Chapter 9
It was Friday morning, and Josh only got two hours of sleep and woke up exhausted.
After Josh took his fifteen-minute bath, got dressed and went to the stinky outhouses, dropped his clothes off at the Paradise Laundry, and ate breakfast, then he waited by General Store with the other folks for the wagon.
While they waited, they heard horses coming down Paradise Lane from the entrance. They looked and saw four Indians riding bareback with Willard on a lone horse with his hands tied behind his back.
Josh saw the fear in Willard's eyes when they rode past everybody.
Bo drove his wagon up to everybody.
"Let's get going," Bo said while he stopped his wagon by Josh and everybody.
Everybody climbed in the rear of the wagon.
Bo snapped his reins and turned his wagon around and headed out of Paradise.
While the wagon rode down the street, Josh looked back down the street and saw the Indians while they escorted Willard into the Marshall's Office. He looked away and wasn't looking forward to the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, at the Indian camp by the mountains, Sara was dressed in a female's Indian outfit, and she sat next to Chief Merijildo outside his teepee.
On the other side of Chief Merijildo sat Diana, a twenty-five-year-old female with auburn hair and freckled pale white skin, and she was four months pregnant. Sara and Diana both looked lifeless while six male Indians danced around them in some type of wedding ceremony ritual. All the other male and female Indians sat nearby and watched the ceremony that would make Sara the second wife of Chief Merijildo.
After a few minutes later, the Indians stopped dancing, and an older Indian woman walked up with a multi-colored blanket.
She spread the blanket out on the dirt in front of Chief Merijildo.
Then two Indian females walked up, and each grabbed one of Sara's arms.
Sara looked concerned when they brought her to her feet. Then the two female Indians started to undress Sara, who fought back when she realized what they were doing.
But the two female Indians won, and they removed Sara's Indian outfit, and she stood bare ass naked in front of the whole Indian tribe. She immediately tried to cover her naked body with her arms and hands, but the two female Indians forced her hands and arms away.
"No!" Sara said while the saw Chief Merijildo stand up and removed his Indian outfit and stood there naked with his saggy, wrinkly skin.
The two Indians tried to move Sara down to the blanket, but Sara started to squirm away.
Then two other female Indians rushed over and helped, and they forced Sara down on her back on the blanket.
"No!" Sara screamed while the Indians spread out her legs and arms and held her down on the blanket. "Rape!" she screamed out while Chief Merijildo climbed on top of Sara. "No! No!" she screamed out and tried to squirm away the second Chief Merijildo penetrated her.
Sara closed her eyes while they welled up while Chief Merijildo grunted while he fucked her.
It took three minutes, and Chief Merijildo was finished. He climbed off Sara, and then the entire tribe cheered an Indian cheer.
Sara glanced at Chief Merijildo's wrinkly, saggy naked skin, and she felt sick. Then she bolted up and covered her mouth. She ran over to the backside of the Chief's teepee and got on her hands and knees. She heard chuckles from the Indians while she vomited into the dirt.
Back in the garden, Josh looked depressed while he picked corn and dropped them into a bushel basket. His thoughts flipped flopped between Jenny and Sara.
It was 4:00 p.m., and the wagons were loaded with bushel baskets of vegetables, corn, and fruit.
"Let's head back to Paradise," Bo told everybody while he climbed up his wagon and sat down in his seat. He snapped the reins, and the horses pulled the wagon toward the dirt road. Josh and everybody walked behind the wagon.
The other four wagon drivers followed Bo and the other workers walked following their assigned wagons.
Fifteen minutes later, Bo drove his wagon down Paradise Lane and stopped in front of the Dining Hall.
Josh and everybody immediately started grabbing the baskets and talking them into the Dining Hall.
While Josh carried a basket of corn into the Dining Hall, he looked down the street and saw Jenny while she stood outside and waved. He smiled, and it was the sight of her that made Paradise worth wild.
Ten minutes later, and all the wagons were unloaded except for a bushel of apples in Bo's wagon.
"Josh, take those apples to the General Store, then you can head to the bank. Today's payday," he said, then climbed up his wagon and sat down in the seat.
Josh removed the basket of apples from the rear of Bo's wagon.
Bo snapped the reins, and the horse pulled the wagon down the street, and the other four wagons followed.
Josh looked down the street and saw Jenny while she walked back inside the doctor's office.
Josh carried the basket of apples to the General Store and went inside.
The inside of the General Store was full of clothes, medicine, toiletries, candy, and occasional fruit.
Melvin was the sixty-five-year-old chubby and balding manager of the Paradise General Store, and he got this job because he was a close chum to Blaine Fisher. He also invested $100,000 of his own money into the construction of the land of Paradise, and that entitled him to other fringe benefits.
James swept the floor while Josh entered with the bushel of apples.
"Bo said to bring these apples here to the store," Josh said while he walked up to the counter where Melvin worked behind the cash register.
Melvin looked at the basket and looked over by the candy rack. "Place it over by the candy," he said then went back to work tallying up today's sales.
Josh walked the basket of apples over to the candy rack and placed it on the floor.
Josh walked over to James, who was sweeping near the back door.
"Are they going to have a hanging later?" he quietly asked James.
"I heard Marshall Fisher had another court session today," James quietly replied.
"I saw the Indians bringing Willard in this morning," Josh quietly said.
"What did he do?" James quietly said and stopped sweeping.
"He told me he was going to escape from Paradise," Josh quietly replied.
"Doesn't that dope know that there's no escaping from Paradise," James quietly responded and looked upset with Willard.
Melvin looked over at Josh and James and looked bothered. "James, I want you to take inventory of the entire store."
"I'll see you at dinner," James told Josh, then he walked away to a broom closet at the other side of the room.
Josh walked to the front door of the store and went outside.
Josh walked out of the store and walked down Paradise Lane and headed to the bank.
Inside the Paradise National Bank, cowboys Clint and Richard stood guard by the front door and kept a watchful eye on the customers.
Josh entered the bank, walked over, and stood in line behind the other workers from the garden.
Ten minutes later, and it was Josh's turn to see Jackie, the female bank teller.
"Name," Jackie asked when Josh approached her window.
"Josh Bryant."
Jackie looked at a piece of paper; then, she opened up the cash drawer and removed some bills.
She handed Josh four $1 bills.
Josh looked at the bills and saw they looked like real money but had Blaine Fisher's picture instead of George Washington. "This looks like counterfeit money," Josh said while he looked at the bills.
Cowboy Clint rushed over and grabbed Josh by his arm and rushed him to the door.
"What did I do?" Josh asked and looked baffled.
Clint was quiet while Richard opened up the door for Clint.
Outside the bank, Clint marched Josh to the Marshall's Office with numerous town folk watching.
Inside the Marshall's Office, Charlie sat with his cowboy boots kicked up on the desk. He played a tune on his harmonica.
Marshall Fisher had his boots kicked up on his desk while he slouched in his chair with his cowboy hat over his eyes while he took a catnap.
From one of the two jail cells, Willard lay on his bunk and looked scared while he stared at the ceiling.
The door opened, and Clint rushed Josh inside by his arm.
Charlie stopped playing his harmonica, and Marshall Fisher sat up and took off his hat.
"What happened?" Marshall Fisher asked.
"This dork made comments that our money is counterfeit," Clint replied.
Marshall Fisher and Charlie got up from behind their desks and marched over to Josh, pissed.
"Are you going to be giving me more trouble, Mister Bryant?" Marshall Fisher asked.
Willard got off his bunk and walked to his cell bars to see what was going on with Josh.
Josh's eyes widened when he saw Willard in the cell, and Willard looked scared to death.
Charlie walked up to Clint and Josh.
Marshall Fisher nodded at Charlie.
Charlie punched Josh in his stomach.
Josh dropped to the floor in pain.
Marshall Fisher pulled Josh up by his hair and got in his face.
"I'm seeing that we'll have to teach this boy some
manners. Take him to Wilbur, and I want him helping out for the rest of his shift," Marshall Fisher said while he looked at Charlie.
"Yes sir," Charlie replied then.
Charlie grabbed Josh's arm and escorted him to the door with Clint trailing behind.
Marshall Fisher walked back over to his chair, sat down, and kicked his boots up on his desk.
Willard walked back to his jail cell bunk and sat down.
Charlie and Clint escorted Josh to the outhouse row by the hotels on Fisher's Lane.
They walked up a "Use Outhouse On Other Side of Town" sign at the beginning at the alley leading to the outhouses.
They escorted Josh over to seventy-year-old Wilbur strained where he lifted a wooden bucket with rope handles and placed it on the rear of a wooden wagon where there were three other buckets.
When Josh was escorted past the wagon, the stench of human waste from the buckets was overpowering, and he started to get the dry heaves.
Charlie got a smirk over the sight of Josh. "Wilbur."
Wilbur looked at Charlie. "What?"
"The Marshall wants this turd to help you for the rest of your shift," Charlie said then threw Josh into the dirt.
Charlie and Clint turned around and rushed away, as the stench was starting to make them sick.
Wilbur walked up to Josh while he stood up.
"The job's simple. We drag the buckets of shit and piss out from under the outhouses and put it in the rear of the wagon. Then we empty them in the pit in the forest and put them back under the outhouses," he told Josh.
Josh pinched his nose and nodded that he understood the instructions.
Wilbur walked over to an outhouse, and he unlatched a door at the bottom. He reached underneath the outhouse and dragged out a wooden bucket where some of the waste splashed out onto the dirt. Wilbur looked at Josh, who stood there, pinching off his nose. "Get your ass over here and help," he said in a raised tone.
Josh walked over and grabbed one rope handle while Wilbur grabbed the other handle.
The bucket sloshed while they carried it to the wagon with Josh having dry heaves all the way.
They both lifted and placed in the rear of the wagon.
Wilbur walked over, climbed up the wagon, and sat down in the driver's seat.
Josh stayed at the rear of the wagon, and Wilbur noticed. "We're not done yet. Climb aboard," he called out.
Josh walked over, climbed up, and got in the wagon's seat next to Wilbur.
Wilbur snapped the reins, and the horse pulled the wagon away.
A little while later, Wilbur drove the wagon down a smaller dirt trail deep into the forest.
"You must have pissed off Marshall Fisher to get this duty today."
"I called his money counterfeit when I was at the bank."
"Ouch. I pissed him off big time, and he put me on permanent outhouse duty," Wilbur replied and looked upset. "I guess you can say I'm the head turd," he added with a chuckle, then he looked sad.
Josh chuckled then looked sad.
"The bastard had my wife working as his personal cook," Wilbur added.
"Had?"
Wilbur wiped away a tear. "My wife Dorothy died, and Marshall Fisher buried her without a funeral and told me a week later. So I punched him in his mouth, hence this job," he said with anger still brewing inside while he thought about that day.
"This place isn't Paradise, and I can't believe you get hung for trying to leave," Josh replied, and he looked sad while he thought about Jerry being hung and Willard waiting in jail.
"Everybody had their own reason for coming to Paradise with the belief it would be a better life. Boy were we all duped," Wilbur said.
"I guess my life back home wasn't so bad after all," Josh replied.
"The grass is often never greener on the other side," said Wilbur.
Josh nodded in agreement while Wilbur drove the wagon to a huge hole.
He stopped the wagon and climbed down off the wagon.
Josh sniffed the air and got the dry heaves over the strong stench of human waste.
"It's time to unload," Wilbur said while he walked to the rear of the wagon.
Josh got down from the wagon and walked over to Wilber.
He helped Wilbur remove a bucket of crap from the back of the wagon.
They walked the bucket over to the pit of human waste. They dumped the contents of the bucket into the pit, where some waste splashed up at them.
His eyes widen, and he rushed over to a tree and immediately dropped his hands and knees.
Wilbur laughed at the sight of Josh on his hands and knees, vomiting.
Josh stood up and looked pale.
"Did I ever tell you the problem I have?" Wilbur asked Josh while he walked back to the wagon.
"No," Josh replied when he got to the wagon.
"I have this problem in that everything I eat turns to shit," Wilbur said with a grin.
Josh looked at the pit of shit and turned around and bolted back to the tree. He dropped to his hands and knees and vomited again.
Wilbur laughed from the wagon at the sight of Josh.
Josh got up, still pale, and walked back to the wagon. "Please be nice," he pleaded while he climbed up and sat down next to Wilbur.
"Okay," Wilbur replied, then snapped the reins, and the horse pulled the buggy away from the pit.
The farther and farther the wagon drove away from the pit, the more and more Josh quit feeling like he was going to vomit.