Fiction: Completely fiction. My universe my rules.
One of those stories that fits no category neatly.
Covid does not exist in my world
I had to move high school graduation back two weeks to before Memorial Day. Yes, I know they go to very early June in this area in WV. In my world. They go to the Friday before the weekend or May 18 like they do in many other states.
'Deliverance' is a 1972 Film featuring stereotyped hillbillies (More than that. Read the wiki if you care)
Exurban = very far out suburbs of very large cities.
Rambo = Tough guy from a movie from the 1980s.
Shotgun
Friday, May 25, 2018
I was driving on US Rt. 52 Northwest of Bluefield, West Virginia on my way back home which is north of Middletown, New York. Coming up on Coalton, two of my tires blew out; metal scrap on the road, no doubt. Normally I did not travel, but Ted, our field manager was off on a two-week vacation, so I had to go. I had been to a coaling facility in a town called Hemlock to field measure and take pictures of an upcoming installation of a new bulk conveyor to load trucks from an older coal mine just north of the town. Yes, some of the mines are still open... SOME.
It's truly a different world from my home in exurban New York City. The poverty is stark and hundreds of homes along the route sit abandoned and in various states of decay. Middletown is not a rich town... except compared to the area I was in.
'Fortunately', I was a half mile from a gas station and I pulled in. I walked inside and there was a man and a woman fighting and yelling at each other inside and a young woman sitting on a couch looking frightened. It took them ten seconds to even notice me.
He was yelling at the woman, "She ain't my daughter. She's eighteen now and graduated from high school. YOU figure out what to do with..."
The man interrupted himself, looked at me sullenly, and asked rudely, "What?"
I said, "Something killed both my driver's side tires and I need two."
He looked at me and asked, "You're not from around here are you?"
I shook my head and said, "I'm from near Middletown, New York."
He looked at my car, a 2015 Camry XSE, and said, "Nice car. What do you do?"
I said, "I'm a project engineer."
He asked, "You have a degree?"
I nodded and said, "A Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering. Why?"
He asked, "You like fishing?"
I thought, "WHAT?!? FISHING?!?"
The man looked at the woman.
I said, "Yeah... I..."
*******
I woke up three hours later on that couch.
The man looked at me and simply said, "You are marrying Kelsey."
I shook my head. The back of my head hurt. I felt a bump.
I asked, "What happened?"
The man just smirked and said, "You fell."
I thought about arguing since it felt like someone hit me on the back of my head, then realized, "Wait! What?"
The man lifted his shirt a few inches. I saw two things. A nasty fat hairy belly and a gun.
He looked at me and said, "I texted your mom and dad using your phone. You said that you were waiting on tires because two blew out and were staying until they came in. The local fishing was good so you were going to make a weekend of it. Here is how this is going to work. In ten minutes, we are going to that church right over there where my cousin is the pastor. I went to the courthouse and picked up a marriage license for you. Good thing I know someone there. You are getting the short version service and you will say 'I do.'
I asked, "And what if I don't"
He said, "Did you know people can disappear here? Happens a fair amount of the time. Drug crime and all."
He never made the direct threat, but the implication was crystal clear.
Five minutes later, I was at the front of the church. Two minutes later the young woman from the couch was standing next to me. Three minutes after that, the pastor who looked like everything you remember from 'Deliverance' gave the short short version of the wedding vows.
"Do you, Andrew Abrams take Kelsey to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer for poorer, until death do you part?"
I could feel the gun guy behind me.
I said, "I do."