by BobA. Troutt
*****
The Fall of Night
Cemetery Road
The warmth of summer crested upon the gentle evening and layered the ground with a warm blanket of heat. The sky was bright and brilliant, like looking at a diamond. As the sun set abreast, the blue clouds, high in the sky a flock of buzzards glided over a nearby field as an old pickup truck topped the hill leaving a cloud of dust behind on the old dirt road.
The year was 1957 in the little community of Bo Creek just off Cemetery Road located about ten miles outside of West Arkansas in Calloway County. The truck sped on down the road, slowed down and finally stopped at the old graveyard beside the road. Two young boys jumped off the back of the truck, ran over to the graveyard and played among the stone markers; shortly afterward, an older boy got out of the truck and made his way to the back of the truck. He kept his eyes on the buzzards circling in the sky but didn’t think much about it; he figured they had found a dead animal of some kind and were getting ready for their dinner. He grabbed his fishing poles and tackle box and yelled for the younger boys to head to the creek. They took off running as fast as they could across the field. The field was carpeted with grass, weeds and sage brush. The older boy watched as they disappeared in the tall grass and weeds. The wind had picked up and a terrible smell wafted through the air; the smell was rank. The closer they got to the creek, the worse the smell got. The buzzards glided above the field with the wind as it swept over the tall grass. Not far away, crows could be heard cawing and making an alarming sound. Near the edge of the field, not far from the creek bank, the buzzards started acting funny. They flew at them and swooped down like they were going to attack. The boys took off running toward the wooded area next to the creek bank. Unexpectedly, the older boy tripped over something and fell. He got up and looked down to see what he had tripped over. At first he didn’t know what it was. But as he looked a little closer, he realized it was a charred body. He yelled for the younger boys, who were just a little ways in front of him, and told them to head back to the truck. He dropped his poles and tackle box, left them behind and rushed back to the truck. The younger had no idea why they were leaving in such a hurry. It was only a matter of minutes before they made it back to the truck. The younger boys jumped on the back of the truck and the older boy got behind the wheel and sped away to find the closest phone. About a mile up the road, he stopped at an old house and asked the owners if he could use their phone. They were hesitant at first but eventually agreed to let him use it. He called the sheriff’s office and told them what he had found. The sheriff told him to go back to the field and wait for him to arrive.
It was only a matter of minutes before the sheriff and his two deputies, Steele and Meyer, arrived. But, to the older boy, it seemed like hours. He explained to Sheriff Buckley and his two deputies what had happened. Sheriff Buckley told him to take him to the body. The older boy told the younger boys to stay in the back of the truck and don’t move. As he led the sheriff and his deputies to the body, he looked up at the sky and noticed there were only two buzzards circling over the field. But, he found out quickly where the other buzzards were. When they approached the charred body, he saw three buzzards on the ground pecking at it. The sheriff fired his gun in the air and scared them away. About that time, the ambulance arrived on the scene. One of the deputies yelled and motioned at them to let them know where they were. The smell was awful; it was hard to bare. The sheriff and his deputies immediately began their investigation. The sheriff thanked the older boy and told him he was free to go but that he may contact him later if he had any more questions. The boy grabbed his fishing gear and headed back to the truck. By then, the buzzards were all gone. He got in the truck and headed for home. He never told the younger boys what he had seen.
A few days later, the sheriff and his deputies had wrapped up their investigation. The cause of death was determined to be a heart attack. The body had only been lying in the field for about three or four days. There was no evidence of a struggle other than the body being burned. They were not able to match the fingerprints because they were burnt. And, they couldn’t get any dental records since there were no teeth. Evidently, the man had false teeth but there was no sign of them around the area. The man had died of a natural death. But, they still wondered why the body was dumped in the field and burned. He wasn’t wearing any jewelry or glasses. But his billfold was located only a few feet from his body. It contained a driver’s license, a few dollars and some pictures. The license belonged to a Kenneth Whittemore from Memphis. The name seemed vaguely familiar to the sheriff so he checked his missing persons report. Sure enough, Kenneth Whittemore was listed on the report.
Sheriff Buckley contacted Kenneth’s wife and notified her that his body had been found. She told him her husband, Kenneth, had disappeared after the death or their son two years ago. She said it appeared he just vanished off the face of the earth and had no idea what happened. She let the sheriff know she would make the necessary arrangements to have his body picked up from the coroner for a proper burial. The sheriff had no idea that Kenneth Whittemore was a very wealthy man. He was the founder and CEO of Whittemore Electronics in Memphis, Tennessee.
Kenneth had been married twice. He and his first wife were high school sweethearts. They attended college together and later married. She helped him start his business. He and his first wife had a son named Mickey. His first wife died of a brain aneurysm and he later married Geraldine, his wife at the time of his disappearance. She had been married before; she and her first husband had a son named James. James was older than Mickey. For the most part, they got along well. But, they also had their fair share of troubles and problems like all boys do. Kenneth and Mickey were close and so were Geraldine and James which created a marriage full of trouble. Kenneth was a workaholic but he made it a point to spend quality time with Mickey and he enjoyed their time together. Geraldine married Kenneth for his money. She wanted James to take over his business someday. But, there was one slight problem in the way by the name of Mickey. She knew as long as Mickey was around, James had no chance of taking over the business. She knew Kenneth well enough to know that he would leave the business to Mickey, not James. All James would get was a little money, not the entire business like she wanted.
It was about two and one-half years ago when Mickey was working on his car in the garage. He was great with cars. He liked the rush he got from a fast car. While he was underneath his car working on it, he saw a pair of feet walking around the front of the car. He asked who was there but he didn’t get a response. He asked what they wanted but there was still no answer. When he saw the person kicking at the side of the jack he yelled out are you crazy as he tried to get out from under the car. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quick enough. The car jack slipped out from under the car; the car fell and crushed him to death. Kenneth was at work when Geraldine called him to notify him of Mickey’s death. He rushed home just in time to see his son, Mickey, being carried out of the garage with a sheet over him. From that day on, Kenneth’s life was never the same. The police report listed Mickey’s death as a freak accident. The police thought it was a little suspicious but there was no supporting evidence to indicate foul play. Kenneth also had his doubts but he had nothing to prove that it was anything other than an accident. James’ fingerprints were on the handle of the jack hand. But, he reported that he used the jack a few days before the accident. Geraldine and James told the police they were in the house when they heard a loud noise coming from the garage. They ran out to see what the commotion was and found Mickey trapped under his car; he was already dead.
Kenneth took Mickey’s death so hard he almost went crazy. He slumped into a deep depression and had to get away. He couldn’t stand to stay where there were so many memories of his son. He left one morning for work and never came back. For the first year and half he lived as a homeless man. He disguised his appe
arance, changed his name to Rusty and got another driver’s license in his new name. He blended into the world and began his life anew. He was still hurt, bitter and angry; a man almost driven to suicide. Bitterness was the song of Kenneth’s heart and his anger carried the tune. The street life was hard for him. It wasn’t what he thought. But, little did he know, the Lord would bring him through that bad time in his life by leading and guiding him. The Lord watched over him as he chose his way.
For a year and a half, James also endured some rough times. He fought many legal battles with lawyers as he tried to take over Kenneth’s company. However, he eventually gained control of the company since no one had heard from Kenneth and he was presumed dead. He initiated several new ideas. But, he was nowhere near the businessman Kenneth was. A year after he took over the company, James had cleaned house. He had fired several while others quit on their own because they could not stand to work for him. The company had lost quite a bit of money. The Board of Directors wanted to replace him because he had made too many mistakes and bad business deals which cost the company a lot of money.
Kenneth had set up camp along the creek bank near the edge of a field. One day as he looked for firewood to fix something to eat, he accidentally came upon a dead body. It looked like it had been there for three or four days. This was at a time when Kenneth was desperate and near his breaking point. He didn’t want to keep living the way he was. He wanted his old life back. That’s when a dark cloud brought an uneasy and chilling thought. During the night, he tossed the idea over and over in his mind but he didn’t know if he could do it and live with his decision for the rest of his life. Finally, he decided he would do it. In the early morning hours began the process of staging his death. He tossed his billfold with his old driver’s license, a couple of dollars and some pictures in it a few feet away from the body. He walked about a mile down the road to an old she behind a farmhouse and stole a can of gas. He went back to the field, poured gasoline all over the body and set it on fire. He knew there would be no way to identify the body if he burned it. He just hoped someone would find the body and billfold. After the fire had burned out, Kenneth gathered his few belongings and headed out. He left behind a haunting darkness that would hopefully lead to forgiveness.
Back at the Whittemore place, an ambulance sat in the driveway. Geraldine had apparently suffered a bad stroke. She was found unconscious by some of her friends she was scheduled to have lunch with. They are the ones who called the ambulance and James. He left work and rushed to the hospital. By the time he arrived at the emergency room, she had already suffered another stroke. She was paralyzed on her right side and in a coma; she couldn’t talk. A few months passed before she came out of the coma. However, she was in a vegetative state. James arranged for her to be moved to the Meadow View Nursing Home. He knew his job was on the line and he had to exhaust all his energy on making the free ride last as long as he could.
Meanwhile, Kenneth was working his way back home. One evening when he was having a drink in a bar, he saw on the news that a charred body had been found in an Arkansas field and it was believed to be the remains of missing millionaire, Kenneth Whittemore. The news anchor stated Mr. Whittemore’s stepson had taken over his business and had it in financial trouble. Plus, Mr. Whittemore’s wife had suffered a massive stroke and was residing in Meadow View Manor Nursing Home. The news anchor stated more information on the mystery of Kenneth Whittemore would be revealed at ten o’clock.
Kenneth went the next day to apply for any job available at Meadow View Manor; he was hired as a custodian. Each day he worked around the nursing home he tried to get familiar with the people and the layout of the home. The good thing is no one seemed to recognize him.
Then, one day, the strangest thing happened when James was visiting Geraldine at the nursing home. The nurse brought a bouquet of roses to Geraldine’s room. Geraldine was so excited and eager to know who had sent them. Her eyes watered and tears ran down her cheeks. She just knew they were from James. But, James had a puzzling look on his face as he reached for the card and slipped it out of its tiny envelope. He turned to her to read it but froze in his tracks. When he got over the shock, he held it up for her to see; it read love Mickey. Dumbfounded, all they could do was look at each other. James grabbed the flowers, threw them in the trashcan and rushed out of the room.
Later on that night, Kenneth worked his way to her room as Geraldine lay quietly in her bed. He saw the flowers in the trashcan that he had sent but the card was nowhere to be found. To keep from being suspicious, he swept the floor and emptied the trash. He was startled when he heard her ask Kenneth, is that you. He told her no it was the janitor and apologized for waking her. She drifted back to sleep as he cautiously surveyed all the machines and equipment around her. He was interrupted when the head nurse came in and told him there was a cleanup in room 502.
Night after night, he contemplated taking her life. He struggled with it and fought the demons. He knew it wouldn’t bring Mickey back and would only ruin his life even more. He knew he needed to put it in the Lord’s hands and walk away. But, he wondered if the Lord would punish him at judgment. He doubted the Lord because he never understood why the Lord let it happen to such a good boy like Mickey.
Then one night as he cleaned her room, he made his way to the side of her bed to unplug the machines. He stood quietly as he looked at her lying there so peaceful. He looked at the plugs and hesitated. Tears filled his eyes and his sweaty hands trembled. He thought to himself, oh my, God, what have I become. She was sound asleep; she had no idea what was about to happen. He looked at her once more, gritted his teeth, eased down and grabbed the plug. He wiggled the plug from side to side, trying to ease it out of the wall socket. But, he stopped and took his hand away before the plug came out; he couldn’t do it. He was standing beside her bed staring at her when the alarms of her machines sounded and the nurse came rushing in. The nurse did everything she could to revive her. It was too late; Geraldine had passed away. James was notified and Rusty never worked another day at the nursing home. He took off across the river to Little Rock where he worked, ate and slept at a mission. He knew he had to lay low for a while until he made things right with the Lord and decided to face his mistakes.
James took the death of his mother hard. He lost his job at the company and had to make it on his own; he was troubled and lost. He started drinking heavily which became his downfall. One night, while drinking in a bar, he got so drunk he started telling another man about what happened to Mickey. He admitted to being involved with Mickey’s death. Unfortunately, he was totally unaware that he was talking to an off duty undercover cop. The police had always suspected James and his mother of the crime. With no solid evidence, they had finally received the break they needed to reopen the case, a verbal confession from James. Before he left the bar that night, the undercover cop placed him under arrest and took him to jail. The next day, when he sobered up, he had his rights read to him. But, it took the police a week to get him to sign a written confession. He was offered a plea bargain of life in prison with the possibility of parole in thirty years instead of the death penalty; he accepted it.
Kenneth resurfaced and turned himself in to the authorities. He went before a judge for faking his death and for desecration of a corpse. The judge took in to consideration his mental condition after the death of his son, Mickey. With the testimony of several doctors and the power of his money, he was found incompetent of his actions. Overall, he received a five year suspended sentence, two years of community service and a ten thousand dollar fine. He resumed his life as the CEO of his company. He also bought another company in Little Rock, BAT Digital Chips, and merged it with his company, Whittemore Electronics, in Memphis, Tennessee. He sat at his desk, one day, with his feet propped up on his desk. He couldn’t believe he was able to pick up where he left off. He thanked God for giving him his old lif
e back.
