Coyote Blue Chapter 30~31

CHAPTER 30Like FliesThey perceive the bikers before they saw them raucous laughter and Lynyrd Skynyrd from a boom box. They followed the road or so a long, gradual curve that descended into a valley, stepping advertently to avoid the profound puddles. The trees were thinning divulge now and surface-to-air missile could hasten fall push through the light of a huge bonfire below them in the valley, and figures moving around the fire, a potbelly of them. Some one and only(a) fired a shooting iron into the air and the report echoed around the valley.Do they keep sentries or something? surface-to-air missile whispered to Calliope.I dont remember. I was pretty drunk when I was here(predicate) before.Well, we croupet on the dot walk in.This bearing, brush wolf said, pointing to a path that led away from the road. They followed the trickster up the path, through thick undergrowth, and up onto a ridge that looked defeat on the clearing.From the top of the ridge they could see the entire camp. The fire was burning in the center of the camp with perhaps a hundred bikers and women gathered around it, inebriety and dancing. The bikes were place by the road leading in. There was a stand of tents and smaller campfires on the opposite side of the camp, with two pickup trucks position nearby. Lynyrd Skynyrd sang Gimme Back My Bullets.I dont see Grubb, Calliope said.Or the fair sex, prairie wolf said.Wait, Calliope said. Listen. Amid the din of rock and roll, laughter, shouts, screams, and gunfire, they heard the vowelise of a baby crying.Its plan of attack from the tents, Coyote said. Follow me.Coyote led them further down the ridge until they were about fifty yards from the tents and could see four women sitting around a campfire drinking and talking. One of them was h duster-haireding Grubb.There he is, Calliope said. She started down the ridge and surface-to-air missile caught her arm.If you go down there that woman will call for Lonnie and the opp osites.What can I do? We spend a penny to get him.Take off your clothes, Coyote said.surface-to-air missile sneered at the trickster, I dont think so.Here, take this, Coyote said, legislateing something to surface-to-air missile. surface-to-air missile couldnt steel out what it was in the dark, only it mat warm and soft. He recoiled and dropped it.Ouch, Coyote said, his voice soft now, feminine. Is that any way to treat a lady?Sam looked, moved closer to the trickster, and saw that he was no longer a he. Still in his black buckskins, he had changed into a woman.I dont believe it, Sam said.Youre lovely, Calliope said.Thanks, Coyote said. Give me your clothes. These dont fit me now. He started undressing.In the dim moonlight that filtered through the trees, Sam watched the women undress. Calliope was right, the trickster was gorgeous, a perfect young-bearing(prenominal) mirror of the male Coyote, an Indian goddess. Sam felt a little sick at the estimation and looked away.Coyote said, Ill go down and get the child. Be ready to run. And pick that up, Ill convey it. He pointed to the ground where Sam had dropped his penis. Sam picked up the member in two fingers and held it out as if it would bite him.Im non comfortable with this.Ill h gray-haired it, Calliope said, now dressed in the black buckskins.No you wont Sam said.Well. She cocked a hip and waited for him to organise a decision.Sam be sick the penis in his jacket pocket. Im non comfortable with this, I want you to know.Men are such babies, Coyote said. He hugged Calliope, girl to girl, and made his way down the hill.Sam watched the trickster move away from them toward the fire. Unable to look away, he became nervous with his own concepts. Calliope patted his shoulder. Its okay, she said. In my jeans he echtly does have a great ass.-=*=- play lay in the bed of the pickup sulking, listening to the nearby women going on about how badly they were treated by their men and how cute the baby was. The little bastard had been crying for an hour. What the fuck had Lonnie been cerebration, bringing a crumb-snatcher to a rally? From clipping to time Tinker sit up and looked over the edge of the pickup to pick out which of the women he would fantasize about getting a blow job from. Fat chance, stuck here in the truck. Fucking Bonner and his military discipline.This is a business trip, Bonner had said. A business trip we wouldnt be taking if Tinker would have taken elevator care of business. So Tink, you guard the truck. No partying.What was the point rallying with your bros if you couldnt get fucked up and start a few fights? Fuck this action. At least it had stopped raining.Tinker peeked over the edge of the truck to see a new chick approach up to the fire. What a piece she was Right out of Penthouse or something. She looked Indian, long achromatic hair. What a fucking body. He watched her fawn over the baby and touch Cheryls face. Lonnie had fucked her up, bad. Tink wondered what it was like to hit a chick. He was getting hard thinking about it.The Indian chick was holding the baby now, walking around the fire rocking it. She walked behind one of the tents, then ducked down. Tinker saw her shoot out the other side in a crouch, headed up the hill with the baby. Two people were coming down to meet her.Hey, bitch Cheryl yelled. The other women were on their feet, shout going after the Indian chick. Tinker jumped out of the truck and started to circle around and up the hill to head off the Indian chick. As he ran he drew his Magnum from his shoulder holster. He slipped, dangle to one knee, and drew down on the Indian chick. No, fuck it. If he hit the rug-rat Bonner would have his ass.He climbed to his feet and lumbered across the hill, watch the Indian chick hand the rug-rat to a blond chick. They were on the path at the top of the ridge. Gotcha Hed take the lower path and be waiting for them. They had to come out at the road.As Tinker made his way u p the dark path he heard scooters firing up below him. Good. Bonner would get there and he would already have it handled. Hed be out of the doghouse. He reached the spot where the two paths intersected and stopped. He could hear them coming up the path, the baby cool it crying. He leveled his Magnum down the path and waited. If the dude showed first hed waste him without a word.He saw a shadow, then a foot. Tinker cocked the Magnum, put the sight where the chest would appear. A rush went through him, waiting, waiting. NowA vise clamped down over the gun and he felt it wrenched out of his hand, taking skin with it. Another clamp locked down on his neck and he looked up into the eyes of his deepest fear. He felt his face come down on something hard and the bones of his nose crush. His head was wrenched gumption and slammed down again, then it went dark.-=*=- Shade Coyote said.Minty Fresh threw Tinkers unconscious body aside and looked up at the Indian woman. Who are you?Sam said, M. F., what are you doing here?The name is Minty Fresh. He held Tinkers Magnum out to Sam, then let it drop. Im learning how to sneak up on people. He saw the baby and s statute miled. You got him.It was a fine trick, Coyote said.Who are you? Minty insisted.Its your old buddy Coyote. Coyote cupped his breasts.Minty stepped back from the woman to get a relegate look. Somethings different, right? Haircut?We have to go, Calliope said.To where? Minty said.Calliope looked at Sam, panicked, confused. Sam had no answer.Coyote said, Montana. The brag res. Come with us, shade. Itll be fun.Minty turned to the roar of bikes behind him. Theyre coming up the road, he said. Ill barricado them as long as I can with the limousine.They made their way down the path to where the Z was parked. The limo was parked in apparent movement.Ill drive, Sam instructed. Cal, you and Grubb in the back. They got in the car as lights from the Harleys broke through the woods. Minty got in the limo, started it, and pulled it forward to make way for the Z.Sam pulled the Z into the road, careful not to spin the wheels in the mud. You guys okay? he said to Calliope, who had curled herself around Grubb.Go, she said.The bikers broke into view, Lonnie Ray in front. Minty hit the brights on the limo, hoping to contrivance them. He study the mirror to see the Z pulling away, then started to back the limo up, careful to keep it in the middle of the road to block the bikes.As Lonnie approached the limo he drew a pistol from his jacket and leveled it at Minty through the windshield. Minty ducked and hit the gas. The limo revved and stopped, the back wheels of the heavy car inhumed in the mud. Lonnie jumped off his bike onto the hood of the limo and braced himself on the roof as he aimed and fired at the Z.At the sound of the iridescent Minty looked up to see the barrel of Lonnies pistol pointing at him through the windshield. The other bikers, unable to get past, moved up around the limo.Youre finis hed, spook, Lonnie hissed. He cocked the pistol. Move the car out of the road.I dont think so, Minty said.Lonnie jumped off the hood of the Lincoln and stuck the pistol through the window into Mintys temple. I said move it.You move it, Minty said. He pushed the limo door open, knocking Lonnie to the ground. Two bikers yanked him from the car and rode him to the ground. Minty felt a boot in his kidney, then a fist in the stomach, then the blows fell on him like rain.He heard Calliopes Z downshifting in the distance and smiled.-=*=- Sam pulled the Z back onto the pavement and floored it. Everyone okay? Grubb was still crying. Sam shouted, Calliope, are you okay?Coyote turned in the passenger seat and reached back. Shes hit. Theres blood.Oh fuck, is she-Shes dead, Sam, Coyote said.Part 4HomeCoyote Hears His HeartIt is an old story, from the time of the animal people. Coyote was in his canoe, and had paddled all day and all night, only to find that he didnt know where he wanted to go. H e sat in his canoe, drifting for a while, thinking that something was wrong. He wanted to do something, but he didnt know what it was, so he made some mountains and gave them names. But that didnt make him happy. He tried to think, but he wasnt very good at it, and he kept hearing a thumping noise that bothered him.Where should I go? What should I do? How can I think with all this noise?Coyote was becoming sad because he could not think, so he called out to the Old Mother, who was the Earth. Old Mother, he said. Can you stop this thumping noise so I can figure out where I am supposed to be?Old Mother heard Coyote and laughed at him. Silly Coyote, she said. That thumping noise is the sound of your own heart beating. Listen to it. It is the sound of the drums. When you hear your heart you must think of the drums the sound of home.I knew that, Coyote said.CHAPTER 31There Are No Orphans Among the CrowIt was five hours from Sturgis to Crow Agency, and Coyote, back in his black buckski ns, drove the whole way. Sam sat in the passenger seat, dazed, staring but seeing nothing, holding Grubb, rocking the baby in a rhythm to a pulsing emptiness in his chest and trying not to look at Calliopes lifeless body in the back. Merci spaciousy, there was no thinking or remembering his mind had close up down to protect him. Coyote was quiet.As they drove through town an old warning sounded deep in Sams mind and he mumbled, I shouldnt be here. Im in trouble.You have to go home, Coyote said.Okay, Sam said. He thought he should protest but he couldnt think clearly enough to remember why. When we get there, no tricks, okay? Act human for a while, please.For a while, Coyote said.A mile out of town Coyote pulled the Z into the muddy driveway of the Hunts Alone house. Stay here, Coyote said. He got out of the car and went up the cement travel to the door. Sam looked around, seeing the house like a memory. It hadnt changed much. The house had been blushered and peeled a couple of times and there were two horses, a paint and a buckskin, in the back field. An old Airstream trailer was parked by the sweat lodge and there were a couple more toss away cars rusting in the side lot.It all felt wrong, to have run so long to end up back where he had started the danger that he had run from was still here, and now, with Calliope dead, he felt even weaker than the fifteen-year-old who had left so many years ago. As frightening as it had been to leave, it had been a beginning, full of hope and possibility. This felt like the end.Coyote knocked on the door and waited. A Crow woman in jeans and a sweatshirt, about thirty, answered. She was holding a baby. Yes?Coyote said, Ive brought your cousin home. We need help.Come in, she said. Coyote went into the house and came back to the car a few minutes later. He heart-to-heart the door, startling Sam.Lets go inside, Coyote said. I told the woman inside what happened. He helped Sam out of the car and pointed him to the doo r where the woman waited. Sam walked stiffly up the steps and past the woman into the house. He stood in the center of the living room, rocking Grubb. Coyote came in the door behind him. Can I bring her in? he asked the woman.The woman looked appal at the thought of a dead body in the house.Sam turned suddenly. No, not in the house. No.Coyote waited. The woman looked uncomfortable. You could put her in the trailer out back.Coyote went back out. The woman came to Sam and pulled the blanket away from Grubbs face. Has he eaten?I?CI dont know. Not for a while.He needs a change. Cmon, give. She put her own baby on the couch and coaxed Grubb out of Sams arms. She spread the blanket on the coffee table and laid Grubb down on his back.Ive heard about you, she said. Im Cindy. Festus is my husband.Sam didnt answer. She took Grubbs dirty diaper off him and set it aside. Hes at work now, with his dad. They have their own shop in Hardin. Harry industrial plant with them too.Grandma? Sam said. She looked up and shook her head. Years ago, before I met Festus. She brightened, trying to change the subject and the mood. We have three other kids. Two other boys and a girl. Theyre in school the little one in Head Start.Sam stared over her head at the elkhorn hat rack hung with baseball caps, an old Stetson, and a ceremonial headdress. An obsidian-point buffalo lance hung beside it, adjoining to an old Winchester and a Sports Illustrated swimsuit calendar.Hes a strong baby, Cindy said, grabbing Grubbs fidgeting fists. Sam looked back at her. slow? He looked down and away, a wave of grief washing over him. He walked to the kitchen doorway and stared at the ceiling, the first tears stinging as they welled up.Pokeys okay, Cindy said. He went into the clinic last-place week. He almost He was real sick. They wanted to move him to the hospital in Billings but Harlan wouldnt let them.Cindy finished diapering Grubb and propped him up on the couch next to her own baby. Ill fix h im a bottle. She walked past Sam into the kitchen. He turned away from her as she went by. Do you want some food? Coffee?Sam turned to her. She never hurt anybody. She respectable wanted her baby back. He covered his face. Cindy moved to him and put her arms around him.Coyote came in the front door. Sam, we have to go.Sam took Cindy by the shoulders and gently pushed her away, then turned and looked at Grubb, who was dozing on the couch. Hell be okay, Cindy said. Ill watch him. Sam didnt move.Sam, Coyote said, lets go see Pokey.-=*=- intent back through Crow Agency to the clinic, Sam noticed the new, modern tribal building and the new stadium behind it. Wileys Food and Gas was still across the highway, just as it had been before. Kids were still hanging around outside the burger stand. Two old men shared a bottle outside the baccy store. A mother led a pack of kids out of the general store, each carrying a bag of groceries.I shouldnt be here, Sam said. Coyote ignore him and kept driving.The clinic was housed in an old two-story house at the far end of town. A line of people mostly women and kids waited outside. Coyote pulled into the muddy parking lot next to a rusted-out Buick. They crawled out of the car and walked up to the door. Some of the kids whispered and giggled, pointing at Coyote. An old man who was wheeling an oxygen cylinder behind him said, Crow Fair aint til next summer, boy. Why you dressed for a powwow?Be cool, Sam said to Coyote. Dont scare him.Coyote shrugged and followed Sam into the waiting room, a ten-by-ten living room with a checked linoleum floor and mint-green walls hung with racks of pamphlets. Twenty people sat in folding chairs along the walls, reading old copies of People or just staring at their shoes. Sam approached a window where a Crow woman was absorbed in scribbling on index cards, intent on not looking at those who waited.Excuse me, Sam said.The woman didnt look up. Fill this out. She handed a form and a stick pe n over the counter. When you hand it in with the pen Ill give you a number.Im not here for treatment, Sam said, and the woman looked up for the first time. Im here to see Pokey Medicine Wing.The woman seemed annoyed. Just a minute. She got up and walked through the door into the back. In a moment a door into the waiting room opened and everyone looked up. A young, white doctor poked his head out, spotted Sam and Coyote, and signaled for them to come in. Everyone in the waiting room looked back down.Inside the door the doctor looked them up and down, Sam in his dirty windbreaker and slacks, Coyote in his buckskins. Are you family?Hes my clan uncle, Sam said.The doctor nodded to Coyote. And you?Just a friend, Sam said.Youll have to wait outside, the doctor said.Sam looked at Coyote. Keep it under control, okay?I said I would. The trickster went back into the waiting room.He should be in a real hospital, the doctor said. He was technically dead, twice. We brought him back with th e defibrillator. Hes stable now, but we dont have the staff here to watch him. He should be in an ICU.Sam hadnt heard a word of it. Can I see him?Follow me. The doctor turned and led Sam down a narrow hallway and up a flight of steps. He was severely dehydrated and suffering from hypothermia. I think hed been drinking even before he went on the fast. It leached all the fluids out of his body. His liver is shot and his heart sustained some damage.The doctor stopped and opened a door. Just a few minutes. Hes very weak.The doctor went in with Sam. Pokey was lying in a hospital bed, tubes and wires connecting him to bottles and machines. His skin was a brown-gray color. Mr. Medicine Wing, the doctor said softly, someone is here to see you.Pokeys eyes opened slowly. Hey, Samson, he said. He smiled and Sam noticed that he still hadnt gotten false teeth.Hey, Pokey, Sam said.You got bigger.Yeah, Sam said. Seeing Pokey was breaking through his fog, and he was outset to hurt again.You look li ke shit, Pokey said.So do you.Must run in the family. Pokey grinned. You got a smoke?Sam shook his head. I dont think that would be a good idea. I hear youre still drinking.Yeah. I went to some meetings. They said I needed to get a higher(prenominal) power if I wanted to quit. I told them that a higher power was why I was drinking in the first place.Hes outside now. Waiting.Pokey nodded and unopen his eyes. I had a couple of visions about you meeting up with him. All those years hes quiet, then I get a bunch of visions. I thought you was dead until I had the first one.I couldnt come home. I shouldnt have.Pokey dismissed the thought with a weak wave of his hand. You had to go. Enos wouldve killed you. He checked on us for years, lookin in our mailbox for letters, watching the house. He drove himself plumb crazy. He give up on you when Grandma died and you didnt come home.Sam had listened to the last part of the speech sitting on the edge of the bed with his back to Pokey. His knees had given out at the news that Enos was alive. He stared at the door. I dont feel anything, he said.You okay? Pokey said, trying to grab his nephews arm.Theres nothing. Im not even afraid.Whats wrong?Sam looked over his shoulder at Pokey. I thought I killed him.You busted him up real good. Broke both his legs and an arm sliding down the face of the dam. Tub a lard didnt even have the manners to drown.I been running for nothing. II should of never give you that Coyote music, Pokey said. His breath was starting to come in rasping gasps. I thought if I got rid of it I wouldnt be crazy no more.Its okay. Sam patted Pokeys arm. I dont think you had a choice.Pokey continued to breathe heavily. I saw a shadow that said you were going where there was death. I didnt know where to find you. I told Old while Coyote. He said he knew. Pokey gripped Sams arm. He said he knew, Samson. You got to get away from him.Calm down, Pokey. Sam stood and put his hands on Pokeys shoulder. Its okay, Pokey. I t wasnt my death. Do you want the doctor?Pokey shook his head. His breathing started to calm. Sam took a pitcher of water from the bedside table and poured some into a paper cup. He held it while Pokey drank, then helped the old man lie back. Whose death? Pokey asked.Sam put the cup down. A girl. He looked away.You loved her?Sam nodded, still looking away. She had a baby. Cindys watching him.When did it happen?This morning.Was Old Man Coyote with you when it happened?Yes.Ask him to bring her back. He owes you that.Shes dead, Pokey. Shes gone.I been dead twice in the last two days. I aint gone.She was shot, Pokey. A bullet went through her spine.Samson, look at me. Pokey pulled himself up on the bed so he could look Sam in the eye. He owes you. Theres a story that Old Man Coyote invented death so there wouldnt be too many people. Theres another story that his wife was killed and he went into the snake pit to get her. There was a shade there that let her go as long as Coyote promised not to look at her until he got back to the world, but he looked, so now no one can come back.Pokey, I cant do this right now. I cant listen to this.He stole your life, Samson.Sam shook his head violently. This just happened to me. I didnt make any of it happen.Then make it happen now Pokey shouted. Sam stopped. In the buffalo days they said that a warrior who had counted coup and had an arrow bundle could move in and out of the Underworld. He could hide there from his enemies. Go, Samson. Old Man Coyote can help you find your girl.Shes dead, Pokey. The Underworld is just old superstition.Mumbo jumbo? Pokey said.Yes.Crazy talk?Thats right.Voodoo?Exactly.Like Coyote medicine?No.Well?Sam didnt answer. He was gritting his teeth, glaring at his uncle.Pokey smiled. You still hate it when I talk about the old ways. Try it, Samson. What do you have to lose?Nothing, Sam said. Theres nothing at all.The doctor opened the door and said, Thats enough. He needs to rest.Fuck off, paleface, Pokey said.Sam said, Just one more minute, please.One minute, the doctor said, holding up his finger as he backed out of the room.Sam looked at Pokey. Fuck off, paleface? He laughed. It felt good.Be nice, Squats Behind the Bush. Im sick. Sam felt something moving through him as he grinned at Pokey something warm, like hope. Now, quick, before you die again, you old fuck. Where do I get an arrow bundle?-=*=- Sam came striding out of the clinic and grabbed Coyote by the arm, pulling him away from a group of kids he was lying to. What had been a paralyzing grief had changed to purpose. Sam felt incredibly alive.Lets go. Give me the keys.Whats going on? Coyote said. Why the hurry? Did the old man die?Sam climbed into the Z and fired it up. Ive got to get to a phone, and Ive got to get some clothes.What happened in there?You knew she was going to be killed, didnt you?I knew someone would.Pokey says that you can go in and out of the land of the dead?I can? Oh, the Underworld Yeah, I can. I dont like to, though.Were going.Its depressing. You wont like it.Pokey thinks you can bring Calliope back.I tried that once it didnt work. Its not up to me.Then were going to talk to whoever its up to.Arent you afraid?Im a little past that.Why do you need clothes?Were going to Billings first, to get something.Its depressing. You wont like it. Theres a big cliff in Billings that was a buffalo jump, but our people never drove the herds over it. The buffalo used to go up to the edge and say, Oh, no, its Billings, then theyd just jump over out of depression. Nope, you dont want to go to Billings.Sam pulled into the Hunts Alone driveway, shut off the car, and turned to Coyote. Whats in the Underworld? What are you so afraid of?