Desert Matinee
By Jerry Bumpus, first published in Fiction International
In the deserts of New Mexico, a man living alone briefly opens his home to two strays from a passing motorcycle group, one of which is nursing a mortal wound.
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Plot Summary
A group of motorcyclists have set up camp in the southwestern deserts who Haskel lives. He has watched them from his binoculars for three days as they danced, fought, and rode around a large bonfire. He crosses paths with them while driving his truck along the highway. He drives half off the road to give them room, and sixty of them pass by, grinning at him. Haskel returns to his cabin in the canyons and is greeted by his large dog. He looks for their bonfire from his binoculars that night, but they are gone. Haskel drives out the next day to check out their abandoned camp. While following their motorcycle trails, he comes across a large, injured man and a small woman. The woman introduces the man as Hopalong and herself as Lily. She tells Haskel to take them back to his place, and he agrees without any questions. Back at his cabin, Hopalong collapses on a bed and refuses to eat anything. Before going to sleep, Lily approaches Haskel with a blank look in her eyes, and he is certain that Hopalong has died but does not say anything. While chopping wood the next morning, Haskel sees Hopalong running outside, naked. His penis is badly injured and bleeding, and Haskel tries to get him to return to the cabin. Lily whispers to Hopalong about which city they will go to next, and he goes silent. Haskel and Lily drag his body to the truck. Lily tells Haskel about her family and how she met Hopalong. She makes sexual advances on Haskel, and they sleep together. Haskel drops Lily off at the roadside the next morning, and she hitches a ride with the first car that comes. On his way back home, Haskel sees a group of women riding white horses. He checks on Hopalong in the shed and decides to put him in the meadow in a few days. Haskel awakens that night to the sound of horses and sees the group of horse riders from the store outside his window. They are dressed in all white, and one of them rides into the cabin.