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AFTER AN HOUR OF TOUCHING and simply appreciating each other beyond words Peggy finally broke the silence: “Are you the one who shot Craig?”
Jim was shocked and speechless.
“It won’t make any difference about how I feel towards you, but I need to know.”
“Yes, but you must know and understand I didn’t mean to kill your father, I mean, I didn’t even see him in the line of fire. I am so sorry I got you in this mess.”
“Why did you do it? You didn’t even know them.”
“It’s a long story, real long. And I was going to tell you but you brought it up first.”
“I’m listening.”
He began to explain how a father and son in his hometown had sent him off to jail for a crime the son had committed. He went on to explain how later the son had raped his sister, causing her to commit suicide. “I was deprived of my revenge on those two because they were both killed in the same car accident six months before my release. The only consolation was the accident destroyed his cherry red T-Bird.”
“T-Bird?”
“Yeah, it was his pride and joy. His Daddy had given it to him for his birthday. It was the car that he was driving when he hit a fifteen-year-old girl on a bicycle. He killed her and his Daddy set me up to protect his spoiled son. Sonny let me drive it all day one Sunday all by myself. I was so stupid, I didn’t even ask why? Driving that red car made me feel like I was the king of the world. I didn’t even have a driver’s license”
“Did he know that?”
“I’m sure he didn’t care. All he wanted was my fingerprints all over the car. When I returned the car to him that night he drove it straight to the police station. I was arrested the next day. How stupid can you get, right?”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing. What could I do? I was just a trouble-making teenager.
“When I was released I made it my mission to find other Boss Carters and their sons.”
“So father and Craig’s death was only for revenge?” — she said.
“I know it sounds awful but that’s the only reason. I almost changed my mind after I met you but then Craig killed Sam McGill. Seeing those two boys without a father and knowing he would get away with killing their Dad made it easy to cancel Craig’s social security number. I didn’t mean to kill your father, I didn’t even see him there.”
“Why did you hide the gun in my car?”
“How was I to know they would go all the way to Jasper and look in your trunk? Why didn’t you tell me Mr. Bob was your father?”
“I wanted to, but the time just never seemed right.”
“Why did you change your name?”
“Like you did, it’s a long story.”
“Well, let me use your line...I’m listening.”
“It goes back to my senior year at North Georgia College. Everything was perfect in my life. I was going to graduate in the spring and start teaching at West Fannin High School in the fall.”
“What happened?”
“Just listen. I’m getting there.”
“Sorry.”
“It all started when I brought my roommate, Beverly Lynn, home one weekend. Craig went nuts over her. Regrettably, the feeling wasn’t mutual but she did agree to go out with him only because he was my brother. Craig was enraged when he saw the relationship wasn’t going the way he wanted, so he set up a special party in our cabin on the lake. I couldn’t go because I had an interview with the principal for my upcoming job.”
“What happened?”
“I’m getting to it, dearest... Craig had invited all his male friends, but there were only two girls, Bev and Sandi Marshall, our town slut. Craig proceeded to get Bev drunk. She had never had shine before so it was exciting for her, at first anyway. She had no way of knowing how strong it was. When she began to lose control of her actions, Craig took her to bed. She was a virgin. When Craig found this out something took him over. He encouraged all of his friends to take a turn. The disgrace of a gang rape was more than Bev could stand. She had to tell someone so she confessed everything to me on our way back to school on Sunday. When I approached my father he only laughed and asked Craig in front of me how many virgins did she make.”
“Is that when you decided to leave town?”
“No. Just listen. This is harder to talk about than I thought it would be. About a month later Bev went to the school clinic because of female problems. The nurse explained to Bev that she had a venereal disease and she was required to report it to the Dean. That was more than Bev could take. That night she went to the parking lot and ran a garden hose from the exhaust pipe into the window of her car. They found her the next morning with a note asking her parents to forgive her.
“I called Father and he just laughed and said: ‘I thought you were calling for her to get money for an abortion. It’s good the whore is dead.’ That was the last time I ever spoke to him. I don’t think he thought I was serious until I had the court change my name to my mother’s maiden name.
“In desperation, he tried everything to get me home. That’s when he deeded our home place to me.”
“How did you get to Jasper?”
“The job I have at the moment was the position that Bev would have taken upon her graduation. I talked to the Dean at North Georgia and he made it happen.”
“I understand now why the Bakleys didn’t recognize who you were last fall. They seem to know you now.”
“They should. After Mom died Mother Barkley treated me like the daughter she never had. My Mom and Mother Barkley were friends from childhood. Mother Barkley’s love for my Mom was so strong she even tolerated Father.”
“How did your Mom ever end up with Mr. Bob?”
“Big Red was Mom’s...well, you figure it out...and they both worshiped each other. I think she married Father because she loved Big Red so much. I’m sure she thought Father would be just like Big Red. However, Father changed after Big Red died. The last two years Mom was alive they slept in separate bedrooms.”
“Mr. Bob never knew how lucky he was to have you and your mom. He was so power hungry he missed the best thing in life: love.”
“If Mom had lived maybe Craig and Father would have been better men.”
“Maybe, but I don’t think so!”
At exactly 5 p.m. Tommy came to the cell door. “I’m sorry, but it’s time.”
Peggy and Jim nodded their understanding. As he was getting ready to leave the guard told them that the Sheriff had granted permission for him to come back on Saturday afternoon for a couple of hours to visit. He further explained that they felt it would be best if he weren’t around for the next couple of days, as the Sheriff didn’t want to take any guidance from Judge Foster.
“I understand”— said Jim. “I’ll wait until Saturday. Thanks for all you guys have done.”
“Just doing my job.”
Jim left the jail and walked the two blocks to his apartment, too excited to stay home. The only thing he could think to do was visit his friend, Nick.
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