Dear Diary: It’s Me, Jessica: Chapter 6 (Book 3)

By the author of Dear Diary: It’s Me, Jessica; The Second Year

In case you missed the last chapter, you can find it here.

Dear Diary,

It’s me, Jessica.

Rae, Katie and her men, and I all spent the night at Four Corners to get an early start in the morning to meet up with Jamal and his group for trade at the midway point.  Actually, since Jamal and his group had to move out of the city and into the suburbs, they were much closer, so it really was not a “midway” point, but it still worked.  With the horses, it really was not that much more for us to ride, and it gave them a shorter distance to travel on foot.

Between our community and Four Corners, we were able to gather a wide variety of seeds to trade.  We were also bringing eggs, live chickens, bread, vegetables, and some cured ham.  

Sean was seated in the back of the pull-behind cart attached to my horse’s saddle.  Said he, “Need a change of scenery.  Four Corners is home and all, but I was beginning to feel a bit cooped up in that shack of mine.”

“Who is minding trade while you are gone?” Rae asked.

“Oh, Yellow Teeth Bob.  He has got the hang of it.  Despite some of his misdeeds, he is not a bad lad.  He just needed a regular job and a sense of purpose.”

Diary, I thought back to the first time I went to Four Corners and when I first met Yellow Teeth Bob.  Thinking I was a prostitute, he had said to me, “Hey, little girl!  How much?”

At the time, I had no idea what he meant.  To my shock, Rae explained it to me later. 

Things sure had changed since then.  Not just me either.  With the job as Sean’s assistant keeping account of trade, Yellow Teeth Bob was a respected member of Four Corners.  He even had a girlfriend.  Four Corners was no longer the chaos of slapped-together shacks and run-down vehicles.  There was much more organization.  The shacks were rebuilt to make them more weather-tight.  They were more like tiny homes, and some even had little front porches.  People living in vehicles made the best of them with little add-ons, curtains, and even decorations, or they painted them.  They may not have been much compared to the homes the gang used as a base to the North, or some of the homes we saw in the suburbs, but they were home to the people of Four Corners.  

We arrived at the midway point just before noon.  Jamal and his group were already there.  Jamal walked up as we dismounted, and Sean got out of the pull-behind cart.

“Sean, right?” Jamal asked as he offered his hand to Sean. They had only met once before.

“Aye.  That tis me,” Sean answered as they shook.  “I understand you are in need of seeds for the season.”

“Yes.  We do an okay job of scavenging and trading with you, which has helped us a lot.  But we’d like to get our own gardens going for better food security.”

“Aye, I can understand that.”  Sean got an old, worn shoebox out of the pull-behind cart and opened it.  Inside was full of reused packets of seeds and small plastic bags.  Sean gave a quick inventory, closed the box and handed it to Jamal.

“You have no idea how much this means to us.”

“I think I have an idea,” Sean smiled.  “Let us see what you have to trade for.”

I called out to Jamal before he walked off.

“Rambo!  Good to see you again,” Jamal’s massive hand shook my tiny one.

“Good to see you too.  My Mom wanted you to have this,” I got a book out of my backpack and handed it to him.

“The New Seed Starters Handbook,” he read the title out loud.  “She doesn’t need it?”

“As you can see from the spine, she has read it cover to cover probably a hundred times.  I think she has it memorized.”

“Tell her I said thank you.  This will definitely help.”

“What has been new with you guys?”

“Oh, we had a very interesting run-in with a group of people the other day.  Some little, skinny woman, and her entourage.  She was a pop star, or so she kept claiming.  Mandy something.”

“Oh!  Mandy Angel?”

“Never heard of her.  When I told her that, she had a meltdown and began crying.  Her boyfriend/manager got in my face.  After the fifth or sixth time of yelling, ‘Don’t you know who she is!’ I hit him.  Knocked him out cold.  Didn’t mean to.”

Diary, I could not help but laugh.  Mandy Angel and her boyfriend/manager had been well-known for their over-the-top antics, outrageous demands, lavish lifestyle, and a love-hate relationship with the press.  And for some reason, her fans loved her for it.  Her music was not even very good.  If you knew one of her songs, you knew them all.

“Once I dropped him like a sack of potatoes, she quit crying, but left him there on the ground like he did not exist.  Her entire attitude changed.  She asked for food.  I told her she is not above scavenging, just like the rest of us.”

“What happened then?”

“Oh, we left them there.  Made sure they were not following us or led them back home.”

Diary, it is so crazy.  After all this time, after everything that has happened, Mandy Angel still thinks she is a pop star.

Entry two

On the way back from trading with Jamal and his group, Sean, Katie, and Rae talked about the school we had set up in our community.

“Aye.  We have been talking about it.  There are some parents who are reading and teaching their children, but we need a more structured format.  Books and teachers as well.”

“We have been doing what we can with what and who we have, but I feel we, too, are missing in places,” Katie added.

“Well,” Rae started, “We could get together and talk about what areas we can cover, where we are missing, and who we have to teach what.  I think we should talk to Jamal about getting us books at the next trade.  He should be able to find a few schools in his area.”

“We should include the Millers and the farms out their way.  They already have their own schooling set up.  They might be able to help.  Mrs. Miller helped us set up our schooling,” I added.

“Aye, Jessica.  We got a few people in Four Corners who can teach.  Nate and your Dad are naturals at engineering.  Collins has a wealth of historical knowledge and tells it as if it were a riveting story.  He has had me on the edge of my seat more than a few times.  Daniel and Savannah, with their knowledge of medical and related sciences.”

“I can teach basic math.  But Jessica’s Mom, Dad, and Nate are better for the more advanced stuff,” Rae said.

“HAM Guy too.  He also has a lot of knowledge about civics, government, science, and anything involving radios.  Just don’t ask him to make chicken stock,”  I said.

“Right!”  Rae laughed.  “But don’t sell yourself short, Jessica.  You have been teaching reading and writing and are doing a good job at it.”

“Thank you, Rae,” I smiled.  Then I mentioned something that happened in school a few days ago.  “We were reading a science fiction book about a comet that strikes the Earth, and one of the students questioned the possibility of that happening.  I told him about the comet strike that killed off all the dinosaurs and said something about how we used to be able to do a quick internet search and find all kinds of articles on the subject.  He had forgotten we once had the internet.”

“We had a generation that never knew the world without the internet.  Now we have one that never knew of a world with it.  Or smartphones.  Automobiles.  Airplanes.  And maybe that we have been to the moon,” Sean said gravely.

Diary, it seemed like such a crazy idea.  I know we had those things.  The internet.  I should have had my driver’s license by now and my own car.  I know there were airplanes.  My smartphone had more computing power than all the computers that put men on the moon.  Yet at the same time, all those things have been gone for so long that if the students never saw it or knew it really existed, it almost sounded like science fiction.

We crossed the bridge, passed through the chute just as the sun was setting.  

Yellow Teeth Bob greeted us.  

“How went the trade?” he asked.

“Aye, went well, I think.  More coffee, cough drops, crisps, candy bars, and the like.  Even got a few more lighters.  How are things faring here?”

“I think Jack’s brother arrived.”

Entry three

“Jack does not have a brother.  He was an only child,” Rae flatly stated as we hitched up the horses to the hitching posts.  

“You will see what I mean,” Yellow Teeth Bob replied and led us down South Old River Road.  “He came through the North gate about an hour ago.  Says he is just passing through on his way South.  Got family down there.  After I cleared him, we walked around a bit, making small talk.  He then went to get dinner.  That was about ten minutes ago.”

A man sat on an upturned log, with a folding bowl of stew, a small loaf of bread, and a spork in hand.  He watched as we approached.  An odd-looking dog with big ears sat next to him.  

“Carlos, I would like to introduce you to the Mayor of Four Corners, Sean.”  

The man slowly wiped his mouth with a washcloth, stood up, and set the washcloth and his dinner down on top of the log.  He took Sean’s hand.

“Nice to meet you, Mayor.”

“And these are our good friends, Katie, Rae, and Jessica,” Yellow Teeth Bob continued.  

Carlos said each of our names as he shook our hands.  He wore camouflage military-style fatigues.  His haircut was close-cropped on the sides and flat on top.  He had a large olive-drab backpack next to the log.  A large rifle was leaning on the backpack.  He had a drop leg holster on his right thigh.  A large fixed-blade knife was next to it.  His dog was large, a mix of black and tan, and was watching intently.

Yellow Teeth Bob was right.  

Carlos was a tanner version of Jack.

About 1stMarineJarHead

1^stMarineJarHead is not only a former Marine, but also a former EMT-B, Wilderness EMT (courtesy of NOLS), and volunteer firefighter.

He currently resides in the great white (i.e. snowy) Northeast with his wife and dogs. He raises chickens, rabbits, goats, occasionally hogs, cows and sometimes ducks. He grows various veggies and has a weird fondness for rutabagas. He enjoys reading, writing, cooking from scratch, making charcuterie, target shooting, and is currently expanding his woodworking skills.