balancing Cokes and sandwiches, and said, “Here, let me help you.”
Sister pushed magazines to one end of a coffee table and we put the food down. She and I sat on the sofa and Virgil Stuckey pulled up a chair.
“Do you know, Mary Alice,” he said admiringly. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen purple boots before.”
The man was hooked.
Chapter
Six
E-MAIL
FROM: HALEY
TO: MAMA
Philip says the testicle is called a neutercal, which sounds nutritious, like some kind of a drink with vitamins. He says obstetricians swear by them here. Debbie says she will send me a picture of David Anthony on the Internet right after he’s born. The hospital does it somehow. I can’t wait to see him.
I hope your jet lag is fine by now. I finally got an E-mail from Alan. He says they’re fine and had a good Christmas. Thank the Lord he came to his senses and he and Lisa are doing okay. They are, aren’t they?
We are. Last night we rented Fargo and had popcorn and hot chocolate.
Any news?
Give Papa a kiss for me. Aunt Sister, too.
I love you all.
Haley
Any news? I turned off the computer. Maybe later in the day I would have time to tell Haley all that had happened. In the meantime, I had to get dressed and go back up to Oneonta. I had checked with the hospital, and they were releasing Luke in the afternoon.
It had been almost ten o’clock the night before when we got home. We wanted to talk to the doctors and be sure Luke was all right. No fracture, they assured us, but a bad concussion. They wanted to keep him twenty-four hours for observation.
Virgil Stuckey had torn himself away from admiring Sister’s purple boots long enough to ask Luke some questions. Yes, Luke had seen Virginia in the church. That was all he remembered. His head hurt and how come he couldn’t open his eyes good?
“You hit your head,” the sheriff told him. “There’s a bandage on your forehead and your eyes are swollen.”
“Why would I hit myself on the head?”
“We think you fell.”
“Oh. Okay.” Luke closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
“I’ll need statements from both of you,” Sheriff Stuckey informed Mary Alice and me. “We can do it over dinner at Joe’s.”
We walked about a block through fine, powdery snow to Joe’s Family Restaurant. My statement, told while we were waiting for our dinner (fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans), was that I had gone into thechurch, found Luke unconscious and bleeding, and tried to stem the bleeding. And yes, I had seen the dead woman lying on the bench.
Sister’s statement over pieces of lemon meringue pie and coffee touched slightly on the truth. She had thrown her cape over Luke because she had seen the symptoms of shock, had rushed to call 911, stayed behind to clarify things for the authorities while I had left. And neither of us had seen Virginia or any sign of life, for that matter. Just the poor dead girl, so obviously dead that she, Mary Alice, hadn’t touched her because she wouldn’t want to contaminate a crime scene.
“Good thinking,” Virgil said.
“Hand me one of those little milk things,” I told Sister. “A couple of them.”
I waited until she had them in the air. “We didn’t even know it was a snake-handling church.”
Nondairy creamer squirted all over the table.
“Damn!” Sister hopped up and grabbed my sleeve. “Excuse us a minute, Virgil.”
“What the hell do you mean, a snake-handling church?” she demanded as soon as she closed the restroom door. “We were in there with snakes?”
“That’s what that box was for up at the front. The woman in the ambulance told me. She says they get called up there sometimes when folks get bitten.”
Sister looked pale. I was beginning to feel a little guilty. So she had altered the version of the role she had played at the church. Who would want to admit they had been upchucking all over the parking lot? Especially to a man you were obviously attracted to.
“I’m sorry. I thought you
Sister pushed magazines to one end of a coffee table and we put the food down. She and I sat on the sofa and Virgil Stuckey pulled up a chair.
“Do you know, Mary Alice,” he said admiringly. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen purple boots before.”
The man was hooked.
Chapter
Six
FROM: HALEY
TO: MAMA
Philip says the testicle is called a neutercal, which sounds nutritious, like some kind of a drink with vitamins. He says obstetricians swear by them here. Debbie says she will send me a picture of David Anthony on the Internet right after he’s born. The hospital does it somehow. I can’t wait to see him.
I hope your jet lag is fine by now. I finally got an E-mail from Alan. He says they’re fine and had a good Christmas. Thank the Lord he came to his senses and he and Lisa are doing okay. They are, aren’t they?
We are. Last night we rented Fargo and had popcorn and hot chocolate.
Any news?
Give Papa a kiss for me. Aunt Sister, too.
I love you all.
Haley
Any news? I turned off the computer. Maybe later in the day I would have time to tell Haley all that had happened. In the meantime, I had to get dressed and go back up to Oneonta. I had checked with the hospital, and they were releasing Luke in the afternoon.
It had been almost ten o’clock the night before when we got home. We wanted to talk to the doctors and be sure Luke was all right. No fracture, they assured us, but a bad concussion. They wanted to keep him twenty-four hours for observation.
Virgil Stuckey had torn himself away from admiring Sister’s purple boots long enough to ask Luke some questions. Yes, Luke had seen Virginia in the church. That was all he remembered. His head hurt and how come he couldn’t open his eyes good?
“You hit your head,” the sheriff told him. “There’s a bandage on your forehead and your eyes are swollen.”
“Why would I hit myself on the head?”
“We think you fell.”
“Oh. Okay.” Luke closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
“I’ll need statements from both of you,” Sheriff Stuckey informed Mary Alice and me. “We can do it over dinner at Joe’s.”
We walked about a block through fine, powdery snow to Joe’s Family Restaurant. My statement, told while we were waiting for our dinner (fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans), was that I had gone into thechurch, found Luke unconscious and bleeding, and tried to stem the bleeding. And yes, I had seen the dead woman lying on the bench.
Sister’s statement over pieces of lemon meringue pie and coffee touched slightly on the truth. She had thrown her cape over Luke because she had seen the symptoms of shock, had rushed to call 911, stayed behind to clarify things for the authorities while I had left. And neither of us had seen Virginia or any sign of life, for that matter. Just the poor dead girl, so obviously dead that she, Mary Alice, hadn’t touched her because she wouldn’t want to contaminate a crime scene.
“Good thinking,” Virgil said.
“Hand me one of those little milk things,” I told Sister. “A couple of them.”
I waited until she had them in the air. “We didn’t even know it was a snake-handling church.”
Nondairy creamer squirted all over the table.
“Damn!” Sister hopped up and grabbed my sleeve. “Excuse us a minute, Virgil.”
“What the hell do you mean, a snake-handling church?” she demanded as soon as she closed the restroom door. “We were in there with snakes?”
“That’s what that box was for up at the front. The woman in the ambulance told me. She says they get called up there sometimes when folks get bitten.”
Sister looked pale. I was beginning to feel a little guilty. So she had altered the version of the role she had played at the church. Who would want to admit they had been upchucking all over the parking lot? Especially to a man you were obviously attracted to.
“I’m sorry. I thought you
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