Tiny (Fandom) Tales

Of Mice And Men: Chapter 7

George's face was dotted with blood, his trembling hands were splattered with droplets of blood; Lennie's blood.

The sun was setting and the sky was crimson. Everything was silent, you couldn't even hear the crows on the fence or the footsteps and whispers men nearby.

 George and Slim were on the way to the cat house. About 200 yards away, George could see it in his line of vision .

"I always told Lennie tha' if I didn' 'ave to look after 'im, I'd get my 50 bucks every month an' I'd go to a cat house just like this. Now the crazy bastard's gone, I've got my wish, 'aven't I, Slim?", George said, his voice shaky and uneven.

"George, you hadda do it! He had Carlson's luger, he coulda hurt us an' if you didn't do it, I'm sure as hell Curley woulda. You did what was best George, nothing less", Slim reassured George.

They walked on a bit in silence before suddenly George dropped onto his knees and started crying. 

"We were gonna get a stake together, jus' me and him and we were gonna live off the fatta' the land and ain't nobody was going to tell us whatta do. He was gonna tend the rabbits, probably kill a few of 'em too. Then ol' man Candy said he was gonna pitch in and we woulda the land by the end of the month. And Lennie being a forgetful bastard, told Crooks our plan too. All four of us coulda live in peace , 'way from all of y'all! Nobody woulda harm us there nobody!", George cried out, he was desperately rubbing his eyes, trying to brush away the tears just kept coming. 

"Maybe, let's get drink anotha time George. Let's get back, it's been a hell of a day", Slim said whilst attempting to console George.

George and Slim made their way back to the bunkhouse where the rest of the men including Curley, Crooks and the Boss. Silence engulfed the room the second a tear and blood stained George along with Slim. Couple of the guys opened their mouths but no words seemed to come out. Eventually the Boss broke the silence.

"As you all know ma son's wife, Mary Ann was brutally murdered, by the big new guy tha' I hired, Lennie Smalls. Fortunately Milton 'ere shot 'im before he could do more 'arm. He took a gun off 'im, the son of a bitch, and shot 'im in the backa the head. Usually, Milton, guys like you would be long gone, I ain't want no murderers on my ranch; no, you'd either be in the sheriff's office or outta this place but I'd like to allow you to stay. If ma son pursued the guy and got shot, I don't think I'd be able to live with maself. Thank you, George, thank you. Now we got other business, we're having a service for Mary Ann and Smalls tomorrow at dawn, here on the ranch. A pastor will be coming and Mary Ann and Smalls are getting burried here on the ranch, couple of ma other guys are working on caskets right as we speak. As sons of God, it is our duty to ensure everybody gets fair judgement from God himself so I want no whining about why we're burying Lennie too. Get to whatever the hell you were doing, I'm heading back home", with that the Boss left.

"If you ask me, that bastard doesn't even deserve a service! If you ask me, that son of a bitch deserves to rot out there, let the dogs get 'im! He killed ma wife, he killed ma wife! ", Curley shouted , focusing his attention on George .

"Maybe, just maybe if you actually took care of your goddamn wife, she wouldn't have been out there with Lennie in the first place! Always by herself, you were never there! Always looking for each other, but never together. She came in here all the time, all the goddamn time! Probably bored outta her mind sitting up in that house with nobody to talk to. Look, Lennie, the crazy bastard, did some bad things, never meant to do no harm to anyone. He's a good guy just a lil crazy sometimes, that's all. He deserves to be buried and be with his Aunt Clara, don't you ever say otherwise!", George shouted at Curley, getting progressively closer to Curley, prodding him repeatedly in the chest, getting more aggressive each time his finger tapped Curley's chest.

"Just 'cause you're the boss's son don' mean I ain't gonna hit ya, Curley, don't push a desperate guy!"

After that encounter, Curley stood there shocked at George's outburst, the information sinking into his small mind.

"I, I, I, I ..... ", Curley tried to voice his opinion but he couldn't, he knew George was right. He was partly to blame for his wife's death. "Get outta the way Milton!", He screamed at George, his lip threatening to quiver. George stepped out of the way while Curley stormed out of the bunkhouse, tears forming in his usually angry eyes.

"All of us, we're all the bad guys in this godforsaken world! Eventually everything we did, everything we do will come back and haunt us. Remember that.", George muttered to the guys before heading to the outhouse.

"I dunno why he got so worked up 'bout this, he did the right thing and didn't get fired, what else could he want?", Carlson said before returning to his card game. "Yeah, the guy only put him outta his misery. He killed a woman! Probably coulda killed all of us, if George didn't shoot 'im", Whit agreed with Carlson, pulling up a stool to join Carlson's game.

"Unlike you guys, George has a heart and he cares about things! Things other than shots and women! He had to kill his friend, don't you bastards understand that? I think he deserves to mourn over his dead friend", Candy argued from inside his bunk. His dream of owning a ranch away from everyone, had just been shattered by the death of his friend. "Also, unlike you guys, he had a friend to count on and a friend to count on him. We don't have friends, we're just a few guys on a ranch doing our, getting paid and moving on when the work dries up. Nobody cares about us, at least Lennie had someone to care about him", said Slim leaning against the wall, the death of Lennie opened his eyes, he's stuck in a viscous cycle with nobody to pull him out of it.

The guys looked at Slim, their eyes turned small from the realization that Slim was right, they had nobody. "I know I'm just a nigger but Lennie treated me jus' like everybody else and nobody will probably treat me like that again", Crooks said before leaving for the barn. Now that Lennie was gone, Crooks really wanted the stupid ranch away from everyone, but he couldn't have it because Lennie was gone.

George looked down at his bloody hands and looked at his bloody face in the small mirror on the outhouse wall. "I'm sorry Lennie, they told me I hadda do but I didn't hadda. I coulda ran away with you, far away from here. You coulda tended the stupid goddamn rabbits, you coulda!", George screamed at his reflection and started crying. He started punching the walls repeatedly, hitting harder each time his fist hit the wall, blood and bruises were appearing on his raging fists. George slid on to the floor, his knees tucked up against his head and his hands nestling on his head. A mouse came from a hole in the corner of the outhouse, it crept up next to George's foot .

"Hey there, lil guy", George picked up the mouse. "I'm surprised there's still mice in these parts, Lennie, the crazy bastard, loved petting mice. He was always killing them, to strong for his good. " . The mouse looked him in the eyes and something in George's mind just snapped, "Me and you, we're going to buy that goddamn ranch! Nobody gonna stop us, not Curley or anybody! ". George put the mouse in his pocket and went to the sink. The water stung his hands as it washed over his fresh wounds. He splashed water on his face a couple of times before looking in the mirror, "We gonna do it Lennie, like I promised".