8-Small Legacies

8

Small Legacies

The shower was absolutely splendid.  Eisenhower had found a large mass shower room and it, of course, like the rest of the rig, mysteriously worked.  The hot water seemed to rejuvenate Ein’s mind.  As he showered, he began to think about his dream and everything else that plagued him as of late.

The dream was the first.  He didn’t have any problems with figuring out what it meant since George Orwell’s Animal Farm was one of his favorite books.  It had been, since he had discovered it in Mr. Thomas’ third period social studies class when he was sixteen. The dream itself represented his standard loathing for the current American system of government.  Ein already knew this though, and he felt that the dream had been trying to tell him something.

Ein put this current problem aside and decided to move on to the problem of the mercenary locked in the briefing room.  It had been a day, so far, and Ein knew he would have to go down there soon to feed him.  He would have paid anything to not have to do this.

Very secretly, Eisenhower feared Cazador.  The machete wielding, Mexican haunted every shadow and dark corner.  Ein was afraid that if he went down there to feed him, he would find Cazador escaped and then he would spend the rest of his life wondering when the machete was going to come.

People had been treating him like a hero, but in all honesty, he had been scared half to death.  The blow he had struck to Cazador’s head had been out of desperation and instinct, nothing more.

He had almost killed a man out of fear.

His rubbed his face trying to shake that image out of his head when he heard Kim’s voice calling his name.  He raised an eyebrow and turned, seeing the handle to the door move.  Ein opened his mouth to yell something, but it was too late.

The door swung open.  “Ein are you in- OH MY GOD!”

Ein made a quick and painful chirping noise and panicked, spinning around to find something to cover himself but there was nothing.  Kim pulled backward and, as if taking cover in a gunfight, shielded herself from the naked Ein.

 “I’m so sorry Ein, I just wanted to show you something I found.  I didn’t mean to ...uh... you know.”  Kim sputtered, embarrassed.

“Well…  At least now you know where the shower is.”  Ein said, followed by an awkward chuckle.

“Yeah, that’s true.”  Kim laughed too hard, adding to the feeling of unease.

A silence followed.

“Kim?”  Ein asked from inside the room.

“Still here.” She said, still sounding out of place.

“Can you… um… er…. h-h-h-hand me my shorts?”

“Oh,” Kim flushed red and looked down to see them on the ground.  “Sure.”

****

The Doctor slowly awoke.  For the first couple of seconds, he fought to remember where he was, how he had gotten there and what had happened the night before.  This is a common occurrence when you drink too much.  The Doctor then looked to his right and saw a tangled mess of blonde hair attached to a woman.  He wasn’t sure if it was Tiffany or Candy.  He had a hard time telling them apart.  He then looked the other way and saw another naked woman, the brunette, Sandy.  The three of them were all lying on his double sized air mattress, cramped under one blanket.

The Doctor then lifted the blanket and looked down.

He was naked.

Double whammy.

He grinned and got out of bed, buck naked.  He had to pee.  He stumbled into the metal hallway trying to find the bathroom.  The one thing he hated most about the rig so far was that all the rooms and hallways looked the same.  It was impossible to remember what was where.  After a couple of minutes of wandering, his waste problem was becoming a crisis.

Finally, he gave up on the bathroom and moved to the stairs, descending a couple of levels until he came out through one of the walkways above the ocean, below the actual structure.  He took a deep breath and smiled at the smell of the ocean breeze.  It was time to give back.

The Doctor took position and began to urinate over the railing, a sigh of relief escaping his mouth.  While peeing, he whistled, slowly recalling the momentous events of the previous night.  He even remembered getting that little nerd, Ein, wasted… and hadn’t he left with Eggroll?

“Maybe I got the little guy laid, that would be a hell of a thing, eh?” He said to himself.

It was then he noticed the boat.

It was a junky little thing, like a PT boat from Nam or something; big enough for maybe half a dozen people and some cargo.

“Huh, that’s strange.”  He said to himself, as he finished peeing.

He then turned to head back to the stairs.

He stopped, suddenly, because the barrel of a large assault rifle pointed at his head.  Behind the gun was a scary looking Mexican wearing aviator sunglasses and desert camouflage.

The Mexican motioned for him to follow, and The Doctor nodded, desperately.

Slowly, he followed the Mexican up the stairs and into the hallway inside the structure. Although now there was a whole group of militants.  Ten of them total, including the one with the gun on The Doctor.  All of them could have been clones of the first, with the machine gun in Chad’s face.

All but one.

In the center of the hall was another Mexican, a half smoked cigar coming out of his mouth.  Instead of a machine gun, he had a side-arm pistol in a fast draw holster around his waist.  He was dressed like Castro.  His head was shaved, and he had a full, but not overgrown, beard.

The Doctor, however, would remember him for the eye patch.

 The scar of a deep face wound began on his forehead and moved south over his eye and ended on his cheek.

This man looked at the naked American medical student.  “English?”

The Doctor nodded.

“This is good,” the General said, then he continued.  “So, at first when I realized there are people on my rig, I think that someone has found my cargo hold.  That a rival group or maybe the Americans, and this worries me.”

The Doctor listened as the General monologued.  “Then, I see a naked gringo stumble down the hall and take a piss off the side of the rig and I know now, none of these things have happened.”

The Doctor shook his head back and forth.  “So, my friend, the question I have to ask is this; who are you, and what are you doing on my rig?”

The Doctor swallowed, nervously.

****

Thankfully, they had moved off the subject of Eisenhower’s nudity.  Instead, Ein had started to tell her about the dream he had the night before.  He couldn’t, for the life of himself, figure out why he was babbling about this to a woman he had just met.  He had envisioned telling Harriet about it first.  She would have known what to tell him.

“… So, then I see the chipmunks on the island and they are happy and I wake up.”  Ein finished.

Kim took it all in, then replied.  “Well, that is interesting.”

“I- I- I look crazy now.” Ein said, feeling his confidence slip.

Kim shook her head.  “Not at all, I think the dream is cool.  Very George Orwell.”

Ein’s eye’s brightened.  She knew Orwell!  “Animal Farm!  That’s what I said.”

“Actually, I was just thinking about what I found.  It’s spooky how it fits in with your dream.”  Kim said, as they reached a door on what seemed to be the top floor.

“So what is this discovery?”  Ein asked, genuinely interested.

Kim smiled.  “See for yourself.”

She opened the door and walked through.  Ein followed into what seemed to be the executive quarters.  It had its own bedroom, a small kitchen and an office nook.  It could have been a good one-bedroom apartment.  It was easily nicer than anywhere Ein had ever lived.

“Wow, the power of money, huh?” Ein said as he looked around.  He thought it was funny that the guy who probably did the least work on the rig had the nicest room.

“It was your dads when he was on the rig.”  Kim said suddenly, and Ein turned.

“Really?  How do you know that?”  He asked, suddenly understanding that it was a simple connection, seeing as though his father was an executive.

“Take a look at this.”  In the center of the main room, there was a couch and a small coffee table.  On it, sat a large remote control.

Kim picked up the control and pressed a button.  The large flat screen mounted on the far wall clicked on.

Sitting in a big cushioned chair sat Harrison Holster, his face almost yellow from the kidney failure that would eventually kill him.  He looked sickly and full of sadness.  The man looked at the camera.

“Eisenhower, I can only assume you have found your way to your inheritance and are watching this DVD, which will be my last recorded… words.”  The ghost spoke slowly, obviously weak from his condition.

Ein’s face dropped and he slowly sat on the couch, his legs unable to support him.  Kim sat down next to him, pausing the recording.

“I stopped it here,” she said softly.  “I knew this next part was for you.”

“Press play,” Ein said softly.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yeah, but please, stay.”  Ein said this, not quite understanding why he wanted her there.  Maybe he just didn’t want to do this alone.

She nodded and he felt relieved.  She calmly pressed play and the recording continued.

The ghost of father’s past continued his haunting last words.  “I will be brief, as I don’t have much time.  I know you are probably full of emotion’s right now.  Rage.  Hate. Confusion.  You must wonder where I was all your life.  Honestly, I regret not being there for you, but I am not made to be a father.  Your mother and I were very different people.  Instead, I agreed to send money and support as long as she sent me pictures and updates.”

The old man began to tear up.  “I have watched you your entire life and I couldn’t be more proud.  Obviously, you choose a different life then mine.  Yours is a harder path and I have respected you for that.  I also see your hatred for the system through the various protests and marches you organized and, although I don’t understand the rebellion, not fully anyway, I respect it.”

He began a coughing fit.  It lasted for several minutes and Ein didn’t think he was going to be able to finish.

Harrison Holster brought it together.  “This Oil rig sits in international waters.  I give it to you as a sanctuary from the things that hurt you; from a river with which you refuse to swim along .  This rig is my last legacy and the only thing a failed old man can offer a son that has exceeded him.  Goodbye, Eisenhower Mills.  It was my honor and pleasure to know you.”

The DVD switched off.

Tears rolled down Ein’s cheeks.

TO BE CONTINUED…