Creepers (12 page)

Donald finished the last beer Yancy had brought him the night before in a long drawn out gulp.  It was cold, good, and slid down easily.  Oddly, Donald found that he was a little saddened by the fact that Yancy wasn’t going to be coming anymore and was surprised by that.  He was even more surprised that Yancy had done what he had done.  Donald was sure he had him pretty well figured out, and for Yancy to go and do the opposite.  Well, that pissed Donald off.  For no real reason, it made Donald hate Reverend Jesse Johns all the more.  Yancy was his fault too; Donald figured.

Jesse had somehow managed to turn that pussy Yancy against his own kind the same as he had done to Donald’s daughter.  Donald didn’t know how and he didn’t care, he just knew that it infuriated him.  It seemed to Donald that every time he started to have something go his way, or have something that he liked, that preacher found a way to either ruin it or take it away.  Donald had seen it first with his wife and then his daughter.

Then, as soon as Yancy had managed to find a way into the old man’s heart, that bastard did it again.  Hell, if Donald could have blamed his dog running away on Jesse Johns he would have.  That no good nigger deserved everything that Donald could do to him, everything that Donald had done to him.  However, things were in motion now and before long he would be vindicated.  Before long he will have had his revenge on that preacher man.  That sonofabitch was going to pay for what he had put Donald through, for what he had done to his family.  Donald smiled a semi-toothless grin and tossed the empty can into the sink.

He turned and wandered into the living room to wait for the Unger boys.  They would be there soon, and they would be bringing Donald some more beer.  A little food too, he figured, but Donald was more eager for the beer.  He figured it would be a decent beer too, like the stuff Yancy had brought him.  The Ungers did better than most folks around town and didn’t need to drink the cheap shit.  Besides, Toby Unger seemed to be kissing Donald’s ass.  Toby so wanted to be a part of the Klan now that Donald figured he could get him to lick his shoes if that would help. 

Donald liked that feeling.  He liked having someone kiss his ass.  It made it easy to manipulate them, and manipulation gave him a sense of power and control.  Other than fear, it was the only real power that Donald had.  To Donald, that equaled respect.  He was a little man with a narrow mind and as poor as the day was long, but people feared him.  In Donald’s twisted mind that meant they respected him.  Everyone but that bastard preacher Jesse Johns, that was. 

***

While Donald awaited the arrival of his beer, Jesse was waiting for the hospital to finish up with Precious White.  He sat in the waiting room with her mother, praying.  It had taken some convincing, but the two of them had managed to get Precious to go and see a doctor.  Jesse was worried about her.  She had been so badly beaten she barely looked like the young girl that sang in his choir.  She was also so withdrawn that Jesse wondered if she would ever be the same again.

He tried to praise God for Evvie’s sake, but a part of him kept going back to that horrible night in 1965.  That night he had lost his first wife.  Jesse wanted to be there for Evvie, but his mind just wouldn’t let him.  It kept bringing up the past and for the first time in his life he had doubt.  For a moment, he had doubt in God.  It was only a moment, but it struck Jesse hard.  Jesse prayed harder, as much for himself as for Evvie and Precious.   He begged for forgiveness, forgiveness for his lack of faith. 

Jesse squeezed Evvie’s hand as he prayed, lost in his devotion to God.  He squeezed so hard that Evvie let out a slight gasp at the pain, but she kept right up with him.  The two of them were so lost in their prayer they did not notice the uncomfortable looks they garnered from the others in the waiting room.  They did not notice the slightly embarrassed look they received from the person sitting two seats down or the contemptuous look the receptionist cast their way.  Jesse wouldn’t have cared much if he had noticed; God was not something of which you were ashamed.

Jesse was, however, cognizant of how intense his prayer was.  That kind of intensity took a toll on a man, and a woman in this case.  It flat wore a person out.  With his hands trembling, Jesse finally relaxed his grip on Evvie.  She sighed slightly as the tension melted away.  This praying had been very intense for her as well, more than she had ever expected.  It was almost like coming down from a carnival thrill ride, and it was with mild appreciation that Dr. Willis interrupted them.

Evvie looked up at the doctor with pleading eyes.  Her concern was etched upon her face, in the grooves and wrinkles that covered it.  “How is she?” Evvie asked.

“She’s doing fine now,” Dr. Willis replied, “given what she’s been through.”

“Praise the Lord,” Evvie sighed.

“If you had waited much longer to bring her in it could have been a very different story,” he admonished.

“But my baby is going to be okay?” Evvie asked, concerned.

“Physically yes,” he admitted, “physically she should recover completely.  It will take some time; she was badly beaten, but I think she will be just fine.”

“Did she tell you she was beaten?” Evvie asked, surprised.

“No, she didn’t say a word.  But I know a beating when I see one.”  Then he added, “And a rape victim.”

Evvie looked down at her hands, so their eyes no longer made contact.  “It was a car accident,” she said.

“You need to go to the police Evvie,” Dr. Willis responded.  “You need to report this.”

“There’s nothing to report,” Evvie demanded, “it was a car accident.”  She bit her lip and turned back to face Dr. Willis.  “You won’t say anything, will you?” she asked.

“No,” he agreed, “but I encourage you to go to the police.  Whoever did this nearly killed her.”

“No police,” Evvie repeated.  Then she added, “Can I take her home?”

“No, her condition is still serious.  She needs to stay here for a few days.”

“No, I want her home with me.”

“I can’t, not today.  She needs to stay here overnight at the very least.”

“I can’t Doctor; she needs to come home with me.  I will take care of her and keep a close eye on her.”

Dr. Willis wanted Precious to stay, but he knew how things were around this area.  Most folks didn’t have insurance and simply couldn’t afford to stay in the hospital.  He suspected the White family wasn’t any different.  He also suspected that Evvie needed her to come home, for Evvie.  “Don’t worry about the money Evvie; Precious’ life is more important than that.”

“It’s not the money Doctor,” Evvie pleaded, “she needs to be with me.”

“Okay,” he relented, “you can take her home in the morning.  If everything else looks good, that is.”

“Yes Doctor,” Evvie said with a half-smile of relief, “First thing in the morning.”

“If everything else looks good,” he repeated.  “Remember, she was very badly beaten.  We need to make her comfortable and let her rest and monitor her closely.  She had internal bleeding from a lacerated spleen, broken ribs, and a punctured lung.  She also has a mild concussion.  Like I said, had you waited any longer to bring her in it could have been a very different story.  We’ll see how she is doing in the morning and move on from there.  In the meantime, I need you to go home and get some rest as well.

Evvie tried to protest, but Dr. Willis would have none of it.  Resigned to the morning, Evvie asked, “Can I see her now?”

“For a little bit,” he agreed, “but she really does need her rest.”

***

The afternoon couldn’t come fast enough for Donald.  He waited impatiently by the front door for Toby and his idiot brother to arrive.  Before long he saw the dust trail rising up above the tree line, and he knew they were driving down the long dirt road that led up to his house.  Absent-mindedly Donald licked his lips, as much for the beer they were bringing as for the story Toby had alluded to earlier.  Donald couldn’t wait to hear what Toby had to tell him; he wanted all the details.  The thought of it made his heart race.

Donald was excited, more excited than he had been in a long time.  The anticipation was killing him, and he couldn’t seem to sit still.  Donald paced to the window and looked out.  He paced back to the arm of the couch, then back to the window.  This time, he saw Toby’s big four-wheeled drive pull up into the yard.  Donald had yanked the front door open before Toby had even shut off the engine.  He smiled a semi-toothless grin at the young men and gave them half a wave.

“Come on; get your asses in here,” Donald said as they opened up their doors.

There was honest surprise on both Toby’s and Tom’s faces; this was so out of character for the old man.  Toby grabbed the cooler of beer while Tom held a bag of groceries.  “We’re coming,” Toby replied, “just give us a minute.”

“Come on in the house boys,” Donald said as he ushered them toward the front door.  “What took you so damn long?”

Toby smiled inwardly; that was more like the Donald Dixon he knew.  “We had to finish up a couple of mowers,” he replied.  “Then we had to go to the store to get you some supplies.”

“The only supplies I care about is what’s in that cooler,” he said as the boys entered his house.  “What’d you bring me?”

“We got some jerky, pork rinds, milk…”

“Not that shit,” Donald barked, “beer.  Where’s the beer?”

Toby opened the cooler and grabbed a couple of cans of beer from the ice.  He handed one to Donald and one to his brother.  Before he had retrieved a third beer, Donald had opened up his can and drank nearly half of it.  Toby gave his brother a sidelong glance and rolled his eyes.  He reached back into the cooler and drug out another can to replace the one that Donald was emptying.  Toby sat the fresh can of beer on the coffee table and finally popped the tab on his beer.

Toby and Tom both eased down onto the sofa and sipped at their beers.  Tom pulled the pork rinds out of the grocery bag and opened them up.  He crunched on a couple of them while Toby only looked at him, irritated.  Tom shrugged and crunched on a couple more.  Donald finished his first beer and tossed the can onto the coffee table.  He grabbed up the other beer Toby had retrieved and plopped down into his armchair and opened it up.

Donald took a long sip of the new beer and sighed heavily.  It wasn’t the best stuff, but it was better than that crap Ricky always bought him.  He crossed his bony legs and leaned back in his chair.  He took another sip and cocked his head to the side to regard Toby.  “Okay,” he said, “let’s hear it.  What was it you wanted to tell me about last night?”

Tom stopped in mid-crunch and looked at his brother.  Toby ignored him and cleared his throat.  With a smile Toby said, “It was fucking awesome Mr. Dixon.  We taught them niggers a lesson.”

“What niggers and what kind of lesson?” Donald prodded.

“That Evvie White and her whore daughter, Precious,” Toby beamed. 

“You said that before,” Donald replied, “What did you do?”

Toby fidgeted a moment, and Tom looked away.  Finally, Toby said, “We raped that Precious, me and Tom.  We beat the shit out of her, and then we fucked the shit out of her.”  Toby laughed as he said it and spittle ran down his lower lip.  “Me and Tom waited for her to get off work and ran her off into a ditch by her house.  We drug her out of her car and tied her up in the back of my truck.  I had her black ass buck naked in the back of my truck.”

Toby smiled so wide it looked like his head was going to split in half.  He was so excited he nearly spilled his beer.  He wiped the spittle off his chin and continued.  “She screamed and begged.  When she was conscious, that is,” he barked in laughter.  “I’ll bet she ain’t gonna walk right for a week.”

Donald stared at Toby wide-eyed and smiled.  He nodded in approval and drank heartily at his beer.  “Did you kill her?” he asked.

“N-No, but I told her we would if she said anything to anyone.  I told her we would kill her and her mother.”

Donald scowled.  This wasn’t good.  You never wanted to leave a witness.  “Did she know who done it?” he asked.

“No way,” Toby said, “we were wearing masks and she never saw the truck.”

“Maybe,” Donald said, concerned.

“Anyways, no cops came to our house today.  She knows what will happen if she says anything.”

“It ain’t the police I’m worried about.  If this gets around to any other niggers, you might have something to worry about.”

“Fuck!  We’ll take ‘em all out,” Toby said defiantly.  Tom only looked down at the bag of pork rinds, scared.

“Listen,” Donald advised, “you just need to go over there and take care of them.  Take care of both of them.  You hear?  I ain’t never told you boys this before, but I got me some experience in these kinds of things.”

“What experience, what are you talking about?” Toby asked.

“You ever hear of the Silver Dollar Group?”

“No, shit!  Were you part of the Silver Dollar Group?  Everyone around these parts knows about them.” Toby said, excited.

“Yeah, I was a member.  We operated out of Natchez back then.”  Donald had a far off look in his eyes, caught somewhere between then and now.

“When was that?”