JC: Ed Biggers
Part 5: Stasis
Chapter 20
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Shauna set the plate in front of Ed with care. Following his normal 
behavior when presented with a new dish, Ed looked it over 
appreciating the presentation and then bent over to savor the 
aroma. With a smile, he picked up his knife and fork to cut a bite 
out of the meat dish. She held her breath, as he tasted the dish, 
hoping that he enjoyed it. Looking up at her, he was tempted to 
make one of his usual comments but realized that she was 
watching him with a seriousness that would make it a mistake. 
Biting back the comment, he said, "This is outstanding. I like the 
way you have interlaced the various flavors." 

A smile burst over her face at the praise. She asked, "So what 
typical Ed comment do you have about the dish?"

"I would use flour to make pancakes," replied Ed with a twinkle in 
his eye. The dish had thin slices of meat with different items 
layered between adjacent slices. One layer was comprised of 
potato slices, another was spinach, a third was chopped 
mushrooms, and a fourth was diced bell peppers and onions. The 
layers had cooked in the juices of the meat as it had been grilled. 
Shauna had put a currant sauce over the dish and surrounded it 
with a salad of fresh greens.

Marguerite from the kitchen door laughed at the comment. They 
had argued what comment Ed would make concerning the dish and 
Shauna had been prepared for anything. They'd had a fun time in 
the kitchen trying to come up with various comments, many of 
them quite ridiculous. 

Chuckling, Shauna said, "We missed that one. We should have 
known you'd come up with that after past comments about stuffed 
pork chops."

The rest of the staff dug in and started eating. Everyone raved 
about the new dish and Shauna basked in the praise. She had 
worked hard to come up with a new dish and she really liked it. It 
was easy to tell that Ed liked it and that was the best praise that she 
knew. 

When Ed finished his serving, he asked, "What is this dish called?"

"It doesn't have a name yet," replied Shauna.

With a surprised look on his face, Ed asked, "Do you mean that 
you invented this dish?"

"Yes," answered Shauna with pride.

"We'll call it Shauna's Victory Meal," said Ed as he looked at 
Marguerite. With a wink, he added, "It celebrates your victory at 
creating the best new meal in this household. Sorry, Marguerite."

"It is an excellent dish," remarked Marguerite. She was proud of 
Shauna's development as a Chef. She added, "It is a good name. 
Are you going to submit it for publication?"

Shauna frowned for a moment as she considered the timing of her 
announcement. As far as she could tell, there wasn't a better time 
than the present. She had already delayed making the 
announcement for a week and that wasn't fair to Marguerite or Ed. 
Taking a deep breath, she said, "I'd rather it be called Shauna's 
Farewell Meal."

The statement caught everyone's attention. Ed looked over at her 
and asked, "What?"

Shauna answered, "I'm getting married."

"That's great. Congratulations!" Ed smiled at the good news even 
as he mind was busy planning the wedding. 

"Ah, there's a down side."

"What?" asked Ed curious what could possibly be wrong with 
getting married.

"We're taking positions as private chefs at the Governor's Mansion 
in Missouri." She looked around the room to see the reactions of 
everyone at the table.

Ed smiled as he said, "Darn. That means I have to visit the 
Governor in Missouri."

The comment was exactly what Shauna wanted to hear. She felt 
like she was abandoning Ed. After everything that he had done for 
her, there was no way for her to thank him for the opportunity to 
work with Marguerite. She said, "I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you," said Marguerite getting misty-eyed.

Ed said, "It is our loss and their gain. Most importantly, it is your 
chance to shine. If you ever need some help, just give us a call."
 
"And if I call?"

"We'll send Bob," replied Ed as he burst into laughter.

At the far end of the table, Bob said, "Hey, wait a minute."

Marguerite retorted, "We'll do no such thing. I'll filet Ed and send 
him up there for you to serve him to the politicians."

"Still protecting the dogs, I see," replied Ed with a wink. He stood 
and went over to Shauna. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he said, 
"Shauna, I'd like to offer the resources of the whole family for your 
wedding. Anything you need or want, just let us know."

Standing, Shauna hugged Ed and cried on his shoulder. This family 
was just too good to be true. The notions that she had held about 
whites, rich people, and society had been turned upside-down as a 
result of knowing him. Who'd have thought that a white cowboy 
from Arizona would teach a New York Black woman lessons 
about treating people fairly? She could hardly believe the changes 
in her life.

Ed hugged Shauna back knowing that she appreciated him. He was 
going to miss her, but it was good that she was pursuing her 
happiness. That had changed her from an office temporary worker 
in New York to a world class Chef. He whispered in her ear, 
"Shauna, you deserve your happiness. You've worked hard to 
become one of the two best Chefs in the country. We're all so 
proud of you."

That was high praise coming from Ed, as he wasn't prone to 
exaggeration. If he said that she was one of the two best chefs in 
the world, then he meant it. She knew that for Ed, Marguerite 
would always be the best. To be in her class was high praise 
indeed. 

Cathy rubbed her hands together and said, "I'd love to be at the 
contest next year. Can you imagine a cooking contest between 
Marguerite and Shauna?"

Marguerite and Shauna laughed at the statement. Marguerite 
replied, "It's not going to happen. The governing committee 
decided after winning first place three times in a row, that I'm to be 
one of the judges."

George and Walt had listened to the conversation while glancing at 
Sarah and Cathy. Both women appeared happy about the news 
announced by Shauna at the table, but they wondered if the pair 
would like to get married sometime. Ed, standing with his arms 
around Shauna, noticed the exchange and smiled at the two men. 
He decided it would be a good idea for him to talk to the pair of 
men later that evening.

It took time for the staff to leave the dining room. Ed, Shauna, and 
Marguerite were left alone. The three of them sat around the table 
despite the fact that it was still full of dirty dishes. Ed said, "We're 
really going to miss you around here."

"I'm going to miss everyone here so much," replied Shauna. Eyes 
misting again, she added, "You might not believe this, but I've 
learned so much about life living here. I like my body, my mind, 
and my spirit. Did you know that I hated that I was black?"

"No, I didn't know that. Why?"

Looking off into the distance, she answered, "Because I thought 
that God had created me black to hold me back from being happy. 
I saw the whole world through dark glasses that looked for signs of 
prejudice in everything that others did."

"That's sad," replied Ed. 

"Yes, it was. Now I'm happier than ninety-nine percent of the 
world and that's pretty good," she said. She remembered when 
Leroy answered the door when she first came here to work. Her 
very first assumption was that he was the hired help and not one of 
Ed's husbands. All of her early assumptions about Ed had been 
proven wrong and she was glad that had been the case.

Marguerite asked, "So what are you plans for the wedding?"

"We thought we would have a small ceremony.  Just family and a 
few friends."

"So I guess we are talking about a hundred and fifty people?" 
asked Ed. 

"You consider that a small wedding?"

"Well, you've got a large family. What have you got, seven 
brothers and sisters? They all have kids. Your mother, aunts, and 
uncles add a few more. I imagine that your beau has some family. 
You've got a lot of friends here and I imagine that you have a few 
friends from where you grew up." Ed was trying to do the mental 
math to come up with a reasonable estimate of the number of 
people that would come.

Embarrassed, Shauna said, "My family can't really afford to fly 
everyone here."

"No problem. We'll charter a jet for everyone and rent two floors at 
one of the big hotels in Phoenix," replied Ed. He added, "That'll be 
my wedding present for you. I'm sure that the rest of the family 
will come up with a suitable wedding present for you."

Speechless, Shauna stared at Ed unable to believe that he would go 
to that much trouble for her. Her mouth slowly opened as the 
enormity of what he was offering slowly filtered through her mind. 
Marguerite asked, "Do you want me to get Cathy?"

"Sure."

Shauna did not say a word during the entire time that Marguerite 
took to get Cathy. She sat at the table staring at Ed in shock as she 
tried to imagine what she could have done to deserve such nice 
treatment. After glancing at Shauna, Cathy asked, "So what did 
you do to her?"

"I just offered to charter a jet to fly her family here for the 
wedding," answered Ed watching Shauna carefully. He was afraid 
that she had gone catatonic. He added, "I'd appreciate it if you 
would help make the arrangements for her."

"Sure. It's good to have one of you home. It was getting boring 
around here," replied Cathy with a smile. It wasn't entirely a joke 
on her part. With the family gone from the house so much of the 
time, the staff barely had enough work to do around the house. 

Ed nodded while still watching Shauna. After another minute, he 
asked, "Shauna, are you okay?"

"Sure, just a little overwhelmed," replied the woman feeling like 
her mind and body had separated from each other. 

"Good," replied Ed knowing that she spoke the truth. Looking up 
at the ceiling with one eye closed in concentration, he said, "Work 
with Marguerite to come up with catering for the wedding. I'll talk 
to the rest of the family and see what they want to do."

It was just like Ed to overwhelm someone and then walk away as 
though he had done nothing. Cathy watched as he left the dining 
room to pursue some other item that was on his mind. Marguerite 
and Cathy sat beside Shauna to talk her back to the real world.

Ed went up to the security center expecting to find George going 
through the evening security lockdown procedures. Instead, there 
was no one in the security center. He went down to the library and 
found George and Walt talking. Sitting down at the table, he asked, 
"Can I ask you gentlemen to join me upstairs to watch a sunset?"

The two men looked at each other and nodded. Walt answered, 
"Sure. I take it you want to talk to us about something?"

"Yes. The sun will be setting soon and it is a warm evening 
outside. Let's get out there before we miss it," answered Ed as he 
stood up.

The three went up the stairwell to the roof where the sky was 
beginning to show the full colors of sunset. Ed smiled as he looked 
at the horizon with the sun just above it. Taking his usual chair, 
Walt and George took chairs on each side of him. He sighed and 
then said, "I love this time of day."

George nodded, but didn't say anything. Walt just glanced at Ed 
waiting for him to get to the reason why he wanted them to come 
out here with him. Not saying another word, Ed settled back to 
watch the sunset. The colors were fantastic, with greens, blues, 
reds, purples, oranges, and yellows. The sky brightened and then 
faded as the sun disappeared under the horizon. 

"When are you guys going to marry Cathy and Sarah?"

"Uh," answered Walt taken by surprise by the question.

George didn't answer immediately as he was wondering the same 
thing. After a delay of a full minute, he said, "I don't know."

"Well, you had better figure it out and quick. They are two lovely 
ladies and won't wait their whole life," replied Ed. 

"They say they don't want to get married," argued Walt. 

"Bah! You guys have been acting like everything is going along 
smoothly and there's no need for change. There is some reason 
why they are saying they aren't ready to marry and if you guys love 
them, then it is up to you to talk to them." Ed looked at George and 
then at Walt, his head swiveling from one to the other. The 
relationship among the four had felt stale to him and that bothered 
him a lot.

Frowning, George said, "We've talked about it."

"No you haven't. You've talked around it," replied Ed as he 
recalled the half-hearted conversations about marriage. He had a 
very good idea that they hadn't discussed the possibility in a year.

George and Walt didn't say a word, each lost in his own thoughts. 
The problem wasn't that they felt Ed was wrong, just the opposite. 
They had gone into the library to discuss the issue, but had blown 
it off after a few exchanges of reasons why they shouldn't bring up 
the subject. 

While Ed allowed the two men to work throw their thoughts on the 
matter, he watched the stars come out as the sky darkened. He said, 
"Some of the light from those stars have taken longer to get here 
then any of us will live. It kind of puts the time we walk on this 
planet in perspective."

George and Walt turned to look at Ed, but Ed had stood up and 
walked to the edge of the building where he could see the town. 
They watched him as he looked down at the town with a smile on 
his face. Below him, lights were coming on in the houses, people 
were chatting in backyards lit by candles, and the traffic was dying 
down. Kids were running along the streets while playing games of 
tag as they headed home, told by their parents to be in the house 
when it got dark. This was his hometown and all was right within 
it.

Even though he had been gone for a while, Ed knew that the 
rhythm of life within the town had not changed. A half an hour 
after dark, the Sheriff would drive around town making sure that 
all of the kids had left the park and other places where they often 
hung out. After all the stores had closed, the Sheriff would walk 
the streets making sure that each building was locked. If he found 
one unlocked, he would check to see if the owner was there and, if 
not, call them to come down and lock the store. Towards closing 
time at the bar, he'd hang around the front so that anyone who was 
too drunk to drive could get a ride home. 

The street to the house still hadn't been paved. That was part of the 
charm of living out here. It was as if the desert came right up to the 
house without interruption. The dogs still barked at real and 
imaginary disturbances, but the sounds of snoring had disappeared 
as few people slept with their windows open anymore. That was 
one of the subtle consequences of the Fusion Battery, everyone had 
air conditioning in their houses. Also gone were the sounds of bad 
mufflers. 

He heard the shifting of George and Walt in their chairs, but didn't 
turn around. In the distance, a coyote howled. Elsewhere, he heard 
the sound of a desert owl screech as it made a kill. His eyes 
searched the desert in a foolish attempt to see either the coyote or 
the owl. Dark and distance made that impossible. He knew that, 
but didn't care. Sometimes one could see them when they 
approached town. He didn't have a horse stabled here, so going for 
a ride out on the desert that night was out of the question. 

The town had grown over the years. Another street of houses had 
been added. The city council had demanded that houses be built in 
an architectural style consistent with the rest of the town. That 
reminded Ed that he had to make arrangements to have the façade 
on the house changed to fit an adobe motif. 

Two things about the town really pleased Ed more than he could 
put into words. The first was that there were no cookie-cutter 
ranches. Each house was individual and unique. The new houses 
were larger as group marriages required more room. The second 
thing was that there weren't any green lawns marring the area. The 
city council had specifically voted that grass lawns were not 
allowed. He'd had nothing to do with either of them.

The sudden flashing of red lights attracted his attention. The 
Sheriff's car sped off from the park and headed towards his street. 
Ed watched as the events unfolded, concerned about what would 
cause the Sheriff to rush in that fashion. The answer came when 
the lady that he had hired to watch his in-laws came running out of 
the house waving an arm to attract the attention of the Sheriff. 

He turned and ran to the stairs calling out, "Something is 
happening over at the Hayes house."

George and Walt immediately stood up as their training kicked in 
and followed Ed. They didn't know what had happened, but even 
as they ran past the security office both paused to get firearms and 
a first-aid kit. In less than a minute, all three were rushing their 
way to the house, jumping the fence that separated the two pieces 
of property without bothering to use the gate. 

The woman had seen them coming and was shouting, "She's had a 
heart attack. Get an ambulance."

Walt turned to head towards the garage in order to get the van. By 
the time the ambulance showed up here, they would already be at 
the hospital. Ed entered the house and asked, "Where is she?"

Dr. Hayes was seated in his chair in shock. After the caretaker had 
discovered his wife in the bedroom, he had gone in to perform 
what ever aid he could. Her body was cooling down by then and he 
couldn't force himself to try to resurrect her. Looking up at Ed, he 
said, "She's dead."

"We've got to perform CPR on her!"

"You'll just end up breaking her ribcage," replied Dr. Hayes 
looking older than he had earlier in the day. Eyes pleading, he 
begged, "Let her go. It's her time."

George knew how this was going to end and left the house to wait 
for Walt to arrive with the van. If the van were going to be used 
tonight, it would be to take the doctor over to the house.

Ed realized that the doctor had not provided any first aid for his 
wife. Sitting down, Ed thought about it and replied, "There are two 
worlds side by side. In this world, the living enjoy the physical 
reality. In the other world, whose who have died enjoy a 
metaphysical reality. Neither world is better than the other is, they 
are just different. I'll respect your wishes."

The doctor relaxed even as Sheriff Ortega entered the house. 
Turning to the caretaker, Ed suggested, "Take him over to the big 
house for the night while I take care of the details here."

The woman nodded as Dr. Hayes said, "Thank you, Ed. I knew 
you would understand."

The doctor had known, but the knowledge hadn't assuaged his 
fears. Ed knew that and nodded at the doctor. Turning to the 
Sheriff he said, "Let's go find the body."

"Find the body? You don't know where it is?"

"No. I just got here."

Concerned, the Sheriff asked, "How do you know she is past 
hope?"

"It is her time," answered Ed not wanting to argue the point. 

After a search of the house, Ed located the body in the bedroom. 
The Sheriff leaned down and touched her, finding that her skin was 
cold to the touch. The face that had wrinkled from time now 
appeared much smoother. The expression was tranquil. Looking at 
the body, Ed said, "She went without a fight, accepting death as the 
beginning of a new adventure. Look at the peaceful expression on 
her face."

The Sheriff nodded as he replied, "I've seen it before. It always 
amazes me."

Ed went over and closed the eyes, a detail overlooked by Dr. 
Hayes. Looking over at the Sheriff, he asked, "What happens 
now?"

"This is an unexpected death, but she is elderly. The ambulance 
will deliver the body to the coroner's office. They will do a simple 
examination of the body and check the blood to make sure that 
there aren't any substances that might indicate murder or suicide. 
After that, they'll release the body to the funeral home of your 
choice." The Sheriff looked down at the body of the elderly 
woman. This was the part of the job that he didn't like. 

While the men waited for the ambulance to arrive, Ed called the 
Druid College. When he finally reached John, he said, "Hi John."

"Hello Ed. What's up?"

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Mrs. Hayes passed away." 
Ed knew that he could tell John straight out what happened as John 
had no fear of dying.

"Oh, that's a shame. I'm going to miss her," replied John. After a 
moment of silence, he said, "I'll get in touch with Leroy and let 
him know."

"Thanks, John. I hope everyone is coming here."

"Of course, we are. I'll charter a jet and we'll fly out tomorrow 
morning. We'll pick up Linda and Leroy on our way there," replied 
John. Births were times for the family to celebrate the life that was 
to be lived. Deaths were times for the family to give honor to lives 
that had been lived.

"I'll let Cathy know to expect you," said Ed. He was about to hang 
up and then added, "By the way, Shauna is getting married and 
moving away."

"Oh Ed. I'm so sorry. I know that you are going to miss her a lot. 
Still, I'm sure she is going on to bigger and better things."

"I've agreed to pay for a charter jet to fly in the family and put 
them up in a hotel here for the wedding," said Ed.

Laughing, John said, "Are you trying to make the rest of us look 
cheap with that wedding present?"

"No," replied Ed with a chuckle. 

"It won't work," replied John as he hung up.

Shaking his head, Ed put away the cell phone. Turning to the 
Sheriff, he said, "I found out that we were losing one of our chefs 
today. Shauna is getting married."

"I heard you mention that to John. Are you going to get a 
replacement?"

Ed hadn't thought that far ahead and considered the question 
carefully. It wasn't clear that Marguerite required an assistant. 
Shauna had just stayed on after covering for Marguerite while she 
went on her honeymoon with Bob. He answered, "I guess that is up 
to Marguerite."

The Sheriff shook his head and said, "That's some staff you have 
there at the house."

"Why do you say that?"

Snorting, the Sheriff said, "I noticed that your guys showed up 
armed and with a medical kit. They were ready to kill or to save a 
life, with equal energy. The ladies that work in your house protect 
you with the same kind of willingness to hurt anyone that means 
you ill. I heard Sarah take apart a reporter that was trying to dig up 
some dirt on you guys. I never thought I would be afraid of her, but 
she scared the hell out of me."

"I didn't hear anything about that," remarked Ed wondering what 
other things were happening that he didn't know about. 

"How do you get such dedicated people working for you?" 

"I don't know," replied Ed as he thought about it. He said, "I can 
tell when people lie to me. It makes it easy to weed out the people 
that want to do harm to the family."

"I guess that would help," remarked the Sheriff. He laughed as he 
said, "Sometimes I wish Robert White Feather was around when I 
interview new deputies."

Ed laughed at the reminder that Robert White Feather had been 
partnered with Sheriff Ortega. Juan Ortega and Ed had known each 
other a long time, reaching back to the time when Ed was still a 
drunk and a bully. Ed remembered that he was Juan Ortega's first 
arrest when he joined the department. He said, "You and Robert 
were quite a pair. If I remember, you used to hate it when he went 
all Indian on you."

Juan laughed and said, "Yeah. He's a remarkable detective, 
though."

The ambulance pulled up in front of the house without the lights 
flashing. The two men came in and talked to the Sheriff for a 
minute before going about the business of taking care of the body. 
Ed watched as the men took the appropriate care and showed the 
proper respect to the remains. 

It didn't take them long to put the body on the stretcher and then 
wheel it out to the street. Ed turned to the Sheriff and asked, "Do 
you need to talk to Dr. Hayes?"

"No, I'll get the coroner's report and the death certificate. He won't 
need to hear from me unless something funny shows up."

"Okay," replied Ed. He looked at the Sheriff for a moment and 
then said, "Don't be a stranger. Come on by the house around 
mealtime on occasion. Robert never missed a chance to eat at our 
house."

"Will do," replied the Sheriff.

Ed watched him leave the house and then went through the process 
of closing up the house. Even as he did that, he wondered if Dr. 
Hayes was going to return here to live. He would have to talk to 
the doctor about that.

With a heavy heart, he stepped out of the house. Maria was waiting 
for him with concern on her face. She asked, "Did she pass away?"

"Yes, she did."

Making the sign of the cross, she said, "I'm so sorry. Do you want 
me to let the rest of the town know?"

Looking down the street, Ed saw a half dozen faces looking in 
their direction. He nodded as he answered, "I guess you had better. 
Everyone is curious."

"Is the rest of the family coming?"

"Yes," replied Ed. He knew that half of the town would want the 
answer to that question as well. 

Maria smiled and said, "That is good. You should not have to go 
through this without the support of your loving family. It is hard to 
lose parents."

"Yes, it is," replied Ed. He had lost his parents when he was just a 
teenager. Ever since they had moved here, Dr. and Mrs. Hayes had 
filled that role for him. 

"Will John stay long?"

"I don't know," answered Ed. That was another question everyone 
would ask. After a moment of consideration, he said, "I will try to 
get everyone down to the bar one evening so that everyone can 
stop by and visit the whole family."

"That would be nice. I'll let everyone know." Maria reached up 
with a hand and caressed Ed on the cheek. She said, "Do you need 
company tonight?"

"No, that's okay. Oh, you might let everyone know that Shauna is 
getting married and moving away."

"Who is she marrying and when is the date?"

"Desmond Van Engen, a Chef at the Gourmand and I don't think a 
date has been set yet."

Maria smiled at the news for Shauna and knew that the town's folk 
would want to attend the wedding. The black woman had given a 
lot to the town and had always accessible for any need. Shauna and 
Marguerite often cooked the meals for major family and town 
events free of charge. It wasn't the big things that she did that were 
so important, but the little things. Things like helping a newlywed 
woman learn how to cook and bringing food over for families in 
crisis were the simple gifts that made her popular. She said, "I'm 
sure a lot of people will be happy to hear that she's finally getting 
married. I know a lot of us will miss her when she moves away."

"It's kind of hard to carry both emotions, happy for her and 
unhappy that she's leaving," remarked Ed. 

It was obvious to Maria that Ed was losing another woman that he 
loved a lot. She sighed as she thought about the number of women 
that Ed loved and how many of them had gone on with their lives 
leaving him behind.