Chapter 10
It was 5:30 p.m., later that evening, and Josh finished his crap detail and returned to his hotel room, where he immediately soaked in the bathtub.
There was a light tapping sound on the bathroom door, and then the door slowly opened.
Josh sat straight up and looked irritated. "I still have five minutes," he yelled out, thinking it was Maggie performing her duties as the bathroom police.
The door continued to slowly open, and Josh quickly covered his crotch.
"Stupid maid," Josh said under his breath while the door continued to creak open. Then his eyes lit up with joy the second he saw Jenny enter the bathroom with a clean pair of pants and a shirt.
She closed the door behind her, and she smiled at the sight of Josh. "Rub a rub dub, sexy man in a tub."
Josh loved her comment.
Jenny held up clean clothes. "I heard about your detail, so I thought you could use some fresh clothes."
"Paradise isn't Paradise," he replied.
Jenny hung his fresh clothes up on the hooks on the wall.
"I know. You better hurry before that maid busts in here and arrests you for excessive tub time," she jokingly said, then winked at Josh and left the bathroom.
Josh looked at his fresh clothes and smiled at the thought of Jenny being thoughtful to him.
A little while later, Josh walked out of his hotel and headed to the Dining Hall, afraid that if he didn't show up for dinner, they might hang him.
Josh just made it into the Dining Hall before the doors were closed. He rushed over to table twelve and eyed table four, where Jenny was already seated.
Josh sat down next to James, and they both stared at the three empty seats.
Walt dropped off their steak dinners with corn on the cob, broccoli, and mash potatoes.
Kimmy came up behind Walt and dropped off their two glasses of milk.
James started cutting his steak while Josh suddenly lost his appetite.
"Did Sara go home?" James asked while he looked at the empty seats.
Josh opened up his mouth to respond but shut it the second he saw Charlie standing in the doorway with cowboys Bart, Jesse, Sam, and Jimmy.
"May I have your attention?" Charlie called out from the door to the Dining Hall.
It was quiet in the room, and all eyes were on Charlie.
"Marshall Fisher wants everybody outside by the courthouse. You can finish dinner afterward," he addressed everybody.
The room was quiet while everybody got up from their tables and headed to the door.
Josh and James walked out of the Dining Hall with all the other folks and stood in the street. They saw the gallows in the middle of the street.
Josh and James both knew this was meant for Willard.
The door to the Marshall's Office opened, and Marshall Fisher, with another cigar in his mouth, walked out and headed to the gallows.
Then cowboys Tony and Steve escorted Willard out who was handcuffed out of the Marshall's Office.
Cowboys Mark and Ray walked out of the Marshall's Office and followed the other cowboys.
Charlie stepped out of the Marshall's Office and stood on the front porch with his arms crossed while he looked at the gallows then eyed the crowd.
Marshall Fisher walked up the steps of the gallows.
Marshall Fisher walked on the platform of the gallows and headed to the noose. He faced the crowd and waited.
Tony and Steve walked Willard up the steps to the gallows.
Mark and Ray walked up the steps to the gallows.
Willard dug his heels into the wood while he fought from being escorted over to the noose. "Please don't let them kill me!" he screamed out to the crowd of town folk that felt sorry for Willard but knew they couldn't save his life.
Steve punched Willard in his stomach, and he dropped to his knees in pain.
Tony and Steve dragged Willard over to the noose.
Steve pulled Willard up by his hair and stood him up in front of Marshall Fisher.
Marshall Fisher paced back and forth while he addressed the crowd, who looked upset with what was about to happen. "It gives me great displeasure to stand before you with another individual who thinks he can just up and leave Paradise without permission," he told the crowd.
"Please don't kill me!" Willard cried out while Steve placed a noose around his neck.
Tony struggled to tighten to the noose around Willard's neck while he fought to get free.
Marshall Fisher got in Willard's face. "I built this beautiful place for people like you. People who wanted to get away from their miserable lives. And you repay me by trying to leave?" Marshall Fisher yelled in Willard's face.
"I was forced to perform oral sex on Butch the faggot!" Willard screamed out in a muffled tone while the noose was tight around his vocal cords.
Butch looked at the gallows from the edge of the crowd he monitored and was furious with Willard's comment.
"And now, this guy lies in my face about one of my good cowboys who keep crime out of Paradise!" Marshall Fisher told the audience.
A huge wet spot formed in Willard's crotch while he peed his pants afraid of dying.
Marshall Fisher nodded at Mark, who moved a wooden lever.
The trap door opened up under Willard's boots, and he dropped into the hole. His neck snapped, and that was a sound that would again haunt the minds of most of the town folk of Paradise.
They silently watched in horror while Willard's lifeless body dangled from the rope.
Josh's eyes welled up while he saw his short-term friend's lifeless body dangle from the noose.
Marshall Fisher looked satisfied while he looked down at Willard's dead body. "Get this piece of trash out of here," he ordered his cowboys.
Cowboy Steve removed a large Bowie knife and started cutting away at the rope.
After a few minutes of Steve cutting through the rope, Willard's dead body dropped to the dirt with a thud.
"To brighten up this sad moment, we're having a dance tonight in the dining hall in two hours, and the drinks are on me. Besides, everybody can have Saturday off from work except for the General Store, which will close at high noon that day. So please go to your rooms and freshen up dance and have a great time tonight," Marshall Fisher told the town folks while cowboys Steve, Ray, Mark, and Tony all walked down the steps and went underneath the gallows.
The cowboys picked up Willard by his arms and legs and carted him off to a wagon parked by the side of the Marshall's Office.
Marshall Fisher walked down the steps of the gallows and headed to his office while the cowboys tossed Willard's dead body into the back of the wagon.
Everybody started walking down Paradise Lane in a somber mood and headed toward their respective hotels.
Bob stood in the street, and he had fire in his eyes while he eyed Marshall Fisher when he walked over to his office.
Bob walked away and headed toward the saloon.
Josh saw Jenny, and his eyes lit up and headed to her to ask her to dance tonight. But he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Marshall Fisher walk over and started chatting with her.
He was disappointed while he walked down a side street and headed to his hotel.
Two hours later, Josh and the rest of the town folk of Paradise headed to the Paradise Dining Hall for the dance.
Inside the Dining Hall, all the tables were removed for the party. All the chairs were placed up against three walls for the residents to sit and relax if desired. Against the fourth wall was an area for the band, which consisted of Paul, the fiddle player, George the banjo player, Lenny the guitar player, and Hank, the stand-up bass player. To the right side of the band was a makeshift bar that served beer, whiskey, and apple juice.
The band was tuning up their instruments while the folks started entering the room in fresh clothes.
Josh entered the room and immediately scanned the room for Jenny but couldn't find her amongst the 20 folks that already arrived.
He walked through the waiting folks and headed to the bar.
"Beer please," Josh told Wendell the Paradise Saloon bartender with a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth.
Josh spotted Bob Jackson, who sat depressed in a seat by the wall and drank his mug of beer.
Wendell spat some tobacco into a brass spittoon while he poured some beer into a glass mug from a keg then handed it over to Josh.
He turned around and took a sip of beer while he looked the room over for Jenny.
Flocks of town folks entered, and Josh continued his search for Jenny while he sipped his beer and walked around the room.
After ten minutes of walking around all of the town folk, Josh finally saw Jenny, in a new brown dress, while he stood near the door.
He walked over to her. "Hello, miss Burns, you look lovely tonight," he said.
"Thank you, mister Bryant, and I should add that you look handsome tonight," she replied with a warm smile.
Josh looked a little nervous while he hesitated to say something. "So Jenny, may I accompany you at this dance?" he asked with hopeful eyes.
Jenny took a few seconds to respond, and Josh thought she was going to turn him down.
"I would love for you to accompany me at the dance," she replied with a loving smile.
Josh held Jenny's hand and walked her over and placed the empty beer mug on the bar.
The band started playing a slow song.
"May I have this dance, my beautiful lady?" he asked while he held out his hand.
Jenny smiled while she accepted his hand, and they walked to the center of the room where other couples started slow dancing.
Josh placed his arms around Jenny, and they started slow dancing with the other couples.
"What the hell is going on here?" he whispered into his ear as he felt he could trust her.
"It's best to forget things that you recently saw. Marshall Fisher can make your life miserable if you complain about anything," she whispered back in his ear.
"I was lied to by Charlie," he whispered back into her ear.
"We all were," she whispered back into his ear.
"Fisher didn't build this place for us. He built it for his own sick perversion to be a dictator," he whispered back.
"I know," she whispered.
"We need to find a way out of here," he whispered back.
"We're stuck here for good, so pretend you love this place," she whispered back.
Josh looked determined to find a way out of here, but he didn't want to leave Jenny behind in this hellhole.
A hand appeared and pulled Josh apart from Jenny.
"I'm going to dance with her," Marshall Fisher said with another cigar in his mouth while he pushed Josh out of the way.
Marshall Fisher grabbed Jenny and forced her body up against his and started slow dancing with her.
Jenny turned her head away from the cigar smoke that irritated her eyes.
Josh looked pissed at that sight but decided to leave it alone when he saw cowboys Tony, Steve, Ray, and Mark near him.
Steve and Tony each grabbed one of Josh's arms.
"She's his date for the evening," Steve said while he and Tony walked Josh away and took him over to the bar.
"Give this boy a beer," Steve told Wendell the bartender.
Wendell poured Josh some beer in a mug and handed it to him.
Steve and Tony walked away and headed back through the crowd to Marshall Fisher.
Josh stood by the bar and sipped his beer while he eyed the crowd, dancing for the sight of Jenny.
The song ended, and Josh finally saw Jenny while Marshall Fisher talked with her by the door. He grabbed Jenny by her hand and walked her to the door.
Jenny looked back at the crowd and saw Josh at the bar. She looked concerned while Marshall Fisher walked her out the door and went outside.
Josh rushed through the crowd and headed to the door.
Josh rushed out the door and walked to the front porch of the Dining Hall. He looked down Paradise Lane and saw Marshall Fisher escort Jenny with the four cowboys trailing to his mansion.
Cowboys Jesse and Bart walked up to Josh.
"Get back inside the dance," Jesse told Josh.
"Nobody is allowed out of the dining hall until the dance is over," Bart added with a mean glare.
Josh went back inside the Dining Hall and hated every minute of the dance, as all he could think about was Jenny being with Marshall Fisher.
After the dance, everybody was allowed to leave the Dining Hall and return to their respective hotel rooms.
Josh glanced back at Fisher's mansion and silently prayed that the Marshall didn't have his way with Jenny.
He moped back to his hotel room.