{"id":360,"date":"2021-04-27T12:37:33","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T16:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/?p=360"},"modified":"2021-05-05T17:10:12","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T21:10:12","slug":"chapter-one-of-22-dutch-road-2-of-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/chapter-one-of-22-dutch-road-2-of-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter One of 22 Dutch Road (2 of 10)"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Billy called his father by his first name whenever he was mad at him\u2014which was often; Richard\u2019s being dead for eight weeks hadn\u2019t changed this. While his father was alive, Billy wouldn\u2019t dream of yelling at him. Why court a cuffing? Death, however, had been a game changer. Now I can yell all I want. <\/em>Still, he hadn\u2019t yelled\u2014old habits die hard.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

As a youth, William Buchanan was quiet, falling short of the gregarious nickname his mother bestowed on him: Billy the Kid\u2014BK for short. Inside his head, however, he could howl like the Arctic: mundane injustices\u2014the loss of a favored toy, schoolyard treachery\u2014could set him off, but he reserved the coldest winds for his otherwise unassailable father. In his pre-teen years, Billy created a serious internal defense against him, an elaborate WWI-styled bunker encircled with razor wire and landmines. He patrolled it with Brodie helmet on and rifle at the ready, eyeing his father over the no-man\u2019s-land between the lines, yelling unpleasant epithets to keep \u201cHun\u201d Richard at bay. Outwardly, however, when Daddy was about, Billy only whispered.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The secret yelling continued through adolescence. But by the time Billy turned sixteen, the year of the Saturday morning brawl, much of his father\u2019s menace had abated; the dangerous mental Hun had transitioned into a second-class villain, more Doctor Evil than Doctor Mengele. This \u201cmental\u201d Richard stayed familiar, but not chummy; a petulant ranch hand you couldn\u2019t bring yourself to sack.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Said ranch hand had for the last few years served as Billy\u2019s cerebral custodian, maintaining his mental equipment. Richard was feet up and lackadaisical about his duties, his sweating Mai Tais producing impressive ring stains. It wasn\u2019t the negligence that got under Billy\u2019s skin, however; it was his father\u2019s snide commentary:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cYou call that clean, Billy?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cThe lawn\u2019s not cut yet? It\u2019s been an hour, for Chrissake!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cI said two<\/em> beers!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cSon, grow some balls and stand up to that prick!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Being that Billy\u2019s father was somewhat overbearing, the divorce had been a godsend. Now, at twenty-two, Billy\u2019s other influences, a loving mom and a tight extended family, had matured him beyond merely reacting; the t\u00eate-\u00e0-t\u00eates<\/em> with Richard, so volatile in years past, now required a true shock to ignite. Otherwise, though Mental Richard could still cause mayhem, he now had to do so from the Prison of Unwanted Memories, and then only on visitor\u2019s day.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Within this correctional institution, Billy\u2019s hatred for his father sat on death row, unwilling to take a needle. In the last three years, however, BK had made progress reconciling his feelings. Richard was now a mere yeoman sitting far from the captain\u2019s chair, manning less-and-less important stations, so it seemed inevitable: one day in the not-too-distant future, imaginary Mental Richard would die.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Then the headaches began.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In June, migraines began overwhelming Billy, staying Richard\u2019s execution. In the last two months, Billy\u2019s imaginary father had begun veering from the predictable scripts of the past toward present circumstances, wrestling him for control of his own mental mic.<\/em> The good news: these conversations were still inside his head\u2014BK wasn\u2019t hearing voices. He was sure of this. Pretty sure.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Now, however, a shocked, angry Billy found himself ill-prepared as his mental houselights dimmed for Richard Time. On stage, his father sat with cowboy boots propped comfortably on a campy-looking switchboard entitled COMMON SENSE AND MOTOR CONTROL. He was smiling toothily, ignoring a bank of flashing red lights, hands behind his head. Deliberately, he swept his Justins from the panel, pushing backwards on his wheelie stool.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cHey, Buckaroo!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Don\u2019t call me \u2018buckaroo.\u2019 You know I hate that. Just explain the statues.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

There were several inward-facing sculptures along the wall\u2019s perimeter. Each was a muscular Asian laborer, or perhaps a warrior, six foot plus, holding a tool of some sort\u2014picks, shovels, hammers, axes. They looked old, well-made, and most of all, valuable. Very valuable.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cAren\u2019t these cool, Son? My own private army!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

BK bristled at this. His father\u2019s lavish, post-divorce lifestyle (and the bragging that went along with it) was nothing new, but these large museum pieces were way<\/em> over the top, even for his One Percent father.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Richard, who sold you these? And, my God, they\u2019re not cast, they\u2019re actually carved! Must a\u2019 cost a fortune. Seriously, Dad, a goddamn fortune! What were you thinkin\u2019?<\/em><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Next section<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\r\n

Excerpt of the first chapter of horror-fantasy novel 22 Dutch Road<\/em><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Billy called his father by his first name whenever he was mad at him\u2014which was often; Richard\u2019s being dead for eight weeks hadn\u2019t changed this. While his father was alive, Billy wouldn\u2019t dream of yelling at him. Why court a cuffing? Death, however, had been a game changer. Now I can yell all I want. Still, he hadn\u2019t yelled\u2014old habits … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5837,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13],"tags":[15,16],"class_list":["post-360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-22-dutch-road","tag-free-first-chapters-of-books","tag-horror-fantasy","no-post-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nChapter One of 22 Dutch Road (2 of 10) - T.C. 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