Family Thang (35 page)

“What about Momma?”

“She doesn’t need to know. It’ll only upset her.”

Robert Earl scratched his neck and looked toward the ceiling. “It scares me to even think about this thing. In a way, it feels sorta…you know…wrong! Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to beg Ruth Ann for some of the money? We get on her nerves she’s bound to give us something to get rid of us. The other way you’re talking--I can imagine the nightmares I’ll have.”

“Robert Earl, you remember Billy Wafer?”

“Yeah. Blind Billy. Why?”

“Remember, Ruth Ann was in junior high and she called herself dating Billy. She walked him to Duncan’s store and she left him there. Billy’s momma came to the house and told Momma and Daddy how Ruth Ann left Billy at the store and stole his wallet. Ruth Ann swore up and down she didn’t take it. Momma beat her ass so long I started crying. I even thought about stopping Momma. Two weeks later I was looking for something under my bed and guess what I found?”

“What?”

“A wallet! A wallet with the initials BW. There were some Braille papers in it and nothing else, not a penny. Now what does that tell you?”

Robert Earl looked confused for a moment, then said, “Ruth Ann was sneaking a guy named Braille into the room?”

Shirley sighed and shook her head. “You ever wonder why during recess you had the playground all to yourself. Why they brought your lunch tray to the classroom?”

Robert Earl smiled. “They liked me. All the teachers said I was special.”

“Were they crying when they said it?”

“Like babies. Every day. How you know?”

“Ruth Ann stole money from a blind kid. You think someone like her would give a damn how hard you begged? She couldn’t care less.”

“You might be right, Shirley.” He pounded his fists on the table and several plastic fruit fell out of the bowl. “This is a heckuva fix we’re in!” He hit the table again and two red apples and an orange rolled to the floor.

“Do it!” he said. “Just do it! Don’t make her suffer no more than you just have to. Whatever you do, don’t mention my name under any circumstances. Sheriff Bledsoe specifically warned me not to get into trouble again. He might give you a pass since this is your first time.”

They heard Estafay, in the living room, singing
I Still Have Joy
off key
. Robert Earl got up and closed the kitchen door.

Shirley said, “Everybody knows Ruth Ann stabbed me in the back. If something, something accidental, were to happen to her, I’d be the prime suspect. When it happens I can’t be in the vicinity.”

“Don’t look at me. I can’t do it! No can do! If it was somebody else, somebody I just met on the street, I might be able to do it. Someone I know, someone I was raised up with--I just can’t do it!”

A thought occurred to him and his eyes lit up. “Hey, I got an idea! The fag! Excuse me, I mean Leonard. I bet he’ll do it. I bet he will.”

Shirley gave him a hard, long look. He couldn’t figure if she was considering his suggestion or willing herself to cool down.

She stood up and said, “Okay, Robert Earl, I’ll talk to Leonard, see what he thinks.”

Robert Earl followed her to the door and when Shirley opened it, Estafay was there, stooped over, head level to the keyhole.

Chapter 31

Leonard sat on the hot hood of the Lumina parked in front of the jail.
Where the hell is Sheriff Bledsoe?
He stepped to the window and looked in. Too dark to see inside. He returned to the Lumina. Several people walked by, almost everyone saying hi or nodding hello.

The heat from the hood and the afternoon sun forced him to get up and go stand in the shade of the tattered green awning to the barbershop next door to the jail. Still, sweat poured down his face.

Minutes later, Sheriff Bledsoe drove up in his cruiser. Not noticing Leonard, he got out whistling, a plastic Wal-Mart bag hanging on his wrist.

Leonard stepped toward him and said, “Hey, Sheriff.”

Sheriff Bledsoe stopped whistling and frowned. “Yeah,” he grunted.

“We need to talk.”

Sheriff Bledsoe opened the door. “I figured as much. Come on in.” Leonard followed him inside. Sheriff Bledsoe flipped the light switch and said, “You mind I fixed myself a stiff drink?”

“No, go right ahead.”

Sheriff Bledsoe sat down and emptied the bag on a desk. Bottles of Maalox, Mylanta, Kaopectate, Pepto Bismo, Milk of Magnesia, and several small boxes of Tagamet HB, Pepsid AC, and Zantac 75 fell out. He retrieved a Styrofoam cup from a trash can and took out two pills from each box.

He looked up at Leonard. “Sit down, this’ll only take a minute or two.”

Leonard sat down on a swivel chair missing two rollers. Sheriff Bledsoe put the pills into an envelope, folded it and bit it several times. He opened the envelope over the cup and a pinkish-blue powder spilled out. Then he opened the bottles and poured a dollop of each into the cup. After stirring the mixture with a finger, he put the cup to his mouth, grimaced, winked at Leonard and drank it dry.

He wiped his chalky-white moustache clean and said, “Ugh! That hits the spot.”

“Sheriff, you really don’t have to take all that. There’s new medicine will clear up indigestion. Ask your doctor.”

Sheriff Bledsoe gave him a look. “Yeah, tell me about it.” He tossed the cup into the trash can. “You know, I used to think gas jokes were the funniest thing in the world. All those kid movies where somebody breaks wind or can’t make it to the bathroom in time just had me rolling on the floor laughing. The bathroom scene in
Dumb and Dumber
had me grinning three days.” He shook his head, clucked his tongue. “That was then, when I didn’t know any better. It ain’t funny. It ain’t funny at all.”

Is he drunk on antacids?

“Enough with my problems,” Sheriff Bledsoe said. “What do you have on your mind?”

“I…” Leonard searched for words. The business with the antacids made him forget what he intended to say.

“Let me take a guess. You’re itching to get back to the windy city, resume your life. Furthermore, you don’t like the way I’ve handled this investigation. You think I don’t know what I’m doing. Guess what? You’re one hundred percent right. I’m as lost as Newt Gingrich on Soul Train. Yes, I made some mistakes, some big mistakes, whoppers. The good news is I’m not giving up. I’m going to nab whoever murdered your father.”

“I’m glad to hear your determination, Sheriff. It’s not what I wanted to talk with you. I’m concerned about Ruth Ann.”

“Ruth Ann?”

“Yes. I think her life is in danger.”

“Lester is upset, but I doubt he’ll do anything to her.”

“You know about the rift between Shirley and Ruth Ann?”

“Yes, I know all about it.”

“You think maybe Ruth Ann should be under surveillance for her protection?”

“Don’t worry about Lester. Last night I stopped by and talked with him. He’s not going to do anything stupid.”

“Lester isn’t who I’m worried about, Sheriff?”

“Who are you worried about?”

Leonard winced. “I really don’t think Shirley would intentionally hurt Ruth Ann. Best to be safe than sorry, right?”

“You think Shirley might harm Ruth Ann?”

“No, no, no! I didn’t say that. I’m saying, you know, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep an eye on Ruth Ann, at least for a couple of days or so.”

“Look around here,” Sheriff Bledsoe said. “This operation here is what big-city folks call low-rent. In Chicago the police can provide twenty-four-hour surveillance. Here in Dawson, population less than five thousand, it can’t be done.  Tell Ruth Ann to chill out for a few more days, till tempers cool a bit.”

“What if tempers don’t cool? What if tempers have already boiled over?”

“Something you’re not telling me. Take the guesswork out and tell it straight.”

“Shirley came over to the house not an hour ago and showed me a copy of Daddy’s will.”

“Where was Ruth Ann?”

“She’s gone. Shirley said she’s with her son at the Boy Scout camp.”

“Ruth Ann has a son? I didn’t know that.”

“Yes. His name is Shane.”

“By Lester?”

“Yes…I think so. Anyway, Shirley said--”

“Let me see the will.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t bring it with me. I should have. There’s been so much going on lately I can’t think straight.”

“I was starting to think the will didn’t exist. Where did Shirley get it?”

“I don’t know. I read it, couldn’t believe it. Daddy willed all his money to Ruth Ann.” Leonard shook his head. “The whole kit and caboodle. Every damn dime! I should have known he wouldn’t leave me anything. Ruth Ann, she’s the stingiest person I know. I’ll never forget, I was five years old, my first tooth. Woke up the next morning…nothing! No tooth, no money. Not a damn thing! I know she took it.”

“I’m a little confused here,” Sheriff Bledsoe said. “First you come in here sounding all concerned with Ruth Ann’s welfare. Now you sound bitter. Tell me what’s really going on?”

Leonard looked down and noticed a red chip of glass near his foot. He looked up and said, “There’s a provision in the will you should know about. In the event of Ruth Ann’s death, the money will be split among her surviving siblings.”

“I’m on board now. You think whoever poisoned your father might go after Ruth Ann?”

Leonard nodded.

“Who else has seen the will?”

“Shirley told me she showed Robert Earl a copy and he crushed it against his head. She didn’t mention showing it to anyone else.”

“Was Shirley upset she’d been left out of the will?”

“It’s hard to say. Shirley’s been looking upset ever since I got here.”

“I need to see that will. Robert Earl crushed a copy against his head, huh? I can see him doing that. Are you worried Robert Earl might do something to Ruth Ann?”

“Nooooo! Robert Earl is too far left of center, and he’s a big chicken. He…” 

“He what?”

Leonard didn’t respond.

“You know what makes my job difficult? People who think the police are psychic. They think if they provide a piece of the truth, enough to shield themselves or someone else, the police will have enough to solve the puzzle. You’re holding back.

“You come in here seeking help, then you give me a couple pieces to a five-hundred-piece puzzle. I ain’t that good, what should be obvious to you by now. Come clean and we might be able to wrap this thing up. Then you can go back to Chicago, and I can stop having these acid reflux attacks.”

Leonard started to speak and said nothing.