The Wedding Gift (35 page)

I said “
Oh
”.

I knew then Jess had told
Mark, but that wasn’t why I couldn’t talk. I knew then if it hadn’t
already happened that it would soon, so that’s all I said was
“
Oh
”.

Jess said, yeah, she just
thought I’d want to know.

I thanked her and hung up.
On the way back upstairs I ran into Mama who asked me if that was
Daddy on the phone.

I told her, no, it was just
Jess and Mama said “
Well that tears it. I
am going to just kill that man for keeping those boys out all night
when decent people got to work in the morning
.”

I just nodded, kissed her
and said not to worry, them boys would be okay, and went back up to
my room. I was wide awake now and waiting. Two hours later, when
Daddy came in, he was accompanied by Sheriff Riffler who, no
surprise, had been drinking at Downey’s when his dispatch had
reached him to say that George Willets had called saying his wife
wasn’t home and that he was worried. It hadn’t taken a deputy too
long after that to cruise by Willets House and spot her Lexus in
the driveway.

The Sherriff told his
deputies to go on in and that he would meet them there in a minute.
By the time he did get there, both young deputies were out in the
yard puking their guts up and I guess that was fitting because
there was so little identifiable left of Miz Bethany Willets that
her guts might have been the biggest part left of her.

Sheriff Riffler had come
over to our house because my daddy had insisted he do so. He wanted
the sheriff right then and there to admit that there was some
crazed serial killer loose in Dalton and it sure wasn’t his little
girl. Sheriff Riffler had come, I think, because he liked my Mama
and Daddy, and he too was still somewhat drunk and in shock. So
when Daddy had followed him to Willets House and started demanding
that he come with him, he had just gone along.

He was real nice to me, and
said “
Leeann Honey, I can’t do anything
here in the middle of the night, but that after this horrible
incident at Willets House, well it does put things in a different
light
.”

Then he looked at Mama and
Daddy and said “
No offense, Charlie, Elma,
but I just got to ask Leeann here to step off the porch so as I can
make sure that damn ankle bracelet is working … just a formality
you understand
.”

Daddy scowled at him
something horrible but waved me down off the porch just the same.
The alarm started screeching immediately and even set off an alarm
in Sheriff Riffler’s car. He nodded and waved me back up onto the
porch but the damn thing didn’t stop, so it was still screeching
fifteen minutes later when up drove Billy Rose in his pajamas and,
right after him, Donny and Randy and Mark and Jessie.

I was firmly in my Donny’s
arms the whole time that Billy Rose was turning that bracelet off.
Nobody, including Sheriff Riffler or my own mama, said a word or
even looked at us funny. Just for a second, though, over Donny’s
shoulder, I saw Jess eyeing me. But then she must have decided that
I had only done what I had to do because she nodded at me and I
knew we were going to be okay.

There’s just one thing, and
I don’t even know if I should mention it, it’s probably nothing.
I’m sure it was just kids that thought they were being real clever
and messing around but well, anyway, that night when we were all in
bed, the phone rang about two a.m.. I heard Daddy get up and stomp
down the stairs cursing all the way about “
damn idiots who have no respect
.”

Then I heard him yell
“
Hello, this better be an
emergency!
” Then a little silence, and
then, oh, he was really hollering. “
Who
the hell is this? This shit is not funny, and you better watch your
ass if I find out who this is
.” I heard him
slam down the phone. I was real curious, so I went downstairs and
Daddy was just standing in the kitchen holding the phone and
looking at it like it might be a snake that had bit him. I asked
him who he had been talking to, and he just looked at me real funny
“
I don’t know, Sugar, some crazy asshole,
I guess
.”

“
What do you mean, Daddy?
What did they say?
”

He shook his head to clear
it like and said that when he answered the phone, some crazy gal
pretending to be Miz Bethany was on the line and she said to tell
me that I could come get the jewelry now, she didn’t need it no
more.

Daddy looked at me like
maybe I would laugh, but I didn’t laugh, I was mad. I stalked over
and grabbed the phone from his hand, hung it up and punched in star
sixty nine. The phone rang, and then the answering machine came on.
It was my voice. “
Hi, you’ve reached
George and Leeann’s house but we aren’t here so leave a message and
we might call you back, if we don’t have anything better to
do
.”

I hung up the
phone.

Epilogue

Dalton Tri-Weekly
September 1-7

Charlie and Elma Worthier
proudly announce the engagement of their daughter, Leeann Worthier
Willets, to Donny Angus Readle. The couple will marry in Las Vegas
on October tenth and return to make their home in Dalton. They plan
to build a house out on Lake Shining Water. Our sincere
congratulations to the bride and groom.

The Piggly Wiggly has asked
us to print the following notice:

Anyone found out back
taking target practice at the rats will be prosecuted to the full
extent of the law! Live ammo is not appropriate in the parking lot
of a grocery store! Also there is a sale on Heinz Ketchup: buy one
get one free, valid thru September 10th. No coupon
necessary!

Dalton Tri Weekly April
1-7

Donny and Leeann Readle
announce the birth of their son, Charlie Angus Readle. The baby
weighed in at 9lbs 6 ozs, mother and child are doing
fine.

April Fool’s pranks get out
of hand. Sherriff Riffler announces that there will be increased
patrols by the Dalton Sheriff’s office following the defacement at
Dalton High on the evening of April 1st.

Jakely Simms -
Dalton

AP News Oklahoma City
Dalton Oklahoma June 11, 2006

The body of George Willets
Sr. was found inside the stately home known in Dalton as Willets
House. This is the fourth person found dead inside the palatial
mansion since a series of homicides back in the late
seventies.

Authorities in Dalton claim
that there was no foul play involved. Mr. Willets’ heart simply
gave out, stated Dalton’s Sheriff Riffler. This reporter however
has been unable to obtain a copy of Mr. Willets’ autopsy report, or
indeed any reason as to why the deceased may have been at the empty
home to begin with.

This death follows the
murder of Mr. Willets’ son in June of 2005, and that of his wife in
July of the same year. These homicides remain unsolved, though
local authorities state that “they are following up
leads.”

Maria Ruiz. Oklahoma
City.