Crowley Kaleidoscope

For days now, Christie Delco Hollander and Rondy Strickland had been searching the swamplands for the royal blue stone fruits that, according to Dr. David Rowell at the University of Florida, might be a cure for cancer.  It had shown in an initial unauthorized test the ability to eliminate cancerous lung tumors in a rat.  It created enough of a stir in Christie and Rondy's mind, that they decided to search for the blue drupes that Kayak Kelly had found (before his mysterious disappearance), and claim the cure, and its associated profits, for themselves.  Rondy, as the Compton Park Development's lawyer, was throwing up roadblocks to block the progress of the development that would demolish that area of the swamp, but the delays were pissing off the investors more and more, particularly the owner of the paper mill, Reggie Crowley.  On the tenth trip out, they found something.  But it was not what they were expecting.

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Pastor Dan received the report from his private investigator, Gibby Hanes, an acquaintance from Savannah whom he used often, like for Gibby's recent investigation of Congressional candidate Dotty Mathers.  Gibby's current report was concerning Racine Steel and her mysterious miscarriage.  It didn't help clear anything up.  He did find out that Racine was staying with an Aunt Theresa in Griffin, Georgia.  Racine had disappeared for a day, and when she came back, she had complained about bleeding.  When she went with her Aunt to the emergency room, the doctors told her the baby was already gone.  The nearest abortion clinic was in Atlanta, and Gibby couldn't get any information out of that place.  He couldn't even get the examining physician in Griffin to tell him whether there had been signs of an abortion or not. It was very frustrating how some doctors wouldn't play ball.  Like that creepy Hindu obstetrician, Dr. Mala Jhadu.  She was an affront to the good Christian people of Crowley, and Pastor Dan would have to make his next project to get rid of her.

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He had pulled away from her after her son would not let him in the trailer for dinner that night.  He was still polite at work, but there was no hint of anything else beyond that.  Maybe it was for the best, Janet Roper thought.  She really did enjoy him as a friend, and Gariton's wounds were still very fresh.  Gariton seemed to be increasingly affected by what Christie and Rondy were doing, particularly since those two had become more blatant in public.  She suspected that Gariton might be sleeping some nights in the office, but she had not confronted him directly about it.  The usually neat man now often had disheveled hair, and he often looked like he was in the same clothes as he had been in the night before.  He was going to the Oasis almost every night.  Maybe she would stop by there tonight, just to make sure he was alright.

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Freddy Crowley waited nervously in his Silverado.  He looked around, worried he might be seen.  Even though he was in Waycross, he still worried about who might see him.  Then Stephen came out of play practice, leaving out the back theatre exit.  Freddy's heart picked up a beat, and he suddenly didn't care about his worries.  Stephen was his age, but a much smaller frame and youthful appearance.  Freddy popped open the door and Stephen plopped into the pickup, eyeing Freddy with a coy smile.  They looked at each other for a moment.  And then they kissed.

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Amy Steel, Racine's mother, sat at the kitchen table, tears streaming down her face.  She was so hurt for Racine, having lost the baby, and she was so angry at the community, particularly those New Life Baptist people, that she felt paralyzed and ready to give up.  Then her husband Grant came into the kitchen.  Big old, unemotional Grant.  A great provider and someone who cared for his family, but not one who was often expressive.  But he came over and put his arm around, and she melted into his chest.  And then they kissed.

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Was Jesup far enough away?  Well, it just had to be.  It was their sixth rendezvous together, but the closest to home, only about forty minutes away. Thank god Angela's husband worked nights.  She wouldn't know how she could cope without these getaways.  Grace Scopes caressed he lover's bare back, the sheets only loosely covering her legs.  Angela turned to Grace, her blue eyes sparkling at Grace's touch.  And then they kissed.

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Take a chance, Franny.  Just take a chance.  She had mooned after Adam Garnett long enough.  Here they were, together in his room, and she had listened to him talk about Racine Steel and what Racine was going through until she couldn't stand it anymore.  He had quieted down, and they were listening to John Legend's new song, All of Me.  No more, she thought.  No more longing.  She took his face into her hands and stared at him.  Did he not know?  Did he not understand?  She was ready, ready to give 'all of me."  And then they kissed.

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Christie and Rodney did not kiss.  They were dirty and wet from their swamp explorations.  And they had just uncovered something that was decidedly not a blue stone fruit.  It was a hand, and then, a little north of that, a decomposing head.  After Christie was done shrieking, they were unsure of what to do.  They finally decided to go to Christie's, clean up, get a stiff drink at the Oasis out amongst the living, then come up with what to do from there.

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"You faggot!" Digger screamed.  Freddy's big brother had apparently followed him to Waycross and must have just witnessed him kissing Stephen.  Digger charged to Stephen's side, flung open the door, and yanked him bodily out of the pickup.  He pulled back his fist to ruin Stephen's face.  He got in one blow, Stephen screaming in pain, before Freddy could get around to the other side and hold back Digger's arm from delivering the next blow.  Freddy and Digger proceeded to beat the living crap out of each other.  A horrified Stephen ran away, getting on his cell phone to get another friend to come get him from this madness.  As he was bleeding and trying to hold back Digger, Freddy called out to Stephen.  But it was too late.

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Houston Graves, Sr., the managing partner of the accounting firm that Gariton Hollander and Janet Roper worked at, was eating a supper of catfish and hush puppies at home, when his heart seized up.  His horrified wife, Goldie, shakily called 911.

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Barry Mincher, night stocker at Yeltin's IGA, looked out the front of the store, and saw an ambulance, led by a police escort, racing past on its way to the Crowley Med Center.  The person must have been fairly important, to have a police escort.  Must be a white person.  Black people didn't get no police escort.  At least that's what Barry thought.  Hadn't ever seen no proof otherwise.

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Reggie met Daddy Delco in the plush office Daddy Delco had in the back of his furniture store.  They were disturbed by the lack of movement in the project, and wondered what they had to do in order to get Rondy's ass in gear in order to prod the project forward.  Daddy Delco thought he might have a talk soon with Christie, whose googly eyes over that lawyer fellow was getting a bit much, but maybe he could use the relationship to his advantage.  The whole thing was making things difficult with that little Gariton feller, as he was asking more and more questions about the Compton Park Development's financials.  Reggie was thinking it might be time to bring his two boys in, and complement Christie's sweetness with a little bit of brute force.  Reggie had thought about meeting with them tonight, but both of them could not be found.  Now where the hell did those two boys go?

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Racine came into the kitchen, and was surprised to se her parents kissing.  She rarely saw them affectionate with each other.  They saw her and pulled away from each other, as if they had been caught committing a crime. She put that aside, and told them that she didn't think she could face going back to school, if it was alright if she finished out the year at home.  The Steels were big believers in public education, but Amy didn't have the heart to send her precious child back into that grist mill.  So Racine's mother agreed to check into home schooling.  Amy got up and gave her daughter a big hug.  She would always be there for her.  And so would Grant.

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Later that night, Janet Roper went to the Oasis, Crowley's one and only bar.  She discovered Gariton there, in a terrible altercation with Rondy, with all three parties yelling and screaming at each other.  She had never seen Gariton out of control before, but something must have snapped.  The fight quieted for a moment, and then Gariton said something, in a painful strained voice, something that not all heard the same way, but became very important later.  Because what most people heard, as Gariton stared down Rodney, was "I'm going to kill you, you know that?"  God help her, that's what Janet heard as well.

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Three mornings later, Sheriff Alan Steel got the call.