by Ron Hudson
Not only that but in his performance of several smaller hexes over his lifetime, he had been visited many times by law enforcement. After hearing his stories, they either laughed or ended the interview by saying something like, "don’t you know something more substantial about the case." Of course, what they were actually saying is that the law doesn’t take paranormal events seriously.
Fuzz had several very long conversations with Cricket about the hex. They were both very satisfied with their power to place a curse on someone. The fact that someone else had actually done the dirty deed didn’t matter one iota. It was part of the overall uncanny business of magic. They were also delighted that they had something to do with the tornado hitting New Hope Baptist Church They rationalized they had done a good thing for the community because the whole affair had resulted in a new structure being completed for the congregation.
Sitting on his favorite log beside the road with Cricket at his feet, he looked at her, and she returned the stare and said, "We did a great job master." Of course, only Fuzz was able to hear the expression of the dog, but that was enough. Cricket and Fuzz were a team, and they had again, carried out an incredible amount of teamwork. As they watched the sun go behind the tree line, Fuzz felt contented with his accomplishments. Both man and dog were satisfied. As they were bathed in twilight, Cricket barked a barely audible "woof" and closed her eyes, while Fuzz exhaled a very contented, "yes, we did a great job Cricket girl."
* * * * *
It seemed like the entire small community around Flood’s Place was beginning to come together. Knowledge of the goodwill of the local community in rebuilding New Hope Baptist had spread through the Lowcountry. Even more remarkable was the unselfish effort that the Cobb Club boys and others who frequented Flood’s Place, had put forth to help rebuild New Hope Baptist Church after it was demolished by the tornado.
Many of the white people who helped rebuild the church had begun to attend some of the Sunday services. It was something unheard of in the past. Now on many occasions, the audience was sprinkled with white people. Ironically, many of them were frequent Flood’s Place customers also. In addition, Big Red…he was always sitting on the front bench along with Tee. He now felt he had ownership in the church, having been the major impetus for its rebuilding. He and Pastor Pink were as close as one could expect of a man of God and a "repenting" heathen.
Ever Sunday morning, Big Al and Tee stopped by Flood’s Place to down two or three beers before they went to the New Hope Baptist Church for morning services. Both men seemed to actually enjoy the fellowship of their newly found black friends. Before and after the services they swapped stories, and the men listened to some of the black family news of their children and cousins. Their breath often smelled of alcohol, but the liquor gave them more spirit.
They participated in the singing and occasionally echoed an "Amen" at the appropriate time in Pastor Pink’s sermon. Often other members of the Cobb Club would attend the Sunday morning services too, but none was more devoted than Big Red and Tee.
The community hadn’t become very racially reformed yet. But on the surface, at least, everybody was getting along beautifully. After Sunday church services, Big Al and Tee always returned to Flood’s Place and were "under the table" drunk by evening. Most important though, is that there were fewer black skirmishes between the Cobbs and the black people. And when the subject of black people came up Big Al or Tee would uncharacteristically take the defensive side of the issue. While refreshing, this new outlook on their neighbors was much different than it had been a few months earlier.
* * * *
Although the new sheriff and Caley got plenty the positive press for solving the murders, the destruction of the church by the tornado and its rebuilding by the local people was also well publicized. The television stations in Charleston, and Columbia, the state capital, covered the news from the time the tornado hit until the church had been rebuilt.
Shortly after the church was completed, the governor visited the county of Warrenton and the church itself. Suddenly a small hamlet that hadn’t been known for more than a few miles away had it's "15 minutes" of fame when a national television network did a one-hour special commentary on it.
The special showed clips of the community before the tornado hit and mentioned some of the racial incidents perpetrated by the Cobbs at Flood’s Place. It went into extensive detail regarding former Ku Klux Klan leader "Oats" Schoenfeld, who had been put in prison several years earlier. The show host interviewed Big Al and Pastor Pink. They were shown together and were pictured shaking hands and commenting how well the community was doing in spite of all the past racial incidents.
The community was painted as an example of the "new south" where racial divides are finally being overcome by goodwill and understanding.
During all the hoopla Big Al, Tee, and even Patrick were seen on television several times making comments about the state of affairs in the Lowcountry. Of course, this didn’t slow the drinking and hell raising mostly on the weekends at Flood’s Place. Actually, it just gave it a more stimulating entertainment spur.
Utopia was still a long way off in the Lowcountry, but there was a lot more harmonious relationship among the black and white people of this small hamlet than ever before.
* * * * *
Caley had gone out to visit Jake Ellis and take a tour of his farm more than once. Jake had two horses they loved to ride. Roaming the woods and fields, they often saw wild animals and birds in their natural habitat, which they both enjoyed and shared.
Not being on official visits, each time she came to the farm, Caley wore casual attire that punctuated her feminine attributes. She always wore a pressed cotton shirt tucked into her tight fitting jeans. Her hair was combed back and tied into a long ponytail. It hung just above the waistline of her 115 pound perfectly proportioned body.
If Jake was a hunk as she first thought of him, she was simply a calendar girl knockout. After they attended a city employee charity event and were seen together at a few movies at Warrenton. The local rumor mill was running wild about a romance, which hadn’t yet fully developed. None-the-less they were a "couple" and growing closer and closer as time passed.
Boo heard about the relationship through the rumor mill, and eventually, quit stopping by to visit with Caley when he passed through town.
