Small Town Famous: Chapter Three

​        It took a bit before Jesse was able to get the story out; she kept breaking down and crying. Five minutes before, she was ready to castrate Dealie, now though, she couldn't quit sobbing. She was sitting in a small chair we kept by the phone table in the foyer. I always called it the stupid chair because I thought it was stupid because no one ever sat there. I got down on my knees before Jesse and place my hands on her hers.

          "Take a deep breath, Jess, let it out slowly, then tell me what Eunice said.

          She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. At moment, Ricky, our seven-year-old daughter came in from the kitchen, dripping wet from playing with the hose outside. "Why's mama crying, daddy? You screw up again."

         That made me a little mad, first words out her mouth assuming I did something wrong. I kept my temper in check though, "Hell no, I didn't do anything. Why would you say that?"

         Ricky had red all over her mouth because was busy working a popsicle over, "Whenever Mama's crying it's usually because you did something dumb."

           I chicken-necked her, "Now that ain't nowhere near the truth, Ricky. When they told your mama Grandma Lu died, did I do something dumb then?" I had whole list of things, and I was going to keep on fact-checking her like a Facebook algorithm  when I followed her eyes over to where her mama was sitting there looking at me like I was some kind of an idiot.

          "Sorry, Babe. What did Eunice tell you?"

          She turned to Ricky first, "Honey, you do your mama a favor."

        Ricky shook her head yes, "You bet, Mama." Then she turned and stuck her red-colored tongue at me.

           "That cat done went and peed all over the bathroom floor again. I've warned her several times. I need you to catch it and give it a good spanking. Tell her not to be peeing on my newly mopped floor. You do that for me?"

           "Which cat, Mama, Sweet Kitty or Dumb Demo-cat?"

           "Did I ask you to quit calling Delores that name, Honey?"

           "Daddy does."

         "That's besides the point. We've had that discussion, remember. I need you to catch Delores for me. You think you can do that?"

          Ricky nodded and took off running out the door. Now, before you start thinking that my wife is an animal abuser; Jesse knew full well that Ricky had a better chance of catching Lou Brock stealing second than she had of catching that dumbass cat. She had a better chance of throwing a BB out the kitchen window and knocking a pecan off of our apple tree.  I wouldn't want say that our darling little girl was smart mouthed and clumsy, but I got pulled over by a deputy once, and the deputy made Ricky get out and take the tests for public intoxication. He was just trying to make a point about her mouthiness. She wasn't drunk,  of course, and she let him know she weren't very happy about the situation. I laughed my ass off all the way home while she sat there and fumed. She even flipped me off before she went in the house.

        Jesse waited until Ricky left, then said, "Somebody shot Barlow in the head twice while he was sitting at home. Sheriff thinks it was Dealie."
       
           "Did he say that exactly?"

          "Didn't have too, Lee. They called here looking for him. Asked me if you knew anything about where he was. Do you?"

             "No, not really. I think he might have gone fishing though."

              "Do you know where?"

             "I can look ."

             "You need to do that, Lee. If they come on him suddenly, things might get out of hand causing them to shoot him or something."

             "Dealie wouldn't pull no gun on a cop?"

             "He didn't mean to shoot Barlow that time either, but he did. I want you to find him and talk him into turning himself in, and I want you to go with him when he does. Can I trust you to do that, Lee."

             The last bit caused me frown, "Why you even ask like that?"

            She saw that I was upset and got up and kissed me, this time on the lips. "Go save my brother, Hon."

             I was outside backing out the driveway in my two-toned, blue and white 65 Ford Ranchero when Sheriff Johns and Deputy Jones pulled up in front of my house in a police cruiser. I was looking in my rear-view when I saw them get out and saunter over to where I was. Sheriff Johns walked just like Jackie Gleason in the Smokey and the Bandit movies, he got there out of breath and motioned for me to roll down my window.

           "Well, well, well, look what we got here, Deputy Jones. A suspicious looking character doing suspicious looking things." When I didn't bite, he tried a new approach, "Where you headed off to in such an all-fired hurry?"

            "Who said I was in a hurry. Besides, it's none of your business where I'm headed, Butch." He hated it when people didn't respect his office. I knew it but figured he'd more likely let things slip if he was angry."

          He turned red, "Damn it, Lee! We got ourselves a real honest-to-God murder on our hands; so don't go messing with me today . Let me remind you, these here badges we're wearing carry the full authority of the law. You don't want to mess round with the Law, we got this here thing called obstruction of justice. Law don't take kindly to those who attempt to throw a monkey wrench into the gears of the wheels of justice. We just might have to run you in and lock you up. I hate to think about that pretty little wife of yours out here by herself."
            
       I laughed, and it made him madder. "I know you didn't come out here arrest nobody today. There's only two of you. Remember the last time you two tried to take Dealie in by yourselves? Besides, you got no reason to suspect him for killing Barlow."

       The mention of Dealie's name sure got his hackles up in a hurry, "Then how you already know we looking for Dealie? How you know Jake Barlow got hisself ventilated last night?"

        "Ventilated? Damn, Butch, you been watching too many cop shows on the TV.  Your secretary Miss Eunice called out here about thirty minutes ago looking for Dealie. I suspect she mighta already found him by now while you two out here playing TV cop."

       He got madder than hell and turned toward Deputy Jones. I heard him say something under his breath like, "Damn that woman!" It took him about a full minute before he regained his composure and turned back around.

       "If you know where Dealie Reed's hiding out, you better tell us, less we might suspect maybe you have something to do with it."

         "I'll be honest with you. I was just going to look for him, I'm going to try to talk him to go in and talk to you guys."

          It was Deputy Jones who answered, "You suspect him then?"

     "No, I don't. I got no reason to believe that Dealie would do something like that. He ain't no killer. I suspect that you guys ain't being guided by anything more than a strong dislike for the feller. I just don't want to think bout you two numb nuts tryin to sneak up on Dealie with your guns drawn and someone getting their dick shot off by accident."

       "Dealie's the only one, far as I know, that's already put a bullet hole in Old Man Barlow. He went to prison for burning the man's house down, remember?"

        I had already argued with Jess all morning and I was tired of arguing. "If I find him, I'll bring him to you. In the meantime, you need to go back to where you found Barlow and find some real evidence. The kind you can use in court. If I remember right, you the only one, far I know, brought a case against someone for murdering someone who wasn't even dead."

      I decided to get out of there before the volcano erupted and rolled my window up, and as I pulled out, I saw the sheriff and Deputy Jones start arguing. It was probably because what the Sheriff had said about Miss Eunice, the secretary/dispatcher, who happened to be Deputy Jones great-aunt. I suddenly remembered something I needed to know, so I pulled back up to where they were arguing. Whatever it was about, it was getting pretty heated.

          "Where was this killing done? I thought Barlow was living over in Hartford with that widow woman."

          It was Deputy Jones who answered, and he had to look over at the sheriff before he did. I saw the sheriff hesitate, and just that moment, Jesse stepped outside in a white halter top and a pair of shorts, they both stood there silent for a moment, then I saw the sheriff nod his head allowing Deputy Jones to speak."

         "He was living with that widow in Hartford up until a couple of months ago. We heard that her three boys got together and convinced him to find other living arrangements. He came back and rented Jack Morton's old place out by the river. He had been out drinking, but left the bar about midnight. He was sitting on a sofa in the living room taking his boots off when somebody, using a trellis outside a window on the north side of the house to aim the rifle, shot him twice in the head. Sheriff found one of his eyeballs smashed up against the TV screen." Deputy Jones started chuckling, "It was like that CBS image with the eyeball and shit."

       The sheriff gave him a look that told Deputy Jones that he wasn't supposed to be revealing that kind of information an another that said 'don't be laughing. It ain't professional.'

         I ignored the looks and asked, "If he was already home, I remember from him living with Lu, she said he locked the doors every night."

        The deputy nodded, "That's how we found it. House was all locked up."

           I waited for him to figure out the obvious information that I needed to know. It took a minute before he realized it and blurted it out, "Someone called it in. We got the message on the recorder about six the next morning when Miss Eunice came in to work. She said that someone had tried to call it in before, but got flustered and hung up the phone."
 
          "Someone? Man or woman?"

          "Woman."

          "What did she say?"

         "She said that Old Man Barlow was dead in that house, gave us the address and said that it was Dealie who killed him." That was it, Deputy stopped talking and just stood there grinning like he expected me to pat him on the head or something.

          "Seem to me that instead of being out here harassing law abiding folks, you two oughta be looking for a woman."

         The sheriff looked a little perplexed and I heard the deputy whisper, "The woman who called it in." I was already backing out the driveway when the sheriff got the message. The implications of the question made him made so he started running down the driveway after me.

           As he ran like Jackie Gleason, more of a stumbling forward really, he was yelling,"Who said we ain't, you little smart aleck sumbitch? Who said we ain't looking for a woman?"

            By that time was already on the road. I looked over at Jesse who was watching from the porch and waved. My pretty little wife waved back.