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From: Lazlo Zalezac <lzalezac@yahoo.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} JC:Ed Biggers V-20 (mf mmf ffm ff mm sci-fi)
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Lazlo Zalezac
http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Lazlo_Zalezac
http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Lazlo_Zalezac
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<1st attachment, "biggers5-20.txt" begin>
JC: Ed Biggers
Part 5: Stasis
Chapter 20
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004
Shauna set the plate in front of Ed with care. Following his normal
behavior when presented with a new dish, Ed looked it over
appreciating the presentation and then bent over to savor the
aroma. With a smile, he picked up his knife and fork to cut a bite
out of the meat dish. She held her breath, as he tasted the dish,
hoping that he enjoyed it. Looking up at her, he was tempted to
make one of his usual comments but realized that she was
watching him with a seriousness that would make it a mistake.
Biting back the comment, he said, "This is outstanding. I like the
way you have interlaced the various flavors."
A smile burst over her face at the praise. She asked, "So what
typical Ed comment do you have about the dish?"
"I would use flour to make pancakes," replied Ed with a twinkle in
his eye. The dish had thin slices of meat with different items
layered between adjacent slices. One layer was comprised of
potato slices, another was spinach, a third was chopped
mushrooms, and a fourth was diced bell peppers and onions. The
layers had cooked in the juices of the meat as it had been grilled.
Shauna had put a currant sauce over the dish and surrounded it
with a salad of fresh greens.
Marguerite from the kitchen door laughed at the comment. They
had argued what comment Ed would make concerning the dish and
Shauna had been prepared for anything. They'd had a fun time in
the kitchen trying to come up with various comments, many of
them quite ridiculous.
Chuckling, Shauna said, "We missed that one. We should have
known you'd come up with that after past comments about stuffed
pork chops."
The rest of the staff dug in and started eating. Everyone raved
about the new dish and Shauna basked in the praise. She had
worked hard to come up with a new dish and she really liked it. It
was easy to tell that Ed liked it and that was the best praise that she
knew.
When Ed finished his serving, he asked, "What is this dish called?"
"It doesn't have a name yet," replied Shauna.
With a surprised look on his face, Ed asked, "Do you mean that
you invented this dish?"
"Yes," answered Shauna with pride.
"We'll call it Shauna's Victory Meal," said Ed as he looked at
Marguerite. With a wink, he added, "It celebrates your victory at
creating the best new meal in this household. Sorry, Marguerite."
"It is an excellent dish," remarked Marguerite. She was proud of
Shauna's development as a Chef. She added, "It is a good name.
Are you going to submit it for publication?"
Shauna frowned for a moment as she considered the timing of her
announcement. As far as she could tell, there wasn't a better time
than the present. She had already delayed making the
announcement for a week and that wasn't fair to Marguerite or Ed.
Taking a deep breath, she said, "I'd rather it be called Shauna's
Farewell Meal."
The statement caught everyone's attention. Ed looked over at her
and asked, "What?"
Shauna answered, "I'm getting married."
"That's great. Congratulations!" Ed smiled at the good news even
as he mind was busy planning the wedding.
"Ah, there's a down side."
"What?" asked Ed curious what could possibly be wrong with
getting married.
"We're taking positions as private chefs at the Governor's Mansion
in Missouri." She looked around the room to see the reactions of
everyone at the table.
Ed smiled as he said, "Darn. That means I have to visit the
Governor in Missouri."
The comment was exactly what Shauna wanted to hear. She felt
like she was abandoning Ed. After everything that he had done for
her, there was no way for her to thank him for the opportunity to
work with Marguerite. She said, "I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you," said Marguerite getting misty-eyed.
Ed said, "It is our loss and their gain. Most importantly, it is your
chance to shine. If you ever need some help, just give us a call."
"And if I call?"
"We'll send Bob," replied Ed as he burst into laughter.
At the far end of the table, Bob said, "Hey, wait a minute."
Marguerite retorted, "We'll do no such thing. I'll filet Ed and send
him up there for you to serve him to the politicians."
"Still protecting the dogs, I see," replied Ed with a wink. He stood
and went over to Shauna. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he said,
"Shauna, I'd like to offer the resources of the whole family for your
wedding. Anything you need or want, just let us know."
Standing, Shauna hugged Ed and cried on his shoulder. This family
was just too good to be true. The notions that she had held about
whites, rich people, and society had been turned upside-down as a
result of knowing him. Who'd have thought that a white cowboy
from Arizona would teach a New York Black woman lessons
about treating people fairly? She could hardly believe the changes
in her life.
Ed hugged Shauna back knowing that she appreciated him. He was
going to miss her, but it was good that she was pursuing her
happiness. That had changed her from an office temporary worker
in New York to a world class Chef. He whispered in her ear,
"Shauna, you deserve your happiness. You've worked hard to
become one of the two best Chefs in the country. We're all so
proud of you."
That was high praise coming from Ed, as he wasn't prone to
exaggeration. If he said that she was one of the two best chefs in
the world, then he meant it. She knew that for Ed, Marguerite
would always be the best. To be in her class was high praise
indeed.
Cathy rubbed her hands together and said, "I'd love to be at the
contest next year. Can you imagine a cooking contest between
Marguerite and Shauna?"
Marguerite and Shauna laughed at the statement. Marguerite
replied, "It's not going to happen. The governing committee
decided after winning first place three times in a row, that I'm to be
one of the judges."
George and Walt had listened to the conversation while glancing at
Sarah and Cathy. Both women appeared happy about the news
announced by Shauna at the table, but they wondered if the pair
would like to get married sometime. Ed, standing with his arms
around Shauna, noticed the exchange and smiled at the two men.
He decided it would be a good idea for him to talk to the pair of
men later that evening.
It took time for the staff to leave the dining room. Ed, Shauna, and
Marguerite were left alone. The three of them sat around the table
despite the fact that it was still full of dirty dishes. Ed said, "We're
really going to miss you around here."
"I'm going to miss everyone here so much," replied Shauna. Eyes
misting again, she added, "You might not believe this, but I've
learned so much about life living here. I like my body, my mind,
and my spirit. Did you know that I hated that I was black?"
"No, I didn't know that. Why?"
Looking off into the distance, she answered, "Because I thought
that God had created me black to hold me back from being happy.
I saw the whole world through dark glasses that looked for signs of
prejudice in everything that others did."
"That's sad," replied Ed.
"Yes, it was. Now I'm happier than ninety-nine percent of the
world and that's pretty good," she said. She remembered when
Leroy answered the door when she first came here to work. Her
very first assumption was that he was the hired help and not one of
Ed's husbands. All of her early assumptions about Ed had been
proven wrong and she was glad that had been the case.
Marguerite asked, "So what are you plans for the wedding?"
"We thought we would have a small ceremony. Just family and a
few friends."
"So I guess we are talking about a hundred and fifty people?"
asked Ed.
"You consider that a small wedding?"
"Well, you've got a large family. What have you got, seven
brothers and sisters? They all have kids. Your mother, aunts, and
uncles add a few more. I imagine that your beau has some family.
You've got a lot of friends here and I imagine that you have a few
friends from where you grew up." Ed was trying to do the mental
math to come up with a reasonable estimate of the number of
people that would come.
Embarrassed, Shauna said, "My family can't really afford to fly
everyone here."
"No problem. We'll charter a jet for everyone and rent two floors at
one of the big hotels in Phoenix," replied Ed. He added, "That'll be
my wedding present for you. I'm sure that the rest of the family
will come up with a suitable wedding present for you."
Speechless, Shauna stared at Ed unable to believe that he would go
to that much trouble for her. Her mouth slowly opened as the
enormity of what he was offering slowly filtered through her mind.
Marguerite asked, "Do you want me to get Cathy?"
"Sure."
Shauna did not say a word during the entire time that Marguerite
took to get Cathy. She sat at the table staring at Ed in shock as she
tried to imagine what she could have done to deserve such nice
treatment. After glancing at Shauna, Cathy asked, "So what did
you do to her?"
"I just offered to charter a jet to fly her family here for the
wedding," answered Ed watching Shauna carefully. He was afraid
that she had gone catatonic. He added, "I'd appreciate it if you
would help make the arrangements for her."
"Sure. It's good to have one of you home. It was getting boring
around here," replied Cathy with a smile. It wasn't entirely a joke
on her part. With the family gone from the house so much of the
time, the staff barely had enough work to do around the house.
Ed nodded while still watching Shauna. After another minute, he
asked, "Shauna, are you okay?"
"Sure, just a little overwhelmed," replied the woman feeling like
her mind and body had separated from each other.
"Good," replied Ed knowing that she spoke the truth. Looking up
at the ceiling with one eye closed in concentration, he said, "Work
with Marguerite to come up with catering for the wedding. I'll talk
to the rest of the family and see what they want to do."
It was just like Ed to overwhelm someone and then walk away as
though he had done nothing. Cathy watched as he left the dining
room to pursue some other item that was on his mind. Marguerite
and Cathy sat beside Shauna to talk her back to the real world.
Ed went up to the security center expecting to find George going
through the evening security lockdown procedures. Instead, there
was no one in the security center. He went down to the library and
found George and Walt talking. Sitting down at the table, he asked,
"Can I ask you gentlemen to join me upstairs to watch a sunset?"
The two men looked at each other and nodded. Walt answered,
"Sure. I take it you want to talk to us about something?"
"Yes. The sun will be setting soon and it is a warm evening
outside. Let's get out there before we miss it," answered Ed as he
stood up.
The three went up the stairwell to the roof where the sky was
beginning to show the full colors of sunset. Ed smiled as he looked
at the horizon with the sun just above it. Taking his usual chair,
Walt and George took chairs on each side of him. He sighed and
then said, "I love this time of day."
George nodded, but didn't say anything. Walt just glanced at Ed
waiting for him to get to the reason why he wanted them to come
out here with him. Not saying another word, Ed settled back to
watch the sunset. The colors were fantastic, with greens, blues,
reds, purples, oranges, and yellows. The sky brightened and then
faded as the sun disappeared under the horizon.
"When are you guys going to marry Cathy and Sarah?"
"Uh," answered Walt taken by surprise by the question.
George didn't answer immediately as he was wondering the same
thing. After a delay of a full minute, he said, "I don't know."
"Well, you had better figure it out and quick. They are two lovely
ladies and won't wait their whole life," replied Ed.
"They say they don't want to get married," argued Walt.
"Bah! You guys have been acting like everything is going along
smoothly and there's no need for change. There is some reason
why they are saying they aren't ready to marry and if you guys love
them, then it is up to you to talk to them." Ed looked at George and
then at Walt, his head swiveling from one to the other. The
relationship among the four had felt stale to him and that bothered
him a lot.
Frowning, George said, "We've talked about it."
"No you haven't. You've talked around it," replied Ed as he
recalled the half-hearted conversations about marriage. He had a
very good idea that they hadn't discussed the possibility in a year.
George and Walt didn't say a word, each lost in his own thoughts.
The problem wasn't that they felt Ed was wrong, just the opposite.
They had gone into the library to discuss the issue, but had blown
it off after a few exchanges of reasons why they shouldn't bring up
the subject.
While Ed allowed the two men to work throw their thoughts on the
matter, he watched the stars come out as the sky darkened. He said,
"Some of the light from those stars have taken longer to get here
then any of us will live. It kind of puts the time we walk on this
planet in perspective."
George and Walt turned to look at Ed, but Ed had stood up and
walked to the edge of the building where he could see the town.
They watched him as he looked down at the town with a smile on
his face. Below him, lights were coming on in the houses, people
were chatting in backyards lit by candles, and the traffic was dying
down. Kids were running along the streets while playing games of
tag as they headed home, told by their parents to be in the house
when it got dark. This was his hometown and all was right within
it.
Even though he had been gone for a while, Ed knew that the
rhythm of life within the town had not changed. A half an hour
after dark, the Sheriff would drive around town making sure that
all of the kids had left the park and other places where they often
hung out. After all the stores had closed, the Sheriff would walk
the streets making sure that each building was locked. If he found
one unlocked, he would check to see if the owner was there and, if
not, call them to come down and lock the store. Towards closing
time at the bar, he'd hang around the front so that anyone who was
too drunk to drive could get a ride home.
The street to the house still hadn't been paved. That was part of the
charm of living out here. It was as if the desert came right up to the
house without interruption. The dogs still barked at real and
imaginary disturbances, but the sounds of snoring had disappeared
as few people slept with their windows open anymore. That was
one of the subtle consequences of the Fusion Battery, everyone had
air conditioning in their houses. Also gone were the sounds of bad
mufflers.
He heard the shifting of George and Walt in their chairs, but didn't
turn around. In the distance, a coyote howled. Elsewhere, he heard
the sound of a desert owl screech as it made a kill. His eyes
searched the desert in a foolish attempt to see either the coyote or
the owl. Dark and distance made that impossible. He knew that,
but didn't care. Sometimes one could see them when they
approached town. He didn't have a horse stabled here, so going for
a ride out on the desert that night was out of the question.
The town had grown over the years. Another street of houses had
been added. The city council had demanded that houses be built in
an architectural style consistent with the rest of the town. That
reminded Ed that he had to make arrangements to have the façade
on the house changed to fit an adobe motif.
Two things about the town really pleased Ed more than he could
put into words. The first was that there were no cookie-cutter
ranches. Each house was individual and unique. The new houses
were larger as group marriages required more room. The second
thing was that there weren't any green lawns marring the area. The
city council had specifically voted that grass lawns were not
allowed. He'd had nothing to do with either of them.
The sudden flashing of red lights attracted his attention. The
Sheriff's car sped off from the park and headed towards his street.
Ed watched as the events unfolded, concerned about what would
cause the Sheriff to rush in that fashion. The answer came when
the lady that he had hired to watch his in-laws came running out of
the house waving an arm to attract the attention of the Sheriff.
He turned and ran to the stairs calling out, "Something is
happening over at the Hayes house."
George and Walt immediately stood up as their training kicked in
and followed Ed. They didn't know what had happened, but even
as they ran past the security office both paused to get firearms and
a first-aid kit. In less than a minute, all three were rushing their
way to the house, jumping the fence that separated the two pieces
of property without bothering to use the gate.
The woman had seen them coming and was shouting, "She's had a
heart attack. Get an ambulance."
Walt turned to head towards the garage in order to get the van. By
the time the ambulance showed up here, they would already be at
the hospital. Ed entered the house and asked, "Where is she?"
Dr. Hayes was seated in his chair in shock. After the caretaker had
discovered his wife in the bedroom, he had gone in to perform
what ever aid he could. Her body was cooling down by then and he
couldn't force himself to try to resurrect her. Looking up at Ed, he
said, "She's dead."
"We've got to perform CPR on her!"
"You'll just end up breaking her ribcage," replied Dr. Hayes
looking older than he had earlier in the day. Eyes pleading, he
begged, "Let her go. It's her time."
George knew how this was going to end and left the house to wait
for Walt to arrive with the van. If the van were going to be used
tonight, it would be to take the doctor over to the house.
Ed realized that the doctor had not provided any first aid for his
wife. Sitting down, Ed thought about it and replied, "There are two
worlds side by side. In this world, the living enjoy the physical
reality. In the other world, whose who have died enjoy a
metaphysical reality. Neither world is better than the other is, they
are just different. I'll respect your wishes."
The doctor relaxed even as Sheriff Ortega entered the house.
Turning to the caretaker, Ed suggested, "Take him over to the big
house for the night while I take care of the details here."
The woman nodded as Dr. Hayes said, "Thank you, Ed. I knew
you would understand."
The doctor had known, but the knowledge hadn't assuaged his
fears. Ed knew that and nodded at the doctor. Turning to the
Sheriff he said, "Let's go find the body."
"Find the body? You don't know where it is?"
"No. I just got here."
Concerned, the Sheriff asked, "How do you know she is past
hope?"
"It is her time," answered Ed not wanting to argue the point.
After a search of the house, Ed located the body in the bedroom.
The Sheriff leaned down and touched her, finding that her skin was
cold to the touch. The face that had wrinkled from time now
appeared much smoother. The expression was tranquil. Looking at
the body, Ed said, "She went without a fight, accepting death as the
beginning of a new adventure. Look at the peaceful expression on
her face."
The Sheriff nodded as he replied, "I've seen it before. It always
amazes me."
Ed went over and closed the eyes, a detail overlooked by Dr.
Hayes. Looking over at the Sheriff, he asked, "What happens
now?"
"This is an unexpected death, but she is elderly. The ambulance
will deliver the body to the coroner's office. They will do a simple
examination of the body and check the blood to make sure that
there aren't any substances that might indicate murder or suicide.
After that, they'll release the body to the funeral home of your
choice." The Sheriff looked down at the body of the elderly
woman. This was the part of the job that he didn't like.
While the men waited for the ambulance to arrive, Ed called the
Druid College. When he finally reached John, he said, "Hi John."
"Hello Ed. What's up?"
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Mrs. Hayes passed away."
Ed knew that he could tell John straight out what happened as John
had no fear of dying.
"Oh, that's a shame. I'm going to miss her," replied John. After a
moment of silence, he said, "I'll get in touch with Leroy and let
him know."
"Thanks, John. I hope everyone is coming here."
"Of course, we are. I'll charter a jet and we'll fly out tomorrow
morning. We'll pick up Linda and Leroy on our way there," replied
John. Births were times for the family to celebrate the life that was
to be lived. Deaths were times for the family to give honor to lives
that had been lived.
"I'll let Cathy know to expect you," said Ed. He was about to hang
up and then added, "By the way, Shauna is getting married and
moving away."
"Oh Ed. I'm so sorry. I know that you are going to miss her a lot.
Still, I'm sure she is going on to bigger and better things."
"I've agreed to pay for a charter jet to fly in the family and put
them up in a hotel here for the wedding," said Ed.
Laughing, John said, "Are you trying to make the rest of us look
cheap with that wedding present?"
"No," replied Ed with a chuckle.
"It won't work," replied John as he hung up.
Shaking his head, Ed put away the cell phone. Turning to the
Sheriff, he said, "I found out that we were losing one of our chefs
today. Shauna is getting married."
"I heard you mention that to John. Are you going to get a
replacement?"
Ed hadn't thought that far ahead and considered the question
carefully. It wasn't clear that Marguerite required an assistant.
Shauna had just stayed on after covering for Marguerite while she
went on her honeymoon with Bob. He answered, "I guess that is up
to Marguerite."
The Sheriff shook his head and said, "That's some staff you have
there at the house."
"Why do you say that?"
Snorting, the Sheriff said, "I noticed that your guys showed up
armed and with a medical kit. They were ready to kill or to save a
life, with equal energy. The ladies that work in your house protect
you with the same kind of willingness to hurt anyone that means
you ill. I heard Sarah take apart a reporter that was trying to dig up
some dirt on you guys. I never thought I would be afraid of her, but
she scared the hell out of me."
"I didn't hear anything about that," remarked Ed wondering what
other things were happening that he didn't know about.
"How do you get such dedicated people working for you?"
"I don't know," replied Ed as he thought about it. He said, "I can
tell when people lie to me. It makes it easy to weed out the people
that want to do harm to the family."
"I guess that would help," remarked the Sheriff. He laughed as he
said, "Sometimes I wish Robert White Feather was around when I
interview new deputies."
Ed laughed at the reminder that Robert White Feather had been
partnered with Sheriff Ortega. Juan Ortega and Ed had known each
other a long time, reaching back to the time when Ed was still a
drunk and a bully. Ed remembered that he was Juan Ortega's first
arrest when he joined the department. He said, "You and Robert
were quite a pair. If I remember, you used to hate it when he went
all Indian on you."
Juan laughed and said, "Yeah. He's a remarkable detective,
though."
The ambulance pulled up in front of the house without the lights
flashing. The two men came in and talked to the Sheriff for a
minute before going about the business of taking care of the body.
Ed watched as the men took the appropriate care and showed the
proper respect to the remains.
It didn't take them long to put the body on the stretcher and then
wheel it out to the street. Ed turned to the Sheriff and asked, "Do
you need to talk to Dr. Hayes?"
"No, I'll get the coroner's report and the death certificate. He won't
need to hear from me unless something funny shows up."
"Okay," replied Ed. He looked at the Sheriff for a moment and
then said, "Don't be a stranger. Come on by the house around
mealtime on occasion. Robert never missed a chance to eat at our
house."
"Will do," replied the Sheriff.
Ed watched him leave the house and then went through the process
of closing up the house. Even as he did that, he wondered if Dr.
Hayes was going to return here to live. He would have to talk to
the doctor about that.
With a heavy heart, he stepped out of the house. Maria was waiting
for him with concern on her face. She asked, "Did she pass away?"
"Yes, she did."
Making the sign of the cross, she said, "I'm so sorry. Do you want
me to let the rest of the town know?"
Looking down the street, Ed saw a half dozen faces looking in
their direction. He nodded as he answered, "I guess you had better.
Everyone is curious."
"Is the rest of the family coming?"
"Yes," replied Ed. He knew that half of the town would want the
answer to that question as well.
Maria smiled and said, "That is good. You should not have to go
through this without the support of your loving family. It is hard to
lose parents."
"Yes, it is," replied Ed. He had lost his parents when he was just a
teenager. Ever since they had moved here, Dr. and Mrs. Hayes had
filled that role for him.
"Will John stay long?"
"I don't know," answered Ed. That was another question everyone
would ask. After a moment of consideration, he said, "I will try to
get everyone down to the bar one evening so that everyone can
stop by and visit the whole family."
"That would be nice. I'll let everyone know." Maria reached up
with a hand and caressed Ed on the cheek. She said, "Do you need
company tonight?"
"No, that's okay. Oh, you might let everyone know that Shauna is
getting married and moving away."
"Who is she marrying and when is the date?"
"Desmond Van Engen, a Chef at the Gourmand and I don't think a
date has been set yet."
Maria smiled at the news for Shauna and knew that the town's folk
would want to attend the wedding. The black woman had given a
lot to the town and had always accessible for any need. Shauna and
Marguerite often cooked the meals for major family and town
events free of charge. It wasn't the big things that she did that were
so important, but the little things. Things like helping a newlywed
woman learn how to cook and bringing food over for families in
crisis were the simple gifts that made her popular. She said, "I'm
sure a lot of people will be happy to hear that she's finally getting
married. I know a lot of us will miss her when she moves away."
"It's kind of hard to carry both emotions, happy for her and
unhappy that she's leaving," remarked Ed.
It was obvious to Maria that Ed was losing another woman that he
loved a lot. She sighed as she thought about the number of women
that Ed loved and how many of them had gone on with their lives
leaving him behind.
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