Chapter Five - Perfect Strangers
Steven rose early on the morning of the funeral services, at around five. He’d slept
through the night with no encore performances of the nightmare in the jungle. He let Sarah sleep but woke Matt up.
Reluctantly, Matt woke and they went to work out. After working out, they ended up stopping at a donut shop at Matt’s urging. “We wake up and work out and the first thing you want to do is replace any fat you burned off by eating lard dipped dough,” Steven chided Matt.
“Dude, lighten up, it’s just donuts,” Matt said.
As they had donuts and coffee they poured over the newspaper. Steven scanned the paper until he found his parents obituaries.
Just then, a man that Steven couldn’t quite place approached him and said his name.
It caught Steven off guard. The man was tall and had a big build. He was dressed in a dark blue work uniform that city workers usually wore. He also wore an Army field
jacket, as it was chillier on the day of the funeral than it had been days ago when he first arrived in Louisiana.
The man had short dark hair and deep set eyes, but also had an air about him that
bothered Steven.
“Have we met?” Steven asked.
“Name’s Lester,” the man said. “Lester Bradshaw.”
This did not ring a bell, but Steven reached out and shook his hand when he extended it. Lester’s handshake was firm, but his hands felt cold and kind of clammy.
“I just read that article there about your parents,” he said. “It’s a shame. I just wanted to offer my condolences.”
Steven eyed the man warily and he asked him again if they’d ever met.
“Nope,” Lester said. “I don’t think so. But I’m a fan of yours. That Pulitzer article
you wrote a few years back. That was an outstanding piece of journalism.”
“Oh,” Steven said, finally relaxing a little.
The story he’d written, series actually, that won him the prestigious award was on
coverage of a group of young war veterans who had returned home from the Gulf War, in
the 90’s, who suffered from post traumatic stress disorder.
According to the reviews, it was a sweeping, poignant look at a new generation of war veterans. It compared their experiences to those of some Vietnam veterans. The series also examined other problems, health problems, some Gulf War veterans had, that those veterans felt were due to immunizations they’d received while overseas.
“They never told us what they were giving us,” one female soldier had said. She
alleged that the immunizations had actually caused some health problems for her child,
who was born after she’d returned home. However, the majority of the series dealt
with the post traumatic stress disorder.
“I fought in Nam,” Lester finally said in a low tone, almost as if he were ashamed to say it too loud in public.
“War is a pretty horrible thing,” Steven said.
“I know you’re just a journalist and all, but you seemed to have a real eye and ear
for it all, it’s almost like you served,” Lester said.
“I’m just a civilian,” Steven said, beginning to feel a little uncomfortable again.
Although he was in a public place surrounded by people, Lester had an intensity about him that made Steven wary. He sensed danger.
“Did you actually get to travel overseas when you were writing it?” Lester asked.
“Did you get to go to Nam? I thought I knew you in Thang Luc.”
“Excuse me?” Steven asked.
“You never got to go to Nam is what I asked,” Lester said, a glimmer of a smile
buried deep in his yes.
“No,” said Steven. “You said something after that, Thang Luc?”
“Yeah, I was in Thang Luc for a time,” Lester said. “We all were at one point or another.”
Steven wasn’t sure if the guy was lying, confused or if he had just been hearing
things.
“No, I didn’t have much of an expense account when I was working on the story,”
Steven said.
“Figures,” Lester said. “You didn’t miss anything anyway. Sorry for bothering you, I just wanted to say I was sorry about your parents and all.”
“It’s no bother Lester,” Steven said, thanking him, and shaking his hand as he exited the donut shop.
“What the fuck was all that about?” Matt asked as they climbed into Matt’s car.
“Just a fan is what he said,” Steven said, still bothered by the conversation. His eyes scanned the windows of the donut shop but he didn’t see Lester any more. He didn’t see Lester in the parking lot either.
The man had simply vanished, like ghost, almost as if he’d never been there in the
first place.
“He seemed a little fucking creepy to me,” Matt said. “I’ve seen that guy somewhere. Fuck if I can remember where, but I know I’ve seen him.”
“Yeah there was something familiar about him wasn’t there,” Steven muttered lowly.
As the mourners poured in, Steven looked over at Sarah and Ashley. They both
looked beautiful. Sarah wore a gray wool skirt, with a white blouse and a navy blue jacket and Ashley wore a brown dress. Steven wore a charcoal gray suit which matched Sarah’s skirt, and Matt wore a brown suit that matched Ashley’s dress.
Steven walked back over to Ashley, Sarah and Matt after meeting a couple, who owned an antique shop that their mom frequented.
Fortunately, Ridley was there and he ran interference for them all, greeting almost
everyone who showed up.
The big surprise of the day, though, was when a slim lady with brown hair showed up and approached Ashley and Steven. They didn’t see her walk up and when she tapped Ashley on the shoulder, they spun around and almost shouted.
“Aunt Lori,” Ashley exclaimed, throwing her arms around her. “My God, I didn’t think you were going to make it.”
“Your mom was my little sister,” she said. “I couldn’t miss this.”
“But you said you didn’t think you could make it,” Ashley said.
“No child, I said I would make it if I could get a flight,” she said. “And I got a flight.”
Aunt Lori lived overseas, about sixty miles south of Paris, where she worked as an architect.
Thankfully, Ridley had volunteered to read the eulogy. Ridley, being Ridley ad-libbed a little through the eulogy and by the time he was finished the crowd felt more like they’d been uplifted by a Vince Lombardi speech than they had just heard a eulogy.
The hardest moment, for Steven and Ashley came when it was time to close the caskets. They’d both said prayers over their parents and had kissed them each on their foreheads, but as the time drew near to close the caskets, Ashley had gripped her mothers hand.
Steven moved behind her gently, and whispered in her ear, “Come on Sis, it’s time.”
As they moved away and prepare to round up the pallbearers, Steven caught something out of the comer of his eye near the rear exit of the room. It was a blur he recognized, green in color, the same color green he’d seen just this morning on Lester’s field jacket.
His eyes tried to track the movement at the rear of the room.
“What is it?” Ashley whispered and Sarah looked at him too, trying to ascertain what was wrong.
“I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” Steven said suddenly and abruptly, and he broke into a quick stride out of the viewing room. People had already begun to spill out into the main hallway though, and as Steven burst through the doors he found his view blocked.
“Son of a bitch,” he muttered under his breath, as he excused himself, half walking and half running. He burst free from the crowd just in time to see the door leading outside fall shut.
“Did you see someone come this way?” Steven asked a petite elderly lady standing near the exit.
“Just some gentleman in an Army jacket,” she said. “He said he must have had the wrong funeral home.”
Steven pushed the door to outside open, now bursting into a full run. He ran out into the parking lot and looked around. Of course there were no cars speeding away. He walked through the entire parking lot, looking at each car, to see if Lester were sitting somewhere.
But all the cars were empty.
There was no sign of anyone anywhere.
Lester, if that was really his name and Steven doubted it was, was nowhere to be found. He’d vanished again. Just like a ghost.
By the time Steven made his way to the back door of the funeral home, Sarah and Matt had walked outside to meet him.
“What are you doing out here?” Sarah asked him.
“I had to get some air, and I thought I saw someone I knew,” he said.
Later, Matt asked, “You going to tell me why you were really out there?”
“That guy from this morning, from the donut shop,” Steven said. “He was here.”
“No way,” Matt said.
“He was here. I chased him out,” Steven said.
Following the services, and because Steven and Ashley opted not to hold a reception, their Aunt Lori took them to lunch.
Ashley picked at her salad.
“How long has it been Aunt Lori?” Steven asked. “Ten years, or longer.”
“I’m not even sure sweetie,” she replied. “I wish the boys could have come with me.”
It was good to see their aunt. She was their only living family member, and Sarah and Steven both felt bad that they had more or less just written her off as a no-show. Conversation over dinner ebbed and flowed like a tide that couldn’t decide which way it wanted to go. There would be short bursts of conversation punctuated by long silences.
At one point Ashley excused herself from the table. After she’d been gone an inordinately long time, Aunt Lori suggested Matt go look after her.
“Poor thing is really taking this hard,” Aunt Lori said, and then her own voice cracking, she looked up into mid air and said, “Why’d you have to go and just leave us like this sis?”
The display made Steven a little uncomfortable. He loved his aunt, who was a spirited and vivacious lady. But the drawback was that she could be a little quirky at times. Aunt Lori continued to try to speak but became overwhelmed and began to cry. Sarah rushed to her aid and Steven excused himself, to go try to find Matt and Ashley.
He rounded a corner found them standing near the bar, holding each other as they kissed. He was startled, and didn’t want to ruin their moment but decided the crisis back at the dinner table warranted it.
They laughed and began to make their way back to the table when Ashley turned around and said, “Steven, do me a favor and grab me a pack of matches from the bar.”
He nodded and walked up to the bar, looking for matches. The bar had a few people sitting down enjoying drinks, but not too many. They were old retired people for the most part, enjoying a late afternoon cocktail. He looked up at a television, at CNN when suddenly a bartender appeared and placed a drink in front of him.
Steven looked at the guy, confused. “I didn’t order this,” Steven said. “I was just looking for some matches”
The bartender pointed to a napkin holder.
“Matches are there,” he said. “Drink’s on the house. Guy just left who ordered it for you.”
“Really,” Steven said, trying to act casual as his mind raced. “Sorry I missed him. Say, he wasn’t wearing an old Army jacket was he?”
“Nope, he was dressed nice,” said the bartender. “He was wearing a suit, said he’d been at your folks funeral. Sorry about that by the way. I read it in the paper this morning.”
“Older guy or younger guy” Steven asked, raising the glass to his nose and sniffing it.
“Older man, I guess around my age,” said the bartender. “It’s Jack Daniels on the rocks. He said you would understand.”
This time Steven nearly threw up, as his mind raced back to Faciane’s office at the police station. -
“Your folks don’t drink do they?” Faciane had asked
Images began to flood his mind and he tried to make connections where there weren’t any to be made.
“You sure this guy wasn’t wearing an Army jacket?” Steven asked
“Sure I’m sure, the bartender said. “I may be old but I’m not blind. Are you all right mister? Can I get you something else?”
Steven shook his head no and backed away from the bar, not touching the drink, as if it were booby-trapped.
He made his way back to the table.
“You look terrible honey,” his aunt blurted out.
“I don’t feel well,” he said. “Actually, I need Matt to drive me over to Ashley’s I
think I need to go lay down.
It was Sarah, who now looked alarmed.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Maybe I ate too fast,” he said. “I don’t know. I feel nauseous and a little feverish
“Do you need me?” Sarah asked.
He tried to signal to her with his eyes and she seemed to understand.
“No,” he said. “You and Ashley stay with my aunt. Matt can handle this.”
He apologized and allowed Matt to walk him out.
Once they were in the parking lot. Matt said, “You better have a good reason for this man.”
“You can worry about fucking my sister later,” he said as they got into Matt’s car. “Right now I need you to think.”
“I’m all out of thoughts for the day,” Matt said. “I told you what I thought you should do.”
“Things have changed,” Steven said. “I need you to think. When you and Ashley were near the bar, did you see our new friend?”
“The guy in the Army jacket? No,” Matt said. “Jesus. This is getting out of control.”
“Quick, turn off here,” Steven said, almost reaching over to grab the wheel from Matt’s hand.
“Watch out,” Matt said. “You’re going to get us killed.”
“You didn’t see anybody by the bar?” Steven shouted
“I’m telling you, no,” Matt said. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Somebody ordered me a drink at the bar, but they were gone,” Steven said
“My best friend is losing his mind,” Matt said. “Wonderful. So not only do you have a stalker now, but you re saying this person is buying you drinks too? Honestly, I don’t see what the fucking problem is. I wish I had a stalker buying me drinks.”
“It was Jack Daniels,” Steven said. “The person who ordered it for me told the bartender I would understand what it meant”
Matt drove up the road a bit and pulled into the entrance to a large park with several baseball fields, the same park they tried to stop construction of when they were young stupid kids fooling around in the woods.
“Remember this shit when we were kids,” he said.
“Yeah,” Steven said.
“You need to call the cops,” Matt said
“You think?” Steven asked.
“You tell me,” Matt said. “Empty bottle of Jack found in the car your parents die in. Now, a half hour after their funeral someone’s buying you Jack Daniels. I shouldn’t have to spell it out for you man.
They sat there in silence, both trying to think, and both looking out over the fields.
“The bartender said the guy who ordered it wasn’t wearing an Army jacket,” Steven said.
“He could have changed clothes,” Matt said, as he pulled out of the park and began to start driving again.
“True I guess,” Steven said. “But why, why would this fucking weird war vet just start stalking me today?”
“Maybe he didn’t just start today,” Matt said.
Steven’s mind raced and he remembered his first night at Ashley’s and the outline of a man in the tall grass hunched over.
“That’s it,” Matt exclaimed, yelling so loud that it made Steven jump. “I knew it. It took a while, but I figured it out.”
“What’s it?” Steven asked anxiously.
“I remember,” Matt said. “I remember where I saw the guy before. I know where I know him from. Being out here in the park brought it back. We know him.”
“What do you mean, we know him?” Steven asked
“Just what I fucking said man,” Matt said. “Of course we know this guy. Only he isn’t a guy, no regular guy at least. He’s the one who chased us that day, when we were kids.”
Steven’s entire body broke out in a cold chill and he shuddered.
“You re right,” Steven said. “You’re exactly right.”
“Is anybody back there?” Steven asked as he pulled into the parking lot of Matt’s apartment
“It doesn’t look like it,” Matt said.
They parked the truck, got out and made their way to Matt’s apartment, actually walking the rear perimeter of the building, so as to throw off anyone who may be watching.
“Look,” Matt said. “I know back then, when we were kids we agreed never to mention or talk about this thing again. In light of the circumstances, though, I think we need to talk about it.”
“I don’t know what there is to really say,” Steven said.
“Well, for starters, who is this guy and what does he want with us?” Matt asked. “I mean, who chases two kids through the woods and then turns up twenty-plus years later to introduce himself and then shows up at your parents funeral? None of it makes any sense.”
“The thing we have to remember, though, is that this is all assuming that Lester is the guy who chased us all those years ago,” Steven said.
“You agreed with me not twenty minutes ago that this was him though,” Matt argued.
“I’m not so sure now,” Steven said. “Yes, I think there is some sort of connection. I’m absolutely sure about that. But, I’m not totally convinced Lester is the guy who chased us.”
“What do you mean?” Matt asked.
“I don’t think the guy who chased us that day was exactly human,” Steven said. “This guy at the donut shop, Lester though,” Steven added, his voice trailing off.
“If that is his real name,” Matt said cryptically.
“If that is his real name,” continued Steven. “He was odd and unkempt. Sure, he was a little creepy. But he was flesh and blood.”
Steven shrugged and then rose from his seat at the kitchen table and began looking around.
“Do you have a phone book?” he asked Matt, distractedly.
“In the kitchen, by the toaster,” Matt said. “What does that have to do with anything man? Stay focused here.”
Steven ignored him and stalked into the kitchen. He also opened Matt’s fridge and
grabbed a beer, and then returned to his seat at the kitchen table with it and the phone
book. He opened the phone book and began scanning the B’s until he found what he was
looking for.
“This may not mean anything, but Lester Bradshaw, he told me Bradshaw was his last name. There is a listing here for Lester Bradshaw,” Steven said. “He lives over on 8th
Street.”
Matt reached across the table and grabbed his cordless phone and tossed it to Steven and said, “Here, call him up. Ask him what his fucking deal is,” Matt said.
Steven looked at the phone as if it were a bomb and hesitantly picked up the phone. He dialed the number and waited as it rang. On the fourth ring a voice, definitely Lester’s answered.
“Lester, this is Steven,” Steven said.
“I know who it is,” Lester replied, almost sounding angry.
“I saw you at the funeral today,” Steven said.
Lester didn’t respond.
“Earlier today, you asked me something. You said you thought you knew me.”
“Shut up,” Lester yelled, definitely angry now. “I know what I said, now you just
have to forget it. Just forget about it. You never saw me, you got it.”
“I have questions though,” Steven said. “And I think you have answers.”
“I ain’t interested in talking,” Lester said. “It’s not safe to talk. Bye”
Suddenly the line went dead.
“No you don’t you bastard,” Steven muttered as he re-dialed Lester’s number. Lester had apparently taken the phone off the hook though and frustrated, Steven clicked the cordless off and slammed it on the table.
“Fuck,” he screamed.
“What’s up?” Matt asked.
“He freaked out and got all paranoid,” Steven said. “He said it wasn’t safe to talk.”
“That’s convenient,” Matt said.
“He really sounded scared though,” Steven said.
“He probably is,” Matt said. “Delusional people usually tend to believe their own
delusions. What did he say when you told him you saw him at the funeral?”
“He didn’t respond,” Steven said. “He didn’t deny it though.
They mulled it over for another ten minutes or so when the phone rang,
Matt answered and then handed the phone to Steven mouthing the words, “It’s him,” as Steven took the phone.
“I’ve already busted up my caller ID box at home, so they shouldn’t be able to get
your number where you’re at now,” were the first words out of Lester’s mouth.
“I guess I should thank you,” Steven said.
“I’m on a payphone now but I’m probably being watched,” Lester continued. “I ain’t got a lot of time left. I’m basically a dead man and you will be too if you’re not careful.”
“What are you talking about?” Steven asked.
“That’s why I came to the funeral home today,” Lester said. “To warn you. You’re life is in danger. You’re parents didn’t die by accident, no more than I will once my body
turns up floating in some fucking bayou somewhere.”
“Why did you say you thought you knew me in Thang Luc?” Steven asked.
“Because I did,” Lester replied. “You were killed. Nearly everybody was, except for me, and I might as well have been. I took rounds in my leg, arm and stomach. Buried my face down in the mud and played dead. It wasn’t hard to do because I was pretty close as it was. They know though. They found out about me. And now, I’m pretty sure they know about you. I think you know what I’m talking about. Thing I ain’t figured out is how you made it back, how you came back to life and as a white man at that.”
Steven’s pulse quickened and he thought of his last therapy session with Eric.
“I don’t know who I was,” Steven said, barely audible.
“That’s probably for the better,” Lester said. “Write this number down. 321.”
“Okay three two one, what is that?” Steven asked.
Lester laughed and muttered incredulously.
“You really don’t know do you? That’s third battalion, 21st Infantry unit. But it’s also a post office box at the Lacombe post office. Go back to the funeral home. There’s an envelope in the donation plate there, it has a key in it. That key will open the post office box. Everything you need to know is there.”
“Third battalion, 21st Infantry,” Steven murmured, trying to make a connection somewhere in the recesses of his mind.
“You won’t find it through military channels,” Lester said. “You won’t find our names on the War Memorial in D.C. either. We were black ops. We were deep behind enemy lines, well into Cambodia.”
“I need to know more,” Steven said.
“I’d love to but I got to go,” Lester said. “My time’s limited, but I’m still trying to get a plane out. Good luck to you brother.”
And with that, the line went dead.
Black ops, Cambodia, Steven’s mind reeled and spun dangerously close to the abyss.
“I’ve never been one to pry,” Matt continued. “I know you’ve been going to a shrink since we were kids though. I know there’s something, a very large something you’re not telling me. Look, I don’t care what you tell Ashley or Sarah. But I was with you that day when we were kids. We both got chased by something that I’m pretty sure we both know wasn’t quite human.”
Steven listened intently, only nodding his head in agreement.
“That’s right, no human could have moved that fast,” Matt said. “And no I haven’t
talked about it since then, but I’ve thought about it. I don’t have any rational explanation.
But the thing chased both of us Steven. We both saw him, or it, whatever. It was coming
after both of us and for this reason alone, I believe I have the right to fucking know whatever it is you’re not telling.”
Steven nodded and told his friend that yes, there were parts of the story he hadn’t expounded on because they sounded so crazy. Steven also gave a quick rundown of his conversation with Lester.
“I think we should move now,” Steven told his friend. “I will bring you up to speed. In fact, I want to tell everyone, including Ashley and Sarah. I was afraid of dragging you guys into it. I think it may be a little too late for that though, at this point. I suspect that we could all be in very, very grave danger. We will get together tonight. And I will tell all. For now though, we need to get to the funeral home and to the post office.”
After retrieving the key at the funeral homer they departed for the post office.
They were about a block from the post office when they drove upon a police barricade, which was attended by both cops and firefighters. Matt unrolled his window as one of the firefighters approached his window.
“What’s going on man, I have a letter to drop off at the post office?” Matt asked.
“I don’t think that’s going to be possible sir,” the firefighter said. “We just got the call ten minutes ago. The whole building was engulfed by the time we got here.”
As they rounded the corner to Lester’s block on 8th Street they saw the blue splash of police lights flashing. In all, there were six units parked outside the residence, along with the van used by the coroner’s office.
“Drive past, but go slow,” Steven said to Matt, “Not too slow, but not fast either. Drive casual.”
Matt did, but there wasn’t a whole lot more to glean from the scene by simply driving by.
“He didn’t make it,” Steven said.
“What do you mean?” Matt asked.
“Lester said he knew he was a dead man but that he was going to try to leave the country anyway.”
“He didn’t by chance say who was going to kill him, did he?” Matt asked sarcastically.
“No, actually he didn’t,” Steven said. “Lester isn’t the one who chased us that day. The person, or people who killed him, though, are.”
“All I know is that you better have a good explanation for all of this man,” Matt said.
“I have an explanation,” Steven said. “I just don’t know how good it is.”
The fact of the matter was that Steven only had a few answers. Now, with the post office burned to the ground and Lester presumably dead, the main answers to the questions he sought were gone; vanished; like ghosts. Ghosts he dared not remember, but ghosts he could no longer ignore.
