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.
----------------------------------------
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.
-------------------------------------------
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.
------------------------------
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.
-------------------------------
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.
------------------------------
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.
---------------------------
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.
---------------------------
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.
--------------------------------
"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.
---------------------------
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.
------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------
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?
------------------------------
----------------------------
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.
---------------------------
Three mornings later, Sheriff Alan Steel
got the call.
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