Thread: Utopia Bound
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Old 05-24-2019, 02:12 AM
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Default The Last Chapter

Chapter 10
Saint Joseph Springs
Billy was very surprised when Tom said, “Billy boy you did a fine job getting us here, now that we are in friendly country. I think I can safely drive and you can relax and watch the beautiful Texas scenery. After a long silence Billy spoke “Tom, I have been thinking about the water bottling business while you have been driving. It needs a good name, how does The Dancing Star, Pure Utopia Water, sound to you?” “It sounds nice Billy. But you are forgetting how we met. And who helped us by bringing Gimpy to us, and how she helped us to survive and then found the money. And who has given me the strength to want to stop drinking?
We have made this trip together, and we owe Saint Joseph Labre .I think a better name would be Saint Joseph Springs, don’t you agree?” Suddenly Gimpy sat up and gave three short barks as if she had understood everything and agreed, and the Saint Joseph Springs water bottling Company was formed. Tom continued “ I also have been thinking Billy. About the money and how do we explain it to the people of Utopia. If we say nothing we will eventually be exposed. But we really have done nothing wrong. If we are truthful we can talk to the Pastor of the Methodist Church, and tell him the whole story. He will be more than willing to help, especially if it is to the Churches best interest. I can´t think of a better solution can you?”
“Tom you are right you are older and wiser, and if I am going to make Utopia my home, that is the right thing to do. I agree with you” Billy said. Feeling much relieved. “Good the matter is settled” Tom said. “And our next stop from here is San Antonio. It is less than two hours away from the cabin on the Sabinal River. I told you that there were many things that you did not know about me. Now is the time to tell you.
First, is that I am not a true Texan; I was born in Wooster Mass, not very far from where you grew up. I left there at seventeen and went to sea and for fifteen years I worked on sailing yachts for the very rich and famous.
It was a great life for me at the time, lots of money, willing women, plenty of cocaine, and bottles of expensive booze.
It lasted until one summer evening in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico where I was given the responsibility to take a group of wealthy clients of the yachts owner to do a whale watching trip.
I had been drinking and miss-read one of the navigation charts . I put a forty million dollar yacht onto a pile of submerged rocks. I was promptly sued and fired...in the end I filed bankruptcy and was stranded and broke in Mexico. Then I really began to drink heavily while living in Mexico for a few years. That is why I speak Spanish well. There I met a wonderful woman named Sarah in Cuernavaca and we decided to return to Texas together to Utopia, where she was born.
Here in Texas, I did rich peoples taxes until I was caught and sent to prison, even there I found homemade booze to drink. I has been five years ago that I left that woman I deeply cared for there.
We separated when she asked me to choose between her, and the bottle. I chose the bottle.
Thanks to Saint Joseph Labre, you, and Gimpy, I am positive I can live without the bottle. But I am also hoping I can live with her again.
Before we go to Utopia we both need new clothes, and haircuts. I want to have my beard styled, stay in a good hotel to get rid of this road grime with a Jacuzzi, sauna and get a massage. Then I want to buy her a nice present, but I have no idea what to buy her.” “Tom, I think the best gift you can give Sarah is for you to tell her that you have quit drinking and are joining the Alcoholics’ Anonymous and we show up in Utopia with new clothes, haircuts and that Gimpy gets a bath. We can enjoy spending a bit of our new found wealth now and our destiny is just over that horizon."
When they crossed the bridge over the Sabinal River, Tom drove down the main street and he pointed to the hardware store “They sell everything from fencing and tractors to needles and thread and it is the only gas station in town. The owner is David Coe he is a nice man and the towns marshal. Over there is The Lost Maples restaurant and you can meet most of the town’s residents there having coffee in the morning. Next door is the market ,and it has about everything needed to survive in a small town like this. The folks living here are all Christians and go to the church of their preference. There are three of them, a clothing store, an antique shop named The Utopia Emporium and Sarah has the Utopia Café next to it.”.
They exited the town, turned onto a narrow paved road and drove to its end. Then Tom put the car in neutral, got out and said, “Can you hear the peace and silence.” Then he undid a small chain, pushed open a wire gate, and they drove through, then he asked Billy to shut the gate and put the chain back. “Billy we are now on the land my brother bought ten years ago, the cabin is around the bend Welcome to Utopia.”As they started up the road a herd of deer watched them curiously but without fear. Gimpy saw them and barked while Billy looked at them with open mouth amazement “They are all over this place. So are Axis Antelopes, Porcupines, Squirrels, and Coyotes, not to mention snakes and mice. Some may bite but they are harmless. I am sure I missed some others.” Tom said, as he laughed at the look on Billy´s face.
“At home we have prostitutes, pigeons, pickpockets, beggars,, drug dealers, car thieves. And they are not harmless; some will kill you, and I am sure that I have also missed some. Tom, this is much, much better than Boston,”.
The cabin was much bigger than Billy had imagined. It was a long one story building made of logs with a cedar shingled roof. It had a long porch overlooking the Sabinal River. Tom shut down the engine got out and retrieved a key from under the door mat. As he unlocked the heavy oak door he said, “Welcome Billy, this is your home for as long as you wish. Come in , there is something you need to see.” He took Billy by the arm and led him to a bedroom down the hall. As Billy stood in the doorway he could see a framed photograph of a man on a black motorcycle with a boy sitting behind him. “I knew that boy had to be you the moment I saw you in Pleasantville and you told me your name.”Tom said .
Billy picked up the photo and read the inscription on it.” My beloved son Billy and me.”.
The first bottles of Joseph Springs natural water went on sale six months after the Pastor Jacob Fisher introduced Tom, Billy, and Gimpy to his congregation and they told their story,
Sitting in the one of the front pews was a slender, elegant woman named Sarah.
The Joseph Springs water bottling company flourished as did the small town of Utopia Texas, and The Methodist Church.
Tom joined the A.A. and Sarah married him. Billy was the best man at his uncle Tom´s wedding.
Gimpy seduced a handsome Pomeranian and gave birth to a litter of five adorable puppies.
Billy and the Pastor Jacob´s daughter Rachel, fell in love.
The end
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