Hearts of Grey

by Earl E. Gobel

  “Relax, Kate. If there’s one thing that I do know, it’s that my brother has never lied to me. And I don’t think he’s about to start now. Ain’t that right?” she said as looked at her brother.

  “You know that’s true. Never have, never will,” Mike confirmed what Melissa had said.

  “Well, that’s nice to know. But I know that you and Susie are the best of friends, and I’m . . . well, an outsider,” Katie told her.

  “An outsider? Not even. You’re my brother’s girlfriend, and that alone makes you almost a member of the family. And while Susie might have wanted to be where you are right now, you’re the one that’s here. And that, my dear, carries a lot more weight than whatever Susie had or thought she had,” Melissa told her.

  Katie felt relieved that Melissa would choose her side over Susie’s. And for the very first time, she truly felt like a part of Mike’s family.

  “But you haven’t told Mom and Dad?” she asked.

  “Didn’t see a reason to worry them, especially with the threats over Katie’s life. Besides, what could they do? Nothing, so why bother them with such nonsense?” Mike told her.

  “Big brother, like always, you used your head. I agree. Mom and Dad don’t need to know about all of this shit. But just wait until I see Susie. I’ll straighten her out. Yeah, completely horizontal,” she proclaimed.

  “Well, I need to ask you not to do that. We’ve already handled it, and you might just be starting things up a bit,” Mike told his sister.

  “Excuse me, you just want me to let her go?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I do. Please let it go. Okay?” he asked.

  “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll let it go for now. But if she does anything, then I get to finish it. Okay?” she told them.

  “Okay, I can live with that I guess.” Mike replied.

  “Katie, are you all right with this?” Melissa asked her.

  “Okay, but if you’re not around, then I will finish it. Okay?” Katie told her.

  “Fair enough. Okay, since that’s out of the way, what do you say that the three of us go down and get a malted?” Melissa asked them. “It’s on me.”

  Mike and Katie both agreed, and after telling their parents, the three of them headed down the sidewalk. The normal ten-minute walk took almost forty-five minutes. It seemed that Melissa had a hell of a lot of friends, and she had to say hi to all of them. Finally, they made it to the malt shop, but it would take Melissa almost a half hour before she finally sat down in her seat.

  “God, it so nice to see all of my friends again,” Melissa told them.

  “I guess. Did you miss any of them?” Mike asked with a laugh.

  “Oh, very funny,” she snapped back.

  “Gee, I wish that I was that popular,” Katie told her.

  “Honey, you hang around me for the three weeks that I’m home, and you’ll have more friends than you can shake a stick at,” Melissa told her.

  “Now that sounds like a blast. I’d love to. That is, if Mike doesn’t mind?” she asked.

  “Well, if you never find out anything else, you’ll find out this—you’re safe with my sister, so no I don’t mind not at all,” he told her.

  As they talked, none of them noticed the figure that had stopped in front of their table. Melissa was the first to look up. “Rick, how the hell are you?” she asked as she stood up and gave him a huge hug and kiss.

  Rick, without hesitation, returned the favor. “Pretty much worse than when you saw me last,” he told her.

  She could see that the side of his face was covered in bandages.

  “Yeah, they told me what that bitch Susie did to your face. I’m so sorry, Rick,” she told him.

  “Ain’t your fault, but thanks anyways,” he answered.

  “Hey, come on. Sit down here with us. We have a lot to catch up on,” she told him.

  “Well, thanks! I think I will.” Then he stopped.

  “What’s wrong?” Melissa asked.

  “Oh, nothing, but I seem to have forgotten just how beautiful you were, and you haven’t changed one bit,” he told her.

  “Oh, you smooth talker, sit down.” So he did, and as he did, Melissa moved closer to him.

  Rick didn’t object, not at all. “Hi, Mike, Katie! So what’s up with you two?” he asked.

  “Oh, Katie, has a new best friend, so I’ve been demoted to second billing,” Mike told him.

  “You haven’t either!” Katie told him as she playfully slapped his shoulder.

  “Aww, is poor little Mikey jealous of his baby sister?” Melissa asked jokingly.

  Katie jumped in to change the subject. “So who are you taking to the picnic?” Katie asked.

  “I don’t think I’ll be going,” he informed them.

  “Why not?” Mike asked.

  “Well, to be honest, I don’t think a girl wants to be seen with me because of this crap on my face,” he told them.

  “The hell you say. I’ll go with you, Rick. Consider it a date, and you best not stand me up,” Melissa said.

  “Really? That would be great! Thanks. And I would have to be really stupid to stand such a beautiful woman up,” he told her.

  “Not if you know what’s good for ya,” she told him as she planted a kiss on his good cheek.

  They all laughed.

  “Rick, did someone tell you that they wouldn’t go with you for that reason?” Katie asked.

  “Well, not in so many words, but girls that I’ve dated before suddenly had other plans. Even a blind man could read the writing on the walls,” he told them.

  “Well, it’s their loss and my gain,” Melissa told him.

  “I agree. Those brats don’t know what they’re missing,” Katie told him.

  “Great! Now you two are dating again?” Mike said.

  “So what’s wrong with that?” Katie asked.

  “The last time these two dated, I served duty as their personal messenger. Tell Melissa this, tell Rick that. You two damn near drove me nuts,” Mike answered.

  “It wasn’t that bad, and besides, now you have this cute little thing to keep you busy,” Rick told him as he pointed toward Katie.

  “You’re a sweetheart of a man, Rick,” Katie answered back.

  “Yeah right, up until you mention snapping turtles,” Melissa added.

  “Oh no, you aren’t going to tell Katie that story, are ya?” Rick asked.

  “Sure, why not? She needs to know,” Melissa told him.

  “No, she doesn’t. Come on, I hear enough about it from you two. Ain’t that enough?” he asked.

  “Okay, wait a second. Snapping turtles? Come on, Rick, I’d like to hear this. I promise I won’t laugh, but it does sound funny. Snapping turtles?” Katie pleaded with Rick.

  “Well, she’ll tell ya anyways, but you promise not to laugh?” Rick asked her.

  “I promise. Cross my heart,” she told him.

  “Well, the summer that we graduated from high school, the three of us went down to Florida, and to make a long story short, we went to the beach and went swimming. So there we are having a blast when I made the mistake of telling these two here that I thought something had bitten my foot. Then Melissa told me it was probably the snapping turtles, then Mike acted like something bit his foot. Then little miss innocent here started splashing around like she was being attacked by a whole bunch of these snapping turtles. She even disappeared under the water like these turtles had pulled her under—”

  Mike cut him off in mid sentence. “And Rick ran to the beach like his ass was on fire. He flew! It was funnier than hell, I tell ya,” Mike added.

  “Yeah, funny for you maybe. I felt like an ass,” Rick finished. He looked over at Katie who was really trying not to laugh. “You said that you wouldn’t laugh,” Rick told her.

  “I’m sorry, Rick,” she said with her hand half covering her mouth. “But I do have one question, Rick,” she added.

  “Yeah, I bet you do. What is it?” he asked as he waited for what he kne
w was coming.

  “Why didn’t you just reach down and rub their bellies?” she asked.

  “What? Are you serious?” he asked.

  “Sure, but the only problem with that is by the time you find them to flip them over, you wouldn’t have any fingers left,” she told him as she started laughing.

  “Oh, real funny,” he answered.

  “No, seriously, it doesn’t matter. The ones in Florida don’t have any teeth,” Katie told him in a very straight face.

  “Really, why not?” he asked as seriously as he could.

  “Because they’re too old. They’re retired. That’s why they’re in Florida,” she told him as she busted out laughing. The laughter from their table filled the malt shop.

  “You better keep her, Michael. That was good, real good,” Melissa told her brother.

  “Ha ha ha! I’ll get you, Katie! You wait. Oh, I’ll get ya. Count on it,” Rick told her.

  “Okay, I’ll count on it. At least I still have my fingers,” she snapped back.

  “Oh, look out, Rick. She’s on a roll,” Mike warned her.

  Just then, Mike motioned that someone else had entered the shop. It was Susie Barnes. Katie couldn’t believe that she had the nerve to stop at their table as if nothing had ever happened. But she did. She stood there as if she owned the damn place.

  “Hi, Melissa, I heard that you were back in town, and I was wondering if you would like to have a malted with me?” she asked.

  Everyone around the table just sat there and waited. Finally, Melissa answered her. “Sure, I’d love to. Pardon me, Rick, could you let me out please?” she asked.

  Rick stood up without saying a word, especially to Susie. As Melissa and Susie walked over to an empty table across the room, Rick sat back down.

  “I can’t believe your sister would still speak to that tramp, let alone sit with her and enjoy a malted,” Katie told Mike.

  “I can. I know my sister,” Mike said as he watched the two girls across the room. “Just wait for it. It’s coming.”

  “What’s coming?” she asked.

  “Just watch. You’ll see,” he answered her in a very quiet voice.

  Melissa bit her lip as Susie rambled on about herself. And as far as that deal, as she called it, with Rick, that was nothing more than a big misunderstanding. Melissa waited for the malteds to get to the table. Then she interrupted Susie. “First off, Susie, you’re a fucking bitch for what you did to Rick and what you tried to do! Second off, you’re not my friend! You’re a sick pathetic brat. And if I ever hear that you said as much as hi to any one of them, I’ll leave school and come down here and kick your ass. Is that clear?” she asked her in a voice that they might have heard outside.

  “Wait for it. It’s coming,” Mike said in a low whisper.

  Susie didn’t say a word. She was too scared to say anything.

  “And you did say that these malteds were on you, right? Well, honey, you don’t know how right you were.” Melissa told her as she slowly poured both of the malteds over Susie’s head. Susie still didn’t say anything as everyone in the shop stared at her then busted out in laughter.

  “I told ya it was coming,” Mike said in a voice that was louder now.

  As Melissa started walking back toward Rick’s side of the table, everyone started cheering for her. Apparently, Susie didn’t have that many friends, and she had just lost one more.

  “Oh my god! She did it! She really did it. Your sister is the greatest. God, that was fantastic,” Katie proclaimed as she glanced over at Susie. The thick chocolate malts were slowly running down her face, over her shoulders, and filling up what little cleavage area she had, and even more of the ice-cold malts found their way into her lap. But she still didn’t say anything. She just sat there enjoying a double chocolate malted. Or so it appeared.

  Melissa slid back into the booth with a grin on her face that could only be described as devilish in nature. Rick sat down next to her again.

  “Melissa, that was great. Did you see the look on her face?” Katie asked.

  “The bitch had it coming. And besides, I wanted a vanilla malt,” she said with a slight hint of laughter. “Nobody treats my friends like that, especially Susie Barnes. Gosh darn bitch.”

  “You knew what you were going to do even before you accepted her offer, didn’t ya?” Rick asked her.

  Melissa stared at him and answered him with all of the southern accent that she could muster, “I do declare, my dear sir, whatever do you mean, sir? I swear, they just slipped, is all. I mean a lady such as I am would never do anything like you’re thinking, sir. After all, what kind of a lady do you take me for?” she said just before she busted out laughing. The others soon joined her in the laughter.

  Susie slowly stood up. Most of the chocolate malted fell to the floor, but a good amount still clung to her. On the outside, she looked like the receiver of a very bad joke. But on the inside, deep down in the pit of her stomach, she was fuming. What she wanted to do was to go over to that table and punch Melissa right in her nose. But she knew that this wasn’t the right time. Revenge would be hers. Oh, yes, Ms. Melissa, I will be back, and that little bitch Katie, I’m not through with you either, she thought to herself as she slowly walked toward the door. The laughter of everyone there helped to make the walk even longer. Revenge would be sweeter than chocolate. And she would savor its taste until the timing was right.

  The four of them sat there talking for about an hour before they decided it was time to go home. Rick was going to walk Melissa home while Mike did the same to Katie. Once outside, they parted company, and each couple went their separate ways.

  Mike and Katie just laughed as they strolled down the gravel road that led to her house. Neither of them had any idea about what was being plotted against them. As far as they were concerned, Susie Barnes was a thing of the past.

  Susie sat there on her bed, still wearing the chocolate-covered dress. She sat there with her legs crossed in what most people considered to be the Indian stance. Her hands slowly rubbed the huge metal object that she had snuck out of her daddy’s room the day earlier. Her eyes just stared at the adjacent wall, but they didn’t see anything. The hate that was slowly building inside of her was about to burst. And as she looked down at the gun in her hand, she really didn’t care anymore.

  The Plot Is Fully Explained

  When Katie and Michael finally got to her house, Grady and Katie ushered him into the kitchen. He took a seat at the dining room table. “Michael, Katie has convinced me that we should bring you up to date on what we have thus far,” Grady told him.

  “Are we talking about this history stuff that you guys told me about last night?” he asked.

  “Yeah, exactly. But I wanted to wait a few days, but Katie here wants you to know now, so I guess we’ll tell you everything now. So can you keep a secret?” Grady asked him.

  “Sure can. Besides, the suspense is killing me, okay? So please tell me what you’re talking about,” Mike told them.

  “Okay, Michael, you’re about to get a lesson on American history, but as I tell you this, I’ll need you to keep an open mind and disregard everything that you thought you knew before. All of this is documented by one of the actual people that participated in the actual events that I’m about to unfold for you. Can you do that, keep an open mind I mean?” Grady asked him.

  “Sure, I mean, I’ll try to,” Mike told him.

  “Good, that’s all that we can ask of you. Katie, would you please be so kind as to bring us some tea? We might be here awhile,” Grady asked her.

  “Sure, Daddy,” she told him as she headed for the kitchen.

  “Okay, son, here we go. Rewriting history as you know it.

  “I’m sure that you’ve heard the story about how General Sherman marched across Georgia during the Civil War and how he left a path of destruction in his wake, haven’t you?” Grady asked.

  “Sure, everyone knows that story,” Michael replied.

  “
Well, now, you’re going to know what really happened.

  “Now in early December 1864, General William Tecumseh Sherman had just finished his infamous March to the Sea, right through Georgia. Behind him, they left a path of destruction sixty miles wide. His sixty-five thousand troops destroyed everything in their path.

  “And now we know that somewhere around December 29, the mayor of Columbia made the suggestion that they should fortify the town. His suggestion did not get the response that he had hoped for. But the history books tells us that at least one person had the foresight to see what was coming. And I’m fairly certain that he was not alone in his thoughts. Either way, the other heads of the city decided to throw a huge three-day party instead.

  “Which, if you think about it, it was really stupid. Here they are in the middle of a raging war, Sherman and his troops are advancing on to their town, and they decide to throw a party. Doesn’t make any sense if you ask me, but that’s what they did.

  “Now you have to remember that as far as Sherman was concerned, Charleston wasn’t worth attacking. Years of naval bombardment had pretty much destroyed the town. And whatever was left wasn’t worth their effort.

  “Now, Michael, do you know why South Carolina was so important to Sherman as far as a military target goes?” he asked.

  “No, not really,” he confessed.

  “Well, South Carolina was the birthplace of the Civil War. It was South Carolina that first introduced the idea of seceding from the Union. And they were also the very first state to do so. Of course, we now know that six other states quickly followed. But it was in South Carolina that the idea was first heard. It was also in South Carolina that the very first shots of the war happened. On April 12, 1861, the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.

  “So the North pretty much blamed South Carolina for the war itself.

  “And because of its large railroad system and the ability to build arms, clothes, and other items that were required to support the Confederate forces, Columbia stood out as the more valued target in the entire South.

  “So when you take a nation like ours was back then and toss them into a civil war where brothers were often seen fighting each other, where families were ripped apart over some stupid line in the dirt, you can see why the Union officials wanted South Carolina, especially the capital, Columbia, destroyed. Mainly because they were considered to be the cause of everything.