THE GIFT

Chapter 3

“Yo, Cuz.” Curtis called from his workshop door. “Come ‘ere. I need to brief you.” He said, waving James over. “Got some intel for ya.”

Brief? Now that sounds official. “What’s up?”

“I know you don’t keep up with family…can’t say as I blame ya, given the litter we came from,” he eluded, “but our cousin Cheryl…don’t know if you even remember her…we talk from time to time…anyway, she reached out to me and told me some official-looking spook in a black suit came around asking about you...Why do they always wear black?” he stopped to wonder distractedly. “I don’t get it. It makes them stand out…not blend in. But that’s our “Gubmint” for ya.” He mused. “Anyway, she thought they might be government, so naturally she denied knowing anything about you. She was curious but took my word and didn’t pry.”

“So…what does that mean for us?”

“It means that someone with clout is looking for you. It means they have no idea where you are but, have started down the family path. I don’t think it’s the government…they would have found you, by now. Eventually, someone will tell them how close we used to be and that will lead them here.” Curtis explained.

“What then?” James asked. “I can’t bring this shitstorm down on you.”

“Okay…I thought we’d already covered that.” Curtis growled “You’re here. That’s that. What’s goin’ on is bigger than you. It’s bigger than all of us. Not to sound overly dramatic, but this is as big as all humanity, itself. So, quit thinking about your own personal safety and start thinking about the good of others.” He scolded.

“I held counsel with the group. They all agreed. If this s**t falls into the wrong hands…American, Russian, Chinese…whoever…humanity is 20 screwed. We will be enslaved in a way that nobody could have imagined…not even ol’ Al Sharpton.” He mused sarcastically. “Just look what they’ve already tried to do with a virus.”

The enormity of the situation began to sink into James’ soul. His personal feelings be damned. Thinking about what governments around the world would do with this…weapon…made him sick to his stomach. He would not be responsible for such tyranny. He wanted a permanent solution. He wanted this to be over. He wanted to stay alive.

“Ya know…all this is because I’m alive and I have the formula.” He began darkly. “If neither was the case, humanity would be safe from this potential disaster.”

“Well, I was wondering when you’d get around to that option.” Curtis replied sardonically. “True. If you weren’t here and the formula didn’t exist, we wouldn’t know any different, would we? But consider this…” he continued, “What if someone else makes this discovery? It seems as inevitable as the light bulb. So, what if someone without morals eventually makes this discovery?”

“Think about it. What if the Germans had made the atomic bomb first?” he postulated. “They almost did, ya know.”

“Cuz?” he started. “Not to get all churchy about it, but I have witnessed some pretty unholy stuff. I wish I hadn’t...but I did. But some of it was…well…miraculous. Don’t ask right now.” He glowered. “I believe if you can fix somethin’…ya should.”

“I think this gift was put in your hands for a reason. Can you understand the impact this is going to have on life on Earth?” Apparently, Curtis was a much more sophisticated man than James, or probably anyone else, had imagined. “Think of all the misery and pain it will eliminate. Think of the great minds it will save and inspire. True, there will be the rotten bastards…elected or not…who will stick their nasty fingers in the pie, but if the people take control from the beginning, that won’t matter.”

“Like I said…I talked to the boys. We have a plan.”

“Oh?” was all James could muster.

“Have a seat.” Curtis said, motioning to the foldup chairs sitting under the oak tree shading his shop. “It’s past three o’clock. Shiner time.”

“Okay…listen up.” He said, handing James a cold, sweating bottle. He began in his briefing voice. “Basically, the plan is to release the formula for the potion to the public…worldwide...all at once, via social media platforms. Simultaneously, dozens of Internet “bombs” containing the formula will be launched globally. No government, news agency…or even web service providers will be able to stop the initial release. You can bet that the initial recipients will copy and forward, too.”

“Matt was a Crypto specialist…an intel and code expert with insane skills. He is going to make the bombs unstoppable and repetitive. He will just keep launching them out from multiple random sources until it has saturated the worldwide web. Hospitals and medical research facilities will be targeted specifically. He’s working on one that will hit every cell phone, everywhere.”

“Once it starts to sink in, this will likely trigger unrest in the poorer, despotic countries and in the nations that don’t have a pharmaceutical industry. People will demand this “miracle”. The pharmaceutical industry will try to reel it in, but they won’t be able to. We believe that will only hasten their demise. They’ll be back to making aspirin and band aids.

All these ungodly pills and shots for every little “whatever”, will instantly become impotent and pointless. Basically, Big Pharma will lose everything…and it’s about time they did. But they won’t be happy and certainly not passive. So, we need to be ready when this goes down.” James appreciated the “we” part

“Meanwhile, one of our boys is a research scientist at a university hospital in Houston. When I told him about this, he lit up like a Christmas tree. He didn’t say anything but “Oh my God!” for the next two minutes. When he finally came around, he asked for some of your blood and a copy of the formula.”

Curtis paused, “He wants to know if you’d be willing to give transfusions to the members of our group who want it? Not sure how many of the guys will do it, but he and anyone who knows about it so far, is willing...including me…if I’m the right blood type. That could take the pressure off you and give him some reliable guinea pigs and donors, to see if the reactions are typical for everyone. In the meantime, he wants to replicate the formula in his own secured lab. He feels we should have a secure stash…just in case.”

James was taking all this in with enthusiasm. Of course, he would be willing to hand this horrible burden off to stronger shoulders. This hero stuff was for the birds. He felt like he was slowly losing his mind. He’d already lost his choices. If he had thought for a moment, that his life would be turned upside down like this, he never would have become a guinea pig. In his own self-pity, he had forgotten the violent nature of his fellow human beings, and how easily they were moved to evil.

He liked the plan and for the first time in months, he felt hopeful. It would be nice to go somewhere and not have to look over his shoulder constantly. Melanie would be able to go back to the life she had before all this…if she wanted to. He hoped she wouldn’t, though.

“Hell yeah…let’s do this.” He declared, an unfamiliar feeling of exuberance overcoming him. He lifted his bottle and clinked a toast of approval.

Melanie was feeling trapped in a situation that seemed to be getting worse, and more dangerous by the day. Her feelings for James were in turmoil. What was their relationship about? Did they really have a relationship? What is a “very special friend”? While they were on the road, everything seemed fine…other than constantly looking over their shoulders or feeling uneasy whenever anyone would admire the Jaguar and start chatting with James about it. He was always attentive, though somewhat reserved, and their intimate moments were more than simply enjoyable. She just wasn’t sure where she stood in his life, going forward. She could feel the danger growing with every passing day, and her old life slipping away. She just wanted to turn the clock back a few months. She just wanted to sell houses, again.

Sharon could sense her unease.

“Hun…” She started, “don’t worry about a thing. My Curtis is a protector.” She said, assuming danger was the reason for Melanie’s apprehensiveness. “The Good Lord led you to the right place.” She went on. “This county is a “no go zone” for bad guys. Even the cartels stay away.” She bragged. “The first few who didn’t…were sent back to Mexico in small packages. We don’t mess around.” The fact that she said “we” got Melanie’s attention. Small packages?

“We?” she asked.

“Ya see that Palomino out there?” she asked, pointing at a beautiful beige horse with a long white mane and a long white tail to match, standing expectantly in the corral. Melanie nodded. “That’s Roy. Named him after Roy Rogers…not his horse, Trigger. That’d been too obvious. Anyway, he and I are real tuned into each other. I’ve been teaching him tricks since he was a little bitty colt. I’ll show ya some of ‘em, sometime. Don’t tell the Duke,” She whispered, referring to the giant mastiff that guarded the front door, “…but Roy’s better’n a dog.” She winked.

“One day, while we were out ridin’ the ranch, we came upon a group of illegals crossing our property. We don’t tolerate that kind of stuff, so I approached them at a trot. Somehow, Roy knew that those critters weren’t supposed to be there, and he went into corralin’ mode without me having to tell him.” She saw Melanie’s puzzled expression. “You know…stompin’ the ground, movin’ in front of ‘em and noddin’ his head.” She recounted, almost with wonder. “It was hilarious watching them surrender to a horse, but then the i***t coyote reached for a gun.”

“Coyote?” Melanie puzzled.

“Uh-huh, that’s the sleazy dirt bag that leads the illegals across the border for pieces of silver.” Sharon answered. “Anyway, the dumbass reached for a gun.” She started, then explained “Well…you don’t go riding through the bush in Texas unarmed. Rattlesnakes and feral hogs are everywhere.” She explained. “I carry a .44 magnum with the first 24 two chambers loaded with snake shot. It’s nice an’ loud and a near miss is a hit…plus it’ll take down a hog.”

“Anyway,” she continued, “the i***t starts to pull out his little peashooter, but Roy lurched forward, ramming him and knocking his grimy ass flat. I drew a bead on him and got on the cell phone. Immigration got there as fast as they could…I think they were afraid I’d shoot the bastard. Since he drew on me, I could have, ya know. Self-defense.”

“Anyway, it was felony assault with a deadly weapon for him. One of the boys in the group is a lawyer...a good one, too. He happily pressed charges for us. The little maggot didn’t get to go back home. He’s sittin’ in Huntsville, livin’ down the fact that he was taken down by a horse and a girl.”

“But like I was sayin’,” Sharon continued “You don’t have to worry about anything. You’re safe here.”

“I know,” Melanie agreed quietly, “I’m not scared, like that. I just don’t know how to adjust to this life. Back home I had my own real estate business, my friends and family…my home, my car. Now I have none of that, and I probably won’t get it back. I shouldn’t have gotten involved, but James is so…I don’t know how to say it. He scares me…and he excites me. I see a strength in him, but I also see how fragile he is. At times, I wish we’d never met. Other times I feel privileged that we did. I’m afraid of what might happen and I’m afraid of missing it. I’m afraid of how I feel about James.”

“Darlin’,” Sharon replied “What you need is a good top shelf Margarita…and I make the best ones for miles around. Just ask any drunk chick you see.” She laughed. “Let’s boot-scoot all that fear outta here!” she whooped as she took a remote control from the mantlepiece and filled the house with country hunks wailing their truck driver blues.

Booze isn’t the answer…country music certainly wasn’t, either… but they, along with Sharon’s infectious optimism, sure helped Melanie’s perspective…for a while.