Carl Conley - Ranch Roundup Family Style

The sound of a car horn echoed in the cold morning air.

"What's that?" Tracey said, sipping her coffee.

"Let's see," Rob said, getting up from the breakfast table.

The others heard shouts from outside as Rob walked onto the porch. Jerri looked at Russell. Immediately they got up and joined Rob on the porch. Carol set down her frying pan and she and Tracey and Dave also joined the boy.

They stood there facing a group of farmers-Tex, in particular. There were three cars parked in the drive in front of the house.

"We warned you a long time ago to clear outta here…"

"Just a minute!" Rob shouted in a strong, commanding voice. "Calm down. Now if you have something to say to us, you say it easy like, and you say it fast because we're eating breakfast."

"Who're you eatin' for breakfast?" one of the men called out. The others all laughed, all but Tex. He took a step forward.

"My boys have been tellin' me what goes on here! We know how you people live and we ain't going to have you endangering the morals of the entire Southwest. Now we want you people out of here!" Tex stared into Rob's face.

"Listen, we haven't done anything… " Russell started to say.

"Russell, I'll do the talking," Rob said, taking a step down to the ground. He stood only feet from Tex. Tex met him on his own level.

"I warned you about my kids, our kids. You know yesterday one of your sluts tried to rape my boy? You know that? Tried to get my boys pants off!" There was a murmur among the men. The tribe didn't move a muscle.

"Well, you see, Tex, we know the truth about that story. It seems Carol caught your little brat behind the barn, sneaking around on private property, trespassing, in other words. And what did he want? He wanted to smoke a little grass. He wanted to get high and get his rocks off because it was everything he had been dreaming about and reading about and wanting because he's a teenager and he's got a mind and a cock and his head needs some grass to take him away from the straight world and his cock needs some loving so it won't shrivel up and fall off! And Carol gave him grass-good grass, like I'm sure you have good liquor-and a hell of a good blow job-like I'm sure you give your wife a hell of a good fuckin'-and he wanted to fuck Carol and she was getting it on with her hand and so he freaked and ran off and went to you, and all his guilt feelings were fucking pouring out of him, and so he told you he was almost raped! A kid his age almost raped? Are you kidding me? I'd be ashamed to admit it if i was his father, and thank God I'm not!" There was absolute silence in the yard. Tex was stunned by the furious lecture he had just heard. He didn't know what to say or what to do. The men behind him stared at him, wondering what would happen now, wondering what the hell they should do.

"Look," Rob continued in a soft, natural tone of voice," we don't want to hurt you or your boys or anything. We just want to be left alone. Don't send anyone to snoop on us-it may be dangerous for you. They may want to come LIVE with us! We don't harm anyone. We work hard, we believe in God, we have feelings and passions and we're not afraid of showing them. We just want to be left alone so we can be happy. We've got Christmas to look forward to, we've got a baby coming, we've got a good future. Please don't try to hurt us. We don't hate you."

Jerri looked at Rob with pride and admiration. There was a tear in her eye as she walked forward to take his arm, defiantly and sadly looking at Tex and his friends. Rob had said it all, and said it well.

Tex started at them-at all the members of the tribe facing him-and then coughed and spit at the ground just in front of Rob's feet. Then he turned and walked to his car and got in. The rest of the group followed, as if they were puppets being led by his strings, and in a few minutes all three cars had vanished behind the hillside.

"Come on," Rob said to all of them," let's go finish breakfast."

Jerri held his hand as they walked back into the house.

Two weeks before Christmas, Jerri and Dave wrote to their parents, once again asking for understanding and acceptance. They hoped-with reason-that the spirit o! the holiday season would" open them up" a bit and perhaps their attitude would change. Almost seven months had passed, certainly enough time for her parents to get over the shock of her leaving New York and the modeling profession. And by now Lydia and Ray would have begun to realize their children were not coming home.

They mailed the letter, hoping. That same day they bought Christmas decorations and supplies for the gifts they were making, and went home to decorate the big Christmas tree Rob and Dave had cut down on the mountain.

It was the coldest night of the year. The wind whistled through the beams of the ceiling, but the roaring fire kept them warm. Jerri and Dave remembered the Christmas they had spent with their grandparents in Vermont, and they wanted to re-create that one as much as possible.

Jerri played Christmas carols on the piano and everyone sang as they decorated the Christmas tree. Carol and Tracey strung cranberries and popcorn, alternately, on long lines of heavy thread, and then hung them around the tree. Rob painted silver glitter on pine cones and then sat them on various branches, in between the strings of red and white. Russell hung bits of pine branches around the windows, and arranged pine boughs and cones on the mantel. When the tree was finished, they sat around and looked at it.

"Beautiful!" Carol said with pride.

"Fantastic!" Jerri said.

"The best," Rob added. "You know, this is going to be the best Christmas I ever had. I have a family now, for the first time in my life. "He hugged Jerri and then looked around at the rest of his dear close friends.

"Wish some of the love we have for each other would spread to the neighbors!" Tracey said honestly.

"There's no peace on earth these days," Dave muttered.

"But there is here," Tracey added.

"Yeah, and maybe if we start it the whole thing will spread around. Love. Peace. That's what Christmas is all about!" Jerri smiled.

"Well," Carol said, getting up from the floor, "at least those kids are going to have some happiness." She pointed to the two huge boxes of toys and gifts they had made for the poor children.

"How many do we have now?" Rob asked.

"About three hundred," Carol replied.

"God, that's great! That's about fifty over what we planned!" Tracey said.

"Fantastic!" Russell said, leaning on the piano.

"Far out!" Jerri said, sitting down at the piano. "Shall we have a rousing chorus of Winter Wonderland to urge the snow upon us?"

"Yeah," Rob shouted, walking to the piano.

"Hey, great," Carol said, beginning to sing. "La la la la!" She kidded, clearing her throat.

"Hey, everyone, wait!" Tracey called from the other side of the room. "Look! Come here, look!"

They all ran over to the front window. It was snowing outside! White-silver flakes were falling gently to the ground.

"We don't need to sing," Jerri said, happy.

"Hey, come on!" Rob called, flinging the front door open. He ran out into the snow, jumping into the air in the front yard, shouting and laughing in joy.

Jerri ran after him and joined him, hugging his body tightly to hers as the flakes fell around them.

Carol and Russell ran across the yard, freezing, but laughing too hard to know it.

Tracey and her husband stood on the porch, watching the others, feeling the cold flakes melting on their faces.

"I've never been so happy," Tracey whispered her hands on her stomach.

"Me too, darling, me too," Dave said, kissing her on the cheek.

The snow fell all night.

Two days before Christmas, Jerri and Rob and Dave were out running in the woods, playing in the little snow that was on the ground, when the others all went to deliver a few gifts to "Father" and his commune.