brown, and I was clean. I got out and dried myself with a towel that had been on the tub when I came in. I walked out to the bedroom and dug the Wrangler pants and black 5.11 shirt from my pack. I also dug out a fresh pair of socks.
It felt good to be naked. I’m not sure why, but it did, so I stayed that way for a while. I took my camo clothing into the bathroom, dumped some camp soap into the tub, and then ran some more water into it, again only about an inch. I agitated the water, and then put the camos and socks into the tub, agitating them as well. I let them soak in the fresh water.
I went back into the bedroom and got dressed in my civvies, to include my boots and my 1911. I picked up my AR and walked to the door. When I opened the bedroom door, the smell from the kitchen was fantastic. I must have used the entire hour because Amanda was putting the food on the table. We were having some ham, mashed potatoes, and salad.
I looked at the setup they had rigged in the kitchen, and found it as ingenious as the bathroom water idea. Norman had cut a two-foot round hole in the top off of the stove. He rigged a smoke escape, using wood stove piping, which ran to the kitchen window. Now they could actually build a fire in the stove and use it to cook using the grates in the stove.
I wasn’t noticed at first, but as I stood there looking at the cooking setup, I got caught.
“Wow, you look differ’nt,” Norman said, causing Amanda to turn around and look.
“Yeah, you clean up nice. Here, you sit at the head o’ the table,” she said as she pulled out my chair. I walked to my chair and leaned my AR against the wall behind me. Norman sat down to my right, with Dozer to his right. Dozer had still not said a word to me and kept watch over me like a hawk looking for prey. Amanda sat down on my left.
“Are you a religious man, Mr. Buck?” she asked.
“First, it’s just Buck, no Mr. needed. As far as religion goes, I want to be. Before all hell broke loose, I read the Bible every day and prayed twice a day. When I left my place, I couldn’t afford the weight of a Bible in my pack, but I have still been prayin’ every night before I sleep. I don’t know if he hears me or not, but I like to think he does. I’m still alive, and I’m still healthy, so my guess is he’s lookin’ out for me. My only problem is I can’t get used to turnin’ the other cheek.”
“Well, Buck,” she said. “I am religious. God heard my prayers about bringin’ Norman back to me. So if you’d be so kind as to say grace.” She clasped her hands and bowed her head.
I clasped my hands together and took a breath. I always get nervous when I was put on the spot and wasn’t prepared. I was a planner and always tried to make sure I had some kind of idea what I was going to do. I never prayed before my meals, so I wasn’t really sure what to say, so I went basic.
“Lord, I thank you for the food that’s on the table here before us. In this world today, food will become hard to come by, so this abundance now is a gift. I thank you for giving Amanda the strength to prepare it, and I thank you for giving Norman the heart to live through the trial he has had over the past few days so that he could get back to his family. Lastly, I thank you Lord for giving me the strength and skills to have survived as long as I have, and I ask that you keep all of us safe as this tribulation continues. Amen. Oh, one more thing, Lord. Please let Dozer lighten up a little. I’m not the bad guy he thinks I am.”
As we ate, Dozer did lighten up. He asked me questions about my guns and where I had gotten them. Amanda, Norman, and I talked about what was going on in the city where I had come from and what my future plans were. We discussed what we thought had happened, and I expressed my concerns about what the future held.
When we were finished eating, Amanda cleaned up the dishes in a wash basin. I offered to help but just got a look of disdain as an answer to my invitation. Norman and I moved to the living room where we lit some candles and continued to talk. After Amanda had finished with the dishes, she joined us in the living room. After about an hour, I could feel my eyelids getting heavy.
“Brother, I think it’s time for me to hit the hay,” I said as I got up. I walked over to Norman and shook his hand.
“Amanda, thanks for a wonderful meal.” I bent over and kissed her on the cheek. With that, I walked back to my room. I put my gear on the floor, my AR against the wall beside the bed, and my 1911 on the bedside table.
I went into the bathroom and finished washing my camos, hanging them over the curtain rod. I then went back into the bedroom and lay down. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. I slept all night long and into the next day until about noon. When I woke, I could hear Amanda, Norman, and Dozer outside. I got out of bed, brushed my teeth, and went outside to the back of the house.
“Morning, sleepyhead!” Dozer yelled when I walked out. I gave him an ugly face and laughed.
“Good morning, everybody.”
“Morning. Did you sleep okay?” Amanda asked.
I grinned at her. “Obviously. I think I slept for about twelve hours.”
She grinned back. “Yeah, you slept closer to fourteen hours.”
“Holy shit, you’re kiddin’ me.” I hung my head in shame. Norman looked at me. He had a funny look on his face. He looked like he wanted to ask me something but didn’t know how. He was hobbling around on the crutch I had made him.
“What’s up, brother, you need help with something?” I asked.
“Man, I hate to ask you this ’cause after what you did for me yesterday, I really just wanted you to be able to chill out and relax while you were here.” He had the look of being ashamed for asking for help.
“No man, what d’ya need?” I asked again.
“Well, Amanda and I need a smoke house built, but with my foot the way it is, I just can’t do it.”
“No issues, I got ya. Just point me in the direction of your tools and let me know how big you need it, and I’ll Git-er-Done,’” I said, doing my best imitation of Larry the Cable Guy.
Norman pointed to a small shed, telling me that all his tools were in there. Once I had all the tools and wood that I needed, I got to work. Norman wanted the smoker about five feet square, with a flat roof and about five feet high. I wasn’t a carpenter by any sense of the word, but I had spent some time working for my dad’s construction company, so I knew my way around a saw, hammer, and nails.
I spent about three full days working on the smoker. I’d get up in the morning and work all day, taking breaks to eat, drink, and play with Dozer, who had levels of energy I’ve seldom seen in a kid his size. At night, we’d eat dinner together and then sit around in the living room with candles lit, joking, talking, and laughing, almost like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Like life was still normal.
By the end of the week, Dozer and I were rolling around on the floor, wrestling at night. He had really grown accustomed to me, and I’d really started to like being around him. My dad used to wrestle with me when I was a kid. He’d hold me down on the floor and then threaten to lick my face. It grossed me out so bad that I’d scream like I was being killed. So I started to do that to Dozer. He’d scream, giggle, and sometimes scream so hard he’d fart, causing Amanda and Norman to lose it. They would sit in their chairs and laugh out loud all night long at the two of us. I never had the chance to have kids of my own. I was married once, but it just didn’t work out, and we went our separate ways. I eventually learned
