CH. 11
Hangin' On The Rez
"Aw, God." Adrian groaned quietly, half in pain, half in distress over the dreams. As his mind cleared, he noticed the song remained. He opened his eyes and saw Randy and Leland.
The Captain put his hand gently to the side of Adrian's head. "You okay, buddy?"
Adrian winced, nodding affirmatively. He tasted blood but assured them anyway. "I, I think so." He slowly sat up and looked at the shirt around his shoulders, then noticed Leland with only his tank top on. He pulled the shirt on, grateful for the covering. "Thanks, Leland." The older man only nodded.
The sun was now rapidly setting as the three friends tried to find a way out of the stall. Even with Adrian's attention to detail, there seemed no plausible way to get out. Adrian looked into the other stalls. The men, women and children from the Wolf Clan were there. The men nodded their approval at Adrian. He didn't know why. He hadn't done anything except get the tar beat out of himself. Now he was about to be hanged.
'A lot of good I'm doing these people,' he thought to himself. He turned and slid down the wall of the stall "Leland, Randy. I think I know what's going on." Randy and the Captain sat down across from him. "The Arians must have found the cave when they were hiding on this Reservation. They found a gem treasure chest. The diamonds would buy them anything they wanted. They needed an arsenal so they could raise up a resistance and start hitting small towns. But they needed a fast way to mine the diamonds. Who better than the Navajo? They aren't a warring people, and this small clan was easily overpowered."
"Okay but where are they getting the weapons. Who's the supplier?" Leland asked.
Adrian shook his head. "I don't know. There's a guy that drove up and talked to Billy." He squeezed his eyes shut trying to remember what he heard through the haze he'd been in. "Mr. James?"
Leland twisted his mouth with a sense of familiarity at the name.
"Tommy James," Randy said.
Leland now nodded. "Right, he's the ringleader of 'The Sons Of Thunder'." Leland remembered. "He's got mob connections!"
"But where?" Adrian asked.
Suddenly they heard the gang return to the barn. The lights went on as Billy and his three henchmen approached the stall. With rifles leveled, they slid the stall door open. The three trained their rifles on Randy and Leland so they couldn't try anything. Adrian remained sitting.
Billy kicked Adrian. "Get up, Half Breed!"
Adrian slowly, painfully complied.
"Hey Billy, these guys got their ropes off," Charlie warned.
"Leave 'em, they ain't going anywhere."
Adrian was inching away from Billy, but Billy cornered him, shoving him face first against the far stall wall. Leland and Randy looked at each other, both feeling helpless. Leland dared to take a step forward but one of the skinheads butted him in the stomach with his rifle. Billy whipped out a thick braided length of twine and wrapped it around Adrian's neck, pulling it tight, easily controlling him. Adrian's fingers pried at the choker but to no avail as he gasped for air. Billy then directed him to the center of the barn as the three others locked Leland and Randy's stall. Mr. James stood off to the side but definitely the center of his men's attention. Charlie retrieved a 30-foot length of rope and threw it to Billy. He shoved Adrian to the ground and threw the rope up and over the rafter. He caught one of the ends and began to fashion a noose.
Outside the barn, hidden by the cover of the night, Daniel snuck up to one of the pickup trucks. As he was peering over the bed of the truck, he saw Adrian's discarded feather. He picked it up and once again tucked it safely inside his shirt. He found a rope hanging from the loft window on the end of the barn for loading hay and shimmied up it with catlike stealth. He quietly made his way through the hayloft and took in the scene below. He saw Randy and Stottlemeyer in an adjacent stall and made his way to it. Several bales of hay were stacked over the trap door he knew was there. He quietly moved them aside.
Charlie and his partner watched over Adrian as Billy built his death loop.
Adrian looked at Tommy James. "How many millions in diamonds is the mob extorting from you for these cheap weapons?" he asked, trying to provoke some information.
"He's a smart Half Breed. I'll give him that," James smiled thinly to his crew. He looked at Charlie with a nod. Charlie yanked him up by the cord around his neck and brought him face to face with Tommy James. "Not extortion, my brother. Partnership. Something you don't understand."
"I'm not your brother," Adrian shot back with a raspy voice. Charlie tightened his grip on the rope, causing Adrian to gasp and grab at his throat.
"No, you're right. You chose the wrong side, 'Apple'," James seethed.
At that moment, Adrian realized something. Tommy Jr. could never have known that term if he hadn't learned it from his father. He realized Tommy James was part Navajo, even if less than half. 'Apple' was a term used as a slam from one Indian to another who was not full blooded and ashamed of his heritage. It meant Red on the outside, white on the inside. Adrian wondered if his boys even knew of their heritage. He figured not. His boys were White Arian to the core, mentored by a mixed blood white man, they knew as their father and leader.
"Maybe you should explain to your boys where you learned that term," Adrian dared.
"I suggest you shut it." James stepped up to Adrian, menacingly. Adrian didn't flinch this time. He now knew who he was. Tommy was finished and Charlie tightened the cord around Adrian's neck again, jerking him over to the noose. Billy put the noose over Adrian's head.
"Any last words?" he asked sarcastically, forcing him to step up onto a crate while one of the other boys tied off the end around a rope hitch. Billy grabbed Adrian's arms and tied his hands behind his back while Adrian's breathing became anxiously rapid. He heard the Diné' begin to sing.