"Devon, I'm checking out", "Now?" "Yes now!" "I'm sorry could you come back in a few minutes my computer is acting up..." I could tell Devon was lying to me and he knew I knew. At that moment he looked over at a gentleman dressed in a suit, obviously some security type goon, and signaled him to come over. I quickly walked for the main door and made it outside. I looked around and saw a cab that was idling nearby. I ran to it. I was opening the back door when I heard a lazy melancholy voice say, "I wouldn't get in there if I were you." I put my hand over my one good eye as a make-shift visor to get a better look at the owner of that voice. It was a moonless brutally cold night, and standing under a flickering yellow sodium light in a pea coat, was a disheveled tall man. He had patchy leathered skin, his hair was the color of Montauk beach sand, matted, and uncombed. In between flickers I noticed a welled healed scar across his face. His eyes were slits, almost Asian above high sharp cheek bones. Next to him on the ground was the security person that was chasing me, knocked out. I spoke to him; "Hello, is that you...? It must be you. I would like to talk to you" I closed the cab door and started towards him. He immediately turned the corner around the hotel and was out of sight. I followed him but he simply vanished, I called out; "Hello! PLEASE I NEED to talk to you!" No answer. He was gone, damn it. I raced back towards the cab to question the driver. Sitting in the "Great White Taxi" was a man with a thin mustache, slicked back thinning greasy hair, racing the engine. He looked at me, winked his eye and said "I guess you don't need a ride this time," He then sped off.
I sat on the parking lot curb, gasping and choking on the cold air, my adrenaline was in full gear, I needed to calm down. I was still perplexed by what just happened. The Montauk Man saves me yet again, from what...Devon? The Colonel? The mystery lady? I was warned by the Colonel to leave Montauk. In my past life, before I was saved, I would have ran by now. The fear would have been so great I would have left faster than you can say "adios" and a long time before things got this far. But I wasn't about to leave Montauk. This was a new life given to me by some stranger, and in this new life there was no place for fear and intimidation. I felt as if for the first time I was strong and not afraid. No, I would continue my adventure.
Enough thinking, it was freezing, and a few yards from me was a man on the floor- I had to move and get away from the Manor quickly. I decided to walk to the nearby train station and find a ride to the village. It's time to find Elijah and continue our talk but where could he be? The Rec center. I was dropped off in front of the Montauk Tower and began my search for the "Rec center". With a little asking around I found the dingy run down place on the outskirts of the village. The exterior was grayed cedar shingle siding, half of it worn to a nub by the ocean salt air and the other half ready to fall off. I opened the oily door stepped in and instantly felt the filth smack me in the face; it was like stepping into a human size cat litter box- it was dirty and mean and I started to itch just thinking about the creepy crawlers that must be lurking around. I spotted a woman folding laundry, cigarette dangling from here mouth, I approached her; "I'm looking for Elijah, can you tell me where I can find him?" "Yea, I'm looking for Santa Claus, beat it!" " Hey, I'm trying to be polite, I need to find Elijah" "Ain't no one here by that name, now beat it!" That was rude. I left the center and went back into the village to the only other place he could possibly be: The pub.
I walked in and low and behold there was Elijah at the bar with another fellow connoisseur of the drink. "Elijah!" "Hey Mister,! It's you again! What happen to your eye, did Marcus find ya?" " No Elijah, I got mugged after I left the bar..." "Would be the only mugging ever to occur in Montauk. Sorry friend but I warned ya, you should have left Montauk by now....next time it will be worse!" " Yes everyone keeps telling me that. By the way your home is the Rec center?" "Funny thing about that Mister" " Yes, I'll say, they never heard of you there" " Listen Mister, I come and go like the Montauk wind, ain't many people troubling themselves with an old man" " OK Elijah, I'm not here to judge, even if you're not being 100% square with me. I'm not leaving until I find out more about this Montauk Man, I think I may have seen him tonight-I need to find him. I can't stop now and other strange things have been happening to me, I need to figure this out", " Wow Mister, OK, I'll tell ya what I know. But first you need to buy me a drink." I looked around settled in for the tale that was about to be told. I asked the bartender for a couple of whiskey sours, folded my arms and looked directly into Elijah's eyes and thus he began:
"Now I told ya about Montauk's sorrowful history but there's more to Montauk than just sorrow. Montauk is of 'another world'! But before I tell ya about that, let me tell ya the tale that might explain something about the man you're looking for. Not many years ago, there once was this rich family, the McCallasters'. They lived over in East Hampton, the ritzy section, near the ocean. It's a high class area surrounded by tall shrubbery- I guess they like to hide themselves away. Anyway, Brad McCallaster, the patriarch, came from humble origins, he wasn't a blue blood, that is, born into money and privilege. No, Brad was from right here, Montauk herself, son of a fisherman and a hard working family. His dad worked himself to the bone on that fishing boat of his, battling that remorseless sea to provide for his family. He literally paid in blood for his son's upbringing and education. He loved his son - too bad though he could never tell him, he just wasn't the 'touchy feely' type, old school I suppose. No, he showed his love through sacrifice, hard work and just being there for his kid; his son understood. Brad left Montauk, out into the world, went to a fine school and got educated. Because of his love for the ocean and his dad he also became an Olympic swimmer, actually competing in the Olympics herself! The world was his oyster! He eventually got a job in one of those big Wall Street firms, the ones that could finance a small country and became rich, rich as one of those sheikhs! Brad knew however that deep down inside he was a fisherman's son and he wasn't ashamed of it but he wanted more and got more. He was moving up in the world and the more he moved up the more he prospered. Although he never disparaged the working class that his dad came from he put on a big mask to fit in this new world he was moving into. He went to their parties and soirees made his connections and that's where he met his wife. It was at one of those "Ball" parties, you know, only important people welcomed! There he saw her across the room and instantly fell in love with her, she was as pretty as a princess. Abbey was her name, short for Abigail. Her family were well to do, not exactly New England nobility coming from Greenwich Connecticut, but close enough. He courted her and eventually won her over and married her. They bought their summer home in the tall shrub section like I told you, and jumped right into high class living together as a couple. Brads' wife became a first class socialite of the Hampton's, you couldn't hold a party if you didn't invite her. Her life was all about status, only the first lady of this great land was more popular than her. Brad, well he did what any other husband of a socialite did, looked good, made money and joined the exclusive country club like all the other well to do folk. They kept moving up in the world of tall shrubbery, becoming members of exclusive golf clubs, rubbing elbows with movie stars and presidents, they had it all! They eventually had three children, a decent marriage and of course the family pooch. Life couldn't get any better, that is until the Stock Market crash of 2008. Brad lost it all. I don't have to tell you what devastating consequences that would have on any family let alone one accustomed to the finer things in life. The wife took it the hardest. Unable to show her face at those glitzy gatherings, loosing memberships to those exclusive clubs and getting snubbed by her once so called friends, killed her, she fell apart, couldn't take it and fled! She moved back with her family, out of state, left her husband and sadly the kids which was more devastating than the money they had lost." I was completely taken in by Elijah's story and had noticed by this time the pub was clearing out. It was getting quit and only now I had noticed others had gathered around to hear Elijah's tale. For how long they were there I couldn't say but I was like a fish on the line. I nodded to Elijah and he continued:
"Brad McCallaster tried to reconcile with his wife who he loved very much in spite of the phony life they had built but she wasn't about to have anything to do with a man who lost his standing in the community and especially one who was broke! He tried and tried to win her back. He wanted to put the family back together for the children's sake but to no avail, she'd have none of it. He started drinking, became a complete mess, and worse of all couldn't continue to take care of the kids on his own. One dark day he went to Montauk, his place of birth, parked his car at Camp Hero walked down to the beach. Sat there for a while, Indian style, got up then walked straight into that cold unforgiving water. His body washed up on shore, found a day or so later. It had been so cold his lifeless body and handsome self was still a sight to see. The papers ruled it an accident but an Olympic class swimmer doesn't just drown- it was no accident, Montauk took him." I sat there with goose bumps covering my body. The hair on the back of my neck stood up...."He drowned himself Elijah? " "Yes sir, he walked right into that water right near the lighthouse and never looked back. You OK Mister? You look like you just about seen a ghost. I didn't mean to scare you." "I'm sorry Elijah, please go on. What about the kids, what happened to them?" "Ah, yes, here is the real tragedy of this tale. Those poor kids were passed back and forth among friends and family. Brad's dad by now had passed along with his mom so there was no one who really cared about those poor children. The oldest son took the news of his dads death the hardest. He was a kind hearted kid. Athletic himself, a tall handsome popular boy in school, he was known as the "protector' because he always came to the aid of other kids who would get bullied. He was a teenager at this point when the family fell apart and he up and disappeared." "How about the other kids you said there were three" "Yes, the daughter she's out there, just floating around like a cork on the sea. She grew up to be a real looker, wavy blond hair fine features with an athletic build; she could have been a model you know. She however stayed in the area, passing herself off to one rich playboy after another but never staying in one place for very long, always searching for something..." "Searching, you say...searching for what I'd like to know." "Good question Sonny, maybe for some explanation why the world is so cruel...." "And the last kid?" " Yes the youngest child. This is this the most curious thing, he actually benefited from this whole ugly tragedy. He was taken in by a family, a childless couple that had more money than god. Said to be related to the Rockefeller clan, the Averys'. However the Averys' were meaner than a ten headed snake, carpet bagger's they are! Mr Avery was extremely ruthlessness, a real devil of a man. Well anyway, they took in that youngest McCallaster, adopted him and claimed him as their own. They erased his history, his family, his identity and gave him a new one; he became one of them...cruel as could be"
"He took to the Avery's like a fish takes to water. The little tycoon acts like the governor, being driven around in that fancy gray car by a personal driver. He visits the stores and business's his folks own, firing people at will, teasing, demeaning them and treating everyone he meets like dirt. It's not a good thing to give so much power to a child-how the hell do they know how to use it? Some peoples dispositions are naturally evil or naturally good-In the case of the this young Avery the devil himself lives through him..." "Yes I know, like a real life Damien Omen", "Damien who..?" "Nothing old timer, where's he now?" "He hasn't been seen lately. Heard he went to military school." "I may beg to differ Elijah. So you're telling me the older McCallaster kid is the Montauk Man?" "Not exactly Sonny. I don't know. Could be. What if the Montauk Man was really the Montauk Woman, or Montauk Devil....? In any case, this whole story I told you is just rumor, gossip, no one knows for sure not even me. Now, I need another drink.." The onlookers who had gathered dispersed as if a church mass had come to an end. I sat there not knowing what to do next - I just looked at Elijah and he sat there looking back at me.
End Part 6 Stay tuned for more.
Copyright Lewis Portal
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