If Grace Knew!

If Grace Knew!

Horace Friend was desperate for a new partner with the right connections. After that lousy deal with Dr. Pain and Silas Justice, he and his group fell on hard times. Being true to his name Silas Justice closed down Dr. Pain’s operation.

Now there was Augustus Feelgood, who his devotees called the doctor. He was a handwriting expert that some would call a forger. Before Dr. Pain’s operation went bust, he had learned all he knew about the business and set up his own practice.

He was hanging his hat down at the corner of Little Five Points and Euphoria Ave. His office was on the street corners where his clients gathered for his brand of expertise. It shouldn’t be hard to find clients. 

There was just one problem: Augustus Feelgood needed a source or a silent partner. He needed a supplier desperate for extra cash that could look the other way. Unfortunately, Ben, George, and Epp caught on to his devious schemes. While they went along occasionally, they were not willing to fall into complete depravity and fall like Dr. Pain has.

After all, Silas Justice, Ben, Epp, and Horace are all faithful members of the First Family Church of Mount Martha. Then there is Obed Goodwell and his daughter, Grace, who will return to The Liberal Arts College of the New South for her Junior Year. But unfortunately, she took a year off after her mother mysteriously fell ill and died. Her death left Obed and Grace alone with a deep void. 

Her untimely death spelled doom to Obed’s business since she was the business mind. However, Obed was no businessman but a trusted member of the medical community. He owned an Apothecary and was known as a pharmacist. Patients called him Doc, or sometimes the ‘pill-pleaser.’ He was the ‘gatekeeper’ of the drugs meant to help people.

Grace lost two of her scholarships, and Obed faced a massive college bill. But, knowing that Precious would want their daughter to finish school and be successful, he decided he needed some new business partners. 

He would never attempt anything hinting of immorality, illegal, or remotely bending the rules as long as Precious was alive. But he was desperate. Grace was all he had, and he would do about anything to make her succeed.

“Papa?” “Hello, Papa.” “I haven’t heard from you regarding my school funds.”

“Oh my darling, I am still working out some things.” “I thought about selling out to the big box chains.” “What do you think?”

“Papa, Mama would never go along with that.” “You two built that old drug store from scratch, and it is a pillar in Mount Martha. “Besides, what would you do?” “You don’t play golf and would go crazy with boredom.” “I hope you aren’t thinking about working for a chain?”

“No, it’s a crazy thought.” “I got my eyes on someone to float me some cash.” “I won’t have to claim it on taxes, and it’s not traceable.” 

“Don’t do anything foolish.” “Mr. Dennis Ennis Anderson was sticking close to Mount Martha after Dr. Pain pulled the chain, and eyes are on everyone in town in the medical community.”

“Oh dear, I’m not a careless man.” “I will call you in three days with some results.”

######

“Good morning, Doc.” “Anyone ever told you that you are like a saint?”

“I don’t recall seeing you in here before.” “But I have seen you out on the streets over in Poppytown.”

“Oh, yeah, I have family over there that I help out.” “My mom needs this filled.” “Can you give me a price?” “I don’t have insurance.” Horace smiles and looks away, hoping that Obed Goodwell won’t catch the fake prescription he had just handed him.

“Yeah, just a few minutes; I’m backed up.” “Can you come back in ten minutes, and I’ll have it ready.”

“I need a price first.” 

“Cash, You said?” “Hmm.” “I don’t know.” “Did your mother see Dr. Smaha or the new doctor, McQuackens?”

Horace looks up, and his near toothless smile turns to a grin, and replies, “Oh, Doc Smaha is on vacation, and that lady doctor, Mrs. Charlatan, she left town.”

Mr. Anderson walks in as their conversation turns to Mrs. Charlatan. He snoops around the front counter and proceeds to the first aid section. Finally, he grabs some bandages and first aid ointment and nods at Obed, who smiles and tells Horace to come back in five minutes.

Horace walks around nervously and finally steps outside. In the alley is a gentleman with a leather jacket, blue jeans, and greasy salt and pepper hair. He pulls  his shades back, rolls his eyes at Horace, and says, “Well, what’s eatin’ you?”

“Oh, that Anderson feller came in.” “

“I hope you didn’t act nervous.” “What did ole Saint Goodwell say?”

“He was asking about Smaha and McQuacken.” “He’s not so bad, but he makes me nervous.” “I wish we could go to Epp and George, but the Blueblood brothers are watching them.”

“Well, we must move fast at this dump and move on.” “It seems old Anderson is scouting Goodwell or us.”

Anderson pays for his first aid supplies,  turns around to leave, and asks Obed about his family. They engage in friendly chit-chat, and Anderson says, “I’ve got this town covered.” “All the poppy pills leaving here had better be accounted for.” He laughs and walks out the door.

Everyone just stared at each other. Obed went on about his work like every other day. Then Augustus Feelgood popped his head around the corner to see Anderson driving off in his government-issued car. 

“He’s gone. Let’s go in separately.” “And tell Mrs. Murmur to come in about half an hour later.” “We will see if Saint Obed is as desperate as I hear.” “It is a no-win for us all.”

“Ok,” said Horace with a laugh. He reeked of body odor which made him more suspicious. But all the zealots appreciated him.

    The phone rang, and Ms. July answered, “Drug store.” “Yes, he just left.” “Hold on, and I will put Doc Saint on.”

Obed heard the voice on the other end and knew it was Epp. He feared he was calling to warn him about the McQuacken scripts. It’s what they did when someone was passing fake scripts. That’s what you did. You gave each other a heads up and turned these zealots away. After all, they were trouble and needed help. 

Obed hung up the phone and looked up to see Horace, and right behind him was Augustus. He didn’t know him since he came to Mount Martha while Obed was dealing with Precious’ death. But, he fits the type of a drug-seeker, a trouble maker. It was terrible for business, and no one wanted to contribute to their behavior.

That’s how it was. No one wanted to ask why they had a problem. They either turned them away, called the Blueblood family, or went along. But, what would Obed Goodwell do today? His only daughter needed $3,500 by the 12th. That’s three days. 

He is waiting on reimbursement checks, and then there are charge accounts. The monthly charge accounts only added up to $5,000.00, but they came in sporadically, and reimbursements arrived at a more random rate.

Then there was the payroll, utilities, and wholesalers. However, there was a new script for Mrs. Endorphins. Hey, I thought it was Mr. Friend’s mom. 

“Hey, what’d ya find out?”

“Mr. Endorphin?” “No, my name is Friend, remember.” “But, the name on the script is for Endorphin, and I thought it was your mom.”

“Oh, that’s my mother-in-law.” “Whole family has some kind of pain or nerve problem.”

“You know how it is, Doc. Come on.”

“Well, for 100 tablets, it will be $75.00, cash, no check, no charge.”

“Alright then, that’s more like it.” “How long?”

“Dudley Donothing came from behind the counter and announced, “Oh, it’s ready.” 

Ms. July looked at Obed and said, “Obed, are you sure?” “After what Epp said, and you still gonna fill it.” 

“I called, and it’s ok.” “Epp just said someone stole a pad, that’s all.”

Augustus Feelgood approached the counter as Horace left and handed Obed a script. This one was on a pad from over in Slickdale. Obed typically was reluctant to fill scripts from Slickdale, Harper Valley, or anywhere more than fifteen miles away.

Augustus knew the game, and he continued talking to everyone. It is a  diversion technique employed to throw them off from being suspicious. He watched as they called over to Slickdale, but he had a friend who would approve whatever he needed. Finally, they called his name, and he left the pharmacy $115.00 lighter.

There was a problem. All day people wandered through the doors of the Mount Martha Drug Store, and each had the same problem. They had a special meeting place across town in an abandoned textile mill. They all said they had found a new place to shop, and their needs would be fulfilled. But they wouldn’t last long if the pharmacy kept shorting them pills each time.

“What gives?” the voice on the phone asked Obed. Feelgood had told someone to call and complain about being short, and they would call the authorities if he didn’t make it right. 

“Obed said if you want to do business here, that’s how it will be.” “There are three other independent pharmacies, or you can go to Drug Mart.”

“They won’t like it.”

Augustus Feelgood had been writing fake scripts for a long time and finally met someone he respected. Obed would fill their scripts, but he kept back ten pills for himself. They never asked questions but often wondered what happened to the other pills.

Augustus and Horace were like evangelists spreading the message of hope for the zealots. They had found Grace and mercy in a man named Obed Goodwell. 

On the twelfth, Obed called Grace. “Good news, I have the $3,500 plus the remaining $2,500 for the rest of the semester.”

“But how?” “I hope you didn’t take a loan or withhold payroll.”

“Oh Grace, if you only knew how business has picked up. People come to the doctor and get their scripts filled here instead of waiting ’til they get back to Harper Valley or Slickdale.” “Donothing asked about you.” “You stay out of trouble, and what was that degree you were achieving?”

“Oh, it’s either Psychology or Sociology.” “I’m studying why people do the weird things they do.” “I took a religion class, well, Theology.” “It was like a deep Sunday School, but I wanted more.” “Stay out of trouble.” “I’m only a few hours away, and I might pop in to see what you are up to.”

Obed and Grace discontinue their conversation. Obed has hired two new techs and another cashier. Meanwhile, he is finally cleaning out Precious’ things and has decided to invite some of his new ‘friends’ over to see if they could use a few things. It is what Jesus would do. These poor people, “We have misjudged them.” 

“They can’t work or hold down a job,” he thought. “What would they do without their medicine?” “They don’t mean to tell stories or fabricate stuff, but that’s their life.” “Perhaps that’s what Precious and the good Lord want me to do.”

#####

It was Thanksgiving, and Obed hadn’t heard from Grace. Thanksgiving was always a big family event, but Obed wanted to do something for some of the families he had been helping. He wanted to invite those less fortunate. After all, the Torah and the New Testament taught him to do just that. So without consulting Grace, he planned to have six or seven of the most down and out people he knew of for Thanksgiving dinner. Precious would be proud. 

He told family and friends not to look for him or Grace and ordered food from a local restaurant. Now, Happy Blueblood lived across the street, but there was no law against having a few beleaguered folks over for Thanksgiving, was there?

The doorbell rang at precisely 1:00 p.m., and Obed ran expecting his friends. Instead, the door flew open, and there stood Grace with a couple of friends from the University. 

“Right on time,” Grace remarked.

“But.., hey,” “You didn’t call, so I figured you were staying in Spartanville.”

“Call?” “Why?” “I told you I was coming two days ago.” “Don’t you remember?” “Are you ok?”

Obed’s speech was already slurred when he responded, “I don’t remember that.” “I thought that was last year.”

“Huh” “Papa?” Grace looked confused, and Shellie and Hunter came in and immediately sat at the dining table with the vast spread. Grace looked around and saw seven places set. 

“Have you got company coming?” 

“Oh, Grace, I have some friends.” “If I had known you were bringing friends.”

They argued for some time when the doorbell rang, and Grace ran to open it to find three middle-aged women dressed shabbily with poor hygiene. With them stood Augustus Feelgood and Horace Friend. They all smelled of alcohol and marijuana.

“Can I help you?” Grace inquired.

“Oh, we are here to eat Thanksgiving dinner.” “Marilyn Frisbee said.

“Yeah, where is Saint Obed?” Horace said. “He will tell you.”

Grace and her friends looked at each other with shock and disbelief. Then, suddenly, Obed stumbled from the kitchen with some food and fell over a chair and onto the floor. The food flew out the door and onto the porch.

“Yummy,” Marilyn said as Grace slapped her.

Grace excitedly asked the new arrivals to leave as she tended to her father. Hunter and Shelley chipped in to clean while Friend and Feelgood stood helpless. Finally, another lady, Gertrude Smiles, looked down and said, “I guess we got here too late.” “The party is over before it starts.”

“Party?” “Party, you say.” “Well, I have heard it all.” My papa was throwing a thanksgiving party with a bunch of low-life scum.” “What did ya’ll do to him?”

“It’s what he’s done for us.” “He made us feel special and included us in his business.” “He said we were partners helping him get his daughter through school.” Dr. Feelgood said. “I guess that would be you, and you are ungrateful.”

“You were told to leave.” “I will call my neighbor and have you escorted.”

Suddenly words started flying through the air when Hunter called for Grace. Obed was lifeless, and Grace told Shelley to run over to the Blueblood house and retrieve Happy. When he arrived, the five zealots were sitting in their old car, looking on, unphased by what was happening. Happy Blueblood came in, and after speaking with Obed, he realized he was suffering from an overdose, probably an opioid.

He sent Shelley to get some Narcan to help reverse the effects. Soon, Obed was awake but would need to go to the hospital. Meanwhile, Blueblood went to Feelgood and friends and told them to leave town and that Obed was sick and will be transported to the hospital. He suggested that they do the same. 

“What will we do?” Horace asked.

Augustus answered, “Just what we always do, move on to the next place.” “Whether that be a drug store, another town, doctor’s office, or wherever.” 

“Don’t you think we need help,” Marilyn asked.

“Speak for yourself,’ Horace said.

Marilyn and Gertrude stepped out of the old, worn-down vehicle and told the officer they needed to seek help. They all turned and watched as Horace, Augustus, and Mrs. Poppy drove out of sight.

Obed looked at Grace and said, “Now you know.”