Bound by Blood and Brimstone (26 page)

just little kids when this started, and she never let it die.” She continued to wag her head, as if the

logic was in there somewhere, waiting to be shaken out.

“Well, I’ll tell you why, but you probably won’t believe it. She hated you because, well,

because Caleb actually liked you, a lot, in fact.” At that, her head snapped up, and she gaped at

me, speechless.

“Now wait a minute, and hear me out. From the first day of school, Sue Lee saw that you

were the prettiest girl there, and Caleb noticed. I saw him notice, but didn’t realize what was

really going on. Then, well, you just got prettier--filled out in all the right places, and he noticed

you in a big way. Don’t you remember how different he started acting last spring when you

started making “moo-moo” eyes at him? He was practically drooling like a hound over a piece of

red meat. That was the whole point of cutting your hair, too. Sue Lee must’ve known that Caleb

admired your long hair and had to get rid of it.”

Her eyes were saucer-sized at this point, and all she could do was sit mutely while her

hands convulsed and squeezed my fingers hard enough to numb them. She opened her mouth,

but all that came out was a squeak.

“Just think about it,” I continued. She was eaten up with jealousy. Because you’re pretty,

she wasn’t, and Caleb, well, he wanted you.”

The minutes spun out, the house so quiet I could hear the flutter of my muslin curtains

stirred by a night breeze. Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted. I knew she was

remembering those venomous words Sue Lee had slung at us that evening, trying to decipher it

all. She found her voice at last.

“I still don’t get it. Even if what you’re saying is true, why would that matter to Sue Lee?

Why would she care if her brother thought some girl was pretty? What would it matter to her if

Caleb liked a girl?”

“Because it wasn’t her,” I announced. “Sue Lee was obsessed with her brother.”

It was a small haggard group that gathered around our breakfast table the next morning.

Through the long hours until nearly dawn, Lorrie Beth and I had lain awake muddling through

what had happened and how it would change everything we’d do and say from that point on. I

had assured her that, as long as we kept our pact of silence, no one would connect us to Sue Lee.

I didn’t tell Lorrie Beth what I’d done to conceal the body. The way I saw it, she already

had more than her due on her plate. I strove to be positive about our chances. After all, we’d

already been spared the need to explain anything to Momma and Reese.

They’d dragged in sometime after 1:00 a.m., judging by the clock chimes echoing from

the front room. Being out of Momma’s character to return from anywhere any time except when

she stated, we’d begun to speculate about the cause of their delay. We wouldn’t learn the truth

until we found ourselves drooping and bleary-eyed at the breakfast table.

“It was so sad,” Momma said, spooning gravy into Sam’s open mouth. “The poor woman

had no idea that baby was going to come in the middle of a revival. It wasn’t supposed to, after

all. Wasn’t due for another four weeks, I hear.” Sopping up gravy with a piece of buttered biscuit

and shoving it in Sam’s fat hand, she leaned over the table to peer at us both intently.

“There we were, every soul praying in the Spirit, the Holy Ghost so strong upon us, when

all of a sudden, we hear this scream. At first, we thought somebody was slain in the Spirit, you

know?” She stopped long enough to spear a sausage patty onto her plate and give Sam a sloppy

gulp of milk.

“But that wasn’t it at all. She had gone into labor
right there
. Just passed out colder than

death right on the floor. I declare, I never saw so much blood.” She said this in a hushed,

reverent voice, as though this unknown pregnant woman must have our respect.

“So, did she have the baby there in the church?” I couldn’t keep from asking. “Was there

a midwife or somebody there to deliver it?”

Reese’s spoon clattered to his plate. “No!” he burst out. “Haven’t you been listening?

There isn’t any baby. Baby’s dead. Mother’s dead. Wasn’t nothing to be done. We had to carry

them out to the undertakers. That’s why we didn’t make it back by dark, like we planned.”

Then, before I had a chance to blink, he wheeled on Lorrie Beth. “What the Sam Hill

happened to your arm, girl? Where’d you get a bruise like that?” It had been me, of course. I

opened my mouth to cut in with a quick defense, but before I could get it out, there was a loud

knock on the front door.

“Get that for me, will you, Honey?” Momma begged, inclining her head, a silent plea in

her eyes. I jumped from the table, giving Lorrie Beth one of our “sister looks” that told her to

keep her lip zipped, but on the way to the door I was straining my ears for the answer I feared

she might give. I heard nothing and was thinking that was a good sign when I pulled open the

door. There on our front porch, backlit by the morning sun, stood Sheriff Bates.

This can’t be happening! It’s too much, too soon
. That’s all there was before my mind

just locked up. While my breakfast churned and jolted upwards near my throat, I swallowed hard

and yanked the door inward. The battle for composure was hard won, the desire for escape a

living thing inside me.

Speak, you idiot
, my recovering brain ordered. The shock of facing “the law” this early in

the game drove me to risk incurring Momma’s certain wrath for poor manners, but that would be

a cakewalk compared to my sister being caught off guard. There was no way around it. I had to

warn her. I took a step back, turned my head, and hollered, “Momma, it’s Sheriff Bates!”

He held his hat in his hand, and his weathered face was pale. He always had to duck to

avoid bumping his head in our doorway. Doing so as he entered, he nodded at me and said softly,

“Hey, Ember Mae.”

Momma appeared in the doorway, wiping her hands on her apron, her face wreathed in a

welcoming smile. “Les!” she cried. I didn’t hear you pull up! It’s so good to see you! Come on

in, you’re just in time for breakfast.”

They embraced each other as only the oldest of friends can do, and as he followed her to

the kitchen, I noticed him wiping his eyes. In the hallway she spun on me and chided, “Ember

Mae, I declare, where are your manners, hollering like some ill-bred fishwife. Now take the

sheriff’s hat, will you?”

There was no easy way out for me. I wasn’t about to leave Lorrie Beth on her own to

hang herself, so I had no choice but to follow the two of them to the kitchen. It’s a wonder I was

able to walk that far. My legs had turned to rubber.

Reese reached to plop Sam in my arms and stood to shake the sheriff’s hand.

“Well, well, good to see you, Les. Here, have a seat. The gravy and biscuits are top notch

this morning.”

“No, no, thanks, Reese, I don’t believe I could.” He pulled out the chair at the head of the

table, the perfect position in which to eyeball all of us at once, and folded his lanky frame into

the seat. Sheriff Bates was easily the tallest man in the county at 6’5”, and he always had to sit

with his chair turned sideways. Otherwise, his knees would’ve suspended the table in midair.

“I could use a cup of your good strong coffee, though, Mona.”

As she poured, I took my seat beside Lorrie Beth and, taking Sam on my lap, watched

the sheriff take his first sip. His hands were gigantic, the fingers square and thick, big enough to

snap Lorrie Beth or me like a twig.

“Kind of late for breakfast isn’t it, Reese? You all aren’t going soft on us, are you?” He

offered us a wooden smile, and his heavy tone didn’t fit with small talk. In that moment it was

apparent to everyone in the room that this wasn’t to be a social visit.

“Not soft, just tired,” Momma said hesitantly, casting a worried glance at Reese, who

cleared his throat before finishing for her.

“We got held up at that revival over in Green County yesterday and didn’t get back ‘till

after midnight.”

“Yeah, I barely closed my eyes before I had to head right back out to milk.” Momma let

this last trail off, and a moment of silence ensued before she gave up her attempt to keep it

lighthearted. “But you aren’t here about a late breakfast, are you, Les?”

When he raised his eyes to the four of us, I realized immediately he had switched from

family friend to law enforcement officer. Sheriff Bates’ looks were those of a man whom God

had intended to be exceedingly handsome, but for reasons of His own, had changed His mind

before finishing the job.

True, the jaw and cheekbones were prominent and finely molded, but pockmarks and a

puckered scar down the side of his nose hid them. More unsettling were his eyes. Round in shape

and deeply set, one a vivid blue, the other brown, they could be disarming one minute, piercing

the next. Perfect, I was sure, for inviting the most hardened criminal to spill his guts.

Instead of answering Momma, he took another sip of coffee and swiped at his mouth with

the back of his hand. That’s when my “window” fairly flew open within me.
He’s grieving! Not

angry, but deeply saddened
. He was shaking his head.

“I’m sorry, Mona. Reese. The truth is, I really need someone to talk to now.” His voice

faltered and he looked at Reese. “Someone who can make me feel clean again, Preacher.”

Most likely, I was the only person in that room who could comprehend the depth of loss

behind those words. Lester Bates and my daddy had been tighter than a tick on a dog’s behind,

brothers in spirit. Daddy had been his truest friend, his only confidante, and even though he’d

said the sheriff was a “whoremonger,” there’d never been real malice behind the words.

I figured daddy’s presence had been the one place in which Lester found forgiveness and

acceptance, maybe even restoration. Now, in coming to our house, he was seeking a replacement

for something lost to him forever.
If he thinks it can ever be that
way with Reese, he’s sadly

mistaken
. That bitter thought brought gall up into the back of my throat.

“I’m not sure what you mean, Les, but you know you can talk freely here. Why don’t you

tell us what’s troubling you?” Reese’s voice was solemn and earnest. “Would you like to pray

together?”

Picking up her cue, Momma pushed back her chair abruptly and stood. “Let’s go, girls,

you’ve still got chores to finish up.”

“No, wait, Mona. I really need you to stay and hear this. All of you. The girls, too, if

that’s okay with you and Reese.” He was already out of his chair, his bicolor eyes wide and

pleading. Momma opened her mouth to speak, then snapped it shut, a captive to uncertainty. She

wet her lips.

“Well, sure, it’s okay. I just thought this was personal, something between men.”

“It is personal, in a way. But in a way, it drags all of us in. Please sit down and hear me

out,” he begged, extending his hand in the direction of Momma’s empty chair. “Fact is, this is

about a case, a missing person’s case. Sue Lee Jacobs is missing, Mona.”

Naturally, those were the very words I was waiting to hear from the second I’d opened

our front door and found Lester Bates on our doorstep. I thought I’d prepared myself during the

long night before, imagined how I would react, had even rehearsed what I would say. In the end,

I wasn’t prepared any more than Sam was, whose greatest concern for the time being was to see

how much gravy he could smear in my hair.

The second those words spilled out of his mouth, my bowels just puddled up, leaving me

to face the sudden horror that I was about to soil myself where I sat. The faces around me swam

in and out of focus. Beside me, Lorrie Beth’s leg trembled violently against mine. I promptly

kicked her calf with the side of my bare foot and fought to make my expression bland.

“You’ve lost me”, Momma said. “I mean, you come in here looking like you’ve been to a

funeral. Then you talk about needing to feel clean, whatever that means. Now, you tell us a child

is missing. I swear, if I didn’t know better, Lester Bates, I’d say you’ve been taking one too

many swigs out of your contraband whiskey.” She ended with a shaky little laugh, but it was

obvious she wasn’t feeling amused in the slightest. She was scared.

The tension in the room was palpable, though they had taken their seats again and

assumed a relaxed posture. The sheriff sighed and raked at his hair with his long fingers.

“Forgive me, Mona, Reese. I didn’t mean to come in here and upset your Saturday morning. This

whole thing is just messing with my head, and I’ll admit I need help, and I need a friend. You’re

who I thought of first.”

Somehow, even with my guts in an uproar, I found my voice at that moment. “We’ll help

all we can, Sheriff. What do you need?” I was thinking that pretending to be a deaf mute at this

point wouldn’t be the best idea for Lorrie Beth or me, so I tried for a casually innocent tone. My

reward was a broad smile from our guest and relief on my Momma’s face.