JC: William Redman Carter
Noble Savage
Chapter 5
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2005

Ken removed his clothes and placed them on the patio table. The 
past four weeks had wrought major changes in his physique. He 
had lost fifteen pounds, with even more fat having been turned into 
muscle. His shirts were too large around the waist and too small at 
the shoulders. 

He glanced over at his wife to see how she was reacting to 
stripping outdoors. Lisa's body was a soft red color, flushed as a 
result of embarrassment. After a month of morning exercises with 
William, Ling, and Tim completely nude, they had decided to try 
performing the exercises nude. In a way, they viewed it as a 
farewell gesture given that Ling was leaving that afternoon.

Ken watched William step out of the house and take his normal 
place in the yard. He was amazed the young man had barely 
glanced at Lisa. Ken looked at his wife appreciating the changes 
that had occurred in her body over the past four weeks. She had 
lost ten pounds and parts of her body that had started to droop had 
firmed. The chill in the air had stiffened her nipples. He wondered 
how William could be immune to her charms.

Seeing his parents undressed, Tim started to jump up and down 
with glee. He said, "Mommy and Daddy are naked!"

Laughing at the boy's excitement, William said, "So are you!"

"Yes, I am," said Tim with a smile even as he covered himself with 
his hands.

In response to her son's comments, Lisa had turned a brighter 
shade of red. She looked over at the pile of clothes wondering if it 
was too late to get something to wear. The sound of the door 
closing let her know that Ling had arrived. Resigned, she stepped 
over to the spot where she normally stood during the exercise 
period.

Stepping to her place in front of everyone, Ling noticed the lack of 
clothes on her two formerly reluctant students. After giving them a 
brief nod of approval, she said, "Okay. Let's start."

For the next thirty minutes, Ling led them through the moves of 
Tai Chi. The exercise was performed with slow controlled 
movements. With soft comments, she corrected their mistakes. 
There were remarkably few mistakes. The Armstrongs had learned 
their lessons well and Ling was pleased. 

When they finished, Ling said, "Very good. I hope you continue to 
practice after I leave today."

In a very serious tone of voice, William said, "As soon as you go, 
we're going to buy a dozen bags of potato chips, spread out on the 
couches, and gorge ourselves on them. In a week, we'll have 
gained a good twenty pounds and lost all of our muscle mass."

Looking over at William, a tear came to Ling's eye. In a soft voice 
filled with emotion, she said, "Sometimes you remind me so much 
of your father. He'd say things like that."

William went to his mother and gave her a hug. There were very 
few occasions when she let her guard down and showed her 
vulnerabilities. William treasured those moments and he wasn't 
about to let this one go by unappreciated.

Touched and uncomfortable by the display of emotion, Ken put an 
arm around his wife and took Tim's hand. He led them away from 
the scene to give William and Ling the privacy they deserved. The 
past few weeks had taught him a lot about himself and others. In 
the manner of kids everywhere, Tim, his curiosity overwhelming 
his manners, kept turning back to watch. Bending down to get 
Tim's attention, Ken said, "Tim, they need to talk."

The boy nodded his head and asked, "Can we go swimming?"

"It's a little too cold to go swimming. Let's play with the radio-
controlled trucks instead," suggested Ken. He got the desired 
reaction from Tim and they went into the house with Lisa 
following behind carrying their clothes. 

William and Ling took seats around the patio table. It was a little 
cool, but not cold enough to chase them inside the house. Ling 
asked, "You haven't found her yet?"

"No, I haven't," answered William. He looked across the yard and 
took a deep breath as a wave of sadness washed over him.

"You're sure she's here?"

"If not this year, then maybe next year," answered William. His 
vision of a young woman was fixed solidly in his mind.

Putting an arm around her son, Ling said, "You're sure of this."

"I've been dreaming of her for twelve years. It's not fair. Beth has 
had John since she was a baby. Little John has had Susan since he 
was eight. I'm fifteen and haven't found my true love yet," said 
William sounding like a lonely fifteen-year-old boy. 

It tore her heart apart to see William like that. It had taken years 
for the family to realize that while William could see future events 
that impacted others, he had almost no visions about events 
affecting him directly. There was one vision of his future that they 
knew about. He had a vision of the young woman who would 
become his true love. She hugged him and said, "I know it's not 
fair."

William stared off at the horizon. The vision of a young woman 
about fourteen years old going on fifteen came to mind. She was 
sitting on a bench crying, her hands covering her face. He was 
looking down at her brown hair. Her silky smooth hair was long 
enough to go to the middle of her back. That was all he knew about 
the woman he loved. Withdrawing from the vision, he said, "Soon. 
It has to be soon."

Shaking her head, Ling said, "I don't know what good it is for you 
to have that vision if all it does is make you miserable."

"Can you imagine how horrible I would feel if I didn't know there 
would be an end to my loneliness?" asked William. The horror in 
his voice was unmistakable. He had never cursed having the 
vision, only that it hadn't yet come to pass.

A shudder went through Ling at the thought of the misery he 
would have experienced. She looked down at her lap and said, 
"You're right."

"I'm glad you came," said William.

Smiling at the change in subject, Ling asked, "Do you think Ken or 
Lisa will get over my visit any time soon?"

"Oh, I think they'll actually miss you," said William with a light 
laugh. He'd watched Ken gain confidence over the past few weeks. 
The morning exercises had gotten the young couple into the best 
shape of their lives. The fact that they had elected to strip this 
morning suggested they were getting in touch with their bodies. 

"You'll make sure that he continues to practice?"

"Yes. Every morning we'll practice Tai Chi. I'll have him go to the 
dojo with me every other evening."

"What about his shooting?"

"He'll go to the police shooting range every other morning until he 
gets his carry permit."

"Good," said Ling with a nod. At least having Ken carry a gun 
would provide some measure of security that was currently 
lacking. It angered her that William was considered too young to 
get a carry permit. Her son had more discipline than most police 
officers. 

Returning to a subject that they had discussed almost every day of 
her visit, she said, "I'm going to find a body guard for you."

"You don't need to do that," said William.

"I need to do that for my own peace of mind," answered Ling. It 
wouldn't matter if she were ninety years old, she would feel 
responsible for the safety of the family. She looked at him and 
said, "I'd die if anything were to ever happen to you."

Looking at her, he knew she was telling the truth. She took all 
attacks against the family personally. It was a sad commentary on 
their lives that there were attacks on the family. He said, "It's tough 
being wealthy."

"It's not wealth. It's the basic goodness that you and your fathers 
possess that draws evil," said Ling. "Your father was attacked so 
many times that even I think it is amazing John survived as long as 
he did. Ed remains a constant target. I've never seen men with so 
many scars on their bodies. Kelly has been attacked a couple of 
times, but either I or Claire has always been there."

"I thought the attacks were quieting down."

"After that Middle East effort, three men tried to kill Ed. Leroy 
basically saved him by calling the house and giving us a warning. 
It wouldn't have been that big of a deal except that idiot husband of 
mine decided it was time to act like bait. Fortunately, Leroy 
tackled him just before one the terrorists fired," said Ling.

"Idiot husband?" asked William with a grin knowing that Ling 
must have been seriously upset with Ed to call him that.

"Okay. My poor misguided husband who thinks he is invincible to 
bullets," said Ling.

William laughed at his mother. Of course, Ed would try to get the 
bad guys to reveal themselves. He said, "Let me get this straight. 
Daddy Ed saw that there were men who wanted to hurt him, but he 
knows that they couldn't be arrested for wanting to hurt him. They 
had to try to hurt him, so he let them try. That way, they could be 
arrested."

"That's right. Like I said, misguided thinking," said Ling.  

"You would have taken care of the problem by just killing them," 
William said.

"Even I wouldn't do that, despite the temptation. I'd have roughed 
them up and scared them off."

Knowing how much she would have liked to do that, William said, 
"Ah, I see. Sounds like a plan to me. Although when I think about 
it, I suspect they could have come back another time and ambushed 
him."

"That's what he said." Ling stared at the ground thinking about 
how hard it was to protect her family. It was frustrating that evil 
was allowed the first blow. The time and place of confrontation 
was up to them. Everything was stacked against the good guys.

"It doesn't help that he was right," said William watching his 
mother.

"No it doesn't," she admitted. 

It was late in the afternoon when William waved goodbye to Ling 
as she drove off in her rental car. He watched the car disappear 
when it left the driveway; his view of it blocked by the hedgerow 
that fronted his property along the street. Turning, he went into the 
house. 

"You're mother is gone?" asked Lisa knowing the answer to her 
question. She asked it so that he could talk about it if he wanted. 

"Yes," answered William. He went over to his desk and returned to 
his work. 

"Dinner will be ready about six," Lisa said returning to her dusting 
seeing that he wasn't in the mood to talk.

"Thank you," said William absently. His thoughts were already in 
the world of economic forces and their consequences on stock 
prices. It was time for him to adjust his portfolio of stocks. The 
transportation industry was about to take a tumble after years of 
continued growth. They'd react by raising rates, but that would 
only mitigate the problem for a short time. The effects of higher 
prices would create a downturn in the tourism industry. The end 
result would be a period of strong growth in the entertainment 
industry. 

He directed his browser to the web site of his brokerage firm. After 
logging in, his account information filled the screen. He sat back to 
examine the numbers. They looked good with all of his stocks 
showing increases in value. 

A tapping on the window attracted his attention. A raven was 
tapping on the window and then flapping its wings. It took him a 
second to realize that something bad had happened and the raven 
wanted his attention. Springing out of the chair, he shouted, "Oh 
no."

William raced outside to the front of the house, leaving the front 
door wide open. Lisa stared out the door after him. She called out 
for Ken before racing to the door to watch where William was 
going. She wondered if something had happened to Ling.

The raven had already taken wing and was flying towards the 
street. William followed the large black bird to the front yard of 
the house next door. A figure lay on the ground, unconscious and 
not moving. Concerned about what he would find, he headed 
towards the figure.

Kneeling, he examined Jennifer and rolled her onto her back. It 
was obvious she had lost at least twenty-five pounds during the 
two months since he had last seen her. All of the baby fat had 
disappeared, as had her feminine curves. She looked like a 
skeleton. It reminded him of something someone had said to him 
once about another exceptionally woman. 'Why pursue a woman 
who is that skinny when you can just stick your cock in a bundle of 
sticks and achieve the same effect?'

He pulled his cell phone out of his shirt pocket and called the 
police. It took him a moment to figure out the address when they 
wanted to know where he was. There wasn't much he could do 
except watch over her until the ambulance arrived. She needed 
fluids, but there was no way for him to get them into her while she 
was unconscious.

A police car was the first to arrive on the scene. It was less than a 
minute since William had called. The prompt arrival was 
confirmation of the reason why Ling had approved of moving into 
this neighborhood. One of the cops raced over from the car and 
asked, "What's the problem?"

Borrowing Leroy's term for her condition, William answered, 
"Teenage Wasting Disease."

"Pardon?"

"From the looks of her, I'd say that she collapsed because she 
hasn't been eating. She's got Anorexia or Bulimia. It doesn't matter 
which," answered William knowing that the treatment she would 
receive at the hospital would be the same. Shaking his head, he 
knew this wouldn't be the first time she'd get rushed to the hospital 
like this. One or two more trips and she'd damage her body beyond 
repair. 

Bending down and examining the girl, the officer could see that 
William had been right. The ambulance pulled up to the driveway. 
When the ambulance personnel took charge of the girl, the officer 
turned his attention to William to get the details. He asked, "What 
is your name?"

"William Redman Carter."

Seeing that the name agreed with the name give by the caller, the 
officer asked, "So how did you come to find her?"

"The Raven brought me," answered William. His answer was 
punctuated by a loud squawk from the Raven as it rested on the 
gutter of the house. 

The officer looked up at the bird and then back at William. He 
wrote down that William was bird watching and discovered her 
while observing a raven. It was close enough to the truth. He 
asked, "So what did you do?"

"I examined her and then called the police."

It was a short simple story and one the chief would appreciate. He 
asked, "Do you know her name?"

"Yes, she is Jennifer Mitchell. Her mother's name is Marjory 
Mitchell. That's all I know," answered William.

"Do you know how to get in touch with Marjory Mitchell?"

"No idea," answered William realizing that he hadn't bothered to 
learn much about his neighbors. He hadn't liked the mother's 
inquisitive manners and had viewed the daughter as a minor 
irritation. Somewhat ashamed of his behavior, he looked down at 
Jennifer and said, "It's a shame."

"What?" asked the officer.

"Teenage Wasting Disease is fatal about ten percent of the time 
and has long term medical complications fifty percent of the time. 
Even if she doesn't die of it, she's going to put her family through 
hell."

The officer stared at William and said, "That's a pretty harsh thing 
to say."

"I know, but it's the truth," said William. He looked down at her 
with real regret and said, "I'm supposed to protect the weak from 
the strong. How are you supposed to protect someone from 
themselves?"

"Sounds like something a Druid would ask."

"Yes," said William looking at the officer. 

The officer closed his notepad and examined the young man 
standing in front of him. There was something about the young 
man that was a little scary, but not scary in a threatening way. He 
said, "They're going to take her to Memorial Hospital. I suppose 
that as a friend of hers you'd like to go there, but I'm afraid they 
can't take you in the ambulance."

"I'll have my driver take me there," said William with a negligent 
gesture towards his house.

"That's an odd way to refer to one of your parents," said the 
officer.

"My driver is Ken Armstrong. He's not one of my parents."

The officer recognized the name. He had meet Ken at the shooting 
range when he was learning to shoot under the watchful eye of 
Ling. He said, "Oh, I know who that is. He's been at the shooting 
range with a really attractive Chinese woman."

"The Chinese woman is one of my mothers."

"Oh, so he's your step-dad," answered the policeman deciding that 
William was insulting his mother's new husband.

"No. He's my driver," said William. He was saved from further 
explanation by the arrival of Ken. He turned to Ken and said, 
"They're taking her to the hospital. We'll be going there before 
long. Tell Lisa that we'll be late for dinner."

Turning to leave, Ken said, "Okay. I'll tell her and then get the car 
ready."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to the house and take care 
of some business before going to the hospital," said William to the 
officer. He turned and headed towards the house. The raven lifted 
from the roof and followed after him. The officer stared at the big 
black bird.

Marjory arrived at the waiting room and saw William seated in a 
chair reading one of the financial newspapers. The headline 
proclaimed that analysts thought the airlines would report record 
profits. Without looking up at her, he folded the paper and set it on 
the table. She screamed, "It's all your fault."

"What is my fault?" asked William knowing exactly what she was 
going to accuse him of doing.

"If you had just paid her a little attention, she wouldn't have gone 
on that damned diet," shouted the mother. She proceeded to vent 
her frustrations in an abusive tirade in which she accused of him 
intentionally hurting her daughter.

William stood and listened without expression. Once she had 
calmed down, he said, "Jennifer and I are the same biological age. 
She's in ninth grade. I'm in graduate school. We have nothing in 
common other than biological age and you know that."

"You could have paid attention to her," said Marjory still venting 
her anger.

"Do you want me to treat your daughter like a little toy that I fuck 
and then put back on the shelf in the hopes that she'll eat?" asked 
William in a quiet voice.

"Of course not!"

"So what would you have me do?"

"You could have talked to her!"

"About what? The stuff we're studying in school? I'm sure she'd 
love to hear all of the details about consumer driven economic 
theories. No, I don't think so. I know, how about the stuff I studied 
two years ago? I bet she'd love to hear all about modern theories on 
the social drivers of criminal behavior. No? How about Quantum 
Mechanics? That's a topic a fifteen year old girl could really sink 
her teeth into," William didn't want to make his point in that 
manner, but he couldn't allow his neighbors to blame him for their 
problems.

"You could have talked to her about dating and stuff like that."

Looking Marjory in the eye, he said, "I've never had a date. I've 
never found a girl, my age, who shares my interests. I'm not going 
to go through a mating dance with a girl I can't talk with 
concerning what is going on in my life."

"But you're the same age," said Marjory as if that meant 
something.

"I graduated high school when I was five. I would have been very 
happy to date her when I was four, but I don't think she would have 
found that very exciting."

It was so hard to look at William and not see a kid in the tenth 
grade. The idea that he had graduated high school before her 
daughter had entered kindergarten was mind boggling. She finally 
said, "I'll talk to her."

"It won't do any good," said William looking down at the floor.

"What do you mean?" asked Marjory.

"It wasn't me. When she looks in the mirror, she sees something 
very different than what you or I see. She sees a horribly fat 
monster staring back at her. She needs psychological help or else 
she will starve herself to death."

"What are you talking about? Are you trying to say that my 
daughter is crazy?"

"Crazy? I wouldn't call it that," said William. 

"You said that she needs to see a head shrink!" she said with a 
shriek in her voice. She believed that a psychiatrist would blame 
her for her daughter's problems. There was no way that she was to 
blame. She cooked balanced meals. She did everything for her 
daughter. 

"She needs psychological treatment," said William knowing that 
his advice would be ignored. As a result, the chances of the girl 
dying just increased.

"What do you know? You're just a kid," replied Marjory before 
turning her back on him. She took off down the hall to return to her 
daughter's side without a backward glance at him. 

Ken stood off to the side having watched the interaction. Shaking 
his head, he didn't know how William could have handled the 
mother any better than he had. After Marjory had left, he said, 
"Don't feel bad. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I accomplished nothing here," said William not feeling bad, just 
impotent. The visit had been necessary, but the mother would deny 
the problem and the daughter would hide it. As if he were 
pronouncing a great doom, he said, "She'll die. It will take a couple 
of years, but in the end she will die."

"You can't be serious," Ken said. He looked at William trying to 
understand what was going through the boy's mind. There were 
times when William made pronouncements like that and they 
tended to bother him. Although he'd only been around William for 
two months, he'd seen enough of them come true to be concerned.

"Very. She won't accept that Jennifer has a problem in time to save 
her daughter's life," William looked at his watch and saw that it 
was after six. Shaking his head, he said, "It's too late for me to help 
anyone here."

"What do you mean, it's too late?"

"Visiting hours are now. Normally, I'd spend an hour or two telling 
stories to the kids, but they are busy with visitors."

"Telling stories?" asked Ken.

"Let's say it is a tradition that was started by my father. When any 
of us are at a hospital, we usually spend a little time reading to the 
kids. Since I'm a trained story teller, I tell them stories of my 
people," William answered. 

"What do you want to do?"

"We'll see if some child here doesn't have a visitor."