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 12
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Ed woke to an empty house. It wasn’t that his relationship with 
Kelly was failing, it was that Beth's new living arrangement did 
not require her to stay there every night. Kelly was slowly getting 
some of her life back and needed the time away from Ed. This 
wasn't a problem for Ed as it gave him a couple of evenings a week 
to work on his homework. 

The one major improvement that Kelly had made to the house was 
a coffee pot on a timer. Stumbling out of the bedroom, he 
appreciated that addition as it meant he didn't have to navigate the 
brewing process first thing in the morning. Today, it was hot and 
ready to drink. He poured himself a cup and went into the living 
room.

As he drank his coffee, he looked across the street and was 
surprised to see a huge RV parked there with John sitting in it. 
Deciding to investigate, he headed out the front door and waved to 
John.

John stepped out of the RV and crossed the street. He waved and 
called out, "Hi, Ed."

"Hello John. How's she doing today?"

"I don't know. She's still strange."

Ed pointed to the RV and asked, "So who's your visitor?"

John smiled as he answered, "Lily, she's another servant of the 
Goddess. She's a healer."

Ed looked at John with a funny expression. He had long ago made 
the connection between John's medallion and his service to the 
Goddess. He pointed to John's chest and asked, "You mean she has 
one of those?"

John nodded, not surprised that Ed had figured out about the 
medallion. Needing some coffee in a big way, John asked, "You 
wouldn't happen to have some coffee, would you?"

"Sure. Come on over."

It wasn't long before they were sitting in Ed's living room drinking 
coffee. John decided to bring up a topic that hadn't been discussed 
since the day they all went to the university. He asked, "How's 
Kelly taking all of this?"

"Not very well. She's been very upset about Beth."

"Does she still want Beth as a wife?"

Ed looked out the window for a minute thinking about it. Kelly had 
not talked about that subject for several weeks now. Each time she 
saw Beth, some small part of her died. Ed answered, "Well, she 
hasn't talked about it lately. As far as I know, she still wants Beth 
for her wife. I think she feels guilty right now. She's afraid that 
she'll take advantage of Beth's condition."

"I can understand that. I'm terrified that I'm abusing her in some 
fashion."

Understanding exactly what John was going through, Ed said, "Do 
you know how hard it is when I watch over her while you're gone? 
She's running around naked and all I can think of is doing it with 
her."

"Tell me about it."

Ed and Kelly had discussed this topic several times and she had 
offered to sleep with John. The fact was, she was hoping that John 
might want to be her second husband. He laughed as he said "You 
must have the worst case of blue balls in the world. Why don't you 
come over here and visit Kelly sometime?"

John shook his head and answered, "I'm not sure that's a good idea 
right now. Speaking of Kelly, any idea who she's identified as a 
second husband?"

Ed blushed realizing that he didn't want to tell John that he was 
Kelly's choice for a second husband. It felt very awkward talking 
about this with John, since John might understand that Kelly 
insisted that the two husbands have sex with each other. He 
couldn't look John in the eye as he answered, "You ask tough 
questions. I think you'll have to ask her."

John looked puzzled for a moment and then the light went off in 
his head. He was the prospective husband. To cover any possible 
case, he said, "Well, if it is the person that I think it is, then you 
two will have to move very slow. Can't really offer until Beth is 
better."

Ed was relieved since he really didn't know how to broach the 
subject with John. It was difficult for him to imagine John being 
interested in them, but Kelly thought differently. He answered, 
"That's our thinking."

John nodded and said "Wise move. I guess I had better get out to 
the RV and wait for Lily. I have no idea how long this is going to 
take."

Ed wondered how good this Lily person might be at helping Beth. 
Beth was in pretty bad shape emotionally. He asked, "Do you think 
that she is going to help?"

"If anyone can, Lily can. I met Lily over four years ago. I didn't 
call her, she came here. She didn't even know I was here until she 
pulled up in front of the house. Something called to her and she 
came."

"Wow." The way that John talked about the Gods and Goddesses 
bothered Ed at one time, but he had seen how John would be 
driven at times to leave to perform some service. In a few cases, 
John's activities had made the news. Once he had located a little 
girl that had been lost in the wilderness for three days. If this 
woman had been called to heal Beth, then it was a very good 
chance that Beth would be healed.

John returned to the RV while Ed prepared for his final exams. 
Two more finals and this semester would be over. The last final 
would be for his calculus course and that was the one that worried 
him the most. He had not had to resort to a tutor for that course, 
but had worked through the material in his own stubborn way. For 
every hour that he spent on other courses, he spent four on 
calculus. 

With his last final over, Ed decided to treat himself to lunch in a 
small place off campus before heading home. The final exam had 
been much easier than he had thought it would be and he had 
breezed through it without a problem. All of his classes had been a 
little easier than he had anticipated. 

As he walked over to the restaurant, he noticed a woman who 
looked just like Rosa walking down the street towards him. He 
wondered what to do if it was Rosa. Even now, Rosa didn't like 
him and tended to walk in a direction to avoid him whenever she 
saw him.  The woman was about half a block away when a small 
guy stepped out in front of her. A look of real fear spread across 
her face as she recognized the man. 

As he neared the pair, he could see that the man had a knife and 
was waving it in front of the woman. Looking around, all he could 
find as a weapon was a trashcan lid. He picked it up and 
approached the man from the rear. When he was close enough to 
identify that it was Rosa, he heard the man say, "Cunt, you're 
coming back to work for me."

Ed had no idea what he was talking about, but he didn't like the 
tone of voice or the fact that he was waving a knife around. In a 
loud voice, Ed said, "She already has a job."

The man spun around to say something, but Ed swung the trashcan 
lid on edge connecting solidly with the man's face. The man went 
down like a log. Since the man was still holding the knife, Ed 
smashed the heel of his boot on the hand leaving it a bloody mess. 

As the man rolled around on the ground, Ed looked down at him 
and said, "You need to learn how to treat a lady nicely. She's a 
friend of mine and I won't tolerate her being treated that way."

Rosa stared at Ed and then at the man on the ground, not knowing 
what to do. Ed picked the man up off the ground. Blood was 
running from his nose and his hand was a bloody mess. Pointing 
across the street, Ed said, "There's a clinic over there. I suggest you 
go there at once and let them patch you up."

Angered, the man spat out, "I'm going to kill you."

In a very serious tone of voice, Ed said, "No you're not. You know 
that I could have killed you and didn't. You owe your life to me 
and that is a debt of honor. You will leave Rosa and me alone. 
Now get across the street and get some medical attention."

The man stared at Ed, shocked that he had made it a point of 
honor, and then headed across the street. 

Turning to face Rosa, Ed said, "I think it would be best if we didn't 
discuss this with anyone."

Embarrassed at having part of her past exposed to Ed, Rosa mutely 
agreed, "Yes, thank you.."

Smiling down at Rosa, he said, "I was about to celebrate having 
taken my last final of the semester with a seafood lunch. I would 
be most honored if you would join me. Of course, I would 
understand if you need to return home."

Uncertain what she should do, she decided that the best thing 
would be to thank him by accepting his invitation. Now that he 
knew more about her past, she was afraid that he would spread it 
around town. Maybe by going with him to lunch she could find a 
way to keep him from talking about it. She answered, "Okay."

Deciding that it would be best not to touch Rosa and concern her 
more, Ed pointed down the street to the restaurant there. He said, 
"It's just over there."

Walking side by side, Rosa kept glancing at Ed out of the corner of 
her eye. Although he had just rescued her, she still didn't trust him. 
She kept waiting for him to say something or make a demand of 
her. How many times had she traded sex for things that she 
needed? She was just a reformed whore and her pimp had tried to 
bring her back into the business. Why did she have to come back 
here to visit Annie? She knew the answer to that question. Almost 
a year without the touch of another woman had driven her to seek 
out her former lover. 

Noticing how quiet Rosa was, Ed decided to try to engage her in 
conversation. He said, "This past few months have been the 
toughest of my life. I never realized how difficult it was to go to 
college."

Rosa glanced at him and said, "If it is so tough, then why are you 
going?"

"Because I love every minute of it," replied Ed. He thought about 
the hours spent studying calculus and realized that even when it 
was most frustrating, he had been enthralled by the idea that he 
was learning something deeper about the world around him. He 
added, "It does tend to eat into the time that I can spend with my 
girlfriend, but she understands. I'm so lucky to have her in my 
life."

This was a very unexpected conversation to have with Ed. She 
asked, "You like your girlfriend?"

"I love my girlfriend. I've asked her to marry me and she's 
accepted," replied Ed. He didn't want to explain about the extra 
husband and wife that was part of the marriage package.

"I didn't know that things had developed to that level," replied 
Rosa. The idea of Ed in love was so foreign to her mental image of 
Ed that this was more surprising than anything. She asked, "So 
why did you invite me to lunch?"

The question made Ed laugh. He said, "I just finished my last final 
of the semester and felt like celebrating. I was on my way there 
and saw you. I just figured it would be nice sharing my joy with 
someone that I know."

Share his joy? She thought it was more like sharing her bed. She 
sighed and decided to accept the inevitable. Shoulders slumping, 
she said, "Okay. I guess I can understand that."

Realizing that she was dreading this, Ed stopped and turned to 
Rosa. He said, "Rosa, I know you don't like me. If you would 
prefer to go home, I would understand. There's no reason for you 
to be with someone that you don't like."

Biting back her tears, she answered, "You'll tell people back home 
what happened here."

Sorry that Rosa had such a low opinion of him, Ed replied, "Rosa, 
the only thing that happened here was some guy threatened you 
with a knife and I stopped him. I would rather not talk about that in 
town. People are already talking about me enough. All I want is to 
be left alone."

Hardly able to believe him, Rosa said, "You aren't going to ask me 
to sleep with you?"

Puzzled, Ed asked, "Why would I do that?"

"Because you found out that I used to be a whore, damn it!" Tears 
welled up in her eyes as she saw her future at home destroyed.

"And I used to be a bully and a bigot. We are both trying to leave 
our pasts behind. I figure that makes us birds of a feather. Rather 
than fight, I suggest we help each other," replied Ed. 

In relief, Rosa grabbed Ed in a hug and cried. Never in her life had 
she expected such understanding from the man she had feared 
most. Even her pimp had not been able to make her feel as afraid 
as Ed. The pimp had bullied her for money, but Ed had bullied her 
for fun. 

For his part, Ed decided it was time to carry a spare handkerchief. 
If he was going to have so many women crying on his shoulder, he 
needed something to dry those tears. When she finally pulled back, 
he said, "Now lets go celebrate my final and putting our pasts 
behind us. We're almost to the restaurant and I'm starving."

Smiling weakly, Rosa went with him. The restaurant was full and 
the service was slow, but the time was spent talking. Rosa listened 
as Ed talked about his rocks and how he had collected them over 
the years. It was incredible to her that this man had hidden that 
interest from everyone for so long and was now discussing it with 
her. It was about three quarters of the way through the meal that 
Rosa realized that he had not looked at her ample breasts once. He 
listened to her attentively, asking questions that made sense. 

As the meal came to an end, Ed asked, "What are your plans for 
the future?"

For such a long time, Rosa had not thought about that question. 
The past few years had been spent hiding from her past, keeping a 
low profile at home. She answered, "Do you promise that you 
won't laugh?"

"Of course."

She said, "I would like to get married to a nice man that 
understands some of my needs and have children."

Puzzled, Ed asked, "Why is that something to laugh at? We all 
need love. Everyone needs someone that understands and supports 
their needs, wants, and desires. I think what you want is perfectly 
fine."

"Because woman are not supposed to want that today. My sister is 
so involved in the restaurant. Shirley works in that bar of hers 
every day."

Ed laughed and replied, "That is their desire, not yours. You don't 
have to live by anyone's expectations except for yours. When you 
find the right person, you will want to support them in achieving 
their desires and they will support you in achieving yours."

"Do you really believe that?"

Ed was quiet as he thought about Kelly and her desires. Committed 
to supporting Kelly's desires, he was willing to accept having a 
husband and two wives. He understood only too well about other 
peoples expectations and what the repercussions would be when it 
became public knowledge. Not wanting to discuss the topic yet, he 
said, "You might want to talk to Kelly about marriage. She has 
some ideas that are very different from everyone else."

Rosa could not imagine what kinds of thoughts about marriage 
Kelly could have, but they couldn't be as radical as what she 
needed. She required a husband who would understand her real 
need to share a bed with a woman on occasion. The problem was 
that was what had caused her to fall in with that low life pimp. 

Ed watched Rosa think about what he had said. It was clear that 
there was something that she was keeping a great secret. Since the 
relationship between Beth and John was getting greater attention 
within town, he decided to take a chance and trust her. He asked, 
"Are you aware about the relationship between John and Beth?"

Rosa looked at him like he had said something stupid. The whole 
town was talking about Beth. She answered, "Of course."

Shaking his head, he said, "You may think you know, but you 
don't."

"What do you mean?"

Ed answered, "John, Beth, and Betsy were lovers. Beth is 
devastated about the death of Betsy. She and John haven't had sex 
since Betsy died."

Incredulous, Rosa said, "Then why is she always naked at his 
house?"

"She's waiting for Betsy to return. She loves John, but she loved 
Betsy more."

The conversation was touching upon her desires so directly that 
she felt like he was reading her mind. She asked, "You mean that 
the three of them were having sex together?"

"Yes."

"And you knew?"

"Yes."

Staring at Ed like he was a new species of bird, she asked, "And 
you didn't tell anyone?"

"That's right."

Thinking furiously, Rosa considered what that meant. Were there 
others that knew and didn't say a word? For the first time in a long 
time, she didn't feel like a freak. Hesitating to avoid showing too 
much interest, she asked, "Did you approve?"

"Yes, I did. All three of them found happiness in that arrangement. 
It didn't hurt anyone that they slept together. It was their choice to 
make and they made it."

This was a revelation to Rosa. Hardly believing that Ed was so 
accepting of that, it left her confused and not knowing what to say.

Noticing the look on her face, Ed said, "Do you know Maria, the 
lady that lives next to John Carter?"

Wondering where this was going, Rosa nodded her head. 

Without waiting for more of a reply, he said, "You may want to 
talk to her. She was aware that John, Betsy, and Beth were 
involved with each other. She understood and hasn't mentioned it 
to anyone. If you have desires that you wonder about, she would be 
the person to talk with. She won't judge you harshly."

Filing away that piece of information for later use, Rosa answered, 
"I just might do that."

"Good."

With her first genuine smile at Ed, Rosa said, "I owe you an 
apology for my …"

Knowing what she was going to say next, Ed interrupted, "No, you 
don't. I have never given you any reason to like or trust me. Just 
the opposite in fact. I gave you a hard time because you were a 
pretty young lady. The only times you saw me was when I was 
making rude and crude suggestions. You have a good reason to 
dislike me."

"I suppose," she replied. After a moment of thought, she added, "I 
am so glad that we had this chance to get to know each other 
better."

Leaning back, Ed agreed. He was glad that they had this chance to 
talk. It was something that he didn't want to admit, but he had felt 
bad for a long time that Rosa viewed him as a monster. Smiling, he 
said, "Would you like me to walk you to your car?"

When the waitress brought the bill, Ed paid it leaving a generous 
tip. He noticed the look on Rosa's face and answered her unasked 
question. "I recently discovered that a quarter was not an 
appropriate tip. I never knew that waitresses made all of their 
money off tips."

Rosa smiled and said, "Maria had said that you were finally 
leaving real tips. I'm afraid that I didn't believe her."

The pair walked down the street that they had come until they 
reached Rosa's car. Thanking him, she got in and drove off. Ed 
watched, happy to have finally succeeded in changing a bad 
relationship into a friendly relationship. Walking to his car on 
campus, he paused to look around. The idea of spending the rest of 
his life on a campus like this was nice. Perhaps he could make that 
happen.

Returning home, he was surprised to see John and Rosa talking. 
Rather than intrude, he carried his books into the house and put 
them on his desk. He sat back in his chair and looked around his 
study. It slowly dawned on him that he didn't have anything to do 
for the rest of the day. That thought took him by surprise. He fixed 
himself a glass of iced tea and sat on the sofa. There was a general 
restlessness as he tried to identify what he should do for the rest of 
the day. 

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Answering, he found 
John standing there smiling at him. With a little gesture of his 
head, he invited John in and asked, "Would you like some iced 
tea?"

"Sure, that would be great. Living out of the RV is starting to get 
old."

Ed nodded his understanding and asked, "So how is she doing?"

Frowning, John said, "I have no idea. I haven't talked to Lily or 
Beth since Lily arrived. I'm getting worried."

The men sat on the sofa sipping their iced teas. It was a 
comfortable silence as each man thought about the situation. Ed 
said, "I noticed you were talking to Rosa."

Smiling John replied, "Yes. I don't know what you said to her, but 
it must have been something good. She hinted that she knew a little 
about Beth, Betsy, and myself. It was like she wanted to know if 
we were happy. I could tell that she was very interested in the 
idea."

Ed nodded and said, "I thought that myself. I hope you don't mind 
that I told her a little about the three of you."

The fact that the whole town didn't already know about it was a 
surprise to John. He had expected word to spread the morning of 
their tryst.  It didn't bother him in the least. He answered, "No 
problem. I thought she already knew. I'm more impressed by her 
sudden change in heart about you."

Shrugging his shoulders, Ed said, "We just had a chance to talk, 
that's all."

Believing there was more to the story, John chose not to pursue it. 
He knew what it was like to be hounded by others wanting to get 
the full story about some event that was accidental. Instead, he 
said, "She's going over to talk to Maria. She said that you 
recommended it."

"Yes, I did," replied Ed. Although he had recommended it, he had 
not expected her to do it as soon as she returned home. He 
wondered what her need was that drove her to Maria's so quickly. 
Maybe she just needed to speak to another woman.

Another quiet settled in the room. The men thinking their thoughts, 
enjoyed the quiet company of the other. As the time passed, Ed 
broke the silence by saying, "I guess I can take in a couple of 
sunsets the next few nights. I've been so busy that I haven't had 
much of a chance to appreciate the world around me."

Nodding, John added, "Yes, it is important to keep that balance in 
your life. I always made time to hike."

"Maybe I'll get my horse and ride out in the desert for a couple of 
days."

Laughing, John asked, "What's wrong with walking?"

Smiling at John, Ed replied, "What's wrong with riding?"

In the past they had debated the issue of walking versus riding as a 
way to view nature. John's perspective was that it was better to feel 
the earth under him. Ed claimed that the height from the horse 
gave him a chance to view more of nature around him. There was 
no way that Ed would hike the kinds of distances that John 
enjoyed. The idea of riding a horse as far as Ed enjoyed was 
beyond John. Ten minutes on a horse and he couldn't walk the rest 
of the day. The difference in travel rates made it impossible for 
them to camp together. They accepted the differences, but could 
still share the common feelings that the outdoors generated within 
them.

The men resumed their quiet contemplation of the world. Ed 
refilled their glasses with more tea. Sitting back, he took a sip. 
John said, "Something big is going to happen soon. I don't know 
when and where, but it is going to be big."

"Is this to do with your service to the Goddess?"

Nodding, John answered, "Yes."

Ed said, "If Beth's not alright by then, you can count on Kelly and I 
to take care of her."

"I know that, Ed. I really appreciate all that you've done for her."

Shrugging, Ed replied, "Don't think anything about it."

Silence descended in the room again. John sipped his tea, enjoying 
the coolness. After about ten minutes, John said, "Well, I better get 
back out there and wait for Lily to get me."

Ed asked, "You want some company?"

John said, "You probably have some things to do around here. I 
always spent the day after my last final taking care of all those 
tasks that I put off through the whole semester."

Laughing, Ed said, "I hadn't thought about that."

"Yes. That means you'll be free tomorrow to ride out on the 
desert."

Now that John had mentioned it, there were a thousand little things 
around the house he had put off doing because he was so busy. He 
needed to change the oil in his truck, clean the house, and fill the 
pantry. He replied, "Just might be busy tomorrow too."

As John stood, he laughed and shook his head. He said, "Thanks 
for inviting me over. I had a great time."

"Same here. If you need some company, you know where to find 
it." 

John and Ed parted at the door as John went to the RV and Ed 
went to the truck. After a trip to auto shop and the grocery store, 
Ed returned home. It didn't take him long to fill the pantry. There 
were four shelves. Soups went on one, canned vegetables on the 
second, canned fruits on the third, and dry goods on the fourth. His 
organization had surprised Kelly, she had stocked them in a 
random fashion and discovered him later moving the items around 
on the shelves. 

Once that was done, Ed went out and started to work on his truck. 
Removing the bolt from the oil pan under the car,  the oil drained 
into the oil bucket. The oil bucket was an old can that he had 
welded a screen about an inch from the top. It held a gallon and a 
half, more than enough for the oil in his truck. The bucket had a 
top that would allow him to carry it without spilling the oil. Some 
folks actually used their waste oil to reduce the amount of dust in 
their driveways, but  he always took it down to the gas station 
when he was done. 

Once the oil had drained out, he replaced the bolt in the oil pan 
after fishing it out of the screen on his oil bucket. After replacing 
the oil filter, he filled the truck with oil. Starting the engine he let it 
run for a little bit and checked to make sure there were no leaks. 
Satisfied that the job was well done, he cleaned up his tools and 
put the lid on his oil bucket. 

As he was setting the oil bucket in the back of the truck, he noticed 
Rosa leaving Maria's house. He checked his watch and realized 
that she had been there for at least three hours. The two women 
must have had much more to talk about than he had realized. 

She stopped at the end of the driveway and shouted, "Ed, I want to 
thank you. Why don't you and John stop by Maria's Cantina for 
dinner tonight? My treat."

About to decline, Ed looked at her and saw that she was positively 
glowing. Never had he seen her so happy. He called back, "Sure, 
John's in the RV, you might want to ask him if he's up to it."

John called out, "I'll be over there when Ed is ready."

Rosa skipped back to her car and drove to work. Even though she 
was an hour late and her sister would be furious, she didn't care. 
Finally after years of hiding, she had found something that she had 
been wanting for a long time, acceptance.

John sauntered over to where Ed watched her drive off. After 
watching the car turn the corner, he said, "Looks to me like Maria 
gave her some good advice. I've never seen her that happy."

"Well, Maria is a lot more perceptive than most people recognize." 
Ed thought back to his conversation with Maria where she had 
demonstrated that she saw and heard much more than she ever 
told. As a result of listening to people, he had discovered that many 
of the people around him were a lot deeper than he had expected.


