The Dandelion Six

                                           Chapter 21                    


         Sonny finished making his sandwich.  Though he was disturbed that Maria was so angry with him, he was not nearly upset enough to lose his appetite.  As he took a bite, he heard the front screen door shut.  Moving into the living room with sandwich in hand and chewing on a bite, he silently greeted Martin and Heather with a nod.  Heather glared at him momentarily, her dark almond eyes narrowing to thin slits as she stormed past and walked down the hall to her room.  Sonny followed her with his eyes until he heard her bedroom door slam shut.
         “Sonny we have to talk,” Martin said with serious eyes.
         “I know,” Sonny choked out of his half full mouth.  “Maria clued me in.”
         “So, what are you gonna do about it?”
         Sonny sat on the couch and ate silently for a minute as he thought.  Martin stood silently waiting for his response.  Finally Sonny asked, “Maria said the whole town had cut us off, did you guys go anywhere else other than DeMaster’s café?”
         “No, we were just there.”  Martin realized where Sonny was going.  “But I talked with the kid behind the counter.  He wasn’t lying, Sonny.  The dude was scared as hell.  For a minute I thought he was going to soil his nappies.”
         Sonny grinned as he knew how intimidating Martin’s physical stature could be.  He swallowed a mouthful of food and chuckled as he could picture the young man behind the counter struggling to keep his sphincter from letting loose.
         “I’m sure he wasn’t lying to you,” Sonny said.  “But I wonder if DeMaster lied to him.”
         “I don’t know, man.  What are you gonna do?”
         “Well, I’m not going to cut the yard.  This is natural prairie flora of the area.  I can’t help it if DeMaster has some hang up about dandelions.  I can, however, continue to resist him.  The yard stays as it is.  If they don’t want our business in Liberty, we’ll go to Holly’s Harbor.”
         Martin shook his head and let out a slow deep breath.  “No, Sonny, it’s gone way beyond that.  The man may very well have the whole town against us.  It may not be to just refuse our money and refuse us services.  What if they decide to come in and take care of the yard themselves?”
         A serious rage filled Sonny’s eyes.  “They fucking better not touch my property!” he shouted vehemently, spraying tiny morsels of his sandwich through the air.  “I’ll kick all their fuckin’ asses!”
         “Settle down man.  I’m just sayin’ what if, ya know?”
         Silence ensued as Sonny took the last couple bites and gave the matter more thought.  Martin waited with his arms folded across his chest.
         “Okay,” Sonny finally stated.  “We’re going to find out how serious this really is.  We’ll go see Wayne and Norb.  They may hate DeMaster even more than me, and they’ll know what’s going on.” 




                                                   Chapter 22


         Pavlov stood on the opposite side of the screen door barking his greeting and wagging his tail.  Jean opened the screen door inviting Maria in.  She could feel the weight of crisis heavy in the air surrounding her young friend.  Maria gave Jean a weak smile from behind swollen, wet eyes as she entered and scratched Pavlov on the head a few times.  Almost dazed, she walked past Jean and sat on a stool at the counter.
         “My goodness, Maria, what’s wrong?”
         There was a particular tenderness in Jean’s voice reassuring Maria she had come to a safe place where she would be granted sanctuary and any help needed.  A wave of relief and gratitude rippled through her mixing with her despair, nearly forcing another emotional outburst. 
         “I’m sorry,” Maria began as she struggled to keep her tears in check.  “I didn’t know where else to go.”
         Jean sat on the stool next to Maria and faced her.
         “It’s okay,” Jean reassured her and leaned forward.  “Tell me what’s wrong.”
         Maria swallowed hard and wiped a tear building in the corner of her eye with the back of her hand.  She took a deep breath and began even though an emotionally bred confusion kept Maria from recalling the events of the day in any logical progression.
          “I made a fool of myself today and Sonny has the whole town against us and I want to go home.  I made a mistake in coming here and it’s all Sonny’s fault.”
         Jean nodded slowly, not understanding what happened, but was determined to help her young friend through her dilemma.
         “Okay,” Jean began, searching for clarification.  “What do you mean, ‘Sonny has the whole town against us?’” 
         Maria took a deep breath and began again, this time a bit more calmly and she was able to chronically relate the sequence of events from her outburst in the café to her confrontation with Sonny.  When she finished her story she paused for a moment before revealing, “I was too upset to face Sonny again, so I came to you to see if I could call for flight information and make arrangements to go home.”
         Jean was taken aback by Maria’s account of events.  She knew both Sonny and Philip DeMaster could be stubborn, and at times blindly so.  But, that they would involve others in such a personal little conflict and allow them to get hurt was incomprehensible to Jean.  She sat silently thinking for a few moments turning from her building anger at the two instigators of this mess to concentrate on the needs of her distraught friend.
         “Maria,” Jean began calmly.  “I know you’re upset right now and for good reason.  But, you shouldn’t allow that to force into making hasty decisions.”  She paused momentarily, gazing deeply into Maria’s rich brown eyes, still swollen and bloodshot.  “You need to give yourself some time to calm down and think things through.  Just because Sonny and the Mayor made some horrible mistakes doesn’t mean you have to.  And I think letting this force you home right now would be a mistake.”
         Maria wiped her eyes again as Jean patted her on the thigh. 
“Remember how excited you were when you first came up here to help Sonny and your other friends.  You were all working together toward a common goal – to open the gallery.  Even with this problem arising, you are still very close to achieving that goal.  To abandon your friends now would be a mistake.”
         Another wave of tortuous emotion swelled in Maria as she reluctantly accepted the fact that Jean was right.  Her lower lip trembled as Jean calmly smiled at her with thin tight lips. 
         “You can go home if you want,” Jean continued.  “And I’ll help you any way I can.  But, I think you need to wait at least a couple of days before making that decision.  You can even stay here if you like.  You can stay as long as you like.”
         Maria managed a gratuitous smile and thanked Jean with weak, croaking voice.
         “Would you like some wine?” Jean asked.
         “Yes, I could use one,” Maria nodded.  She thought that she could probably use something a little stronger, but was too timid to ask.  At the moment Maria was grateful to have Jean as a friend.  Not everyone would be so generous as to open their house as Jean offered.
         Jean uncorked a well chilled bottle of Chardonnay and set it on the counter between them after filling two long stemmed wine glasses.
         “So, what is the problem with the dandelions anyway?” Jean asked as she returned to her seat.          
         Maria shook her head gently as she swallowed a sip of wine.  “I have no idea,” she sighed.          
         “Humph,” Jean grunted in dismay.  “It sounds to me like the two are jockeying for position of the ‘Alfa male.’”  Jean shook her head.  “I’ll never understand that about men, the way they always compete for control.  Men are, by female standards, insane.”  Jean chuckled.  “But we continue to love them anyway.”
         “I know two that I don’t love at the moment,” Maria stated, but without the bitterness her voice carried earlier.  Indeed she felt more relaxed, and as the wine seeped in further, she anticipated she would calm even further.
         “What if we got rid of the dandelions?” Jean asked thoughtfully.
         Maria shook her head adamantly.  She remembered the seriousness in Sonny’s eyes when Maria suggested she might burn them.  “No, no.  You should have seen the look in his eyes earlier when I said I was going to do that.  He’s crazy about this dandelion thing.”
         “But what if he just woke up one morning and the dandelions were all gone?”
         “He’d probably blame me.”  Maria shuddered in fear as the image of his violent reprisal sparked through her imagination.
         “No,” Maria said again.  “I cannot do it.  Not now.”
         Jean frowned for a moment and took a sip of wine.  She could see the fear on Maria’s face.  But Jean knew there was only one way to deal with the situation, and she had to convince Maria to take action.
         “Maria, the real issue here is not the dandelions.  They are the excuse for Sonny and DeMaster to behave like buffoons, and if they wish to carry on like this that’s their business, so long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else.  But now they have hurt others.  If we were to get rid of the dandelions their motivation would disappear along with them.  Sonny may be angry about it, but that’s his problem.  He needs to understand that his actions are hurting others and that there is consequence for that.  He needs to let go of this Alfa male attitude and start existing in the human world.”
         Maria knew Jean was right and eventually, reluctantly agreed with her.  The dandelions had to go.  Slowly Maria’s fear of Sonny’s possible reprisal gave way to the anger she still had for him and about and what he had done not just to her, but the entire group.  She knew she would need to hold on to this anger to maintain the focus and resolve needed to complete this task.
         They sat in silence sipping wine as Maria began to plot exactly how to get rid of all of the dandelions in the field.  It was a huge space holding thousands of dandelions.  She realized then that she would need help.
         Maria’s brow wrinkled and she said to Jean, “The yard is enormous.  I don’t know how I’m going to pull them all.  As quickly as they grow I could never keep up.  By the time I finished I would have to start over.  I need help.”
         A sly, knowing smirk stretched across Jean’s face.  “I know,” she said and sipped her wine.  “I believe I know just how to take care of both Sonny and the Mayor.”















                                                           

















                                                     Chapter 23


         Sonny slowed the station wagon to a halt along the curb in front of a small brick tavern which carried the name “The Last Stand.”  As he and Martin got out on the main street, Sonny felt filled with a particular sense of defiance.  He followed Martin through the door and into the dim air conditioned retreat the tavern offered from the sweltering afternoon sun.
         The aroma of stale smoke and beer filled their nostrils as the afternoon light beamed through the momentarily open door casting bright light on the stuffed and mounted trophy fish and other fishing paraphernalia that hung on the walls of the tavern. After a moment of allowing their eyes to adjust to the artificial light, they crossed the greasy black and white checkered linoleum floor to a pair of empty bar stools in front of the beer taps.
         The tavern was quiet, except for the television in the far corner behind the bar.  Down at that end two old men shared a pitcher of beer, and drank out of short pilsner glasses.  They did not acknowledge Sonny and Martin.  They just continued to stare at the fishing program showing on the television.           
         Wayne Neffets suddenly appeared through the doorway to the store room behind the bar.  “Hey, fellas,” he greeted with a mischievous grin.  “How’s by you?”
         “Hey, Wayne,” Martin replied.
         “Oh, we’re not too bad, all things considered,” Sonny stated seriously.  “I’d tell you ‘bout it but this story would require a beer and I don’t know that we’ll get served here.”
         The rotund Neffets shook his curly short haired head and held a tight lipped smile.  “They’re actually going through with it, eh?  Unbelievable.”  He filled a pitcher full of beer and set it down between Sonny and Martin with a couple of glasses.  “Here ya go fellas.  I got this first one.”
         Martin gave Wayne a surprised thank you and began filling the glasses.
         “So what the hell is going on around here?” Sonny asked. 
         “Well, ya know how DeMaster will get a wild hair up his ass.  This time he’s trying to muscle the town into not letting youse guys shop here.  We’re not supposed to help you out at all.  And it’s all because he blames the town’s lack of tourism on you not removing the dandelions from your yard.”
         “Unbelievable,” Sonny said incredulously.           
         Neffets could see the anger swelling in Sonny’s eyes behind the thick black frames of his glasses.
         “We don’t live in this town.  I don’t pay property tax to Liberty.  What part of this does he not understand?”  Sonny’s voice grew louder as his control over his anger began to slip away.
         “Take it easy, man,” Martin reminded him sensing the anger in Sonny’s voice.  “We’re all friends here.  C’mon, relax, drink your drink and let’s figure this out.”
         Sonny sighed and sipped at his beer.  “You’re right.  I don’t know what difference it makes, really.  We can do all of our shopping at Holly’s Harbor.  It’s only a little farther away.”
         The burley Neffets shrugged behind the bar.  “I don’t know.  The truth is that the business owners of this town are not hurting as badly as DeMaster would have you believe.  In talking to him you’d think we were in a depression, but we’re doin’ all right.  But if this idiot continues to demand businesses to refuse service to people then we will get into a depression.  And a good part of the town doesn’t agree with him either.  If I were youse guys I’d keep coming back and checking out different places.  They may refuse you service for a little while but eventually it will all blow over and things will get back to normal.”
         “I don’t know,” Martin stated.  “Maria and Heather were pissed.  I’ve never seen either of them that upset.  I think the damage is done.  I don’t think they’ll come back.”
         “That’s alright,” Sonny said nonchalantly and finished his glass of beer with a gulp.  He refilled his glass and topped off Martin’s.
         “No, Sonny,” Martin replied.  “It’s not alright.  It’s gotten out of hand, man.  Innocent people are getting hurt because we incidentally brought them into this with us. 
We’re as responsible for what happened as DeMaster is.”
         “So what?” Sonny charged.  “Are you saying we should pull out all the dandelions?”
         Martin shrugged.  “I’m just sayin’ it’s gone too far and we need to end this, now, one way or another.”
         “Oh, no, I’m not letting that rotten bastard win, especially now.  And it’s not our fault he imposed a ban on serving us.  That responsibility is on him and everyone who participates.”
         Martin briefly assessed the resolve set in Sonny’s angry blue eyes.  Without saying anything further he returned his attention to his beer.  He realized any further debate to try to get Sonny to consider other options was now simply out of the question.  He considered Sonny’s stubbornness both a blessing and a curse.  It was a characteristic that made Sonny unrelenting and ferocious at achieving a goal.  However, it was also the characteristic which kept him from considering other possibilities.  Indeed, once his mind was set on something it would be achieved as he envisioned or it would end in complete failure.  Regardless he would never deviate from what he thought he needed to do.  What’s more, Martin sensed the second half of the summer was going to be quite trying.
         “I wouldn’t give into him either,” Neffets added in a voice embellishing his stout stature.  “Hell, he really doesn’t have as much support as he thinks.  He’s gonna be runnin’ for re-election in October and Norb is gonna challenge him.  DeMaster hasn’t had anyone run against him in his last three elections so this should surprise the hell outta him.”
         “Norb, huh?” Martin raised both eyebrows.  “Do you think he’d win?”
         “I think it’ll be close.  Ya know Norb’s a great guy, but he ain’t always the sharpest knife in the drawer.  But this whole bit with the dandelions has really made some folks think we need a change…which we do.”
         “Why don’t you run against him?” Sonny asked Wayne.
         “I got my business, that’s enough for me.  I don’t have any desire for that other crap you’d have to put up with as Mayor; ya know, chasing after people who haven’t cut their dandelions and all,” Neffets grinned.          
         “Well,” Sonny offered.  “If Norb needs any help I’m available any time.”
         “I’ll let him know that.”  Neffets rapped his knuckles on the bar and walked over to the two old men watching television at the end of the bar.  He took their empty pitcher and began refilling it. 
         As Sonny and Martin sat silently sharing their pitcher, Martin found himself immersed in thought, trying to sift through the foreboding feeling thrust upon him by Sonny’s animated resolve.  All Martin could imagine now was Heather and Maria leaving because of this.  If they left, he knew Melissa would follow, and maybe Dipak too.  Then the whole summer and all their work would be for nothing.  Anger at Sonny began to filter through Martin.  He was angered at the fact that Sonny would be so selfish as to not consider the others.  Martin knew it was Sonny’s arrogance and ignorance that was now driving them down the wrong path.  Anger further swelled in Martin as he realized the sweet irony of the mirror image Sonny and DeMaster were to one another on many different levels.  And considering their combined arrogance and ignorance, Martin could see no way of how this issue could be resolved mutually.  Martin had worked too hard on his music, and remodeling the gallery to let this dream collapse because the man with the initial vision was now blinded by another.  Martin refused to just give it all away and pressed himself further to discover a way to change Sonny’s mind.
         Sonny studied Martin’s wrinkled brow and pursed lips.  He could see the storm swelling behind the calm of Martin’s deep brown eyes.
         “What’s up man?” Sonny asked.  “You look pissed.”
         “I was just thinking about the gallery.”
         “Oh, shit, that reminds me….” Sonny said as he took a mouthful of beer and got off his barstool.  “I’ll be right back.”  Sonny opened the door of the tavern letting bright white light spill in, forcing those inside to momentarily squint.
         Neffets meandered his way back to Martin.  “So, aside from that nonsense with DeMaster, what else has been going on?  How’s the gallery coming?”
         Martin gulped a mouthful of beer and gently shook his head.  “It’s comin’, but if this keeps up between Sonny and the Mayor, I don’t know that it’ll ever happen.”
         “Really?” Neffets asked in surprise.  “What’s goin’ on?”
         “This whole riff between Sonny and the Mayor, it’s a distraction.  No, it’s more than a distraction.  The gallery is no longer Sonny’s main concern anymore.  It’s about how he can one-up DeMaster.  It’s tearing us apart man.”
         “Holy Christ,” Neffets muttered.  “Unbelievable.”
         “Yeah, well it’s true.  I mean, I encouraged him too.  But now we have a deadline for the opening and I see how much we have left to get done.  With Sonny so distracted I don’t know it’ll get done.  Hell, man, the others may even quit they’re so fed up with it.”
         Neffets leaned forward on to the bar, his plump forearm supporting his massive frame in front of Martin.  Wayne pierced Martin with steely blue-gray eyes.  “You mean to tell me that after all this time and effort you’d just give up.  All last spring up ‘til now, whenever youse two have come in here, it’s been nothin’ but talk about building that shack.  Now that he’s got something else goin’ on you can’t finish it without him?”
Martin was taken aback by this apparent defiance of Sonny and assault on himself.  “Hey man,” Martin retorted, “it ain’t like that.”
         “Bullshit,” Neffets interjected.  “You can’t tell me that youse guys can’t finish that without him.  Just remember, you wouldn’t have this opportunity if it weren’t for Sonny.  Now, what if he were dead?  Would you quit then too or would you finish it in his honor?”
         “Now that’s completely different,” Martin protested.
         “No it isn’t,” Neffets shook his head.  “That may be the final inspiration to finish it, but you do it because it’s yours.  Each of you has just as much ownership of the outcome of this as the other.  And I have to say, after having to have gotten to know you, I’m a bit disappointed to hear you pissing and moaning with that kind of attitude.  Here I thought you’d be the guy to recover the fumble and run with it.”
         “Wayne, man, I’m telling you it ain’t like that,” Martin insisted. 
         Neffets stood up behind the bar again.  “Look, all I know is that youse guys can finish it if he don’t want to, that’s all.  It’s your place to make, to hell with him.  In fact, if youse guys would’ve put half the time and energy into building that shack as you did into drinking at my place, you’d probably have it done already.”
         The blinding white light from the outside stretched through again illuminating the
tavern.  Martin turned to see Sonny come back in with a packet of multicolored papers.  Sonny returned to his seat and set the fliers on the bar.  “Hey Wayne, do you think you could hang a couple of these and hand the other out to folks who might be interested?”
         Neffets picked up one of the fliers and studied it.  His eyebrows raised and his head nodded.  He blinked wide eyed twice.  “This is quite the flier,” Neffets said to Sonny.  “It’s comin’ up fast though, the end of next month.  Are you sure you’re gonna be ready?”
         Sonny chuckled and poured the last of the pitcher into his and Martin’s glasses.  “Oh, yah, I’m sure of it.”
         Neffets made certain to make eye contact with Martin before he shot him a discrete wink and nod.  “Okay then, I think I can help you out with that.  Do you want these distributed here in town or anywhere else?”
         “Here in town.  Hey, can we get another pitcher of beer and a pack of Marlborough Reds?”          
         Neffets nodded and granted Sonny’s request.
         Martin understood the moment Neffets put the pitcher down between he and Sonny what action he had to take.  Fueled by his anger and Neffets words, Martin found renewed determination to see to it that the small band of artists would not fray and the gallery would be completed with or without Sonny.  It was clear to Martin what needed to be done next.  He took another sip of beer finding it did not help to cool the anger that stoked within him, and he was grateful for that.






                                                           




                                                     Chapter 24


         Melissa pulled the curtains in the living room to shield the interior from the early evening sun as it drifted slowly to the horizon.  She returned to her place on the couch next to Heather and sat cross legged sipping ice tea as she listened to Heather recount the events from earlier that day.
         A wave of disgust for both Sonny and DeMaster swept through Melissa.  She could not believe that they would take this fight to such a level.  Melissa had known Sonny longer than anyone else in the group.  She had gone to high school with him and the two were in several art classes together over that period of time.  Melissa knew Sonny was not one to bend to the will of others and could become unscrupulous at times to achieve his goals.  Still, she knew it was wrong for him to push this to such an extreme.  Even if he had been right before in not complying with the Mayor’s demands, he was wrong in the way in which he handled the situation.  Now, they all must suffer consequences he never anticipated.
         Suddenly the screen door swung open and Dipak stormed through the living room, cursing under his breath.  He passed by the girls without acknowledging them and went straight to the kitchen.  Melissa and Heather stayed silent as they watched Dipak rifle through the refrigerator.  He returned to the living room with an open beer and an exasperated expression.
         “You won’t believe this,” he began and took a deep pull from the bottle.
         “I bet I will,” Heather replied.
         Dipak stood before the coffee table facing the couch, his eyes filled with bewilderment, glancing back and forth between Melissa and Heather.  “So I was in the used book store, right?  And I find this chapbook by Wren.  ‘Christmas Day’ is the title of it, right?  And it’s difficult to come by.  So I’m all excited about finding this book and when I go to check out, the woman behind the counter said my money was no good there and that I should leave.  When I asked her what the hell was up, she tells me the idiot Mayor is making business owners refuse services to us to pressure Sonny to get rid of the
dandelions.”
         “Yeah, we know,” Heather said.  “Martin, Maria and I were kicked out of the coffee shop.”
         Dipak shook his head, still a bit stunned and overwhelmed by the events of the day.  “This is absurd,” he said incredulously and sat opposite the young ladies, staring blankly ahead with a dazed gaze.
         Melissa pulled a cigarette from her pack on the coffee table in front of her and lit it.  She puffed twice, then inhaled deeply and exhaled with long slow sigh, sending a plume of smoke dancing and rolling through the few rays of light that had seared through the curtain.
         “Well,” Melissa began.  “What does this really mean for us?”
“What do you mean?” Heather asked.
         “So we’re cut off from town, we’re not cut off from the world.”
         Heather pursed her lips and took a sip of ice tea.  “You weren’t there.  It was embarrassing and humiliating.  Poor Maria was so upset.  I have no idea where she ran off to.”
         Melissa silently smoked for a moment.  “I guess what I mean is what do you want to do about this?  How do you want to handle it?”
         “I don’t know,” Heather said as she hugged her knees to her chest.  She stared at her toes and wriggled them.  “I’d like to torch the yard.  I’ve given some thought to leaving.  But neither of those really makes sense.  I don’t know what to do about it.”
         “What do you want to do, Dipak?” Melissa asked.
         Anger at Sonny and DeMaster had been slowly rising in Dipak as he sat silently gazing forward.  Finally his anger tickled that primal part of him that knew nothing but imposing physical violence on the two men that put him and the others in this situation.  He could feel that basic instinct slowly reaching out from some place buried deep within him.  I was almost like stepping back through time, returning to Neanderthal heritage.
         “A good sound thrashing should straighten them both out,” he finally replied, making no attempt to hide the bitter anger that was simmering within him. 
         “I agree,” Melissa replied.  “But, that isn’t going to help the situation at all.”
         The three went silent and looked out the screen door as they heard the familiar low rumble of the station wagon slowly climbing up the driveway.  Dipak stood up and took several gulps of his beer as the vehicle slowly, deliberately passed before the screen door reminding him of a circling shark.  He set his beer on the table and stood erect with his arms folded across his chest.
         “Dipak,” Melissa commanded, “don’t do anything stupid.”  She then turned to Heather.  “What is it with the violent streak in men?  God, it’s so tiring.”
         Heather only shook her head.
         They heard the engine shut off and a car door shut.  Footsteps echoed their way up the drive to the screen door.  There was a brief pause before the door opened and Martin walked in.
         “Where is he?” Dipak demanded, taking a stand in front of Martin.
         “I don’t know,” Martin replied casually and turned to face Dipak who stood defiantly, arms crossed, gazing up with anger filled eyes at Martin.
         Martin shook his head and walked around Dipak to the couch and sat next to Heather.  He could still feel Dipak’s heavy gaze on him filled with the insinuation that Martin indeed knew where Sonny was and had blatantly lied.  A brief sense of disgust flared through Martin prompting a response.  Martin stared Dipak squarely in the eyes stating, “Really, man, I have no idea where he’s at.”
         “What happened?” Heather asked, still clutching her knees to her chest.
         “Sonny and I went over to see Wayne.  Sonny wanted to get the truth about what’s goin’ on and get a real feel for how the town is reacting to all this.  Neffets didn’t seem to think much of it.  He gave us beer and he’s gonna put out some fliers for the opening.  Sonny is outta control with this whole thing though.  The more he drank the more pissed he got at DeMaster.  Then he’d drink more.  Neffets helped coax him into
giving up the car keys, but we couldn’t keep him off of DeMaster and the dandelions.  He wanted me to help him with something, but he wouldn’t say what it was.  He just jumped off the bar stool and ran out the door.  I followed him and saw him pull a backpack out of the back seat of the wagon.  I shouted to him, but he ignored me and ran across the street into a wooded area by the park.  I thought about going after him but he’s stuck on what          
he’s gonna do.  I wasn’t gonna change his mind; there was no way I could.  So, I came back here.”
         “Well, that’s just lovely,” Melissa stated sourly as she squashed her cigarette out in the half full ashtray before her.  “This is all going to hell in a handbasket.”
         “How is Maria doing?” Martin asked.
         “We haven’t seen her for hours,” Heather replied.
         The three sat silently on the couch while Dipak began pacing around the room.  He kept his head down and his arms across his chest.  Finally he ceased pacing and retrieved his beer.  He took a large gulp and addressed his three friends on the couch.  “What do you guys want to do about this?”
         The three remained silent.
         “Do we confront Sonny?” Dipak pressed.  “Do we say nothing and hope for the best?  Maybe we should just quit and leave.”
         “No, we can’t leave,” Martin objected.  “We are too close to having this done to quit now.  We’ve all put too much work into this to just walk away because there are a couple of idiots around.”  Martin nodded and stood up.  “I say we open the gallery as planned, with or without Sonny.  We all own it now.  We all own its success or failure.  We’ve worked too hard for it to fail.”
         The others silently considered his words as he left the room and entered the kitchen.  He returned with an open beer and again plopped down on the couch next to Heather.          
         Melissa lit another cigarette.  “You’re absolutely right,” she concurred with Martin.  “We can’t quit now.”
         The slamming of the screen door in the kitchen jostled all of their attention to find Maria passing cautiously through the kitchen to the living room.
         “Is Sonny here?” she asked softly.  The stress of the day had tired her face and dark half circles hung below her eyes.
         “No,” Melissa responded, tamping out her cigarette.  She got up and moved to her distraught friend offering an embrace.  They hugged momentarily before Melissa asked, “How are you doing?”
         “I’m better than earlier,” Maria sighed.  “How are you guys?”
         “We’re discussing what to do about all this,” Heather said.
         “Right now it looks as though we’re all going to stay and open the gallery,” Dipak added.
         Maria sat on the couch opposite Martin and Heather.  “I was over at Jean’s this afternoon.  I was ready to quit and go home.  I was so angry.  But, she convinced me to stay, and she has a plan to straighten out this whole mess.”
         “Really?” Melissa asked as she sat next to Maria.
         “What’d she say?” Martin asked leaning forward. 
         “Well, it’s going to take some time to organize this, but we’re going to clear the yard of dandelions.”
         The eyes of the others grew wide.
         “That would take days for all of us to do,” Dipak protested.
         “Sonny would really be pissed,” Melissa added.  He would probably accuse us of siding with DeMaster.”
         “I know,” Maria replied.  “Jean is going to get us help from folks in the village.  She thinks she can get enough people to come help that we’ll be able to get it done in a couple of hours.  We just have to find some way to distract Sonny.”
         “Damn,” Martin said and sipped from his beer.  “Sonny is going to feel awfully betrayed if we do this.”
         “Sauce for the goose,” Melissa countered bitterly.  “Look at how he’s made us feel.  I hope he feels pissed and betrayed.  He has to realize what a bunch of shit this is that he’s pulled.”
         “The object is not to piss him off,” Maria said.  “But, this whole thing has gotten out of control and we need to get things back to normal.  If we get rid of the dandelions the motivation for him and the Mayor is gone.”
         Melissa felt a surge of adrenaline pour through her.  She got up to grab another cigarette.  She lit it and turned back to Maria.  “How long before she thinks we’ll be ready to do this?”
         “Probably about a week or so.”
         “We’re gonna have to act as though nothing is up,” Dipak added.
         Maria frowned.  “I’ll have no trouble avoiding him until it’s time.”
         “We all probably should,” Heather concurred.
         “How are we going to make sure he isn’t here when we do it?” Dipak asked.          
         A sly, tight lipped smile stretched across Martin’s face.  “Leave that to me,” he said confidently.  “I know how to keep him busy for a day or so.”
         And so, the group of vagabond artists stayed up well into the night, sitting in the living room of the man that had pulled them together, plotting how to exact some measure of revenge for what he had led them to.  And as the midnight crickets began steeling their legs, searing the warm, moist air with their shrill chirp, a renewed sense of hope began to surge through the diverse group, finally culminating in each pledging to do what was needed to make certain there would be no further delay in opening the gallery.
         For Maria this was not the kind of friendship she expected to find when she first arrived.  The bond the group now shared ran so much deeper, almost near depths of family roots.  She was confident in them to see this matter through and as they bonded together more tightly, Maria could feel their combined strength.  What was more, in their plotting, Maria learned she had the upper hand on Sonny.  Because of Jean, Maria had another place to stay if need be.  Because of Danny, Maria had a place where she could exhibit and sell her work.  There was little fear of consequence for her now.  She felt liberated from the clutches of both Sonny and the Mayor. 
         Still, underneath all of her new found confidence an unsettling anxiety simmered.  Maria did not really want to hurt Sonny.  Certainly she was angry with him.  And, of course, she wished events had not unfolded as they had.  She knew Sonny was a good
man, only a bit misguided at times.  But this was where the fates had led them.  Now she had the opportunity to take action against the man who had hurt her and her friends, an action she knew she must choose to correct the course of events that could otherwise ruin all they had worked for.
         Suddenly the electric trill of the cordless phone lying on the coffee table interrupted the group.  They glanced at one another, all simultaneously wondering who would be calling them at that hour.  The phone rang four times before Melissa finally
picked it up.
         “Hello?” she answered tentatively.  “What?”  A moment of silence ensued as the group looked on in anticipation.  “Oh for Christ’s sake,” there was no mistaking the look of disgust on her face as she rolled her eyes.  “Ya stinkin’ knobshine!” Melissa stated angrily.  “I should just let you rot in there….  Wait….  Wait…. Ya know what?  Here, talk to Martin.”  Melissa shoved the receiver at Martin who cautiously accepted it.
         “Yeah man,” he said smoothly.  There was a short pause before his brow wrinkled and a look of disbelief crossed his face.  “Damn-it Sonny!” Martin stated angrily and struck at the air with his fist.  “Okay, okay.  Where is it?  Alright man, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”  He hung up and set the receiver back on the table as he walked out of the living room and down the hallway.
         “What’s up?” Dipak asked Melissa.
         Melissa lit a cigarette and blew a thick plume of smoke out her nose.  “Sonny got arrested,” she stated matter-of-factly.
         “What?” the others asked in shocked unison.
         Melissa nodded and plopped on to the couch.  “Yeah, the idiot got all liquored up and got caught vandalizing the town hall.  Now he expects us to come bail him out.”
         “What the hell did he do?” Dipak asked incredulously.          
         “He said he got caught spraying graffiti on the front of the building.  He was painting six-foot tall dandelions on it when he got caught.”
         Dipak’s eyes widened as his jaw fell open.  “He’s completely lost his mind.”
         “Unbelievable,” an astonished Heather added.
         Martin returned to the living room folding a wad of cash into his wallet before he dropped it into his back pocket of his shorts.  “I’ve gotta go get Sonny outta jail,” he said seriously.  “Anybody wanna ride shotgun?”
         The group remained silent with eyes darting back and forth at one another.  Tension quickly cropped up as if the pressure of a storm had settled over the living room.  Martin finally shrugged and walked out the screen door.
         “Martin, wait…” Heather called after him.  She hopped off the couch and quickly chased out the door.
         Maria, Melissa and Dipak sat silently watching the screen door, listening for the distant voices of their friends outside.  They heard one car door shut, then another.  The engine of the station wagon turned over.  Its lights flashed through the screen door as it rolled out of the driveway.          
         Adrenaline charged through Maria’s gut as she realized it would not be long before she would have to face Sonny.  She knew she had the support of her friends, still she dreaded the possible confrontation.  For a moment she thought of returning to Jean’s
for the night or taking her pillow and sleeping in the studio.  But she quickly changed her mind, scolding herself for her childish desire to run away.  Still she did not want to see Sonny, not yet.  She still needed some time to collect herself before having to face him.  Maria looked at the clock.  She had not realized it was after midnight.  Instant wear befell her as soon as she gained this knowledge.
         “I think I’m going to go to bed,” Maria said.  “It’s getting to be too hard to speak English anymore.”
         Melissa sat up and extinguished her cigarette.  “Yeah, me too, it’s getting late for me.” 
         “Good night,” Maria offered to Dipak who sat silently staring angrily at the screen door.
         “Hey,” Melissa reminded him as she leaned into his face.  “Don’t do anything stupid.”
         Dipak blinked and stared into the seriousness of Melissa’s deep blues.  Unable to refuse her, he nodded.
         The two young ladies walked down the dark hall to their rooms.  They paused before Melissa’s door.
         “It’ll be okay,” Melissa whispered.  “You know that, right?”
         Maria was not completely convinced but had hope.  “I know.  Thank you.”
         They embraced for a lingering moment before Melissa entered her room and Maria continued down the hall.  She entered the sanctuary of her room, surrounded by familiar, comfortable things and closed the door behind her.  Maria stripped down to her panties and threw on an oversized t-shirt before crawling between the sheets.  She lay in bed listening for any sound of the others return, but was quickly overtaken by the emotional exhaustion of her day and drifted off to sleep.



















                                                           














                                                       Chapter 25


         Philip cursed under his breath as he hoisted the deep bucket filled with paint slicked warm water to the edge of the utility sink and dumped out what was left of Sonny’s paint dandelions.  He set the bucket on the floor and leaned against the door jamb of the Janitor’s closet as the sink slowly drained.  Once enough water had drained, he rinsed out the brushes and rags he used to clear the paint from the front of the town hall.  He sighed and reminded himself he was lucky this was caught before the paint had set even further.  Once convinced he had cleaned all of the equipment sufficiently; Philip closed up the Janitor closet and exited the town hall, locking the doors behind him.
         Philip inspected his handy work one last time before walking out to the sidewalk.  He continued glancing back at the building trying to determine if any further cleaning needed to be done.  It was difficult for him to assess in the dark with only source of light being the street light out at the curb and two small lights on either side of the front door.  He finally decided to leave any further assessment until the morning.          
         Upon reaching the sidewalk, he stopped as he noticed a lone figure walking toward him, weaving slightly as it approached.  As the figure entered the auspices of the street light, Philip recognized Father Brick.  The good Father had obviously been spending time at “The Last Stand” and was now returning home.
         It troubled Philip to see his friend in this condition.  Not only because church services began at nine o’clock in the morning, but also because the position of Priest was a public position.  It was an unofficial political position as well.  And being seen in this condition in public could be very damaging not only for Father Brick, but also the church and the town.  A sense of duty erupted through Philip.  He knew he must no let anyone see such a spectacle.  He had to protect the town before the good Father’s libations could besmirch any reputation.
         “Good evening, Father,” Philip greeted.          
         “Philip?” Father Brick stopped and squinted as he swayed slightly.  “Ah, Philip. 
How are you?”  Father Paul slurred with a smile.
         “I’m much better than you, I believe.”
         “Oh, you might be surprised,” Father Brick responded as he fumbled through his pocket, finally pulling out a cigarette and lit it.
         “Come,” Philip put his hand on Father Paul’s shoulder.  “Let’s get you home.  You have a busy day tomorrow.”
         Father Paul stared at Philip for a moment with a furled brow.  “What are you doing out here so late?”
         Philip motioned toward the town hall with an open palm.  “I was cleaning up a little.  We had an incident with a vandal.”
         Father Paul swayed slightly and squinted at the building.  “I hope it was nothing serious.  I don’t see any damage.”
         “It was nothing a little elbow grease couldn’t fix.”
         The two men stood under the pale street lamp as moths and other winged insects flocked to the source of light.  The shrill chirping of the crickets and June bugs seared the
night air.  They stared into one another.  Father Brick took a deep breath as his bloodshot eyes watered.  Philip, growing slightly uncomfortable with this scene, nudged the Father along.
         “Come along Father,” Philip encouraged.
         Father Brick tried to hold his ground but stumbled forward a couple of steps.  Catching himself on Philip they came to a stop again.
         “Philip, Philip,” Father Brick gently patted Philip’s cheek.  “You are a good man, and a good friend.  It troubles me to see you cleaning such messes.  I only wish you realized you bring these things upon yourself.  Stop trying to control everything and order will follow.”  He smiled kindly at Philip.          
         “Order is at hand,” Philip replied as he again encouraged the Priest to continue along.  “I am quite confident that things have turned in our favor, I can feel it.  I can feel God is with us, protecting our town.  We will be victorious in our quest.”
         Out of the reaches of the street light Father Brick shook his head gently as he weaved slightly and struggled to correct his balance.  He puffed on his cigarette and glanced up at the star filled sky, catching but a glimpse of it’s majesty, briefly reminding him why he had chosen a life of serving Christ and his fellow man.  “I will pray for you, Philip.”
         “Thank you Father,” Philip replied.  “But pray for those who are enemies of this town.”
         Father Paul was astounded at Philip’s lack of insight.  He wondered how it was possible that Philip could not see how his policies have had a negative effect on the town.  The Priest searched for words that would not anger or insult Philip.  Father Brick knew Philip was a good man, but misguided in his actions.  Unfortunately for Father Brick all he could think of was moderately appropriate clichés whose meaning he knew would somehow be misconstrued by Philip and give him a further sense of support for his action.  Frustrated with not being able to find the words, Father Paul decided he must risk insulting his friend.
         “Philip,” he asked, “don’t you think the way you’re handling this situation is affecting the town in a negative way?”
         Father Paul could see Philip’s bottom jaw tighten.  Long moments of silence ensued.
         “No,” Philip finally replied somewhat aggressively.  “The sanctions I have imposed will only punish those who do not obey the town laws.  Liberty will only be stronger for this.”
         “But don’t you see,” Father Paul continued gently, “that you have forced businesses in this town to stop selling to certain people in a time when our local economy is slow?”
         “That is an insignificant few as far as dollars spent on businesses in this town.  The real problem is the other negative effect they have had on our economy.”
         “But Philip, if anyone serves them, you promised to impose sanctions on the business owner.  That could begin to divide the town.  As public servants that’s not what we’re about.”
         “I have used the threat of the sanctions in order to encourage a greater solidarity
within the townspeople.  I have repeatedly reminded them that we are stronger unified.”  Philip straightened his posture as they continued.  A distinguished look of pride crossed his face.  “I am a uniter, not a divider.”
         Father Brick could tell by the expression on Philip’s face and the look of self righteousness in his eyes that any further argument would be in vain.  Philip had yet again convinced himself beyond doubt that what he was doing was right, absolutely right, both in the eyes of God and any just man.  A sense of disgust kicked Father Paul’s stomach.  He took a deep drag of his cigarette as he tried to find a way to remove Philip’s blindness imposed by his pride.  Several moments passed and Father Paul could think of no clear message to impart to Philip that might get him to see what may actually be at stake.  Finally, out of desperation, Father Paul reminded Philip, “You know, Philip, you are ultimately responsible for what comes of this.  You will have to accept that responsibility.”
         A sly smile crossed Philip’s face.  “Seeing more tourists here?  I’m counting on it.  It will spur another re-election for me in a couple of months.”































                                                     Chapter 26


         Jean slowed her bike to a stop.  She hopped off and gently leaned her bike against the wall of “The Last Stand”.  After removing her helmet and placing it on the seat of the bike, she desperately shook her fingers through her hair trying to tease up her sweat soaked locks to rid herself of helmet head.  As she moved toward the door, she pulled at the front of her t-shirt, trying to move some air between her clothes and her moist skin.
         Once inside, she removed her sunglasses and looked around the dingy tavern.  The chill of the air conditioning caused goose bumps to raise on her exposed legs, briefly making her wish she were wearing something other than shorts.
         She crossed the black and white checkered floor toward the bar.  As she pulled up a stool a couple of seats down from a couple of old wrinkled men sharing a pitcher of beer while watching a fishing show on television, she realized it had been about a year since she had been in the tavern.  Jean also came to the conclusion the floor had not been cleaned since then either.          
         Down at the other end of the bar, Jean noticed some handmade cardboard signs encouraging the reader to vote for Norb Schilling for Mayor.  There were more blank pieces of cardboard and markers spread out on top of the bar.  Seeing this obvious opposition to Philip DeMaster only reassured Jean she had come to the right place.
         “Why, Jean,” Neffets bellowed jovially, “it’s good to see you.  How’s by you?”
         Norb passed by smiling and gave Jean a wink and a nod. 
         “Hi Norb.  I’m doing well Wayne,” she replied.  “How are things with you?”
         “Oh, real good then.”  Neffets stepped forward and leaned on the bar before her.  He looked into her with smiling blue eyes.  “So what have you been up to?”
         Jean smiled back.  “Oh, you know, just trying to keep busy and stay out of trouble.  How about you?”
         “Ha!”  Neffets burst and stood erect.  “The same, but I don’t think I’m doing too good a job of it.”  He stepped to his left and picked a wine glass from under the bar.  Holding it up to the artificial light he made certain it was spotless before putting it to use. 
“What can I get you, Jean?”
“I’ll have a Fume please.”
Without another word Neffets nodded and turned to small refrigerator.  He retrieved an open bottle of Jean’s favorite summer wine and filled the glass half full.          
“I see Norb is preparing to make a run at the Mayor’s office in October,” Jean said as Wayne set the glass down in front of her.
“Yeah, well, ya know DeMaster is completely off the hook here.  The man has gone completely mental or something.  Anyway, we think the town needs leadership to move in a different direction.”  Neffets looked down the bar at the two old men watching anglers land lunkers.  Convinced they needed nothing from him at the moment he looked at Jean with serious eyes and continued in a low voice.  “Ya know ‘bout his hang up with the dandelions?”
“Yes,” Jean took a sip of wine.
“Have you heard that he’s trying to cut those kids off?  The ones that live just
outta town.  Just because they don’t care for their yard, which really is a field to begin with.”
“Yes,” Jean said frankly.  “I’ve heard quite a bit about it actually.  In fact, that is what brings me here.”
Neffets leaned forward on to the bar again.  “What’s goin’ on?”
“You know this whole thing is between Sonny Ludwig and Philip DeMaster.  And as these two have bumped heads and continue to do so, they drag others into the fray with them.  Good, innocent people that have no good reason to have been subjected to their little war.  People are getting hurt, Wayne.  And I’m planning to put an end to this nonsense, but I need your help.” 
Neffets stood silently with a straight face.  His dancing blue eyes were now serious and unblinking.  Finally he looked down to the end of the bar at Norb who was working on his campaign signs and waved him over.
As Norb sat in the stool next to Jean, Neffets asked, “What’ve ya got in mind?”
A broad, nearly seductive smile flashed across Jean’s face as she raised an eyebrow.  “Maria and I are planning to rid the yard of weeds and dandelions.  And we have to do it so that Sonny is not aware that we are doing it.  But, the job is too big for the two of us to handle by ourselves.”  Jean paused for a sip of her wine then glanced back and forth between Neffets and Norb with hopeful eyes.  “I was hoping you guys would be able to round up some help from the townfolk, enough that we could get it done in a few hours.”
         Neffets eyes bulged and looked down at the bar.  Jean could feel his mind processing her plan and request.  Wayne’s lips pursed and his head wobbled slightly from side to side.  Finally he looked to Norb.  The two men locked eyes for a moment as Jean, feeling a bit anxious now, took a sip of wine.
         “Okay,” Neffets nodded.  “But before I agree to go along with all of this I want to hear the second part of the plan.”
         “What do you mean?” Jean replied quickly setting her wine glass down.                    
         “Well, I wanna know how we’re going to deal with the other half of the problem.  Ya know DeMaster is more to blame about this whole thing.  I won’t have any part of doing Sonny that way unless that rotten bastard DeMaster gets his too.”
         Jean saw the two equally responsible for the situation, but she deferred engaging Neffets in any debate about that at this time.  “Ah, well, I have given that some thought too.” Jean glanced to Norb, and then returned to Neffets.  “You’ll like this, Norb.  What I was thinking was that you guys could organize folks to boycott DeMaster’s café.  And to further drive the point home I thought we could petition for a recall election.  I know the election for Mayor comes in late October and assuming we get enough signatures for the petition, the recall probably wouldn’t happen any sooner than early September, the mere fact that we would be able to get enough signatures for a recall would shake him terribly.”
         Neffets looked at Norb with wide eyes and raised eyebrows.  After a moment Norb gave a single nod, and then got up from his seat and returned to the end of the bar to continue working on his signs. 
         Neffets looked back at Jean.  “Okay, we’re in.”  Neffets stood silently for a
moment, arms crossed, lost in thought.  “Ya know, I haven’t done anything like this since I was the Union Steward at the cheese factory.  That was twelve years ago.  He chewed
his bottom lip.  “Hard to believe it’s been that long.”
         “When do you think you’ll have enough people to start this?”
         “I don’t know,” Neffets shouted down the bar to Norb.  “Hey, how long do you need to organize this, a week?”
         Norb’s head bobbed slightly side-to-side for a moment before he shrugged and nodded.
         Neffet’s turned back to Jean.  “Yeah, ‘bout a week.”
         Jean gave them a broad smile and held her wine glass in the air to salute them.  “Thank you boys,” she said before taking a sip.  “You are doing your community a great service by engaging in this action.”
         Neffets nodded and moved down the bar to refill the pitcher for the old men.  As Jean set her glass down she noticed a yellow flier advertising the gallery posted on the wall behind the bar.  Jean sighed through her smile as she realized there was only little more than a month left before the advertised opening.  A wisp of despair flashed through her as she feared they may never see the day the gallery opened and she said a short, silent prayer that everything would work out.
         Looking down at the end of the bar, Jean watched Norb work diligently on his campaign posters.  She wondered what kind of Mayor he might be if elected.  He had always struck her as the silent thoughtful type.  In fact, as she thought about it, she wasn’t certain that she had ever heard him speak at all.  Jean then began to wonder if he were mute.  She also considered the idea of being a mute politician might actually be a good thing.
         Jean sipped at her wine as she continued to contemplate her plan.  She had already thought it through dozens of times and though she could not realize exactly what, she felt as though she had missed something, some vital piece to make certain it all pulled together smoothly in the end.  Jean winced as she continued to search for what mysteriously bothered her.
         Neffets returned to her.  “What’s wrong?”
         “Oh, nothing.  I’m just a little concerned about how all of this will turn out.”
         “Ah, don’t worry about that,” Neffets reassured her.  “It’ll all come out in the          
wash, you’ll see.  Everything will be fine.”  He further encouraged with eyebrows raised and eyes wide.  “Christ, the only way this whole thing’ll get any better is by taking this kind of action.  If we just sit by and let it go, who knows how much worse it could get.  I’m just happy to see you actually doing something ‘bout it.  I wish I’d’ve thought of it.”
         Jean gushed forth a smile.  Wayne’s reassurance helped her to feel better about her plan.  “Thank you, Wayne,” was all she could manage as she bashfully looked away.
She took the last sip of her wine.  “How much do I owe you?”
         Neffets shook his head.  “Forget ‘bout it.  I got this one.”
         “No, Wayne, really.”
         “No, no.  It’s alright, just don’t be such a stranger.”
         Jean smiled as she slid off the stool.  “Okay, I’ll be back.”
         “Sounds good.  I’ll give you a call in a few days to let you know where we’re at
with everything on this end.”
         “Great.  And let me know if you need me to do anything.”
         “I’ll keep you in mind, but I think Norb and I should be able to handle it.”
         “Okay, I’ll get the petition written up and drop it off tomorrow.”
         “Real good then.”
Jean turned toward the door and shouted back over her shoulder, “Thanks Norb.”
Without looking Norb threw up a wave.










                                                           



























                                                           






                                                       Chapter 27


         Maria tightened the c-clamp holding the joint of the wooden frame and left it for the glue to dry.  She had finished yet another painting and spent the rest of her day cutting mats and piecing together frames for her work.  For the past week she had spent most of her time either in her studio finishing items for presentation or at Jean’s house helping in the gardens and sampling wines.  She had successfully been able to avoid Sonny all week.  And though she felt her anger with him had dissipated some, she was still anxious about a confrontation with him.
         The past week had been difficult in that sense, not just for Maria, but the entire group.  An anxious disparity hung over the compound and was felt by all.  The house was always quiet.  The six of them were never together at the same time anymore.  In fact, Maria had hardly spent any time visiting with Melissa or Heather except when they took breaks from their work.  The three young ladies did, however, manage to plan a trip to Holly’s Harbor to take some pieces of their work to “The Gull’s Breath Gallery”.  Maria had called Danny from Jean’s house and made the arrangements a few days before.  Jean was also gracious enough to volunteer her car so the girls could transport their goods.
         Maria looked over her framed paintings hanging on the walls.  She sipped from a bottle of water and spent a moment assessing each painting.  Slowly she scanned each wall until she had finally decided upon five paintings to take to Danny.  One was acrylic, two were oil based and two were watercolor.  All were different sizes ranging from the size of a piece of notebook paper to poster size.  None were too heavy in message either.  They were all pretty straightforward landscapes painted as she remembered them, including one of Holly’s Harbor from her view from the beach when she was last there.  Admittedly, she chose paintings she thought would have a better chance of selling at Danny’s shop.  She held each painting at arms length giving one final inspection before stacking them atop one another with towels in between to prevent any damage from occurring.
         The familiar squeak of the door to her studio opening pulled her attention.  Maria
snapped her head around to find Melissa and Heather in shorts and t-shirts walking barefoot into her studio.  They greeted Maria with smiles as they approached.
         “Are you ready to go?” Melissa asked.
         “Yeah,” Maria responded, “just a second.”
         Heather pulled two medium sized boxes containing her pottery from under a workbench.  This left five more boxes lined up against the wall under the work bench. 
         “Thanks again for letting me store this stuff here,” Heather said to Maria.
         “Anytime.  If you have anything else you need to move, feel free.”
         Heather smiled and chuckled.  “Thanks, but I feel bad enough for having invaded your space.”
         “Don’t feel bad,” Maria insisted.  She pointed around her cluttered room, the walls packed with paintings.  “I have plenty of floor space.  We can store many more boxes here if you like.”
         The three stood silently for a moment looking at one another.  Melissa finally
broke the silence.  “You nee help carrying your paintings?”
         Maria was surprised by Melissa’s question.  “I thought we had to get the car first.”
         “I went and picked it up,” Melissa informed her.  “It’s right outside.”
         “Oh,” Maria was further surprised.  “I didn’t even hear you pull up,” Maria stated sheepishly as she picked up her paintings. 
         “Is that all you’re taking?” Melissa asked with concern resonating in her voice.
         “Yeah, this should be plenty.”
         “Holy man!  I hope I didn’t bring too much.”  Melissa’s eyes were wide with new found anxiety etched across her face.
         “It’ll be fine,” Heather reassured Melissa.  “Danny will be okay with it.  It seems like we could never give him enough work.”
         “How much are you taking?” Maria asked grinning.          
         “A dozen blankets, a dozen sweaters, and a dozen baskets, all the stuff is different sizes.”
         Maria wrinkled her nose and shook her head.  “That won’t be any problem at all.”
         Melissa helped Heather by carrying one of the boxes out to the parked silver Subaru Legacy.  They managed to fit both boxes of Heather’s pottery and all of Melissa’s baskets into the trunk.  The sweaters and blankets along with Maria’s paintings fit into the back seat leaving just enough room for one of them to ride in the back.
         “We should take some fliers with us while we’re at it,” Heather suggested.
         “Do you know where they are?” Melissa asked.
         “I think there is a stack of them in Dipak’s studio.”
         “I’ll go look,” Maria volunteered and began walking toward the entrance of the studios.
         She entered the hallway passing by Melissa’s studio and her own before reaching the final door, the door to Dipak’s studio.  Maria stood hesitantly before knocking softly on the thick wooden door.  She heard nothing stir on the other side and slowly turned the knob and opened the door enough to poke her head through.
         “Hello?” she called; her voice reverberated through the large room cluttered with books, papers and tables.  She moved stealthily to a table holding a computer and printer.  On the floor next to the chair she noticed a black plastic milk crate which held a large stack of fliers, each page a different bright color.
         As Maria reached forward to grab a handful of fliers, she noticed an open notebook on the table between the keyboard and a tiny glass filled with bright yellow dandelion flowers.  She paused for a moment and looked back over her shoulder and glanced back at the door before grasping the notebook for a better look.  On the exposed page there was a short, barely legible, hand written poem which had no apparent title.  It took her a moment to decipher the words which read:

         Tender tendrils digging deep
         Searching through hard packed darkness
         Allowing green blades enlightenment          
         Embracing Mother,
         Becoming one with Her          
         As Father’s yellow blaze casting down
         Grips outstretched arms
         Slowly stretching them longer,          
                   Wider,
                             Stronger
         Until passion fruits yellow
         Reflecting back warm smiles
         Connecting Mother and Father.

         Maria raised an eyebrow and returned the notebook to where she had found it.  She was surprisingly disappointed with what she had read.  After a quick moment of thought, however, she reminded herself that she had never been a big fan of poetry.  She enjoyed reading many of the classics, and most of Pablo Neruda’s works, but she rarely found a deep seated connection to many mainstream modern poets.  She shrugged it off whispering aloud to herself, “No se.”
         With a handful of fliers, Maria left the silent studio, closing the door behind her.
         Upon her return to the car she found Melissa in the driver’s seat and Heather in the passenger seat.  Maria started to get into the vacant seat behind Heather.
         “Did you want to sit up here?” Heather asked looking back at Maria.
         “No,” Maria smiled.  “I’m okay back here.”
         Melissa pulled the car back around the side of the house on to the dirt drive.  Maria looked at the yard as they passed.  Some of Sonny’s sculptures had been nearly completely overgrown by the weeds he let grow wild in the yard.  A bitter disgust fluttered through Maria’s chest as she thought of Sonny.  She did not remember any time in her life when she projected so much anger and disappointment toward any one person, and that it was someone who has been a dear friend made the situation even more galling.
         Maria’s thought shifted and her anger faded as the car accelerated smoothly along the highway leaving the overgrown yard behind them.  The deafening wind blasting through the open windows violently whipped the hair of all three passengers.  Maria had to constantly pull thick strands of her hair from her line of vision.
         The scenery was beautiful as the highway cut through an old growth forest.  At
times there would be an open space allowing a view out over the seemingly endless Lake Michigan as sun sparkled spectacularly off its cool surface.  Maria smiled as a deep relaxation began to filter through her back and chest.
         They were only on the highway for a few minutes before Melissa began slowing their ride as they entered the village limits of Holly’s Harbor.  Maria leaned forward between the seats watching for the gallery.  Melissa stopped the car before a walk, allowing a large band of pedestrians to cross the street of the picturesque village.          
         Once in sight of the gallery, Maria pointed and instructed Melissa to drive past.  According to the instructions Danny gave her over the phone, they would turn right on the first street past the gallery and turn right again into a service alley which led behind the block of shops.
         The car crept slowly through the narrow alley as Melissa was overly cautious of
damaging Jean’s car.  Finding the back of the gallery they parked in a tiny parking area next to what Maria assumed was Danny’s car.
         “Okay,” Maria said matter-of-factly as she began to get out of the back seat.  “Danny said to come in the back.”
         “Are we taking anything in?” Melissa asked, still seated behind the steering wheel.
         “No,” Maria relied over her shoulder, waiting for the other two girls.  “We’ll let him know we’re here.  I don’t know where he’ll want us to put our stuff.”
         Heather pulled her hair back into a pony tail as she walked along side Maria.  The two smiled at one another and started forward with Melissa following behind.
         Maria led the way through a door labeled ‘No Admittance – Employees Only’ as Heather and Melissa followed single file.  They found themselves in a dimly lit storage area with shelves, stretching form floor to ceiling along the walls, full of item.  There was a small table holding a coffee maker by a door opposite them.  The room seemed strangely quiescent as the three girls walked quietly toward the other door.
         “Hello…Danny?” Maria called softly as she arrived at the door.  There was no answer.  She slowly turned the knob and pushed, but the door would not open.  Maria pushed again with more force, still nothing.  She inspected the door knob, but there was          
no lock.
         “Jale, jale,” Melissa instructed with a giggle.
         “Oh my God,” Maria groaned as she rolled her eyes and then laughed along with Heather and Melissa as she pulled the door open.  They entered the gallery still giggling to find Danny at the register with a couple of customers.
         Danny smiled and waved to the girls.  “Take a look around,” he shouted to them.  “I’ll be with you in a minute.”
         The three girls stayed close to one another as they circulated through the gallery looking at different items he had to offer.  Finally Danny finished with his customers and walked briskly over to the girls and briefly embraced Maria and Heather.
         “It’s so good to see you two again,” he smiled broadly.  “How have you been, Heather?  I haven’t seen you in forever.”  His blue eyes danced and sparkled in their presence.
         “I’ve been alright,” Heather smiled back.  “I guess congratulations are in order, with the sale and new purchase and all.”  Heather motioned around the store.  “It’s really nice.”
         “Oh, thanks.  We’ll see how it goes.”
         “Danny,” Maria spoke up.  “This is Melissa.”
         Melissa stepped forward and smiled awkwardly as an odd sense of familiarity with the young man descended upon her.  “Nice to meet you,” she managed.
         Danny smiled back.  “I’ve heard an awful lot of good things about you.  I’m really looking forward to seeing your work.”
         “Thank you,” she replied as her brow wrinkled slightly and she looked hard at him.
         After a moment of quiet uneasiness Danny was forced to look back at her in question.  “Is something wrong?” he asked Melissa.
         The question surprised Melissa and shook her as if she had been daydreaming.  “Uh, no, no,” she smiled, slightly embarrassed.  “I’m sorry; it’s just that you look very familiar.  I’m just trying to figure out where I know you from.”
         Danny studied her for a moment.  “I don’t know.  I don’t think we’ve ever met
before.  But it’s quite possible.  I do get around quite a bit.  Well, at least I used to.  I haven’t been traveling much the past couple of months.”  He turned back to Maria and Heather.  “Well, shall we get your things?”
         The three girls agreed and followed Danny back through the storage room out into the alley.  Maria and Melissa removed items from the back seat while Danny helped Heather carry in her boxes of pottery.
         Once back inside they began to pile things on and around the table.  Danny flipped a switch by the door turning on a bright light over the table.  He carefully pulled out pieces of pottery from the box inspecting them as he did.  Melissa set a pile of sweaters next to the box.  Danny glanced at her before holding up a small bowl, gently shaking it toward Heather. 
         “Your work is fantastic as usual,” he said to her then inspected the bowl more closely.  “No, better than usual.”  He looked at her with squinting eyes.  “Did you change your technique?”
         Heather smiled broadly, “Thanks for noticing.”
         Danny smiled and gently set the bowl on the table.  He lifted one of the sweaters Melissa had set next to him.  He held it out by the shoulders in front of himself and inspected the merchandise with a critical eye.  He rubbed the soft yarn between his fingers and raised an eyebrow.  “How long have you been doing this?” he asked Melissa who stood anxiously behind him. 
         “Ever since I can remember,” she replied softly.
         Danny turned to face her.  “It’s really good work.  You will sell well here.”
         “Milwaukee!” Melissa exclaimed and pointed at Danny.
         “What?”
         “I know you from Milwaukee,” she continued excited with revelation.  “Were you at this performance art show a couple of weeks ago?  I saw you talking with Sonny just before the show.”  She tapped her finger against her chin.  “What was the name of that theatre?”
         “The Gothica,” Danny said with a grin.
         “That’s right.  That’s where I know you from.”
“Wait, wait,” Danny thought for a moment.  “You were with Sonny and Steve,
right?” 
         “Yeah.”  Another thought occurred to Melissa.  “You know Steve?”
         “Yeah, we go way back.  I was gonna come over and say hi after the show but I couldn’t find you guys.”
         “Wow, the world just got that much smaller.”
         “Or the circle just got larger,” Danny chuckled.  “That’s really something.”
         He turned to Maria who handed him a painting of a landscape.  Danny held it out at arms length under the light and poured over it.  “A landscape is not what I expected from you Maria.  I mean it’s not your usual subject matter.  Still, it oozes with your
unique style: a collage of color, a collage of images, a collage of language and culture, done with high levels of abstraction and sophistication.  I don’t know how you do it, Maria.”  He shook his head in amazement.  “How much do you want for it?”  Danny asked as he lowered the painting gently to the table and turned to her.
         “A lot,” Maria replied teasingly.  “I don’t know.  I don’t like putting a price tag on my paintings.  You price it for me.”
         Danny looked at the painting again and nodded.  “Okay, I’ll do it.  How about you guys?”  He turned to Heather and Melissa.  “Do you want me to price yours as well?”
         “You’ve always been fair to me,” Heather responded.
         “You can price mine too, I guess,” Melissa agreed.  “But let me know how much you’re selling them for so I can put a similar price on them when we open the gallery.”
         That reminded Maria of the fliers.  Without saying a word she hurried back to the car and retrieved them from the back seat.  She returned to the store room to find a few of the items missing from the table as well as Danny, Heather and Melissa.  With a handful of papers she walked into the shop to find the three of them at the counter by the register muttering over some of the items.
         A sense of impatience flashed through Maria.  She knew without hearing the conversation that it involved further discussion of the prices.  Maria did not understand why people felt they had to haggle for a better price.  Certainly the monetary value of a piece must be agreed upon, but a fair price could be easily agreed upon as long as it was
left to the seller and buyer.  Maria felt the artist should be left out of the decision making of the fairest price to be achieved because they, quite simply, could not be objective.
         “We were wondering if you could help us out with these,” Maria interrupted and placed the thin stack of fliers on the counter in front of Danny.
         He studied the printed paper briefly before nodding, “Sure.  Any place in particular where you want me to put them up?”
         “Just wherever there is high volume,” Melissa chimed in.
         Danny grinned.  “In this town, this time of year, that’s anywhere.”
         “I was also wondering if it would be possible for you to come over sometime before we open to help me price my paintings.  I really hate doing it.  I don’t think people are very good judges of pricing their work.  It seems to me they always over or under value it.  I just feel as though I’m either screwing myself or someone else when it comes to this money stuff.”
         Melissa’s eyes narrowed as she felt Maria had taken an unwarranted jab at her.  In fact, Melissa could not have disagreed more.  She felt the artist had the best idea of what a piece of work was worth.  After all, it was not just the final product that needed to be considered, but also the materials used, and the time spent working also needed to be taken into consideration.  For a fleeting moment she thought of engaging Maria in debate, but before she said anything she took a breath and allowed Maria her own opinion.
         “I’ll be happy to do it,” Danny said to Maria, “but it will have to be either early in the morning or later in the evening, like after nine.  I’d love to get over and see the place.”
         “After nine I think,” Maria said with disdain of the thought of rising early in the morning.
         “You are welcome any time,” Heather added.
         Danny smiled.  “Well, give me a call and let me know when you want me to come over.  In the mean time I’ll get this stuff out and see what we can move.  If I don’t hear from you in a week or so I’ll give you a call and let you know how it’s going.”
         “That sounds great,” Melissa said.  “Do you have our number?”
         Danny pulled one of his business cards from his shirt pocket.  “I guess that would
help, huh.”  He laughed and handed her the card and grabbed a pen lying on the counter by the register and gave that to Melissa also.  “Write it on the back with your names.”
         Melissa followed his instructions as Maria and Heather again thanked Danny and said their good-byes. 
         As the three young ladies exited the store through the store room and out the back door, they were filled with a renewed vigor and sense of hope.  Thick, white clouds drifted through the warm sun-drenched sky above them as they returned to the car, each one smiling.
         Maria returned to the back seat and slid to the middle, leaning forward between the two front seats, waiting for Melissa and Heather.
         “What do you think?” Maria asked Melissa.
         Melissa started the car and looked at Maria.  “Nice guy, he seems to know what he’s doing.  I think the arrangement will work out.  He’s certainly got the location.”
         “Fear not,” Heather added.  “He’ll call you in a week.  You’ll see.”
         “Is there anything else that we need to do while we’re here in town?”  Melissa asked.
         “Like what?” Heather responded.
         “I don’t know, any shopping or groceries or anything?”
         “Not that I can think of.”
         “Me either,” Maria added.  “We might as well return Jean’s car.”
         Melissa nodded and put the car in gear.  She backed out slowly and had to perform a series of short maneuvers to get the vehicle turned around in the tight quarters of the narrow alley.  She proceeded slowly through the alley and followed the reverse course out of town as she did entering. 
         Maria leaned back in the seat as they picked up speed along the highway.  She closed her eyes as the wind blasted through the open windows, tossing her dark hair about.  She reminisced about the first time she had met Danny.  It was in a coffee shop in Green Bay.  Under pressure from her friends, she had agreed to hang some of her paintings for sale there.  It was an open policy of the management to do such things for local artists.  Danny just happened to be there while she was putting them up.
         “You’re shorting yourself,” she remembered him saying to her.  “Your work is far too good to sell that cheaply.”
         He went on to introduce himself and further offered to help her.  Maria was leery to say the least.  Her instructors and peers were very complimentary of her work, but she never believed it was as good as they said.  Then a total stranger approached her at a coffee shop claiming to own an art gallery and offered to display and sell her work.  She thought it was some kind of elaborate pick up line.  However, after a few minutes of conversation over lattes, Maria was able to see past her paranoia and into his eyes where she found something trustworthy.  She was glad she did too.  She had no idea where she would be without his help.
         Maria opened her eyes as she felt the car rapidly slowing down.  Melissa turned the vehicle off the highway on to a narrow paved road in dire need of resurfacing.  The forest grew up to the edges of the road with the canopy of leaves shielding the sun from them, creating an almost mystical quality to the environment.
         Melissa braked hard again, sending Maria up between the seats.  As she caught herself she saw what Melissa had stopped for.  A large buck with a full rack of antlers stepped out on to the road and stared at the car.  He stood defiantly before the vehicle as a half dozen other deer slowly crossed the road behind him.  Maria could feel her heart pound with excitement as the young ladies sat quietly admiring the denizens of the north woods.  Maria was astounded by the sheer beauty and power evident in the animals.  She could sense their pure energy.  A shot of guilt flashed through her for having disturbed them and their habitat, but the guilt was not allowed to take hold as she was overcome by their breathtaking majesty and beauty.  Time seemed to dangle as if they were teetering on the edge of forever as the buck stared at them.  He watched them as if he knew what they were and the dangers that humans in a car could pose.  Without watching the other deer behind him, he knew when they had cleared the road and with two bounding leaps the buck bolted into the woods after them.
         Melissa let off the brake and slowly began accelerating the car.
         “I love deer,” Heather said turning back to Maria.
         “Me too,” Maria sighed with a wide smile as the three young ladies looked at the roadside for one last look at the deer as they passed.  The animals, however, had blended in with the forest and were not observable.
         “I just hate the way they come out in the road like that,” Melissa added, making certain to maintain a lower speed.  “I’ve never hit a deer before, and I really, really don’t want to.”
         Maria flushed the painful thought of that tragedy from her mind as she noticed driveways on either side of the road stretching back into the forest.  She wondered what lurked at the end of those drives and fantasized briefly of owning land such as this in her own country one day.  A little further down the road were another two drives.  Melissa turned down the one on the right.  As they followed the drive it curved through thick, dense forest eventually letting out to the opening before Lake Michigan occupied by Jean’s home.  For the first time, Maria had the impression that Jean was wealthy.
         Melissa stopped the sedan by the garage and the three young ladies exited the car.  Maria and Heather waited for Melissa as she casually caught up with them twirling the keys around her index finger.  As they approached the house, Pavlov came running to the drive barking his greeting with his tail swaying quickly from side to side.
         “Back so soon?” Jean called from a flower bed to the side of the house.
         As the three girls approached, Jean ceased her weeding and pushed herself from a kneeling position and wrestled herself to her feet with a grunt and a groan.
         “I expected you to be gone for at least a couple more hours,” Jean stated as she leaned backward, stretching the small of her back.
         “Nope,” Melissa smiled and extended the keys to Jean.  “We’re all business.”
         “I guess so,” Jean grinned as she took off her gardening glove and accepted the key from Melissa.  She put the keys in the front pocket of her shorts.  “I trust every thing went well?”
         “Yeah, everything went as expected,” Maria replied.  She felt herself begin to perspire under the humid sun-drenched afternoon.  A gentle breeze blew off the lake and rustled her long, dark hair.
         “That’s good,” Jean nodded.  “Wayne Neffets called a little while ago.  It looks like everything is on for this Saturday.”
           A shot of adrenaline cracked through her stomach when she heard those words.  “What time?” she asked, unable to think of anything else to say.
         “It sounds like he has a pretty large group of people.  He doesn’t think it will take more than a couple of hours.  So, I told him ten o’clock.  That way we can be done before we get the afternoon heat.  I hope that’s okay.”
         “That should be fine,” Maria replied, and suddenly became conscious of her dry mouth.
         “We have a plan,” Heather stated.  “It shouldn’t be any trouble at all.”
         “Dipak and Martin are going to get Sonny out of town for the day,” Melissa further informed Jean.
         Jean could sense the girls’ collective unease at discussing the topic, particularly Maria.  “Just remember,” Jean said with a reassuring smile, “Everything will be better after this is done.  This needs to be done.  And if any of you feels as though you have to get out, you are always welcome here for as long as you need.”
         The girls all thanked Jean, but knowing she has a place of retreat did not put Maria much at ease.
         “We’ll probably take you up on that,” Melissa chuckled uncomfortably.
         “Maybe we should stay here Saturday,” Maria suggested to them.
         “No,” Heather protested as she crossed her arms over her chest and rocked back on to one foot.  “We can’t leave Martin and Dipak alone with him.  It wouldn’t be fair.  We’re all in this together.”
         “She’s right,” Melissa concurred and looked off over the deep expanse of the lake.  “We have to stick together through this.”
         Maria knew that they were right.  There was no way she could leave them to bear the brunt of Sonny’s anger alone.  Her conscience would not allow that, particularly since she felt she was a catalyst to this.
         “And you are not alone in this,” Jean added.  “I think you’ll be surprised on Saturday.  If the number of people Wayne and Norb have gotten involved in this is accurate, then you’ll have the support of most of the village of Liberty too.”
         “Really?” Heather asked with her eyes wide with genuine surprise.
“Of course,” Melissa said and shook her head in skepticism of their good natured intentions.  “It only makes sense.  The people of Liberty want the yard cleaned up.  After all, it is a ‘drain on their economy.’”
         A sly smile washed over Jean’s face.  “That’s not all.  Really, only half of the people involved will be helping with the yard.  The other half will be marching a picket line in front of DeMaster’s café demanding that everyone boycott his business.”
         “No!” Melissa gasped with wide blue eyes.
Maria also gasped in shock and covered her mouth with her hands as Heather stood still in disbelief.
         Jean nodded.  “Yes, and to finish it all off, Norb will present DeMaster with a notice of a recall election as the petition was signed by a good deal of people more thatn what was needed.
         “Oh my God,” Maria gasped from behind her hands.  An outpouring blend of emotions welled up in her eyes and a sense of relief, at least for the moment, replaced the anxiety that churned her stomach.
         “I don’t believe it,” Melissa said and looked at Maria and Heather with her mouth agape.  “They’re both gonna be so pissed.”
         “We will need to get some beverages,” Jean added.  “We should probably also get some brats and hot dogs to grill also.”
         “How much do you think we’ll need?” Heather asked.
         Jean thought for a moment.  She closed her eyes and mentally worked some numbers.  “Let me talk to Wayne again.  I’ll just take care of getting all that stuff.”
         “Oh, no, Jean,” Maria protested weakly.  “You’ve done so much already.  At least let us give you some money.”
         “Okay,” Jean smiled in agreement.  “I’ll bring everything over on Saturday and you can pay me then.”
         “That sounds good,” Melissa confirmed.  She looked to Maria and Heather.  “I suppose we should go tell Martin and Dipak everything is set for Saturday.”
         Each of the girls took a turn thanking and hugging Jean.  Maria was so filled with gratitude she lingered in her embrace with Jean.  She felt blessed to have found such a
good friend to help her and the others through such a difficult time.  Further, she could not believe the people of Liberty were so supportive.  Maria had believed the town’s people truly saw them as a vagabond band, a despicable group of misfits, who had no business being involved with the people of Liberty.  She now realized the error of her perception and understood the people of Liberty were as frustrated with the situation as Maria’s group of friends were.
         As Maria followed Heather and Melissa to the beach, she felt a new excitement of anticipation of meeting the people who would come to help on Saturday.  A warm breeze off the lake rustled Maria’s long dark hair as she moved alongside Heather and Melissa.  She walked between them as the three young ladies strolled abreast along the shore.
         “This is unbelievable,” Melissa said and looked over at her friends.  “I mean, I just can’t get over the fact that we’re getting so much help from the people in town.”
         “I know,” Heather replied.  “It may actually restore my faith in mankind.”
         Maria laughed and looked at her petite Asian friend.
         “What?” Heather asked with a grin.
         “I just never figured you to be the cynical, bitter type.”
         “That’s ‘cause she’s not,” Melissa added.
         “What?” Heather stopped and looked at her two companions in slight disbelief.  “I can be just as bitter and angst ridden as the next person.”
         Melissa and Maria stopped and faced Heather.  Melissa’s eyes washed over Heather from head to foot and back up.  She shook her head.  “No you can’t.”  She winked at Heather and began walking away.  Maria, now giggling, turned to follow.
         Heather ran up along side Maria.  “It’s okay,” Maria said.  “It’s one of the things we love about you.  The world is filled with negativity.  That you don’t have it is only a good thing.”
         They strode along the surf in silence.  Maria could feel the soft rhythmic burst of the waves coming ashore reverberate deep within her, touching off a deep relaxation.  She looked out over the sun drenched surface of the water.  Her stride began to slow as she considered her day had been productive enough.  It had been a long week which was emotionally draining at times.
Earlier in the week Maria had called home and confided in her mother as to what had transpired between Sonny and DeMaster and the consequential aftermath.  Maria got the impression her mother did not completely understand, but if Maria had not been caught in the middle of this herself, she probably would not understand either.  However, her mother agreed with Jean in that Maria should stay and see this through to the opening of the gallery.  She told Maria that she and her friends had worked too hard to quit now and that if she did leave it would be an insult to her friends.  The result of the conversation with her mother vanquished any doubt Maria had about staying.  She knew she would have to summon courage, for the only reason she wanted to leave now was the fear of facing Sonny.  And having heard the support they have from others in town now made that fear easier to overcome.
         Still, for now it had been a very good day for Maria, a day filled with accomplishment.  Moreover, it was a warm and beautiful day.  Then she realized she wanted to put the rest of the world on hold and just spend a lazy afternoon relaxing on the beach.  Everything else could wait, her painting, the gallery, the dandelions, everything.  The urge to play and relax in the cool inviting water of the great lake was undeniable.
         “Hey,” Maria shouted as she ran to catch up with Melissa and Heather.  “Who wants to go swimming?” she asked with a playful smile.
         Melissa and Heather stared at her for a moment before Heather smiled back.  “Why not?  It’s a perfect afternoon for it.”
         “Yeah, sure,” Melissa concurred.  “Right after we tell Martin and Dipak that everything is on for Saturday.”
         Melissa’s sense of responsibility sent a pang of impatience through Maria.  But she knew Melissa was right.  They had to make certain everything was set for Saturday before indulging in pleasurable diversions.  “Okay,” Maria replied nearly whining.  “But let’s hurry, it’s so beautiful today.”
         The three girls walked quickly up the wide path to the gallery.  They could hear the low hum of power tools operating inside the structure.  Maria slowed to a stop as they approached the open door.
         “What’s wrong?” Melissa asked.
Reluctant to step further, Maria replied, “See if Sonny’s in there.”
         Melissa studied Maria for a moment then raised her eyebrows and turned to walk in as she shouted back to the now timid Latina.  “You’re going to have to get over it, Maria.  The sooner you face him the better off you’ll be.  You’ll be able to move on.”
         Melissa and Heather walked into the gallery.  Anxiety quickly pushed in Maria’s chest.  It had been such a lovely day so far, she did not want it ruined with ugly confrontation.  After a moment the power tools fell silent.
         “Okay Maria,” Heather’s voice carried out the door.  “He’s not here.”
         Relief washed through Maria as she exhaled a deep breath.  She entered the gallery to find Martin and Dipak had been sanding the mud on the drywall seams of the walls and the ceiling.  Fine dust filled the air and drifted on the drafts between open doors and windows venting the interior.  Martin and Dipak were both covered in a light coat of white silt which stuck readily to their hair and sweaty skin.  They pulled off their dust masks as Melissa informed them of the plan and how it had come together.
         “Man,” Dipak said, stunned by the scope and detail of the operation.  “Sonny and DeMaster are gonna be pissed.  Then, when they learn that basically everyone is involved, I don’t know what they’ll think.”
         “It’ll be an eye opener that’s for damn sure,” Martin added.
         “So, you’se guys won’t have any problem getting rid of Sonny for the day?”  Melissa asked for confirmation.
         “Not a problem,” Dipak said.  “He’s wanted to get back to Green Bay and post fliers and visit some old friends and shit.  But we’ve managed to put that off by insisting the gallery gets finished first.”
         “It looks great by the way,” Maria complimented and then sneezed.  She could feel the grit of the dust in her nose and mouth.  “Are you sure you don’t want some help?”
         “No, it’s cool,” Martin stated and gulped from a bottle of water.  “We’re just about done with this sanding.  We’ll clean tomorrow.  If you want to help paint, we’ll plan to do that on Sunday.  Sonny’s off at White River Junction getting the paint right now”
“Yeah, I might be able to help with the painting,” Maria grinned.
         “Oh-ho, we’re counting on that,” Dipak said.  “Hey, by the way, Sonny has been
looking for you, Maria.  He really wants to talk to you.”
Those words shook Maria to the core.  Instinctively she hid behind a show of stoicism which fooled no one.  “I’m not difficult to find,” she stated seriously.
         “Oh, come on now,” Martin’s voice carried a touch of impatience.  “He only wants to apologize for what happened.  He’s apologized to all of us.  Just stop avoiding the man and talk with him.”
         “And I will,” Maria replied as she realized that hopeless inevitability forcing the wheels of anger and fear to turn in her, tainting her voice with cornered aggression.  “But it’s going to be on my terms.”
         The two young men remained silent and motionless as Maria’s eyes danced back and forth alternatively making eye contact with Martin’s and Dipak’s.  They could feel the uneasy seriousness within her.  She was like a wounded, cornered animal, and they knew it would be wise not to press the matter any further.
         Maria took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then exhaled slowly.  “Now, it’s been such a lovely day.  And I have a particular sense of accomplishment, though I really don’t know why.  I didn’t really do all that much today.”  She thought for a moment.  “Perhaps it’s a cumulative effect for the amount of work I’ve accomplished all week.  Anyway, I’m going to spend the rest of the afternoon lounging on the beach.  You are more than welcome to join me.  But, I’m not going to ruin what’s left of this day with unpleasant thoughts.”
         “You’re right,” Melissa interjected as she realized Maria was wound tight over the situation and needed to get away from it for a little while and relax.  “Let’s go get changed,” she smiled at Maria and Heather.  “We’ve missed out on enough of the beach for today.”
         The three young ladies left the two young men to finish their work.  As the low hum of the power sander filled the air behind them, they walked to the house.  Maria could feel herself start to relax again as she acknowledged she need not do anything else,
She framed some paintings, she made more new frames, and she delivered paintings to Danny, and coordinated the weekend with the others.  That, she told herself, was enough for one day. 
         Maria entered her room and, without closing the door, stepped out of her clothes as quickly as she could and threw them haphazardly on the bed.  Her moist skin cooled a bit once uncovered from her sweat dampened clothes.  She went through the top drawer of her dresser, taking care not to disrupt the order of her clothes as she fished out her yellow bikini.  Once dressed, she grabbed a towel and proceeded to the kitchen, her bare feet slapping on the squeaking wood floor of the hall as she went.
         She found Heather had been the first to arrive.  Heather was wearing nothing but a white two-piece.  She was filling a small cooler with ice and several bottles of pre-mixed Margaritas and wine coolers.
         “Did you need a hand?” Maria asked.
         “You can grab something to eat,” Heather replied not looking away from her task.
         “Would you like anything in particular?”
         “Not really….  Maybe some chips.”
         Maria found a paper bag and collected a few apples, a bag of cheese curds and an unopened bag of plain potato chips.  Melissa entered the kitchen in a blue two-piece with a towel draped over her shoulder.  She held her radio in one hand and a collection of cd’s in the other.  Heather secured the lid on the cooler and grabbed her towel.  The three young ladies looked at one another for a moment, each acknowledging she was ready.  Maria was momentarily stunned at how white Melissa was compared to her and Heather.  She turned toward the door to hide the wide grin sprawling across her face and led them out the door into what seemed to be a promising afternoon of relaxation.


























                                                    
    Chapter 28


         Elizabeth DeMaster paused in front of her dresser mirror and silently watched her husband thumb through his shirts hanging in his closet.  A deep pang of sorrow ate at her gut as she briefly studied the man with whom she had chosen to share her life.  The deception she was about to engage in filled her with both guilt and a sense of regretful necessity.  She could see his leadership was tearing the town apart, a town she loved, a town filled with close friends.  But, she knew Phillip was far too proud to admit his leadership was hurting the village, or he was just plain blind to that fact.  Either way, though she still loved him dearly, Elizabeth understood there was no stopping the coordinated efforts of the town folk.  In fact, it was only that she loved him so dearly that she agreed to take part in their plan.  She engaged the town willingly in both an attempt to keep Philip from being too badly hurt and as an act of contrition for those whom Phillip had wronged.  She was secure in the fact that retribution must be exacted and amends must be made.  And, she knew when she was first approached by Father Brick; the only way to protect Phillip was to get involved.  Further, she made Father Brick promise he would not tell Phillip.
         “Dear,” Phillip turned to Elizabeth, breaking her chain of thought, forcing her to look away.  “I can’t decide which shirts to take.”
         “We’re only going to Ellison Bay for a long weekend, Phillip,” she replied as she fumbled through the jewelry box on top of her dresser.  “Any of your shirts will be fine.  Just take something you’ll be comfortable in.  The whole idea of this weekend is to just get away and relax a bit.”
         Phillip frowned and turned back to his closet.  “The only way I’ll be comfortable is if I’m dressed appropriately.  As Mayor and businessman I understand that ultimately I am the product.  I am more than just an elected representative of this town.  I have an obligation to always look my best and be my best.  Not just for the town, mind you, but because I am Phillip DeMaster.”  He straightened with pride, standing stiffly, pushing his chest out as he smiled confidently.  He then selected two long sleeved button down shirts
and carried them to his travel bag on the bed.
         Elizabeth turned to him.  “You don’t have to represent anyone or anything this weekend,” Elizabeth pleaded.  She glanced into the mirror to see him looking at her with the slightest expression of protest.  With a sigh she realized the futility of any further argument.  “Just remember, Phillip, this weekend is for you and me and no one else.  You have no one but me to impress.”
         Phillip raised an eyebrow and looked at his closet again.  “Then I may have to double my efforts.  Our years of intimate familiarity may have put me at a disadvantage.” 
         Elizabeth chuckled and turned to Philip.  “Oh Phillip,” she said as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.  “It has been many years of ‘intimate familiarity’, but you are far from being at any disadvantage with me.”  She looked deeply into his eyes for a lingering moment, rediscovering the deep passionate love she had for him in their youth.  That those feelings were always so easily rekindled had always amazed her.  Now off to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary, she could still feel
the same way for him as she did when they had first met in college.  Shallow water began to well up in her eyes and she could think of nothing else to say.  She leaned forward and kissed him delicately for a moment and embraced his well kept body holding him close to her.
         Phillip quietly and slowly rubbed her back, eventually giving her three soft pats.  Only years of knowing him as she did she knew he was signaling his intention to disengage from their embrace.  Reluctantly Elizabeth relinquished her hold on him.
         “We must finish packing,” Phillip smiled at her.  “The sooner we get there, the sooner we can resume this.”
         Elizabeth sighed and smiled sourly as she returned to her jewelry box.  After finding the earrings and necklace with which she could appropriately accessorize, she placed the items into a small travel box and tucked it along the inside of the suitcase with their clothes.  A short while later Elizabeth and Phillip were in the car, motoring out of town to the North toward Ellison Bay.
         Phillip muttered angrily under his breath as they passed by the dandelion filled
yard of his archenemies.  Elizabeth stared out the window at the unkempt yard capturing one last glimpse as she knew it would look completely different upon their return on Sunday. 
She knew tomorrow was the day the people of the town would join the group of artists in working toward a common goal – to take the power from those who led them.  That the situation had spiraled out of control was of no surprise to her.  In fact, she could not understand how Philip and Sonny could not anticipate this.  Perhaps they did, but were too stubborn to take action to affect a change in direction.  Either way, the wheels of will or fate were set in motion and a change for the greater good of the town and the artists was about to take place. 
         Relief and despair, fear and sufferance all cascaded through Elizabeth as she anticipated the outcome of the pending events.  She had occasionally suggested to Phillip over the past year-and-a-half that he should relinquish his political position to resume private ventures.  Secretively, Elizabeth wanted Phillip to give up politics all together.  Not only did she see him as being better at running his own small business than a town, she also wanted the two of them to spend more time together.  Though they were far from retirement, they could take opportunities to travel and see different parts of the world, something they had long talked about.  Unfortunately for Elizabeth, Phillip took his role as Mayor far too seriously and considered himself far better at performing the tasks of his position than he actually was.  So, she thought, if this plan works as anticipated, she would have more time with Phillip, the town’s people would have more autonomy and the artists would be free of threat from the town.  Everyone would be happier, except perhaps Phillip.
         Elizabeth looked at Phillip, studying his profile as he watched the road ahead of them in the mid-morning light.  A pang of sorrow quickly swept through her and dissolved as she realized he would be able to recover from this tribulation.  She would help him in his sufferance.  After all, she still recognized him as the same man she fell in love with all those years ago.  Over the years he had become more set in his ways and had become less inclined to take advice from others.  Still, at his core he was the good and caring man she married.
         “Philip?” She reached out to him and gently stroked his cheek with the back of her hand.  “What if we didn’t go back?”
         Philip glanced quickly at her and returned his concentration to the road in front of them.  “What do you mean?”
         “What if we left Liberty and just traveled for awhile?”
         “You’re not serious,” Phillip glanced at her again.  “My Dear, how could we leave?  Our lives are there.  I am the Mayor of the town.  We have our business there.  Our friends are there.”  Phillip fell silent for several moments.  “Why would you suggest such a thing?”
         Elizabeth realized she was more desperate to rescue Phillip from his impending humiliation than she thought.  She pulled her hand back from him and focused forward with her hands folded in her lap.  “I don’t know,” she tried to state as nonchalantly as possible.  She reminded herself that the action to be taken was for the greater good of the town and that she could not divulge to Philip any information of what was to happen.  “I guess I’m just excited to get away for a couple of days.  You know how I love to travel.”
         She focused on the road ahead and concentrated on the anticipated weekend which lay ahead of them at Ellison Bay.  Still, quiet anxiety gnawed at her until finally, after many miles and light conversation, she was able to ignore her tensions of the pending events.











                                                           














                                                           



                                                       Chapter 29


         Maria lay on her towel letting her body sink into the sand beneath her as the blistering afternoon sun quickly evaporated water droplets off her dark olive skin.  The gentle breeze off the lake washed over her, offering additional refreshment from the thick humid air.  Maria decided she would let the sun bake her dry before returning to the brilliant contrast of the cold lake water.
         “Would you like another Margarita?” Heather asked, drawing Maria out of a deeply relaxed state.
         Maria opened her eyes and propped herself up on an elbow.  After confirming her current bottle was empty, she sat up and crossed her legs.  “Yeah, that would be nice.”
         “It looks like you’re gonna need it too,” Melissa said from behind Heather.
         “What do you mean?”
         “Look behind you.”
         Maria turned to see Sonny trudging through the sand toward them.  His hair was pulled into a tight ponytail.  He wore a black t-shirt, knee length beige shorts and black work boots.  He also wore a look of grim determination.
         Adrenaline tore through Maria’s gut.  All of the dread and anger she had managed to forget about had suddenly rushed back to her.  Thoughts and words raced blindly through her mind with each step that plodded Sonny closer.  She sat silently as the long seconds it took for him to approach seemed to dangle forever.
         “It’s okay,” Heather whispered to her.  Maria could feel her soft delicate hand on her sun warmed shoulder.
         Sonny slowed to a stop a couple of feet before Maria.  Her anger and frightened eyes peered directly into his tense blue, remorse filled pools behind his thick glass.  Sonny swallowed loudly and glanced down at the sand.  “Hi, Maria, Heather, Melissa,” he began tentatively.  “Maria, may I talk with you please?  I’ve been trying to catch you all week.”
         “Okay,” Maria said stiffly.
         Sonny motioned for her to come with him, hoping she would follow him to where they would have some privacy.  But, Maria stayed on her towel staring angrily at him.  Sonny realized she was not going to move.  He glanced out over the water and shifted uncomfortably. 
         “Well, I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”  He looked deeply into her eyes revealing no mask.  Maria could see the genuine sorrow in him and felt her anger waver momentarily.  Sonny continued, “I’m sorry this whole thing got out of hand and that you got hurt by it.  I never expected anything like this to happen.”
         Maria stayed silent, assessing Sonny’s words and tone.  She realized she had the opportunity to drive home a point and made certain to hold on to her fading anger.  “You know,” Maria began sternly; the tone and volume of her voice surprised her.  “My family is the most important thing in my life.  I gave up time to be with them this summer, the only time I would have with them this summer, because you offered me a unique opportunity.  That time I can never get back.  I only agreed because the opportunity was
too good to pass up for one summer.  But because of your private little war with the Mayor, we are all punished for having joined you.  And the whole reason we came out here with you lays in jeopardy.  Look at how much time and energy you have wasted,” she scolded.
         “I’m sorry, Maria,” Sonny pleaded.  “What do I have to do to convince you?”
         Maria laid flat on her back to let her skin resume baking in the sun.  “Just make certain the gallery is ready to open on time,” she said with her eyes closed.  “You owe that to all of us.  We’re determined to make it happen.  If you are not going to help then stay out of the way.”
         Maria could feel Sonny’s presence silently standing over her for long moments.  She held her eyes closed and tried to concentrate on the warmth of the sun.  She felt a bit sorry for Sonny, but was convinced she was not too hard on him.  A particular sense of satisfaction and relief was also present as Maria said what she felt she must.
         “Well played,” Melissa said.
         Maria shaded her eyes with her hand and looked up to find Sonny had gone.  She inhaled the rich moist lake air deeply through her nose, expanding her chest until she thought she might burst, held it for a second and let it out quickly.  Maria sat up and took a sip of her Margarita.
         “I’m impressed,” Heather added.  “I thought you were really going to tear into him.”
         Maria thought for a moment and shrugged.  “I didn’t need to.  He’s going to get it good tomorrow.”






















                                                           

                                                     Chapter 30


         Maria awoke to the sound of her radio softly playing Franz Liszt’s “Sueno de Amor.”  The warm morning air was thick and damp.  Her curtain hung motionless above her bed.  She laid there tired and groggy, listening to the music in the hazy light of the morning.  Between the heat overnight and her anticipation of the day’s events, she only managed to sleep lightly.  Finally she sat up letting the thin white sheet which covered her fall from her torso exposing her bare body.  She sat for a moment collecting her thoughts and drank from a bottle of water on her night stand.  She looked at her clock to re-assure herself she had a couple of hours before people started to show up. 
         Martin’s voice echoed softly down the hall, nearly inaudible through the closed door to her room.  Maria turned off her radio and listened carefully.  There was a moment of silence before she heard Sonny’s voice quickly followed by Dipak’s and then the three burst into laughter.  With a wrinkled brow, Maria cocked her head and sat as still as possible trying to eavesdrop.  Something dropped to the floor with a thump, causing her eyes to flash wide with surprise.  She heard Sonny’s voice again and then Martin’s.  The voices faded until she could not hear them any longer.
         Maria remained still, listening.  After several moments she was able to hear the familiar rumble of the station wagon starting up.  It seemed to idle for a minute then the sound of the vehicle dissipated into the distance.
         A sly smile stretched across Maria’s face.  Dipak and Martin had come through and gotten Sonny out for the day.  She gulped a few more mouthfuls of water before getting out of bed and putting on a fresh pair of panties and a t-shirt.  She grabbed a towel and walked wearily down the hall to the bathroom.  An occasional soft squeak from the floor squeezed out from under the soft pads of her feet.
         Maria turned on the water in one of the shower stalls letting the water get no warmer than lukewarm.  She was simply too uncomfortable to take a hot shower.  After quickly disrobing she stepped under the rushing tepid water hoping it would bring some renewed energy.  Maria lingered for long moments under the water as thoughts and
anticipations of the day raced through her head.  A myriad of emotions followed these thoughts as she recalled her anger at Sonny and the Mayor to remorse for having not accepted Sonny’s apology, the love she had for her friends, including Sonny and the sense of duty she felt in having to rid the yard of dandelions.  As she finished washing, she reassured herself that she was doing the right thing.  And with renewed confidence she shut off the water and began patting herself dry.
         “Good morning Maria,” Melissa’s voice carried a slight echo.
         Maria wrapped her towel around her and stepped out from behind the shower curtain.  “Good morning,” Maria replied as she stepped out to find Melissa completely naked.  Maria could not help but notice the sharp contrast of Melissa’s pink skin which covered her body around her pale breasts and pelvis which had been covered by her swimsuit before a tinge of embarrassment forced Maria to divert her eyes from her blonde friend.
         Melissa casually moved to the other shower stall and turned on the water.  “Did
you sleep well?” she asked as she held her hand under the water checking the temperature.
         “No, not really,” Maria replied.  “It was too warm and I’m too anxious about today.  So I didn’t rest very well.”
         “Me neither,” Melissa admitted as she stepped under the water and pulled the shower curtain closed behind her.  “I think I just laid in bed sweating and thinking about today for most of the night.”
         “Same here,” Maria agreed as she peeled her towel from around her firm body and began sponging her wet hair with it.
         “I’m sure we’re worried over nothing.  Everything will work out just fine,” Melissa called from the shower.
         “I know,” Maria replied as she stepped into her panties and slipped her t-shirt over her head.  “I just wish it were over.”
         Maria wrapped the towel around her wet hair and stood before the mirror of the vanity to brush her teeth.  She studied her face as the splashing water from Melissa’s shower was all that was heard.  She thought she looked tired and had aged prematurely. 
Purplish shadows of half circles hung below her eyes.  She stopped brushing for a moment to touch her face.  In a momentary fit of self-consciousness she debated applying make-up to cover the tell-tale marks of her stress, but decided against it as she considered she would be sweating and getting dirty a little later.
         Once finished with her daily task of oral hygiene, Maria left without announcing to Melissa she was leaving.  She returned to her room and dressed for the work to be done, which included her usual shorts and t-shirt but hiking boots instead of sandals.  As she made her way to the kitchen she noticed how heavy the boots made her legs feel as they clopped down the hallway forcing the occasional squeal from the floor boards.
         Heather stood at the counter with a cup of coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other.  She was dressed much like Maria but had rolled her long silky hair into a bun.  She smiled weakly at Maria.
         “I didn’t know you smoked,” Maria said as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
         “I don’t,” Heather replied.
         Maria sipped her coffee and studied her friend for a moment as she puffed on the cigarette but never really inhaled.
         “Jean called a little bit ago,” Heather informed Maria.  “She should be here in a few minutes.”
         “Have you eaten anything?” Maria asked.
         Heather nodded and sipped her coffee.  “Yes.  I had a bagel.  There are a couple left if you still want one.”
         “I probably should,” Maria replied and moved next to Heather to pull a pumpernickel bagel from a paper bag.  After cutting it and in half, she put it in the toaster and dug through the refrigerator for cream cheese.
         “Hello,” Jean’s voice called from the screen door in the living room.  Heather tamped out her cigarette in an ashtray and walked over to greet Jean.
         “Come in, Jean.”
         “Good morning Heather,” Jean greeted her with a broad smile.  Jean seemed to be
bubbling with energy and excitement.  “Are you ready for some fun today?”
         “Yeah, sure,” Heather replied hesitantly.  A day of toiling in yard work was not
particularly her idea of a good time.  “Come in.  Would you like some coffee?” she asked as she led Jean to the kitchen.
         “Oh, no thank you.  I’m fine.”
         Maria was a bit surprised to find Jean dressed in old blue jeans and a light long sleeved shirt.  “Good morning Jean,” she greeted.
         “Good morning Maria.”  Jean looked at her two young friends.  They looked tired and an air of tension seemed to have enveloped them.  “Are you girls okay?”
         “Yeah,” Maria replied.  We just didn’t sleep well last night.”
         “I guess we’re just a little concerned about today,” Heather added.
         “Well, don’t you worry about a thing.  I have it all under control.  I have all the food and beverages we should need.  I’ll just need some help setting things up.”
         “Setting up what?” Melissa asked as she moved from the hallway into the conversation.
         “Good morning Melissa,” Jean smiled at her and then turned to Maria.  “Perhaps I will have a cup of coffee after all.”  She turned back to Melissa and addressed her as she weaved around Jean and Heather to the coffee.  “I have a shade tent that we can set up and we also need a grill.”
         “We don’t really have a grill per say,” Melissa said.  “We have a fire pit out back that we use for grilling.”
         Maria handed cups of coffee to Melissa and Jean.  “Would you like any cream or sugar?” Maria interrupted.
         “No dear, this is fine.”
         Maria’s bagel popped out of the toaster.  She smeared her bagel with light cream cheese and continued listening to the conversation as she ate.
         “That’s fine,” Jean responded to Melissa, “as long as we have a place to cook hot dogs, brats and hamburgers.”
         “How many people are showing up today?” Heather asked feeling a bit bewildered.
         “At least twenty for certain, but I planned for twice that.”  She took a sip of her coffee before continuing.  “I have all of the beer, wine and soda in coolers in the car.  We should probably get everything set up before too long.”  Jean looked at the watch on her wrist.  “Wayne will be here in about an hour.  I imagine everyone else will begin showing up shortly thereafter.”
         “This is too much.  I gotta have some coffee and something to eat first,” Melissa said as she passed through the kitchen next to Maria and began toasting a bagel for herself.
         “You may want to look at the patio and see if it will have enough space for the tent,” Maria suggested to Jean.
         Jean raised an eyebrow and moved to the screen door.  She peered out at the patio, assessing the available space between the archways, noting the fire pit in the center.  Jean was momentarily taken aback by the eccentric beauty of the patio, which to her seemed to have Greek, Roman, and Mexican influences.  After several moments she turned back to the girls.  “It’s lovely, but it won’t work.  There is no way to set up the tent in there.”  She looked back out at the patio and sipped her coffee.  “That Sonny is one eccentric son-of-a-bitch,” she muttered under her breath.  Jean returned to the other side of the kitchen and set her cup on the counter.  “We’ll set up the tent in the front.  Do you have any folding tables and chairs?”
         “Yeah,” Heather answered.  “They’re in the garage.  Come on, I’ll show you.”
         Jean followed Heather through the living room and out the door.
         “Are you ready for this?” Melissa asked Maria between bites.
         “What choice do I have?”  Maria took a sip of her coffee.  “It seems like an awful lot of work just to cut the yard.”
         “Yeah, I know.  But we gotta trust Jean on this.  She knows what she’s doing.”
         Through the screen door in the living room, Maria saw Heather pass by with a folding lawn chair in each hand.  Then Jean passed by also carrying two chairs.  Maria took one last sip of her coffee and started toward the living room.  “I better go help them,” she said over her shoulder to Melissa.  “Take your time.”
         Outside the morning air felt thick and still.  Maria followed Heather and Jean to the garage where they found a dozen folding chairs piled up in a corner.  Removing two at a time, the three women made short work of bringing them out to the front of the
house.  While Jean began setting up the chairs and wiping them down, Maria and Heather returned to the garage and began carrying out three card tables.  Melissa came out in time to help finish setting up the tables and wipe them down.
         By the time they had finished, Maria noticed a light film of perspiration covering her body.  She looked at Jean who had visible beads of sweat perched upon her brow.  Maria wondered how she could stand to wear jeans in such stifling conditions.
         “Okay,” Jean sighed.  “Now we need to set up the tent.”  She opened the trunk of the car and struggled with a large box.  Melissa rushed over to assist and the two managed to gently lower the large box to the ground. 
         “God, Jean!” Melissa exclaimed.  “How the hell did you get this into the trunk by yourself?”
         “I know a few tricks,” Jean replied with a wink and a smile.
         Jean then assumed the role of foreman and instructed the young ladies in erecting the tent.  It was far larger than Maria expected, but was cleverly designed so the actual assembly was straightforward and simple.  Before long they had the tent set up and staked down off to the side of the driveway next to the house with all of the tables and chairs arranged underneath its shelter from the relentless sun.  Maria was ready to sit for several minutes, but before she did she helped to remove the three coolers from Jean’s car.  Maria and Heather set two of them at one end of the tent while Melissa and Jean walked the third, which was filled with hot dogs, brats and hamburger patties, around the house to the back patio by the fire pit.  One cooler was filled with an assortment of water, iced tea and soda and the other was filled with an assortment of beer and wine coolers.
         Maria removed two bottles of water and handed one to Heather.  The two young ladies sat at a table and sipped at their bottles.  They sat in silence for several moments.  Maria thought the whole production was crazy.  After all, this was all just to remove the dandelions from the yard.  Then she remembered it was more than that, it was a way of
uniting people who had been caught up in this fight between Sonny and the Mayor.  Even considering that, Maria was convinced if she were not actually taking part in this she would never believe it would actually happen.  She knew Heather was thinking the same thing as they looked at one another and began giggling.
         Jean returned from the patio and stepped under the shade of the tent.  She also took a bottle of water from the cooler.  After taking a couple of mouthfuls, she stepped next to the girls and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.
         “Melissa should be out here in a few minutes,” Jean informed them.  “She’s starting the fire.  I was glad she volunteered for that.  I wouldn’t want to be grilling in the sun today.”
         Heather pulled out a chair inviting Jean to sit.  Jean, rather surprisingly, plopped down with in the chair ungraciously with a groan.  “Oh, I’m getting too old to be moving around like this at this hour of the day.”
         “Maybe we could go for a swim when we’re done,” Maria suggested.
         “I’m in,” Heather replied quickly.
         “That is an excellent idea,” Jean concurred.
         Melissa walked out of the front door of the house.  She had already given up to the heat and changed into a blue bikini top and beige short.  She wore a Packers baseball cap with her hair pony tailed out the hole by the adjustment tab on the back.  She held a bottle of sunscreen in one hand and a bottle of water in the other as her sandaled feet carried her over to the table.
         “I was wondering how long you would last in those jeans,” Heather teased.
         Melissa set her water bottle on the table and began to rub the lotion on her exposed skin.  “Well, I figured I could change, now that I know I won’t be toiling in the field.”  The faint scent of coconut permeated the air as she worked the lotion over her legs.  Then she held the bottle out to Maria.  “Would you get my back please?”
         “Sure,” Maria replied.  Melissa stood upright facing the drive as Maria gently applied a layer of sunscreen to the warm pink skin of Melissa’s back.  As she smoothed the lotion out the aroma carried Maria to vague memories of happy childhood times.  She teetered on the brink of melancholy as she searched for clarification of what exact memories and emotion that particular aroma of coconut oil aroused in her. 
         “Oh my gosh!” Melissa exclaimed in pure shock.  “Look at what’s coming up the driveway!”
         The other three ladies looked to see a long string of pick up trucks, minivans and
cars making their way up the road and into the driveway.  Maria was stunned to see so many vehicles.  A large silver pick up truck led the way.  It towed two riding lawnmowers in a trailer and carried a third in the truck bed.  In fact, many of the vehicles had trailers which carried riding lawnmowers.  The silver truck slowed to a stop in front of the tent.  Wayne Neffets, who sat behind the steering wheel smiled and waved.  Jean waved back as she got up from her chair and walked around to the driver’s side window.  The girls could see Neffets talking, making hand gestures as he spoke with Jean.  After a few moments of conversation Jean got into her car and led the procession up the drive to the garage. 
         The girls remained in awe-struck silence as the bizarre parade slowly passed before them.  After the last car passed by the tent to assume it’s parking space Heather was the first to utter any words.  “Good God! How many do you think there are?”
         “Twenty-two,” Maria replied.  “I counted.  I also counted twelve riding lawn mowers.”
         “How many people do you think came?” Melissa asked.
         “A lot,” Maria stated frankly.
         The three young ladies looked at one another and simultaneously burst into an uncomfortable laughter.
         Jean returned to the tent with Wayne.  He smiled warmly at them; his blue eyes sparkled with mischief.  “Hey dere girls, how’s by you?”
         The three smiled back and nervously returned his greeting.
         Jean stepped up on a chair as a crowd began to gather around the tent.  A low murmur filled with good-natured energy rustled through the growing crowd.  There were people of all ages there, children through grandparents.  And they all assumed roles from different walks of life.  Their political views ranged from liberal to conservative.  But on this day none of that made any difference.  They all gathered together in good will with the artists to achieve a common goal.
         “People, people!” Jean spoke loudly as the last few stragglers filed into the back of the crowd.  “May I have your attention for a moment please?”  A hush fell over the crowd as Jean’s eyes scanned the audience.  “Okay, I think I know all of you here.  First
of all, for those of you who don’t know them or have not seen them before, I want to introduce you to Maria, Melissa and Heather.”  Jean pointed them out as she spoke. 
         A rush of self-consciousness washed over Maria as she could feel all eyes of the townsfolk on her and her friends.  She smiled nervously as she could feel her ears warming with embarrassment, yet she managed to wave to the on looking crowd.
         “On their behalf,” Jean continued, “I would like to thank you all for coming out today to help.  This will mean a lot for all of us in the end.  Please introduce yourselves to them when you have the opportunity.  Aside from that, make yourselves at home.  There is beer, wine, water and soda in the coolers.  And we’ll have hot dogs, brats and hamburgers ready a little later.  Oh, if you need the bathroom….”  Jean looked at the girls.
         “Far end of the hall,” Heather spoke loudly.
         “Right,” Jean repeated.  “Far end of the hall.
         Melissa’s eyes widened and she looked at Maria and Heather with a panicked expression.  Then without saying a word she ran around the back of the house.  Maria and Heather looked at one another in confusion as Jean continued.
         “Otherwise just have fun today.  And I think that’s all I have to say about that.  Second, anyone who brought a lawnmower please meet Wayne back by his truck.  He will be the foreman in charge of the actual cutting and removal of weeds and debris.  The rest of you can wait here with me and we’ll break into groups with specific assignments.”  Jean thought for a moment and then looked at Wayne.  “I haven’t forgotten anything have I?” she asked.  Neffets shrugged and shook his head.  Jean looked back out at the crowd.  “Are there any questions?”
         “Yeah,” a robust voice emanated from the crowd.  “Where did you say the beer was?”
         Jean smiled at the question as soft, reserved chuckling trickled through the crowd.  She waited atop the chair for another moment.  No other questions were raised so she stepped down off the chair.  Neffets walked through the crowd toward his truck as people began to disperse.
         “Okay,” Jean said to Maria and Heather.  “It won’t be too long now and we’ll
have everything underway.  You two stay here for a minute, I’ll be right back.”
         Maria and Heather watched silently as Jean worked her way through the crowd to another woman who, to Maria, appeared to be about Jean’s age.
         “What’d I miss?” Melissa asked as she returned.
         “Nothing really,” Heather replied.  “Where did you go?”
         “I had to go hide the bong that was sitting out in the living room and make sure all the bedroom doors were shut.  I hope I didn’t miss hiding anything incriminating.
         “Oh my God,” Maria gasped.  “I didn’t even think about that.”
         “Yeah, good thinking, Melissa.  We don’t have enough weed to share with everyone,” Heather joked.
         Jean returned to the girls with the woman she was talking with.  “Girls, I’d like you to meet Leanne Bancroft.  We’ve known one another for longer than we care to admit.”
         Leanne was tall and thin with blue eyes and permed gray hair.  Though the years had etched lines at the corners of her eyes and along her forehead, she bubbled with an essence of youthful energy.
         “Nice to meet you,” Leanne said with a genuine smile of affection.  “Jean’s talked quite a bit about you.”
         The three girls returned the greeting.
         “Heather and Maria,” Jean began.  “I would like for the two of you to go with Leanne.  I need the three of you to organize a group of about a dozen or so people to bag the cuttings.  Wayne is going to have a couple of lawnmowers with landscape rakes on the back following the others as they cut.  They are going to pile the cuttings along the drive here.”  Jean pointed to the area Neffets had previously shown her when he explained his plan.
         “Six girls from our local Brownie troop are here so we already have half the hands we’re looking for,” Leanne said.
         Maria had no idea what Leanne was talking about and looked to Melissa with a puzzled expression.
“Pre-pubescent girl scouts,” Melissa informed her.
         “We also have a couple of members from the local 4-H club here today,” Jean added.  “I was going to have them work with you in preparing the food, Melissa.”
         “Yeah, sure,” Melissa replied.  “Where are they at?”
         Jean scanned the thinning crowd for a moment and then pointed.  “Do you see that man with the green John Deere cap?”  She looked at Melissa who nodded.  “That’s Stan Gundersen.  Those three kids with him are the ones that will be helping you today.”
         Melissa looked again and saw two teenaged boys and a teenaged girl standing and chatting next to the man Jean had pointed out.  One of the boys was a stout blonde fellow with a crew cut.  The boy next to him was remarkably tall, lanky and chinless.  The girl
had shoulder length blonde hair and was meaty with surprisingly large breasts.  Melissa could tell just by looking at her, though the girl was not fat, she was a girl who struggled with weight.
         Melissa turned to Maria and Heather.  “Well,” she shrugged, “have fun today.”
         Maria watched as Melissa made her way through the crowd over to the small group and introduced herself.  Maria knew Melissa would have her hands full that day as the two teenaged boys could not take their eyes off her.  She had their full attention as she chatted briefly with them, drawing laughter and smiles.  After several moments of conversation she led the three teenagers around the back to the fire pit.
         Maria noticed the crowd had thinned out quite a bit.  There were about a dozen people left and half of them were young girls.  Maria estimated them to be ten to twelve years of age.  She also noticed how well behaved they were as they stood in a small group waiting quietly.
         Jean’s friend, Leanne, called the girls over.  The group of girls obediently made their way to her.
         “Girls,” Leanne began.  “This is Maria and Heather, the young ladies we are here to help today.”
         Reserved greetings spontaneously came from the group of girls. 
         “Hello,” Maria replied with a smile at the cute innocence and apparent bashfulness of the girls. 
         “Thank you for coming to help us,” Heather added.
         “Oh, it’s our pleasure,” Leanne replied for the girls.  “You have no idea how many of us were happy to hear someone was actually doing something to put an end to all this nonsense.  The town is just becoming unraveled under the Mayor’s direction.”  She looked at Jean with a glint of anger in her eyes.  “And I can’t wait to see the look on his face once he learns we’re picketing his café.”
         “Well, we couldn’t have pulled it off without Jean,” Maria said as she gently rubbed her palm across Jean’s damp back.
         “Okay, okay,” Jean said seemingly irritated by the praise.  “We haven’t done anything yet.  Let’s get this thing started.”  She started toward the last of the folks gathered together.  “Okay everyone,” Jean instructed.  “Follow me.”
         Maria and Heather walked along with Leanne and her group of girls.  The remaining people fell in behind them as they followed Jean to a minivan parked a little way up the drive.  She opened the back of the van revealing it contained a large number of rakes, a bucket full of work gloves and boxes of large black garbage bags.
         “Everyone take a rake and a pair of gloves,” Jean shouted so all could hear.  The hum of a couple of lawnmowers started causing Jean to yell louder.  “Once you have a rake, meet me over by the tent.”
         The noise of the lawnmowers grew to crescendo as Neffets led a group of six men, each on his own riding mower, past the group of people taking rakes and gloves from the back of the van.  The piercing racket of the lawnmowers forced Maria to cover her ears as they passed.  Then the familiar smell of burning oil followed in the wake of the mowers as they rode single file past the tent and stopped.  As Maria and Heather walked back toward the tent a second group of six lawnmowers equipped with large rake attachments passed by.
         “It’s so loud,” Maria grimaced and shouted to Heather.  “I hope it’s not like this all day.”
         “Don’t worry,” Heather shouted back.  “I don’t think we’ll be near it too often.”
         The second group of mowers lined up single file behind the first and shut down just the same.  As Maria and Heather returned to the shade of the tent they saw Neffets and another man talking with Jean.  Maria watched in wonder as Jean dropped her          
shoulders and rolled her eyes.  A moment later she grinned and shook her head as Neffets and the other man hurried back toward the parked vehicles.
         “What’s going on Jean?” Heather asked.
         “Oh, he’s just nuts,” Jean replied.  Her eyes sparkled as she grinned.  “He’s absolutely nuts.”
         “Why?  What’s going on?” Maria asked.
         “You’ll see,” Jean said maintaining mystery as she shook her head in disbelief.  “This is just too much.”
         Maria could not imagine what Neffets had planned.  And she did not particularly like not being let in on what was going on.  But, she took a deep breath and relinquished any ill feeling, knowing that Jean had only refrained from telling her to maintain effect of the pending surprise.
         A short while later Neffets appeared standing in the back of a pick up as it slowly backed up toward the tent.  Once the truck had eased along side the row of lawnmowers, Neffets pushed a monstrously large black amplifier to the gate of the truck’s bed.  The townsfolk gathered under the tent and watched with amusement as Neffets jumped out of the truck and opened the gate.  He then hurried off to the garage laying down a thick orange extension cord as he went.  Neffets’ friend got out of the driver’s seat of the truck and climbed into the back where he plugged in some device to the amplifier.
         “Okay, try it out,” Neffets instructed the man in the truck who flipped on the power switch.  A loud thump echoed through the amplifier as energy surged through it.  The searing whine of feedback began to build until the man in the truck adjusted a couple of knobs silencing the amplifier.
         Neffets hopped up on the truck bed to address the small crowd.  “Alright, I’m gonna lead my group in one direction, Jerry is gonna lead the other group in the opposite direction.  After we cut, his group will carry the cuttings up to the edge of the driveway so youse guys can bag it all up.  We’ll start down at the far end of the driveway.”  He stood for a few seconds looking out at his audience and then climbed out of the truck.  He hurried over to his lawnmower and started it up.  The loud, menacing noise of the machines filled the air as they buzzed in unison.  Neffets turned back toward the man in
the truck and gave him a hand signal.  Then he put the mower in gear and started down drive to the far corner of the yard.  The other men in his group followed on their mowers in single file.
         The group of people followed with rakes in hand and watched as Neffets led his squadron into the overgrown yard.  They maintained a fanned out and staggered formation so each mower slightly overlapped the one in front.  Jerry’s group also turned into the field in the same formation keeping their rakes raised until they were in position to scrape up the cuttings.
         Maria and Heather walked along side Jean.  Just as the mowers were turning into the yard to begin cutting, Maria recognized the beginning of Wagner’s “The Flight of the Valkeries” blasting in deafening volume from the amplifier back in the truck by the tent.
         Maria’s jaw dropped and she shot Heather a bewildered look.  She slowed to a stop by the edge of the drive.  There she stood for several moments watching in disbelief as the squadrons of lawnmowers maintained staggered formations and cut into the field leaving a large swath of cut weeds in their wake.  With the music blaring in the background it gave Maria a particular sense of surrealism.  It seemed so incredibly odd to her that someone would pick this particular piece of music as the theme song for such an activity.  Still, she found a certain humor to it as well and began to laugh as she hurried to catch up with Jean and Heather.
         The group gathered at the far end of the drive and watched as the six mowers with rakes trailing behind them deposited the cuttings, one at a time, leaving a long pile for the group to start bagging.  Jean handed out bags to people and together they pitched in helping one another, neighbor helping neighbor, to remove the burden that had collectively come between them.
         Maria noticed Jean squatting down by two little girls so she was at their eye level.  Though Maria could not hear what Jean was saying, Maria could tell Jean was giving them specific instructions.  When Jean finished speaking, the two girls nodded.  Jean then handed each of them a large clear plastic bag and the girls began sifting through the piles of cuttings pulling out only the yellow flowers of the dandelions and dropped them into the bags.
“You have to watch out for the June bugs,” a child’s voice resonated beside
Maria. 
         Maria stopped picking up the cuttings and looked to her right to see a skinny little girl next to her.  She wore her blonde hair in pigtails and her thick lenses of her glasses made her blue eyes appear larger than they were, as if she were looking through a fish bowl.  There was a certain ease and innocence about the girl’s character that Maria felt instantly comfortable with.
         “I’m sorry,” Maria said as she leaned down toward the girl.  “What did you say?”
         “You have to watch out for the June bugs,” the girl repeated.
         “Why?  They won’t bite will they?”  There was a bit of genuine concern in this question.
         “No!”  The girl giggled.  “But if we’re not careful we could put them in the plastic bag and then they’ll die ‘cause they won’t be able to get any air.”
         Maria could not help but smile at the genuine concern etched across the girls face.  “Okay,” Maria promised the girl.  “I’ll do my best to make sure I don’t put any bugs in the bags.”  Maria straightened up.  “What is your name?”
         “Carrie,” the girl squinted through her thick glasses.
         “It’s nice to meet you Carrie.  I’m Maria.”
         “I know.  I saw you with the other girls.  You live here.”
         “That’s right,” Maria grinned broadly.
         “Why do you want to cut down all of your yard?” the girl asked if she sifted through a handful of cuttings before dropping them in the bag.  “I think it’s pretty and it has lots of good homes for bugs and animals.”
         “I know,” Maria countered, “but think of it like this….  You know how there are some people who don’t take care of their hair and it gets all wild and out of control?”  The girl paid full attention to Maria and nodded.  “Well when that happens a person needs to get a haircut.  That is really all we are doing is giving the yard a much needed haircut.”
         The girl shrugged and went back to inspecting the cuttings.  “I like long hair better,” she replied.          
Maria could not help but chuckle as she picked up a handful of cuttings and hap-
hazardly inspected them for bugs before dropping them in the bag.