by Ron Hudson
“Hi, I’m Caley Givens of the sheriff’s department. I’m looking into the incident of the two killings across the road. I was by your place a few days ago, and you were not at home. You mind if I ask you some questions?”
“Not at all, I guess you came by when I was in town last week. Sit down and make yourself at home. I knew both of them boys pretty good. I can’t see why anyone would want to harm them. All they ever done, was sell a little whiskey, which is no more than lots of folks ‘round here do. What would you like to ask me?”
With Biggis listening in and providing an occasional bop of his head in approval, Caley proceeded to interact with Lemacks.
“How long did you know Homer Aiken and Henry Padgett?”
“Well, I no’d Homer since we were in school together, which was at least 20 years ago or so. Now Henry, he just came down here from somewhere up north about 5 years ago. As soon as Henry met Homer, dem two hit it off right away. It wasn’t mor’n a few months that they started making whiskey one place or another back here in the swamps. Made the best stuff around too!”
“How did they get rid of it?” asked Caley.
“Well at first, they sold it out of the trailer house up the road. Then in a couple of years, they started making so much of it, they made it for a man who comes down here from or somewhere outside of the area and took all they could make. I heard they were eventually making two or three hundred gallons a week.”
“Any idea how they got away for so long without being caught?”
“I know the state people raided them several times, but somehow or other they were two steps ahead of the raids. Nobody was to be found when SLED got to their site. Everybody around here figured that ole’ Homer and Henry were paying off somebody on the inside.”
“Do you know if anyone else around here was involved with them?”
“Nope, I don’t know.”
“How about the sugar, corn and other items they needed to make such a significant amount of whiskey? Where did they get it?”
“Well, I wondered too. One time when Homer and I were about half shot, I asked him the same question. He didn’t say exactly, but he did say that he had a deal with the same people who were buying the hooch. I think every time they came around to pick up the new stuff, they delivered a bunch of sugar. I believe they were gettin’ the corn here locally. Not much else needed, ‘cept the equipment and them two boys knew how to put together a right good-sized still in nuthin flat, so that wasn’t much of a problem.”
“Did you ever meet or see the people who picked up the liquor?”
“No way! I never went to one of their still sites. Since Homer and I were friends, he would bring me over a quart of his elixir occasionally, and we would drink ‘til we were both dead drunk. He liked to sit in that chair right there where you’re sittin. In fact, I don’t even know if it was one person or several different people that were buying the stuff from ‘em.”
“Is there anything else you think might help find who killed Homer and Henry?”
“No, sorry. That’s about all I know.”
As Caley was about to walk down the steps, Owen let out a laugh and commented, “Guess our ole’ friend Thad won’t have to worry ‘bout Homer playing any more jokes on him.”
Caley didn’t understand Owen’s comical reference. “You mean Sheriff Wilson? Did the sheriff know Homer?”
Sure did. We all were in high school together. Homer and some others were always playing some kind of practical joke on “Fatty Thady,” as we called him. I never will forget the time Homer put a dog turd in Thad’s desk well. Everyone in the class broke up when Thad accidentally reached under his desk and put his hand in the shit. As far as I know, he never did know who put the turd in his desk. “
Caley smiled and told Owen she would be in touch, as she and Biggis continued to their cars.
As she was driving back to town, she couldn’t help but picture Sheriff Thad Wilson as a high school youngster. One thing this investigation had done if nothing else, she thought, is that it had given her a little more insight into her boss. A smile came to her face thinking about Wilson’s image as a half-witted youngster. On the one hand, she still thought of him as a half-wit, on the contrary, she admired him for being able to overcome it all and rise to the position of the elected sheriff of the county.
Chapter 31
Caley and Sweet met up at the office and decided to go out together today. They had been working on the case relentlessly for the past two weeks, not getting any place.
She had already spoken to a couple of people at Flood’s Place who mentioned the Cobb Club. Checking her notes again, she came to a comment made when she was talking to them. “Check more with Cobbs,” is all the note said.
She asked Sweet if he wanted to go with her. Maybe, she thought one person would be able to better observe non-verbal communications while the other did the questioning. She also wanted to get Sweet’s first impression of some of the people she had met earlier. She was pleased when Sweet said he would like to accompany her, so they set out for Flood’s Place with no particular agenda in mind.
On the way out, she brought him up to date on her activities over the weekend.
When they pulled up to Flood’s, there were several men and a couple of girls sitting at the picnic table in front of the joint.
Both girls were dressed in tight fitting jeans and revealing blouses. They were wearing black boots appropriate for motorcycle riding. One of the girls was very buxom with shining long black braided hair. Both were gorgeous, although, the second one had overlapping front teeth and was wearing jet-black lipstick that made her look somewhat like Morticia on the old television show, “The Addams Family.” The black outfits accentuated their pretentious motorcycle persona.
Caley got out and introduced Sweet and herself to the group, “Hello, my name is Caley Givens, and this is Sweet Swenson. We are looking into the murder of the two men who were killed up the road and wanted to ask you some questions if you don’t mind.”
Right away Big Al blurted out, “We know damned well who killed them and we were wondering why the law hasn’t been around asking questions before now. It’s about time you people were doing something about our friends.”
The two girls giggled at Big Al’s comments. One of them flipped ashes off her cigarette with a feminine back flip of her hand, revealing her brightly polished long black fingernails.
Caley was surprised as Al’s attitude but quickly decided not to add to his offensive disposition.
“May I ask your name please?”
“I’m Al Ramseth, and this here is Tee, Skeeter and Honey Boy. We know’ed them boys for many years. They were like family to all of us sitting here. If the law don’t do something pretty soon, we gonna take care of it ourselves.”
“Well Al, I certainly hope that won’t be necessary. Especially if you share the information, you have with us. We will be more than glad to check it out.”
Caley and Sweet didn’t interview people together very often before, but now they were becoming a natural team. Instinctively, Sweet let Caley take the lead with questions, while he watched the men for nonverbal reactions. Anything he thought Caley missed, he would put a question in, but not dominate the process.
All continued, “Them two goddamn blacks up the road, killed Homer and Henry. Without a doubt, they did it, and they gonna get theirs. If the law don’t get ‘em, somebody else will.”
Caley still soft-peddling with Al, “OK Al. I hope it won’t be necessary for anyone to take the law into their own hands. What is the name of two people you are talking about?”
“Well I don’t know their full names, but one of them calls himself Strep, and he lives right down that road to the left, about two miles from here.”
“What makes you think they killed Aiken and Padgett?”
Al still in the offensive mode barked, “About two weeks ago, we were all sitting right here minding our own business, including Homer and Henry, when dem t
wo ass holes came by. One of ‘em saw our dog Chester laying here with us and made a comment about what a mangy pest Chester was. Well, they were too dumb to realize that Chester had more sense than both of them put together did. He heard the comment and took out after ‘em. He did some chewing on one of their legs. We all, Homer and Henry included, did all we could to pull Chester off ‘em. When they left here, they were yelling and cussing at us and swearing they would get back at the dog and us.”
“Did anyone provoke them, or were they the ones who started the ruckus by talking about Chester?”
“They started it all, and our dog was the one who finished it,” chimed in Tee.
Chapter 32
After listening to the bikers, tell their side of the attack, Caley and Sweet decided to see if they could find Strep to talk with him. They got further instructions to Strep’s house and took the full names of the people in the group so they could get back to them. Al was the only one with a cellar phone, so they took it. Al said he would get in touch with the others if they were needed.
As they left Flood’s Place, Caley asked Sweet what he thought about the story.
“I don’t believe much of what they said other than there was a dog attack. I suppose if we can see this Strep fellow, he will have quite a story. Let’s hope we find him.”
As they pulled up in from of Strep’s house, sure enough, he and Topop were sitting on the front porch. Strep was sitting in a chair, and Topop was leaning up beside the wall with one foot dangling off the chair. The porch stretched across the entire front of the old clapboard sided house. The house looked like it was constructed in the early 20th Century and was typical of many poor folk’s homes in the area. It had a tin roof with rust spots all over it. Few residences in the area had indoor plumbing. A four by four building was off to one side of the main home, which appeared to be the outhouse.
Both Caley and Sweet got out of the vehicle and walked up to the porch. Strep was the first to speak, “Lord a mighty, I’m glad to see you folks. I hope you are here about that bunch that attacked us down da at dat juke joint.”
“Well yes, but more importantly we are looking into the killing of the two men up the road. Can you tell us your names,” said Caley.
After introductions, Caley said, “did you know the two men who were killed at their liquor still?”
“We didn’t know them exactly, but when we heard their names, we think they were part of the same bunch that attacked us with that dog up the road,” said Strep.
Seeing that they were much more interested in talking about the dog attack than the murders, Caley replied, “OK tell us about the attack by the dog.”
This led Strep and Topop to start talking all at once at such a speed that their conversation was not very intelligible.
“Wait a minute we can only hear one of you at a time, so Strep let’s hear your story first.”
Strep continued in some detail.
“We were on our way to church. When we passed Flood’s, dem crazy people were sitting out there drinking beer and hooting and hollering at us from the first minute they seed us coming down the road. Den dey sicced dat bulldog, dey call Chester, on us. Topop was the first one he went fer. As soon as I hit him with a board, he come fer me. God knows we wuz lucky he didn’t do no more damage on us. All the time, dem bike people wuz laughing and setting the dog on more.”
Strep asked Topop to pull up his pants leg and show where Chester had seized and tore a large section out of his leg. Topop had not received any medical treatment, and the wound had scabbed over with white pus coming out as though it were infected.
Then it was Topop’s turn. He pushed his broad brimmed hat back on his head and started. His story was similar to Strep’s but with more details, such as how the two parties were exchanging verbal barrages.
Caley asked again if Homer Aiken and Henry Padgett were in the group of men they encountered.
“Well, I don’t know the names of them all, but I bet they were, since the same bunch of people start drinking early every Saturday and Sunday morning and keep it up all day down there.”
“Have either of you been up to Nel’s store lately?” asked Caley.
Both men said no, they did know where it was but never had a reason to go there.
Caley pointed to the old Honda and said, “We got tire prints of one of the vehicles that were at the scene of the murder. If I checked your car would I find they match?”
Strep said, “That’s my car, and you can check it all you want to. You ain’t gonna find notin’ about no murders.”
Caley continued to question the two men in detail, but no new clues seem to be added. As they walked back to the vehicle, Sweet took a look at the tire and saw the tire tread was an entirely different print and practically worn slick. There was no way it could have been the same one they found at the scene of the killings.
As they drove down the dirt road, Sweet said, “That sounds more like what actually happened, although I’m sure they added a little drama to the story as well.”
Caley replied, “I think you’re right Sweet, but that still doesn’t give us much more information.”
“I agree, except the attack does give Strep and Topop a motive.
“I see what you’re saying which is more than we have found so far. We need to keep those two on our radar, but let’s keep digging. Somehow, I just don’t see those men as killers,” said Caley.
Chapter 33
After Caley and Sweet had left, Topop and Strep kept discussing the murders. They had heard some of the details from one of their friends when Strep went to buy gas for his car. While he was not surprised when he got a visit from Caley, he was hoping it was because of the dog attack rather than the murders. Both men not understanding how much of the reason for the deaths were from realistic events, or if their hex on the bikers had caused the men to be killed.
They both knew that Fuzz had the powers to influence the lives and activities of those who were under his spell. Whether the deaths were caused by a hex or something else was fine. Retribution seemed to have been done, and they were glad.
Topop said, “I wanted dem bikers to pay and pay dearly for their attack on us, but I am surprised that Fuzz took it this far. We didn’t intend for him to kill dem men.”
“Well, he told us that once the spell was cast, he didn’t know where it would stop. I don’t think he meant to actually kill them either. Maybe it just got out of hand, and he couldn’t help it,” replied Strep.
“No, we told him to give them all he had. I remember saying dat death was too good for em. Now I’m frad dat’s what happened.”
“After all, both of the people who wuz killed wuz dare when the dog was running after us, I just didn’t want to tell that lady sheriff.”
“Well if dat’s da case, then wat about the other ones. You don’t suppose something bad will come to all of them do you,” Strep asked with a frightened look on his face.
Topop was now having second thoughts about what they had done. In their minds, they were convinced they were responsible for the murders, even though in reality much more true-to-life reason would have been logical. As they talked, unbeknownst to both of them, Loney had been listening to the conversation.
When she walked out of the house onto the porch, she gave both men a grim look and said, “I heard what you two wuz talking bout, and don’t tell me somehow you placed a spell on dem motorcycle people?”
Topop retorted quickly, “Oh no Mez Loney, we didn’t do nothin like dat.”
“Topop, I don’t believe you. Strep is he telling the truth? Did you put a haint on dem men?”
“Well, not a very big one. But now we think Mr. Fuzz may have gotten carried away. Either dat or the spirits didn’t know when to stop their wicked doings.” And after all, wat dem people done to us, they deserve any bad luck dey git. We had nothin to do wid the death of dem two men, but I am glad it happened. Dat’s just two more white bastards dat won’t be bothering us anymore.”
“Oh my lord! This is a shame and disgrace. Dem poor men have families just like you. What’s gonna happen to them? Dem men have been bad people, but the Lord would have dealt with them on judgment day, just like Pastor Pink told us. Now you done gone and took it on yourself to be their judge and jury. You two got no right. What did you tell Mr. Fuzz about them to get him to do such a mean thing?”
Strep, moved by his wife’s chastising, tried to explain their discussion with Fuzz, “Well we just axed him to put a little hex on em. We didn’t mean fer him to make it kill em. We thought he would cause dem to have a little motorcycle accident or somein like dat.”
Loney and the two men went over and over what may have happened after Fuzz spread the hex. How could it have gotten out of hand, they rationalized---if in fact it really did get out of hand. While Topop and Strep didn’t want to admit it, especially to Loney, it is very likely Fuzz acted exactly as they had asked him to. In any event, the discussion had given rise to more anxiety, and all of them were more convinced than ever the cause of the death of Homer and Henry was a result of revenge they had instigated.
By this time, Loney was really mad, but more scared because she knew that Strep and Topop were responsible for the deaths. Going back into the house she said, “you two better git back down dare and have that hex taken off dem people fore somebody finds out who did it or before something else bad happens.”
Strip, now having the same point of view as Loney, said to Topop, “Maybe we need to visit with Mr. Fuzz again and see what else he has planned.”
Yea, let’s go see if we can find him this afternoon.”
Chapter 34
When Topop was a young boy, his mother was a victim of repeated beatings by his father. After many years of abuse, his mother’s last resort was to talk with the Shelltown clan to use their witchcraft on him. Topop vividly remembers it was only a few weeks later that his father had a heart attack and died. Such a traumatic event and his perception of its cause was indelibly implanted in his young mind. On many occasions, his mother engrained in him how the Shelltown people saved her life. At the time, he never doubted their supernatural powers. Although Strep never experienced a similar traumatic event, he truly believed in the clan’s ability to perform their magic.
