Chapter Six

Nova lay sleeping in the bed when Rey walked up to her and rubbed her belly. She woke up looking startled at him.

“Good morning beautiful. I’m about to head over to Clyde’s” He said softly.

“Ok baby be careful” She said puckering up for a kiss with her eyes still closed.

“I should be back home before you. I love you. Have a good day.” He said exiting the bedroom.

He heard a sleepy “I love you” come from the bed room when he made it about halfway down the hall.

“Be a good girl Darbs I’ll be back ok. I love you.” Rey said before opening the carport door.

Wearing a long sleeve shirt was a good idea. It was a little chilly out. He would have to be careful, the deer might be moving this morning.

He grabbed the handle of his new truck.

Nova made him buy a new one after his old one started having issues. Rey didn’t want to of course because he could have fixed it, but she was right. The problems with the old Chevy were getting more frequent.

The carport light bouncing off the windshield of his dad’s old Toyota caught his attention.

It had been awhile since he had driven it and the drive out to Clyde’s would be a good trip for it.

The 1985 Toyota xtra cab had been restored by his dad when Rey was still a kid. Rey drove the truck through high school. Other than the new sound system, the truck hadn’t been changed.

The time on the radio read 4:15. He would surprise Clyde by getting there before the sun came up.

Rey had no doubt Clyde would be awake. He would be sitting on his porch drinking coffee.

The truck was doing good as Rey shifted through the gears. He didn’t expect any different.

Before he came up to the only red light in New Augusta, he decided he would grab him some breakfast from Taters.

They started cooking breakfast around three if Rey remembered it right. Taters breakfast was good but the nostalgia was what made him stop.

Rey and Nova would eat their breakfast a lot. Mostly when they were coming from parties, heading back to Nova’s mom’s house.

Their biscuits and gravy tasted the same as it did back then.

The food brought back a particular memory of Nova. She drank very rarely, even when they were young.

Nova decided to tie one on shortly after they had started dating. Everything was going ok that night. Every one was having fun. After getting a little tipsy she spotted a group of their friends passing a joint around.

With the alcohol affecting her thoughts, she decided that she might like hit of that there dooby.

Soon after partaking, she came to regret her decision.

Rey half carried half drug Nova to the bathroom, so she could hug the porcelain throne. That wasn’t before she had fertilized the grass with her previous meal though.

It seemed like they were in that bathroom for weeks. Rey had to tell every bathroom visitor she was ok, no they already had water, no she doesn’t need any fucking milk, and no you can’t just pee real quick.

Rey looked like a weirdo, sitting alone with a shit eating grin, at the table. He couldn’t help it, thinking of Nova, barely awake, messily eating her breakfast in his dad’s old truck.

The snake on his finger made him frown. Would Tater’s survive or would it be destroyed along with everything else that held fond memories?

He needed to end that train of thought, no sense in getting bogged down.

“You still got feet, keep em moving!” Rey’s dad would say. He could still hear his voice.

Rey threw his plate away, got back in his truck, and started driving to Greene county. He kept moving.

He turned into Clyde’s drive way. The narrow, steep uphill passage was difficult for Rey when he first started driving.

“You’ll where out you’re clutch if you keep on riding it.” His mom would say.

He had to slam on the brakes as soon as he crested the hill.

Standing just a few feet in front of the headlights was the biggest buck Rey had ever seen.

It’s back was near even with the hood. The truck a lift on it, to fit the 33’s.

The deer had to be some kind of record. This wasn’t the Mississippi Delta. Deer didn’t have as much to eat this far south.

They could get big, but not Illinois, or Iowa big.

He felt the same feeling coming from the deer as he had with Bay.

Did the gods choose animals as their champions? After a couple seconds he thought that would make sense. If there were deer gods, then there would be deer champions.

It may not be a deer god, it could be The Buck God, The God of Hooved Creatures, The Creator of The Horny Ones.

He laughed a little to himself and thought “I’m an idiot, I wonder if it’ll let me touch it.”

Slowly opening his door, he got out of the truck. Touching any wild deer is never a good idea he knew, but what can you do.

Maybe magnificent Deer Champion would be nicer.

Now standing in front of the truck too, Rey could see that the top of the buck’s head was even with his.

The large antlers towered over Rey coming to a symmetrical ten points.

“Hey buddy. Can I pet you?” He said as he approached it holding out his hand palm up.

Vines twisted around the deer’s antlers from the base to each tip. Rey could tell that was the god’s mark.

He reached with the hand without the mark, not knowing if they would interact being that close together.

The deer started to sniff Rey’s fingers, but a car coming down the road back fired causing Rey to turn toward the noise.

When he looked back the only thing he saw was the swaying leaves of the nearby adolescent trees.

Rey was amazed. The deer exited so fast that the dust from the driveway still hadn’t settled and it didn’t make a sound.

He squatted down and ran his fingers over the hoof prints.

The flash from his phone lit up the ground. Clyde would want to see this. Of course he wouldn’t mention anything about god’s, when he told him.

Clyde was sitting on his front porch when Rey pulled up, but he didn’t smell any coffee.

“Morning.” Rey said. “ Where’s your coffee at?”

“It’s in there. It should be done. Go ahead and pour you a cup and while your in there get me one too.” Clyde said.

To anyone else he would have sounded like a tired, grumpy old man. To Rey he sounded like Clyde, because he had been tired, grumpy, and old Rey’s whole life.

Rey liked to imagine him as a child acting the same.

Clyde may be a grumpy, but he was a good man. He helped Rey’s mom after his dad had died.

He taught Rey how to weld and run machine shop. Many of the customers Rey got in beginning was because of Clyde.

Rey owed the man and Clyde was getting old. He didn’t think he had much time to pay him back.

“Maybe magic will extend people’s lives.” Rey thought as poured the sugar into creamer filled brew.

“Here's your morning desert.” Rey handed the coffee to Clyde.

“I got to start my mornings off sweet or I’ll be bitter all day.” Clyde said

“I guess you been drinking it black since I’ve known.”

Clyde let out a hmph while taking a sip.

“What you been up to?” Rey asked.

“Nothing really. I wanted to clean up around the pond but I hit that damn stump with the bush hog again.”

“Are the catfish going to be big enough to eat this year?”

“They was big enough last year. Your mama took some home. You could have too. All you have to do is catch them and get them cleaned up.”

“I know, I know.” Rey walked right into it.

Trying to change the subject Rey said. “You ready to learn how us youngsters are designing parts nowadays?”

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

“Hell, I already got blue prints. There ain’t nothing to design.”

“I’m still going to show you and you can’t get out of it.”

Clyde wanted to learn about 3d scanners, and Rey knew it. Just like he knew that Clyde drew up them blue prints because he was bored.

Every time Rey had to fix something or make him something for him, Clyde would have it all planned out by the time he got there.

Rey didn’t know if it was Clyde’s aged body that kept him from executing his plan or if he just wanted to see Rey, but it didn’t matter.

They talked until the sun came up.

“I’m going to pull the truck around to the shop. I don’t feel like carrying all that stuff out there.” Rey said.

“Quit being lazy, back in”

Rey cut him off saying. “Back in my day we carried stuff up hill both ways in the snow.”

Clyde just shook his head in dissappointment.

Rey looked at the bent and broken bush hog then set up his computer for the scanner.

“Is it showing up?” Rey asked.

He didn’t receive a reply Clyde’s attention glued to the screen. On the computer a 3d model of the bush hog started to appear.

“Boy if had this when I was getting started nothing could have slowed me down.” Clyde said.

“It’s pretty cool ain’t it?”

It made Rey happy seeing the spark of creativity in the man’s eyes again.

Rey soon finished with the bush hog and started scanning the area around the seat of the tractor.

Clyde turned to see what Rey was doing when he saw the seat start appear on the computer screen.

“What are you doing up there?” Clyde said.

“I had an idea for a cup holder, so I need to scan this whole area. What side do you want it on?”

“Put it on the right side. If it’s made out of metal it’s going to scuff up all my cups.”

“I know, don’t worry. I’ll print out a soft plastic sleeve for your sensitive cups.” Rey said

Rey finished and got all of his stuff loaded back into the truck.

“You hungry? It should be chicken day down at Clarice’s” Clyde said.

“Does a bear shit in the woods” Rey replied.

They took separate vehicles to the small diner. It had been someones house at one time, but Rey wasn’t around then.

The hostess waited in the area that was once a foyer. She couldn’t have been older than fourteen. The clothes she wore were her own. The only thing that had any type of business name was the white and blue striped apron with Mama’s Kitchen embroidered on the front.

“Hey Mr. Clyde you come to get some chicken?” The hostess greated him with a smile.

“Yeah bring me two plates with some potatoes, black eyed peas, and some corn bread. We’ll be over there by the window.” Clyde said.

He didn’t have to point at the window he was talking about, she knew.

“Sounds good. I’ll be right back with it.” She said.

“This place hasn’t changed one bit has it?” Rey said.

“Why should it? You know anywhere with better food?” Clyde said.

“Touche”

It wasn’t long before the hostess, who doubled as a waitress, brought the food to the table.

“Hey June do you mind bringing us some mayonnaise please mam?”

“Yes sir. Let me go find you some.” June said.

They both started eating. The food had to have came straight from heaven.

That's something Rey would have to put on a list to ask Leeb about.

1. Is heaven a thing?

Rey for a moment thought Clyde started to look younger, he quickly blamed it on the euphoria he was experiencing from the food.

June dropped off the mayo and started back to kitchen.

“Thank you sweetie is your daddy cooking?” Clyde said.

“Yes sir he is.”

“Well tell him I said he really out did himself again.”

“Ok I will.” She said and scurried off to the kitchen.

“That’s Darrell’s little girl?” Rey said baffled.

“Sure is. She’s growing like a weed ain’t she.”

“Dang that makes me feel old.”

“Speaking of getting old. I went to my lawyer the other day. Well not ‘my’ lawyer, because she retired.” Rey’s mom had been Clyde’s lawyer. “I got a new a lawyer and had him draw me up a will.”

The new topic of conversation made Rey feel uncomfortable. He wouldn’t shy away from it.

“I’m leaving everything to you Rey. It ain’t much, but I don’t have anyone else to give it to. Not anyone worth a damn anyhow.” Clyde said.

He was referring to his sister’s kids and grand kids. Most of them got hooked on that Perry County slim fist, AKA crystal meth.

“Thank you. My future kids need to know their Papa Clyde. So, you’re not going to die on me no time soon.”

Clyde being the stubborn old man he was didn’t want to burden Rey with the news he received from the doctor.

Keep him comfortable for the next four to six months, was the doctor’s recommendation.

“Well let’s go, you got some stuff to build and my garden want water itself.” Clyde said.

Speaking to Clyde, through his passenger door window, Rey said “I’ll go get them planned and built then probably be back out here tomorrow evening.”

“Alright be careful heading back. Just holler at me before you ride back out here.” Clyde said.

“Ten-four. I’ll see you later.”

Rey was back on the road when he remembered the deer.

Damn it, he could be so forgetful sometimes. How could he forget to tell Clyde about that.

Pulling up to the shop that occupied a special place in Rey’s heart, he really needed to fix the sign.

The falling sign read “Walker’s Fabrication”.

He sat down at his computer and after a couple hours the parts were ready to be made.

The satisfying cutting process of the plasma table was complete. He would then take the cut pieces to the press brake and bend them.

After he had the metal parts made, he got the 3d printer started and decided to just come back tomorrow morning when it was done.

He cut the old truck off and summoned the status screen. He had to do something, anything. Maybe now was a good time to test out a theory.

It was only three o’clock. He had some time before he had to go coach.

Rey walked inside his house, breathing hard. He had just run his daily two miles and his endurance didn’t feel any different. If he understood how vitality worked then he shouldn’t feel any different, at the moment.

He came up with a test to see if his healing/recovery speed increased, without actually harming himself. Self harm was a last resort for curiousity’s sake.

He walked to the small shed in his back yard that housed his exercise equipment. It was nothing special just the essentials.

“Free wights reign supreme!” Rey’s dad use to say.

Rey inherited his dad’s passion for free weights. The complicated machines had there place of coarse, but if you’re not a body builder or injured you couldn’t beat a barbell.

After loading the barbell with a plate on each side. He had a total of 135 pounds sitting on his back. That was his normal warm up for lower day. Today wasn’t going to be a normal lower day though.

It was time test his recovery.

He warmed up with a set of 135 ten times.

Then 185 ten times.

205 ten times.

225 ten times.

285 eight times.

315 six times.

After that he did 315 to failure for two more sets. He knew it was excessive, but that was that was the point. And he wasn’t done yet.

After a few sets of heavy deads he moved on to single leg RDLs and some sissy squats. That should be enough to do some damage.

If his recovery had improved, Great! If not, there would be pain in his future.

Rey’s phone rang, spelled in big letters at the top of the screen, Nova.

“Heeeyyy beautiful.” Rey said

“Hey babe what do you want for supper?” Nova said.

That question was one of the hardest questions anyone, that was in a relationship would have to answer.

“Want me to lay out some steaks?” Rey asked.

“Yeah that sounds good. What you want to eat with them?” She said.

“Uhh French fries and a salad”

“Ok I need to go to the store for that, do we have the stuff to make some ranch?”

“Yeah I think so baby. Let me go check real quick I just walked out of the shed.”

“Come on Darbs let’s go inside. You hungry? Darbs want something to eat?” She heard Rey say.

Rey’s legs were shaking like a baby learning to walk as he made his way inside. His legs hadn’t been worked like that since he was a teenager. It wasn’t until he matured that he learned that you didn’t have to kill yourself in a work out to make progress.

“Yeah we got the stuff.” He said after closing the fridge.

“Ok baby. How’s your head?”

“It’s ok, just a little sore.” He said rubbing his head all over. He realized he couldn’t find where he had hit it. It wasn’t even a little sore, so he accidentally lied to her.

“Do we have any bottled water at the house?”

“Sure do. Why are you going to start drinking water?”

Nova never drank water. She mainly drank sweet tea.

“Yeah I need to cut down on the sugar. My pants are starting to get too tight.” She said

“Don’t worry about that babe you’re perfect. I’m about to get a shower and get ready to go to the gym.”

“Ok I love you.”

“Love you too.” He replied

Rey stepped into the shower. The realization occurred to him then that training that evening would be hell with jello legs.

After getting home from work, Nova and Rey talked about their day.

Rey left out the part with the deer and Clyde’s will. They would talk about it after he got back from the gym.

He would have to watch the clock in the gym to make sure he wasn’t sparring when it got seven o’clock.

Of coarse he wasn’t one hundred percent sure Leeb would show up. Sure he had other signs, his teeth, Bay and the deer, but he was still skeptical.

Dressed with stinky gym bag in hand, Rey on his way out the door, gave Nova a kiss and reached down to scratch Darbie’s nearly white head.

“I love you” He said to Nova and to Dabie he said.“Be a good girl Darbs I’ll be back later.” As she watched him walk out the door.

He could hear the familiar sounds of chains rattling and shins striking the leather of the bags.

“Rey!!” Someone yelled before Rey could make it five feet into the big red building.

A very large man charged at Rey, wrapped him a hug, and squeezed.

“John put me down.” Rey wheezed out.

“What we going over today coach” John said.

John was the gym’s heavyweight professional fighter. He just won the championship belt from one of the smaller promotions.

“I don’t know what I’m going to go over today, but I know you are going to tell Derrick that your foot work needs serious help.”

Derrick owned the gym and he was the one who coached the fighters.

Rey coached the people who wasn’t quite good enough to fight yet and filled in for Derrick when he wasn’t there

“Derrick isn’t here yet.” John said.

Rey looked up at the clock and it was five minuted till six.

“Alright. Gather everybody and get them ready to warm up.” Rey said.

John nodded and walked away.

Rey sat his bag down, checked to make sure his cup was situated, and joined the group of people jogging around the perimeter of the mat.

His legs felt a little unstable still tired from the workout earlier.

Done warming up, the class of about thirty people, circled Rey.

Rey gestered for John to join him in the middle of the circle.

“Today” Rey looked around at the surrounding men and women. “Were working on footwork, staying in striking range, and not getting stuck with your back against the cage”.

Rey showed them the drills he wanted done and they did them. He roamed around the class, who were now in pairs, and corrected them if he saw them making mistakes.

He stopped by John and said “If you would have been moving like that the other night. You would have finished him in the first round and not the third.”

“Pat’s way faster! So I have to move faster with him.” Pat was the guy John was paired with.

Rey and Pat were around the same size. When Rey was fighting him and Pat fought in the welterweight division.

“You see the problem here John? What about you Pat you see what’s wrong with what he just said.”

John appeared to be thinking of what Rey was referring too.

“You shouldn’t fight at your opponents pace.” Pat said.

“Bingo! YOU set the pace”. Rey said to John . Rey then turned and said to the entire class. “If you control the pace, you control the fight!”

The buzzer went off soon after that, signaling the end of the drill.

Rey looked at the clock again. A quarter till seven he had time to do a couple rounds of sparring.

He sparred a round with one of the new guys and gave him a couple things to work on when they were done.

Derrick and Connor came walking in when Rey was done with his sparring partner.

“Better late than never I reckon.” Rey said to the pair.

“I had to work late. I been real busy with work. That’s why didn’t train any last week.” Connor said.

“Our big ole bull decided he needed some time with the heifers and tore down two fences getting to them.” Derrick said.

Connor looked preppy, but he definitely wasn’t. Being the owner and operator of a pest control business could get nasty real quick.

With a bald head, beard, and wide build Derrick could go as Kratos for Halloween easily. That didn’t mean he was any shorter than Rey and Connor, because he wasn’t.

“Want to get warmed up and go for a quick spar?” Rey said to Connor.

“Yeah let me change clothes real quick.” Connor said.

Connor came out of the bathroom dressed and ready to spar.

“Nobody’s in the cage wanna go in there?” Connor asked.

“Alright. You want to warm up first?” Rey said

“No we can just start out real light and ramp it up from there.”

“Sounds like a plan. Just stand up?”

“Yeah we ain’t fighting anymore and I don’t want to get slammed onto my back.” Connor said.

“Amen sister.”

BEEEEP The buzzer sounded the beginning of the five minute round.

Rey and Connor started off real easy. Two best friends slowly throwing punches and kicks barely touching each other, at first. Connor stuck Rey in the liver with a quick hook.

The hook hurt just enough for Rey to turn it up a little. He was able to sneak a punch right over the top of Connor’s guard and catch him in his left eye.

The spar continued like that until the end of the round, but the buzzer didn’t alert them, because Derrick turned it off.

Derrick was using Rey and Connor’s spar to teach some of the new guys.

Rey didn’t see the clock strike seven and unlike last time he didn’t get the warning headache.

Leeb stood in front of Rey in the white nothingness holding up a dinner plate.

“What is this Rey?” Leeb sounded tired.