Aftermath Page 2

  She recognized me and we talked a bit. From what she says, she is married to some guy that she had a kid with. She appeared to be happy. So, I would suggest you not bother her. There is nothing good to come from trying to bring up the past with a married woman. I would not take it too calmly if my wife’s ex tried to come back into her life. You know what I mean?”

  Jon nodded his head to his brother. He knew that it would only cause problems for her. There was no reason to do that to her. She was a good girl back in his day and she would have never done something like that to him.

  “Do you know a guy named Mick? He works down at the bar on Route 199.” Jon asked.

  “I have heard of him. I also heard that place has a questionable reputation. I don’t know if its rumors or something more. Some of my friends joke about that being the place to get drugs. All you have to do is put a twenty on the table.” Frank told Jon.

  There was nothing left of the topic to discuss, so they discussed the last eight years that he had been gone. Before either of them realized it, they were both drunk and passed out on the living room floor.

  With a heavy pounding head, the brothers were woke up by Frank’s wife. Like the good wife she was, she gave them both a kick and told them to get off the floor. “You two look like a pair of worthless dogs. Get up and clean yourselves up.”

  As she walked away, there was some more things said, but nothing nice. Jon heard everything, but only told his sister-in-law good morning. Frank on the other hand asked his wife is she wanted sex or food. All three of them laughed when she stuck her head out of the bedroom and told Frank to make some coffee and pancakes.

  It was a good start to the day while the three of them talked and ate their breakfast. The brothers for the most part felt like they were back to normal, and Frank’s loving wife went to bed.

  This time, the brothers sat on the porch with a cup of coffee. Frank gave a warning to Jon, “Don’t dig up the past. It was not as nice as you’d like to remember. A lot of people got hurt and some might hold a grudge against your friends.”

  Jon remembered the parties, the girls, and the hell they all raised. Then again, there were fights, drugs, and other troubles that came to mind. That is what got him wondering if his childhood was much different than others. Were he and his friends really as bad as it seemed that his brother was making them out to be?

  With nothing left to be said, Jon drove back to Fostoria. He parked his car at an old ice cream shop and walked around. He had nowhere to go and no one to see till noon. He needed to figure out what it was he needed to know.

  What struck him was how his hometown was no longer his town. Walking in his hometown, people could stop to talk to him if he was walking. He would see people he knew and feel at ease. What he thought would be a pleasant walk, ended by him seeing familiar faces that in reality either turned away, or gave him the impression that they wanted to do something evil to him.

  This was not his home, but a place he would come back to see his family. Jon finally realized that his home was somewhere out there, but he just needed closure here to go find it. Only then could Jon leave to have the life he wanted.

  Finally, he walked into the bar. There sat Mick with papers covering a table and a cup of coffee next to him. It felt odd to Jon to see a bar with all the lights on. The filth and grime, the walls looking so plain, and just an empty feeling filled the place. Seeing the bar for what it was, he wondered how he or others found these places so alluring.

  Mick looked up from his papers and waved Jon over. “Riggs, how are you? I am glad you came back. Have a seat and I will get you a drink.” Mick started talking again when he got behind the bar. “How would you like my special drink? I promise it will make you feel great.”

  Jon went to answer when he noticed Mick playing with an espresso machine. Mick didn’t wait for an answer and was halfway through when Jon sat down at Mick’s table. “What are you doing here? It looks like you’re doing the bar’s books.”

  Mick told him that is what owners do. Then said “I can tell you my story later. You didn’t come here to talk about me. You want to know what happened to everyone you knew. So, let me start with a few happy stories that happened here.”

  The look on Jon’s face told him to start telling everything.

  “Ok, so let me start with Duke. I think it was around the time you left. He and Bearman had started to plan on how both of them could get out of everything. Duke had gotten engaged to his girlfriend. Even with all the craziness that happened, he found a way to escape the madness.

  After everything crashed and the world seemed to have ended for a lot of us, Duke and I went to Bearman’s lawyer. Fortunately, Bearman had the foresight to set up a plan for us to protect ourselves from a big bust.

  Lots of cops, public people, and powerful people went down. Duke had a book with everything Bearman knew. All his contacts and their details were in that book. Not many people got out without paying heavily.

  Duke and his girl went down to Columbus where he became a preacher. From what I have heard, he is good at it too.” Mick stopped for a moment to think about the past.

  Then Mick’s face became very sour. It looked as though he was close to becoming emotional and needed time to think before continuing. Instead of saying anything immediately, he got up and went to get himself a coffee.

  Neither of them said a thing while Mick got his coffee and returned. As he slid the chair back under himself and sat down, he got a little smile.

  “You know that Scott Bearman was a hell of a guy. With all of his flaws, he would go to the end of the earth to help a friend. If someone tried to cross me, Bearman would be there and put them in their place.

  He was a real friend to all of us. Those of us who worked for him had never known anyone so good to us. I had the chance once to save him and show him that I was there for him. That was one of my proudest days.

  You see, things changed quickly. Jay Himlee was buried, then Mark Himlee left town. Bearman told me he gave Mark money to go do something different and get out of this life. Since his brother was dead, Mark didn’t feel like he had to stay.

  When the Himlee brothers were out of the picture, we grew and spread out. We had business going in Toledo and more towns.

  Then after a gun deal went south, we made an enemy of a group out of Detroit. I still think they are the ones who killed Bearman.”

  Jon spoke up. “Wait a minute, Bearman is dead? You’re telling me that Jay died, but not how. Then you tell me Bearman was killed by a group from Michigan. What the hell happened?”

  Mick gave it some thought on how to answer Jon. “According to the papers, Jay killed a girl and hung himself outside of Fostoria. The found a knife with blood all over it, and blood all over his hands. As far as I am concerned, Jay got off easy. Either way, Jay was done causing problems and our lives got better.

  Bearman on the other hand, went to a little area that not many people knew about in Risingsun to make a deal. He told me it was his last deal and if I remember correctly, he wrote a note to Rose saying the same thing.

  He also told Duke that the raid was coming in a day or so after that deal, and that is why we went to Bearman’s lawyer. It was what Bearman told us to do.

  Well, I heard about Bearman while I was sitting at a table with Duke across from some lady making a deal for our immunity. She told us that Bearman was found dead in a burned-out truck. There was no expression or sympathy from her or her people. That lady was colder than anyone I had ever met.

  I don’t know how Duke kept himself together, but I fell apart. Once I pulled myself together, we finished the agreement. I got to keep everything I had and so did Duke. We turned over all the information we had and there was a lot of arrest made.

  Dan was missing and people assumed that he had something to do with Bearman’s death. The rumor that many people repeated was that Dan found some drug rivals to Bearman, then had them help kill him.

  I heard his parents split a few
years after that. As for Duke, he left town with that Jenny girl and they never came back. Rose left for college and got married to a guy she met down there. I used to check in on her, but once she got married, I stopped hearing from her. Some of the guys that used to work under Bearman used to stop in here to talk, but that came to an end too.

  Now no one from our old life is around. That is why I am excited to see you. I don’t expect you to be around long, but an old face is nice.”

  Mick stopped talking and seemed to get a half smile, as a thought from the past came back to him and it was a good memory. He looked at Jon shortly after that and apologized.

  “No need to apologize, it sounds like life went to hell after I left. Was Dan ever found?” Jon asked.

  Jon noticed Mick didn’t have anything to say, so he decided to fill Mick in on his life and what had happened to him.

  “You know, after I got out of boot camp, I got stationed at a few places. I was in Cuba, then Japan, and once I started to think I was going to sail through the marines, I found I had a dangerous assignment.

  I can’t go into details, but I found myself in the Middle East. We went to secure an American property. I had to go with a team of six to hold at the rear entrance. While we were there, the mission went to hell.

  A man came running up towards us. We all pulled up our guns. I don’t know if it was me or one of the other guys, but he was shot in the chest. That stopped him, but a bomb strapped to him went off.

  That is when the others came rushing towards us. There was not much time, so I told the team to get in and close the gate. The banging and the shouting were so loud! It was like nothing I had heard before.

  We knew that the people on the other side wanted us dead. When we were told to get up front with the rest of the squad, we double timed it. It was a good thing too.

  Once the last of my team got into the building, you could hear the back gate start to give way. None of us looked back, until a loud explosion came from behind. Then we heard the cheering of the mob. I think we all knew they had gotten through.

  It felt like a mile sprint to get up front with the everyone else. I started to feel safe, as if we got away. Then Quincy got shot and dropped to the ground. Only my lead and I saw Quincy fall. The other guys kept running while we stopped to pick up our brother.

  As we got down to pick him up, it was a shooting range. Everyone with a gun could and did fire it. There was no time to think, only act. I guess that is what all that training was for. Because I just reacted and pulled Quincy to the truck.

  He was screaming and asking us to save him. I would have pissed myself if I could, that’s how cared I was. The bullets were going both ways and more than I liked were coming to close me.

  Once we got close enough, two of the guys in the truck grabbed Quincy and pulled him in. We got in as quickly as we could behind him. Our driver didn’t wait for any commands and took off. The dirt flew and the gun fire didn’t sound as scary the farther away we got.

  After that, Quincy was sent home with an honorable discharge. I heard he couldn’t get past what all happened. I was given metals and was the talk of the base. That was all good till I got transferred. Since then, I have risked my life to save my brothers. “

  Jon had to stop, not for any other reason than it was too hard on him. Jon had lived a life of adventure and those who live adventures tend to carry a lot of pain. The thing was the emotional pain was written all over his face.

  Mick was able to read it and changed the topic. “After the life you lead, coming back here must have taken a lot. If I got out when I was younger, I don’t think I would have come back. On top of that, you now know what happened or at least the overview. This leaves me with one question. What are you going to do now?”

  The question was one Jon had been asking himself since he came back to Ohio. Jon knew a choice had to be made. As he was being asked the question, he knew his answer without a doubt.

  “Mick, thank you. You have helped me more than you know. I was on the fence, but I know I need to go home.” Jon got up and started walking out.

  “Hey, are you going back to your mom’s? Mick shouted.

  “No, I am going back to the Marines. I have family there and they need me more than this place does. Plus, I don’t see myself fitting in here with all the things I have been through. I am going back to the only place I had ever felt was my home.” Jon gave a smile and walked out.

  Since then, Jon has not been seen in Ohio again. He went back to his life of adventures and proudly kept bearing the pain so others could live to see another day.

  Chapter Two

  Bar Fly

  There have been a few rough years since I heard what happened to Bearman. I remember all the good times and I still try to keep a little of what he built alive.

  After Bearman was killed, many who worked for us left. They didn't want to be involved in a life that could lead to the same end as they heard happened to the great Scott Bearman.

  I have to admit, it was horrible to hear, and I don't blame those who went their own way. To be honest, I should have done the same. I had a good start with a house of my own and enough money I could have lived off of for at least three years.

  But that is not what I did.

  I had it in my head that I owed my friend.

  Now looking back, I realized that I didn't keep selling drugs because of Bearman. I did it because I had been taking over the business. I needed to prove that I could run the business and Scott Bearman would not have been as big without me.

  What I didn't realize till a few years later was that people still feared me because they didn't know Bearman was dead. Once the power from the Bearman name was gone, I found myself back to pushing drugs on the streets.

  The money was not great, and I finally broke down. I still had some money, but I knew at this rate, my house would not be able to be kept up for much longer.

  The only other option I had was to find a real job. The problem was my skill set didn't match too many jobs.

  It was not till a week after deciding to get a job that I found one. It was the strangest thing I had ever heard that happened. At least strange in the world I lived in.

  I sat down at this bar right outside of a small town called Fostoria, Ohio. I stopped in for a beer before going home. Really, I just wanted to be around other people, the beer was just the cost to have the feeling I was with other people.

  As I sat down and looked around, I saw there were only about eight people in the place. There was not a lot of talking, but it was more than I had at home. Then the bartender came up to me for my order. Keeping it simple, I ordered myself a bud light and I was about to lean back into my chair.

  The bartender was quick with the drink and then kept talking to me. Come to find out, he was the owner of the place. He likes to try and know everyone who comes into his place.

  He seemed nice to me and that was all I cared about. Plus, he was the first person I talked to in days that didn't want to buy some drugs off of me.

  So, we talked for a while, and I had three beers. Finally, I had to get up and go. I didn't want to get too drunk and then drive. I had enough problems, adding a DUI was something I didn't need.

  As I was paying my bill, the old guy I had been talking to asked me a question that seemed to change my life.

  "I've seen people like you come in here. Most times your kind is looking for answers. So, what answers are you looking for? You might notice I have been around a while, so I might have an answer."

  It seemed simple enough, but when I explained that I have a record, which made it tough to find a real job. I figured he would give me some crap like to hold on and push forward.

  I have heard that from so many people already.

  Instead, He looked me over and told me he wanted me to come in on Friday by four o'clock in the afternoon.

  If I could make it to midnight, then I have a job.

  After that Friday, I found I enjoyed being at the bar and
most of the people that came in. It didn’t take me long to realize that I wanted nothing to do with my old life. That is why I started to get rid of all the drugs. That was also when I quit smoking weed.

  It should have been so simple. All the guys I know from the days of Scott Bearman had done it. I was the last holdout that I knew of.

  I found that I like working at the bar. The first rule of the bar was no use or sales of "illegal items". This rule made it impossible for me to sell and keep my job.

  I mean, almost all my deals were done at night, and I worked five nights a week at the bar. I would make a few sales, but it was nothing I would be able to live off of.

  This made it easy to follow the first step. I started turning away people who were trying to buy. I would tell them I am out of the game. I no longer have any product. What I did have left, I sold to a guy I knew who thought he would be the next big thing.

  I didn't spend much time with him. The guy wanted to talk about what Scott and I did. How did we build up so quickly and so on? That is part of my past that I was trying not to talk about. Unless you lived through that time with us, our world was a blur of events, and I don't think I could tell everything properly anymore.

  After that, I was finally done.

  I was like everyone else. I kept to myself after work and was the guy I needed to be at work. Things were good for me.

  At least that is what I thought. I was three months into my new life and someone from my past pulled into my driveway.

  He was an old friend that sold drugs for me. Now he works at a factory outside of Fremont and lives with a girl in a house he rented.

  I was happy to see him.

  He and I always had good conversations.

  We chatted about the year that has passed since we had seen each other, as though nothing had ever happened. The talking went on for about an hour before I cut the conversation off.