Chapter 14

 

It was now nine that Sunday morning on September 28th, 2014.

Clark slept in his suit pants and white shirt on the couch in Wallace’s living room. His Fedora hat, suit coat, tie, and shoes were in a pile on the floor.

Clark woke up and looked a little confused and dazed. He didn’t have a clue as to what year he was in at this moment. He feared the worst.

He jumped off the couch and ran over to the living room windows. He peeked through the curtains worried that the Austin police could be outside surrounding the house. He sighed a sigh of relief the second he saw his hot rod pickup truck parked next to Wallace’s Cadillac. He was safe back in 2014.

Clark paced around the living room for a few seconds. He glanced over at the stairs then decided to let Wallace sleep.

He walked out of the living room and headed to his kitchen.

He grabbed his pickup truck keys off the key rack. He left them there for his travel back to 1935.

Clark rushed back through the living room and slipped on his shoes. He grabbed his tie, suit coat, and Fedora hat.

He rushed to the front door and went outside to the porch.

Once he got off the porch, he rushed over to his hot rod. He got inside, started the engine up with a light roar.

He backed up his hot rod, then drove off to the driveway.

At the end of the driveway, he made a right turn and headed down Maple Road back into town.

Fifteen minutes had passed, and Wallace woke up.

After he brushed his teeth, he went downstairs.

“Clark,” he called out when he reached the bottom of the stairs. The house was quiet.

He went inside the living room and saw the couch was void of Clark. That was where he last saw him last night.

“Clark,” he called out. The house was quiet.

He went into the kitchen and saw Clark wasn’t in there eating breakfast.

Then it dawned on him, and he feared the worst. “He better not have,” he cried out then he made a beeline for the kitchen door.

After Wallace rushed outside, he ran as fast as he could to his barn.

He noticed that the side door to the barn was unlocked. “Crap,” he said when he realized that he forgot to lock it last night.

He opened the side door and rushed into the barn.

Once he got in the barn, he rushed over to that room. He noticed that the door was unlocked. He opened it and rushed into the room.

Once he got in the room, he noticed that the time machine was still there.

He peeked in the canopy and saw that the Drop-Off and Pick-Up dates were the same as last night.

He walked around and felt the rear of the time machine. It was cold to the touch, so he knew Clark didn’t travel back to 1935.

He left the room and locked the door.

He left the barn and locked the side door.

While he headed back to his house, he remembered Dr. Evans Chevrolet and how it got ruined by the cops shooting at it. He felt ashamed of himself and wanted to figure out a way to pay Dr. Evans back.

Then he noticed that Clark’s hot rod was gone when he walked back to his house.

He realized that Clark went back to his home.

Back at Clark’s home, he immediately rushed into his bathroom.

He stared at himself in the mirror and eyed his pencil-thin mustache.

He opened the medicine cabinet and removed his can of shaving cream.

He lathered up his face, including above his lip.

He shaved his face, including his mustache.

He looked at his hair in the mirror. He frowned then rushed out of his bathroom and into his bedroom.

He saw his Fedora hat, tie and suit coat on the floor by his bed.

He removed his pants and shirt and stood here in his tee-shirt and boxer.

He walked over and picked up his pants, suit coat, hat, and tie.

He walked out of his bedroom and headed into his kitchen.

He went over and opened up the cabinet under the sink. He shoved his suit coat, pants, shirt, tie, and Fedora hat into his trash can.

He removed the plastic trash back and tied it shut.

Clark then took the trash bag and dumped it in the trash can in his garage.

He went back into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee.

He sat down at his small kitchen table and thought about his trip back to 1935 as a member of Dirk Beaumont’s gang. He started to get curious.

After the coffee was finished brewing, Clark went into his den with a cup.

He sat down at his computer desk and powered up his computer.

He drank his coffee while he waited for the computer to run through its long power-up process.

The second the computer was ready, Clark brought up Yahoo. He typed in a search for Dirk Beaumont.

His heart raced while the results of his search appeared on the monitor.

He typed on a “History and Timeline of the Dirk Beaumont Gang” link.

His heart raced in anticipation of what he might find.

That website titled “History and Timeline of the Dirk Beaumont Gang” appeared.

Clark started to read the site.

He clicked on the link for Jerome Falk. And read that Jerome was killed during the shoot out after robbing the Texarkana bank on May 22nd, 1935. Nothing had changed from the history books.

He clicked on the link for Peter Harrison and read where Peter was killed during that shoot out on May 22nd, 1935. Nothing had changed from the history books.

He clicked on the link for Carl Sommers and read where Carl was arrested on May 22nd, 1935 after the Texarkana bank robbery. He further read that Carl was executed on June 28th, 1936. Nothing had changed from the history books.

He got a little nervous and clicked on the link for Dirk Beaumont. His heart raced again while he waited for that area of the site to appear.

He read how Dirk was arrested on May 22nd, 1935, after the Texarkana bank robbery.

He noticed how Dirk still escaped and died in 1940, just like the history books stated.

The significant change was that Dirk was credited for killing Buford Sanders. Clark was glad history was updated with that truth.

His heart raced when he saw the link for Marge. He clicked on her link and noticed that her history didn’t change.

He started to miss Marge when he saw her black and white mug shot of her the day she was arrested with him.

He saw the link titled “Unknown Mysterious Member” and knew it was about him.

His heart really raced while the contents of that part of the site appeared.

“The Dirk Beaumont had a mysterious member that appeared during the last year the gang ran from the law,” he read then paused. “What bullshit,” he said then glanced back at the article.

“This unknown mysterious member’s career ended on May 22nd, nineteen thirty-five when he and Margret Levitt were arrested by the Texas Rangers while running away from the Beaumont gang’s hideout. The law officials suspected that Dirk had a female member of his gang but could never get her identity until that day,” he read from the website then recalled that even taking place yesterday in his mind.

Clark took a drink of some more coffee.

“The unknown member was sprung from the Texarkana jail by a Doctor Wallace Burns posing as a fake agent of the Bureau of Investigation,” Clark read.

“Doctor Wallace Burns? How did they know his real name?” said Clark, and he got curious.

He clicked on a link titled “Release Form,” and saw a scanned in copy of that form that Wallace signed. His eyes widened when he noticed that his uncle signed the form as Dr. Wallace Burns of Austin, Texas. “No wonder they knew his real name and that we were heading to Austin. Uncle, you’re a goof,” he said but was still proud of his goof of an uncle for saving his life. He was glad he didn’t experience all that electricity frying the insides of his body.

Clark took another drink of his coffee and continued to read the site.

“Gas station owners from Texarkana to Austin called their local police departments on a man using counterfeit money with dates from the future,” Clark read then chuckled that Wallace overlooked one minor detail for his jailbreak. He took another drink of his coffee, then went back to the website.

“The Austin police tried to arrest the unknown member and Mr. Burns in their town later that night, but the two were able to escape into the night. The unknown member was never identified nor found. Extensive searches by the Bureau of Investigation lead to dead ends. It was like they vanished into thin air. The search for Mr. Burns remained a cold case for years to come. His true identity may never be known,” read Clark with a smirk.

He clicked on the “Unknown Mysterious Member Mugshot” link and saw his mugshot from May 1935. Clark stared at it, and nobody would ever connect him as being that unknown member of the Dirk Beaumont. He now regretted being placed in the history books as an outlaw.

Clark got up from his computer table and walked out of his den with his coffee cup in hand.

He went into the kitchen and poured another cup of coffee.

While Clark was drinking his second cup of coffee, Wallace was back at his house feeling guilty for getting Dr. Evans Chevrolet shot up. He wondered how he could pay him back. His eyes lit up with an idea.

He rushed into this study and over to his computer. After it powered up, he started typing a letter in Word.

Back at Clark’s house, he got dressed in a golf shirt and blue jeans.

He rushed out of his house and got inside his hot rod.

He backed down the driveway and roared off down his street.

A little while later, Clark parked his hot rod at the Highland Mall near the airport.

He went inside the mall and went to a hair salon. He was able to get an appointment for an hour later.

While he had some time to kill, Clark rushed over to a nearby men’s clothing store to shop. He looked around and decided he needed to upgrade his outfits to today’s time.

After he was done clothes shopping, he went back to the hair salon. His stylist was ready.

“How may I help you today?” asked the stylist after she placed the apron around the front of Clark’s body.

“Short and style the top. It’s way too long,” she said.

“Okay,” the stylist replied, then started to perform her magic on his hair.

While she started cutting his hair, Clark thought about his two beautiful sexual experiences with Marge. While he began to recall their episode at the creek behind their last hideout, he started to get an erection in his jeans. He immediately stopped thinking about her afraid he would embarrass himself and get kicked out of the salon.

But he couldn’t get his mind off Marge.

Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. Shit! He cured in his mind when he realized that something with the course of history might have been seriously altered.

After the stylist styled Clark’s hair that was more suitable for today’s time, he rushed out of the mall.

Back at Wallace’s barn the time machine disappeared in a poof raining a million pieces of red, white, blue, green, and yellow lights all over the place.

The colored lights dissolved into thin air.

While Wallace headed back in time, Clark immediately drove to the nearest Walgreens pharmacy.

When he got inside Walgreens, he rushed over and picked out a Paternity DNA testing kit.

He paid for the kit and rushed home.

Once Wallace got back home, he read the instructions on using the DNA kit.

Then he sat around and pondered how he could discreetly perform this task.

Meanwhile, it was back to Friday three in the morning on May 24th, 1935.

Wallace’s time machine reappeared in Victor’s barn again.

The side door to the barn opened, and Wallace ran out after he verified that Victor’s house was dark and quiet.

He ran through the grass and headed down the driveway.

Wallace ran down the street and stopped at the next driveway to a neighbor’s farm.

He reached inside his pants pocket and removed a letter.

It was addressed to Dr. Evans at the University of Texas in Austin. Wallace even had an old stamp from his stamp collection as a kid. He hated to use it but knew it would serve a much-needed purpose. This letter gave Dr. Evans the idea to buy stock from the Electric Boat defense company.

Wallace wrote that it would bring him a great reward and would compensate for the destruction of his Chevrolet.

He also apologized for taking his car, and he couldn’t explain why he did what he did. Then Wallace ended the letter telling Dr. Evans not to drive his car on that fatal day in 1946.

After Wallace placed the letter in the neighbor’s mailbox, he ran back to Victor’s barn.

While Wallace time-traveled back to 1935 from his short trip, Clark got dressed in one of his new outfits.

He decided to try his next mission.

He left his house and walked over to Dudley’s home.

Back in Wallace’s barn, his time machine returned back from his short trip.

He got out of the machine and walked over to the door of the room. He stared at his machine and reflected on what problems it had caused. Then all of a sudden, his mind was filled with memories that he didn’t have before he time traveled. He recalled how Dr. Evans died in 1953 and not in 1945. He smiled, knowing that the machine altered the course of history for good. But while he stared at it, there was something about the machine he didn’t care about. He left the room and the barn.

Once Clark arrived at Dudley’s home, he knocked on the front door. His heart raced in anticipation on who would answer. He saw Kristy’s car in the driveway but wondered if she would look the same. He wondered if she would resemble him a little.

The front door opened and Kristy appeared. She hadn’t changed.

“May I help you?” asked Kristy as she didn’t recognize Clark.

“I’m Clark Burrows, your neighbor,” he said while he looked at her soft blue eyes.

Kristy had to do a double-take then it dawned on her. “You look so different,” she said and gave a slight smile that she approved of Clark’s new looks.

“Thanks. Listen, I was wondering if I could chat with your daddy?” he asked.

“What a coincidence, daddy was just asking to talk with you again.

Please come inside, Clark,” she said, and this time, he could tell there was a difference in her voice. It was a tone that she was actually glad to see Clark.

He stepped inside her home.

“He’s in bed feeling a little tired today,” she said while she closed the front door.

Once he got inside their house, Kristy walked him through the living room and down the hallway.

She walked him into Dudley’s bedroom where he lay in bed and listened to the radio. It was a station that played songs from the 1930s and 1940s. The Take the A Train song played.

Dudley looked at Clark and didn’t recognize him.

“It’s Clark, our neighbor,” said Kristy.

Dudley did a double-take. “Clark, you look so much different,” he said.

“I decided I needed a change,” said Clark while he walked over to the right side of Dudley’s bed.

Kristy brought over a chair for Clark to sit in. “May I get you something to drink?” she asked.

“No, I’m fine,” replied Clark and thought it was a little strange that Kristy was actually kind to him.

While he sat down in the chair, she left the bedroom.

“I’m glad you came over. I was wondering if you needed any more information about daddy?”

Clark looked at Dudley and got really curious. “I was wondering if you had the most recent picture of your momma?”

“Picture of momma,” Dudley repeated while he tried to recall where he placed it. His eyes widened when he remembered. “There should be one on the drawer by the bedside table next to you.

Clark leaned over and saw a small framed picture. He grabbed the picture and saw an old lady around seventy-five years old sitting in a rocking chair with a Christmas tree in the background.

“Is this her?” asked Clark while he showed Dudley the picture.

Dudley looked at the picture. “Yeah, that’s momma at Christmas in her nursing home before she died from lung cancer back in ninety.”

Clark looked at the picture and thought it was a shame how time erased all those sexy curves Marge’s body had so many men dreaming and replaced it with wrinkles and saggy body parts. “I bet she was a good momma,” he said while glancing down at the picture.

“She sure was,” replied Dudley with a smile recalling all those great moments he had with Marge growing up.

Clark glanced back at the picture then remembered how Marge loved smoking cigarettes back then.

The song on the radio ended, and a new one started. Clark’s eyes widened when he realized that the That’s All song started on the radio.

Dudley’s eyes widened when he remembered something. “I forgot to tell you about this unknown mysterious member of Dirk’s gang that appeared in Austin. Momma stated that he ran with them during the week before they got arrested in Texarkana. She never knew his real name,” he said then he hummed along with that song.

“That was one of her favorite songs. She claimed that she heard that unknown member who used the name Jake Johnson sing parts of that song to her. When it came out in fifty-two, she believed that that mysterious Jake guy wrote it.”

Clark listened to that song then recalled that day he sang a little of it for Marge. He smiled over that memory.

Dudley’s eyes widened when he remembered something else. “And momma still believed that that Jake guy. She still called him Jake since she didn’t know his real name. Anyway, she claimed that Jake also wrote Glenn Miller’s Moonlight Serenade song. But I seriously doubt that.”

Clark then recalled that moment when he hummed out that song to Marge and how she hummed it that night under the moonlight out by the creek. Then that thought reminded Clark while he showed up at Dudley’s home.

“I never heard those stories,” said Clark.

Dudley yawned. “Momma said that after Daddy broke out of prison, he searched for Jake Johnson guy knowing he also escaped. Daddy wanted to kill him for causing them to get arrested. But that Jake guy vanished into thin air and his location remained a mystery forever,” he said then yawned again. Then he looked at Clark, and his eyes widened he remembered something. “Oh, there’s something I wanted to tell you. Remember when you asked who made that anonymous call to the Little Rock cops about daddy being at that Little Rock hotel?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, momma did it,” Dudley said while fighting off the yawns.

“Why?”

“She was afraid that he would bring me into a life of crime. She called from a payphone at the gas station in Little Rock while she filled the car up with gas for the ride home. She was protecting me. She hated to do that but knew it was best,” said Dudley then his eyes started t