Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, and the characters I make up to go with it. (Not the Dukes).
Author's Note: Let me start by warning everyone that this story is long. Over 7 chapters on paper. In the beginning, there isn't much action, just lots and lots of drama and angst—but that's what I was aiming for. If you think it's sad, tell me, cuz it's supposed to be. I've had the idea for this story for a long time, and finally just decided to run with it. I will try to update whenever I can.
Chapter 1: The Letter
Balladeer: Another beautiful Hazzard mornin' dawns on the Duke home. It's one of those days when everything just seems right. But sunny days in Hazzard County tend to bring nothin' but trouble for the Dukes, an' somethin' tells me today ain't no different.
"Mornin', y'all," Bo Duke, Jesse's youngest nephew, greeted as he entered the kitchen, running his fingers through his tousled blonde hair.
"We was wonderin' when ya was gonna get up," Jesse said from his seat at the head of the table.
"You want two eggs, Bo?" asked cousin Daisy, who was cooking breakfast over the stove.
"Whatever you got's fine," he answered, taking his seat across from Luke, the eldest Duke nephew. They all chatted amongst themselves good naturedly, remarking on the mild spring weather and discussing their plans for the day.
"You boys wanna fix that busted gate on the south end of the back forty, or would ya rather muck out Maudine's stall?" asked Jesse, knowing full well what the answer would be.
"The gate," the boys replied simultaneously. Daisy snickered. Cleaning out old Maudine the cow's cesspool of a stall was the least popular chore on the farm.
"You 'bout done, Daisy?" Luke asked, waiting for her to sit down so they could all eat. After she took her seat next to Bo, the three of them, taking cue from their uncle, bowed their heads and folded their hands to pray.
"Lord, we thank thee for this meal which ye hath provided for us, an' for all our many blessings, amen."
"Amen," echoed Daisy and the boys. Gratefully, they devoured the delicious breakfast, Jesse inwardly smiling at their different eating habits. Daisy, being a girl, tended to take small, dainty bites, and talked through the entire meal, flirting and smiling with her cousins. Bo tended to be a silent eater; in fact, one of the only times he was ever quiet was when he had a plate of food in front of him, which he gobbled down quickly and steadily. And Luke, well, Jesse wondered if he even ever tasted the meal, he ate it so fast. He'd been like that ever since he'd left the marines: whenever food was in front of him, he consumed it like he thought it'd disappear at any moment. And like always, he was the first one finished.
"You want some more, Luke?" Daisy asked through a bite of toast. Luke stretched and yawned.
"No, thanks, Daisy. I'm full. Couldn't eat more if I wanted to." Just then the familiar rumble of the mail-cycle could be heard out front. Luke got up to peek out the window above the sink. "That's Miz Tisdale out there with the mail."
"Is she still goin' around in that motorcycle of hers?" Jesse asked.
"Looks like it."
"You couldn't pay me to ride on one of them things. That's almost as bad as ridin' with you boys in the General Lee!" Jesse thundered amiably. The cousins laughed.
"I'll be back," Luke announced as he headed out to grab the mail, the sound of Miz Tisdale's mail-cycle fading in the distance.
As he strolled back into the kitchen, he stopped flipping through the envelopes and slid one out of the pile from his hand.
"This one's for you, Bo," he said, a note of surprise in his voice. Bo set down his fork and took the white package from Luke's outstretched hand.
"Who'd be writin' you a letter, Bo?" asked Daisy curiously.
"Danged if I know."
"It's probably a Dear John letter from some girl he was datin'," Luke joked, handing the rest of the mail to Jesse. Daisy laughed. Bo just gave him a dirty look as he tore open the envelope.
"It's from Savannah!" he exclaimed as he looked closer at the return address. "I don't reckon I know nobody from there." He unfolded the crisp white paper inside and began to read it silently. The other Dukes watched in curiosity and concern as the color left Bo's cheeks.
"Who's it from?" Daisy asked after several minutes, no longer able to bear the suspense. Bo either didn't hear her or ignored her. He shot an unreadable glance toward Uncle Jesse, who sat sifting through bills at the end of the table. Then he stood abruptly, a strange look on his face, and pushed past Luke and out the door.
"Bo, what…?" A confused Luke tried to grab him as he stormed past, but Bo shook him off. He stomped out to the General, slid in the driver side window, and took off, tires squealing. This got Jesse's attention, who stood up and hurried to the doorway where Luke stood.
"What's got into him?" he asked worriedly.
"Whatever it is, it's got to do with that letter," said Daisy, picking up the torn envelope off of the floor where Bo'd dropped it. She handed it to Jesse, who took a closer look at the return address and blanched.
"Luke," he ordered in a solemn but shaky voice. "I want you to go find Bo. Ya can take my truck, just find him an' try an' get him to come home. Looks like I got some explainin' to do."
"What's wrong, Uncle Jesse?" Daisy asked, putting a gentle hand on the old man's arm.
"I ain't sure, but I can't explain it now. We gotta get Bo back here."
"Is there trouble?" Luke asked. By trouble, Luke meant danger.
"I don't know yet, just—when ya find him, be patient with him. He's bound to be a mite upset."
"Yessir."
Balladeer: So Luke headed out lookin' for Bo. He knew that the only place Bo would've gone if he was that upset would be Bentley's Caves, where they'd used to play hooky as kids. An' wouldn't ya know it—'ol Luke was right.
Pulling up alongside the General Lee, Luke hopped out of the white pickup and called out for his cousin as he headed toward the mouth of the nearest cave.
"Bo? Hey! —Oh there ya are," he said as he spotted Bo sitting in the entrance to the cave. He stopped short when he saw the state his youngest cousin was in. Bo sat with his knees pulled tight up against his chest, his back against the wall of the cave. In his hand he loosely held the letter, and was looking for all the world like the very earth had crumbled and fallen away beneath his feet. "You alright?" Luke asked. Stupid question. Bo didn't answer, just stared at a spot on the floor of the cave. Luke sighed and sat down next to him. "Can I read it?" Bo handed it to him wordlessly. Luke read the words aloud, straining to read the cursive lettering.
"Dear Beauregard,
You don't know me, but my name is Brenda Wheeler. I was a good friend of your father, Robbie. There is no easy way to write this, but your father died of lung cancer just two days ago. I knew he had a son, but Robbie never said too much about you, and what he did say suggested that there was some sort of estrangement between you. It wasn't until looking through some of his old memoirs and photographs that I was able to piece together your story. I know you live with your uncle in Hazzard, and that he told you your father died in a car crash when you were young. That is simply not true. Ask your uncle. Robbie always portrayed him as a man of honor—I'm sure he'll tell you the truth. Robbie always regretted missing you grow up, and his dying wish was that I contact you and try to right some of the wrongs he made. I want you to come to the funeral this Sunday, Beauregard. It will be hard, but I think you owe it to yourself to come. Robbie said that you'd be 18 now. Well, that's old enough to make your own decisions in life. I hope you make the right ones.
Best Regards,
Brenda."
When he finished, Luke stared at the paper, disbelieving.
"It's a joke right?" Bo asked quietly. "It just ain't true." Luke swallowed.
"I don't know, Bo. It looks pretty real." Bo shut his eyes in silent anguish.
"My daddy died in a car wreck when I was a baby," he said, as if trying to reconvince himself of the idea. Luke just put a comforting hand on his cousin's shoulder. It was all he could do, because for once, he didn't know what to do.
"Come on. Let's go home. Maybe Uncle Jesse knows what this is all about," he said finally, getting to his feet. Bo followed silently, trailing the pickup in the General Lee.
Balladeer: Now if that don't throw ya for a loop, I don't know what would. Looks like Jesse's got some explainin' to do.
When the boys walked back into the kitchen, Jesse was sitting at the head of the table, waiting for them. Daisy was standing by the refrigerator, biting her nails like she always did when she was worried. Luke went to stand next to her, while Bo took the seat nearest to the door.
"Bo, can I see that letter?" Jesse asked quietly. Bo handed it to him, a distrustful look on his face. Jesse couldn't tell if the look was meant for the letter or for him, but he hoped it was the former. Squinting, he read the letter silently, Daisy craning her neck to read over his shoulder. Her eyes widened in shock as she read, and when she finished she covered her mouth with her hand, muffling a gasp. Jesse just sat, staring off into space, his face a mask of unreadable expressions.
"Well?" Luke prompted. Jesse never moved his head, just kept staring out the kitchen window as he talked in a low, serious voice.
"Luke, Daisy, you'd best sit down here. I got a story to tell an' it's a long one. An' I want y'all to listen the whole way through before ya say anythin', 'cuz I'm only gonna tell it once.
Nineteen years ago, my sister Annabelle, the youngest of the Duke clan and the only girl, fell in love with a fella' from Savannah. He was just passin' through, lookin' for jobs here n' there, a bonified drifter. He weren't in Hazzard for more n' three weeks, and they fell head over heels for each other. Now, by this time Martha an' me was already raisin' you, Luke, who was about three, I think. Annabelle had been livin' in an apartment in town, an' worked as a teller at J.D.'s bank. She was 28, then, I believe. Anyway, they wanted to just up an' get married, but the rest of us didn't approve. It was too soon, an' we couldn't see our baby sister marryin' some unsettled, unstable, man anyway. Plus, he was wild. Liked the bottle a lil' too much for our likin'. But we made the mistake of tellin' Annabelle how we felt, an' she took it wrong. Ran off an' eloped. We didn't hear from her until months later when she wrote to Martha, tellin' her she was pregnant an' that she was sorry for runnin' off like she did. We kept in touch regular-like for the next seven months, until one day we got a phone call from her husband sayin' that she'd gone into labor too early. She'd had a premature baby an' died from complications. He said he didn't know what to do, an' asked us to come down to Savannah an' help him. Well, we were heartbroken over losin' Annabelle, but only one of us could go. An' seein' as Luke was so young, Martha chose to stay. So, I hired Cooter to work the farm for me, an' I went." Jesse's paused, and a pained expression came over his face, as if the next part of the story was too difficult to tell.
"Then what, Uncle Jesse?" Daisy asked softly. Luke put a hand on her arm, giving her a look that silenced her. They glanced over at Bo, who was listening with his head down, staring down at his folded hands in his lap. Finally, Jesse continued his voice tired and sad. "When I stepped in that house, I never saw anything so gut rippin' as the sight of a broken man. Robbie was layin' on the couch, passed out drunk, whiskey bottle in his hand. The whole place stank to high heaven, an' it hadn't been cleaned in weeks. He looked no better. I finally got him half-sober a bit, an' sat him down to talk. He was a wreck. An' he said to me, 'Jesse, I don't know what I'm gonna do. How m'I gonna take care of a little baby?' An' I had him take me to the hospital to see ya, Bo. An' you was so small—two months premature. He hadn't named ya yet, an' I asked him if he ever was. He said Annabelle had always loved the name Beauregard, so that's what we named ya. An' then we left, an' he turned to me an' said, 'Jesse, I can't do this. I can't take care of that baby in there.' But I told him he needed to be strong an' that me an' Martha would help him any way we could. An' he got this look in his eye, an' he said to me, 'Jesse, I know you an' Martha are takin' care of one of your nephews already, but could you take Bo for awhile?' I refused at first. Didn't think it was right for a father to just abandon his son that way. But by the end of the week, after seein' Robbie turn into a full-blown alcoholic before my eyes, I knew that he had to get himself together before he ever took responsibility for another life. So, I brought ya home to live with us, 'til Robbie got back on his feet. Martha was overjoyed—she always did love babies. We kept in touch with Robbie as best we could, but after a few months we never heard from him, an' hadn't the faintest idea where he was. On your third birthday, Martha an' me decided to go to the Child Welfare Buildin' to get full custody of ya, just like we did Luke, an' Daisy here when she came. An' seein' as they couldn't find either, they gave us custody. So ya officially became Beauregard Duke on your fourth birthday." He paused, then looked at Bo for a reaction. Bo's face wore an expression of shock, and his blue eyes were stormy.
"But Luke an' Daisy had the last name of Duke, didn't they?" Jesse frowned, not liking where this was going.
"Well, yes, because they're daddy's were Dukes."
"An' my daddy was..." Jesse sighed.
"Johnson. Robbie Johnson." Bo nodded, satisfied with the answer.
"Why didn't you tell me my father wasn't dead?" He asked in a low, even voice. Again Jesse sighed.
"I guess it was easier back then. Martha an' me didn't think ya were old enough to understand it all, an' we didn't want to upset or confuse ya." He turned to face his youngest nephew. "I never meant to hurt ya, Bo, nor keep anythin' from ya, either. I always planned to tell ya when the time was right—guess I just waited too long." Bo didn't say anything for a moment, then looked up at Luke accusingly.
"Did you know about this?" Luke shook his head.
"I remember bits an' pieces, but I never put it all together." Bo nodded. He knew that his family was watching him carefully, and he squirmed under their caring stares. Then he thought of something that made his heart skip a beat.
"So what your sayin' his...I ain't really a Duke."
"What! Why, of course you're a Duke..." Jesse started. Bo stood up angrily.
"No! See Robbie was a Johnson...so my real name is Bo Johnson."
"No!" Jesse insisted, his voice rising. "We went to court an' got your name changed to Duke, an' that's what ya are!" Bo shook his head.
"What am I supposed to do now?" He wondered aloud.
"There's nothin' to do," said Jesse. "This don't change anythin'."
"It changes everythin'!" Bo retorted fiercely, and marched back to the bedroom he shared with Luke. Luke followed immediately, motioning with his hand for Jesse to stay where he was.
As he stepped into the bedroom, Luke's heart froze in his chest. Bo had his suitcase out on his bed and was packing. For a moment Luke was terrified that Bo was packing to leave the farm.
"Uh...Bo?"
"What?" Bo's voice was shaky, but harsh.
"What're you doin'?"
"What's it look like I'm doin'?" Luke sighed.
"Well, where're you goin'?"
"Savannah. I gotta find that Brenda lady an' see about my dad—I mean Robbie." Relief filled Luke's heart. At least Bo wasn't thinking about running away.
"I'll go with ya," he said in a matter of fact tone. He was surprised by Bo's immediate answer:
"No."
"Whaddya mean, 'no'?" Bo turned toward him, hurt evident in his blue eyes.
"It ain't your place to go, Luke. He was my father, not yours."
"Yeah, an' you're my cousin," Luke persisted.
"Yeah, but I'm only half-Duke."
"Half...what?" Luke frowned in frustrated bewilderment.
"That's right, I'm half-Johnson an' half-Duke, so that means I'm only half your cousin!" Luke rubbed his hand over his face. This was getting tedious.
"Bo, you ain't makin' any sense!" Ignoring the comment, Bo continued to fill the brown suitcase with clothes. Finally Luke grabbed his arm by the elbow. "Bo, stop! Look, I know this all is hard on ya, but it don't change the fact that we're family. It ain't the name that counts, what matters is that we stick together through the rough times."
Slowly Bo relaxed, and sat down on the bed. Luke was right, as usual, and he knew it. And despite all his hurt feelings, Bo really didn't want to turn his back on his family. Besides, he didn't want to go all the way to Savannah all by himself in the first place. He exhaled loudly.
"Alright. You can come if ya want to." Luke grinned and clapped Bo on the shoulder.
"Hey, it's been a while since we had us a road trip," he said, trying to lighten the mood. Bo flashed a half-hearted smile. His soul ached. Everything he had thought was true about his life had been shattered in the span of an hour. And super-glue just wasn't gonna fix this one.
Balladeer: Now don't that beat all. How'd you like to wake up one mornin' an' find out you was adopted? Folks, somethin' tells me this one's gonna be a tear jerker.
Well, Please review. Tell me how I'm doing with the writing, the plot, and the characters. And please be be gentle!