10

One year later...

  Sam Stone never came home after closing the garage every night, he'd smoke a joint and limp over to Cathy's cafe for a few beers. He'd come home late and come home curly. Lydia always got out of bed and warmed up his dinner, most of the time Sam would eat it for breakfast. 

  Sam had built the new bedroom on the house for their new son, James Lewis and Lydia was pregnant again. 

  Sam's knee was giving him agonizing pain all the time now. He decided to go the veteran's hospital and have it looked at. He drove down there on a Sunday in his Cadillac, checked into a motel, a bottle in his hand, thinking, "Well tonight I'll throw a party for me myself and I."

   In the morning Sam went to the V. A. hospital and sat in the waiting room to see the doctor. He was stoned and swapped war stories with some of the other men waiting to see the doctors. It was Sam's turn and a nurse led him in to an examination room to wait to see the doctor. The nurse instructed Sam to take his shoes, socks and pants off.

   Sam humored "Best offer I've had in a long time."
   The doctor came in and had a look at Sam's knee and sent him down to x-ray. After that Sam went and smoked another joint and waited to see the doc again. The doctor took Sam into an office and showed him the x-ray and said they could ease the pain with an operation. Sam phoned home from the motel and told Lydia he'd be back home in a week as they were going to operate on his knee. 

  Sam looked at the pills the army doctor had given him for the pain, it listed take one as needed for pain. Sam took 3 and washed it down with the last swig from his bottle, he rolled another joint, as the morphine eased the pain and the grass grew round his brain. 

  The operation did not go well. Sam got out of the hospital after 4 days, his right knee was worse now, not better. He had to call and get Donald to take a bus and drive him and his car back. Sam's knee was so painful he could not work the brake or gas. All the way home Sam told funny stories, drank, smoked pot and popped a pill every so often, "Often is word I seldom use" slurred Sam. 
  Donald asked what the hell that meant and said Sam was in a real mess. Donald parked the car next to the house and helped Sam through the door. He then went out and got Sam's bag out of the trunk of the caddy as Lydia tried to put him to bed. A

  Lydia had to wake Sam to open the garage. He told Lydia he was going to sell the station to Donald and they would get a place in town. "I saw a nice house on the corner of 3rd and Green, I can't work anymore with this knee." he was in tears as he said " I don't want to sell this place that we bought on the GI bill but I have no choice, I'm a cripple now."  He asked Lydia for a Coca-Cola took a pill and swallowed it. He got his crutch and went to the garage and leaned on his left leg in the parking lot dirt as he waited for Donald to show up. 
  Donald and Sam talked for quite a while, Lydia pumped gas for the couple of customers that came in, as she was walking back to office and saw Sam and Donald shaking hands. 

  Sam spent the rest of the day on the back porch drinking and smoking pot. 
  Lydia sat and stared through the back door screen. "Sam you shouldn't smoke that stuff out there, do you want to spend Christmas in prison?" 
  "Don't want James Lewis getting all high" slurred Sam then added "the narcs aren't narcing." 
  After supper Sam sat watching TV and James Lewis play when there was knock on the door. "Sam, the police want to talk to us." They all sat at the kitchen table as the officer told Sam and Lydia they had caught the guy that had robbed the filling station and killed Billy. 
  "Oh my God, What have I done?,  I shot 2 boys for is stealing my beat up old car" thought Sam climbing walls while sitting in a chair.

~Lydia says "bye Sam"

10