louisville? The commute to work at the hospital in Louisville is wearing us down, and things are fine now.”

  “I don’t know. I enjoy working at the clinic here, and the dock is convenient.”

  “That’s true. However, the pay here is low, and as friendly as the people are, they’re somewhat paranoid. They talk like the world is coming to an end.”

  “That’s understandable after what happened last year. The world did come to an end for a while.”

  “Perhaps. They’re probably overreacting, though. It was similar to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, only on a larger scale. The government did what they should and finally got control, similarly to how they did in the aftermath of Katrina. Now we’re living in a community where people walk around with guns on their hips, planning for the apocalypse.”

  “Sweetheart, you’re being a little rough on these people. They’re merely scared, and they’ve been through a lot. So have we. Things weren’t so easy on the island. I like the quaint community and a little gardening. We have a great boat dock, and these people are agreeable even if they are a bit paranoid. Besides, what would they do for doctors if we left? Matt has a girlfriend here now, too.”

  “I suppose you’re right. We’re needed here, and this is a good place overall. We can take the boat back to our home dock a few days a week when we’re working at the hospital in Louisville when we want to get away. Let’s commit to only two days a week at the clinic here. We need to make a living in Louisville and stayed connected. That should be enough for these hicks.”

  “Yes, dear,” Tom said with resignation. When Carol had her mind set on something, it was only a matter of time.

  <>

  Christy and Mary were excited about their purchase. Christy had always been an independent thinker and wouldn’t allow her opinions or votes to be influenced by people who said she should think a certain way just because of who she loved, the same as they couldn’t tell her who to love. As a former Navy corpsman, she was proud of her service and conservative in her fiscal and military values. It was those values that made her feel more closely aligned with the conservative values in America. Even though she’d been told for many years that those people were prejudiced about her personal choices, she hadn’t witnessed enough of it first hand to change her views. Conversely, some of her and Mary’s closest friends were conservative.

  As a shrewd investor, Christy was a big fan of Dave Cavanaugh’s. She and Mary had been fortunate enough to meet him once on a hiking trip in the Colorado Mountains. When she found he was creating a community near San Antonio, she had to be a part of it.

  Mary was a bit harder to convince. Her art gallery in their hometown of Houston was becoming more well known. The profits allowed Mary time to work more on her own sculptures and hob knob with some of the well-known local artists. She was enjoying the life. Mary had been raised in the country in Texas, and her memories of those times were not fond. She was picked on and singled out because she didn’t try to conform to others’ expectations. She marched to the beat of a different drummer. When she found Christy, she found a soulmate who understood her and appreciated her for all that was unique about her.

  In the end, the ladies compromised and chose to buy in Dave’s chartertown project more as an investment and vacation home. If things went bad the way Christy thought was possible, it would come in handy later. If not, Christy was banking on the fact that share prices would increase and she could sell at a profit.

  <>

  Levi’s plane touched down at Boerne Stage field airport northwest of San Antonio. Technically, there were better facilities inside the city of San Antonio, and Boerne field was used more for the small airplanes and training flights. However, Levi wanted to establish a place to land outside the city and close to the Medina Lake location. They’d begun calling this location Turks Head Chartertown after the name of the hill upon which it was built. Levi didn’t doubt it would soon get a clever nickname like some of the other towns, something like Turk-Town.

  The landing was smooth, and Big Jim Tarpley met Levi at the airport in a black Cadillac Escalade and another truck for supplies. He assured Levi that his men would store the supplies and complete the Faraday cage for the electronics.

  Big Jim was what Levi had always assumed the prototypical Texan to be. He was a large man with the trademark cowboy hat, light brown hair, dark eyes, a huge smile, and an even bigger pumping handshake. Levi wasn’t quite sure how to take Big Jim. Being raised in New York and spending so many years in the Israeli army didn’t equip Levi to get an easy read on Big Jim.

  “Mr. Goldman, you’ll find we’re making great progress on our town,” he said.

  “I’m sure I will. I’ve brought a couple men with me to get going on security here.”

  “I suppose that’s fine. We don’t even have all the walls up yet, though. I’m sure we can provide our own security for now.”

  “We want to get you all off on the right foot. My men won’t be any trouble or in the way. Mr. Cavanaugh was adamant, and you have a lot more supplies on the way.”

  “If that’s what he wants, I’m sure we can fit them in.”

  Levi wasn’t certain why, but Big Jim’s body language changed. Perhaps he wasn’t used to having his decisions challenged.

  “I love this location. You have the high ground with a view of the lake. While there are some people living on the other side of the lake, this side is sparsely populated. The access points are limited to a water access and a few narrow roads from the southwest.”

  “Yes, Mr. Cavanaugh chose well,” Big Jim said, gazing around distractedly.

  “I’m not from here. I don’t have a sense if people will move out here from San Antonio or if it’s more for telecommuters. What do you think?” Levi asked.

  “I don’t know, though I wouldn’t worry about it. It might be a bit far for some people who drive to work daily. I have plenty of people lined up to move in who’ll fit in perfectly.”

  “It takes all kinds. Mr. Cavanaugh is insistent that these communities are like miniature melting pots of people who can agree on a combined mission statement.”

>   “Yes, he’s made that clear,” Big Jim said in a tight-lipped way that Levi missed.

  Just then, two impeccably dressed ladies approached.

  “Mr. Tarpley, my name is Christy Kerr, and this is Mary Cahill. We met at the newcomers’ reception. I want to say how excited we are to be here. Will we be able to see where our home will be? We’re so excited to be here and have something like this so close to San Antonio.”

  “We will be sure to let you know, Ms. Kerr and Ms. Cahill,” Big Jim said, making it obvious he put the emphasis on Ms. instead of Mrs., despite the rings on both ladies’ hands. He turned to Levi and introduced him to the ladies.

  “That’s so exciting,” Christy said, appraising Levi. He stood nearly six foot four, with massive shoulders and dark hair. Although his stature may have been atypical of his Jewish heritage, aside from his height and bulk, his face, hair, and general features fit in so well with a family line that could trace his culture back hundreds of years on both sides of his family. “Do you know Mr. Cavanaugh well?”

  “As much as anyone lately,” Levi responded. “I was his bodyguard for nearly two years before taking on this role. I spent time overseas in the military with his nephew Vince.”

  “I met him once,” Christy enthused. “He was so welcoming and sincere. It seems at odds with someone so wealthy and powerful.”

  “Dave is about the most sincere man I know,” Levi said. “I’m not sure what you mean about the wealth and power, though.”

  “I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s that many of the wealthy people I’ve met have a secret vicious side. The ability to walk over people and through walls to get what they want. I didn’t sense any of that in Mr. Cavanaugh. He is a big part of the reason why we bought into the chartertown.”

  “I thought you were part of Big Jim’s folks who were coming in?” Levi said, confusion apparent in his voice.

  “No,” both Big Jim and Christy said in unison.