Of Mice and Men Chapter 7

Part 7

The saloon was dusty,dim and not all that well kept. It had a musky stench but,It was cheap,almost empty and had half decent liquor,at this point that's all that mattered. George and Slim sat in the back of the bar both already a few drinks in.

Slim sat next to George patting his back and occasionally whispering "You hadda George,You really hadda." George sat there still and silent. The trauma of Lennie had sure left its mark. Although it had left him almost emotionally numb,George was attempting to drowned his remaining emotions in an ocean of booze. The two guys sat for hours drinking,trying in vain to forget about the horrors of earlier.

A few hours later,deep into the night when darkness had long fallen,the saloon closed and the two guys were thrown out.

As they walked out Slim finally spoke out "Jesus,We need to give Lennie a proper burial 'cause Curly sure as h*ll ain't gonna."

George nodded and choked out "S'pose e'll just leave his body there to rot won' he."

"You're d*mn right he will George,You're d*mn right." Slim sighed. Slowly the two guys made their way back to the brush where much of their pain had spawned or resurfaced and where many of their hopes died alongside their friend,who still lay there. He looked almost peaceful. If it weren't for the dried blood and lifelessness of his chest you might think he was sleeping. George approached Lennie's body shaking. He looked at his body. He was pale almost waxy. His lips were a pale shade of blue having been deprived of oxygen for many hours. Pulling himself away from the inanimate body of his friend and walked towards a large tree nearby where Slim had started to dig a shallow grave for Lennie. He helped Slim pull away the soft dirt to make a proper grave for Lennie. They pulled away all the soft dirt and once they hit the harder dirt they stopped. George grabbed Lennie by the wrists and slowly pulled him towards the makeshift grave. He was stiff,his joints almost locked into place. George shook as he moved slowly tugged his friend toward the hole while,Slim tied two sticks together. He finally got Lennie to the grave and slowly sank to his knees. Slim walked over minutes later and they both began to slowly push the dirt back over Lennie's body. After all the dirt was set back over Lennie, George began a prayer

"Lord,Lead this poor man to your kingdom,shine a light to help 'im find his way to you. He ain' had no bad intentions." At this point George starts to tear up as Lennie's face filled his head. "Let 'im tend the rabbits for ya,he can't never hurt 'em up there. Make sure you take care of 'im and let 'im know that,He wasn't the thin' that made ma life so hard. Amen."

"Amen." Slim whispers. After this George collapsed into himself devolving into tears. Slim sat there comforting George for a minute. After a bit of time had passed Slim slowly rose up and went over to the two sticks he had tied together. They were in the shape of a cross he placed it above the grave. It was then and only then that George looked at the makeshift cross and saw the center. There was a small hand carved bunny right there.

A while later the two guys were on their way back to the ranch. They were drunk,sad,tired and traumatized. As the two approached the ranch stumbling slightly from the booze and the sadness a shot rang out,it pierced through the night like a spear. They both went from stumbling slightly straight to running like they were stone cold sober. They sprinted the last lightly bit of the way back to the ranch.As they ran onto the ranch Slim noticed Curly running towards the barn. He ran after him with George shortly in toe. They all arrived within seconds though,it felt like hours. They stood shocked at the sight before them. Curly's wife's body was gone, long since been moved to prepare her for a proper funeral, leaving only a small shape molded into the hay where her body once was. In its place another body lay,strewn across the hay with small bit of blood pooling around the face. Candy lay there,dead. George slowly fell to his knees. Another friend dead. Another body to bury Another ghost to forever haunt him. There was nothing George could do but,just sit there knee deep in hay and brain swimming with thoughts of sadness and guilt. Eventually,Slim dragged George to bed muttering something about how maybe sleep would do them all some good. After being pulled to bed George sat on his glorified cot with the scratchy blankets laying in lumps below him. The voices of the dead ran through his head,tormenting him with their lingering memory bouncing around in his skull.

"Why d'ya' do it George? I 'out you were ma friend." He heard Lennie cry,his sad face flashing in his brain. There was a streak of blood running down his forehead where George had shot him.

"Why,if I hadn't a' meet ya,I coulda lived. Why'd ya 'ave to come 'ere and end my life. Murder." Candy's voice angrily huffed. His back turned to George in his mind unwilling to look at the man who had ruined his life.

"Murder" George's voice cried

"Killer" Candy's voice yelled

"Murder."

"Killer."

"Killer"

"Murder"

These two words swarmed through George's head. Torturing him all through the night with accusations of killing and destroying two of his only friends. The morning slowly crept forward. As the early hours of the morning dragged on and small amounts of light slowly poured over the world George tossed and turned trying to shake the voices of the dead from his brain. As the sun creeps to half way in the sky George forces himself to get up. He walked outside and found most people outside slowly chewing on their breakfast. George couldn't bring himself to try and eat, let alone face everyone else. Soon work was being delegated for the day. Apparently three deaths was no excuse to not get some work. George worked out in the field for the day. Instead of the usual bit of chatter there was only somber silence. After about 2 hours of work everyone was heading back for the funeral.

Candy's wife's body lay in the casket arms crossed on her chest,her eyes closed with flowers in her hands. Even though they tried to divert your attention from it,her neck was clearly broken. There was bruising and you could see the slight miss placement of her neck where the break had happened. That's all that George could focus on,her neck. The place where everything had started to go downhill. He couldn't help but be mad at her. If she had just stayed away they would've been fine. Lennie and Candy would've still been alive. But,he couldn't completely blame her. She had had a tough life and he couldn't help her for reaching out,even if it had caused so much pain for George. George was sure that the ceremony was beautiful even though he didn't know what had happened. They were let go for the rest of the day. That may have been the worst thing for George at the time.

With nothing to do all that George could do was sit on his bed and listen to the echoes of the dead filled the empty space. The day drifted by slowly and somberly. At random intervals throughout the rest of the day some of the other guy's from the farm would check in and make sure George was still breathing but,other than that they left him be. The sun started to set and as most people settled in to go to sleep George was being kept awake by his thoughts. As silence fell over a ranch a kinda hush seemed to fall over the whole world. It seemed as though the only things stirring were George and his ghosts. All they could do was go on about how he had ruined their lives and how he was gonna rot for what he had done to them. At some points Curley's wife interjected saying how he shoulda told her how strong he was and the he shoulda kept a better eye on Lennie. After hours of torment and agony from these ghosts George had hit a breaking point. He was done with the guilt,the pain,the d*nm ghost,the cruelty in this world,the feeling that God had abandoned this place and with the grief over Lennie and Candy. He decided he was going to see them. Later,after George was sure that all had gone quiet on the ranch he snuck his way out. He quietly and quickly made his way to the brush where they had first came and where Lennie had died. George walked over to Lennie's grave and looked at the rough patch or dirty. There was something comforting knowing that Lennie was put to rest. After this George slowly walked over to the spot where Lennie had died. It was right by the river. George slowly stepped into the river the icy water slowly moving past his legs. He then slowly began to submerge himself in the water.

He was about neck deep when he quietly whispered out into the night "See ya at the farm Lennie." He took one last breath of this cruel world's air before submerging completely into the water. He released the air from his lungs and took in a breath of water. He felt the water burn in his lungs and make every inch of his body ache. There was nothing more to do than let go. As George hovered between life and death he saw flashes of Lennie's smiling face.

Just before he passed he heard one last thing. It was muffled and distant and almost to faint to hear but unmistakable it was Curley yelling "What the h*ll are ya thinkin' George. And with that he felt everything go numb.

For a moment it was black. A void until George opened his eyes to a bright place. It was bright and warm and inviting. And there over George stood Lennie. Eyes wide and grin from ear to ear.

He reached out his hand and said "Com' on George,let me show a the farm."