Back at it

I have some time in the mornings. I still wake up at 3:30 and have to wait for the sun to rise to feed the horses then get to working on the property. sooo.....

CHAPTER ONE



THE VISITOR




Jack, Barbara, John, Debra, Felipe and Ben were enjoying the sunset over margaritas under the palapa in Paamul when Felipe nodded toward the door. A man dressed in black slacks, a black blazer over a black t shirt had just walked in, “Kind of warm here for that attire, don’t you think?” he asked.
They turned to look as the man scanned the tables. When he saw them, he opened his blazer discreetly showing that he wasn’t armed. Still, he had an unsettling look about him. His black hair was slicked back and his moustache was very thin. But it was his eyes that set him apart, they were cruel with the cold reptilian look of a snake. He approached the table, “May I have a word with you outside?” he asked Felipe.
Felipe studied him for a moment, “Whatever you have to say, you can say here in front of my friends.” as he slid a chair away for the man to sit.
“Just as well, as it does involve all of you.” he said as he looked around the table. Debra took an instant dislike to him and her expression showed it. He sat in the chair and leaned it back on it’s back legs looking around the table, “I have been sent with a message. I work for a very powerful man in Bolivia, we will just call him Mr. Genaro for now. Escobedo used to work for Mr. Genaro, as you know he is dead at your hand now.” he stared flatly at Felipe.
“Yes, and it was a well deserved killing.” Felipe replied lighting a thin cigar blowing a cloud of blue smoke up which the wind quickly swept away.
“Escobedo made quite a bit of money for Mr. Genaro in his export business, money that is now gone.” the man continued.
“Bullshit.” Felipe said, “Any money that Escobedo made for this man you call Genaro was through dealing drugs. He was only an exporter of death and suffering.”
“Not my concern or business.” the man said with a wave of his hand, “As I said, I was sent to deliver a message. Escobedo personally and consistently made three million dollars a week for Mr. Genaro, income that is now gone because of you and your friends.” he looked from face to face, “Mr. Genaro wants, no, demands that this income be replaced. He expects three million dollars a week to be deposited in this bank account. You may pay by the month or year if that is more convenient.” He reached into his shirt pocket and slid a piece of paper to Felipe with an account number on it.
Felipe laughed, he took the paper and picked up his lighter. He lit the paper on fire, then dropped it to the sand at his feet.
The man looked into his eyes, “Genaro is not a patient man, what is your reply to his wishes?”
“Tell Genaro that he can kiss my ass.” Felipe said, blowing smoke in the man’s face.

Let me get a few days ahead of you. I'll post up when I have nough for you to begin to read it. You are too kind JW.

WTH? I've got a few minutes...

“Tell Genaro that he can kiss my ass.” Felipe said, blowing smoke in the man’s face.
"He will not like that answer, are you sure this is the reply that you want to send?" the man asked.
"What, do you think this is a game show? I didn't get your name." Felipe replied.
"You can call me Victor, I am Genaro's only son."
Ben looked at him, "I'll call you dumbass for even approaching us with this."
Victor's eyes slid to the huge, black former Navy SEAL, then back to Felipe, "I had heard that you like animals, but you let your monkey sit at the table with you?"
Quick as a cobra strike, Ben's hand shot across the table grabbing Victor's windpipe squeezing it shut. He struggled trying to break the iron grip but he may as well have been fighting steel. Without a word, Ben held two fingers out to Felipe who placed the cigar in Ben's fingers. Ben then ground the glowing hot tip out on the man's forehead, right between his eyes while he screamed. Ben released him and flipped the cigar away, "Tell your father the next time that I see you he will be minus a son. In fact, if you are not gone by the time I finish my drink, I'll kill you here and now." Ben took a long drink out of the half empty glass, staring at him over the rim.
"I'd leave now if I were you, Ben always keeps his word." Felipe said.
The man rubbed his forehead, "You will all be killed, starting with the women." He stared at Barbara, then Debra who deftly shot him the finger. Victor took one last look around the table, then rose and left.
Barbara watched him leave, then looked at Felipe, "What do we do now?"
"We finish our drinks and order another." He waved the waiter over, "Another round please, and one for the house, send my apologies to them for having to witness this spectacle."
"I mean what do we do about him and his father?" Barbara continued.
"Oh, him. I'll put a few feelers out, relax." Felipe smiled.
"Put a few feelers out? Relax? You say that too much." she said looking into his eyes.
"And you worry too much. I hear that the baboon sanctuary has new babies, the females will be in heat again. The males asses will be all red and swollen, want to go tomorrow?"
"I'm in." Debra said, "As I said before, I haven't seen a big, red ass since we first moved here, John doesn't sunburn anymore." she smiled at John who smiled back and kissed her.
"I don't believe you people." Barbara said, looking around the table. Ben's huge order of fried oysters had arrived and he smiled at the steaming tray. He looked up to see Debra and Felipe eyeballing his plate, "If you will excuse me please." he said smiling, moving to the next table.

Yahoo, Bullfrog is back in the saddle. (in more ways than one). Keep up the good work on both fronts, so happy to see you writing again. Loved the interview on the news. Hope things keep going your way. Merry Christmas to you and Miss Vicki. And my most sincere wishes for a Happy, Healthy New Year, filled with much love.

The morning sun broke over the clear, blue waters of the Caribbean. Felipe looked out of the kitchen window to see a Frigate bird gliding on the morning breeze. He poured a cup of coffee and walked out onto the veranda. Ben was seated at the table blindfolded. He slapped the timer to his side then began to quickly disassemble a nine millimeter automatic pistol. He removed the slide and bushing then quickly cleaned and reassembled the gun again slapping the timer. He turned toward Felipe smiling, “How did I do?”
“Too slow, do it again.” Felipe smiled, “Where is Zack?”
“Today is the annual kite competition in Playa Del Carmen, he is harassing the competitors like he always does.” Ben said, sliding the blindfold up onto his forehead, “Are you going there?”
“Yes, want to go?”
“No, I promised Carmen and Sophia that I would take them to the zoo. Ben said.
“See you later, have fun.” Felipe said. He walked to the garage and got into his jeep then drove to the beach at Playa Del Carmen. A large crowd was gathered on the beach for this event. People spent months constructing colorful kites out of thin wooden sticks and lightweight paper. The rich, as usual, had others make their kites out of the finest materials while the poor labored long hours making theirs on their own. A line of people stood on the sand flying their kites doing stunts with them.
A man in a white leisure suit stood while a young boy launched his kite and got it to altitude. Felipe saw Zack sitting with his laptop at a table facing the beach and walked over, “Which one is yours?” he asked.
“The black one with no strings, I have a remote control system integrated into this laptop. I’m waiting for the asshole to take control of his kite. I have razor blades glued in the ends of the sticks.” he smiled at Felipe.
Felipe looked up to see a sleek black kite in the shape of a bat hovering almost motionless in the breeze, above and slightly behind the others. Satisfied that the kite was high enough, the man in the white suit took the controls and began doing large loops, making his kite swoop and rise as the crowd applauded. Zack finger the controls then took the joystick, “Here goes.”
The black, bat shaped kite made a quick dive then turned sideways as it slid past the other man’s kite. A large slice appeared across the paper in a diagonal cut. The paper flapped as the kite began to loose wind and control. The man looked at the bat kite for the string to find the owner. He saw no strings so he quickly scanned the crowd. When he looked back up, the kite was making another dive. He tried to avoid it but he was too slow. Another diagonal cut appeared and the paper flapped in four separate sections. The kite was losing altitude quickly as he tried to recover. Zack made his kite loop once more, expertly cutting the stings with the razors attached to the cross member. The kite flew away, then spiraled down far into the water.
Zack turned to Felipe smiling, “It’s not fair to the kids that the rich assholes try to win the competition when they work so hard on theirs.”
“I’m glad that you are having fun. Can you tap into the video of the palapa from yesterday evening?
“Sure, just a second.” Zack’s fingers flew over the keyboard and the image of the dining area came into view.
“Fast forward to around six thirty.” Felipe said, studying the screen.
Zack did so, then paused. A man in black was sitting at the table with them, “Zoom in on his face.”
Zack entered a few commands and the screen was filled with the man’s face in amazing clarity, “He says his name is Victor Genaro, obviously a fake name, but run him through Bolivia’s database and find out who he is.”
“No problem, I’ll link into the mainframe at home, it will be faster. Then I can get back to flying my kite.”
Felipe looked up to see the bat kite hovering motionless in the breeze, “Have fun.” he smiled, then turned and walked away.

I'll let you know, I have to finish the other mobile for our new tenants. The sewer line is in, I just have about 10 feet of line to fit into the septic tank with a little glue and a few fittings. Then I gradually fill the tank with water, fill in the dirt around it, put the top on and it's done. I have the breaker box for outside and the wire is hooked to the inside breaker and ran through PVC conduit to the pole. I have to complete running the wire and PVC to the box, wire up the two legs and grounds and that is done. I'll have to go to Woodville to get the meter can and then they can come inspect it and put in the pole at the street. I should be able to finish the sewer and electricity today, minus the meter can.

Then I can get back to writing.

Busy is right, I've really been at this since Rex died September 21, it has been non stop, every day, all day. But, it is almost all done now. One day soon all I will have to do is ride my horse when she gets finished eating.

Everything takes longer than I think. I had to drive to Woodville to get the electric meter can. I just bought a new Thompson 50 caliber muzzle loader and can't wait to shoot it, so I went to a gun shop there. They didn't have loose powder, but they had the premeasured pellets that some people use so I got that and some primers just to sight it in. They didn't have the bullets, I have to go to the liquor store today so I'll get them in Beaumont.

I wanted a scope so I went to Walmart. My wife complains that the Walmarts are different up here in the country, everything is in a different place than she is used to. I really had to pee so I hurried to the back of the store, no bathroom. I couldn't take the merchandise in the bathroom in the front so I checked out, then hurried to the bathroom. I went in and didn't even close the stall, men don't worry about such things. I finished and stepped out of the stall.

A little old lady stepped out of the next stall, she looked at me and her eyes got big. I said, "Excuse me, is this the ladies room?" She said, "Yes! And you better hurry up and get out of here!"

I got back home and wired up the breaker box but needed one more fitting for the meter can so I went to work attaching the septic line. When my friend buried the septic line with the backhoe, he smoothed it over with the blade pushing the earth nice and flat. What he didn't see was where it goes under the wooden fence to the septic tank, it was now jacked up at an angle from the weight of the backhoe so I had to dig out from under it. Got that done and now the septic tank is too deep. I have to get it out of the hole and fill under it some to raise it as shit doesn't flow uphill, except in my case.

Oh well, almost done.

Well at least I hope you put the toilet seat back down Life's embarrassing moments eh...

Reminds me of the time the fetching Mrs. Mikey sent me on an errand to the Post Office to pick up some Breast Cancer Awareness stamps. I walk up to a rather attractive female postal employee, who just happens to be well endowed, and I say, "I need 50 Breast Awareness stamps." A moment of silence passes as we stand there looking at each other before I suddenly blurt out, "Cancer! Breast CANCER Awareness stamps."

I thought embarrassing moments like this were supposed to be in the past. Will they never end?

That is rich Mikey, breast awareness is a good cause also. I took a short break yesterday morning after feeding the horses and before I started working. i took my post hole diggers into the woods near Mill Creek right down the road. I dug a hole about two feet deep then filled it with deer corn. I put a small layer of dirt on it, then sprinkled chaffehay (fermented hay with molasses) on top then topped it off with Hog Wild, a wild boar attractant. It smells like blueberries. This morning, at first light, I'll stalk very quietly back there with my crossbow. I doubt they have found it yet as the corn needs to ferment before it gives off an odor. I'll bring a bucket and bail water out of the creek to pour down the hole. But... if there is evidence that they were there, I'll wait in a rough blind that I found and try to stick a pig this morning before I get back at it.

Did you get the wild Pig yet? I bet they're real tasty.
Mmmmmm BACON

Actually they are better than domestic pork. One, they are leaner and two, you control the meat, it's not mass produced and rushed to market. When you kill one, you really want to pick a medium to smaller size, sow or boar, it doesn't really matter. A lot of guys want to shoot the biggest one, which is alright, but the younger ones in the one hundred pound range are usually better eating. You clean, skin and quarter it, remove the tenderloins and back strap, then put it in a cooler with the drain open and cover it with ice. You let it age for 4-5 days replacing the ice. This breaks down the meat and makes it tender.

You can then debone the hams and cook them whole or slice them into chops. Or you can just take the whole pig to a processor who will make sausage, bacon and chops out of it, it's still a lot cheaper than buying it.

I have checked the bait every morning, I smoothed the dirt over that came out of the hole to record the tracks and the coons have found it, but no hogs yet. I got my wife to buy me some yeast so I'll wet and ferment a five gallon bucket of it starting today. I'll also explore the other side of the creek looking for more sign like a wallow or tracks. I'll be able to see and hear my old bait hole from there. Sooner or later, they will find my bait and they will come back regularly.

People just don't realize how bad the feral hog problem is unless they hunt. They are prolific breeders and farmers can lose a hundred or more acres a night to a large herd rooting up their fields. Farmers who once forbade hunters on their land are now asking them to come and help them. Check out this herd....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urY33QxtDWQ&feature=player_embedded

LOL, maybe that's it JW. I saw where someone had cleaned two deer yesterday, the skeletons were there and some hide and forelegs. There is game here, I'm sure they didn't take those deer out there just to clean. But they were probably outlaw hunters using spotlights at night. There are so many hundreds of acres of timber here, there is just a lot of room for them to roam. It may take weeks for them to find the bait but I won't give up. I'll keep adding fermented corn to the spot, eventually they will find it.