Purple Bottom City

By Blanche Kirkendoll

Why was everything purple? There was purple trees with purple leaves, purple grass with purple weeds, purple houses with purple roofs and little purple people chickens going and coming.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Sep 19, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490746807

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Copyright 2014 Blanche Kirkendoll.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-4681-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-4680-7 (e)

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CONTENTS

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

CHAPTER I

W hen I first reali zed that there was something ca lled life and you could ma ke pretty much what you wanted with it, I wanted it all. Little did I know most of it was not good for m e. When looking back on everything, I t hink I turned out pretty good. Tha t is to say better than avera ge. My mom always says that was because of my good upbringing. If only she knew a fraction of the things that I escaped from and the things that I esca ped to and the pitfalls th at I fell in and barely got out of, it wouldn’t have changed nothing. I lived life. All through high school I sported a 3.9 grade average It could have been better but between girls and sports it averaged out OK. Because of my phys ique and agility most people thought t hat sports would be my choice. But, no. During my sophomore y ear in high school I knew that My li fe would be around something to do with rocks. I was a rock hound. The form ation of the earth’s crust was si mply fascinating to me. Dur ing my junior year NASA had invited me down to the Johnson Space Center t o study some moon rocks and m eteorites. No one had any idea what thi s did for me. It was doing thi s summer I was recruited by at least seven major oil companies in an apprentiship position a fter my senior year. I know t hat this had something to do with my physics teacher, Mr. Orr, he always had great fait h in me and it felt good knowing that he had that kind of belief and respect for me . Plus, I had worked really hard to get where I was. I still had to mak e a decision whether I was go ing to go to college of my choi ce or to accept the offer th at the oil companies had offered me. I was only eighteen, how could I make a decision like that . So I went straight to my uncle W illie. All Willie told me was I was the one who had to make the decision. But if I wanted his advice, the decision had already been made. The apprentiship program see med like the ideal solution. All I had to do was to choose which co mpany and I had to make that decision because in the long run I may build up some resentment against him if things didn’t work out. But, if I wanted his adv ice the decision had alread y been made. The apprentiship progra m seemed like the ideal sol ution.

He pointed out to me that I was an adult now and making decisions whether right or wrong was a part of being mature.

This was the first major decision that I had been forced to make on my own and I didn’t want to screw up. Those insecurities rose up to haunt me. But, I knew even before I went to uncle willie I knew that this was decision was on me.

School and my apprenticeship went by I a flash and before long I was well on my way. I was working at Atilla Inc. In Houston,Texas as a geologist. A job that seemed as God had made had made just for me.working more than ten years or more. I was happy at Atilla Inc. Promotions came steadily as I moved up through the ranks. Of course, there was mumbling and grumblings because of the promotioms. Some resented him and some didn’t because they knew that he was not given these promotions, he had earned them. He was not the product of some affirmative action program but because he was good at what he did. He knew what needed to be done and he did it.

One day came when someone higher up wanted him, no needed him to take over an ailing plant in Geat Falls, Montana. He knew that he had heard or read about Montana before but couldn’t place it because it was not on his list of places he would like to live or visit. Where ever Great Falls, Montana was, it was in the wrong place

Now, I can look back and ask myself some questions that I would not have dared to if things had turned out differently.

I can ask myself now because I am stronger in my self worth and many thing that I thought was impossible, I take a wait and see stance. Is there a place for everything and does everything have a place? Just because no one have seen it does it or does it not exist. If everyone is wrong and you are the only one right which of two is normal or, does normalcy joins the ranks of the majorities and even though you are right, no one cares?

At some point and place in my life I erased the words can’t and impossible out of my vocabulary because because many things that I had been told was impossible wasn’t and can’t had eloped with maybe. I have never heard or seen a body of water flow up steam. Just because I’ve never seen this happen does not mean that it is impossible. Somewhere in this world or out of this world this could be a common occurance I leave my life up to fate? Naw, I don’t believe in fate either.

I could begin this story with once upon a time, there was this man… but, that would make it appear to be a fairy tale and everyone knows that fairy tales are not real. Also, once upon a time would make this story untrue due to the fact that it is impossible for something like to happen. Then, there is can’t. This could not happen because it can’t be done. Would you call this an impossibility or could this feat be achieved in an unorthodoxy way?

I was driving down Interstate 15 slightly exceeding the speed limit and humming an old Temptation song that was way off key and feeling great just to be alive. I couldn’t sing and I never professed that I could only sing when I went to church and when I baked. Yes, I baked every chance that I got. I got that from my grandmother. It relaxed me and was sorta therapeutic in a way. When I baked the neighbors would always benefit from it and the children adored me.

I was living the lifestyle that many people dreamed about. I should have been happy. I was. Only, I had a feeling that something was missing and I didn’t know what it was. I added this to my list of things that I wanted to find out later.

When I was twelve I began to compile an invisible list in my mind so that whenever I encounted something that I didn’t understand but wanted to or, something I needed to find out about, I made a mental addition to this list. Whenever the opportunity would present it self I would seek answers for these unasked and misunderstood items on my invisible mental list. At times the list became exceptionally long but I never forgot what I had on my list.

This part of the country was new to Charles DeNero. He had transferred from Houston,Texas to Great Falls Montana. This was one move that he didn’t want to make. He had been perfectly contended where he was and didn’t have any intentions of moving anywhere, not in this century, anyway.

He glanced at his watch. He was making good time. He yawned and water filled his eyes and ran down his cheeks. He wiped it away with the back of his hand. Those allergy pills had him drowsy.

The doctor had warned him of this but he rarely did what the doctors advised him to do He always thought that most doctors were arrogant and had a superior complex and needed to be worshiped and he would never show them the reverence that they expected. So what if he was drowsy. He turned up the volume on his car stereo, swore and continued his journey.

The scenery was magnificent. There wasn’t any litter along the road to mar the natural beauty of this pristine state. There were no bill boards cluttering the majesty of nature that this state and rodomontade it’s citizens always stressed.

Charles DeNero had been in Montana for five weeks, two days, glancing at his watch,added four hours and eighteen minutes. He didn’t have anything against Montana, it was just that there so much space. Sure, Texas was larger than Montana but the part that he frequented had many more people and all this empty space took some getting used to.

He had a 10:30 appointment and didn’t want to be late. The loud music wasn’t helping his drowsiness. He turned of the radio and rolled down the windows and began to sing. Surely, this would wake him up because he had been told that his singing could wake the dead. He began to belch out I know an old lady who swallowed a fly now I don’t know why she swallowed the fly, perhaps, she’ll die. Abruptly, he stopped, because he didn’t know the lyrics. He thought, no, that’s not the kind of song to wake you up, that’s the kind of song to put you to sleep. He smiled as he thought of his aunt Ella and what she had said about his Tchaikovsky CD. She said that it wouldn’t wake you up or put you to sleep, it would drive you crazy long before any of that happen. I liked Tchaikovsky, at least there aren’t any lyrics to remember. But, right now is not a Tchaikovsky moment. He needed a more portent sound. Rap was not his cup of tea. He would rather eat grass than listen to rap. No way.

As his mind perused the crevices of his music memory the sound of Chicago came crashing through.

He felt a little jolt. Yep, that was it. An older tune from the 1980’s. Chicago’s 25 or 6 to 4. He loved Chicago because they had that big band sound and that guy made that gitar moan, dance, talk, pray and cry. If that didn’t wake him up nothing would. As the sounds of Chicago surrounded him and mind began to wonder. He was thinking about his woman still in Houston.

She was everything that any man could ever want and he was anxious for her to move to Montana. Phone calls and video chatting wasn’t hitting it. He wanted something that he could hold, touch, smell, feel. Wait, was he being unfair wanting her to move here just to satisfy him? There weren’t many jobs to pick from and he wasn’t quite sure how he was going to take to small city life. His new job would probably keep him quite busy but what about Edye? Come to think about it,they had never discussed this. It had been too early. Just being away from her this short while made him realize just how much she meant to him. She was the arch in his smile, the salt in his tears, the love of his life, she was a part of him.

He was on his way back to Great Falls from Helena. He had been chasing ghost for the past week and had came up empty. It seemed that he had been chasing ghost every since he came here. Chasing company employees who had been ripping off equipment to the point of running the company into bankruptcy. He was nearing Wolf Creek when he started to reminisce about where he came from and where his life had brought him.

A smile creased his face as he thought of his fifth grade teacher, Miss Hector. S he would ask him why did he always answer a question with why, and he would answer, why not? This would make her dentures clack and the class would sniggle and this made her furious. Her huge breast would heave up and down like two pigs in a sack. It facinated him because he wondered how she could breathe with those huge breast attached to her chest.

He had no idea what made Miss Hector cross his mine. But, every now and then buried stuff seem to ooze through the cracks of his sealed reality, made a popping sound and he’d wonder how many people are going through life living a lie and dragging along unwanted baggage that was chained to their necks by arrogant and uncaring people that they had looked up to for guidance.

Just listening to them talk made him angry. He could understand what they went through because it was still happening today but not so openly. He couldn’t change what they had gone through but, it made him more sensitive to the needs of others.

Everything that he had loved and grown up with was still in Houston, his friends, family, condo and all of his favorite places he liked to frequent. The move to Montana was not one he relished. Sure, it was bribary. The promotion and huge raise was something that I couldn’t turn down. Anyway he felt that there were people that he had deemed more qualified for the job than he. But, who was he to argue. If they wanted him, they got him and he would do the best job that he could do.

At Atilla Inc. he moved from the fourth to the third man from the top. Plus, he was the only single guy in the office with the exception of Ellen Forsithe and Christellen KeBent but, they were females. All the other guys were married and didn’t want to uproot their families. Atilla had dingled an apple before him and he took a bite. That proverbial apple always got mankind into trouble. The raise and perks that came with the promotion and relocating was just too much to turn down.

Charles DeNero was a twenty nine year old metallugry engineer with a masters degree from MIT. He was six feet one inch in height and weighed one hundered seventy eight pounds and was good looking because the women always told him so. He had a honey brown complexion and a head full of curly brown hair. The dimple in his chin and his wide sheepish smile was his ace in the hold. In his teenage years people told him that he was going to go far but he never let it go to his head. He was always polite and seemingly easy going. He had a personality that could make a stranger feel as though he had known them all of his life. But, whenever the time came when he had to lay down the law, he did and did it well.

The blast from the horn of an eighteen wheeler shocked him out of his reverie. Charles looked in the rear view mirrow and noticed that the truck was driving too close for comfort. He slowed down to let the truck pass. The truck didn’t pass and drew even closer He became alarmed..What was wrong with this moron? He speeded up and the truck spew up. What in hell was this guy trying to do? At last the truck got in the passsing lane, came up beside his car and gave a blast of his horn. In the window there was a cardboard with a message on it. Follow me!

Why? He wanted to know. A rest stop was up a head and the truck drove in and stopped. A very pretty woman climbed out of the cab and came over to charles car. She was wearing a red cap with John Deere logo on it. She took off her cap and shook her head and a mass of firery red curls cascaded down her back. I said nothing. I did nothing.

She came over to my car and said in a midwestern drawl, Just what does a girl have to do to get your attention?

I answered, Surely not by giving him a heart attack and scaring the hell out of him. His mouth was dry and he needed some spit to swallow so he could talk. He swallowed hard and asked, in a tone that was laced with rage, Are you crazy? You could have killed me.

No. I wouldn’t kill you. That would be a waste of a fine mankind.

I was still having saliva problems, My,mouth was too dry. I swallowed again and said in a strained voice, Where I come from women don’t do things like this.

And Sweet Pea, just where is that? You fine looking devil Texas.

Texas. Maybe I should go there. she said bringing her mouth too close to my face.

I jerked my face away because her breath smelled like a sewer pit. I said sorry Maam, I must be on my way

Too bad. We could have had a good time. Bye.

Charles nodded. She got in her truck and took off. She was gone and Charles hoped that he would never see her again. She was beautiful but her breath could kill an elephant, and what a strange name she had, Alabama Detroit

Charles decided that he would turn off is reminiscence channel and concentrate on the meeting that he was on his way to. He knew that his report would be favorable because some progress had been made. He knew that they didn’t think he could change things over night because things were in a bad way when he took over from bad management thefts and a host of white collar crimes and a healthy dose of I don’t give a damn employees. A fourth of the employees would probably be gone before the first quarter.

Some had been out on sick leave for weeks, some for months, with all manner of trumped up illness. Some had been caught fishing, putting a roof on their homes and in the malls shopping. One innovative employee had been caught commuting to Billings where he had opened a small engineering firm while he supposedly out on sick leave recovering from surgery to repair two rupted dick in his back. When he got caught he said that he had no idea what I was talking about because he didn’t have a business in Billings. He only went to Billings to see another doctor.

When I showed him the papers he had filed and a receipt of the money he had paid for a license and a copy of a lease he had signed for office space, he was still denying the allergations. I smiled a half smile seeming to agree with what he was saying as I continued to jot on a pad. Then, the other half of my smile emerged as I handed him a pink slip and wished him the best of luck in his new business. I left him holding the pink slip with his mouth gaped open.

The guy who had got caught putting a roof on his house after supposedly getting injured by some drilling equipment. He had supposedly broken his thigh bone and severely bruised his side. Through his own investigation, Charles found that the man had someone else x-rays. There had been absolutely nothing wrong with him except minor abrasions. This time his leg and thigh was broken and he had no insurance because I handed him a pink slip.

He had recovered equipment that had been stashed away for future illegal sales. Before he came the plant was being ran like a chop shop. All manner of oil field equipment was being stolen and sold to the highest bidder. I was an geologist not a detective. I knew I was good with diplomatic situations but I was no diplomat. What had I gotten myself into? I had made some enemies and no doubt will make more. It just the way things were. I had to weed out the wheat from the tare and I had a feeling that there would be a lot less wheat when I finished. After all no one told him that this was going to be easy.

There were some excellent employees at Atilla and he had vowed that he would turn the company around in eight months or at least point it in the right direction. Now, he had to report on what progress that he had made. All that he knew was that he seem to be going in the right direction. Hard work never phased him but he wished that he had known how bad things were up here before he transferred.

Even with all the people who was angry with him, he had made some friends along with the enemies. One day he was approached by some of his co-workers, actually, he was their boss. They had invited him to go on a weekend camping trip. He tried not to act like the ass hole that he had been hearing about behind his back, and said, sure. Later, when he got home he would kick his own butt for not saying no. Hell no. He had never been in the woods and really had no desire to go. The closest he had been to a forest was the Discovery Channel. He tried to calm his raging heart and to slow down his breathing and not faint. Then he thought, I can do it. They are no better than me. I am going to show them. Something good must be in this outing but he just didn’t know what. Right now he had to pee real bad..Chuckling to himself, he thought, the very thought of camping scared the piss out of him.

The weekend seemed to happen overnight. Two days before the outing he had gone and bought a ton of camping equipment. He was nervous, scared, excited and filled with great expectations but he did’t know what he was expecting.

When they got to Charles place he was standing beside the curb with enough equipment for all of them. He looked like he was moving. The guys got a good laugh at his expense. His ego was bruised. He picked up his equipment and started to go back inside. He was wondering why were they laughing so hard. Hell, he didn’t know anything about camping. Beside, where he came from Black people didn’t go camping. He started for the door but Trevor stopped him. He threw his equipment in the back of Mike’s Explorer, got in and took off.

Charles had just about forgot the teasing because he was absorbed in the surrounding scenery. He sat looking out the window like a child, fascinated by all the woods. There were trees everywhere. He had never known that there were so many trees in the world. As they moved farther into the forest the trees seemed to open up and let them pass through and close the pathway so that they could not return. He wanted to scream but the others was laughing and talking and having a good time and this seemed to ease his fears somewhat. He tried to fit in by joining the conversation. They were talking about fishing and lures and he didn’t know anything about neither so, he sat and listen to what they were saying. A couple of miles into the woods they stopped. Everyone got out, stretched and yawned. Well, here we are. Mike announced to no one in particular. Man, this seem to get better every year. He continued.

Well, let’s get clicking. I can’t wait to feel the tug of a trout on my line.Dennis said as he let out a whoop.

Everyone was busy getting camp set up. Charles did what he could to help and not to get in the way. He stopped momentarily and took notice of his surrounding. He gasped. Never before had he seen such virgin beauty. Pure and unadultered. The stream was picture book perfect. The trees, the patches of cattails, the algea covered rocks, the rippling sound that the water made as the sun’s rays played hide and seek through the leaves. Charles was overcame with awe. He felt a tear cascading down his cheek. This place was so beautiful,so serene, so peaceful. For the first time in his life he had an experience that made him know and understand the bibical version of creation. A devine creation.

Not an accident, not a big bang. Being an engineer and a geologist he could see that there had to be a devine plan to this creation stuff.

After his camping trip, Montana began to grow on him heavily and he still didn’t know blip about camping. But, he was willing to give it a try. Yes, there were woods, many woods. There were plain, mountains, lakes and wild life galore. The raw beauty and untamed spirit of things that was Montana and the inhabitant that was the overseer of these natural resources, changed a skeptic like me. It was fantastic. The air was so crisp and exhilerating it made you want to reach out give God a hug and tell him thank you.

He was making really good time. The sign read, Great Falls, 85 miles. Charles resumed his off key melodies, but this time he was singing along with Chicago mutilating their songs. He remembered the little old lady who swallowed the fly. He didn’t know why she swallowed the fly, perhaps she’ll die. Who ever wrote that song must have been on something that you can’t buy at the drug store. Making a note on his invisible list of things to do was learn the lyrics to at least one song.

Up ahead there was some sort of commotion. He began to slow down, but he was still too far away to clearly see what was going on. As he got closer he could see an old model pick up truck and a beat up Volvo. The guy driving the Volvo had a dead moose on the top of his car and it had slid off. Charles, being from the south stopped and asked, Can I be of any assistance?

He didn’t know why he had done that because he really didn’t have the time and he was not proper ly dressed for moose anchoring. Beside, he had a meeting to attend and didn’t want to show show up smelling like moose shit. This was the first moose he had seen outside the Discovery Channel.

Everyone was absorbed in getting the moose back on top of the car. He watched fascinated. It was comical in a way. They would hoist it up on top of the car and it would slide down the other side. I turned and walked back toward my car. One guy asked, Hey, you in the fancy duds, do you really want to help and mess up your pretty clothes?

Charles answered, No. I was just getting a little sun.

He stared at Charles in a weird way and said,Don’t look like you need any to me.

They all stared at Charles.Is something wrong? He felt warm all over. They continued to stare Charles thought, this must be a starring contest and I’m it. The second guy spit out a wad of tobacco and it landed on the toe of his worn boot. He pulled his pant out of his butt and rubbed the stubble on his chin and said something in a language he didn’t understand. He must have said something funny because all of them cracked up laughing. Charles was getting really uncomfortable. He asked in tense voice, What in the hell are you’ll laughing at? What are you’ll starring at? Is there moose shit on my face or have I sprouted horns?

Main, we seldom get to see a blackie round’er and we was thank to pare you wif what the white folks say aw is, you know. Them white folks still talk with a forked tongue You ain’t nuthin lack dat.

Thank you very kindly, I think. Charles said. "Tell that to the white folks.

The first guy said to the guy next to him, Hey pete, would you take a look at dis car. Still digging in his butt, I bet this set you back many bucks. He smiled and exibited a mouth full of rotting teeth. Charles thought, just what I needed, a commedian in the middle of nowhere. Pete asked Charles, What kin o’ work you do to get a car lack dis?

Charles said softly, "Hard

No kidding man.

I am second vice president at Atilla, Inc.

You hear that Pete? He probably make more money in a week den we’um get in a year, and he is black.

Charles said, You refer to being black like it’s a disease. Then, turned and started to his car.

Pete stopped and said, We don’t get to see many blacks up here and the only thing we’um get is off the TV. You know they say stuff like you’ll on Uncle Sam pay roll, you know, welfare. Plus, they say that you’ll is dummer den us. No offense. Non taken.

Um Pete Longfellow, dis is Little John and Spoon Redfeather.

Charles shook their hands and it left his hand smelling like moose and stale tobacco. They resumed their laughter and conversation. Pete Longfeather spoke again, Say, how can you help us anchor dis moose in your fancy clothes? You would not only smell like moose shit or have some on your face, you would be covered in it.

Little John added, We been trying to anchor dis moose and I swear to God, it don’t want to be anchored.

As they kept talking, Charles learned that they were members of the Blackfoot tribe. So that explained the unfamilar language. Longfeather asked a question and made a statement. "You ain’t from round dees parts cause ain’t no blackies here. There is a few, not many.

Charles thought to himself, Thank you for sharing this much needed information with me They continued their saga of trying to anchor the moose that didn’t want to be anchored. Longfeather asked, Just how can you help us?

Charles said, Why don’t you put the moose in the truck. Darn, why didn’t I think of that. Thank you mister.

I was thinking, there s one site you won’t see in Houston.

Montana may not be on the edge of the world at all. Thinking of my recent encounter, I wondered if Redfeather could talk. When ever you asked him something he grunted un for yes and un for no. In reality, Redfeather was big enough to carry the moose, Pete and John all by himself.

The weather had been perfect when he had left the indians and the dead moose. A few miles past the moose incident a strange fog appeared. Actually he couldn’t tell if it was smoke, fog or what. You could look back and the weather was crystal clear Montana style, now this….I drove into the fog thinking to myself that maybe this was some kind of smoke and not fog at all. What in the world world…before I could finish the sentence a purple van or something I thought was purple was just there and just vanished. More strangely the fog began to swirl like a thousand miniture tornadoes.and they was crackling with electricity. The purple van thing drove into the fog and a gigantic lighting strike lit up the fog with white light and blinded me. It felt as though I was going down into a winding tunnel that was a live. Surely, this is one strange trip.

I inched through the fog following the van at least I thought that it was a van. By this time I was no longer sure about anything. My engine stalled after the second burst of lightening. I tried to stop the car and get out but the car wouldn’t stop and the doors wouldn’t open. I felt like I was going to suffocate. I began to scream but I don’t know if I succeeded.

I don’t know how much time had passed before I regained consciousness. When I woke up my surrounding was completely alien. I rubbed my eyes thinking that when I opened them again everything would be normal. I opened them again and everything was still the same. Something was really weird because everything, everywhere, as far as I could see was purple with the exception of me and my car. My heart was pounding in my chest and I could hear my blood swishing in my ears, I was terrified.

Where was I? How did I get here? More important than all else, how was I going to get back to where I belong? As far as I could see there was signs of great destruction and no sign of life anywhere. I tried the car door again and it opened but I was too afraid to get out of the car. I looked at the ground and it emitted an illuminating purple vapor that crackled with static. For a minute I thought that it was moving. I wondered if their were any wild animals out there or was this alien enviroment the only thing I had to contend with. I kept hopeing that none of this was real and any minute I would wake up and all this would be a bad dream.

I crawled into the back seat of my car convincing myself that if I took a nap, when I woke up all of this would be something funny to laugh about. According to my watch I slept about two hours. When I opened my eyes, the purple stuff was still there. Just where was I? Why was I here?

OK, Charlie keep your cool. You are an intelligent man, you can figure this out. I wanted to laugh and I had to fight that little panic giggle building up in my chest. I was scared, but I wasn’t quite ready to admit to that yet. Everything that was happening was against the laws of nature that I knew of, all of this destruction, all this purple. It was just too much. Come on man, get to the