DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. If you are offended by 
sexually explicit material or are under the age of 18, stop reading 
now. This material cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes 
without the consent of the author.

JC: Ed Biggers
Part 1: Epiphany
Chapter 20
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Ed returned from school exhausted. His boss, Nevada, pressured 
him into taking the promotion that he had been offered. Working 
full time and going to school part-time was about to kill him. He 
wished that John was home, but he was off in Austin doing 
something that he was keeping very secret. He had an early class 
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and two late classes on 
Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

After wandering into the kitchen, he realized that he didn't have 
anything in the house ready to eat. He didn't feel like taking the 
half hour to cook and the time to clean up afterwards. Kelly and 
Beth were working tonight so he was on his own as far as dinner 
was concerned. It wasn't that he expected either one to cook for 
him, it was just that cooking for one was such a hassle.

Driven by his hunger, he headed over to Maria's Cantina. His plan 
was to get a couple of tacos and then head home to get some much 
needed sleep. The relationship with Maria and Rosa had improved 
significantly. He could probably get them to rush the order. At 
least this way, he'd be in bed in less than an hour. 

Entering the restaurant, he was surprised to find people waiting for 
tables. He looked over at Maria and with a wink asked, "So who 
am I going to have to beat up to get a table?"

Maria laughed at the joke. There was a time when she wouldn't 
have laughed. She answered, "Oh, its not that bad, just a twenty 
minute wait."

While Maria laughed, a number of other patrons looked around 
nervously. Too many of them still viewed Ed as a bully and feared 
that they would be intimidated into leaving. Ed noticed, but 
decided not to make an issue of it. Instead, he said, "If you can't fit 
me in, I'll eat at the bar."

Maria was about to say that it would be alright, when a very loud 
sob arose from behind her. Turning, she saw Sherry, hands held 
over her eyes, crying as she ran off the to restroom. Staring at the 
retreating figure, Ed wondered what was the matter. As he turned 
to ask Maria, Jim came storming over to him. His face was flushed 
red, the vein in his forehead throbbed, and his hands were clutched 
into fists. Trembling in rage, Jim shouted, "If you ever say 
anything nasty about my wife again, I'll kill you."

Ed had no idea what he had done. There was a time when he never 
missed a chance to belittle her, but that was a long time in the past. 
It was then that he realized he had not seen Jim or Sherry for more 
than a year. He glanced at Maria as if to ask what had he done. 
There was no answer there, as she just shrugged her shoulders as 
puzzled as Ed.

Looking at Jim, he asked, "What did I say?"

Snarling, Jim retorted, "You know what you said, you bastard."

Deciding that he didn't really want to deal with the situation at the 
current time, Ed looked over at Maria and said, "I think it would be 
better if I leave."

Very surprised by Jim's behavior, she nodded her agreement. She 
had not heard Ed say anything to Jim or Sherry, but she wasn't 
going to step in front of Jim. Feeling sorry for Ed at what was 
basically an unfair accusation, she said, "I'm sorry, but I agree."

Stepping closer to Ed, Jim continued to vent his rage. He 
screamed, "You had better go."

Knowing that talking to Jim in that mood was not going to help the 
situation, Ed did the best that he could to prevent an escalation of 
the situation. With a curt nod of his head, Ed replied, "I'm leaving."

Jim followed Ed to the door. Even as Ed headed out of the 
restaurant, he shouted, "Get out of here!"

As the door closed behind Ed, he looked back at the restaurant in 
total dismay. Shoulders sagging as if the spirit had been sucked out 
of his body, he headed towards the bar hoping that he could at least 
get a sandwich there. As he walked, he thought about how he 
should have responded to Jim's bitter attack. In hindsight, he didn't 
see how he could have done anything different. The real problem 
was that he felt that he had deserved that kind of treatment from 
Jim for a long time. Jim and Sherry would hate him forever. 

At the bar, Shirley took one look at Ed and knew that he was 
down. Before he reached the counter, she had a glass of coke ready 
for him. As he sat down, he asked, "Any chance of getting a 
sandwich?"

Shaking her head to reinforce her answer, she replied, "No. They're 
closed for the night. Why don't you go over to Maria's Cantina?"

"I got chased out of there," replied Ed. Taking a sip of his coke, he 
tried to decide what to do for dinner. He guessed that the only real 
option was the diner near where he worked. He should have 
stopped at one of the places on the way home from school.

At the news that Ed had been chased out of Maria's Cantina, 
Shirley looked at Ed in surprise. He had been so nice the past year 
that she couldn't imagine him causing a problem. In fact, the 
relationship between Ed with Maria had become pretty solid. 
Concerned, she asked, "What did you do?"

"I don't know. I was talking to Maria when out of the blue Jim 
climbed all over me. Rather than make more of a scene, I left." Ed 
shook his head, trying to figure out what happened at the 
restaurant. 

"You have no idea what you did?" Knowing the history among Ed, 
Jim and Sherry, she could understand how that would blow up. 
One slip of the tongue about Sherry and Ed would have a very 
angry Jim in his face. Ed's comments about Sherry had chased Jim 
and Sherry out of her bar years ago.

Shaking his head, Ed answered, "No, but it doesn't matter. I've 
deserved that from him for a long time. I just excused myself and 
left rather than make a scene. I'm only surprised that it took this 
long for him to express his hatred for me."

"You're being too hard on yourself, Ed. I know that in the past that 
you were a bully, but you've changed a lot." Shirley looked at Ed 
with compassion realizing that he felt very bad about past. She was 
also surprised that he had taken such a passive position with Jim. 

"No, I'm not being too hard on myself. If you hurt someone too 
many times, you can expect never to be forgiven. I stepped way 
over the line with Jim and Sherry. They are quite right to hate me." 
Ed thought back to some of the things he had done to Sherry. 
There for a while, when ever he had seen her he had asked her if 
she was expecting triplets. The first time she had asked why and he 
had replied that he thought she was pregnant because of how fat 
she was. She had been indignant the first time. After that, every 
time he asked her the question she broke out in tears. 

It hurt him to think of how many names he had called her over the 
years. If it harm none, then do it. Protect the weak from the strong. 
How many years had he been the strong that took advantage of the 
weak? How many times had he taken actions that harmed others? 
It had been too many times and now he had to pay for it.

Looking at Ed, Shirley knew there was nothing she would be able 
to say that would change his mind. In fact, she could understand it 
if Jim and Sherry never forgave Ed. His treatment of her had been 
very nasty over the years. Rather than deny the accuracy of his 
assessment, she said, "You may be right."

"There's no may about it. I am right." Ed finished his coke and paid 
for it. Shirley watched him leave the bar, sad that she couldn't do 
anything to help him. In the past year she had become rather fond 
of him, perhaps too fond. He had come up with the idea for the 
sandwiches and that had increased her lunch and dinner business 
significantly. He had helped Manuel improve his business. 

Tired, hungry, and upset Ed left the bar for his house in order to 
get his truck. He was going to have to drive over to the diner for 
his dinner. It would be at least another hour and a half before he 
would get home to bed.

It was a half an hour later before Ed reached the diner. Entering, he 
was pleased to find that Linda was waiting tables that night. He sat 
down at one of her tables and waited for her to come over to take 
his order. While he waited, he thought about Jim and Sherry.  His 
thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Linda. She said, "Hey, 
Ed what are you doing here tonight?"

"I got chased out of my usual place tonight," replied Ed.

Smiling at Ed, Linda asked, "Chased?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Ed replied, "Yes, chased. For years I 
harassed a woman because she was fat and married to a very 
successful handsome man. I said horrible things to her, usually 
about her weight. Now, I haven't seen her in more than year, I 
guess they have been avoiding me. Anyway, I was talking to 
someone else and her husband started yelling at me about how 
mean I've been to his wife. I just left rather than make a scene."

"Oh, wow, so what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know what to do. I was so mean to her, that I don't see how 
I can make amends," answered Ed.

Shrugging, she said, "You could start by apologizing."

The idea of apologizing had not occurred to Ed, particularly since 
he considered his past actions unforgivable. He said, "There's no 
way an apology will fix the damage that I've done."

"It can't hurt," replied Linda. She had been in a lot of situations in 
her past where she had bought an apology even for pretty horrific 
offences. On three separate occasions she had taken back a 
boyfriend that beat her, only accepting that he wouldn't change 
after the fourth time. The woman might never trust Ed, but maybe 
her husband wouldn't be hostile.

"I've said some pretty mean things to her, but I'll apologize. I don't 
expect it to do too much good, but I'll give it a try."

Linda asked, "What are you having tonight?"

"I'll try some of the stew. I think that you guys have some of the 
best stew around." Ed replied remembering the last time that he 
had stew here.

Linda looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "It's not so 
good today. Why don't you try the meatloaf? It's pretty good 
tonight."

Surprised Ed asked, "What's wrong with the stew?"

"It's been sitting there for a while," replied Linda. The stew had 
been made for lunch and they were going to throw it out soon.

Ed said, "Okay, I'll go with the meatloaf. Thanks for the 
recommendation."

Linda walked off with to submit the order to the cook. As she left, 
Ed thought about how she had steered him away from the stew. 
There was a time when she probably would have recommended it 
to him knowing that it wasn't very good. That had been one of the 
major changes in his life, he was getting much better treatment by 
others around him. 

He thought about how to apologize to Sherry and Jim. After a lot 
of thought, he realized that he should wait to apologize to Jim until 
after he had apologized to Sherry. She was the injured party and it 
was her feelings that had to be healed first. Of course, he felt that 
was impossible.

Linda came back to the table with his meatloaf and a large glass of 
iced tea. Setting the food down on the table, she said, "Let me 
know how you like it."

The meatloaf tasted very good. In fact, it was the best that he ever 
had. It wasn't too dry or too greasy, but managed to maintain the 
appropriate amount of moisture. He looked up at Linda and said, 
"This is outstanding. Usually I have to drown meatloaf in catsup, 
but this is really very good."

Smiling at Ed, Linda said, "I'm glad you like it. The cook just 
changed his recipe and what ever he's doing now is really good."

"It is really outstanding. Give the cook my complements." Ed was 
really impressed. Although he occasionally had meatloaf, it was 
not a meal that he ordered often. This particular meatloaf could 
easily become an exception. 

Linda replied, "I'll tell him you like it."

After Linda left, Ed started eating his meal. Of course, the sides 
were mashed potatoes with gravy and Broccoli. Someone, 
somewhere, was going to have to stop that trend of having 
Broccoli as side dish. While there are some individuals that like 
Broccoli, having it every time you ate out got old very quickly. 
Even boiled carrots would be better on occasion.

As he ate, Linda came and refilled his iced tea. He smiled and 
gestured to her since he had just taken a bite of his food. He wasn't 
sure if waitresses did that on purpose or not. There were good 
reasons to wait for the customers not to be able to talk when you 
came to the table.  They wouldn't get drawn into a conversation 
and fail to take care of other customers. Thinking it over, that was 
a very good reason to make sure the customer wasn't able to 
engage them in conversation.

While he ate, he thought about his day. It had been a pretty bad 
day. Nevada wouldn't give up on getting him into a position with 
more responsibility and hours. As much as he was enjoying school, 
it was wearing him out. He replayed the scene at Maria's Cantina 
over and over in his mind trying to figure out what set off Jim. The 
guy was furious at him as though he had done something to them 
at that moment. He just couldn't figure out what he had done.

He finished his meal and pushed the plate away, satisfied with the 
meal. Taking a sip of his tea, he felt much better than when he had 
walked in here. Still tired, he wasn't hungry and was not quite so 
upset about the episode with Jim. He would talk to Maria about the 
incident and find out if there was some way that they could prevent 
such an incident in the future. 

Seeing that Ed was done eating, Linda came over to the table to see 
if he wanted anything else. Looking at the plate, she noticed that he 
had left half of the Broccoli uneaten. She asked, "You didn't like 
the Broccoli?"

Shrugging Ed answered, "Every time I eat out, it is always 
Broccoli. I'm tired of it. I'd love to have spinach, brussel sprouts, 
green beans, or corn as a side dish."

Linda looked at Ed for a second. This was not the first time that 
she had heard customers complaining about Broccoli. She said, 
"Maybe you can talk to the manager and get the menu changed."

"I figure there's a good reason why all restaurants serve Broccoli as 
a side dish. I doubt that customer demand is the reason," replied 
Ed. He had discussed this issue once with John and they had 
speculated that it had to do with ease of storage and price. Of 
course, neither one had the facts to back up that conclusion. 

Laughing, Linda answered, "You're probably right about this one."

"Linda, I wanted to thank you for the advice that you gave me 
earlier," said Ed. 

"You're quite welcome, Ed." She was amazed that this guy actually 
listened to her. Most men would ignore what she recommended, 
feeling that they knew how to handle their situation. She added, "I 
would find it hard to believe that she wouldn't accept your apology 
if it was heartfelt. Knowing you, I think it would be heartfelt."

"Thanks, Linda. You're a lot more positive about this than I am," 
replied Ed. He looked at the check and pulled out more than 
enough to cover it and leave a good tip. Looking up at her, he 
added, "And thanks for the tip on the meatloaf. I really liked it."

Linda smiled and watched as Ed headed towards the exit. About 
halfway there, he made a detour towards the evening manager. He 
said, "Hey, the meatloaf here is really great. Let the cook know 
that I enjoyed it a lot and hope that he keeps the same recipe."

The manager smiled at Ed and replied, "Thanks. We've been 
getting a lot of good feedback about it."

"Well keep it up." Ed turned and left the restaurant. Still tired, he 
wanted to get home as quick as possible. The drive was uneventful 
until he was almost home. The sudden thumping that follows a 
blow out, forced him to the side of the road. 

Getting out of the truck to look at the tire, he swore, "Just what I 
needed, a flat tire." 

The tire was shot. He crawled under the truck and removed the 
spare tire. He lifted it and dropped it, satisfied with the bounce of a 
properly inflated tire. At least his spare was good. He went into the 
truck and flipped the seat forward to remove the jack and tire iron. 
The jack was the old fashioned kind that hooked under the bumper. 
He set up the jack and loosened the nuts on the tire. It was hard 
work in the dark and he wanted to kick himself for not having a 
flashlight in the truck. 

It took him twenty minutes to change the tire in the dark. By the 
time he finished, he was so tired that the world seemed to spin on 
him. He looked at his watch and realized it was now almost 
midnight. The weather was warm and the sky was clear. Looking 
up at the night sky, he decided that it wasn't worth going home. He 
climbed into the back of his truck and went to sleep. 

He was shaken awake shortly after sunrise by Juan Ortega, one of 
the deputies. Looking down at Ed, Juan asked, "Tie one on last 
night?"

Groggily, Ed answered, "No. I got too tired to drive home."

"You're kidding aren't you?" asked Juan. He didn't believe that 
story at all. 

"No. I came home from school a little after nine. I went to Maria's 
Cantina to get dinner last night and got chased out by Jim. Tried to 
get a sandwich at Shirley's, but she didn't have any. Ended up 
going over to the truck stop to eat. On the way home, I had a flat 
tire. By the time I changed the tire, it was after midnight and I was 
completely bushed." Ed looked at Juan and added, "It was a bad 
night."

Juan said, "Sounds like it. Are you sure you didn't tie one on?"

Still struggling to fully wake up, Ed said, "I probably would have 
if I made it home. As you can see, I haven't got any booze here."

Juan looked around the back of the truck and saw the tire. There 
weren't any empty bottles lying around and Ed didn't seem hung 
over. Still, he needed to check it out. He asked, "I figure if you 
were drunk enough not to make it home around midnight, that you 
would still have a little alcohol in your system. Do you mind 
taking a Breathalyzer test?"

"No, I don't mind. You won't find anything though," replied Ed.

After Ed climbed out of the back of the truck, they went through 
the test with him blowing through the straw of the Breathalyzer. 
Juan looked at the result, surprised to see that there was zero 
alcohol in his system. Looking up at Ed, he said, "You're clean. 
Not a trace. I'm a little surprised."

Shrugging, Ed replied, "I'm not. I haven't had a drink in over a 
year."

Realizing that he had lost the bet with the Sheriff, Juan said, "Well, 
I heard about Jim last night and figured it was a good excuse to fall 
off the wagon."

"Taking a drink never crossed my mind at all last night," replied 
Ed. He thought about the fact that Juan had heard about Jim and 
asked, "Am I that big of a topic of conversation?"

Juan laughed at the question. There were two topics of 
conversation in town, Ed and John. It seemed that neither one 
could do anything without the whole town hearing about it within 
hours. He answered, "Of course, it's a small town. If you and Jim 
exchange words, then everyone knows."

Still puzzled, Ed asked, "Maybe you can tell me why Jim jumped 
all over my ass last night."

"I heard that you told another fat joke about his wife." Juan 
couldn't believe that Ed didn't know why Jim was so mad at him.

Shaking his head, Ed said, "I didn't make any fat jokes. I didn't 
even know they were there."

"You didn't?"

"No, I went in and saw the crowd there. I joked with Maria by 
asking who I had to beat up to get a table. She laughed and told me 
that it was a twenty minute wait. I was tired, so I said that if she 
couldn't fit me in, I'd eat at the bar. That's when Jim started 
yelling," replied Ed. 

Juan thought about it and said, "Do you think that they might have 
thought that by fitting you in, you were saying that with her there 
that there wouldn't be enough room for you?"

"That's kind of stretching it, don't you think?" asked Ed surprised 
at the interpretation of the events last night. The problem was that 
it had a ring of truth about it. They were probably so sensitive to 
any comment, that even the slightest hint of a negative one was 
viewed as directed at her.  

"Yeah, that is rather tame compared to some of your past 
comments," replied Juan. He had heard Ed say some pretty nasty 
things in the past. 

Ed decided to change the subject and asked, "So what brought you 
out here this early in the morning?"

Smiling at Ed despite knowing that he wasn't going to like the 
answer, he said, "Well, we had a couple of calls about your truck 
being abandoned by the side of the road. I bet the Sheriff that you 
were passed out in it and came out here to win my bet."

For a moment, Ed was a little irked and then he burst out laughing. 
He said, "You can tell the Sheriff what you want. I imagine he'll 
believe you either way, but it's nice to know that he thought I 
wasn't."

Shaking his head, Juan said, "I can afford the donuts today."

"So what were the other explanations?"

Juan had wondered if Ed was going to ask that question. He 
answered, "Well, one person who called was afraid that Jim had 
murdered you out here. They were afraid to look in the truck in 
case you were dead."

Laughing at the image that it presented to him, Ed said, "Well, if 
anyone deserves to kill me it would be Sherry. I guess I would 
have to hope that you wouldn't press charges."

Juan said, "You don't mean that."

"Well, let's say that of all the people that I've harassed the worst 
was Sherry. She has a good reason to want to see me dead and I 
wouldn't blame her if she did," replied Ed. Even as he said it, he 
knew that she would never do that. She valued life too much, even 
the life of someone that tortured her for as long as he had. He 
added, "She would never do it, though. She's a good woman and 
Jim is a lucky man."

Juan stared at Ed for a full minute wondering what to make of his 
statement about Sherry. This was the last thing that he had ever 
expected to hear from Ed. He asked, "Do you really mean that?"

Silent for a moment, Ed finally answered, "Yes. I always figured 
that she had tricked Jim into marrying her. I mean, Jim could have 
had his choice of women and he came home with someone that 
would never be in a beauty pageant. I thought that she told him that 
she was pregnant or something."

Fascinated by the revelation, Juan asked, "So what changed your 
mind?"

"Oh, I discovered love," replied Ed. He looked up at the deputy 
and smiled at the effect that his words had. He added, "That's when 
I realized that there was really a love bond between Sherry and 
Jim. I now understand that he married her because he loved her 
and not because he was tricked."

"That's amazing. You really believed that she had tricked him into 
marrying her?"

"Oh yes. There was no doubt of that in my mind," replied Ed. 

Juan asked, "So you teased her because you thought Jim was too 
good for her?"

Taking a brutally honest view of his past behavior, Ed said, "Not 
really. I always figured Jim was a fool for letting her trick him. I 
had no respect for either one of them."

"That has changed?"

"Yes. If you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about it any more," 
replied Ed. He had to think through his feelings on this matter. It 
was at that time, that he decided that he would go to school that 
day, but call into work and take the day off. He had to catch up on 
his homework, sleep, and work through his feelings about this 
matter. That was more than enough to occupy a whole day. 

Seeing that Ed wasn't feeling very talkative, Juan said, "You can 
go now. I'll tell the truth to the Sheriff. You had a rough night, it 
got late and you pulled over for a nap."

Ed said, "Thanks, Officer Ortega. Have a nice day."

Juan smiled at Ed and replied, "The Sheriff was right. I like the 
new Ed a lot more than the old one."

Shaking his head, Ed asked, "I take it that this is going to become 
part of the regional gossip circuit."

"Well, what really happened sounds a lot better than what people 
think happened."

"It doesn't matter what people think. I know the truth and that is all 
that is important to me." Ed went to the driver side door and 
opened it. 

As Ed climbed into the truck, Juan returned to his jeep. As he 
watched Ed drove off, he called in his report. From there, he would 
stop by the donut shop and buy some donuts for the office. For a 
change, he didn't mind losing a bet against the Sheriff.

Ed drove home to change clothes and get ready for school. Despite 
the fact that he hadn't gotten enough sleep, he knew that he could 
function until he returned from his last class. With a stop over at a 
real place to eat on the way home, he'd be back to the house by 
one. It was much better than trying to drive to work eating a 
hamburger and trying to get there by noon. After a short nap, he'd 
be ready to tackle his homework. 

At the house, he changed his clothes and started a pot of coffee. It 
would be an hour before he needed to leave for school. There 
wasn't much for him to do before leaving for the University. He 
didn't need to leave until seven thirty to make it to his eight thirty 
class. Sitting back in his chair, he fell asleep. Perhaps it was the 
long hours of yesterday, the emotional tension, or the lack of sleep, 
but he didn't wake for five hours. He had missed his classes.

Going in the kitchen, his coffee pot was giving off the fumes of 
coffee that had been rendered into sludge. As much as he hated the 
taste, he actually liked the smell of burnt coffee. He  washed the 
pot and put it back.

Calling Nevada, he told him that he was not coming in that day. 
When asked why, Ed had replied that he was not able to work. 
Nevada pressed the issue, but Ed stubbornly refused to lie or to 
make excuses. Finally, he had just said that the reason didn't matter 
but that he was unable to work that day. 

Hungry, he headed down the street to Shirley's. It was nearly noon 
and he would be able to get a sandwich to eat there. More than 
hunger, he was driven by the need for a friendly face. It was with a 
little joy that he entered the bar and heard Shirley greet him, "Hi, 
Ed. Heard you had some problems last night after leaving here."

Smiling Ed said, "Flat tire in the middle of nowhere. I was too tired 
to drive after I fixed it. I understand explanations ranged from 
passed out drunk to killed by Jim."

Shirley laughed having heard the same reasons argued in the bar. 
The vast majority believed he had passed out; that they could 
expect a return of the old Ed. His easy going attitude this morning 
put those doubts out of her mind. She said, "Well, you up for an 
iced tea?"

"Yes and a sandwich. I feel like having an egg salad sandwich," 
answered Ed. It seemed like a reasonable tradeoff between a 
breakfast meal and a lunch. 

"Interesting choice, let me call it in." Shirley went to the phone and 
called in the order. Without hanging up the phone, she called over 
to him, "They are a little busy and said that it will take a while for 
them to get someone free to deliver it."

Ed answered, "If they call, I'll go over and pick it up."

She returned to the phone and gave the message. Returning to the 
counter, she said, "This sandwich idea has worked out great. The 
only problem that I have is getting the deliveries over here."

"One of these days you are going to have to get someone to help 
you," he said. With a wink, he added, "It will even give you a night 
off so that you can date one of these drunken cowboys."

She shot him a dirty look, relented with a shrug of her shoulders, 
and then said, "I've given up there. I plan to retire an old maid. The 
only men that I'm interested in are all taken."

Ed nodded and said, "You're right. Jim and John are both taken. 
There just aren't that many men out there that are good enough for 
you."

At a loss of what to say, Shirley wiped down the bar. Ed had 
placed the bar pretty high when it came to men. They were two of 
the three that she actually felt deserved her. She couldn't admit to 
herself who was the third. After what felt like an uncomfortable 
amount of time, she said, "So what are you doing here in the 
middle of the afternoon. You're usually at work this time of day."

"I took a day off to catch up on sleep, homework, and errands." He 
had almost forgotten that he had to pick up a new tire today. It was 
going to be a very busy day.


