JC: Ed Biggers
Part 5: Stasis
Chapter 21
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Exhausted was the only word to describe how Ed felt as he stepped 
into his room. He had spent most of the previous night sitting with 
Dr. Hayes as the old man talked about his life with his wife. The 
elderly doctor has loved his wife with a love that had grown even 
stronger in the latter years of their life together.  It had been a very 
hard evening listening to the stories and keeping up the spirits of 
the doctor. On several occasions, the doctor had broken down and 
cried. 

The morning had been just as busy. Ed had made the arrangements 
for the body to be taken to the funeral home, the funeral service, 
and flowers. Cathy had volunteered to do that, but Ed felt that it 
was something the family should do. No expenses were spared in 
the funeral arrangements. The service was going to be held in the 
school, since it was the largest building in town. 

The afternoon was going to be just as busy for Ed. The family was 
returning home and that always meant a degree of chaos as the kids 
ran around, people dropped by, and activities scheduled during a 
family meeting. Throughout the afternoon, he would have to spend 
time with Dr. Hayes and let him know that he wasn't going through 
this alone.

For the moment, all Ed wanted was a nap before the family 
arrived. As he headed to the bed, a knock on the door brought him 
up short. Wondering what was the problem, he answered the door 
to find Cathy and Sarah with the portable massage table. They 
were both naked, providing a nice visual contrast. Cathy with her 
pale skin standing beside the dark skinned Native American beauty 
emphasized the attributes of each.

Cathy said, "You look like a man in need of some tender loving 
care. Let us give you a massage and help you relax."

Of all the things Ed had heard that day this was the best. His 
shoulders were tight, his back tense, and his arms heavy. A 
massage would solve those problems. With a smile, he replied, 
"That would be perfect."

Sarah rolled in the portable massage table and set out the supplies 
while Ed stripped. Cathy went to the stereo system and inserted a 
CD with soft music. Ed climbed on the table and relaxed. Cathy 
and Sarah went to work massaging the muscles on his back. As 
their hands did their magic, the muscles relaxed and he drifted into 
a state of mental bliss. 

Sarah worked on his neck muscles, digging her thumbs into the 
muscles forcing the tension from the knots. Cathy worked the 
muscles of his broad back, spending time on those that ran along 
the spine. The work was unhurried, as the women were prepared to 
spend hours removing all traces of tension. 

Ed fell into a light sleep, body and mind resting while still aware of 
the sensations created by the pair of women. He heard them ask 
that he turn over, but he didn't remember turning. Cathy gave him 
a facial massage while Sarah worked on his chest. After that, each 
woman took an arm. From the arms, they moved to his legs 
working the tension out of the strong muscles of his thighs. 

Ed was floating in a sea of sensual bliss as his body relaxed and his 
mind renewed itself. When they started running their hands up and 
down his body with very light touches, his body reacted sexually 
as they had intended. Rather than move directly to rub his erection, 
they continued the soft exciting stroking of his body. When Linda 
finally reached his cock, Cathy turned her attention to his nipples 
teasing them erect. 

Linda's hand stroked the cock up and down with a twisting motion 
when she reached the head. His body shuttered at the incredible 
sensations their hands produced in his body. With no warning, he 
came, shooting come over his chest and stomach. Linda smiled and 
said, "My cousin would be so disappointed to see that come 
wasted."

Without saying a word, Cathy went to the bathroom and ran a 
washcloth under warm water. Returning, she wrapped his cock in 
the washcloth. The wet warmth felt great around his cock and he 
sighed in pleasure. Cathy cleaned up the come off his stomach and 
chest. 

Ed climbed off the table feeling refreshed and re-energized not 
realizing that almost two hours had passed. As he dressed, he said, 
"Thank you very much. I didn't realize how tense I was."

"You're quite welcome," replied Cathy with a significant glance at 
Sarah. They both knew that Ed had talked to their boyfriends last 
night. While the consequences of that discussion weren't known, 
they were sure that it would work out well for them. 

"It was a nice thing you did for Shauna," Sarah said with a crooked 
grin. If there was anyone that took care of the women around him, 
it was Ed. 

"Oh, hey. Any one would have done it," replied Ed with a shrug. 
As far as he was concerned, if you couldn't use your money to help 
people, then it was of no use. He glanced at the clock and stared at 
it wide-eyed. Surprised, he said, "Look at the time."

Cathy and Sarah prepared the massage table to be moved out of the 
room. In an attempt to get Ed to calm down, Cathy said, "Nothing 
is happening now. The family isn't due for two hours. George and 
Walt are with Dr. Hayes. You even have time to have a swim if 
you would like."

"Thanks."

Sarah wheeled the massage table out of the room as Cathy 
followed her leaving Ed with nothing to do. Rather than stay in his 
room, he left to check on the rooms for the kids. Sarah had already 
cleaned the rooms. The beds were made, the lights were on, and 
the floors were vacuumed. Even the desks had been restocked with 
new pens and pads of paper. 

Leaving the rooms, he ran into Walt. Concerned about seeing the 
man given the information that Cathy had provided about him 
talking with Dr. Hayes, he asked, "What's up?"

"The good doctor has gone to take a nap. He said that he wanted to 
be alert when the kids showed up."

"Okay. That's good thinking on his part," replied Ed. There were 
still doubts in his mind about how well the doctor was handling the 
death of his wife. It was well known that when one spouse died, 
the other often followed within a year. 

"I think the kids will be a good influence on his mental state. 
They'll give him something to live for."

"I hope so," replied Ed. 

"Well, I'm going to double check everything for the arrival of the 
family. It's going to be nice to have everyone here again," said 
Walt. The house had been too quite for too long.

Satisfied that all was well, Ed wandered to the kitchen where 
Marguerite and Shauna were busy getting a meal prepared for 
when the family arrived. With a grin, Ed announced his presence 
by asking, "What kind of toxic concoction are you brewing up 
now?"

"Concoction?" asked Shauna with mock anger.

"Toxic?" asked Marguerite as she set down the spoon that she had 
been using to stir the soup she was making. She turned to face Ed 
with her hands on her hips as she added, "You have nerve! Now 
get out of my kitchen before I filet you! Out! Out! Out!"

Grinning at how Marguerite was trying to shoo him out of the 
kitchen, Ed said, "I know when I'm wanted and when I'm not. 
Definitely, now is case where I'm wanted."

"I think he has blown a fuse," replied Shauna. 

Marguerite suddenly changed tack and approached Ed in a sultry 
seductive manner as she said, "Oh, big man. I just can't keep my 
hands off you. Come to momma."

Waving his hands above his head, he ran out of the room 
screaming, "The cooks have gone crazy!"

The two cooks watched him leave while chuckling at his antics. 
Shauna commented, "God, he's hard to resist, isn't he?"

"Yeah. He doesn't even know it," remarked Marguerite.

Ed went out of the house deciding that he had enough time to hit 
the bar and talk to Shirley. It was a little after the lunch hour and 
she should have a little time to spare. As he walked down the 
street, neighbors came out to give their condolences. He was 
touched by their heartfelt concern that came from a real grief over 
the death of his mother-in-law. 

Many of his neighbors also expressed their excitement about the 
marriage of Shauna, asking him if she had registered at any store. 
Since he had no idea what that meant, he answered that he didn't 
know. He would ask Shirley when he reached the bar and she 
would explain it to him. 

It took almost thirty minutes to make the five-minute walk to the 
bar. He didn't mind the interruptions. Stepping into the bar, he 
looked around and spotted Shirley behind the counter taking care 
of the end of the lunch crowd. He took a seat at the bar and winked 
at her. 

While she poured a coke for him, she said, "I heard all the news 
coming out of your house. Some good news and some sad news."

"Yeah, that's true. I don't know if I should be happy or sad," 
replied Ed as he accepted the coke from Shirley. 

She wiped down the bar as her eyes scanned the room to see if 
anyone needed her attention. Satisfied that all of her customers 
were okay, she asked, "Which one would you like to talk about 
first?"

"I guess the sad news so we can end on a happy note," replied Ed. 

"Makes sense to me. I was sorry to hear that she passed away, but 
I've heard that you have rented the school gym to hold the service. 
That's nice. I know a lot of the people will be happy to know that 
they can attend the service."

Ed shrugged. "I thought a few people would like to give their last 
respects to her. She was a great woman."

"I agree. She did a lot for the community," replied Shirley. Mrs. 
Hayes had taken to being a community figure like a champion. 
Any charity or social group could count on her to support them. 
"The gym might not be large enough."

"I know. It's hard to believe that anyone could do that much charity 
work. The family was more than happy to fund a community park, 
but she wanted it to come from the people of the town rather than 
from us."

Shirley smiled at Ed knowing that Mrs. Hayes had hurt his feelings 
during that particular episode. She had spent a whole afternoon 
explaining to him that having the park given to the community by 
one of its wealthier members wouldn't give the rest of the town 
that same sense of ownership. It had taken some time for him to 
accept the logic of that argument. Once he had accepted it, he 
supported Mrs. Hayes to the fullest extent that she would allow 
him. Shirley smiled, "The town is very proud of that park."

"I know. She was right about that," remarked Ed. 

"So tell me about Shauna," said Shirley as she changed the subject.

"She's getting married," replied Ed knowing that she wanted more 
details than that, but was feeling like having a little fun with her.

"I know that!"

"Oh, so why did you ask?" asked Ed with a grin.

"I want the details. Who is he? What does he do? When is it 
happening?"

"I don't know all the details. She's marrying Desmond Van Engen. 
He was a chef at The Gourmand in Phoenix, but they are moving 
to Missouri to be chefs at the Governor's Mansion." 

"She's leaving your house?"

"Yes, she is. This is a great opportunity for her. She's lived under 
the shadow of Marguerite for the past few years. I know that she's 
learned a lot from Marguerite, but it is time for her to establish her 
own reputation," answered Ed.

"You're right."

With a wink, Ed said, "I feel sorry for the Governor. He's going to 
come into the kitchen one day and find everyone dancing."

"Oh, you're horrible," teased Shirley. She knew how proud Ed was 
about the skills of everyone that worked for the Carter Clan. 

The comment reminded him that he had a question and asked, 
"What does it mean to register at a store when you are getting 
married?"

Stunned by the question, Shirley answered, "It is something you do 
so that people know what to buy you for a wedding present."

"Huh?"

"You set up a list of items that you would like to receive as a 
wedding present. That way, everyone can buy a plate knowing that 
the plate will match the plates that other people buy. When 
someone buys one of the items, it gets checked off the list."

Who ever had come up with that idea had been pretty clever. 
Nodding as he considered the idea, he said, "I was worried that we 
did something wrong when we got married. I thought it meant that 
you were supposed to go to some store to get permission to marry."

Shirley giggled as she recalled when he had confused a baby 
shower with a baby bath. From the look on his face, she knew that 
he had followed her thoughts. She said, "I hope that we get to have 
a bridal shower."

"You're putting me on. I know all about baby showers," replied Ed.

Shirley giggled and commented, "There really is such a thing as a 
bridal shower."

His truth sense told him that she was telling the truth. There really 
was a bridal shower and it made him wonder what was involved. 
Knowing that it didn't involve bathing, he said, "Now that is 
something that I might enjoy watching. Shauna washing in the 
shower."

Shirley started to react, but then realized that he was teasing her. 
With a wink, she replied, "I'll let her know that."

"Okay," retorted Ed knowing that Shirley would tell Shauna and 
Shauna would shower in front of him just to carry the joke to its 
logical conclusion.

The door of the bar opened as a elderly redheaded man entered. 
Coming over to the bar, he sat down next to Ed. With a glance at 
Ed, he turned his back to him as though the man was not worth 
talking with. Not realizing or caring that he was interrupting a 
conversation, the man said, "Hello, Shirley. I'll take a coke and a 
roast beef sandwich."

After setting a coke in front of the man, Shirley turned and called 
in the order to the restaurant next door. The idea of selling 
sandwiches in the bar had helped both businesses to the point 
where they had installed a window connecting them. The 
restaurant had become a little higher class with more formal 
service while the bar served the laid-back lunch crowd. 

She returned to the bar and said, "Your order will be ready in about 
five minutes." 

"Great."

Ed had watched the man without knowing who he was, but 
understanding that Shirley was very familiar with him. Rather than 
remain ignorant, Ed said, "I don't believe that we've met."

Noticing that the man had looked at Ed as though wondering who 
he was, Shirley performed the introductions, "Dr. Liam Connor, I'd 
like you to meet Ed Biggers. Ed, this is Dr. Liam Conner. He's 
running the clinic now that Dr. Hayes retired."

Recalling that Dr. Hayes had mentioned turning over the clinic to 
another physician, Ed said, "Oh, it's nice to met you."

The first impression that the doctor had of Ed was that he was just 
another blue-collar worker that often came into the bar for lunch. 
When he learned that the cowboy was Ed Biggers, he immediately 
revised his opinion. Ed was not the first individual for whom the 
doctor's first impression had to be changed. It seemed to him that 
half the guys wearing blue jeans in this town were millionaires. 
Liam replied, "It's nice to met you."

Proud of his town, Ed asked, "So how do you like living here?"

The doctor shook his head and answered, "I don't know. It's hard to 
tell who's rich and who's poor in this town."

Pleased to hear that, Ed agreed, "Yes, it is."

"How do you know how to treat someone when you don't know if 
they are business magnate or a janitor?"

Frowning, Ed answered, "You treat them all the same. How else 
would you do it?"

The doctor frowned at the answer. He didn't know how to charge 
for his services as a doctor when he didn't know if they could pay 
for their treatment or if they were a charity case. In the short time 
that he had been in the clinic, he still hadn't found the insurance 
forms. He said, "I don't know which of my patients are supposed to 
pay."

Ed looked at Shirley who rolled her eyes. It appeared to him that 
this was a subject that Shirley had tried to explain to the doctor, but 
he hadn't gotten the idea yet. She noticed that his sandwich had 
arrived and said, "Ed, why don't you try to explain it to him while I 
get his sandwich and check the rest of the bar?"

Turning to face the doctor, Ed said, "My wife pays for all of the 
costs of health care that is given at the clinic. There's no need to 
charge anyone."

"You can't run a clinic that way," replied the doctor. His time was 
too valuable to be wasted on patients that didn't pay for their 
medical services.

Manuel came into the bar and spotted Ed and the doctor at the bar. 
Coming over to Ed, he patted him on the shoulder as he said, "I see 
you've met our greedy doctor."

Ed smiled at Manuel and said, "Yes, I have. I take it he charged 
you?"

"Yes, he did. It didn't matter to me since I could afford it, but some 
of the other people in town do not like being treated like that." 
Manuel was stating a fact and knew that Ed would act on it. The 
doctor wasn't exactly popular in town although the people were 
always polite to him. 

"Doctor Connor, I think that you don't realize that this is a 
community clinic. The community pays for it, even though my 
wife is the biggest contributor. The owner of the building does not 
charge rent as he believes that it is part of being a member of the 
community. The chamber of commerce collects money from all of 
the business owners to pay the malpractice insurance."

"What about my salary?"

"Your salary? Didn't Dr. Hayes tell you that this is a volunteer 
effort?" asked Ed.

"Sure, but there is still usually some sort of salary that the doctor 
gets as part of a non-profit practice," answered the doctor. 

"Not in this town, senor," replied Manuel with an irritated glance 
at the doctor. He added, "You'll get free admission to community 
events. Of course, so does everyone."

"I don't get how you can do things this way. It's not good 
business," replied the doctor as he looked at the sandwich that 
Shirley had just set in front of him. She refilled his coke and went 
to take care of another table.

Laughing, Ed leaned on the bar and replied, "It's not business, it's 
about community. This is my hometown and I care about it a lot. 
Everyone in this town looks out for everyone else. If you paint 
your house, half of the town will show up and help. The women 
will cook and it will turn into a party. If you have a tragedy, 
everyone will be there for you. You'll find people delivering meals, 
offering to sit the kids, give you a ride to the airport, or help in any 
way possible."

The doctor took a bite of his sandwich and listened to what Ed was 
saying. He wasn't sure that he believed a single word of it. Manuel 
said, "I'm going to have to run. I heard you were in here and just 
wanted to stop by to offer my condolences about Mrs. Hayes."

"Thanks, Manuel," replied Ed.

"I found five hundred chairs. We'll get them brought over to the 
high school for the service and set them up."

"Thanks, I hadn't even gotten to that detail yet," replied Ed relieved 
that he didn't have to find chairs for everyone to sit on. He said, 
"I'll let Cathy know. There are still a lot of details that I haven't 
taken care of yet."

"Such as?"

"I haven't written the obituary, lined up the priest, or selected the 
music," replied Ed.

"The paper already has an obituary written for her," replied Shirley 
as she returned to the bar. She added, "They have one for a number 
of the leading members of the community. Yes, they even have 
one for you."

"Oh, I hope that mine tells the truth about me. So many people 
exaggerate what I do," remarked Ed. He wondered if he could ask 
to edit his and take out some of the more sensational claims. 
"Maybe they'll let me edit it."

Shirley and Manuel laughed. Manuel said, "Bye, I'll see you later."

"Great. Give my regards to your family."

Manuel left with a wave over his shoulder while Ed watched him 
exit through the door. The flash of bright light as the door was 
opened hurt the eyes. Ed turned back to look at the doctor. "As I 
was saying, this town looks out for each other. Can you imagine 
that Manuel went to the bother of locating five hundred chairs for 
the funeral? What a nice guy."

The doctor swallowed and said, "He's rich and that's something 
that rich people do."

"You do worry about money, don't you?"

Richard Green stopped by on his way out of the bar and put a hand 
on Ed's shoulder. Shaking his head, he said, "Sorry about Mrs. 
Hayes, she was a grand woman."

"Thanks Richard. It means a lot to me to hear you say that."

"I might be able to get a horse drawn funeral carriage. You know, 
one of those old fashioned carriages. My cousin in Phoenix knows 
someone that has museum. Should I try to get it?" 

"Wow, that would be outstanding. Go ahead and try," replied Ed.

The doctor listened to the exchange. Everyone that had stopped by 
had offered to do something for the funeral. Others came by and 
gave their condolences offering to bring food, play music, and 
other little acts of kindness that came to creative minds. Ed 
thanked everyone for his or her thoughtfulness. When the line of 
people had ended, the doctor said, "You seem to talk to everyone."

"I do talk to everyone," replied Ed surprised by the comment. 

"It doesn't matter to you if they're poor? I mean, I'm sure that they 
are hitting you up for money all the time," said the doctor.

"Actually, no one has ever asked me for a dime," said Ed. He had 
never given it a thought before and saying it aloud made it sound 
rather odd. "I wonder why?"

Shirley winked at Ed and said, "That's because they know you'll 
beat them up."

Ed laughed and slapped his thigh. Leave it to Shirley to put things 
in perspective. He retorted, "Darn straight."

Shirley leaned on the bar looking at the doctor as she said, "Ed 
gives people something far more important than money. He gives 
them respect. You know Manuel. I bet you didn't know that 
Manuel was the poorest man in town at one time. Ed is the one that 
helped him become a multi-millionaire and he helped him without 
giving him a single penny."

"Shirley, you are always exaggerating my role in it. All I did was 
get him to talk to you about running his business like a business."

"Right. You keep saying that and one day some poor fool is going 
to believe you," replied Shirley. It was a long-standing point of 
contention between the two of them as to who helped Manuel the 
most.

"I thought that he was always wealthy," replied Liam. 

Ed shook his head and said, "You've never really talked to him, 
have you?"

"Not really," answered the doctor. The elderly Hispanic man didn't 
like him, particularly after the visit to his office. He wondered if he 
had taken the wrong approach in dealing with people. 

Rosa came into the bar and headed directly to Ed. She threw her 
arms around him and said, "Oh, Ed. I'm so sorry about Mrs. 
Hayes."

"Thank you, Rosa. I guess Maria gave you the news."

"No, I heard about it while I was at work. It only took about twenty 
minutes for word to spread through town."

"I love this town," remarked Ed amazed at how news spread from 
one end to the other so fast. 

Rosa said, "I wanted to come over last night after work, but I 
figured you were probably exhausted. Maria and I were thinking 
that maybe we could help Dr. Hayes out and clean the house."

The offer was very nice, but Ed didn't know what to think of it. He 
replied, "I'm not sure if Dr. Hayes will be moving back into the 
house. I'd like to keep him close to the family to help ease the 
shock."

"He's taking it hard?"

Nodding, Ed answered, "Very hard. The past few years have been 
very good for them as a couple. He's going to miss her."

Rosa put a hand on Ed's hand as she said, "You'll take good care of 
him, I know you."

"Are you heading back to the house?" asked Ed.

"Yes."

"Let me walk with you," replied Ed as he stood up and put his 
money on the bar to pay for his coke. He added, "Family is coming 
home in a little while and I want to be there."

"Sure, Ed."

Ed turned to the doctor and said, "Doctor Connor, I don't know 
you, but I do have some advice for you. Stop trying to make 
money out of the people here. That will lead to a state of poverty 
worse than you can possibly imagine. Get to know them and you'll 
be richer than anyone you know."

The doctor turned to stare at Ed wondering if it was some kind of 
threat. As far as he was concerned, there were a lot of very 
powerful people in this town and it wasn't a good idea to anger 
them. The problem was that you never knew who was rich and 
who was poor. He looked over at Ed and replied, "Thanks for the 
advice."

Shaking his head at having heard the slight dissonance of a lie, Ed 
replied, "I know you don't believe me that it is advice, but it is."

Taking Ed's hand, Rosa left the bar pulling him with her. The 
doctor stared at them leaving. Shirley commented, "Ed loves 
everyone in this town."

As Ed and Rosa walked down the street to their respective homes, 
neighbors came out and chatted with them. The support of the 
townspeople was just as refreshing as the massage that he had 
received earlier that day. Their support was a massage of the spirit, 
calming and a reminder of inner strength.

Ed stopped at the old house of John and examined it. The staff 
maintained the house, but it was seldom used. It looked sad being 
empty so much of the time. Rosa noticed the way that Ed was 
looking at the house and said, "He needs to do something about the 
house. It's wrong to leave it empty so much of the time."

Nodding, Ed said, "I think that he intended to use it for long term 
visitors that wanted to retain a little of their privacy."

"Oh," replied Rosa. "Why is it empty?"

"Everyone likes to stay at the big house," answered Ed. 

It made sense that people preferred to stay at the large house. The 
hospitality was outstanding with the staff taking care of all needs 
and most wants. She said, "Houses are meant for families. I think 
our family would be happy to see some families move in around 
us."

Ed looked across the street at his house and realized that while 
running a business out of it was convenient for him, it was not 
good for the neighborhood. He smiled at Rosa and said, "You're 
right. I shall talk to John."






