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Taking Chances, by E. L. Van Hine and L.H. Nicoll
louisev:
all very good points too, Natali.
I am working on the next chapter, the aftermath, and sitting all alooooone in chat!
souxi:
--- Quote from: opinionista on November 04, 2006, 01:45:28 pm ---SPOILERS
I think Ennis is reacting to a series of events that have been happening to him since he set a foot in Laramie, especially the kidnapping. In chapter 56 Ellery realizes the following:
To this we have to add the confrontation with Bunny and Julia, and especially the trauma he experienced after being taken by his own father to see the corpse of a dead gay rancher. IMO, Larry Esteban is lucky to be alive.
--- End quote ---
Yep very well put there. What your saying is, that in effect, Ennis has been a big powder keg for years, with all this pent up rage just waiting to be unleashed. Unfortunatly, this kid semed to bear the brunt of it. Your right, he is VERY lucky to be alive. But how to keep that rage under control? How to channel it? Yelling at him, will IMHO only make matters worse. He,ll end up loosing his rag again, which is the last thing anyone needs..then Ellery will fly into a rage and before you know it they,ll be punching each other. :o :o :o Cue good old Wes. Maybe he can talk to him. He always seems to know the right thing to say, bless him. I like Wes.
Bigheart:
Louise ~ I still can't get into LJ ~ ARRRGGHHHH ~ I managed to very briefly but can't anymore >:( so can you put the latest chapter up here as well?
Has everyone else been able to access LJ and leave comments??
souxi:
--- Quote from: Bigheart on November 04, 2006, 02:23:38 pm ---Louise ~ I still can't get into LJ ~ ARRRGGHHHH ~ I managed to very briefly but can't anymore >:( so can you put the latest chapter up here as well?
Has everyone else been able to access LJ and leave comments??
--- End quote ---
Nope. :'( :'( :'(
louisev:
I was just about to do this - since it appears LJ is going up AND down.
Chapter 73: The Hands of the Law
(Saturday, October 21, 1984)
Ennis stepped over the broken glass in the kitchen, and gave Ellery a quizzical look. “What should I do with em?”
“Set em down on the sofa I think. Let’s try ta get em ta come around, I got smellin salts in the medicine chest. I hope ya didn’t break somethin...” Ellery said, trying not to limp as he went into the bathroom. Ennis dropped the unconscious Esteban onto the sofa with a disgusted sound, standing over him as though to punch him again if he dared stir. Ennis was still enraged.
Ellery went in the bedroom and put on his shoulder holster, securing the pistol in it. In the bathroom, he took an ice pack out of the medicine chest at the same time as the tube of smelling salts, and brought it to the freezer in the kitchen and set it inside. To his dismay, he saw there were no other ice packs already cold. Then he returned to the living room and sank down next to the unconscious youth, looking up at Ennis. “Ya got ta promise me ya ain’t gonna hit em no more.”
“If he calls me that again –“
“Ya ignore em. Please, Ennis. You got socked in the eye once an ended up with a concussion. I don’t want em hurt anymore.”
Ennis paced, seething. “What’s all the tender feelins for em for? I should a just kept on –“
Ellery shook his head. “Esteban was closer ta me than Joe was, Ennis. He was my best friend in the Department. My partner. Do ya get it? Not only this –“
“What?” Ennis was not calming down any time soon, judging from the hostile tone of his voice.
“This kid works for Mel. He’s his clerk.”
“What?”
“He works for Mel Ruskin. You might not a seen em that day, an I didn’t recognize em neither, cause it’s been a few years since I last saw em. I got ta call Wes an talk to em about this.”
“Ya just got ta call 911 an have em locked up!”
“Not so fast, Ennis.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because it’s complicated is why not. Now before I wake em up – tell me you ain’t gonna hit em anymore,” Ellery gave Ennis a hard look, and Ennis glared back for a long moment before dropping his eyes.
“Okay.”
“You promise.”
“I promise!” he snarled, and turned on his heel, stalking into the bedroom.
Ellery dug his fingers into his back, stretching experimentally, then unscrewed the cap on the tube in his hand and held it under Esteban’s nostrils, waving it slowly under them. “Please don’t be in a coma, boy.”
Esteban groaned, his lashes fluttering, and Ellery kept the tube under his nose until he took a deep breath through his mouth and coughed, gagged, and tried to sit up, pushing Ellery’s hand away. “No – stop!” he said. Ellery put the cap on the tube and set it down.
“You okay?” Ellery asked, glancing at the hallway to see if Ennis was returning.
“Head... hurts.”
“If you have any brains left in yer head you want taunt him no more. I can’t hold em back. Ya got that? I got somethin ta gag ya with if ya gonna be a fool. I’d rather stick a pair a socks in yer mouth than see you take another one to the face.”
“I won’t.”
“Ya better not. That was fuckin dumb.”
“What a you care? You didn’t care none about my Daddy.”
“Yer Daddy was transferred ta Cheyenne by the Sheriff an that had nothin ta do with me, Larry. An if yer a law clerk ya ought ta know that. I wasn’t a Chief Deputy back then an I didn’t make personnel decisions. Now I’m gonna call my boss an he’s gonna come down here an we’re gonna have a little talk about what ta do about you.”
“Why don’t ya just drag me off ta jail? That’s what ya want. Vandalism, trespassin...”
“Don’t push me. We can still do that. But right now I want ya ta sit up, I’ll bring ya a cloth ta clean up an we’ll find out if ya got any serious damage, an then talk to the sheriff an bring ya ta get looked after.”
Lorenzo Esteban looked at Ellery curiously. “You ain’t lockin me up?”
“Not this minute. An don’t get off that sofa or I’ll put you in handcuffs.”
“Yes sir,” Esteban mumbled.
Ellery got up and went to the phone, this time, his hip faltering on him, and he limped, then lowered himself painfully into the recliner as he lifted the receiver. Edna answered on the second ring.
“Edna is Wes there? I got a situation here an I need em.”
“Yeah he is, just finishin his eggs. Here ya go.”
He looked back at Esteban, who was watching him closely through hooded lids, the bruises on his face swelling. He needed ice on them – and there was no ice, not for either of them.
“This is the Sheriff,” came Wes’s gruff voice.
“Hi Wes. We caught one of our vandals just now, an Ennis whaled on em pretty bad, but he doesn’t seem like he’s got nothin broken.”
“Good. Nobody’ll hold Ennis to account on that if he was caught there at yer house.”
“In the woods, but that’s where he chased em from. It ain’t that simple, Wes. It’s Esteban’s kid.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“This ain’t random, Sheriff. It’s personal.”
“The one who works for Mel...”
“Yeah. I didn’t recognize em before, I guess you knew all along.”
“Happy ta see one a Esteban’s family doin good for a change, I helped em get in there.”
“I need ya ta come down, Wes. I don’t think we should just – I think...”
“I understand,” Wes said. “Good thinkin. I’ll be right over.”
“You know how ta get in touch with his daddy?”
“Yeah. I’ll call em before I get there. Half an hour, Ellery. Put em in cuffs, that might discourage Ennis from hittin em any more.”
“Okay.”
“An read em his rights in any case. I don’t know how Esteban’ll feel about your man beatin his kid up, no matter what he was doin, so we might have ta do some lawyerin stuff.”
“Right. Sort a figured.”
“See ya soon.”
Ellery set down the phone. “The Sheriff is comin. You sit there an I’ll bring ya a washcloth so ya can get clean up a bit. An I got ta put ya in handcuffs.”
“So I am under arrest.”
“Yup, for now. Don’t run.”
“I don’t think I can stand,” he replied sullenly.
“Good.” Ellery smiled grimly, and then went in the bedroom to get his police cuffs. Ennis was sitting on the end of the bed, elbows on his knees.
“He wake up?”
“Yup. Fortunately.” Ellery picked up his handcuffs. “Wes is comin over.”
“How come you ain’t just bookin em into jail?”
“We’ll talk about this later.” Ellery put his hand on the doorknob, pausing.
“He done a crime, Ellery. That is a fuckin crime what he done!”
“And our patio door is smashed ta bits. Can you maybe call that Tony guy who came over before an see if he can replace it? Otherwise we are gonna need a big fuckin piece a plywood.”
“Fuck,” Ennis said.
Ellery ran water in the bathroom sink and wet a washcloth when it got hot, grabbed a small towel and brought it back to the living room. Esteban had not tried to move, but was running his fingers gingerly over his face and skull, probing the bruises gently. Ellery handed him the washcloth and towel. “Side a yer face is bleedin on the left.”
“Yeah. Thanks.” Esteban looked at the handcuffs in Ellery’s right hand, then began to wipe the blood off his ear and cheek with the cloth, his breath hissing.
“I got ta give you your rights,” Ellery said tiredly, sitting back down in the recliner with a stiff motion. “You are under arrest for trespassin an vandalism. You got the right ta remain silent....”
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