Chapter 29

When Frank got back to New Orleans, he didn't go and show off the beautiful Corvette to his buddies, as he'd planned. He had gotten rid of his fedora and trench coat, as well as the cigarettes.

He did keep himself well supplied with coffee, however.

After making a pit stop on the edge of town, his first order of business was to go and see Aphrodite.

"Hi there, sweetheart," Aphrodite said as he walked into her shop. "Why don't you come into the back with me?"

Frank nodded, and walked in to the store room with Aphrodite. It was a tiny room, there was barely space for the two of them and the small desk in there. The room smelled of strange spices and herbs, and there were a lot of dark jars with odd labels lining the shelves. There was also a stray dildo here and there, but Aphrodite kept most of that stock out on display in the shop.

"Now then, it sounds like you've had yourself a pretty spectacular adventure," Aphrodite said.

"Yes, I suppose you could call it that," Frank replied. He didn't really know what to make of his trip, except that it had gone from being the best job he'd ever had to some kind of bizarre, scary ordeal in the blink of an eye. He no longer wanted to be like the detectives on TV, that was for sure.

"Well, I'm sure you've got a lot of plans from here, so I don't want to keep you. Here's your paycheck," Aphrodite said, and handed him a brief case full of cash. At the beginning of the trip, Frank would have thought getting a briefcase full of cash money would be wonderful, but instead it just made him nervous and somewhat irritable.

"Thanks," he said.

"Now, there is one other small matter. The key, please," Aphrodite said, and held out here hand.

Frank was dismayed, and thought about saying something. In the end, he just dug the wonderful key out and handed it to her. No more easy, fast cars for him.

"Thanks, dear. Now you take care," she said, and shooed him out of the back room.

Once he'd gone, she got out a marker and a sheet of paper and made a sign reading "Closed Due to Family Emergency. Be Back Soon!" She hung the sign on the glass of the front door, and locked up the shop. Then she hopped into the Corvette that Frank had so considerately left on the curb and started driving North.
***
Hep, Tommy, Charlie, Jim, Minerva, Athena, Dave and Too Tall rode from Denver to Omaha, Nebraska. Their mood was somber, but also somewhat relieved because an end to this particular adventure was in sight.

As they passed through Ogallala, Nebraska, Jim saw a water tower painted to look like a UFO, complete with a little green man looking out a window at them. He nudged Hep, and pointed to it. Hep smiled a little, and kept riding.

He had no doubt that Scroat was pissed that he'd died like a chump, shot in the back as they walked away from their victory. He imagined that where ever he was, he was probably cursing up a storm. Two storms, if he got on a roll. Scroat was never one for inside thoughts. Hep couldn't help but smile again.

They passed through Hastings, the birthplace of Kool-Aid, but none of them really felt compelled to stop. Maybe if it was the birthplace of beer they would have.

Soon enough, they arrived in Omaha, and found a Super 8 motel to spend the night at. Dave, Tommy and Too Tall went to buy some food and beer, so they wouldn't have to leave the motel that night. None of them really felt up to finding a bar.

Hep, Charlie and Jim went to their room and dropped their stuff in there. Hep went to take a shower, and Charlie slumped into one of the chairs. Jim drifted over by him.

"How come I didn't see Scroat after he got shot?" Jim asked.

"What do you mean?" Charlie replied.

"Well, how come I didn't see his ghost? I was expecting to see him, probably swearing up a storm," Jim said.

"He's a god, Jim. Gods don't have souls to hang around after they die because, physical form or not, gods are spirits, concepts or ideals. So after we burned him, he just went back to where ever the hell he was from." Charlie said. "I'm sure no one was happy to see him when he got there, either."

"So he went to heaven?" Jim asked.

"I told you, he went back to where ever the hell he was from," Charlie said, mildly irritated. "Don't ask questions your feeble little mind can't handle the answers to."

Jim drifted off to another part of the room and sulked.

"Fuck, I'm sorry Jim," Charlie said. "I'm just upset."

"It's ok." Jim said.

Hep came out of the shower. "Are those guys back yet? I'm famished."

"We haven't heard them, but it's only been ten minutes, calm down." Charlie said.

Not too much later, Tommy, Dave and Too Tall knocked on Hep's door. He let them in, and they brought a couple of bags of groceries and a case of beer into the room and set them down on the table.

"You got a fridge in here?" Too Tall asked Hep.

"Nope, so I guess we'll be drinking warm beer tonight," Hep said.

"That's ok, this is good beer for drinking warm," Too Tall said, and held up a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

"Maybe if we drink it fast," Hep said. "Hey Jim, go get Athena and Minerva."

Jim drifted into the ladies' room, and began saying "Hey, come over to Hep's room for food and..." when he noticed that they were both in the middle of dressing. He was stunned (and impressed) and stopped talking and just stared.

"Get the fuck out of here!" Athena yelled at him. "Just because you're a ghost doesn't mean you don't need to knock any more."

"Oh! Right! Uh, Sorry!" Jim said, and went back to Hep's room. That was embarrassing.

Soon after, Minerva and Athena walked into Hep's room. Athena gave Jim a nasty glare, but didn't say anything.

Hep gave everyone a beer, then held up his own. "A toast to the fallen," he said, then emptied his beer on the floor.

"Shit, that's going to piss off the cleaning lady," Jim mumbled.

"Shut up, Jim, this is important," Tommy said. "Have some class."

Hep remained silent for a moment, then got another beer and drank it himself.

"So, I guess our next stop will be Mankato, Minnesota. Then up to Brainerd." Hep said.

"Then what?" Dave asked.

"Then we'll see what happens from there." Hep said. "Let's have something to eat, I'm starving."

They broke into the cold cuts, cold salads, chips and pretzels that Tommy, Dave and Too Tall had brought, and drank a lot of beer. After they were stuffed, and drunk to boot, Tommy, Dave, Too Tall, Minerva and Athena went back to their rooms.

Charlie and Hep relocated the empty beer bottles to the table, and carefully stepped over the puddle of beer on the floor every time they walked by. Jim was puzzled that they'd just left the beer there, but decided not to say anything about it. After all, it wasn't like he could get into any kind of trouble for the mess they made.

Once the room was reasonably tidy (eg. There was a safe path they could walk along from beds to bathroom), Charlie turned in for the night. Hep sat up for a while, thinking about the events of the last couple days.

The phone rang.

Hep went over and picked it up.

"Hep, is that you?" Elvis drawled.

"The very same," Hep answered.

"Damn, man, how are you doing?" Elvis asked.

"Not too good, not too good at all" Hep said.

"I bet. I was sorry to hear about Scroat. I didn't like him much, but I know he meant well."

"Thanks Elvis," Hep said.

"So you know this thing isn't over yet, right?" Elvis asked.

"Of course. It's not over until Tommy's invited us to dinner." Hep said.

"Yeah, but you know that Seth's guys are still looking for you?" Elvis asked.

"I figured. None of them seemed too bright," Hep said. "And a few of them might be mad we tore up their buddies. Do they know where we are?"

"Not as far as I know, but they do know you're heading for Minnesota. You're going to want to stay low key when you get there. You might even be able to slip up to Brainerd unnoticed if you're careful." Elvis said. "I'd say stick to riding through the cow towns as much as you can."

"Sure thing. The drivers in the Twin Cities are too slow for me to bear anyway." Elvis said.

"Well, be careful out there," Elvis said.

"You bet. See ya, Elvis." Hep said, and hung up the phone. He was mildly annoyed that Seth's goons knew where they were headed, though since that's where Tommy lived it was only logical. He hoped they'd be able to sneak up to Brainerd without having to deal with any more red shirts or angry statues.

It would be easy enough to stay out of sight though. For all the urban sophistication of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota was still a farm state. They could breeze through cornfields and forests all the way up to Brainerd, if they had to.

Hep went to bed, and eventually fell asleep. He dreamt of home, and his forge. He couldn't wait to get back and be done with this whole sorry trip.

Jim was restless, and explored the motel. He was careful to avoid Minerva and Athena's room, though he peeked into several of the other rooms. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything interesting going on that night, just a lot of sleeping travelers. Eventually he went back to Hep and Charlie's room, and spent the rest of the night staring out the window.