Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 14:02:08 -0500
From: Retta Michaels <rettamichaels@gmail.com>
Subject: Rural Love - Chapter 5

Rural Love


By


Retta Michaels


Disclaimer:


If you are under the age of 18, or live in a locale which cannot legally
read these stories, please leave. Your presence here jeopardizes those of
us who can legally read these stories. Please come back when you can
legally read the stories and we will all be glad to have you.


Note from Retta:


This chapter is sad. I'll forewarn you now, but you will probably need a
few tissues. Those of you who've already told me you've cried, this one
is worse. Even I cried typing it. So, be ready.



Chapter 5


Everyone loaded up into the trucks and we all headed over to my mama and
daddy's farm. To me, it wasn't my farm, it would always be their farm. We
went in the back way, and when we reached the farm next to ours which
backed to Mr. Anderson's farm, I asked Uncle Nick, "Who does that farm
belong to?


Uncle Nick said, "Years ago, it belonged to Mike's mom and dad, but I'm
not sure who owns it now. Maybe Mike knows."


I said, "It'd be nice to get it, then we'd have a whole great big square
of them put together."


Uncle Nick smiled and turned to Aunt Paulette, he said, "He's getting the
fever."


I asked, "What fever, Uncle Nick?"


He chuckled and said, "Billy, when you Aunt Paulette and I were talking,
she told me you'd get what we call the fever of wanting more and more.
It's not a bad thing, we're just finding it amusing."


We pulled into drive and as soon as we turned, I could see a lot of
different vehicles parked there. A big red truck which looked like a
station wagon was parked there and I could see three men all around the
shell of our burned house."


Aunt Paulette turned to me and said, "Billy, when we get out, I want to
be sure you hold my hand, o.k.?"


I said, "O.k., Jr, will you hold my other hand?"


We got out and Mike walked over and said, "It sure is sad here."


Uncle Nick said, "Every time I see it, chills go through me. "


I took Aunt Paulette's hand and Amy called for Jr to come over and be
with her. Aunt Paulette said, "It's o.k., Amy, he's helping Billy here so
he will feel more secure."


As much as I tried not to. I kept looking at the house. We walked over to
the back gate to the yard and stood. Uncle Nick was speaking to a man
dressed in uniform. I didn't recognize him, but apparently Uncle Nick
did. The man came over towards us and said, "Paulette, it's good to see
you."


Aunt Paulette hugged him and said, "Daddy get out here yet?"


He said, "Your daddy's already went back home."


He looked at me and said, "Billy, it's nice to meet you son. My name is
Ben Gentry. Is it o.k., if you and I talk for a bit?"


I looked at Uncle Nick and Uncle Nick nodded o.k., so I said, "It's o.k."


He came over and said, "Billy, is it alright if I pick you up and carry
you?"


I nodded and he picked me up.


Mr Gentry said, "Billy, what all those men are trying to do is figure out
why the fire started. Is there anything you can tell me so I can know how
it happened better?"


I was really scared, but Uncle Nick and Aunt Paulette said I wouldn't get
into trouble, so I told him. "I started the fire."


He said, "Billy, how did you start the fire?"


I said, "I put buckeyes into the wood stove."


He said, "Billy, why did you put buckeyes into the stove?"


By this time, I was getting really sad and started sniffling. I said, "I
used to do it.......So everyone would get scared when they popped."


He smiled and said, "Billy, did you do anything else?"


I said, "No, that's all I did."


Mr Gentry said, "Billy, you putting buckeyes into the fire didn't start
that fire."


I looked at him and said, "I know I killed my mama and daddy." By this
time, I was really crying.


He hugged me to him and I said, "I'm sorry."


His voice cracked and he said, "Billy, you've been dealing with this for
a long time haven't you?"


I nodded and he said, "Billy, from this day on, you just understand what
happened here wasn't your fault."


I pulled back and looked at him and he had tears running down his face.
He said, "Billy, do you know anyone who would want to do anything mean to
your mama and daddy?"


I said, "No, but daddy said he talked to one of them hellions that day."


He smiled and said, "Did he mention anyone by name?"


I said, "I don't know. He went to town and when he came home, he
mentioned it to mama at the supper table."


"Billy, do you know where your daddy went when he went to town?"


I said, "He went to the hardware store and he went to the farm and home
store. I don't know if he went anywhere else."


Mike said something and Mr Gentry, holding me, went over towards Mike.
Mike was crouched down looking at the ground and said, "These here are
the same as what's out by the back gate."


Uncle Nick by then was looking at them and agreed. The man holding me
said, "Billy, I'm going to put you down. In a moment, I'll be needing to
ask you some more questions. Would you go back to your aunt?"


I went over to Aunt Paulette and she picked me up with a grunt. She had
her handkerchief out and dabbed my eyes. She said, "Honey, I'm so sorry
you have to go through this."


I said, "Aunt Paulette, he said I didn't start the fire."


"Billy, I knew you didn't."


I said, "Well, if I didn't, then who did?"


"Honey, that's why all these people are out here."


Mr Gentry came over and said, "I'm going to have to call in the highway
patrol on this to investigate it. They'll probably bring in someone who
will want to ask Billy some more questions."


He went to his truck and started speaking into his radio. After a while,
he came back and said, "Billy, can I carry you again?"


I nodded and he took me from Aunt Paulette. He took Aunt Paulette's
handkerchief and said, "Honey, we need to have everyone leave here so no
one walks on any prints if they're still here. Why don't you all go to
your farm, and I'll bring Billy when I know something more. This whole
farm is now a crime scene."


Aunt Paulette said, "O.k., but Nick needs to stay for Billy's sake."


Mr Gentry nodded to her and then I looked at him and said, "What does
that mean?"


"Billy, I'm going to carry you around and as we walk, you tell me what
your daddy did that day. Hopefully, something will be information I'll be
able to use to help find out what happened here."


I said, "Do you know who called the fire department?"


"Yes, Billy, we do. That information is coming to us right now."


I said, "Well, they probably know where the fire was when they called."


He looked at me and said, "You're right Billy. In order for them to call,
they had to see it."


He put me down and said, "Billy, as we walk, I'm going to ask you
questions. I think it will be better if you show me what you did in here
and then I'll know what you touched."


We walked towards the barn and as we walked, the man was looking down. He
said, "Billy, when your daddy got home, do you remember what he did that
day?"


I said, "Well, he was gone when I got home. Mama was here and she had
oatmeal raisin cookies. I had to go out to the barn to feed old Bessie
and I was sure to turn out the light like they told me to do."


I went in and then I said, "Where'd Bessie go?"


The man said, "Did your Uncle Nick take her over there?"


I said, "No, I'm sure if he had Bessie, she'd come to the fence when I
went out to feed."


The man called Uncle Nick over and said, "Nick, do you know what happened
to the cow they had?"


Uncle Nick said, "No, I never thought of the cow. Bessie is a
Hereford./Holstein mix. I'm sure the livestock auction would have records
when she was purchased."


I said, "Her ear tag is #803."


The man said, "O.k., Billy, let's go into the barn and see if anything
else is missing."


We went into the barn and I looked around. Everything was the same as I
remembered it. I was looking around and as I did, the man was looking
over in another area. He said, "Billy, did your daddy do anything with
the gas tanks to this cooking grill?"


I said, "Not that I know of, they were with it when we put it out here
last fall. I helped daddy push it out here. He said he didn't want it to
get rusted."


We looked a little further and he said, "Billy, what was sitting here?"


I looked over and said, "That's where the trash barrels sat. They didn't
have trash in them, but they had wheat in them. One of them that sits
over there has rye in it."


I looked over to where I pointed and a huge pile of rye was on the floor.
I said, "Why would someone want to take the barrels?"


We went further back and suddenly the man stopped. He said, "Billy, don't
come back here. We need to go back up front."


I said, "What's back there?"


He said, "Someone killed your cow and what's left of her is back there."


I said, "Did she starve to death?"


He said, "No son, someone butchered her."


"I know my daddy didn't do it. He always does it out in that tree. He
uses a come along and mama always helps. When he does it, it's a whole
day long chore."


Just then, I remembered my mama and daddy weren't alive anymore and I was
talking like they were. I started crying and he came over and picked me
up real fast. I said, "They're dead and I keep forgetting."


He took me out to Uncle Nick and said, "Nick, the barn's a crime scene
too. Don't let anyone go in there either."


Uncle Nick came over and said, "Billy, talk to me son, what are you
thinking?"


I said, "Uncle Nick, I keep forgetting mama and daddy are dead."


He said, "Billy, in our memories, they'll always be alive. You're not
forgetting, you're just remembering them. They'd enjoy that."


I said, "It just hurts." I started crying again and the man handed me to
Uncle Nick. He had Aunt Paulette's handkerchief and wiped my face. He had
tears in his eyes too and said, "Billy, I promise you, I'll find out who
did this and I'll make them pay."


I said, "They can't pay. There's no amount of money I'll take for them."


Uncle Nick started crying and said, "Billy, he's meaning they'll go to
jail for it."


I said, "Well, I want them to die just like they made them die."


The man said, "Billy, when the highway patrol gets here, they're going to
need you to answer a lot of questions. I'm sorry, but you're the only one
left who knows if something is missing, or not."


I said, "O.k., but I might not know everything."


He smiled and said, "Billy, just tell us what you know and you might be
surprised at how much you help. You've already done a lot."


Just about then, a little beagle dog came running over and sniffed me. I
leaned down to pet it and she licked my face. I said, "Where'd you come
from?"


Mr Gentry said, "Billy, this is Missy, she's a special dog. She sniffs
things to see if anyone used anything flammable to set a fire. She's
doing her job right now, so we need to let her work, o.k.?"


I said, "O.k., but can I pet her later?"


He smiled and said, "Billy, I'll talk to her owner and I'm sure we can
let you pet her."


Missy's nose went back down to the ground and she took off again
sniffing. She went into the barn and I saw the guy following her give Mr
Gentry a look. He nodded his head and Mr Gentry said, "Billy, we need to
go over here."


He said, "Billy, I'm going to have your Uncle come over with us, and
we're going into the part of the house which is still standing."


I said, "Aunt Paulette wanted to be with me when we did this. Both her
and Uncle Nick."


"Billy, I'll be here with you. And, your Uncle Nick will be too. If you'd
like, I'll have your Aunt Paulette come back over."


I said, "O.k."


He turned to Uncle Nick and said, "Nick, could you have Paulette come
back over? I'm going to take Billy over to this out building and we're
going to see if there's anything missing over here. After that, we're
going to need to go into the house."


Uncle Nick nodded and said, "Billy, if you need me, I'll come running."


I said, "O.k. Uncle Nick."


We walked over to the pump house and as we walked, Mr Gentry said,
"Billy, what was this building used for?"


I said, "Mr Gentry, this building is the pump house. Daddy said this
house used to have a windmill sticking out of it and it's where we get
out water. "


I stopped and started crying again. He stopped and leaned down and said,
"Billy, remembering them is a good thing. I know you love them and them
being alive as we talked about them is just natural."


I said, "It just hurts right here." I held my hand up to my chest.


He said, "Billy, we're going to find out who did this. When that day
comes, they're going to be really sorry."


I said, "You promise?"


He said, "Billy, if anyone ever did this to one of my kids, I'd do
everything I could to see I found a way to come back and tell everyone
helping them what happened. Your memories are a way of your parents
telling us. So, just think of it as them telling me. O.k.?"


I said, "o.k., maybe it won't hurt so bad thinking of it that way."


We went over to the shed and as we were opening the door, I heard the dog
bark. I said, "She sure sounds happy."


He smiled and said, "She does that, doesn't she."


I said, "My daddy wouldn't let me have a dog. He said they chased the
livestock. He was planning on getting some more cattle."


We went into the pump house and everything looked the same as it had when
I'd been in there last. Daddy's lawn mower for the yard was in there and
so was his other yard tools."


I said, "Mike will need these things for when we get their house out
here."


Mr Gentry said, "Mike Johnson's going to live out here?"


I said, "Yeah, I'm hiring him to watch over my cattle I bought."


Mr Gentry said, "You got cattle?"


I said, "Yeah, we went to the livestock auction and I got a whole bunch
of them. They're being delivered today over at Uncle Nick's because we
don't have anywhere to put them here now. But, Uncle Nick has ordered a
new barn and we're going to get Mike's house tomorrow. Is it alright if
we get their new house?"


He smiled and said, "Billy, that might have to wait for a few days, but
when they do, it will probably have to be set someplace besides where the
house and the barn are now because I'm sure if this goes to court, the
jury is going to want to see everything."


I said, "Well, as long as we can get my things out of the house and Aunt
Paulette can get the photo albums out, we'll be fine."


We went to the shed over near the pump house and I couldn't get the door
open. I said, "Daddy had a hard time with that door. It slides on them
rollers up there. He kept saying he needed to get out here with WD-40 and
oil it, but he never got to."


I stopped as I had to cry again. It wasn't so bad this time and Mr Gentry
was there touching my shoulder. I said, "Mr Gentry, it's just sad, daddy
never got to do everything he wanted to do here."


Mr Gentry said "Yes, we just don't know how long we have."


I looked at him and said, "Well, I'm going to make sure I let everyone
know I love them as long as I'm here. My mama and daddy made sure I knew
they loved me."


I paused and said, "Are you sure the buckeyes didn' t start the fire?"


He said, "Billy, Missy smells where people have poured gasoline or
something flammable on the floor to start a fire. Whoever started the
fire, used something on the floor in the house. They poured a path
leading through from the front door to the back door. Did your mama and
daddy lock the doors at night when they went to bed?"


I said, "I don't think so. Daddy said he'd hear someone and be up with
the shotgun if he heard someone. With them being in bed, I don't think he
heard them."


Mr Gentry said, "Billy, it's probably better he didn't. They probably
would have made sure to kill you if your daddy had found them."


I said, "Mr Gentry, why would they want to kill us?"


He said, "Billy, I don't know. I imagine they were stealing things and
then didn't want to get caught. Their problem is they left all this
evidence."


I said, "What's evidence?"


He said, "Billy, it's like pieces of the puzzle which individually
doesn't look like much, but when it's all added together, it makes up a
big picture."


I said, "So them killing Bessie is a piece of the puzzle?"


He said, "Yes, and them taking the gas tanks off the grill and the
barrels too."


Mr Gentry said, "Billy, I don't think they came this way. I can't get
this door open. Let's look around on the ground and see if we can see any
of those tire prints."


We looked out by the gate leading to the side pasture and didn't see
anything. As we walked back towards the house, I saw Missy going towards
the back fence barking. She was sniffing at the ground.


Her owner lifted her off the ground and then put her on the other side of
the gate. Missy took off barking and running out through the pasture.


I said, "She sure is having fun!"


He said, "She is."


I said, "Her owner better go catch her, it's a long ways out there!"


A man came over and said, "There's a trail of gasoline all through the
barn. Either it didn't catch, or they decided to not burn it. She's
trailing the scent of gasoline out through that field."


Mr Gentry said, "They were probably in a hurry."


I said, "There was more than one?"


The man said, "Yes, I think there was three. We have a good dna swatch in
the barn from at least two. When they were butchering the cow, someone
cut their hand. Another one left a jacket out there which has hair
samples."


Mr Gentry smiled and -said, "Billy, we just got some more pieces of the
puzzle."


He smiled and I said, "How can you tell something from those things?"


Mr Gentry said, "Billy, did you ever take a look at the tips of your
fingers and see your fingerprints?"


I said, "Yeah, we did that in school."


He said, "Well, in each of our bodies, we have blood and in that blood,
we have dna. It tells us who the person is it belongs to. The person who
bled in there just told us who he or she is. The person who left their
jacket probably told us who they are too."


I said, "So, my mama wrote my name on my book bag and didn't need to. She
could have found out it was mine anyways."


He laughed and said, "Billy, if your mama worked down at Jeff City, she'd
sure be able to."


I said, "Well, mama worked at the house and I could tell her cookies from
anyone's."


Mr Gentry said, "I never thought of it that way, but I imagine you're
right. No one made cookies like my mama either."


Aunt Paulette arrived with Uncle Nick and she came over to me in a hurry.
She said, "Billy, are you o.k.?"


I said, "Aunt Paulette, Mr Gentry told me something which is helping me.
He said my memories of mama and daddy are them telling me what he needs
to know in order for them to help find out who did this."


Mr Gentry said, "Nick, Paulette, the barn has a lot of evidence in it.
It's absolutely off limits. Billy told me you all are planning on putting
a house out here for the Johnsons to live in. My suggestion is to not
tear down the house or anything here until after the trial. If a jury
wants to see the crime scene, they'll have it. You have no clue how much
it affects a jury to go to the crime scene. The conviction rate is
staggering when they want to see one. My advice is to keep everything as
it is."


Uncle Nick said, "We were just talking about that and I think Mike and
his family could live in either the Anderson or the Thompson place until
then. Billy's buying both farms, so they can live there."


I said, "That's a long ways and I won't get to see Jr."


Uncle Nick said, "Billy, Mike's done told Jr he can have a Workcat like
yours so you two can see each other. We can teach you how to go through
the gates and you won't have to leave the property."


I said, "Well, when mine comes on Saturday, will Jr's?"


Uncle Nick said, "I don't know. I'm not sure when they're getting him
his."


I said, "Can I buy him his?"


Uncle Nick said, "Billy, let me get the farm incorporated and then it
will be covered as a write off."


Mr Gentry smiled and said, "We need to get into the house. We're not
going in that end as it's a designated crime scene. Whomever it was,
poured gasoline from the front door to the back door. They never entered
the bedroom end of the house. If we go in through the window which is in
Billy's room, we can get what you need there. There's a lot of smoke
damage, but everything is still in good shape."


We went to the house and I said, "Can I take what I want from my
bedroom?"


Mr Gentry said, "I would get everything I could from the house as long as
it's not in towards the burned section."


He paused and said, "Whomever called in the fire had to called it in
before it was set. I'd say they had a guilty conscience and didn't want
to do what they did. It doesn't make them less guilty, but it sure helped
to save Billy."


Uncle Nick said, "How do you know that?"


Mr Gentry said, "When a fire is started with petroleum based chemicals,
it gets real hot and real smokey real fast. In instances where a fire
alarm is nearby, that's going to alert the people in the dwelling. In
this instance, there was no alarms. So, as I said, it goes real fast when
it's set. In three minutes a fire can be so hot it can consume a whole
room. In seven minutes, it can be so smokey, it can kill everyone. The
fire response out here was 32 minutes at best. Are you getting where I'm
going with this?"


Aunt Paulette said, "They called the fire in 25 minutes before they set
it?"


Mr Gentry said, "Yes, and I'm going to say something else, so keep real
quiet on this. The person who called in the fire, was on the rural fire
department. He's also the person who is credited for getting Billy out of
the house. There's evidence over in that barn a flammable was used to set
it. Either they ran out of time, or they got scared. My guess is they
realized what they were doing was killing someone and had sense enough to
get Billy out."


I said, "I don't remember who it was."


Uncle Nick said, "It doesn't matter who it was. They still killed you
parents."


Mr Gentry nodded and said, "They left dna evidence in the barn. At least
two of them did. Whomever that comes back to is going to talk and believe
me, they're going to tell on each other in order to try to get out of the
death penalty."


He paused and said, "What I'm not getting is their motives. They killed
the cow and butchered it. Cows aren't like dogs and seem to remember
trauma to the family. All I can figure is they decided to carve it up to
have a cookout or feed their family. The second thing is they took the
propane tanks and the barrels which tells me whomever it was probably
cooks meth. Meth chemists usually are so tweaked they don't make rational
decisions like waiting to call the fire department. They're usually
calling the fire department when the place is burning down around them."


I said, "The person whomever it was, you said, had a conscience. Maybe he
didn't want to be here with the others. Maybe he decided it was a bad
idea?"


Mr Gentry said, "Billy, that doesn't make him less guilty. He had the
options of stopping all that when they were on their way over here. Just
as soon as they stepped foot on this property, it went from idea to
conspiracy even if they didn't do the crime. They did, so all are guilty
of the same thing...conscience, or not."


We climbed in through the window and I started gathering up my toys. Aunt
Paulette pulled my sheets off my bed and used one to place all my toys
and everything I wanted in it so it'd be easier to carry.


Uncle Nick and Mr Gentry went into the hallway probably to mama and
daddy's bedroom. I heard them coughing as the smell of the smoke was bad
still. I remembered that night and I said, "Aunt Paulette, the guy had a
big tattoo on his arm in the shape of an eagle...right here. I also
remember he had on a denim jacket and had black hair with a bushy beard.
He smelled like pipe tobacco."


Aunt Paulette called in Mr Gentry and said, "Billy, just remembered the
guy had a eagle tattoo on his left forearm and wore a denim jacket...had
dark hair with bushy beard and smelled like pipe tobacco.


I said, "He handed me out the window to a little guy who was wearing a
red shirt. It had a Nike emblem on it. He wore glasses. His hair was
light brownish blond. He wore blue jeans that had a rub spot in the back
pocket like a can of chewing tobacco. He also had on them kind of boots
which looked like a Harley rider. He talked like he had a mouth full of
chewing tobacco and was complaining about his boots getting messed up."


Mr Gentry said, "Did either of them have any blood on them?"


I said, "No, but the one didn't have on a jacket which I thought was odd
as how cold it was out there."


Mr Gentry said, "What did they do after they got you out?"


I remembered and began crying, "The one who picked me up went in to get
mama and daddy and when he came back he said, "You dumb fuck you've gone
and killed them, they're both dead! He was really upset. He was coughing
a lot."


Mr Gentry said, "Where'd they take you Billy?"


The one took me out by that tree and said he had to go meet the fire
department. It wasn't long until the fire department pulled in. I
remember that."


Mr Gentry said, "Do you remember seeing them anymore?"


I said, "The one took me to the firetruck and put me in it so I'd stay
warm. The one with the denim jacket. I never saw the other anymore."


We heard a vehicle pull in the drive as I heard the tires crunching on
gravel. Mr Gentry heard it too and said, that's probably the highway
patrol unit. I'll go speak with them. We need to get someone back here
and get what Billy's saying."


He went out the window and it was strange seeing my window being used as
a door. The curtains were laying outside."


I said, "Aunt Paulette, the guy that wore the denim jacket, he woke me up
when he broke the window. I remember it being really smokey in here and
suddenly the air whooshed in and it was better. I was coughing
and....and...then, he lifted me up. I was still really sleepy."


Mr Gentry came back with a man and he said, "Billy, this here is Adam.
He'll be listening to you and he'll ask you questions."


Aunt Paulette filled Adam in on what all I was remembering. Adam had a
pocket radio he was using to record everything. He held it out and said,
"Billy, hold this and speak into it as you remember things."


I held it, but all I remember was it was so smokey.


I said, "Can I go into my mama and daddy's room now?"


Aunt Paulette said, "Let me go with you Billy, it's going to be tough to
handle."


I walked int the room and as I walked, I felt the carpet crunch under my
feet. It was strange as it was supposed to be soft. I turned to look at
Adam who was behind me now and I said, "Adam, catch these people. My mama
and daddy would want them caught."


When I went into their room, the first thing I noticed was the mirror on
their dresser was really blackened. When I always came into their room,
I'd look at the mirror and make funny faces at myself. Now, I could
hardly see myself. I said, "Mama and daddy's door was open. That's why
the smoke killed them. My door was shut as the light from the hallway
kept getting in my eyes."


I looked at the bed and I immediately knew why Aunt Paulette said it was
hard. The bedclothes were really sooty from the fire and where they laid,
wasn't. It was like someone had taken dust and poured it over them as
they slept.


I turned to Aunt Paulette and said, "Did you get the photo albums?"


She said, "Yes, and we got your daddy's shotguns out of the cabinet."


I said, "In that drawer over there is where daddy kept all his records
for the farm. He'd do it sitting at the desk. Aunt Paulette said, "Mr
Gentry, would you carry that drawer out for me please?"


I turned to Adam and said, "Adam, the last man had on a long trench coat
with real long stringy black hair. He's the one that got on the atv. I
remember now. He was cussing up a blue streak to the other in the red
shirt to get on the atv so they could get out of there. They left through
that gate. He got on the atv over there. They had a trailer on the back
of it. The trailer had white wheels but the rest was black. The one in
the denim jacket ran over and closed the gate."


Adam said, "Billy, could you show me where they got on the atv?"


I said, "O.k."


It was strange because I felt really tired. I felt like my shoes weighed
a lot. Adam must've figure it out because he lifted me up and carried me.
I said, "Adam, I'm really tired."


Adam said, "Billy, this has been rough on you. Just show me where the men
got on the atv, and we'll be done. You've done a good job."


I took him over to the right of the barn. It was by the tree my daddy
used to hang the deer and the cattle on we slaughtered. Adam saw the tire
prints and said, "I've got to put this peg in the ground Billy so we can
get a g.p.s. locator on this."


He leaned down and I said, "Why are you doing that?"


He said, "We map a crime scene according to where the evidence is
located."


I said, "Adam, if they used gasoline, did they get it from the well
house?"


He said, "I don't know."


Mr Gentry said, "Billy, let me go check. I didn't think to look for a gas
can if it was in there."


I said, "Adam, if they knew how to do all this, were they at our house
before?"


Adam said, "I don't know Billy, just hold onto the recorder there and
I'll be sure they're asked those questions when we find them."


I looked at Adam and said, "I want to know why they did this and why my
mama and daddy had to die. How would they like it if someone went to
their house and killed their mama and daddy."


I said, "Adam, when you catch them, would you tell the one in the denim
jacket I said thank you. He didn't have to save me and he did. I just
wish he'd gotten to them sooner.


Adam said to me. "Billy, I want you to hold onto that recorder. I'm going
to be after it in a moment. Right now, I'm going to give you back to your
aunt and uncle, so they can take you home. I think you need to get some
sleep. It's been a real trying day for you."


I said, "Adam, before you do that. The man that had the long trench coat.
He took my mama's flowers from the pot out there and he put them in the
left side pocket of his coat. I don't know why he did that, but I bet you
he pulled up some of the dirt when he did it. That dirt in that pot was
really sticky."


Adam said, "Billy, show me the pot."


I took him to the pot and I said, "The trench coat guy's name was tooter.
That's what the red shirt guy called him. The red shirt guy's name was
Jimmy. The trench coat guy kept yelling at Jimmy to get on the atv and
finally the red shirt guy yelled back 'tooter, shut the fuck up, I'm on
my way'. The trench coat guy was really mad and the red shirt guy was
getting upset because the trench coat guy was yelling at him. Just as
they drove through the gate is when the fire truck pulled up. The denim
jacket guy was over in the front yard pulling the bushes back from the
front of the house. He had an axe...maybe that's what he used to break in
my window."


Adam nodded at Uncle Nick and said, "Billy, you're doing great hon. Keep
talking into the recorder."


Uncle Nick picked me up and said, "Billy, we're taking you home.
Paulette, will you drive so I can hold him?"


All I know was I was confused. My home wasn't my home anymore. I was
tired and it felt good to be hugged so tight by Uncle Nick....just like
the guy in the denim jacket...I fell asleep.


Note From Retta:


Man, the kid has details and if anyone says a thing about the details of
typing, sue me. Typing while one is crying is a motherfucker. I was
seeing this scene and the kid kept talking and all I could do was hold on
and type. Yup, I was bawling like a baby when I knew the cow was killed.
All I could do was see the man with the #803 tag in his hand.


As most of you know, I've said it before and I'll say it again. For me,
storytelling is like a medium with a crystal ball. I see it and I hear
the dialogue and I basically just am the reporter to the event. Maybe
that's why I can type these chapters so fast.


What I do know is I've got to take a break from Billy for a few days.
He's telling his story, but like him, I've got a headache and am worn
down. He'll be back, at least twice a week, I do know that.


From My Keyboard To Your Heart,

Retta


RettaMichaels@Gmail.com

Copyright Notice - Copyright © November 2007 by RettaMichaels

The author, RettaMichaels copyrights this story and retain all rights.
This work may not be changed or duplicated in any form, media, - known or
unknown -- without the authors' expressed permission. All applicable
copyright laws apply.



Disclaimer: All individuals depicted are fictional, and any resemblance
to real persons is purely coincidental