Happy New Year - 2. Happy New Year - Part II

“How’s the book coming along, Professor? Been meaning to ask you but we’ve barely seen each other since the beginning of summer. You missed out on the gang getting together at the bar on Independence Day; Wood told us you’d gone back to Duluth to visit with friends for the week. Cody was raving about you after his last fishing excursion with you and our favorite father and son duo.”

“Mary Ann! Please breathe and give me a chance to answer at least one question! Good to see you again, and you’re very right it’s been a while. The book is coming along; the central characters are fairly well set and the main events are outlined. I need to do a bit more research―I could start the actual writing by the end of the month.”

“What? You haven’t started writing yet? Hey! Don’t laugh at me, you. How the fuck am I supposed to know how you go about writing a novel?”

“You’re a trip, lady. You’re definitely a trip. Each author works in a different way. I like to have most of the characters and the main events outlined before I start typing. The details of the people, places and events sort of develop as I write. Sometimes the characters call out for a certain location or action and the author just follows along.”

“And here I thought y’all just sat down and started banging away at the keyboard. Hey, did the cops ever get anything on the Fourth of July vandalism at your place?”

“Nothing. The sheriff came to see me a couple of weeks afterwards and was honest with me, he admitted the chances of catching the vandals were very small unless someone reported seeing them or the vehicle.”

“I still say the fat ass was just too lazy to really try to find out who the perps were.”

“Oh, hey, Wood. Perps? You been watching cop shows again?”

“Hush, woman, no need to have Abe here find out about my addiction to Law & Order: SVU. Any idea where Stan is? He left the Memorial Day Weekend party early and now he’s absent from the end of summer one. He’s always been a fixture at these.”

“Not sure about him, Wood; he’s been acting funny all summer. I thought it was drugs but his last test came back clean. Abe, we do some drug testing to try and ensure the safety of our employees operating dangerous equipment, and of those around them. The pee-in-a-cup random drug tests we use don’t even record low amounts of marijuana, we’re looking for other substances anyway. Unless the pot levels are extremely high we tend to ignore them; hell I think most of us would show traces of weed in any blood test. ”

“I know what you mean, Mary Ann. I’ve spent a lot of time this summer out on the lake, fishing with Wood and Woodie, and somehow I end the day sleeping in this place after too much sun, beer, pot and good food. Before coming here and hanging out with the two hairy monsters I must have smoked marijuana maybe two or three times a year. ”

“Don’t blame my kid and I if you’re a lightweight, Prof. Plus we like having you here, we feel comfortable with you around and you’re a fucking riot when we get you stoned.” More than once I’d been tempted to put the moves on the handsome man but after our conversation on the way to the casino I always stopped myself. If anything was going to happen between the two of us he was going to be the instigator. I didn’t want to risk screwing up when he was still upset about his breakup.

“Speaking of kids, my motherly instincts tell me our two youngsters are up to something. They’ve been talking by themselves for the past hour, they kept looking over at us and now here they come. Cody and Woodie are definitely up to something.”

“Cody. Woodpecker. What are you guys up to?” Seeing those two boys ambling towards us made me smile, they were both barefoot, shirtless and wearing board shorts. Add their summer tans and they looked like a pair of misplaced California beach boys. Woodie had his arm draped over Cody’s shoulders. Cody kept looking at the guy he called his big brother with the usual expression of hero worship on his face.

“Dad? Woodpecker? Where the fuck that come from? You haven’t used that name since I was a kid.”

“Seeing you hanging out with your little brother reminded me of when you were that age; and you’ll always be a kid to me. Now, once again, what are you guys up to?”

“Mom…”

“Yes, Cody, what do you want?”

“Geez, give a dude a break. But since you asked… Woodie is headed to Duluth tomorrow and we were wondering if it would be okay for me to ride over with him to check out the school and stuff.”

“Hmmm, that stuff better not include up-chuckin’ or a massive headache the next morning. Watch your drinking but yes, you may go with him.”

“Alright! See, Cody? I told ya Aunt Mary would be cool.”

“You better take good care of him, Woodpecker. You planning on catching the bus back, Cody?” The two conniving scoundrels had planned this down to the last detail. They looked at each other, a conspiratorial look led to a smile on their faces, and then their gaze was fixed on Abe; I knew what was coming.

“Uncle Abe, we were wondering―”

“Uncle Abe?” asked my neighbor as he started laughing at the comment and the sad-puppy look the two youngsters were giving him. “What do you want, Woodpecker?”

“Damn! See what you started, Dad? Anyway, Professor, you told us you were heading over to Duluth for the day on Tuesday. Cody and I wondered if you could bring him back?”

“Certainly, nephew, I think I can handle bringing the young man back to his mother.”

“Cool! I’m gonna drive Cody over to his house so he can pick up the bag he packed for the trip. He can spend the night here and we’ll leave early in the morning. By the way bro, I forgot to tell you one of my two roomies is gay. You cool with that?”

“Duh! How the hell could I have a problem when our dad is a fruit himself?”

“I’ll give you fruit, you little twerp!” The boys ran off inside to get the truck keys while the three of us were laughing our asses off.

“See, Wood? I told you they were up to something. The little shit even had a bag packed already.”

“You guys have done a good job raising those two boys. They appear to really like each other and they’re extremely well behaved. I think Woodie will take very good care of Cody over the next few days even if he does get him drunk at some point.”

“Thanks, Professor. It hasn’t always been easy raising a boy on my own, especially once he became a teenager, but Wood has always been there to help when I’ve needed it. Cody has grown to accept him as the father he never really knew and Woodie has always treated him as a younger brother.” Similar to the way I treated Cody as a second son. I had had the sex and condoms conversation with both of them at puberty including assurances that gay or straight Mary Ann and I would accept their sexuality without question. Both already knew I liked men by then and neither had a problem with it. Until they overcame their embarrassment at shopping for condoms in town, they asked me to replace their supply of Trojans a couple of times. I was willing to do anything to avoid an unplanned pregnancy or nasty bugs.

“Is he planning on attending college?”

“Yup, wants to follow in his big brother’s footsteps and go to Minnesota-Duluth also. I’m hoping we can get him some financial aid, otherwise it’s going to be real tight for me―”

“What was that? Sounded like shots coming from my place.”

“Firecrackers?”

“No, Mary Ann, not firecrackers. See everyone looking over in the direction of Abe’s place? I think he’s right. Hang on bud, I’ll head over there with you, let me get my shotgun. EVERYONE INTO THE HOUSE, NOW! Mary Ann keep them here until we call.”

Abe and I headed towards the lake on the way to his place. A couple of the guys grabbed rifles from their trucks and joined us. “Careful guys, let’s make sure we’re safe before we go running in. No need to get anyone’s head blown off.” As we rounded the tree line separating our properties we caught sight of the tail of a pickup truck turning from Abe’s driveway onto the road.

“Fuckers! Probably drunk teenagers.” Said one of my co-workers.

“Not so sure about that guys, we had a previous incident here in July. Let’s hug the trees until we can see the front of the cabin. There may be someone still in the driveway.” There was no one else there. Abe’s SUV was still parked on the side of the drive, but we could see it had four flat tires, most likely the result of those shots we heard. On the side of the Explorer, someone had spray-painted CAR NOW – NIGGER NEXT.

“I haven’t been to a Halloween party in so many damn years I can’t recall the last one.” Abe and I were on our way to Duluth to spend the weekend. He had talked me into going to a small gathering some friends of his held every year, the same ones he visited back in July over the Independence Day week. “It’s good we don’t have to wear costumes.”

“Nothing that cheesy, Wood, at our age costumes for Halloween are a bit silly. This is just something our hosts have been doing since their kids lived at home and now it’s a perfect excuse for a cocktail party with friends.”

“At least it gives us a chance to have lunch with Woodie today. When I suggested we meet for breakfast tomorrow morning he actually laughed at me.” His comment was something about he would either still be drunk, hung over or naked in bed with some hot girl, so we settled on Saturday lunch instead.

“I’m sure he did. Alcohol consumption will probably increase a bit tonight over most weekends and the younger set won’t be alert again until sometime Monday. I understand from Mary Ann that your workload is about to increase over winter, correct?”

“Yep, winter logging is our big money maker. Easier to work on frozen ground than on wet or muddy soil.” And that was one of the reasons I was starting to look at options for getting out of the business, damn Minnesota winters were bothering me more each year. “What sucks is you have to wear so many damn layers to remain somewhat warm that at times I feel like the Michelin man.”

“I know you look the part of the burly lumberjack, Wood, but what made you get into logging in the first place?”

“Family, I know at least the last five generations of Andersons have been loggers. We used to own a lot of the land that is now part of the Chippewa National Forest and were the original owners of Benbow Logging.” We also owned all the land around Little Jessie Lake at one point. After dividing most of the shoreline into lots, what remained was the land my cabin stood on and several hundred feet of lakefront property across the water.

“May I ask what led to the changes in ownership?”

“Industrialization and environmental awareness. Logging is mostly done with large machines these days; those are expensive and require lots of capital which many small operations did not have so they sold out to the big guys. My family decided to make a deal with the federal government. We sold them our land but retained logging rights. Benbow became a responsible logging company, thinning out the forest and protecting habitats and rare species.”

“That must have reduced the size of the company a lot.”

“Yes it did. When the Nature Conservancy offered to buy us out, as a way of ensuring continued environmentally sound practices, Grandpa agreed. Dad and I have remained involved in the business but Woodie is set on becoming a Forest Ranger so I’m probably the last jack in the family. Hey, is that our exit?”

“How was your drive yesterday, Woodie?”

“It sucked, Professor. I coulda sworn there were a bunch of Floridians on the road who had no fucking idea about driving while it snows.”

“You made it home safe, that’s all that matters. How about we get to work? No more snow’s expected until Saturday so we can shovel the driveway and not have it covered again by tonight.”

“Let’s do it! And Dad wants us to shovel and sweep the deck so we can sit around the fire pit after we stuff ourselves. Did you notice how cute he looked wearing socks, sweatpants and an apron? How Martha Stewart was that?”

“I don’t think Martha is as furry as your dad. All that hair peeking over the top of the apron was definitely different.”

“So, Prof, Dad tells me nothing new has happened in the investigation of the Labor Day Weekend bullshit?

“Nothing so far, I don’t think they’ll ever find the culprit.”

“I’m glad you’ve been staying over here as much as you have. I feel safer about you and I like the fact Dad has someone with him. It can get lonely up here in the middle of nowhere.”

“You and your dad have become pretty important to me, Woodie. Spending time with the two of you has been very good therapy for me.”

“You better not mind what I’m about to tell you, Prof. Yes I’m meddling but I think I’m entitled to since I’m starting to think of you as a second father. I told you before my roommate is gay, he’s part of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance and they have been talking about you a lot this semester.”

“They’ve been talking about me? May I ask what has been the topic?”

“According to my roomie Ranger, one of the guys in the group stood up during their first meeting and mouthed off against an instructor. The guy is a grad student and must have been royally pissed. He went on a rant about having a relationship with the instructor, how the instructor’s partner walked in on them in the middle of a little afternoon delight, how the partner ended the relationship with his lover and how afterwards the instructor dumped the student. He provided names, dates, locations and all the lurid details.

“Word spread around campus about all that crap and people figured out you were the one the instructor was cheating on. Some pissed-off students dropped their classes with your ex―told ya you were popular. A bunch more ignored him when they saw him around and some were real rude to him. Rumor has it the school quietly suggested he look for a position elsewhere.”

“Shit! I was hoping to get away from all that drama but I guess now everyone knows where I am. I’ll probably start getting calls or even visits.”

“Don’t think so, Prof. I’ve not told anyone about the great man who I spent a lot of time with this past summer, or where he lives. I’ll probably bring my two roommates home with me for Christmas and that may let the cat out of the bag though. Those two guys want to go snowmobiling, ice fishing and stuff―I invited them to come here and spend some time with us.”

“That’s okay, I’ve been mulling over the idea of not going back at all. My publisher likes the chapters I’ve sent them so far and feels the book could be a bestseller. They’ve offered me a large advance on the next one already. I like it up here. I may sell my house in Duluth, and look around for a place to buy.”

“Promise me you’ll talk to Dad before you buy anything, okay? He may have some ideas that could make it easier for you to find a place to live.”

“Sure, Wood seems to know everyone around here so he would hear about anything available.”

“Come on, Prof, that’s good enough for the driveway―Aunt Mary and Cody won’t have a problem getting to the house now. Let’s go inside, get something warm to drink, and then we can tackle the deck.”

“Sounds like a plan, son. After we finish I need to go home and shower. I’ll be back with the pies and corn bread afterwards.”

“Yum, Dad told me about your cornbread, can’t wait to taste it.”

“He keeps asking me to make it, I think your dad is addicted.”

“What am I addicted to?”

“Hey, Dad, the Prof says you force him to make his cornbread all the time.”

“Just wait until you taste it, boy, that stuff is fantastic. You guys want a drink? How ‘bout some hot apple cider with a shot of Yukon Jack?”

“That sounds great, Wood. Once we warm up, Woodie and I will take care of the deck and get some wood stacked up for the fire pit.”

“Don’t worry about that Prof, you go on home and clean up, I’ll take care of the deck. Hurry on back and we’ll get to hang out for a bit before Aunt Mary gets here and monopolizes the conversation.”

“Are you sure, son?”

“Yes, sir, daddy. Just get back here as soon as you can, okay?”

“You got it. Wood, I’ll be back in less than an hour.”

● ● ●

“Son? Daddy? Wanna fill me in sonny boy?”

“Nothing to it, Dad. Abe’s called me son a couple of times the same way he would one of his students. But I kinda like it; makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Mom gave birth to me but you’re the only real parent I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t mind Abe being a second dad to me, I really like him. And don’t tell me you don’t have the hots for him, I’ve seen the way you look at him.”

“Yeah well, I’m not about to try and push myself on a man that’s been through the wringer like he has. No matter how much I may like him.”

“Huh? What planet you living on, old man? The Professor took a sabbatical to get away from the bullshit back in Duluth. He says he wanted some solitude but I don’t hear him complain about spending a lot of that time with you. That part of his life is over and done with.”

“It still doesn’t matter. He’ll probably head back to Duluth and take up teaching again. I mean, living over two hours apart wouldn’t make for a good relationship. Plus why would he be interested in me? I’m just a lumberjack who barely finished high school and he’s a college professor, I can’t see him falling for a lowly blue collar worker.”

“Fuck! When did you get stupid, Dad? Can’t you see the way the man looks at you? It’s the same look you give him, half crazed lust and half sappy puppy. The dude has already fallen for you. He’s even thinking of giving up teaching, selling his house in Duluth, and looking for a place to buy around here.”

“Are you sure about this? How do you know?”

“Hmmm, because he told me while we were shoveling snow?”

“So, you really think I have a chance, Woodie?”

“If you don’t do something about―what the fuck was that? Sounded like shots.”

“Shit, grab your phone, I’ll get the guns; we need to get over to Abe’s place.”

● ● ●

First chance I had I was going to grab my axe and clear a path through the trees separating the Wilson’s place from mine. Fuck them if they didn’t like it but I was getting tired of running all the way to the shoreline before being able to round the tree line and reach their property. I was still wearing only my wool socks, sweat pants and apron but I could hardly feel the cold. My adrenaline levels must have been through the roof.

As Woodie and I rounded said tree line, a white truck was turning from the driveway onto Bowstring. I ran to the back door, turned the knob and yanked it open―Abe had the bad habit of leaving it unlocked while he was home.

“ABE! Where are you bud? Can you hear me?” I could see the front door swinging in the wind with the frame splintered where it had probably been kicked in. “Shit, Woodie, call 911, we need an ambulance. Then close both doors, it’s freezing in here.”

Abe was laying on a pool of water in front of the hallway leading to the bedrooms. He wasn’t moving and I was scared shitless.

“Look after him, Dad. I’ll make the call. Hey! His handgun must have fallen out of his hand when he hit the floor and skittered all the way across the room, I can see it by the fireplace. And there’s a trail of blood leading out the door, I think Abe nailed the fucker!”

“Good for him, I hope the asshole bleeds to death. Come on, Abe, you gotta be okay. You can’t leave us now, buddy.” The man was breathing slightly and when I put my hand on his chest I felt it moving. Not sure if it was his heart or his lungs but something was working. “Tell them I’m pretty sure he’s alive but that he’s not answering my questions. Shit, shit, shit.”

“Hang on, Dad, I hear the operator sending over the cops and an ambulance but she asked me to wait. Oh shit, we gotta call Aunt Mary. Should I have her come here or go to our house?”

“Tell her to park at our place and then they can walk over here. The front door is unlocked, ask her to check the turkey in the oven. But first, get me a few towels from the bathroom and a blanket to cover him with. Come on, Abe, please? Wake up?”

“Here you go, Dad, try not to move his head in case there’s some sort of injury but get him dry and cover him up. I don’t give a shit about fingerprints, I’m closing the front door as best I can; it’s too fucking cold in here.”

“Did the operator say anything else?”

“She’s the one who told me we shouldn’t move his head when she heard us talking about towels. She also said to keep him warm. I’m going to crank up the heat for a while.”

“Woodie, could you go back in Abe’s room and get me one of his sweatshirts? Probably not a good idea for me to be half-naked and wearing an apron when the cops get here.” After I had dried Abe as much as possible without moving him, I put my hands on his chest again, wanting to make sure he was still breathing. Couldn’t help myself from caressing him as I enjoyed the feel of his coarse chest hair―very different from the softer, longer stuff on me. “Come on, sexy, you have to wake up. We’ve got a lot of shit to talk about.”

“Sure thing, Dad. Oh, and I said to dry him, not fondle him. If you start drooling over the Prof at a time like this I may just have to give you a time-out and send you to a corner.”

“Shut up, Woodie.” Damn kid is just like me, get into a tense situation and the jokes and smart-assed comments start flying.

● ● ●

“Sir, we really think you should go to the hospital. You hit your head when you fell and you passed out; you could have a concussion. We can take you there in the ambulance or one of your friends could drive you.”

“Gentlemen I appreciate your concern but I’m not going anywhere this evening but next door. Once the Sheriff is done with me I’m going to finish the shower that asshole interrupted by kicking in my door and forcing me to shoot him. Then I’m enjoying some Thanksgiving turkey. I’ll sleep next door so my two furballs can keep an eye on me overnight. One of them will drive me to the hospital in the morning.”

“I’m still amazed the idiot went straight to Essentia Health in Deer River to have his bullet wounds taken care of. Shit-for-brains didn’t even have enough sense to drive at least to Duluth for treatment. Before the end of the night he was in the recovery room, two bullets had been removed from his leg, his shattered tibia had been pinned, his leg was in a cast and his wrist was sporting a shiny new bracelet. The handcuffs must have been quite a shock when he woke up from the anesthesia.” Mary Ann was in the kitchen with Abe working on our Christmas Eve dinner while the rest of us sat around in front of the fireplace enjoying a little eggnog.

“Way to go, Prof! Can’t wait ‘til we get back to school and share the news with our friends. Your rep is already high but when they hear how you shot a home invader while you were naked and dripping water from the shower, it’s gonna go through the roof. And I know a couple of guys who’re gonna be upset there are no pictures of you naked while passed out on the floor.” Ranger was one of Woodie’s roommates at UMD who had come to spend the winter break with us. I still couldn’t remember if he was the gay one or if Kyle was.

“Who says there aren’t? I had my phone out during the entire time.”

“Woodie! You and your roommates are confined to quarters until the end of winter break.”

“Seriously, Dad? Confined to quarters? You trying to make people think you were in the military or something? And I can vouch for the interest of some guys in the size of the Professor’s equipment. After Thanksgiving, when I started to let people know he was living up here and you and him had become real close, bunch of Ranger’s gay friends wanted to know if the two of you were fucking, if I had ever seen him naked and if real black people were hung as well as the guys in porn.”

“Yeah, Abe, is it true? Not fair that only your two furballs know if it is.”

“Am I ever going to live that comment down, Mary Ann? I was not completely lucid when I called Wood and Woodie that.”

“No you’re not going to get away from that any time soon, Prof! Mom has been calling Uncle Wood The Big Furball at work and I think it’s spreading.” Cody had to duck to avoid the wet kitchen towel his mom aimed at his head.

“Fuck, don’t remind me. The guys are calling me Mr. Furball all the time and then they start giggling like teenage girls. I really wish you’d gotten here half an hour after you did, Mary Ann. By then the ambulance guys would have been gone and you wouldn’t have heard anything. Stop bothering Abe and get back to telling us what you know about Stan.”

“Fine, but you guys are no fun. Anyway, he admitted he had broken in wanting to trash the place and leave some more nasty messages. He thought Abe would be next door and the house would be empty. He agreed to a deal where he pleaded guilty to reduced charges, and avoided going to trial and the possibility of a long jail sentence. He’ll be on probation for ten years after he serves his reduced sentence.”

“How come he agreed to plead guilty, Mom?”

“He probably saw no way out: the ballistic reports proved the slugs found around Abe’s truck came from a gun registered to Stan and the bullets found in the idiot’s body were shot by Abe’s Glock. And they found several cans of spray paint matching samples from the vandalized car and door and a bunch of neo-Nazi and white supremacist propaganda when the cops searched his place. He was also slapped with a restraining order forcing him to remain far away from Abe, Wood and Woodie. Benbow Logging had no choice but to fire him and I’m not giving him good recommendations if potential employers call. He’s gonna have to move away from our area. I’m still dumbfounded by the hatred he had against black people. I’ve known Stan since we were both teenagers and I never saw a sign of him being a racist before.”

“You coming back to teach at UMD next fall, Professor Cooper?”

“I haven’t made a final decision yet, Kyle.” Abe had insisted Christmas Eve dinner be held at his place. He and Mary Ann had finished their preparation in the kitchen and had joined the rest of us with a mug of eggnog each. “I need to discuss any plans with a couple of people first.” Abe glanced at Woodie and then put his hand on my knee―he had sat next to me when he came into the large living area.

“Dad?”

“Yes, Woodie?”

“Now that everyone has figured out you and Pop are an item and are probably boinking each other silly―will you spend the night here? Our place only has three beds so it means Ranger, Kyle and I have to share two of them or one of us has to sleep on the couch. It’d be sooo much better if each one of us got our own bed.”

● ● ●

“Hey, babe, can we go to bed after midnight on the East Coast? I’d rather welcome in the new year with our own fireworks.”

“You got it, Professor Cooper. Nothing I’d rather do than welcome in the new year playing with your exploding rocket.”

“You’re so nasty, Wood. I think I can get used to it though. I think the new year is going to be a happy one. Twelve months ago I was still grieving over the end of my relationship yet I was not willing to lay down and die. I still had hopes for better times and I had the will to try. It was then I decided to take a sabbatical and run off to the forest.”

“I’m glad you did and so is Woodie. That boy was ready to do cartwheels when you agreed to stay and move in with us.”

“So am I, furball, so am I. I must however admit I never had the vision that my new neighbor would become my friend…and lover.”

The End