The Canes

Epilogue

CHAPTER ONE

Who Am I?

As I began to wake up, I could tell my body was cold and aching from the cold. I couldn’t move and was barely able to get my eyes open when I heard a man’s voice talking to someone. The first complete sentence I heard: It won’t take long, honey, then I’ve got to take my lunch break. Then I heard what sounded like someone cutting into a bone with a drill—or even a saw. Now, that didn’t take long, did it, honey? Who was this honey he was talking to, and why wasn’t she answering him? Then I heard him shuffling things around. I’ll be back in an hour or so, don’t you go anywhere, honey. The lights went dim, and I heard the door lock as he left.

When I finally got my arms to move, I uncovered my face and noticed I was completely naked, with only a sheet covering me. I was lying on a metal table. I suddenly realized I didn’t know who or where I was. How did I get here, and where did I come from? I decided to think about that later. I knew I had to get up and get warm, so I could think better.

When I turned my head to the right, I noticed several medical instruments on the table: drills, scalpels, saws, and a white apron hanging on a rack. Surprisingly, to my left was a naked lady lying on her back. She was slim and had a perfect pair of legs: long, slender, and firm. As I worked my way up her naked body, I saw the prettiest set of breasts—round, high, supple—and a gorgeous face—delicate, with soft white skin; but the top of her scalp had been sawed off and was lying behind the rest of her head. What the hell have I gotten myself into? I thought. Thank goodness no one else was around just then.

After a few minutes, I was able to swing my legs off the table and sit up. My head was pounding to the rhythm of my heartbeat, and when I tried to stand I was so dizzy I had to hold onto the table. When I looked down, I noticed I had a white tag on my right toe, so I knelt down and pulled it off. I was so cold and weak, I could hardly stand back up.

I wrapped the sheet around me the best I could and decided the lady didn’t need her sheet anymore, so I laid my toe tag over her neatly shaved vagina and took the sheet. In doing so, I accidentally tore her toe tag off.

As I walked, I could see a lighted Exit sign, so I headed for it. While walking, I thought to myself, Who am I? And who was that beautiful woman? As I was approaching the door, I heard someone unlocking the other door. Just as the other door opened, I turned and saw a man enter with a mop and bucket. Thank goodness it wasn’t the other man, because I think the top of my head would have been sawed off next. What kind of place had I just escaped from?

I saw another Exit sign, so I headed that way. It led outside, and I could feel the warm air on my skin as I walked into the sunshine. I must be on a loading dock, I thought, because there is a truck backed up to it, and no one else is around. I walked down the steps off the dock and could hear traffic up ahead. I knew I had to get as far from here as possible—but how? I thought about asking the truck driver for a ride, but with nothing except sheets on, decided against it. It was a big double-cab truck with no one in it, yet the engine was running, so I tried to open the passenger door, only to find it locked. I did see that the driver’s side door was open, and thought, What the hell have I got to lose? then climbed in. Thankfully no one saw me. Water bottles, canned food, and crackers littered the passenger seat, so I looked in the back for a place to hide. There was what looked like a bed with clothes all over it and trash all over the floor, so I decided to hide there. I cleared some trash, lay back, and put some of the clothes over my legs. I had started to doze off into my own little world when I heard the door close.

I’ll let you know how I did my next trip, a man said, getting into the driver’s seat. The engine roared and the truck began moving…but to where?

With the hum of the truck, the CB blaring, and country music playing on the radio, it wasn’t long before I fell into a deep sleep. Occasionally, when the trucker talked on the CB or when he threw his empty water bottles in the back, I would wake up. Some time had passed, how much I wasn’t sure, when I heard the door open.

Fill both tanks, the trucker said, and I’ll be back in thirty minutes or so.

Maybe this was my chance to get out and make my escape. I raised myself up to look out the window, only to see what looked like a huge truck stop sitting in the middle of nowhere, with people all around going to and from trucks. I decided to take my chances and stay hidden in the cab.

By this time, I could see the trucker’s water and food in the front seat and figured he wouldn’t miss a bottle of water and some Vienna sausages. Then again, I was starving and extremely thirsty, so I took two of each. I figured if I needed to pee, there was plenty of empty water bottles lying around. I just hoped I didn’t need to shit—not that he would notice, because of his continuous horrible-smelling farting.

Before long the trucker was back, and it was the same routine all over again: CB, music, eating, drinking, farting. By this time, day had turned to night. I got myself comfortable and was off to sleep again.

I awoke to the sound of the truck’s engine slowing down. Then the truck turned abruptly and stopped before starting to back up. I felt the truck hit something and stop. The driver got out, and I rose up to see a lot of cars going up and down the highway. In the mirror, I could see the driver walking up a ramp.

I wrapped one sheet around me the best I could and carried the other sheet in my arms. As I was getting out, I grabbed two more bottles of water and two cans of sausage. The pavement was hot on my feet and the highway was too busy to cross. I saw some bushes behind the building we had backed up to, but this meant I had to pass the loading dock. I decided to take the chance, and as I went past the docks, I heard a man telling the driver his boss had called and wanted him to check for an extra body. I had no clue what he was talking about, so I kept on walking and decided to hide in the bushes until nightfall. There wasn’t much room between the bushes and the building, so I broke some twigs and cleared a place to lie down. I spread out my sheet and went to sleep.

The noise of the highway woke me up; shortly after that I heard a big crash. I could tell by the sound of the voices that someone had been injured; apparently, they had crashed into the back of a truck. The truck driver had already gotten out and was walking back to the scene of the accident, cussing at the top of his lungs. I recognized the voice and saw the truck driver I had spent so much time with. I thought about what he had told that other man before we first left and thought he could tell him his trip hadn’t gone so well. I couldn’t worry about that right now though, I had to think about what I was going to do. I decided to eat some sausages and have some water and wait there until dark before coming out of hiding. Besides, I really needed the food to get back some energy.

I woke up to water splashing me. I looked out to see water sprinklers. I grabbed my two empty water bottles and got soaked again when I tried to fill them up. I put my hands over the sprinkler to stop the spray from soaking me even more. I drank out of my cupped hands until I had my fill, then began filling my water bottles. Being soaked with the light breeze blowing over me felt pretty good.

The traffic had slowed, and I could tell it was nighttime, although all the lights on the businesses made it hard to say for sure. I crawled back into the bushes to grab my second sheet and the last can of sausage then began to head out. I hoped I wouldn’t draw too much attention, wearing nothing but a sheet.

I walked for what seemed like a couple of miles through what looked like one continuous strip mall. People didn’t seem to pay much attention to me, and I was thankful. My feet were really beginning to ache when I noticed a convenience store and gas station across the highway. It was busy, a ton of people coming in and going out, and watching people leave with food made me realize how hungry I was. I decided to cross the highway, hoping that people had tossed some food in the trash can standing by the corner of the store. I was halfway across the road when a car full of young people drove by me laughing and calling me names. I could have lived with that as long as they had kept going. But they stopped. A big guy got out of the car and started coming toward me. Come on, Carl, a girl called from the car, he’s not worth getting in trouble for! The big guy stopped then returned to the car. They sped off.

When I finally made it to the garbage can, I saw several crumpled bags—and one of the bags looked like it might have something worthwhile in it. I quickly grabbed the bag, and it felt pretty heavy, so I walked around to side of the building and opened it up….

A half-eaten hamburger….and fries!

I was so excited, I felt like a kid who had just opened a birthday present and found exactly what he had asked for. At that moment, I couldn’t have enjoyed anything more than I did that half hamburger and fries. I gobbled it down and enjoyed every single bite. When I finished, I decided this was a good place to stay, if only I could find some place to sleep. I saw a couple of Dumpsters behind the store with some bushes off to the side and a rock wall behind them. I made my way over to the bushes, hoping I could stay there for at least tonight.

There wasn’t much light, but to my surprise it looked like someone had been there before me and had already cleared out a nice place. I spread out my extra sheet, sat down, and began to rub my feet. I could feel the blisters on my two big toes. Maybe tomorrow I would find a napkin or even a leaf to wrap them with. Right now, I just needed to rest.

CHAPTER TWO

Vengeance

I made it through the next night and day, surviving off bits of food and half-empty water bottles from the trash can. I couldn’t understand the wastefulness of throwing away food and water. That night, I decided to take a stab at the two Dumpsters and see what they had to offer. The first one nearest the bushes offered nothing.

I was standing next to the second one, about to open the door, when WHAM!—it felt like I had been hit in the back by a bolt of lightning. I fell to my knees then turned to see three men with walking canes standing over me. As I was catching my breath, one of them said, What are you doing looking in our Dumpsters?

I couldn’t catch my breath to answer. Another man hit me again and said, It’s going to cost you one hundred dollars or we’ll beat the living hell out of you!

The man who seemed to be in charge told the others to rip my sheet off and see if I was hiding anything underneath. One of them followed the leader’s orders, burning my neck as he tore the sheet from my body. He then stood me up and proceeded to look over my body for any hidden jewelry. A second one of the group looked at the man in charge and asked, What do you want us to do with him, Josh?

Josh replied, Bring him over here by the other Dumpster and tie him up. Oh, by the way, which one of you want him when I’m done?

The other men started arguing about which one would get me next. As for myself, I couldn’t figure out what Josh meant when he asked which one of the other men wanted me after he was done with me.

Next thing I knew, I heard a woman shouting. The cops are coming! You better leave him alone!

The men stopped what they were doing. Josh hit me one more time in the leg. Next time, he said, we’ll do more than rape you if you don’t have one hundred dollars.

They kept my sheet and disappeared into the alley behind the store.

I headed back to the bushes to hide, in case the cops really did show up. I never did see the woman who saved me, but I could smell the faint scent of roses in the air. During the night, I was rubbing my calf when I smelled the roses again and heard something hit the bushes close to me. I could see a young woman going around the corner of the store. Had she thrown something? A short while later, she was back around the corner and disappeared into the bushes.

The next morning, I woke up before dawn. I could tell it was dawn because the traffic had increased.

As I crawled out of the bushes, I saw a plastic bag with something in it. I picked it up then made my way into the light and found a shirt and joggers in the bag. Also a half jar of peanut butter, and a spoon. I crawled back into the bushes to try the clothes on; I noticed the faint smell of roses on them. The shirt and joggers were both a pretty good fit, especially since the joggers had a drawstring on them. I opened the peanut butter and let a spoonful melt in my mouth. It was better than anything I had had since that half hamburger and fries. By now, with the smell of roses, I had figured that this was the woman who had saved me from the three thugs who almost beat and raped me.

That first day in the bushes, I had found three pieces of wood. Two were nailed together in the shape of an L. One of the L pieces had a hole about eight inches in diameter cut in the middle of it. I finally figured out that if I laid one of the pieces against the rock wall and the end of the L-shaped piece with a hole in it on top, I could use it as a toilet. Or I could turn it the other way and use it as a chair. I wondered if the person before me had used it like this too. It wasn’t hard to find a plastic bag to put in the hole as a toilet and there was an abundance of napkins in the garbage cans.

I had to admit to myself: for not having any money, I was doing pretty well as a homeless person.

For the next several days I kept an eye out for the woman who smelled of roses, so I could thank her. Finally, one night, when I was finishing up my dinner from the garbage cans and the last of the peanut butter, the faint smell of roses washed over me again. I looked through the bushes, only to catch a glimpse of a tall, slender woman ducking around the corner of the store.

As I climbed out of the bushes to wait for the woman, I saw the same three men from the first night coming out of the alley. Two stood by the store, and the man named Josh went around the front. He wasn’t gone long, and I watched as all three of the men hid: two by the Dumpsters and Josh by the store. I could tell they were up to no good. Were they waiting on an unsuspecting person, or myself, or the young woman who had befriended me?

Soon I saw her come around the corner. As she approached the alley, the two men by the Dumpsters crouched down like animals waiting for prey. I knew if I yelled they would get to me before I got away. I decided to wait and see what would happen. After all, I could always yell, Cops are coming! It had worked before, it would work again… right?

No. I was totally wrong.

Josh grabbed the woman as she came around the corner, holding a knife to her throat; then he began pushing her to the ground. The other two joined Josh and dragged the woman behind the Dumpster. The way the light was shining, I had a clear view of all three of them. All three were covered in tattoos from their arms to their necks. Not the kind you get at a tattoo shop either. No. These looked like the kind inmates get. Josh still held the knife to her throat, so I decided against yelling about the cops. The woman had fought and kicked the whole way, yet I couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t screaming. Then as they struggled to lay her down, I saw that they had gagged her.

As Josh leaned his cane against the dumpster, I could hear him tell her in the angriest and nastiest voice: I finally caught you, you little bitch. Now I’m going to rape you and do whatever I want to you, and then my friends will have a turn when I’m done.

He began to undo his pants, but she kicked him in the balls, sending him falling to his knees with a cursing moan. He hit her in the jaw and she stopped moving: he had probably knocked her out. None of the three men had noticed me in the dark as I crept closer to Josh’s cane. I figured if I was fast enough with the cane, I could hit the other two in the head—then, at least it would be one-on-one with Josh. As mad as I was, I knew who was going to win that fight.

As I picked the cane up, I was thinking maybe I could hit Josh on the left side of the head and it would bounce off and I could use the cane’s momentum to hit one of the other thugs. Except just as I swung Josh raised his head; the cane struck just above his right ear, exploding his head like a watermelon. Next, I went for the one on my right, striking him on the forehead but not nearly as hard as I had hit Josh. He flew backward and landed on his back. I knew Josh was dead, but I didn’t know about this one. As the other thug tried to get away, I stepped to my left and caught him in the back of the neck. His head snapped back as the bones of his neck crushed under my cane. Then I turned. The young lady who smelled of roses had escaped. I hope she hadn’t thought I was going to hurt her. Then I looked back again. The other thug was turning over and trying to run away, but his feet couldn’t catch any traction on the gravel. I took three steps to the right and hit him in the middle of his spine with a hard swing. He went down again…and this time he wasn’t getting back up. His legs weren’t moving, but his arms and hands were still trying to get traction on the gravel. When he finally stopped, he turned his head toward me and said, Please don’t kill me, mister. They have money—and it’s yours, all of it—if you just let me go.

Where’s the money? I asked.

It’s on their ankles, in their ankle wallets!

I noticed that he was the one who stole my sheet, about the same time he realized he couldn’t move his legs anymore.

You bastard! he screamed. What have you done to my legs?

I shut him up with another blow to the head—this time hard, like Josh’s. Only this time, I could feel the cane penetrate deep into his skull. His arm jerked and quivered for a few seconds, then he stopped moving altogether.

I looked around to see if anyone had heard his screams, but I didn’t see anyone. In that moment I wasn’t thinking about how I had killed three men; I was thinking about the young lady. Then I looked down at the men and saw that they all were wearing jogging shoes, something I had been dreaming about wearing even since I had gotten there, wherever there was. Josh’s shoes looked like a perfect fit. As I picked the right foot up, I noticed the top part of his skull was missing. I chuckled out loud. I had forgotten about the ankle wallets, but I saw Josh’s when I began taking his shoe off. His shoe fit nicely, so I raised his leg to see what exactly was around his ankle. Sure enough, it was the wallet, though I couldn’t remember ever seeing an ankle wallet. Then again, I don’t remember anything before waking up on the metal table—or was that just a dream?

I soon discovered the ankle wallet was attached with Velcro and took it off. Unzipping it, I could see money, but in the dim light I couldn’t make out the denominations. I could tell that there was a lot of change and wondered why Josh carried around so much loose change. I put the wallet on my right ankle and went over to the next thug. His shoes looked good too, so I took them for an extra pair. I found his wallet, but it wasn’t as heavy as Josh’s. I figured if they both had wallets the third guy would too—I guess he just didn’t want to share with me. Too bad it was all mine now, though his wasn’t as heavy as Josh’s either.

I was trying to figure out if I could wear their clothes when I smelled the faint scent of roses again. I looked up to see the young lady standing a few feet away…with two men, one taller, the other really short.

The way the woman stood in the light, her hair looked much darker than I had imagined. She had beautiful sky-blue eyes and a smile that made me want to smile. She was petite, but had a well-rounded figure…and that wonderful smell of roses. Before I could say a word, she threw her arms around my neck and began to cry uncontrollably, thanking me in between sobs for saving her life.

No, I said, it’s you I should be thanking for saving me, and I’m sorry I couldn’t have done something sooner.

The short guy said, My name is Jewels. And this is Norbit and Diann. What’s your name?

It’s nice to finally meet someone friendly, I said. All I can tell you is that I got out of a truck somewhere a couple of nights ago, and I don’t know how I got here, or where I came from. Guess what I’m trying to say is… I don’t know my name.

Norbit still hadn’t said anything. He was just staring at the three dead men as if he was thinking deeply about something.

We heard a man scream before we got here, Jewels said. Maybe we should leave in case the cops show up.

No, said Norbit. We need to do them the same way they do homeless people. Strip their clothes off and see if they have any hidden jewelry and go through their pockets. Besides, I think some of these clothes might just fit— He stopped midsentence. Say, just what are we going to call you?

It takes a hell of a man to do what you just did, Diann replied. Why don’t we call you Hellman?

Hellman it is! I said. But what are we going to do with their bodies?

The same thing Diann and I saw them do to one a couple months ago, Norbit said. They killed a homeless man and then stripped him to search for jewelry and money. First, they took his shoes and socks off, finding something in one of his socks and pulling something off one of his toes. They put the clothes in a bag and put his body in a Dumpster and covered it with trash. After they left I went over there. It was an old homeless man Diann and I had seen around ever since we got here.

That’s a good idea, Jewels said, because the city fathers of Las Vegas don’t want their city smelling from the Dumpsters, so they dump them every night.

Las Vegas sounded familiar for some reason, but I couldn’t recall why. Jewels was right about the Dumpster trucks; they had woken me up every night.

Norbit had Diann keep watch while we stripped and searched the thugs. They each had earrings, necklaces, watches, and several rings. We gladly removed all of it. Their jeans contained some loose change, small bills, and cigarette lighters. We found some cigarettes in their shirts but nothing hidden on their bodies. Norbit kept a close eye on Diann. I guess he didn’t want her to see what we were doing or her to see their naked tattooed bodies. Jewels hopped into a Dumpster and moved all of the garbage bags to one side while Norbit and I lifted their bodies in gently to keep them from making noise when they hit the bottom.

As we were loading Josh’s body in, I had a flashback to the beautiful lady lying next to me when I woke up, on that stainless steel table. Or at least I think I did…maybe it was a dream I had in the cab of that truck. I guess what reminded me of it was the top of Josh’s skull being missing….

When the last body went in, Jewels covered all of them with bags of trash. Then he hopped out, saying, What are you going to do with their canes?

Well, I said, I thought I would stash them in the bushes where I sleep. You never know when I might need one.

Just don’t let anyone see you with one, Norbit said. These guys aren’t the only ones. They’re all over the city. Always three, and sometimes four. They would kill you for sure if you get caught with one. He called Diann back to where we were standing. We’ll take the clothes with us and give them a good scrubbing. Maybe some will fit the three of us. Although I think they’re all too big for you, Jewels.

Jewels spoke up: I think one pair of those shoes will fit me; if it’s okay I’ll take those.

Fine with me, I said, but what are we going to do with the jewelry and the other things? I don’t smoke, but I’d like to keep a lighter. And we can split the money four ways, if that’s okay.

I smoke, Jewels stated. But Norbit and Diann don’t, so I’ll take the cigarettes, and if it’s okay I’ll take the jewelry and sell it. After all, that’s why I’m called Jewels. Homeless people know to come to me to sell their jewelry, or sometimes pawn it.

We all agreed to let Jewels sell the jewelry then meet there the next night. At that point it was getting late, so we decided to call it a night.

Early into the morning hours I heard the garbage truck dump the Dumpster with the bodies. I heard three distinct thuds as the thugs’ bodies hit the bottom of the truck, but the driver kept on driving down the alley, dumping Dumpsters.

After that I slept like a baby, only being woken up by the occasional bug crawling on me, or someone honking their horn. I woke up early, hungry and unremorseful. I couldn’t imagine what my past life must have been like to make me feel no remorse for what I had done. I decided to take my share of the money we had found in the thugs’ pockets and buy some food from the