father.”
“What if I cry?”
“It’s normal to cry at a funeral, Roy. Don’t worry about it.”
“Mom, what was the last thing Dad said before he died?”
“Gee, baby, I really don’t know. I think when the nurse came to give him a shot for the pain, he’d already died in his sleep. There was nobody in the room.”
“Do you remember the last thing he said to you?”
“Oh, I think it was just to not worry, that he’d be okay.”
“I bet Dad knew he was dying and he didn’t want to tell us.”
“Maybe so.”
“What if he got scared just before he died? Nobody was there for him to talk to.”
“Don’t think about it, Roy. Your dad didn’t live very long, but he enjoyed himself.”
“Dad was on the up and up, wasn’t he, Mom?”
“Your dad did things his own way, but the important thing to remember, baby, is that he knew the difference.”
Black Space
I SN’T THAT TERRIBLE? Roy, did you hear that just now on the radio?”
“I wasn’t really listening, Mom. I’m reading the story of Ferdinand Magellan. Did you know there’s a cloud named after him that’s a black space in the Milky Way? What happened?”
“They found two cut-up bodies in suitcases in the left-luggage department in the railway station in New Orleans.”
“Do they know who put them there?”
“The attendant told police it was a heavyset, middle-aged white woman who wore glasses and a black raincoat with what looked like orange paint stains on it.”
“It’s raining now. When it rains in Louisiana, everything gets fuzzy.”
“What do you mean, things get fuzzy?”
“The drops are wobbly on the windows and that makes shapes outside weird.”
“People are capable of anything, baby, you know that? The problem is you can never really know who you’re dealing with, like this woman who chopped up those bodies.”
“Were they children?”
“Who? The corpses in the suitcases?”
“Uh-huh.”
“No, honey, I’m sure they were adults.”
“But the crazy lady who did it is loose.”
“They’ll get her, Roy. don’t worry. Maybe not right away, but they will”
“Do you think it’s easy to kill someone, Mom?”
“What a strange question to ask. I don’t know. I suppose for some people it is.”
“Could you do it?”
“Maybe with a gun if I were being threatened. I’ve never really thought about it.”
“Could you cut up a body like she did?”
“Roy, stop it. Of course not. Let’s talk about something else. Are you hungry? We can stop in Manchac and get fried catfish at Middendorf’s.”
“I wonder if she wrapped the body parts up so blood didn’t go everywhere.”
“Please, baby. I’m sorry I mentioned it.”
“Remember the shrunken head Uncle Jack brought back from New Guinea?”
“How could I forget?”
“Somebody had to chop it off before it got shrunk. Or do you think the whole body was shrunk first?”
“Roy, that’s enough.”
“I bet that attendant was really surprised when he saw what was inside those suitcases.”
“They must have begun to smell badly so the attendant got suspicious. I think he called the police, though, and they opened the suitcases.”
“Do you think the woman is still in New Orleans?”
“Baby, how would I know? Maybe she just took a train and beat it out of town, f m sure she did. She’s probably in Phoenix, Arizona, by now.”
“Nobody really has control over anybody else, do they?”.
“A lot of people don’t have control over themselves, that’s how a horrible thing like this can happen. Now stop thinking about it. Think about horses, Roy, how beautiful they are when they run.”
“Mom, you won’t leave me alone tonight, okay?”
“No, baby, I won’t go out tonight, I promise.”
Ball Lightning
I T WAS LATE AFTERNOON of a late-spring day. The rural two-lane next to which stood a two-pump filling station was empty. The faint sound of an approaching car could be heard, a dim buzz that became louder and louder until a
“What if I cry?”
“It’s normal to cry at a funeral, Roy. Don’t worry about it.”
“Mom, what was the last thing Dad said before he died?”
“Gee, baby, I really don’t know. I think when the nurse came to give him a shot for the pain, he’d already died in his sleep. There was nobody in the room.”
“Do you remember the last thing he said to you?”
“Oh, I think it was just to not worry, that he’d be okay.”
“I bet Dad knew he was dying and he didn’t want to tell us.”
“Maybe so.”
“What if he got scared just before he died? Nobody was there for him to talk to.”
“Don’t think about it, Roy. Your dad didn’t live very long, but he enjoyed himself.”
“Dad was on the up and up, wasn’t he, Mom?”
“Your dad did things his own way, but the important thing to remember, baby, is that he knew the difference.”
Black Space
I SN’T THAT TERRIBLE? Roy, did you hear that just now on the radio?”
“I wasn’t really listening, Mom. I’m reading the story of Ferdinand Magellan. Did you know there’s a cloud named after him that’s a black space in the Milky Way? What happened?”
“They found two cut-up bodies in suitcases in the left-luggage department in the railway station in New Orleans.”
“Do they know who put them there?”
“The attendant told police it was a heavyset, middle-aged white woman who wore glasses and a black raincoat with what looked like orange paint stains on it.”
“It’s raining now. When it rains in Louisiana, everything gets fuzzy.”
“What do you mean, things get fuzzy?”
“The drops are wobbly on the windows and that makes shapes outside weird.”
“People are capable of anything, baby, you know that? The problem is you can never really know who you’re dealing with, like this woman who chopped up those bodies.”
“Were they children?”
“Who? The corpses in the suitcases?”
“Uh-huh.”
“No, honey, I’m sure they were adults.”
“But the crazy lady who did it is loose.”
“They’ll get her, Roy. don’t worry. Maybe not right away, but they will”
“Do you think it’s easy to kill someone, Mom?”
“What a strange question to ask. I don’t know. I suppose for some people it is.”
“Could you do it?”
“Maybe with a gun if I were being threatened. I’ve never really thought about it.”
“Could you cut up a body like she did?”
“Roy, stop it. Of course not. Let’s talk about something else. Are you hungry? We can stop in Manchac and get fried catfish at Middendorf’s.”
“I wonder if she wrapped the body parts up so blood didn’t go everywhere.”
“Please, baby. I’m sorry I mentioned it.”
“Remember the shrunken head Uncle Jack brought back from New Guinea?”
“How could I forget?”
“Somebody had to chop it off before it got shrunk. Or do you think the whole body was shrunk first?”
“Roy, that’s enough.”
“I bet that attendant was really surprised when he saw what was inside those suitcases.”
“They must have begun to smell badly so the attendant got suspicious. I think he called the police, though, and they opened the suitcases.”
“Do you think the woman is still in New Orleans?”
“Baby, how would I know? Maybe she just took a train and beat it out of town, f m sure she did. She’s probably in Phoenix, Arizona, by now.”
“Nobody really has control over anybody else, do they?”.
“A lot of people don’t have control over themselves, that’s how a horrible thing like this can happen. Now stop thinking about it. Think about horses, Roy, how beautiful they are when they run.”
“Mom, you won’t leave me alone tonight, okay?”
“No, baby, I won’t go out tonight, I promise.”
Ball Lightning
I T WAS LATE AFTERNOON of a late-spring day. The rural two-lane next to which stood a two-pump filling station was empty. The faint sound of an approaching car could be heard, a dim buzz that became louder and louder until a
Similar Books
