Abject d'Art

By Richard Tobin

Have you ever found yourself trapped in a snowed in bunk house with only a can of beans, a shifty cow herding partner, and a bad habit?

Abject d’Art is a collection of short stories written by Canadian Maritime author Richard K. Tobin that will appeal to 13 - 19 year old teenagers looking for a sense of adventure through ongoing battles with society and culture. Tobin has a unique way of filling each story with mystery and complex situations, leaving the reader thoroughly transfixed and eager to uncover conclusions as each story unfold.

Tobin’s writing style develops relatable characters that find themselves victims of nature’s wiles or humanity’s greed, in familiar late 21st century domestic setting of Eastern Canada.

Abject d’Art will capture your wonderment and allow you to live vicariously through the trials of Tobin’s lead characters, giving your cravings for a great collection of short stories and mysteries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: King Kabuz Media
• Release date: Jul 8, 2015
• ISBN: 9780991795758

Richard Tobin

Things have a way of going round and coming round; for author Richard Tobin it’s been so with writing and contentment in life. Richard began writing later in life as a result of an ongoing battle with mental illness. The recent passing of his mother whom he lived with and helped care for has brought Richard an independence that has encouraged him to focus more on writing. An eager attitude and an unsaturated desire to write has led Richard Tobin to proudly become a published author of multiple novels, most notably Skating On Thick Ice, The Cuban Connection, Old Well Salted Wounds, and has been featured in Mentality Magazine, Mystical Rose and Eber & Wein’s New Horizons Anthology of Poetry. His success is due largely in part with the help and encouragement of a brother, an old family friend and the local public library through impromptu writing classes, patience and critique.Richard Tobin grew up on the East Coast of Canada – Cape Breton Island, Sydney, Nova Scotia – in a large family of 9 fighting poverty as the coal mines began to shut down. Finding writing has helped Richard integrate into society in an authentic and fulfilling way as a full time writer and author.

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Abject d’Art

A Collection of Short Stories

By Richard K. Tobin

Abject d’Art

Copyright Richard K. Tobin 2015

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

1st Edition

ISBN: 978-0-9917957-5-8

Published by King Kabuz Media

www.kingkabuz.com

Distributed by Smashwords

Layout and design by Ned Tobin

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION FROM AUTHOR

THE DOG BIT BACK

SMOKES

SMALL TOWN THIEF

STRANGE DIAGNOSIS

JACKPOT

THE FOREST FURY

DUE TO A DEATH IN THE FAMILY

COLD COFFEE

BETRAYED

DIAL M NOT FOR MURDER NOT FOR MOTHER

BIO

INTRODUCTION FROM THE AUTHOR

Thank you for showing interest in my collection of short stories. Some of them date back a few years, but they’ve all been reworked for your greater pleasure.

How I wish I had some magic formula to guide me when I write, instead I see potential stories under some peculiar circumstances and situations. From there comes a creative process, You boil them cabbages down, as the old maritime fiddle tune goes. Then you stir it up together and distill the finished product from what is left.

I hope, even if it’s only in a very minuscule way, that one or more of my stories brings some enrichment, satisfaction, comfort or entertainment to you. Reading, like writing, can help fill a void and bring purpose to your life as I have found, and am now sharing with you.

I hope you enjoy the book. I know I enjoyed writing it.

RKT

Back to Table of Contents

THE DOG BIT BACK

Sergeant Romero said, Don’t try denying it again. You’re not going to get away with it. I know you stole the dog. What I’m really curious about is why did you kill it?

Sergeant Romero looked fed up. This was going on and on. Why didn’t this scrawny kid just confess? It wasn’t too heavy a rap. With parole he may be out in a year, maybe eighteen months, depending on what judge was sitting. Romero wasn’t even sure the dog was dead. He tried that approach figuring the kid would produce the dog and take his less painful lumps. But maybe he really did kill the dog or perhaps mutilated it.

The kid was eighteen, a fact Romero noted. He would be tried in adult court and sent to prison. No more being babied along in a detention center for young offenders. This dog wasn’t just any dog.

No, sir, Tito blurted out. No matter what you think, I didn’t steal no damn dog or kill it, no matter how priceless the fripperin pest is. I’ve got better ways of spendin’ my time. Besides, when the Robinson woman wasn’t lookin’ I played with it a couple of times. Nice dog. It’s too bad he became ill.

This again," Romero said.

I dunno. I guess so.

Romero’s dark hair was a match for his big dark eyes. He was a portly man, not yet middle aged. His breathing was slightly irregular. Perhaps an asthmatic. He said, So you’re claiming to have nothing doing concerning the dog.

Tito looked bewildered. He wasn’t acting but Romero was far from convinced. Tito replied, If I did, someone would have seen me.

Romero asked, "Were you or weren’t you living across the street from Julie Robinson when her purebred golden retriever was stolen, and I’m checking your ludicrous story as your yarn unwinds?

Tito’s black t-shirt was damp with sweat as was his forehead and arms. His tawny complexion and short thick Latino hairstyle gave him a certain appeal. He continued, It’s true I hadn’t worked since I left high school in early February, other than for a couple of months. I want to join the army so being out of money I moved in with my grandfather, near the dog owner. That’s all, though.

Did you ever speak to her?

No, once when she smiled at me, I waved. That was about it.

Did you feel insulted by her lack of interest?

Not at all. I didn’t exactly feel outclassed though.

What makes you say that?

Tito replied, She does some swingin’, that one, officer.

Okay. But you needed money?

Yeah, but not that badly. Grandfather is good to me and if I needed money I could bum some from him. Once I get some army pay I’ll send him whatever I owe him.

Romero replied, So all of a sudden you’re a good kid. However, on checking you out, there are three arrests as a then again you were sentenced to six months in a youth detention center on that charge, other than two months’ parole. Romero paused, looked at Tito and added, Maybe you’re trying to get even. Romero looked across the cheap but sturdy table with eyes riveted on Tito. The eyes never wandered. He wore a short sleeved shirt which revealed thick strong arms and there was a wedding band on his ring finger.

Tito wasn’t even close to throwing in the towel. I was almost seventeen when I was released from custody and I saw a lot of things wrong about me. I was determined to change and I did. Not everyone can say that, like a certain boyfriend whose business is losing money.

Romero stated, As I see it, you had the motivation, you had the opportunity, you had willingness, and you have some fair sized-knowledge of how crime works. And now you’re smearing Ms. Robinson’s and her boyfriend’s good names. That makes you a bad actor in my books, Fuentes.

Tito asked, What good name, what motivation, what could I do with a hot mutt? That Julie chick has got you fooled.

Let me be the judge of that, Tito. Romero stated, As for the dog, you couldn’t keep it at Grandad’s place so you killed it. Ms. Robinson would have no way of knowing, so you could ask her to pay you a ransom for the return of her dog, keeping your identity secret, or maybe what happened was a guaranteed sale to one of your buddies fell through.

Tito asked, bewildered, What do you mean? None of my pals have any serious loot. As for the rest, that’s beyond me. It would take professional criminals to pull that off and I may know why.

Romero replied, The dog is a champion in its class. Ms. Robinson would pay more than a few bucks to get him back. Again, she’d have no way of knowing her dog was dead.

Yeah, but every time I saw that damn dog he was always with that Robinson one other than when her boyfriend was over. Speakin’ of boyfriends, maybe he did it for a prank. Well, maybe not kill it. But I do know on hearing from Granddad that this Julie chick and her boyfriend were shopping for groceries at the supermarket the night before the dog died. They stocked up on hamburger.

Okay, Romero replied.

You’ve got to believe me, sergeant.

Tito wasn’t that clean so Romero ignored his plea.

Then her boyfriend has probably got bills to pay and until the economy improves, he’s got four businesses to support. All of them hair care centers. As for Julie Robinson, she’s not going to give up her lifestyle for man or beast. Everything she does is done with this glamour girl panache of hers. Pardon the friggen’ language. She uses drugs at times. I know that.

What makes you say that?

Yeah, like her boyfriend, the hot secretary is in a bind. Maybe drugs are her escape. She is soon to be laid off. The company is closin’ its New Mexico branch. Half the neighborhood talks to Granddad. I went to the supermarket with him once and all he did was talk.

Romero replied, Tell me something I don’t know, like proof Julie and her male pal use drugs all of a sudden and you don’t.

My granddad will back me up. As for the other two, I think I saw a pusher come out of her door on a couple of occasions.

Supposition, Romero replied.

Tito replied, Maybe if you check her out in the Tampa Bay area of Florida where she grew up you’d find something on her. She’s no angel. Okay. How’s this: the Robinson woman is a doll and very early on in her career she dated this high powered insurance man who insured her dog for $150,000 a la cheap. Her and her patented moves. He probably gave her a similar deal on all her other insurance. So why would I want to risk what you seem to feel and maybe is a huge crime. Next you’re probably gonna turn the FBI loose on me. I mean, it’s a dog not a person. Did you at least check with the ASPCA?

Why them again, Fuentes?

Tito replied, Grandad told me the night before the dog was lost, he was heard mewling and whining and a woman passing by late said she was going to report it to the animal shelter as soon as she got home. Grandad told me about it the next morning. He heard it from one of the neighbors. I thought maybe you might of heard back.

Romero said, That’s one reason why I stepped out fifteen minutes ago. Still nothing, but they’re checking. To continue, let me tell you a thing or two, Fuentes, that dog is a champion. He has won major awards in local dog shows as well as regional and out of state. That dog is worth a whole lot of money. If Julie needed money she could sell him for more than a few bucks. I mean, is this speak of the devil or something, I’ve never heard such a huge load of crap. She’s a very respectable woman. Now, smarten up, Fuentes.

Tito replied, Yeah, sure, a $150,000 dog. I’ve never heard of anything like that before either.

Then Romero’s phone rang. He answered, listened for less than a minute and said, Are you sure at 5:10 p.m.?

SOLUTION TO THE SOLVE IT YOURSELF MYSTERY

To make a long story short, the dog was poisoned to death by rat poison mixed in with a pound of ground beef. Small traces of crystal meth were found in the hamburger. That was never Tito’s modus operandi. The mistake the dog murderers made was when Ms. Robinson and her boyfriend phoned Ms. Robinson’s insurance company to claim her $150,000 dollar insurance policy over twenty minutes before her dog was found dead by some young schoolboy. The schoolboy immediately phoned the police concerning the dead dog at ten after five. Julie and her boyfriend were on the phone to her insurance company at quarter to five. It was a minor miscalculation on the couple’s part but it was enough to ruin them. Then a quick check on Julie Robinson proved that she had once been arrested on a simple possession charge. It was a Friday and the insurance office was soon closing for the weekend. The money would also have to be mailed from the head office in Santa Fe. Then it would have to clear Julie’s bank. All of this was time consuming and she wanted her money bad. Her boyfriend’s small company was losing money and he needed some cash as well as her. It was then an open and shut case. Tito Fuentes was absolved of all guilt. Julie and her boyfriend were entirely to blame.

Back to Table of Contents

SMOKES

I was riding the high mesas with my pard Riley and smokin’ one Marlboro too many. The Pinon and crooked branched mesquite bushes were everywhere.

Both Riley Martinez and myself had been workin’ the Sandee family’s thirty thousand acre cattle ranch together for more than a few years now. The ranch is to the south of the state’s huge Apache reservation, just where the cattle grazing is real good.

The cattle were well fed on long, sweet Grama grass. Well enough so that Riley and I made a living at it ever since I mustered out of the army close to ten years ago and Riley packed in college just a couple of years later. It was while in the army that I got hooked on smokes. Trouble was the ranch and our bunk house and my spare carton of menthols were three hours ride away and I was almost out of cigarettes. I was sent to the Middle East in Qatar during the first desert storm war. The two available anesthetics in Qatar were alcohol and smokes. Existing in the middle of a desert wasn’t much fun. I chose smokes thinking it was the lesser of the two evils and I’ve been sorry ever since.

Today the sky had been changin’ every couple of hours. It was hard to read. A changing sky wasn’t that unusual here in New Mexico. The whole state was also famous for its spectacular sunsets.

Riley and I had just been talkin’ about what an easy day we had when I should have eaten those words. A mid fall storm brewed up one minute and the next minute it descended all over us. The temperature dropped quicker that a hooker’s drawers, the wind was fierce and it was snowing so heavily that visibility was about 4 or 5 feet. Just up ahead past a rocky uphill trail sitting pretty on a sandy bluff was the line shack