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From: Lazlo Zalezac <lzalezac@yahoo.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} Happy Harry Last of the Hoboes 2 (MF, slow, sci-fi)
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Date: Thu, 01 Jun 2006 00:10:01 -0400
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Lazlo Zalezac
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<1st attachment, "caboose-02.txt" begin>

Happy Harry: The Last of The Hoboes
Chapter 2
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2006

Hollywood Hal, formerly known as Hal Hardon, had been a star in 
bisexual porn movies before too many drugs and too much alcohol 
had rendered him incapable of an erection. It had been a heady 
career until it came crashing down around him. There just wasn't 
much use for a porn star who couldn't get it up. Now he was just 
another homeless man hoping to make it through another day alive. 

Mornings were always the worst time of day for him. He tried to 
remember when he had last woken without a hangover from the 
cheap wine that put him to sleep at night. He couldn't remember. 
Like every other morning, he swore that he wouldn't have another 
drink that day. Even as he swore it, he thought, `Just one to take 
the edge off this headache.'

His one true friend, Coke Can, watched him stagger over to the 
coffee stand. Coke Can was digging through the trash to locate a 
can in which to deposit the spittle from his chewing tobacco. Texas 
Jack wouldn't let him spit on the ground so he was forced to carry 
around the Coke can that had given him his street name. When 
Hollywood stumbled, he said, "Hollywood, get yourself some 
coffee before you hurt yourself."

Hollywood grabbed one of the foam cups and filled it with coffee 
from the large fifty cup urn that was always full of coffee. He took 
a sip of the coffee and spat it out on the ground. In a voice that 
carried across the parking lot, he shouted, "That tastes like shit."

Coke Can went over the coffee urn and filled a foam cup with the 
piping hot beverage. He took a huge gulp from the cup and shook 
his head in reaction to the vile taste. It had to be pretty bad to 
stimulate taste buds numbed by years of chewing tobacco. He lived 
long enough to say, "This tastes like ..."

Hollywood Hal watched his friend drop to the ground. The world 
floated in front of his eyes and then he fell to the ground next to his 
friend. Convulsions took over his body, but they only lasted a 
minute before he too was still. 

It was a few minutes later when Mad Dog wandered over to the 
coffee urn and found the two bodies. He stared at the sight for half 
a minute before the truth of the situation dawned on him. He called 
out, "Hollywood Hal and Coke Can are dead!" When it looked like 
no one had responded, he shouted, "Hollywood Hal and Coke Can 
are dead!"

Some of the other homeless drifted over to check out the sight. 
Death was not an infrequent visitor to the Homeless Hotels. Folks 
died all the time of alcohol poisoning, disease, and violence. There 
was something different and wrong about these two bodies. The 
general level of excitement began to grow. 

The general noise finally woke Chuck Wagon. Wiping the sleep 
from his eyes, he climbed out his bed and wandered over. He froze 
when he saw the bodies. He looked around the crowd and asked, 
"Where's Texas Jack?"

The homeless gathered in the area looked around for Texas Jack. It 
was odd that he wasn't there. Texas Jack almost never left the 
Homeless Hotel without putting Chuck Wagon in charge. One of 
the men said, "I don't know. He should be around here 
somewhere."

"Would someone find him?"

The men spread out to search for the man. After a few minutes, 
one of the homeless called out from the small storage shack, "I 
found Texas Jack. He's been killed!"

Hanging his head down and closing his eyes, Chuck Wagon swore, 
"Damn."

Afraid that he was liable to be blamed because he was the first one 
to find the bodies, Mad Dog asked, "What are we supposed to do?"

"I better call 911," Chuck Wagon answered. All of a sudden his 
training time had ended and he was in charge of the Homeless 
Hotel. It was time for him to take charge and control the situation.

He went over to the storage shack and entered it. Texas Jack was 
on the ground with a garrote around his neck. The silver of the 
wire glinted through the blood that had pooled in the wound. 
Someone had strangled him. Despite the fact that Texas Jack was 
his best friend, he controlled his emotions. Bending over the body, 
he fished through the pockets until he found the small cell phone 
that Texas Jack always carried with him. He made the call to 911 
and pocketed the phone.

In the distance the sounds of sirens rose into the air. He wondered 
if it was in response to his call. If it was, then this was a far faster 
response than Chuck Wagon expected. Most times, a death in a 
Homeless Hotel was handled in a more leisurely fashion. The cops 
weren't all that concerned with the homeless. 

He looked around at the faces of the men and women looking to 
him for guidance. A murder, possibly three, was big news. Chuck 
Wagon glanced in the direction of the coffee pot and wished he 
had a cup. He'd get over to it once he got the situation under 
control. In a gruff voice, he said, "Everyone out of the shack. I've 
got to close it up until the cops arrive."

One of the other homeless men poured himself a cup of coffee 
from the urn and took a sip. He fell to the ground in convulsions 
and died. As one, the homeless backed away shouting, "The coffee 
is poisoned!"

A wave of real fear swept through the crowd. They understood 
natural deaths and violent deaths, but this kind of thing was beyond 
their experience. Someone was trying to kill them. 

"Damn," Chuck Wagon swore. He'd heard of trial by fire, but this 
was ridiculous. He wished that Texas Jack was here to handle the 
situation. He shouted, "Everyone get over to the fire pit and don't 
touch anything around here. The cops are on the way."

A few of the homeless who had reasons of their own for not being 
there when the police arrived scurried off. The rest drifted over to 
the fire pit and stood around fidgeting uncomfortably. Chuck 
Wagon looked around and tried to see if there were any others who 
were missing. It looked to him like everyone was there. He 
wondered which of the men had killed his friend. 

A police car came rolling into the homeless hotel with lights 
flashing and sirens blaring. The homeless, unable to keep from the 
new source of excitement, crowded around the police car. The 
siren cut off bringing a temporary level of silence that almost 
deafening. It only served to excite the men even more.

When one of the cops got out, all of the homeless began talking at 
once. Amidst lots of excited talking and pointing in the direction of 
the bodies, the officer began to get an idea of what had happened. 
It was clear that three people were dead and at least one of them 
had been murdered. He leaned into the car and asked his partner 
for backup. 

Realizing that the cops couldn't do their jobs amongst the chaos, 
Chuck Wagon shouted, "Everyone get back over to the fire pit and 
let the cops do their jobs!"

When the homeless backed off, one of the cops recognized Chuck 
Wagon and went over to him. Looking around, he asked, "Where's 
Texas Jack?"

"Texas Jack is dead, John." Chuck Wagon was pleased that the 
first cops on the scene were a pair that he knew. At least they knew 
most of the homeless who hung around the homeless hotel and 
wouldn't mistreat them. 

The cop frowned at the news and repeated, "Texas Jack is dead?"

"Yes," said the homeless man. The reality of the situation was 
slowly sinking in and he was starting to have difficulty handling 
his grief. Texas Jack had picked him up out of the gutter and gotten 
him off the rotgut. After a short stint riding around with Happy 
Harry, he'd come back to help Texas Jack run the Homeless hotel. 
He'd been dry for almost a year and was beginning to look forward 
to running a Homeless Hotel of his own. He wasn't happy to have 
the responsibility placed on him in this fashion.

"Damn, I liked him. He was a real nice fellow. I guess that puts 
you in charge now."

"I guess so."

John's partner was on the radio calling in the situation to the 
dispatcher. She'd gotten enough of the story from the other 
homeless to know that at least four were dead and that the coffee 
was poisoned. It was clear from the reaction of the dispatcher that 
something big was going on. 

Focusing on Chuck Wagon, John said, "Tell me what you know."

"Mad Dog discovered Hollywood Hal and Coke Can dead over by 
the coffee pot. I came over and asked if anyone had seen Texas 
Jack. One of our guys discovered him in the storage shed. 
Someone had strangled him. The coffee pot is poisoned and 
another one of our men drank some coffee and promptly died. 
That's when we realized that it was poisoned," Chuck Wagon said. 
He shook his head and said, "Someone is trying to kill us. I don't 
understand it. Why would someone try to kill us? We're basically 
harmless."

John shook his head and thought about the briefing that morning. 
He'd learned that there were a half dozen Druids here to 
investigate the mysterious deaths of a number of homeless men. 
He'd heard that a Druid had been killed. John said, "I don't know. 
Something bad is going down."

Pat, John's partner, came over to the two men and said, "This is 
big. The Chief is coming here to take charge. Druids are on their 
way over, too."

"Good. Let's just keep order until they get here," John said as his 
stomach twisted at the idea of Druids showing up. He turned to 
look at his blond haired, blued eyed partner to see how she was 
handling the situation. She was staring at the three bodies on the 
ground near the coffee urn and shaking her head. She'd have been 
a real beauty if she hadn't had a broken nose that healed crooked. 

"Hal Hardon. I watched some of his films," said the woman 
recognizing Hollywood Hal. She shook her head and said, "Hard to 
believe he ended up this way."

John looked over at his partner and wondered what she was doing 
that would involve watching a bisexual porno film. He knew her 
husband and couldn't believe that the man was into films like that. 
He shook his head to clear out the thoughts that came to mind. He 
said, "He's not the first in that industry to end up like this."

"Yeah," she replied. Shaking her head at the scene around her, she 
said, "I was sorry to hear that Texas Jack was killed. I really liked 
the guy. I guess that puts you in charge, Chuck Wagon."

"Yes it does," he answered. He wondered how many times he 
would hear that before the day was over. He couldn't wait for the 
Druids to arrive and take control over the situation.

"Happy Harry is coming!"

The shout from over by the fire pit caught the threesome's 
attention. They turned as one to watch the Roach Coach lumber 
into the Homeless Hotel. Chuck Wagon said, "Thank the Gods and 
Goddesses that Harry's here."

Harry stepped out of the Roach Coach and looked around with a 
frown. He was not happy to have learned that more of his people 
had been killed. His frown didn't have a chance to fully develop. 
Shots rang out from across the street and he scrambled to put the 
Roach Coach between him and the source of the shots. Three other 
Druids swarmed out of the Roach Coach and joined him. 

The rest of the Homeless Hotel exploded into a mass of confusion. 
The homeless men and women scattered to the four winds. They 
might have been homeless, but they weren't fools enough to stand 
around while someone was firing a gun in their direction. The two 
cops ran behind their car with pistols drawn trying to find where 
the shots were coming from. Chuck Wagon followed them and hid 
behind the car.

In the sudden quiet that descended on the area, Ed's voice rang out, 
"Kelly, Harry's been shot again."

Hiding behind the police car, Chuck Wagon thought he was going 
to throw up. First Texas Jack had been killed and now Happy 
Harry had been shot. He didn't think the day could get any worse. 
Losing two of the most important people in his life tore at his heart 
strings. He wept even as more sirens sounded in the distance.

A single shot from a high power rifle rang out. The shots from 
across the street came to an abrupt end. Ling said, "One down. I 
don't see anyone else, but stay down just in case."

Kelly said, "Don't die on me, Harry."

The old man groaned and said, "We're going to have to stop 
meeting like this. I think your husband is getting suspicious."

Ed laughed at the comment despite the seriousness of the situation. 
Jimmy Lee said, "I'm going across the street."

As the red robed Druid started to make his way across the street, 
Ling shouted to him, "Watch out for booby traps."

John had a pistol drawn and was looking over the hood of his car, 
but hadn't identified where the shots had come from. The shot 
from the Roach Coach had caught his attention and he had turned 
to see what had happened. He stared over at the crowd huddled 
behind the Roach Coach. He couldn't believe what his eyes were 
telling him. It looked like the woman was having sex with Happy 
Harry. It was surreal considering that the man had just been shot. 
Giving voice to his thoughts, Pat asked, "What is she doing?"

"I've got no idea," her partner answered. He was shocked when the 
woman rose and Happy Harry stood up seemingly all right. He 
added, "I think she just had sex with him."

Pat looked over at Chuck Wagon and saw him crying. Putting a 
hand on his shoulder, she said, "It looks like Harry is okay."

Chuck Wagon looked up and said, "He was shot."

"Well, he's standing up and moving around now."

Jimmy Lee shouted from across the street, "All clear. You can 
come out now."

John went over to the Roach Coach in time to see Ling crawl out 
from under it. She was carrying a rifle with the largest scope he 
had ever seen on a gun. He said, "I'll need the gun from you."

Ling handed it over along with a spent shell and said, "Take care 
of it. It costs more than you make in a year."

John looked over the rifle. It had the longest barrel he'd ever seen 
on a gun. He opened the bolt. The action was amazingly smooth. A 
single round of ammunition popped out and fell to the ground. The 
shell was huge. Looking up at Ling, he said, "I've never seen a gun 
like this. What is it?"

"It's handmade by a gunsmith in Germany. It is the only one of its 
kind," Ling answered. 

Three police cars pulled into the Homeless Hotel. John was never 
more relieved in his life to see the Chief of Police show up at a 
crime scene. He wondered what had taken them so long in 
arriving. With relief in his voice, he said, "Thank god they've 
arrived."

Pat came up to John and asked, "Do you realize that we've only 
been here for seven minutes?"

"It seems like we've been here forever," replied John. He turned to 
find Harry talking with Chuck Wagon. He shook his head and said, 
"Chuck Wagon is taking this hard."

Unconcerned, Kelly said, "Happy Harry will help him through 
this."

Looking around the scene, Ed was struck by the ugliness of the 
coffee urn. Grimacing, he said, "There's something wrong with the 
coffee pot."

Surprised that the black robed Druid was able to spot the problem, 
John said, "According to Chuck Wagon, the coffee was poisoned."

The Police Chief wandered over and looked at the rifle in John's 
hand. Turning to Ling, he asked, "Did you get the shooter?"

"Of course," she answered. She added, "I got him right between 
the eyes."

"Pack the gun up for a ballistics test. We have to confirm that the 
shot came from her gun," the Chief told John. John nodded and 
carried the gun over to his car. He was relieved that the situation 
was out of his hands.

Jimmy Lee came strolling back across the street. Looking at Ling, 
he said, "You got him right between the eyes."

"That's where I was aiming," she replied.

Pat stared at the small oriental woman unable to believe what she 
had heard. There had been no remorse in her voice about having 
killed a person. There had been no boasting about her shot. It had 
just been a statement of fact - she had shot the man between the 
eyes. A chill ran through her body at the idea of such a cold killer. 
She decided that she'd stick by her partner and headed over to the 
car.

The group by the Roach Coach headed across the street with three 
of the other police who had come in the other cars. Ling had pulled 
out her pistol and taken a position to the side where she would 
have a clean shot in every direction. One of the cops started to 
object, but a gesture from the Police Chief cut off the protest. 

The other two cops on the scene came over to John and asked to be 
filled in on what was happening. John gave them a brief synopsis 
of what had occurred. Telling it for the first time, he found it was a 
bizarre tale of murder, violence, and sex. The other two cops 
looked at him funny when he related about how Kelly had sex with 
the injured Druid and then how he had gotten up and walked 
around. 

The pair of cops walked away to examine the crime scene. John 
was relieved that they didn't make fun of what he had said. Even 
telling it, he found that he didn't believe it. At least Pat would back 
him up when he would file his report.

John turned his attention away from the action and saw Happy 
Harry kneeling besides the bodies on the ground. A tear was 
trickling down his cheek. John could see the dark splash of blood 
around a jagged hole on the back of Harry's robe where the bullet 
had exited. Staring at it, he couldn't believe that the Druid was up 
and walking around. He nudged Pat and said, "Check out his 
back."

"Jesus," she exclaimed on seeing the exit hole. 

Harry turned around and said, "I'm not Jesus, I'm Happy Harry; 
the last of the hoboes."

"You should be in a hospital," John said while thinking that Harry 
should have been in the morgue. No one should have been able to 
survive an injury like that.

"No need, Kelly healed me," Harry replied. He said, "Where is 
Texas Jack's body?"

"In the storage shack," Pat answered. She gestured towards the 
shack, but Harry had already turned away. She watched him make 
his way to the shack. 

"What is going on? John asked his partner.

"I don't know. This doesn't make any sense to me," Pat answered. 
She opened the door of the patrol car and sat down on the seat with 
her legs out the door. The morning had started out like every other 
morning, but had gotten strange. She didn't like strange.

"Did you hear that woman talking about taking out the shooter?"

"Yes. It sent chills up and down my back. That's one cold 
woman."

A taxi pulled up to the Homeless Hotel. John watched as a young 
man climbed out and looked around. Surprised by the appearance 
of a taxi, John asked, "What in the hell is a taxi doing here?"

Pat looked over as the cab pulled away. The young man headed in 
their direction while examining the police cars that were parked 
helter skelter around the open area of the Homeless Hotel. The 
young man called out, "Harry."

Happy Harry made his way out of the shack and froze when he 
saw the young man. Surprised, he said, "William, what are you 
doing here?"

"I had to come. You made me promise that I'd come," His voice 
broke when he answered. He went over to the elderly man and 
hugged him. Tears were running from his eyes. 

"Hey, don't cry. They've tried twice to kill me and I'm still 
walking around," the Druid said hugging William back. He knew 
what the tears meant and the idea saddened him. Putting on a brave 
smile, he said, "It's good to see you, William."

"It's good to see you, Harry," William said getting control over his 
tears. He stepped back a little ashamed of his loss of control.

"Your parents are across the street."

"I know," William answered with a smile.

"You know too much for a man your age," Harry said. He felt bad 
at times that William had never had a chance for a normal 
childhood. 

"I know that, too."

William's back was to the street. Without turning around, he said, 
"Hello, mom."

Kelly walked over to William and asked, "What are you doing 
here?"

"I had to come," he answered as he turned to face his mother.

She knew what that meant and looked over at Harry. The old man 
gave a small smile and shrugged his shoulders. She looked down at 
the ground with an empty feeling in her stomach. Unable to 
restrain herself, she grabbed William and hugged him. In a soft 
voice, she said, "I'm so sorry."

John and Pat had watched the exchange with wide eyes. They had 
no idea what the group was talking about, but it didn't sound good. 
Pat was shocked when the little oriental woman came running 
across the street shouting, "William!"

The emotional woman who swept William into her arms was a 
shocking contrast to the cold killer they had come to know. 
Hugging him tightly, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I had to come," William answered. 

Glancing over at Happy Harry with tears in her eyes, Ling said, 
"I'm so sorry."

Staring at the scene, Pat asked, "Is that the same woman that shot 
that guy?"

"Yes. Why is she crying?"

"Who is that kid?"

Chuck Wagon answered, "That's Half Feather."

"So what's the big deal about him being here?" John asked. 

Chuck Wagon couldn't answer and stumbled away to be alone. He 
knew what William's presence here meant and it was one piece of 
bad news too much. Pat watched him go wondering what had 
gotten into the homeless man. She exchanged a look with her 
partner deciding that all she wanted to do was go home.

The Chief of Police, Jimmy Lee, and Ed Biggers walked back to 
the Homeless Hotel. The three men split up with the Police Chief 
heading over to John and Pat. On reaching them, he said, "Call 
dispatch to send out another dozen men. We're locking this area 
down until the Feds arrive."

Pat reached behind her and picked up the mic. As she put in the 
call, John asked, "Feds?"

"They are in charge of this investigation. No way am I touching 
it," the Chief answered.

"What's going on?" John asked despite the fact that he didn't 
expect an answer.

"I don't know any more than you. A Druid was killed last night. 
Happy Harry has been shot twice now. It looks like terrorists are 
involved and the entire alphabet soup of government agencies are 
climbing out of the woodwork."

Ed went over to William and looked at his son. He glanced over at 
Happy Harry and nodded to the older man. Putting a hand on 
William's shoulder, he said, "I don't envy you. I'm sorry."

John and Pat stared at the collection of unhappy people. They were 
trying to make sense of what was happening, but were having no 
luck. Jimmy Lee was standing by the patrol car looking sad. John, 
intimidated by the Druid, worked up his nerve to ask, "What's 
going on? Who's the kid? Why is everyone upset that he's here?"

Jimmy Lee looked over at the pair of cops for a second while he 
considered his answer. He said, "That's William Redman Carter. 
Everyone is upset because he is here to say goodbye to Harry."

"I don't understand," John said.

Tears came to the Druid's eyes as he said, "Happy Harry is going 
to die."

 
<1st attachment end>


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