This is a continuation of the following stories numbered for chronological order 1 Duncan’s date by (that1hugboxer) 2 Out of the frying pan by (that1hugboxer) 3 Into the fire by (that1hugboxer) 4 Sins of the father by (that1hugboxer)
5 Duncan’s spiral by(that1hugboxer) 6 Just below the surface by (that1hugboxer) 7 Thank you strangers by (that1hugboxer) 8 The houseguest by (that1hugboxer) 9 Pieces of the puzzle by (that1hugboxer)
10 Backpfeifengesicht by (that1hugboxer)
You are Duncan. You and your cousin
Štěpán are heading over to the Vanderholt farm to catch up with everyone. It’s been almost 6 months since the incident at the vet. While you yourself didn’t end up facing jail time , you didn’t exactly get off scot free either. Firstly you were banned from that vets office, secondly Ann your best friend did in fact get charged with assault which complicates numerous other things that you had planned for the near future chief among them being that the money you set aside for something very important was instead used to pay for Ann’s bail. Thirdly the betting pool now has Ann as a target as well.
You pull in to the gravel driveway and see all three Vanderholt sisters waiting for you. But there’s a fourth person with them you don’t recognize. You and Štěpán get out of the car and greet them.
Zoey takes Odis inside and you catch up with Lorna ,Vicky and find out who this new guy is.
Lorna cracks a smirk.
“Never would have thought you of all people would be getting banned from a vets office and paying your friend’s bail . Hell I didn’t even know you bail money set aside. You must have been saving for something important.”
You let out a nervous laugh while rubbing the back of your neck.
“Yep…it sure was important.”
Lorna had no idea that the money had originally been set aside for an engagement ring. You weren’t actually popping the question anytime soon but you had started saving in advance for when the time came. This was the reason you rarely went out to eat or shopping and instead spent most of your time at home. Between the time Štěpán moved in and the incident at the vet you had been dating Lorna for about 8 months . You two weren’t exactly going out weekly due to scheduling conflicts having to schedule each date weeks in advance , but according to Vicky Lorna had been eagerly counting down the days in between dates. The truth was you were doing the same.
Vicky turns to Štěpán.
“Welcome Mr Biskup if you will follow me we to my office you will find Ms Badru waiting to discuss business.”
Vicky looks over at you.
“Oh i almost forgot. Duncan, Štěpán this is my bodyguard Joe.”
Vicky, Joe and Štěpán head inside. Leaving you and Lorna together.
“Duncan you ready to help me today?”
The scheduling conflict made it so that your date days fell on the mornings Lorna had to restock on supplies for the farm. You spent the early morning helping Lorna transport supplies and then around 8 or 9 you both were free to spend the day together. Not really what most people would call a “date” but life is rarely picturesque. You both would talk about your likes and dislikes, you cut up and quoted your favorite movies. During this morning’s discussion You learned that Lorna is a huge fan of Conan the barbarian.
“I never would have guessed.”
Lorna looks at you.
“Well most people are only familiar with the movie version of Conan. But in the books and comics he was more fleshed out. He’s not a dumb brute with a heart of gold . He’s deeply flawed ,morally questionable, cunning and adaptable. while yes he is big and strong, the world around him is full of things bigger and stronger, things that lesser men wouldn’t even attempt to challenge. “
“That sounds right up my alley.”
Lorna’s face lights up when you say that.
“Well I have a huge collection Conan of novels and comics at the house. Maybe after we finish up here, you and I could read some of them together round robin ?”
“I would love that!”
You turn to Lorna.
“Lorna how is it that we’ve been dating for over a year and I’m only now finding out about this?”
Lorna is quiet for a moment.
“Is something wrong?”
Lorna sighs.
“I’ve had relationships in the past where once I revealed my love for the series. My boyfriend would either become overly obsessed with the series to try and impress me. Or try to redirect my interests to something more girly. I like Conan I own all of the novels and a good chunk of the comics. I also have some memorabilia. That doesn’t mean like Conan to the point of having no other interests. I read classic novels and the works of Snorri Sturluson. I enjoy some anime and some manga. I was a competition shooter in my youth, I like guns, the history surrounding them and many other things.I have a wide range of interests and hobbies. I was testing the waters to see how you would react before I opened up that can of worms.”
You chuckle.
“What’s so funny Duncan?”
“I have a similar pseudo fixation that caused similar trouble in my dating life.”
Lorna lets out the biggest sigh of relief.
“It’s nice to find someone who understands.”
“Since you shared about Conan I think it’s only right that I share my relationship ending pseudo fixation.”
“All right Duncan go for it.”
“I am a fan of the anime and manga series Grenadier. I know it’s a little too much eye candy and fan service for most people but I’m a sucker for pretty girls with guns. It’s also surprisingly funny at times. It’s a fun, humorous and slightly naughty gunslinging romp that knows not to take itself too seriously. It’s by no means a masterpiece but it’s a series I have nostalgia for. The last girl i told about it didn’t take it well at all. She acted as if because i liked Grenadier that i expected her to dress and have the same body as the female lead Rushuna Tendō ,She thought I couldn’t separate fiction from reality. All this happened because she found a little Rushuna statue on entertainment center in my man cave. Literally the only piece of Grenadier merch I have aside from the DVD and manga sets. I have an entire wall dedicated to my collection of classic universal and hammer films horror movies in the same room but apparently I’m obsessed with Rushuna because I have one 6 inch statue next to my tv. I like monster movies, guns, bowling, pinball, fluffies, cooking, the art of frank frazetta and video games.but all she ever brought up was the Rushuna statue.”
Lorna looks at you in shock and disbelief.
“No way! Grenadier is the reason I got into competition shooting! I’ve actually been wanting to have a gunsmith build me a functional copy of Rushuna’s Himawari 38 revolver for ages now!”
“That’s freaking awesome!”
Lorna pulls into the parking lot of the supply shop. You get out and open her door for her.
As you walk through the supply shop with Lorna the chitchat continues.
Lorna shares that she tried getting Zoey into some of her interests with varying results. She enjoyed Conan mainly because she has a thing tall large framed men with well defined muscles. Zoey also enjoyed shooting
Eventually becoming a professional competition shooter, but Grenadier just wasn’t her thing. She gave it a chance reading the entire manga. But In the end Zoey preferred other series.
When Lorna tried introducing Vicky to her hobbies ,Vicky couldn’t stand Conan but fell in love with the goofy, jiggly western movie antics of Grenadier.
It turned out that Vicky was very close to their adoptive Grandfather Yohny Vanderholt . They watched old westerns together from the day he adopted her at 3 years old until the day he died.”
Her nickname for Grenadier was Boobnanza.
“What about you Duncan, what are some of your fondest memories growing up with Štěpán and your great grandparents?”
“Oh Štěpán is the one that got me hooked on old monster movies. You see his dad was the manager at a Blockbusters and Štěpán got to rent 1 movie per weekend for free. We watched dozens of different monster movies over the course of our childhood.His dad’s shop is actually how I got introduced to Grenadier and when the shop closed down I bought the Grenadier DVDs and Štěpán spent way too much money on buying everything single monster movie we rented as kids. Some 100+ movies.”
“It sounds like you and Štěpán are really close.”
“Close doesn’t even begin to describe it. I had 3 friends growing up
Štěpán, Ann and Jane.”
Lorna stops the cart.
“Jane? As in Jane from work?!”
“Yeah…. That Jane. “
“I knew you dated before everything fell out at work but I didn’t realize you grew up together!”
“Up until the end of high school she was telling everyone that she was going to be my wife.”
“What the hell happened!?”
You sigh.
“Jane had a really rough childhood. And she would believe anything anyone told her so long as she thought it could get her away from her parents. Somehow she got involved in Scientology and was borrowing money from people left and right to pay her way through the ranks. When people stopped lending her money she turned to sell her body to other students in exchange for money. You have to understand how vulnerable she was . She tried to sell herself to me several times. But I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I gave her a few dollars here and there for nothing in return . I couldn’t take advantage of her. And then the Scientology episode of South Park aired and she realized it was all a lie.
She hit a downward spiral mentally and had to be committed. I visited as much as I could but after she got out she once again turned to selling her body to pay off the medical debt. I put in a good word for her at the daycare and things were fine for a while. Then femmi “Befriended” her and took advantage of her trusting nature. Femmi intended to use Jane as a scapegoat. “
Lorna looks at you.
“Now I’m even more confused on why you forgave her.”
“She’s mentally ill Lorna. If it weren’t for the grace of God, that could have easily been me.”
“So whatever happened to Jane?”
“She’s living with my Friend Ann who takes care of her.”
“So that’s why you bailed her out of jail.”
“Yeah.”
“I can’t imagine what you must be going through.”
You smile.
“When I asked Jane on that date I hoped that maybe somewhere deep inside her old self would reawaken and she might get better. Unfortunately life rarely works like that.”
