THEY MUST DIE

Richard Shaw was born in a small east Texas town named Apple Valley. There were no apples in Apple Valley. Somehow, this made sense to him, but he didn’t know why. He was born April 1^st, 1967 to Sally and Leon Shaw. They all lived in a small, but neat 4-room house. Richard had his own small room. His room was the best-kept room in the house. He couldn’t stand clutter. His records were neatly stacked beside his few books. He had a record player that he got for Christmas when he was twelve years old. He wore out half a dozen needles before he was fourteen.

He didn’t do well in school, but he managed to pass everything. His favorite subject was History and he managed to make a B most of the time. He only had one close friend, Josh Barker. He and Josh did everything together. Their favorite pastime was to hunt and fish. Richard was the best hunter and Josh the better fisherman.

When they graduated from grade school, Josh graduated near the top of his class and Richard near the bottom. They both left W.F. Murray grade school and entered Apple Valley High. The overage size of each class at A.V. High was about thirty students; it had been about twenty at W.F. Murray. Richard liked a larger class, it let him blend in and disappear easier. Richard and Josh were still friends but not as close. Josh was making new friends but Richard stayed mostly to himself. Richard had always been a loner and he became even more so at A.V. High. Richard made an unlikely friend, his history teacher, Frank Thurmond. Mr. Thurmond was a very tall man, about 6’5”. He was thin, about 190 lbs. He had cold black hair that was neatly cut short and a face that resembled a hawk. He told Richard to call him Frank when no one else was around. At first Richard was uncomfortable being around his history teacher and very uncomfortable calling him Frank. As time passed they became good friends and Richard became comfortable with him.

Richard had met a girl he liked. Her name was Paula Stewart, she was a real beauty and none of her friends could understand why she would have anything to do with him. As one of her friends said, he was too average. Average looks, average intelligence, average everything. He didn’t even own a car, which made him less than average. Frank Thurmond encouraged Richard and even loaned him his car from time to time. Richard got his drivers license at sixteen, met Paula and had a good friend in Frank Thurmond. Things were looking up for him and he felt good about himself. All these good things happened to him when he was in the eleventh grade.

Josh told Richard that he had decided to go to Texas A&M when he graduated. He asked Richard to go with him, but Richard knew there was no way his grades would qualify him for A&M. Paula didn’t know where she was going, but she had her choice of a number of good schools. Richard said he would either go to a trade school or go to work. Frank Thurmond told Richard he might have an opportunity for him but he wouldn’t say what the opportunity was until school was almost out. About a month before school was out, Frank asked Richard to see him after school in his office.

Frank was seated at his desk as Richard entered his office. He stood up and shook hands with Richard and told him to be seated. Frank then started to cover the details that made up the opportunity he had for Richard. He said most of the large South Texas Ranches needed what he called, private game wardens. His duties would be to run off squatters, drunks who might come on the ranch, and keep hunters off the land. But the most important duty would be to keep rustlers from taking valuable cattle off the ranch. Frank told him that he would receive three full months of training and that he would be totally prepared to handle anything that might happen. He handed Richard a round trip plane ticket to Dallas, first class, and five thousand dollars in twenty-dollar bills. He would be interviewed by several people in Dallas. Richard was impressed. He was told that he couldn’t mention anything about the trip or the possible job to anyone, even his parents. Unbelievably both Josh and Paula had chosen the same college, Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. It was a great school and it was close to Apple Valley.

He told Josh, Paula and his parents that Mr. Thurmond had arranged an interview for him with a security company in Dallas and that he would be back in a few days. They thought that he was interviewing for a security guard job.

Someone was waiting for him at the gate when he got off the plane. A man dressed in a three-piece suit with shirt and tie and sea turtle boots, came up to him and said hi Richard, I’m James Corbin, I’m here to take you to your interview. They engaged in small talk as the man drove him to downtown Dallas.

Richard jokingly said are we there yet just as James Corbin pulled into an alley and parked behind a small but elegant little building. They got out of the car and walked to the front of the building. Corbin took out a card key and inserted it into a slot beside the door. As they entered the building a well-dressed old man, at least 80, Richard thought, came to meet them. They shook hands and the old man introduced himself as Addis Thurmond. Addis looked like an old Frank Thurmond, so before Richard could ask, Addis said you know Frank, he is my son. The building had three floors. Richard saw no activity at all on the first floor, as they entered the elevator, Addis said most of our business is done on the third floor. When the elevator opened at the third floor, Richard was surprised at the plainness of the floor. There was no receptionist. As they walked down the hall all the doors were closed, but Richard could hear noises coming from all the offices. They entered the office at the end of the hall and Richard saw a beautiful young woman sitting at the reception desk. James Corbin, Addis Thurmond and Richard were ushered into a back office and seated at the conference table. The receptionist, Amy Fry, brought them coffee on a large silver tray.

As Addis began to speak, Richard started to doodle on the yellow pad in front of him. Addis asked Richard to tell them about himself. Richard started by saying that he would be graduating from Apple Valley High in about a week and that he had just turned eighteen. Addis asked him what his plans for the future were. Richard said he needed a job and that he didn’t think much about his future.