The First Time

by DixieDavenport

This was orignally posted as a one shot reply to a challage, but is expandable. This is about phone call in the middle of the night and everyone in the Duke family's 'First Time' at dealing with such things.

44. What the Morning Light can Reveal

This chapter is a bit longer. Sorry that it was delayed by a trip for work. I was gone three days for a class so I wanted to get this posted before returning to work tomorrow. Hope you enjoy and take the time to review. Thanks.

This is for AndyDuke and any folks that I confused. Yes Hazzard and Placid are in the same state, but the one major thing about Hazzard is that Boss even then owned the law and as long as he was making money he looked the other way or instructed his employees to do so. In Hazzard I have the legal drinking age at 18, though at 16 if you knew how to you could possibly sneak something to drink in the dark crowded bar as long as someone there was 18 to order it. In Placid and rest of the state it is like it should be 21. Thanks to Jadedphoenixburning for actually looking up the laws in Georgia (even though they only pin pointed Hazzard County as East of the Mississippi and South of the Mason Dixon Line)for somewhere in this time period. From 1933 to 1972, drinking age was 21 like in Placid County. Then, from 72 it was lowered for about 10 years to 18. Since this is set before Luke goes in the Marines it is sometime in the early 70's. I figure Boss seen the change coming and went ahead and lowered it for Hazzard County.

Side note - In the beginning of the story when I set Hazzard's drinking age at 18 it was because that's what it was here in WV when I was 18. Only AFTER I turned 21 did they raise it to 21. I was 18 in 1984 so telling my old age here.

Vector 426 - Thanks for the great review. Yeah, if Pauline don't take blood pressure medication, maybe she should have started a couple days ago! Jesse is never sympathetic about a hang over or drinking to excess. He and his brothers have had their days (Umm, seems John may have for got his lessons) and learned. Jesse doesn't uphold them or fill sorry for them, but he knows they too have to live and learn. I got a feeling there are several 'Pipers' needing to be paid. Stand by!

01~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~01

Chapter 44

Jesse got up whistling for the first time in what seemed like a long while. All his kids were home. Though they may not be a hundred percent today, at least Bo would likely be getting the cast off this week. Things may just be getting back to normal. He knew that it would take Luke awhile to heal but they would manage. Just like they had managed when Luke had been hurt playing football. It rubbed Jesse the wrong way that the Green boy had intentionally hurt his oldest, but from the sounds of it he would be getting his for the next three months or so.

Jesse dressed and made coffee. After drinking his first cup of coffee, Jesse got out the large frying pan to get ready to fix breakfast for all the kids and their friends. He looked out toward the barn and didn't see any movement what so ever. Jesse shook his head. He knew the boys had went to the Boar's Nest early last evening. He hoped they hadn't gotten into the shine in the barn when they got home. Well he didn't mean that exactly. Jesse knew that Luke was likely hurting so he didn't really mind if they all had a drink with him. He just really hoped they didn't over do things. Jesse poured another cup of coffee and after taking a long drink he squared his shoulders and started for the barn.

Jesse opened the barn door. To his surprise he didn't see any of the boys. He fumed there was Bo with a still broken wrist and Luke with broken ribs. Neither should be going up the barn ladder. He grumbled as he started up the ladder and still heard no movement up there. The boys should have been up and ready a half hour ago. Jesse topped the ladder. Looking in the loft he saw his boys and two friends in various locations all over the loft. But, what caught his attention was a quart jar that was empty by Luke and gallon jug empty beside Cooter.

Jesse in his normal wake up voice said, "Luke."

Luke didn't even bother to budge.

"Bo." Jesse said a bit louder. Nothing. Jesse went on up the ladder and stood to the side of the loft. "BOYS!" Jesse nearly yelled.

Luke's body reacted to Jesse's voice. He set straight up only then did he feel the pain in his broken and bruised ribs. That wasn't to mention the added strain his body had been put through last night with Ruby. Luke first grabbed his ribs then his head as it now throbbed with his heart beat.

Bo bolted upright. Grabbed his head and groaned loudly.

Jeb also bolted upright. His eyes bugged out as he crawled his way to the loft door then promptly threw his guts up.

Mark's head was pounding without ever opening his eyes. He took a couple deep breaths in hopes of not joining Jeb as he groaned. The sound of Jeb tossing his 'cookies' didn't help one bit as he felt himself retch. If he could just lay real still and block out the sounds of a sick Jeb, Mark just may live to make it down the ladder.

Cooter groaned, "Uncle Mister Jesse. We're awake."

"I'm not your danged blame Uncle! But I am glad that you are ALL awake! Breakfast twenty minutes. Don't be late." Jesse said in a booming voice as he started back down the ladder.

Just the thought of breakfast cause Jeb to throw up that much more.

Luke was already setting up so laying back down wasn't an option. He hurt to set up. It hurt to breath. His head was pounding. The sun now beaming into the open loft door blinded him. Nothing he tried seemed to help so far so he stood up. Thankful that when he reached out he was able to grab the side wall of the barn with his right hand as his left still protectively cradled his sore ribs.

Cooter took one look at his friend, "Uh, Luke? Are you alright? You don't look so swell."

Luke wasn't sure that he had enough air in his chest to answer, so he merely nodded, "Yes."

Bo's head was pounding. He threw his right hand up hoping to sooth his head only to hit himself in the head with the plaster cast on his right arm. "Ahhh!" He groaned louder.

Luke started for the ladder.

Cooter asked, "Luke what are you doing? You can barely stand. Let me go down in front of you."

" 'K." Luke mumbled.

That was the second sign to Cooter that something wasn't right with his friend. Luke had given up far too easily. Once Cooter made it to the ground, he made sure that Luke also had both feet planted firmly on the ground before he looked back up to the top of the ladder. "Come on fellas. Uncle Mister Jesse better not have to come back out here or we are all in deep HOT water."

Mark made his way down the ladder leaving Bo with Jeb who was still violently ill.

Luke started out of the barn and noticed that he was still unsteady on his feet besides the fact that his ribs and head were hurting. Luke had been here before. He wasn't hung over. He was still drunk which would not go over well if Jesse figured that out.

Jeb took a couple deep breaths hoping that if there was anything else in his body that it stayed there. Not bothering to try to stand he crawled to the ladder.

Bo was glad that Jeb was moving toward the house at least. Bo's head was pounding from the alcohol that he had drank, the bright light beaming inside the loft, and the fact that he had waylay-ed himself with the plaster cast on his right arm. Bo was the last of the group to plant his feet on the ground of the barn. He was glad he hadn't let go of the ladder just yet as he had to use his left hand to steady himself before he tried to walk the distance from the barn to the house.

The walk from the barn to the house on any given day was nothing to the five country boys. Today, though, that same walk seemed like a survival mission in the Amazon. Each of the boys knew that Jesse may not have been seen, but they knew he didn't have to be seen to know that he was watching them.

When they all finally made it in the house the boys washed up for the morning as usual, then headed for the table.

Luke took a cup of coffee with him to the table in his right hand as his left was still supporting his ribs.

Daisy took one look at the bunch already at the table as she came in the kitchen and remarked, "Oh, My."

Jesse turned to put a plate of bacon on the table as if he hadn't noticed anything at all.

Jeb got only a smell of the delicious bacon, grabbed his mouth with his hand and bolted toward the bathroom.

Jesse looked after his youngest as he made a quick exit, then Jesse set down a plate of eggs on the table.

Bo as always, was the first to start filling his plate after grace. He took a quick bite of toast and eggs as he cut the next bite. Suddenly he stopped. The toast and eggs that should be heading down to his stomach were now in reverse. Bo knew that they had not so much as hit his stomach yet the food was on it's way back up. He grabbed to cover his mouth and bolted out the back door since Jeb was in the bathroom.

Jesse still had not said anything to any of them about their present condition.

Luke would have rather been being fussed at than waiting for his Uncle to get started fussing. He never liked to wait for the lectures he knew was sure to come when he least expected them. He took a sip of coffee and placed his head in his hand as he watched the second of his cousins that he was responsible for heading away from the breakfast table. They were not making it any easier on their oldest cousin who still had to tell his Uncle Jesse about Jeb's father.

Cooter went through the motions of taking a minimal bit of breakfast on his plate. He hoped that he could at least make it outside to chores before he tossed his breakfast.

The first plate passed to Mark was the toast. That seemed safe enough. He took a piece put it on his plate and passed it on. The bacon and eggs he passed on without taking any.

Jesse watched and waited. He was planning his lecture as he watched the group. They were obviously hung over, if not still drunk. Jesse Duke was never one to try to make saints out of the kids he knew would one day take over the family business but he never held to over indulgence, especially the night before the Lords day.

Daisy also seen what was going on but didn't dare say anything. She gave Luke a look.

Luke barely nodded his head, 'no'. He didn't want her to say anything just yet about John.

Jesse didn't miss this exchange between his two kids as he took a bite of his eggs. Heaven knew he was earning his gray hair but if he could save a few breaths he would do so. He was waiting for the others to get back to the table and for breakfast to wind down before he addressed the boys about their current state.

Everyone at the table sat in silence waiting for the younger two to return to the table as they all went through the motions of eating breakfast.

After tossing his cookies the last thing Bo wanted to do was to eat breakfast, but he knew he was expected at the table. Bo sighed. He knew he was in deep for coming to the table on a Sunday morning in his current condition, but he was sure to be in deeper if he didn't return to the family breakfast.

Jeb took the glass from the side of the sink and rinsed his mouth out, then he washed his face in cold water. He may not spend as much time with his uncle as Bo, Luke and Daisy, but he knew he was expected back at that table. Breakfast was cooked and Dukes don't waste food. Ever. A few more deep breaths and he was ready as he'd ever be to head back to the table. Jeb wasn't sure he'd be able to eat but he would at least return to the table. As he came down the hall toward the living room he met Bo. Both exchanged a look and dropped their head just a bit as they both returned to the breakfast table.

Jesse looked up from his plate as both his nephews returned to the table. "Welcome back."

Luke grimaced both from his pain and the pain from his uncles statement. Luke looked at the clock. He knew two things. One if John decided to call Jesse the phone was sure to ring soon. Two, if he called Pauline it may ring a bit later if she didn't wake up wondering where John was and call before he had a chance to call anyone. Luke took a sip of coffee and tried to clear his throat. "Uncle Jes, ... somethin, ... happene, ... last nig, ..." Luke stopped and tried to get his breath back. Luke swore to himself. He knew he had felt much better yesterday than he was this morning and it had nothing to do with too much alcohol. "We went, ..." Luke's voice faded out, "to the lake,..." He rubbed his forehead with his right hand as his left arm still cradled his ribs. Luke seen the long version wasn't going to happen. "Got back, ... the Boar's Nest, ... and, ..."

Bo had seen enough. He wasn't sure what was wrong with Luke but he didn't need to continue on. "Uncle Jesse what Luke is trying to say is, ..."

Jesse had been watching Luke. The longer he tried to talk the paler he had become. Jesse said to Luke, "You hush." then to Bo, "You talk."

Luke felt a bit of relief in not having to tell Jesse about his younger brother's escapades. He took a sip of coffee, kicked back in the chair trying to catch his breath as Bo began.

"Uncle Jesse we don't know what went on before we got there, but when we got to the Boar's Nest Rosco was breaking up a fight. One of the people he arrested was Uncle John."

"John? What was he doing there? Arrested? For what?" Jesse asked.

Bo took the lead of the bunch again, "We're not rightly sure, but it had to do with a fight between him and Mr. Campbell from the bank."

Jesse replied, "Campbell. Steve Campbell. Well, that about figures."

"You don't seemed surprised? Do they have a history?" Jeb asked.

"About like that there blamed stubborn mule and the Green boy." Jesse said as he motioned toward Luke.

"Great." Luke said then added, "Excuse me." He took his coffee and left his untouched meal and went to his familiar dining place on the mantel. That is where he had eaten his meals at when his back side was too sore to sit down from a whippin'. Today, however, it was so he could try to keep breathing.

Jesse wanted to hear more about John, but he'd seen Luke with similar rib injuries before. Something was wrong. "Luke." Jesse called as he went to him. "Are you alright, or did you just over do it last night?"

Luke never had a chance to reply as his feet were in gear before his mind was. Heading to the bathroom Luke tried every way he knew up not to throw up. He knew that throwing would be unpleasant at best on a normal basics but with the rib injury it would not help matters at all. The more his body retched the more he tried to stop it from doing so. The added stress on his ribs was nearly unbearable no matter how he tried to use his arms to stabilize his ribs. Luke lost the battle as the few sips of coffee he had gotten down came back up. For what seemed like an eternity, Luke alternated between heaving up anything in his system and groaning in pain from the heaving.

Jesse was no doctor, but Luke was his boy he'd raise from a toddler. Something wasn't right. Jesse needed to handle Bo and Jebb. He needed to find out more about John, but right now. Luke needed him more as he headed to the bathroom with concern written on his face. Jesse made it to the bathroom as Luke was throwing up. It was obvious to Jesse that Luke had drank shine last night but what worried him was that there was some blood in the toilet. Not a lot but blood was never a good thing.

Daisy seen the look and followed after her uncle. Jesse had been worried, maybe even scared. The Duke bathroom wasn't that big with Luke and Jesse inside so Daisy stopped at the door.

Jesse tried to be calm but it wasn't what he felt. He almost told Daisy to have Bo get his truck to the front door, but figured it was mush smarter to send Daisy. "Daisy bring the truck around and have Bo call Doc."

At the look on her Uncle's face Daisy nearly bolted back down the hall. As she headed out the back door like she was being chased, "Bo call Doc!"

Bo looked at the others confused, then got up. He couldn't imagine what was that wrong that Daisy and Jesse were so worried about. After all, Luke just drank too much last night but he headed to the phone anyway.

Jesse waited until Luke got himself settled down a bit then said, "Come on. We're going up town."

Luke closed his eyes and rubbed his head a second before saying, "But, ... I'm fine... Real, ...ly." He had tried his best to get the sentence out in one breath but it didn't work, at all.

"No. No, you are not fine. Now I need to go to town anyway so you can just go see Doc while we are there." Jesse said.

Luke knew he'd never win the arrangement he wanted to voice, but he frankly just didn't feel well enough to argue.

NARRATOR: "Mark that on the books. A Duke not feeling well enough to argue. This might be serious."

01~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~01

In Placid County, the girls had finally made the best of their situation and each taken one of the bunks of the two sets of bunk beds in their cell. Peggy had been out in no time. Charlene alternated between worrying and crying while Jackie and Karen had talked a long while.

Karen could not even think about how much trouble she was going to be in once her parents got there. She almost wished that Jeb had been home to run interference for her. She had been having the best date in a long while and now she was sitting in a cell wearing stripes for goodness sake. She hadn't even been allowed to keep her bra because it had under wires in it.

Within a couple hours all the girls had finally drifted off especially after all the paperwork had been done and the lights turned out.

Across the room, Larry had managed to get sick again but had finally passed out. Frank and Roy were still just high enough to find this strangely funny. Danny however, didn't find it at all funny. Not only were his parents going to kill him, but he'd likely never get another shot at Duke's sister again.

Frank asked, "How far did you get?"

Danny shook his head, "I'll just say things looked real promising until those lights came on." Danny had been the last to doze off. He had tried to stay awake thinking of how to get them out of this mess but nothing was coming to him.

It was nearing 7 am when the kitchen let the officers know the coffee was ready. Danny was the first awake so the officer intended to find out what the arresting officer needed to know. "Now, what's you name?"

Danny replied, "Daniel."

"Alright. So which one of them," he nodded toward the girls, "Was you with?"

Danny thought this was just guy talk, "The blond on the bottom bunk."

"Ya'll been out much?" The officer made small talk.

"No, last night was our first time going out. Looks like after this it will likely be our last too." Danny said.

The officer asked, "So what about you buddy there that likes to puke on the Troopers shoes?"

"That would be Larry." Danny replied.

"So what's with him?" The officer asked.

Danny didn't think nothing about chatting with the officer, "He must have gotten too carried away. He said he always wanted to make it with the preachers girl."

"Preacher's daughter huh? Which one?" The Officer asked.

"The one facing the wall above Karen." Danny said.

"And the others?" The officer knew he was on a roll.

"My buddy, Frank over there has been dating Jackie for a couple years now. She is on the other top bunk." Danny said. "Then there is Peggy. Roy has heard a lot about her. I think he is trying to see if what he heard is true."

The officer asked, "Well, was it?"

Danny replied, "I have no idea. I don't think they got that far."

01~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~01

John Duke was awake early, very early. When Rosco offered him the phone he declined. He knew Rosco's rule of only one phone call from past history. "If it's all the same to you I'll wait a spell. The boys should have told Jesse by now. So he should be here soon."

Rosco replied, "Suit yourself." Then he said to Mr. Campbell. "You got anyone to call?"

"Oh yeah, I've got someone to call alright. Someone that when they find out what you did, they will have your job." Campbell threatened.

"Do your best." Was all that Rosco said. He knew his job was pretty secure since his sister was married to the man that was trying to own his soul.

01~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~01

Pauline heard one of the girls crying. She automatically reached for John who normally got them in the mornings. His side of the bed was empty and unslept in. Pauline sighed. She hated to get straight up and have to take care of the girls. That was why John usually got them so she could at least go to the bathroom, get their bottles, start coffee and wake up a couple minutes before having to be the cheery mother.

Cheery was one thing Pauline (Loftlin) Duke was not this morning! It had been years since her husband had spent all night out without her knowing where he was and when he'd be home. When Pauline went in the nursery, she was not surprised to find Emily wide awake. "Come on Sweetie. We'll take you a nice clean diaper downstairs and change you while your bottle is getting warm." Pauline hoped to get the first twin changed and fed before the second one woke up.

Pauline's luck held out, but just as she put Emily down in the bassinet, Emma woke up and she had to start most of the same process all over again.

Pauline had finally gotten a chance to call Jesse's just as their was a knock at the door. She put the phones receiver down and went to the back door. Seeing her brother, Carl wasn't that much of a surprise since he helped John with the farm.

Coming by her to make himself at home, Carl began, "Don't tell me John is already at it. He told me to be here early this morning. I'm even a few minutes early but I didn't see the truck out there."

Pauline hadn't had to think of something this quick in years. "He must have forgotten you was coming over. What did he want you to do today?"

"Well, he called me after we knocked it off yesterday and told me to be here early so we could go out and make a loop around the entire place and check the fences. He said there was some he hadn't seen in awhile that needed checked." Carl said as he reached for the coffee pot only to see that the coffee hadn't finished perking yet. "You haven't been up long."

Pauline didn't know where John was, but she now knew he had not been truthful with her when he said he was checking those same fences yesterday evening. The last statement confused Pauline then she seen Carl at the unfinished coffee, "Second pot. John took a thermos. I figure you need to get started checking those fences." The only place Pauline could tell Carl that John was at that would buy him enough time to get back home if her suspicions were right would be if he had went to Hazzard. She knew from past history if John was in trouble he had always called Jesse not her. "John may be awhile getting to you. He got a call last evening from Jesse and went to see Jeb early this morning so looks like you are on your own today for awhile." Pauline lied. She didn't like to lie and hadn't had to lie to her family about where John was for years, but she also couldn't tell them she didn't know and surely wasn't going to tell her brother where she feared John was at since she hadn't heard from him.

01~~~~~~~~~~~~~01

Please don't forget to leave a review, comment ot suggestions.