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 16
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Ed shoveled the last of the concrete into the hole. Wiping the sweat 
off his brow, he looked over the fence posts that he had just 
installed. Each post was braced and embedded in concrete. An 
entire day had been spent digging holes, bracing the posts, mixing 
the concrete, and setting the fence posts. The concrete needed to 
dry overnight, but it would be next weekend before he could finish 
the fence. At least the concrete would be well cured. 

Kelly had been begging for a privacy fence ever since the day of 
the party. He didn't know what motivated her, but apparently both 
women really wanted it. He had given in and agreed to install the 
fence. If he had known how much work it was going to be, he 
never would have agreed to do it. A little help would have been 
nice, but John was out of town and he didn't want to bother any of 
the neighbors. 

It took him another half an hour to clean up the tools and put them 
away. While much of the advice given to him by his father had 
been bad, the advice about a man always taking care of his tools 
was sound. Each tool was cleaned and oiled to prevent rust. As he 
hung the tools in their proper places, the thought came to him that 
it was about time to get a rock saw. Maybe tomorrow after class he 
would stop in one of the many rock shops in town and buy one. 
Many rocks required cutting and polishing to show off the rock at 
its best.

Classes over for the day, Ed decided to shop for the rock saw. He 
had driven to a lapidary supply shop that he had seen advertised. It 
was a block down the street from where Ed had parked his truck to 
the rock shop. This was an artsy part of town and he had serious 
doubts that he would find the saw that he was looking for at this 
particular shop, but since he was here he decided that he might as 
well check it out. There were all kinds of stores along this street 
that attracted the rich and fashionable - at least four art galleries, 
two antique shops, coffee houses, boutiques, and jewelry stores. 
He even saw a couple of men walking down the street holding 
hands. Watching them for a minute, he finally muttered, "Well, at 
least they found each other. Everyone deserves a little love in their 
life."

When he reached the rock shop, his hopes for finding a saw fell 
even further. The window was lined with quartz crystals of various 
sizes mounted to be worn as new age pendants. Disgusted, he went 
into the shop anyway. It had advertised lapidary supplies and he 
still held a little hope that there would be something in here to 
interest him. 

His hopes fell through the floor when he entered the store. A full 
cabinet of new age pendants and a supposed crystal wand faced the 
door. To his left and right were Geodes cut in half and polished. 
Some of the Geodes had been turned into bookends. Everything in 
the store had been turned to junk.

He was about to leave when a perky young lady appeared from 
below a counter and called to him. "Hey cowboy, you looking for a 
present for your girlfriend."

Examining the young woman, he was rather disgusted. Standing 
poised with her head to one side and a slightly vacuous look on her 
face, he immediately labeled her a new age airhead with less brains 
than an earthworm. In a voice of disdain, he replied, "No. I came 
looking for a rock saw."

Laughing, she dropped the airhead pose. Her entire attitude 
changed as she replied, "I've got one in the back. If you're 
interested in grinders and polishers I have those as well."

Surprised at that transformation, Ed followed her behind a small 
partition. He froze and looked around in wonder. Here was a real 
lapidary supply shop with diamond saws, grinders, and polishers. 
The walls were lined with mineral displays of exceptional quality. 
He walked along one wall and stopped in front of a sample. He 
asked, "Did you get this from Wood Chop Mesa?'

The woman turned around and looked at the sample Ed was 
pointing to. Surprised that he knew where the sample came from, 
she said, "Yes, I got that last summer. I haven't been able to 
identify it yet, though."

"It is Phillipsite," replied Ed. He looked at the sample and noted 
that it was a fairly good specimen. 

She countered, "We don't have Pillipsite in this country."

He looked over at her and smiled at her excellent knowledge of 
rocks. He replied, "The better way to put that is that they didn't 
know we had Phillipsite in this country until about a year and a 
half ago. It was just recently classified."

In a flirtatious voice, she said, "We get so few people here that 
know their rocks. Where have you been hiding?"

"Up at the University," replied Ed unaware of the flirtation. 
Looking around at the equipment, he realized that he could easily 
blow his whole budget in one afternoon. 

With a sigh, the woman said, "I graduated there. I loved their 
program and wanted to go further, but my grandfather died leaving 
me this place. I can't afford to run it and go to graduate school at 
the same time."

"You could hire someone to work part-time."

Shaking her head, she said, "I tried that. I could find a person that 
could deal with the junk in the front, but no one that knew two 
cents about the good stuff back here."

"Why not hire a geology student up at the University?" replied Ed. 

She smiled as she answered, "Most of them wouldn't be caught 
dead in the front of the store."

Puzzled by the difference between the front and back, Ed asked, 
"What's with the front of the store?"

"My granddad opened this place a long time before it became a 
high rent area. When they started making improvements in the 
area, I started getting lots of new age customers wanting to buy 
crystals. They would come in, take a look at all of the real rocks 
and run out. I put up the partition, fixed up some crystals for them. 
They constitute the majority of my business so I keep it." She 
shrugged as if that explained everything. In a way it did, she had 
bowed to market pressures and was able to pursue her real 
interests.

"Smart. Take a bad situation and make it better. I like that." Ed 
wandered around to the rock saw and examined it. Shaking his 
head, he asked, "Is this the biggest that you have?"

She shook her head and answered, "Yes. I have a couple larger 
ones ordered if you don't mind waiting. I assume you want to 
prepare samples for display purposes."

"Right. I have a lot of larger samples that I'd like to trim a face and 
polish." Ed thought about it and said, "I'll come back in a couple of 
weeks and see if you have received them. I'll also ask around at the 
school to see if anyone there needs a job. Maybe you will find 
someone that will work out alright."

The woman said, "Thanks. I'll look forward to seeing you again. 
It's nice to have a real customer in here that knows his rocks."

Leaving the rock shop behind, Ed fell in step with a policeman 
walking his beat. He didn't think any thing about it until an episode 
started brewing in front of them. The cop swore, "Damn it. I hate 
this kind of stuff."

Looking at the situation, it was clear what was happening. A rather 
smallish and very effeminate male was getting harassed by a 
brown haired guy.  The brown haired guy said, "Hey faggot, 
maybe if I hit you hard enough you'll become a real man."

Ed asked, "Officer, would you like a little help? Maybe we can get 
this handled without you having to do anything."

The cop looked at the cowboy standing next to him with distrust. 
Smiling Ed said, "When I ask what the little guy said, tell me that 
he said he hated me because I'm a cowboy."

Intrigued, the cop asked, "What are you planning to do?"

Grinning from ear to ear, Ed said, "Oh, I just want to make a little 
point about senseless hating of others."

For some irrational reason, the cop decided to go along with Ed. 
He said, "Okay. I'll step in and arrest all of you if it gets out of 
hand."

"No problem," replied Ed. He quickened his pace until he was 
standing next to the small guy. He turned to face the officer and 
asked, "What did this little guy say about me?"

The cop replied, "He said he hated you because you were a 
cowboy."

The little guy looked at Ed and then at the cop in fear wondering 
what was going to happen. The bigot looked at Ed like he had a 
friend, but distrusted the presence of the cop. Ed said, "Well, I 
don't mind the little fellow, but I hate this guy because he's got 
brown hair."

The bigot asked, "What in the hell are you talking about?"

Pointing his finger in the direction of the bigot, Ed shouted, "You 
be quiet you brown haired person, you."

The guy backed up as Ed turned to the cop and said, "Now so long 
as everyone in a fight agrees to it, it's not against the law so long as 
there is a referee to make sure that no one gets seriously injured. 
Isn't that right?"

The cop crossed his arms and asked, "What have you got in 
mind?"

Ed said, "Well, I hate this brown haired guy, he hates this little 
fellow here, and the little fellow hates me. I figure that if I get to 
hit the brown haired guy and he gets to hit the little guy and the 
little guy gets to hit me, then we'll all be happy venting our hate. 
Now since the little guy doesn't hate the brown haired guy, he can't 
hit back. Since the brown haired guy doesn't hate me, he can't hit 
me back. Since I don't hate… what was it that he called the little 
guy? Oh, faggots. Since I don't hate faggots, I can't hit back. You 
can act as referee. First one that breaks the rules gets arrested."

The brown haired guy stood there shouting, "This is ridiculous. I 
don't even know who the hell you are. I've never done anything to 
you."

Having a little fun with the situation, Ed responded, "It doesn't 
matter. You have brown hair and I hate people with brown hair. 
I've always wanted a chance to beat the shit out of a guy with 
brown hair. This is my chance. Now, this fellow here, he hates 
cowboys. So now he has a chance to hit me to his hearts content. 
You get your chance to beat him hard enough to turn him into a 
man. We're all gonna be happy."

The cop answered, "That's a good idea. Since you came up with it, 
you get first shot at the brown haired guy."

The bigot backed up protesting, "Wait a minute, I haven't agreed to 
this."

Ed turned to the little guy and asked, "Does this sound fair to 
you?"

With the attention on him, the guy realized that nothing was going 
to happen. Even if it did, Ed would probably beat the bigot before 
he got hurt too bad. He answered, "Sure."

The bigot backpedaled and said, "You can't be serious. Are you 
really going to hit me because I'm brown haired?"

Ed looked puzzled and said, "Why not? It's as good a reason as his 
for wanting to hit me or for you wanting to hit him."

"I've never heard of anyone hating someone for having brown 
hair."

With a snort of derision, Ed said, "That's what I hate about guys 
with brown hair. They always think they're special because they 
have brown hair. I hate that."

The cop had to hold his hand over his mouth or he would have 
burst out laughing. Struggling to get control, he finally asked, 
"What will it be boys? Do you need a referee?"

The bigot shouted, "Look, it's stupid to hate someone because they 
have brown hair."

Ed said, "It's stupid to hate someone because he's a cowboy."

The little guy piped up, "It's stupid to hate someone because he's 
gay."

"It's not the same thing. I can't help that I was born with brown 
hair."

The little guy said, "I can't help that I was born liking men."

Ed stood there for a minute and said, "Does that mean that because 
I wasn't born a cowboy that's it okay to hate me?"

There was silence as the ridiculousness of the argument was 
realized by one of the participants. He looked at Ed and then at the 
little guy. With arms crossed against his chest and a smile on his 
face, the cop stood there waiting to see what happened. Finally, he 
said, "I hope that all three of you learned something today."

The brown haired guy shook his head and said, "I don't know, but 
the hell with it. So long as you don't try to hump me, I won't bother 
you."

The little guy replied, "Thanks."

After watching the bigot walk off, the cop turned to Ed and said, 
"That was priceless."

Extending his hand, Ed said, "I'm Ed Biggers."

"I'm Officer Harrigan," replied the cop. He shook the hand and 
said, "There for a minute I thought you were crazy."

The little guy extended his hand and said, "I'm Richard 
Woodman."

Trying hard to hide his amusement at the guys name, Dick 
Woodman, Ed took his hand and shook it. He said, "Pleased to 
meet you Richard."

Officer Harrigan said, "I better get back to my beat. Thanks, I 
really enjoyed that."

"You're welcome. I had a little fun with that too."

Richard said, "For a minute there, I was really scared."

Ed replied, "I wouldn't have let it go that far. Just wanted to make a 
point to a guy that had a rather limited view of the world."

"Are you gay?"

Shaking his head no, Ed answered, "I'm not gay. I recently 
discovered that everyone deserves love and that it should be the 
kind of love that is right for them. If that means you love a guy and 
he loves you, then what's the problem with that? It harms no one."

Richard looked at Ed and said, "Wow, that's enlightened. I never 
would have expected to hear something like that from a cowboy."

At the look from Ed, Richard clarified his statement, "I just mean 
that you look like a redneck. Usually, gays get a lot of grief from 
rednecks."

Amused, Ed said, "I knew what you meant. I wasn't offended."

Somewhat nervous, Richard said, "I really want to thank you for 
your help."

Stepping in the direction of his truck, Ed said, "Don't think 
anything about it. Have a nice day."

Richard watched as Ed walked down the street, pausing 
occasionally to look at the shoppers running into and out of the 
boutiques. As far as Ed was concerned, none of them held a candle 
to Kelly or Beth. The episode did raise questions about Kelly's 
desire for him to have sex with a man. Knowing that they wanted 
John in the marriage, made it even harder for him. He genuinely 
like John and didn't want to ruin that relationship. 

Reaching his truck, he headed off to work stopping only to pick up 
a hamburger that he ate as he drove. He looked at the bags in the 
truck and realized that he had been doing that too much. Three 
times a week he ate fast food while racing to reach work on time. It 
wasn't making him fat, but it wasn't a good diet either. The fact 
was that he enjoyed eating and wolfing down a hamburger while 
driving wasn't a pleasurable dining experience.

Reaching work, he parked in his normal spot. As soon as he got 
out of the truck, one of the other men called over to him, "Nevada 
wants to see you."

Curious, Ed headed towards Nevada's office to see what he 
wanted. As far as Ed knew, he hadn't done anything wrong. He 
wondered if his schedule was a problem. Before he reached the 
door, Nevada stuck his head out and shouted, "Ed, can you come in 
here?"

Nodding, Ed said, "Coming."

Once inside the office, Nevada pointed to a chair and said, "Have a 
seat, Ed."

Sitting down in the offered chair, Ed said, "Is there a problem?"

Laughing, Nevada took a seat at his desk and leaned back in his 
chair. He said, "No, Ed. There isn't a problem."

"Okay, what can I do for you?"

Clearing his throat, Nevada shifted nervously and then said, "I'd 
like to change your job around here."

Ed didn't understand how he could change his job. They pushed 
cattle through the auction process and took care of them before and 
after the auction. There wasn't much that could change. Confused, 
Ed asked, "Change it how?"

"Well, I'd like you to take a little more of a managerial role. It'll 
mean longer hours, but also comes with a raise. You'll be making a 
lot more money." Nevada had been getting a lot of good reports 
from customers about Ed. The result had been a little more 
business and better prices received for the cattle. Ed's suggestion 
for doubling the number of bidding pens had lead to a better flow 
for bidding. The result was better prices with the auctions shorter 
and more profitable. 

The idea of working longer hours bothered Ed. He was already 
stressed with how many hours he worked here, attended class, and 
studied. There just weren't that many more hours left to him. With 
real concern, he asked, "What exactly are we talking about here?"

Leaning forward and resting his elbows on the desk, Nevada 
answered, "Well, I want you to take charge of the men outside. 
Schedule their hours, assign work tasks, and other activities like 
that. I also want you interacting with the customers more. When 
they come to drop off their cattle, I'd like you to greet them. When 
buyers come to pick up their cattle, I want you to take charge of it. 
It's a fulltime job."

The fact that it was full time bothered Ed. It was too much time 
spent at work and not enough at school. He was tempted to say no 
on the spot. Ed said, "I'm going to school and working full time 
would really hurt my studies."

Disappointed and a little perturbed at Ed's lack of enthusiasm, 
Nevada calmed himself and said, "Ed, you and I are not getting 
any younger. It's time for you to think about your future. Do you 
really see yourself pushing cattle twenty years from now? Or even 
riding fence, like old Fritz?"

Sitting back in his chair, Ed studied Nevada. The man meant to do 
well by him, he could tell that. The real question was in what 
direction his future lay. He could go back to that store and ask for a 
job in a minute, but that wouldn't pay much and he didn't think 
being a shop keeper was right for him. Finishing his degree, he 
could get a job with an oil company or a mining enterprise. There 
were other opportunities for work with that degree, but he wasn't 
fully aware of them yet. Ed leaned forward and said, "Nevada, 
you're absolutely right. It is time for me to think about the future."

"So you'll take the job?"

Staring Nevada in the eye, Ed replied, "If you were to ask me 
where I want to eat dinner tonight, I could answer you in a minute. 
But you are asking me to commit to a future. I'm afraid that I'm 
going to have to think about that for a while. We are talking about 
the rest of my life, after all."

"Offers like this don't come along every day," replied Nevada.

"Now I bet that you've been thinking about this for three, maybe 
four, months. Am I right?" asked Ed.

Smiling at the perceptiveness of Ed, Nevada said, "Right."

"Well, you've had plenty of time to think about this." Ed paused to 
give more weight to his words before he continued, "I'd like to take 
thirty days to think about it."

Chuckling, Nevada replied, "Okay. I like the new Ed, but there are 
times, like now, that I miss the old Ed. You'd have said yes on the 
spot, a year ago."

As Ed stood, he answered, "Life for me was a lot simpler then. All 
I did was drink and work. Now I'm looking at getting married. I'm 
going to school and working."

Convinced that Ed was making a mistake by studying rocks, 
Nevada hoped Ed would make the smart choice. His offer was a 
good one and could lead to him taking over the auction house one 
day. If he didn't, he was sure that Ed would end up doing nothing 
with a degree on rocks. In his opinion, it just wasn't a real job.

Ed went outside and saddled his horse. As he worked, he thought 
about the future wishing that John was around. He'd like to ask 
John his advice about the promotion. Was it fair to take a 
promotion if you had no intention of making it a career? What if 
that promotion interfered with pursuit of what you really wanted in 
life?  Was studying rocks even a career? Even as he thought that, 
he remembered how John had explained that if you were 
passionate about something, someone would pay you to pursue 
your passion. That answered the long term decision of what to do, 
but did it answer the short term? 

Thinking of John got him to thinking about Kelly and her ideas for 
marriage. He had already told her that he was willing to accept that 
kind of marriage. While he had not intended it, it meant that he had 
agreed to have sex with another man. He really didn't know how he 
felt about that now that he had come to think a bit more about 
things around him. At one time, he would have beaten the hell out 
of anyone that even suggested such a thing. Today, he was 
seriously considering it.

Richard, the gay guy in town wasn't attractive to him at all. He 
couldn't imagine having sex with that guy no matter how much 
money was involved. Of course, he couldn't imagine acting 
feminine in the way that Richard had. Was that feminine behavior 
a result of having sex with men or was it just how that guy 
behaved? 

There were a few things that Ed knew for a fact. He liked women 
and he loved having sex with women. Even bad sex with a women 
was good. He loved Kelly and wanted to live with her for the rest 
of his life. He was willing to do anything to keep her. He had come 
to love Beth and wanted to live with her.

The afternoon passed slowly as Ed thought about his future and 
performed his job. The cattle had been cooperative today and 
moved easily into the large holding pens. The large pens made 
feeding and care of the cattle a lot easier. Of course, they always 
had to keep the bulls separated from all other cattle. There were 
three very good looking bulls going up for auction. One of them, a 
red Angus was a particularly good looking bull and would fetch an 
excellent price. Tomorrow they would have to cut the cattle out by 
owner and put them into the individual pens. 

Ed stopped and watched the other men work. Nevada would 
occasionally come out and tell them what needed to be done next. 
This was something that hadn't noticed in the past. Back when he 
was drinking beer on the job, he had stopped after each task to 
relax with a beer and only went back to work when Nevada gave 
orders. Now, he went from one job to the next without break or 
needing to be told what to do. If the other guys had done half as 
much work as he, they would be done in a third of the time.

He stopped at the post where he kept the coke he was currently 
drinking. That had been another change in how he worked. Now, 
he took sips of his coke throughout the day. The realization made 
him wonder what other changes he had undergone without even 
thinking about it. Having finished the coke, he rode over to the 
trash can and threw it away. There were a half dozen beer cans for 
every coke can. Looking in the trash can, he knew the first change 
he would make if he were to take over the operation here in the 
yard.

The hours passed slowly, but they passed. Riding his horse to the 
coral, Ed unsaddled it and walked it around letting it cool down. 
After feeding and watering it, he left to get dinner at the truck stop 
before heading home. Beth and Kelly were scheduled to work late 
tonight, so he would be alone. It would give him a chance to catch 
up on his homework, particularly the physics. How John had ever 
managed to learn this stuff was beyond his understanding. 

Entering the diner, the waitresses smiled at him as Cindy led him 
to a table. A glass of iced tea showed up almost as soon as he sat 
down. Looking at the waitress, he asked, "So how are things at 
home?"

Cindy answered, "The same. I'm still worried about my son. He's 
so wild."

"Get him a job that keeps him busy. If he needs motivation, have 
him work towards a car of his own." 

Cindy smiled at Ed and said, "Sure, but who would hire a fifteen 
year old boy that's stronger than he is smart?"

Laughing at her characterization of her own son, Ed replied, 
"Manuel owns a hauling company and is probably looking for 
someone to help him load the trucks. The fact that your son can't 
drive won't be a problem. The hard work will do your son good."

Thinking about it, Cindy replied, "Might not be a bad idea. Maybe 
he'll be too tired after work to get into trouble."

Thinking about how Manuel worked, he was confident that he'd 
work any anger out of the kid in no time at all. He answered, 
"Manuel owns a hauling company and is one of the hardest 
working men I know. If there is anyone that can teach your son the 
value of a hard job done well, it would be Manuel."

Cindy thought about it for a minute and then realized that she knew 
Manuel. She said, "You know, he and his son…" She paused as 
she tried to remember the name. Once it came to mind, she 
continued, "Joe,  just started coming here for lunch every day. I'll 
talk to them tomorrow."

The idea that Manuel and Joe had started eating out for lunch was 
a major surprise to Ed. As far as he knew, they had never eaten out 
in their entire lives. He guessed that it was a sign that they were 
starting to make money. Manuel must have taken the advice that 
Shirley had given him. It made him feel good to know that life was 
improving for Manuel. He hadn't seen him since the day he had 
helped him out by the side of the road. That reminded him that he 
needed to thank Shirley for helping out Manuel.

Cindy asked, "So what do you want to eat today?"

Handing the menu back to Cindy, Ed said, "I'll take a Chicken 
Fried Steak today with mashed potatoes and the vegetable of the 
day."

Just to double check, she asked, "Thousand Island on the salad?"

Winking at her, Ed said, "Yes, but one of these days I'm going to 
order Eye-Tallian just to fool you."

Laughing at his pretend hick pronunciation of Italian, Cindy went 
off to submit the order. One of the other waitresses, Linda, stopped 
by the table and asked, "So how's school going?"

Ed shook his head and answered, "This semester has been rough."

Looking around the table, Linda commented, "You didn't bring 
your books with you this time."

Her statement surprised Ed as he realized that he had forgotten his 
books in the truck. He said, "I had a few things on my mind 
today."

Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "Let me guess, you're thinking 
about asking Kelly to marry you?"

"Too late for that. I already asked her."

Surprised that she hadn't heard the news and excited at being the 
first to hear the details, she asked, "She said yes?"

That made him think about it for a minute, he hadn't actually gone 
through some formal process of proposing. It was more of an 
agreement that they were going to get married as soon as John 
agreed. He answered, "Well, we are waiting for some special 
conditions to occur before we get married, but she's basically said 
yes."

The answer confused Linda, either Kelly had said yes or she had 
said no. She asked, "What kind of conditions?"

Realizing that he didn't know how to answer that question in a 
fashion that would make sense. Ed answered, "There are all kinds 
of marriages. We are exploring what kind of marriage we want."

"I never heard of such a thing," replied Linda. She looked at Ed 
like he was speaking Greek.

Not wanting to explain what Kelly wanted out of a marriage, Ed 
replied, "There are many different kinds of marriages. 
Conventional marriages, open marriages, and group marriages. 
Kelly wants to make sure that our marriage is the best one for us."

Distrusting the kinds of motivations of men in general, Linda said, 
"Let me guess. You want a harem and she doesn't?"

Laughing at the suggestion and his own experience of trying to 
keep up with two women, Ed knew better than to want a harem. 
Chuckling, he answered, "I'm more of conventional marriage kind 
of guy. She's the one with the ideas."

Taken aback by the admission, Linda asked, "So why aren't you 
pressing for a conventional marriage?"

"Because I love her and want her to be happy." He also had to 
admit that he liked how she talked about the group marriage. Four 
people earning a living and supporting each other was a lot better 
than the conventional options. He didn't know how many times it 
had been Beth rather than Kelly who was up when he was down. 

"Wow," replied Linda. Remembering the Ed that used to try 
cheesy pick up lines and made crude remarks about women, she 
said, "I never would have thought of you as a romantic."

That was the third time today that someone had expressed surprise 
about him. Richard had been surprised that he was so open 
minded. Nevada had been surprised that he hadn't jumped at the 
promotion. Now, Linda was surprised to hear that he was a 
romantic. Shrugging, he answered, "When I love, I really love."


