2. The Valley

The car freed, Lenny drives the car up the winding, rough path. After around another hour of travel, the car crests a rise and begins a slow winding descent into a valley.

You all are amazed at the effect the valley has on the local vegetation. Outside the valley, the nip of the easterly wind had pushed the foliage through the beautiful oranges, reds and golds to the dull brown of deep fall. As you descend into the valley, you notice the greenery still holds the deep greens and citrons of the heart of summer. The temperature seems to rise as well, causing you to open the windows to let the building heat escape the car.

As the breeze laden with the heavy smells of fresh growth wafts through the car, Lenny catches a brief whiff of a sickly sweet smell. Something like overripe fruit.

The surrounding forest and underbrush gives way to tall stands of corn. It rises to at least 7-8 feet and sways in the light breeze that carries the heat of mid summer. Mickey could swear that as the car entered the corn field he saw a small woodchuck nestled amidst the base of the corn watching the car as it passed.

As the road progresses, it seems as if the corn presses in trying to envelope the road even so far as at one point it leans from both the left and right, almost forming a tunnel that the car passes through. While none of your group are experts, you can easily recognize this must be a banner crop year.

Jimmy begins to feel the heat especially poignant as a warmth begins to overtake him. Even as he unbuttons his shirt, he feels a radiating, stifling, almost overwhelming pulse of heat. Jimmy finds himself thinking about his brother and his mother.

Jimmy finds himself amidst his impromptu heat flash telling his mother in his mind that a good mother would support their child in what they wanted to do, a good mother would want to embrace their child wherever they found them, a good mother would be present with her children, a good mother would embrace….

The thought leaves Jimmy’s mind as Lenny drives the car over a covered wooden bridge. The rattle is enough to jostle the contents of the car as the gaps seem too far between boards. An odd thing happens to Manny as the rhythmic tapping of the bridge boards seem to echo a life beat. The lawyer feels the sway of the car and the sound and they seem to be in tempo with the beating heart he has so longed to pull close to his bosom.

Abruptly, as the car exits the covered bridge, a man is standing partially in the road. His eyes are sunken and shadowed. His beard is scraggly and unkempt and his brown hair stands frazzled. He holds a wooden stick with several fish attached to it with twine.

Lenny swerves to miss the man, who seems to placidly watch as the car almost hits him. As the car careens to the side of the road, Lenny moves to downshift and quickly stop only to accidentally step on the accelerator and send the car hurtling off the side of the road. The embankment drops 10 feet and ends abruptly at the start of a forest.

The car slams into a tree, causing the whole group to crash around the car and enter into oblivion.

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Lenny and Mickey sit in the small Irish parish they were raised in. The parish priest is performing the liturgy of the Eucharist while the brothers kneel. An overwhelming sadness descends upon both of them as they look up at the statue of Mary. The holy mother stands, her heart exposed, her arms open and an expression of sadness and longing graces her face. As the brothers look on, the statue begins to weep tears of blood. Lenny recognizes these as tears of joy, for the holy mother feels him returning to her. Mickey sees the tears as tears of judgment and condemnation, feeling the holy mother’s wrath to any that would keep Mickey from entering his true mother’s embrace.

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Manny sits in his favorite restaurant, the surrounding patrons and tables seemed blurred and distant. Coming into focus is Ania as she brings a steaming bowl of soup to the table. As Manny reaches for his silverware, he realizes that both of his hands are in casts. Ania purrs It’s alright darlin… We all need motherin’ from time to time. The waitress sets down the soup and comes close to Manny’s ear. The lawyer feels the tickle of her breath as she whispers directly to his ear, I’ll be your mother, and I’ll take good care of you…. Ania plops herself in Manny’s lap as she begins to spoon feed him the soup. Manny is taken aback by the flavor of the soup as it almost seems like it is made of overripe fruit.

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Jimmy feels the crack of the switch slap against his back. He holds in his tears as the anger and hatred boil within him. Suddenly, the beating stops. He hears his mother’s voice James… James… I’m sorry. I… I didn’t want you to be like your father… like your brother… I… I just saw such beauty and intelligence in you and I wanted to keep you from going down the same paths they went down. Those paths of darkness. I… only want you to be happy… for the best for you… to feel my love. You… you know I love you, right sweetheart?

Mother McBride smiles broadly as she moves to embrace Jimmy. Her arms enfold and surround the man and cause a warmth to begin to grow within his body. His senses assault him from another place as he begins to register Lenny yelling and the smell of gasoline. In a blink, Jimmy is back in the car. Pain wracks his abdomen as he feels a cracked rib.

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Manny stumbles backward to the embankment that is a steep slope up to the road. Echoing from the shores of unconsciousness and laced within the yells of Lenny he hears the voice of Ania call See you again real soon darlin. It was something Ania always said when he left the restaurant, but for some reason it turned the lawyer’s s stomach.

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Lenny blinks away grit and radiator smoke that seems to be scratching at his eyes. He looks over to see Jimmy stirring, then turns to look at Mickey in the back seat, noting Manny’s open door. The gunman sits catatonic, his eyes wide open as the billowing chemical smoke from the radiator begins to choke Lenny’s lungs.