Chapter 8
On most nights when Jed got home late he would drink several beers or do some type of drugs before he went to bed. It was getting worse for him each day and it was starting to cost him more than he could afford to pay from his salary at work. He had begun to dip into some of the emergency money he had put away. To keep from spending all of it he began to go out at night and break into houses again and steal things he could sell so he could make up the extra money he needed for the drugs.
Jed decided it would be a good time to have a long hard talk with the boys. The boys were both about five feet ten inches tall and they had long wavy blond hair down past their ears. They had a muscular build and were a lot heavier than Jed. They were starting to turn into men. He sat them down, "I've been giving it a lot of thought ever since you told me what you boys did with the dogs and Mr. Pickens. I'm not happy about what you did, but I'm glad you killed him before he killed you boys and your dogs." He looked over at Cooper, "Don't ever take off again without letting one of us know where you're going." Cooper just smiled, "Okay dad, I won't, I promise." Jed then changed the subject, "I have an idea and I want to find out what you boys think about it. Do you remember when I told you my dad, Justin and I used to break into houses and steal things?" The boys listened intently as they shook their heads up and down. "We went all over these three little towns and broke into people's houses at night when they were asleep and stole things we thought we could sell fairly easy. We would store them up in that old room out in back of the house. When we felt like we had a good stash we'd take everything to Los Angeles and sell it to a guy we called our "Fence."
The people in this area didn't know it was us, but they called the people doing it, "Night Crawlers." Cooper piped up, "That's so cool, I love it." Jed ignored him and continued, "You boys are almost fifteen years old now and if you want to learn how to break into houses and steal things then I'll teach you how we did it without getting caught. You'll have to follow everything I tell you or we'll all end up getting thrown in jail or killed. I'll work during the day and then we'll go out at night and I'll teach you everything you need to know. No more sneaking out with the dogs and killing animals around here while I'm sleeping. You'll get all the excitement you need from going with me." He looked over at Cooper, "Do you understand what I'm saying?" Cooper and Dalton both shook their heads up and down and said they did. "I'll show you what to wear and how to cover your face and hands with charcoal. You'll also learn that we don't go out when it rains or snows because someone could follow your tracks back to our house. I'll teach you everything I know so we can protect each other."
When Jed first started talking to the boys they thought they were going to be in big trouble for what had happened to Mr. Pickens. They thought he was going to have their dogs taken away, chained up, or worse, taken to the SPCA and put to sleep. Now he was telling them he was going to spend time with them and teach them how to break into houses and steal things. They were now in a real good mood and no longer afraid of being punished for what they had done. They were thrilled he wasn't going to take their dogs to the pound and have them destroyed.
Jed made it clear that if they were going to work together then they had to change their attitudes and the way they talked to him from that point forward. He told them he wasn't going to tolerate any type of disrespect from either of them, anymore. He also told them there would be no more lying between them, regardless of how severe the consequences of telling the truth might be. They both knew exactly what he was talking about. They knew they had been getting mouthier with him as they had gotten older. He told them, "There won't be any more of that cussing around me. To me, that just shows a person's stupidity and lack of education. It's also disrespectful to the person you're talking to."
Not wanting to feel any more intimidated and rejected than they had been feeling the past several days, they immediately agreed to everything that Jed wanted them to do. They were excited about breaking into houses that people still lived in. They had broken into most of the empty houses in the area, but never one that people lived in. They were more than willing to learn the art of stealing. Cooper said, "Alright! Pretty soon everyone around here will be calling us, "Night Crawlers." Jed just rolled his eyes, "This is going to be a business Cooper, it's not about trying to become famous. Becoming famous will only get you caught and thrown in jail, or killed."
He began to slowly teach them everything he knew about thieving. Just like his dad had taught him, he wanted it to become second nature to them and over the years Jed had gotten very good at stealing. It was like every move he made was easy for him, just like it had been with his dad. He wanted to make sure that he taught them how to be just as skilled at stealing as he and Sherman had been. He wanted them to develop a complete awareness of their surroundings when they were spying on a house they were going to break into. He told them they had to pay attention to the slightest sound and know whether everything was okay or if it meant danger for them. He taught them how to stay concealed, behind the yucca plants and sage bushes. He told them to always have a point where they would wait when they were on the way home from a break-in and make sure that nobody had followed them.
Jed told the boys they had to dress in all black clothing with black “long-johns” underneath their clothes, just like he and Justin used to do. "This high desert always gets cold at night and I want you to be able to handle the cold weather when we're out there. Our shoes will be black to match our clothes and we will cover our faces with black charcoal before we're ready to go out on a break-in." His favorite time to go out on the break-ins was around one o'clock in the morning, especially when there was no moon out and it was windy. Those were the nights and time that Sherman had taught him was best. People and dogs were sleeping and its eerie quiet most of the time except for the wind. He told them the night would have to be completely dark to hide their silhouettes and the wind would help disguise or muffle the noise they made while breaking into the houses. Jed told them they had to hide behind the yucca plants and other desert plants as they crept from place to place. "You have to stay very low to the ground as you get up close to the houses you're breaking into. You'll be a lot harder to see if there is someone hiding inside the house and waiting to take a shot at you."
He then told the boys about a couple of close calls he had when he thought the people weren't home and the home owners took shots at him and Justin when they tried to break into their house. He laughed and said, "One of those old boys just about got me, but I ducked just in time. The buckshot from his shotgun ripped part of the window frame off right above my head. One almost got Justin one night before he jumped the fence to safety. When you're out there you have to be prepared for anything. You never know what's waiting for you out there. If one of us gets shot and killed, let's try to make sure we take the body back to the house and bury it out back like we did with my mom, dad and Justin." Dalton and Cooper didn't like the sound of that as Dalton said, "That sounds a little creepy!" When Jed said that everything became serious with them and all the joking and kidding stopped. They didn't want anything like that to happen to any of them. "Good, I have your attention now. You have to remember that Justin and Joshua were killed right out there from people in this town. They'll kill you or me too if they catch us trying to steal from them."
Jed took the boys with him on his days off and started taking drives through Red Mountain, Ransburg and Johannesburg during the day. He wanted them to get familiar with the different houses in the three towns. He pointed out the ones he thought would be good targets that didn't have big dogs in the yards. He didn’t want them to have any surprises when they started breaking into houses and stealing things.
For the first few times they went out and Jed just did mock break-ins to show the boys what it was like. They staked out a house for a few days and watched as the people left. Once they were gone Jed and the boys went up close t
o the house and he talked to them about what they needed to look out for. He had one of them stay back as a look out while the other one went with him as he pretended to break into the house. When he felt comfortable with them going with him he would begin their quest to steal things. It didn't take long because the boys had already developed the criminal attitude long before Jed started working with them. After the first break-in they were able to get some nice things to sell and he complimented them by saying that they were naturals at it. Their chest's puffed out as they accepted what he said with pride.
They continued to break into houses all around the Rand area for the next year. They never favored any one town in particular; they just followed Jed's gut instinct. When they had enough stolen items they would pack them up and take them to Los Angeles. They always left the dogs at home when they made the trip because there wasn't enough room for them when they were loaded down. The boys loved getting away from the desert and going to Los Angeles. That gave them a chance to see what the rest of the world was like. Some of it they liked and some of it they didn't, but it was all new to them and they liked that.
It was during one of their trips to Los Angeles when Skeeter and Samson became restless staying in the enclosed area while the boys and Jed were gone. Samson found a weak spot in the fence and began ripping at with his strong jaws and teeth. It took several hours, but he was finally able to pull the tin back far enough so that he and Skeeter could squeeze through. Once they were out they went into the hunting mode and began looking for something to kill.
It was just getting sundown when they found their first victim. It was a scraggly looking stray dog that had wondered away from its home lost and hungry. It looked like it had been without food for a few days and it was going from place to place looking for something to eat. Skeeter and Samson did what they always had done when they were with Cooper and Dalton. They hid behind some bushes as they laid down flat to the ground with their front feet out in front of them. They always kept low to the ground just before they were ready to attack something.
Sampson was about ten yard to the side of Skeeter as they waited for the stray to get closer. It had gone to one of the nearby houses and not finding anything to eat, was heading to the next house a few blocks down the road. When he got within about thirty feet of Skeeter the dogs sprang into action. They hit him from two angles and began ripping at him with their powerful jaws. There wasn't anyone there to give them the command to stop so they ripped him to shreds. Once they were finished with him they left his ripped and lifeless body lying there and went looking for another victim.
They killed three other dogs in town before they went to the house of Tony Santos. Tony had a large golden lab that was running free out in the front. Tony wasn't too worried about him because he was a large and tough dog. None of the other dogs in the neighborhood would get too close to him. They tried to stay clear of him when they saw him running around out in front of their houses.
He had traveled a little too far away from his house and was about seventy five yards from his front yard when Skeeter and Samson spotted him. They quickly got down in a crouched position and started making their way toward him. When they were close enough Skeeter and Samson ran at him hard and attacked him. Samson instantly sunk his jaws into the Lab's neck. Skeeter bit down hard on one of his front legs and the bone snapped. The Lab was trying to fight back as he let out yelping sounds, but Skeeter and Samson didn't loosen their grips on him. It didn't take long and the dog starting going limp from the hold that Samson had on his throat. He had cut off his wind pipe and then both dogs began to rip at his throat.
The dogs were so busy attacking the Lab they didn't notice that Tony had heard all the noise coming from across the road. He came running from his house to the aid of his dog carrying a rifle with him. He was too late to help his dog, but he saw Skeeter and Samson as they were just finishing up their attack. Tony stopped running for a second, stopped and took a couple of wild shots at them. The dogs instantly let go of the Lab and started to run. Tony continued to shoot at Skeeter and Samson as they retreated. One of his bullets caught Skeeter in the right side of his back hip and he went tumbling a few times before getting back up. Even though he'd been shot he was able to run on three legs and drag his hind leg as they made it a safe distance from Tony's rifle. Once the dogs felt safe, Skeeter sat down and licked at the blood that was flowing from his wound. After a few minutes, they were able to make it the rest of the way back home. They squeezed through the opening they had escaped from and back into their yard.
It was late by the time Jed and the boys got home that night but the first thing they did when they drove in was look for their dogs. The dogs were lying next to the door and Dalton instantly knew something was wrong with Skeeter. He wasn't getting up and acting happy to see them like he usually did when they got back from their trips to Los Angeles. He bent over and patty him on the head, "What's wrong boy?" Skeeter tried to stand up and Dalton saw that his right hind leg had been injured by something. Skeeter couldn't put any weight on his back leg and hip. He let out a yelp when Dalton reached down and tried to touch it. The boys quickly took the dogs in the house to inspect Skeeter. That's when they saw the dried blood all over the dogs. Cooper instantly knew the dogs had gotten out of the fenced in area, "They got out somewhere and killed some things. Look at all the blood on them. I'll go check the fence." He took a flashlight and started going all around the fence until he found the place where they'd gotten out. He went running back inside to tell Dalton.
Dalton frowned at Cooper, "I think he got shot by someone. There's a hole that looks like a bullet hole that went clean through his hip." The boys looked at each other and both wondered how many animals or people the dogs had killed while they were running free. "Oh man! I hope they didn't kill someone." He began to bandage up Skeeter's hip, knowing it was going to take a few months for it to heal. He bent over and said to Skeeter, "Looks like you're going to have to stay home for a while until that hip heals up boy." Skeeter gave him a few quick licks in the face.
The next day the people in Red Mountain had found their dead dogs and Tony was going around telling everyone how he shot one of the dogs that had killed his dog. He told them that he believed it was some wild stray dogs.
Jed was frustrated that the dogs had gotten out so he told the boys they'd have to chain the dogs up the next time they went to Los Angeles. During the time that Skeeter was healing Dalton and Cooper found out it was Tony Santos that had shot Skeeter. They were angry when they found out who shot their dog and they weren't going to let him get away with it.
Tony had lived in Red Mountain for several years. His parents had emigrated illegally from Mexico when he was a young boy. They lived in Los Angeles while he was growing up, but he didn't like the big city as he got older. When he married Carmen they decided they wanted to raise their kids in a quiet small town. Red Mountain was perfect for them and it reminded him of the little town where he lived in Mexico when he was a boy. He spoke fluent Spanish and English and worked for a plumbing company in Ridgecrest. All the people in the Rand area knew how good a plumber Tony was and they called him every time something went wrong with their sinks, toilets and other plumbing problems.
Now that Tony and Carmen's kids had grown up and moved away it was just the two of them living in Red Mountain. Tony was five feet seven inches tall and he weighed about a hundred and fifty pounds. He had a very distinguished look with a gold tooth in the middle of his upper front teeth. Some people thought he it looked a little funny when he smiled. He had a passion for fighting game roosters. He had about fifty of them in his back yard in little houses that looked like A frame cabins. They had small chains attached to one of their legs where they could only come out of their houses about two to three feet and that was it. He had set up a watering system for them so that they had fresh water whenever they wanted.
He worke
d with his roosters during his days off of work. When he thought he had a real good fighting rooster he would take it down to Palmdale and enter it in one of the illegal fighting arenas. He would then bet on his rooster to kill the rooster it was fighting. If it lost he would just discard it in a trash can, like a piece of trash. If it was good enough to win he was happy and would bring it back home and save it to fight another day.
Dalton and Cooper found out where Tony lived and also where he worked. They started planning out how they were going to get even for him shooting Skeeter. They waited until Skeeter was healed up and then took him and Samson with them one night to Tony and Carmen's house. They had been watching Tony's house for several days and waited until Carmen had gone to visit one of her kids for the night before they made their move.
They dressed in their black clothing and put charcoal on their face and hands as if they were going to do a break in. When they got to the house it was around midnight and everything was quiet and dark. Tony's truck was parked next to the house so they knew he was inside sleeping. They had the dogs stay low as they crept slowly up to the house. They tried the locks on the doors and windows and everything was locked up tight. They went to one of the windows that was on the other side of the house from where Tony was sleeping and broke a small corner out. They waited about twenty minutes to make sure Tony didn't hear it and then Cooper slowly raised the window.
Dalton told Cooper he was going inside first because it was his dog that Tony had shot. He very carefully and quietly slipped through the window and into the house. Once inside he crept over to the back door and let Cooper and the dogs in. He then tiptoed over to the bedroom where Tony was sleeping. He slowly opened the door and he was lying on his back snoring.
Dalton motioned for Cooper to come over with the dogs. They all went into the bedroom and were standing close by Tony's bed when Samson sneezed. When he did that it instantly woke Tony up and he knew he wasn't alone. He was still half asleep when he rose up to look around. Dalton had Skeeter grab him by the throat. He told Skeeter to attack but not kill. Skeeter then started ripping at Tony's flesh around his neck and head. He was screaming out in pain so Cooper had Skeeter stop for a minute while he quickly put a piece of duct tape they had brought with them over his mouth.
They had brought with them a nail gun and extension cord they had stolen from one of the houses they had broken into. Cooper went over and plugged in the cord and attached the nail gun cord to it. After they let Skeeter rip Tony's body for a few minutes Dalton took the nail gun and stuck it to Tony's head. Cooper said, "You shouldn't have shot my dog, Tony. Now you have to suffer the consequences of your action. Looks like you won't be fighting anymore roosters." There were five short blasts from the nail gun as Dalton sunk five size sixteen nails in the side of his head. He then let Skeeter maul Tony for a few minutes just to make sure he was dead.
When they were finished with Tony they unplugged the nail gun and the extension cord and took them with them as they left through the back door. On the way home Dalton said to Skeeter, "That was the guy that shot you. I guess you took care of him, huh boy?" Skeeter seemed to be happy with himself as he pranced along beside Dalton.
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