Billy Palmer by Ronald Zastre
*
“How did Swenson get down here?” Manny asked Carl.
“It seems the New York police were very interested in Mark Tainer’s associate, the one you proinged with the arrows. They had been following him, a one Bat O’Brien, for six months. They though he might be working for Tainer, and Swenson was let in on it when you made your mad dash. The police had a GPS in Tainer’s car, and Tainer and Bat had a tail on you the whole time, but it got a little hectic with you and that silly car Stan gave you.”
“Oh, man, I do love that car.” Manny smiled. “So what’s the official line, what happens to me?”
“The official report will read that you acted in self-defense,” Dillard said. “As far as we’re concerned, you’re free to go, but, if you ever go through here again, and I catch you driving like that, again, I will throw the book at you.”
*
Manny requested to see Tainer before he left.
“Come to gloat,” Tainer said, sitting on his bunk in the cell. Manny was standing outside the bars, looking in.
“No, came to talk,” Manny said.
“I tried to kill you,” Tainer said matter of factually.
“It didn’t work.”
“Sounds like gloating to me.
“Probably, but I still want to talk. I’m still interested in Billy and you.”
“Ah, what makes me tick?”
“No, why you tick that way.”
“’Fair enough.’ I hate you Manny Anderson. I hate you for becoming Billy’s advocate, way too late, I might add.”
“I could say better late than never, but I think I understand.”
“Try me,” Tainer said.
“Billy needed me, a long, long time ago, and I wasn’t there,” Manny said, sadness in his voice.
“Anderson, you do amaze me, but I still want you dead.”
“It ain’t gonna happen, not by your hand anyway,” Manny snickered.
“You’re gloating again,” Tainer growled.
“I get to go home,” Manny said, pointing at Tainer, “and you are headed to deep shit, but I still want to talk.”
Tainer sat thinking for a moment, then spoke. “What do you want?”
“I got Bill’s story from you, what about yours?”
“You writing a book Anderson?”
“Maybe!”
“And you want what from me?”
“The truth.”
“You missed knowing ‘Billy the Marine’ and now you think you can figure me out,” Tainer laughed.
“Maybe.”
“Manny Anderson, you want to know why I’m the way I am?”
“Yes,” Manny said without hesitation.
Tainer sat thinking again, finally taking a deep breath. “I was disfigured by war,” he said and stopped.
“That’s a start,” Manny commented.
“I never told you about the dogs,” Tainer said, a faraway look on his face.
Manny sat waiting.
“Those beautiful dogs,” Tainer said quietly. “They were dedicated to us. They were smart enough to realize the danger and how extreme the situation could become. They adored their handlers and would give it all.”
Manny could tell Tainer was getting angry. “When the handlers rotated back to the world, the dogs were not allowed to leave Vietnam and were given to the South Vietnamese Army who had them for lunch!” Tainer spat it out venomously.
“Of all the jack ass stupidity involved in that fiasco, to me that was the defining action. How some moron in the rear could justify leaving our soldiers behind, and that’s what they were, soldiers. They were part of the team, and gave their all,” Tainer exclaimed.
Manny saw a look of hatred on Mark’s face. “I’ve never talked about this Manny, not to anyone before. I’ve never talked about it until now.” Tainer twisted his head around, trying to loosen his tense neck. Tainer sat thinking, then said softly. “A man that goes to war, never comes back the same.”
“How could he?” Manny said.
“We found five marines one time,” Tainer said in the same soft voice. “I guess a patrol got lost and was overwhelmed. They were badly decomposed, stinking, bones showing through the rot in places, but we could tell that they had been castrated and their genitals were in their mouths. I only hoped that this had been done after they were dead, but I doubt it. The enemy had a pretense for extreme cruelty. As bad as it got, we tried to refrain from becoming his equal. In my mind, it was what separated us from the other side. We were all in that filthy, stinking environment, but we were better, we still had a limit to what we were capable of.
“And the kids,” Tainer added. “I have to say that regardless of how bad the situation, our troops still had a heart for the children. Men, or rather boys that had been confronted with the most intense combat, still remembered that kids are kids, and tried to refrain from any retribution toward them. The other side, their own people, were vicious and absolute about their goals, and never hesitated to abuse anyone that didn’t go along with their policies.”
“What do you think made the difference?” Manny asked.
“I think it’s that freedom of expression that we take for granted. In a society that is totalitarian, orders are orders, and there is no pretense to question anything. They spend their whole life taking orders, and that is that. Individual rights and thoughts are not part of the equation.”
“Yeah, I learned all about possibly losing my rights out there in the woods with you and Bat after my ass.”
“So what got your balls in a twist?”
“I was pissed because you were fucking with my great life.”
“If you had nothing to miss, how do you think you would have responded?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never been in that situation.”
“Did you think about Billy?”
“Yes, I never thought about his experiences having anything to offer to me, until I needed courage,” Manny said, turning to leave.
Chapter 40
“I don’t get you Manny,” Cassey said, sitting in the passenger’s side of the Vet. They had decided to take a drive down the road where Cassey had been assaulted. “To get their life back,” Cassey had said.
“After all the trouble that guy caused, you don’t hold a grudge. He’s nothing but a wicked killer in my book,” Cassey stated, looking out her window, watching the trees go by.
“He’s a bad guy, no doubt,” Manny agreed, “and he was motivated by greed, yes, but not totally.” Manny looked at Cassey. “Part of him tried to kill out of comradely for Billy. We became the enemy because we were about to reap the benefits of that war. Timtown is a story of a character that holds all the cards and chooses not to use them. Tainer and Billy lived that for a time in that war. They had the choice of life and death and used it responsibly, wisely.”
“Responsibly?” Cassey questioned, turning to look at Manny. “How can you say that? They were out hunting people.”
“No, they were doing a job. Tainer told me how Billy was very careful to make sure they evaluated their targets,” Manny explained. “Tainer was right, we only recognized Timtown for its market value, not for what it tried to say.”
Cassey nodded her head in acknowledgment. “I’m very proud of you Manny,” she said leaning over. “We’ve been together a long time and that can be the death knoll for many marriages. People get bored with each other really easy, but this has put a spark back in my heart for you,” she said, laying her head on his shoulder. “I think I’ll keep you for a bit longer. I’m still a little pissed, though, about how careless you where, but I can forgive you because it wasn’t what it seemed. Imagine, the nerve of that Tainer. What put you on to him?”
“It wasn’t too hard to figure out after I had read Timtown, and the shit started happening,” Manny said. “I thought, ‘Damn, I sure wish I could have written something as great as this.’ You said the same thing. Then when Tainer dispelled the book, I was thinking, Cassey loved it, why didn’t Ma
“You were suspicious of me?” Cassey asked, lifting her head and looking at Manny.
“No, not really because you had nothing to gain. Besides, I know you well enough. If you wanted to get rid of me, you would have just done it, not pulled some dastardly deed.”
“It must have seemed that way, that I didn’t want you anymore, at least for a while?”
“You thought I did something bad. If I had really done it, I wouldn’t have blamed you.”
“How pragmatic.”
“Cassey, I started out wondering how the hell Billy got overlooked, then how he must have felt. All of a sudden I was the one on the outside looking in, being accused and not being guilty. When you end up standing in those shoes, the only thing that matters is getting the true story out, for me anyway. I had a lot to lose, and I had to clear myself. You know, the truth is; Billy wasn’t all that impressed with us, Cassey, otherwise he would have stuck around, tried to make us see the light. The saga of Billy really reads, ‘he went his own way.’ We really had nothing to do with it. How could we, we were just kids and he was a man?”
“You really stuck your neck out. It was incredibly brave,” Cassey said, putting her head back on Manny’s shoulder.
“Yeah, I’m proud of me too.” Manny responded, resting his chin on her head. “I can see why you don’t want to get rid of me.”
Chapter 41
The old cemetery didn’t seem so glum this time, as Manny and Cassey stood in front of Billy Palmer’s grave. The sun was setting in the West on a warm summer evening, birds were singing, and the trees were full of leaves.
“A little nicer than the last time we were here,” Manny commented.
“It doesn’t make me any happier,” Cassey said.
“No, me neither, but we’ve sort of come full circle.”
“Billy is still dead,” Cassey said, sadly. The only difference is the weather is nicer, and the new tombstone is better.”
“But, Billy Palmer is going to the movies,” Manny stated.
“He doesn’t get to appreciate it though.”
“I did the best I could.”
“Don’t go trying to take all the credit for this Manny,” Cassey said, punching Manny in the shoulder. “I could have been difficult about it, but I cared about Billy too, and let you run with it. People were trying to convince me you had something going on the side, and that’s why you tried to have me killed. It’s no fun hearing that, and having to stay quiet, but I did.”
“Yes, you did, my dear, so let’s go out and be seen together, really loving it up, really make a spectacle of ourselves. By the way, I got a two-million dollar lawsuit from that peckerhead Crane.”
“For what?”
“He claims I ruined his credibility.”
“Really, what’re you going to do about it?”
“I sent him a check for a dollar and a little note. I told him, ‘When he’s gone there’ll just be some oxygen missing, and his only contribution to society was the fertilizer that came out of his ass.’” Manny snickered as he looked at the stone he had erected for Billy.
Here rests William(Billy)Perry Palmer
Born, November 19, 1947
Died, November 7, 1998
A Representative of the 58,626 Men and Women
That gave their lives in a faraway place
To Preserve our Freedoms
“Honey,” Cassey laughed. “you do have a way with words.”
“Words. Hell,” Manny laughed, “the check’s no good!”
####
Epilogue:
Three positive things came out of the mess that was called Vietnam: one; the communists lost their ability to finance their attempts at global domination, two; never again would America expend any soldiers without them knowing why, and three; never let politicians run a war.
Biography
I was born in Winnipeg, Canada on 11/29/47. My father was a golf course superintendent there, and when I was seven, we moved to Fargo N.D. where my father took over the duties at the Fargo Country Club. I played a lot of golf and had a great time living at the course. I can still hit the crap out of the ball, but can’t score. So what else is new?
I graduated from high school in Fargo and then joined the Marines. I was a Scout-sniper in Vietnam and saw considerable action and can say, “Combat is a great teacher, provided it doesn’t leave one scarred and unable to go on.”
I went into the golf business, first as a superintendent/designer, then as a builder. I also taught the ever elusive golf swing and do understand it. I began writing in the business format, doing instruction manuals and design work for Manta Cars, and then shifted to entertainment: news paper, magazines, then novels, and finally screen plays.
I wrote a golf book, ‘the Balance Swing’, and wrote, produced, directed, edited and starred in a matching video. I’ve also written three additional novels: Timtown, The Searching Soul, and Billy Palmer. All four novels have screen plays.
I am presently working on a 1960’s rock and roll musical with fast cars and original songs as the theme.
While working the designing and constructing businesses, I stood my ground many years ago and proclaimed my competition was irresponsible and money grubbing. I was vindicated later when an associate, who defined my complaints as counter productive, came to me and said, “Ronski, you were right, weren’t you?” I saved close to ten-thousand beautiful, jungle trees on a golf course project, on Guam.
I’ve always been green because when I lived outside of Fargo, I noticed the trees starting to bud a day early in town one spring. I asked my father and he said, “Obviously it is warmer in town,” This was 1957, when I was eight, and already I understood global warming.
I’ve have had all the toys, but only for the experience of playing with them, never for just having them. I haven’t owned a car in seven years and my bike is my best friend.
I currently live in Palm Desert, CA. because I’d rather be hot than cold.