Milk and Honey (35 page)

No one said
a word until they were inside the house. The place was pungent with ammonia and lye soap. The floors had been mopped and polished, the yellow-and-red floral sofa and matching drapes had been cleaned. On the floor, Katie and Earl sat on a hand-loomed circular rug, playing building blocks. Earl was erecting a stacked tower, and Katie took extreme delight in his construction. An open cereal box lay on its side; its contents had spilled out in a heap. A trail of ants were working their way over to the brown sugary balls. Katie looked up when she saw the old couple enter, even smiled at Decker. But Earl stiffened. Only when Pappy D reassured his son that the policeman hadn’t come to take him away did Earl relax and return his attention to the blocks.

“Knot down?” Katie asked.

“No, Katie, not yet,” Earl answered. His tone was very serious. Carefully, he added another block to his tower. “
Now
, you kin knock it down.”

“Knot down?”

“Yes.” Earl turned to Hollander, giggling as he talked. “She likes to knock down.”

The old man said to the old lady, “Take the two little ones in the other room, Granny.”

“I wanna stay here, Pappy,” Earl said.

The old man tousled the small man’s head. “You kin come back in a minute or two, son.”

Earl didn’t move.

“Go on and git now. Don’t make me say it twice, Earl.”

Granny Darcy led the two “children” into a back room out of Decker’s sight. Pappy Darcy motioned Decker and Hollander to the sofa. He stood, gazed out the window. A minute passed before he spoke. Finally, he said, “She ain’t right in the head. My pardon for…for what happened out there.”

“When did she start acting that way?” Decker asked. “After Luke’s death?”

“Before. It started when Earl was born, got worse when Luke married. After Luke died…”

Pappy Darcy turned toward them. His face was long and tired, eyes bright blue but hooded with sadness, cheeks pitted and slack. A turkey wattle fell to his Adam’s apple. He left them alone for a moment, came back with two napkins full of ice. Hollander placed his on his hand, Decker’s went to the back of his neck.

“The baby-making thing,” Pappy said. “When she found out that…that Linda’s womb was being filled up with other men’s seed. She went lunatic, believed in her heart that it was evil what Linda was doing. She thought Linda was the Devil.”

“But Luke agreed to it,” Decker said.

“’Cause Linda wanted it so bad,” Pappy said. “She was driving my poor boy crazy. Driving
me
to the poorhouse.” He shook his head. “Thirty thousand dollars I gave those two over six years. You have any idea how much money that was for me? Had to refinance my land, Manfred always on my back, waiting for me to default.”

Hollander said, “A lot of effort for no results.”

“You got it, mister,” Pappy said fiercely. “I couldn’t afford it no more. Misters, I tried for them. Tried for Luke’s
sake. I loved my son. But…but I got a daughter and two healthy grandchildren to think about. Not to mention Earl. All my money was goin’ to Luke and Linda. It weren’t fair, and I just couldn’t do it no more.”

The old man shook his head, reached in his pocket and lit up a cigarette.

“Then she started in on Luke, trying to get him to sell my
land
. Getting Carla all riled up ’cause she wasn’t a partner in the land. Hell, why should she be? She didn’t do no work for it. But the worst was when Linda started sending them rich builders over to pester me. The girl was plumb crazy with the idea of trying to get herself a baby. It made us all crazy. Specially Luke. Then one day he told Granny D what they were doin’ to Linda, how the baby might not even be his…that drove Granny deep into her spells. Tell you the truth, mister, I didn’t like the idea, either. I was spendin’ all this money, and the baby weren’t even gonna be my blood. I finally said, No more, Linda, No more.”

Hollander transferred the napkin to the back of his neck. The pain from the stings on his hands had begun to subside. Decker said, “Linda didn’t like being told no, did she?”

“You got it, mister,” Pappy Darcy said. “She said she was gonna find her own way…then…dear Lord…it all fell to pieces. Just…fell to pieces.”

“She had an affair with Byron Howard,” Decker said.

“I was ready to throw her out on her butt,” Pappy Darcy said. “My wife, too! But Luke…he felt bad. Like it was all his fault ’cause he couldn’t make her a baby. And Linda was crying, carrying on so. So they stayed together. Luke said he was a believer in Jesus, and if the Lord could forgive, so would he. And he acted real nice and forgiving to Linda on the outside. But…”

“But what?” Decker said.

“But something changed him on the inside,” Pappy knit
ted his brow. “And it brought out the worst in Granny. Luke and my wife…late at night. Talking and whispering…I tried to pretend that it weren’t happenin’. But I knew in my heart it weren’t no good no more.”

“What were they talking about?” Decker asked.

Pappy Darcy shook his head. “It was wrong, what they was doing.” He clenched his fist. “Just wrong.”

“What were they doing?” Decker asked.

“They were makin’ plans for Linda…the two of them.”

“What plans?”

“Dear Lord.” Pappy Darcy’s eyes grew moist. “Who she’d sleep with so she could get a baby. Linda didn’t want to do it. But Luke…like I said, mister, he’d changed. And my wife seemed to go deeper and deeper into her spells. They
made
her do it. Said she’d never be happy until she had her baby. Then Granny started tellin’ her how much money we spent on her baby-makin’, makin’ her feel all guilty.” He locked eyes with Decker. “But it was
wrong
!”

Hollander asked, “What’d they do specifically, Pappy?”

“Luke and Granny,” Pappy Darcy said, “the two of them picked out men for Linda—men with lots of kids. If Linda would argue, my wife would bring up the affair with Byron, then the money again. Tell her she was lucky that she had Luke altogether.” The old man wiped sweat from his forehead. “He’d question her afterward. All the dirty details, and she didn’t want to talk about them. But he told her that she was his wife and he had to know. It was bad…mean-spirited.”

“He pimped her,” Hollander said.

Pappy D screwed up his face. “No, sir, no, no, no!” he exclaimed. “He didn’t
sell
her, just…just told her who to sleep with to get a baby.”

Decker tried to keep his face flat. But inwardly he wanted to take a shower. Luke degrading his wife, outwardly acting altruistic, inwardly gloating at his revenge on Linda for her
affair with Byron. The whole thing was so smarmy. He said, “They were all chosen by Luke?”

“Luke and my wife,” Pappy D said. “Like I said, this baby thing was making everyone crazy.”

“Sue Beth know about this?” Decker said.

“No, sir.”

“And Carla?”

“Carla…” The old man shook his head. “Poor dear daughter Carly.” He stifled a deep sob. “She got real mad at Linda when she found out that Linda was steppin’ out on Luke. Linda…she never told her the truth. Carly wouldn’t have believed it anyway. Up until that time, Carly and Linda was drinkin’ buddies. A little rowdy but harmless. But after Linda’s affairs…Carly, she started gettin’ real wild.”

“And your wife permitted it?” Hollander said.

“She blamed it all on Linda.”

“What happened after Katie was born?” Decker said. “Did they ease up on Linda?”

“No, sir,” Pappy said. “They had a man waiting for her three months later. Linda wanted more time, but my wife…she said it had took her a long time to get pregnant with Katie. Gotta start right away for number two. Luke wanted five kids. That’s what Granny told Linda, Luke wanted five kids, and Linda wasn’t gettin’ any younger.”

Decker saw Hollander grimace. A moment later, Granny Darcy shuffled out, chin to her chest, hands rigidly at her side.

“Can I come out now?” she asked.

“No, ma’am,” Pappy Darcy said.

“
Please
, Pappy,” she pleaded.

“You go back in there right now, or I’ll tan your hide.”

The woman shuffled away. Pappy Darcy looked at Decker, then at Hollander. “She blamed herself for what happened.”

“Want to tell me about it?” Decker asked.

“I guess I should.”

“You were there when the murders took place?”

“Sort of.”

Decker Mirandized Pappy before they went any further. But the old man still wanted to talk. Decker urged him to continue.

“The man they’d picked out,” Pappy said. “Rolland Mason. Linda didn’t want no kid by him, didn’t want to sleep with him no more. It was the day we were supposed to leave for the beekeepers’ convention in Fall Springs. Sue Beth had already left the house, matter of fact.”

Decker nodded, told him to go on.

“Granny was out doing some last-minute chores for Earl. Me, I was packing clothes in the house. Well, Linda musta told what was going on to Rolland and Carly. ’Cause I heard Carly crying, cursing Luke, saying he was selling his wife and her out. Rolland was real angry at being used and said he was gonna tell Luke a thing or two. I met Luke when he pulled up in his truck, told him what I thought. Don’t go into the house. Wait till they cooled off.” Pappy shook his head. “He wouldn’t listen. Said he was waiting for this moment. There was something not right in his eyes, misters. Something scary.”

The old man crushed out his cigarette and lit another.

“I got fed up,” Pappy Darcy said. “Damn fool of a kid not gonna listen to me, I ain’t gonna stick around and hear all the dirt. Luke went inside the kitchen, I left the house, went to tend the supers.”

“Then what happened?” Hollander asked.

“I don’t rightly know,” Pappy Darcy said. “Next thing I remembered were the pop of gunshots. I came rushing to the house. But…” Tears were running down the old man’s cheeks. “It was all over by then.”

There was a long stretch of silence. Pappy Darcy dried
his eyes and said, “My wife musta come home while I was out. She said she had to do it to protect Earl. As best as I worked it out, it seems that Linda had shot Luke ’cause Luke…this is Earl’s words…was gonna take Katie away ’cause Linda was a whore. Then Rolland Mason started yelling at Linda for shooting Luke. Then Earl got scared and killed him. Granny…she saw all the shootin’, said Linda was plum nuts by then, started screaming at Granny, waving the gun at her.”

“What gun?” Hollander asked.

“Linda was holding a pistol, had her finger round the trigger. Lord knows where she got the gun. I never owned no pistol.”

“Where’s the gun now, Mr. Darcy?” Decker asked.

Pappy answered. “I threw it and my shotgun in the sea near Oceanside down South.”

“So Linda was waving a pistol at your wife,” Hollander said. “Then what went on?”

“Granny said that Linda’d gone lunatic, screaming at everyone, including Earl for shootin’ Rolland. Called him all sorts of names. Earl started to cry, but that made Linda ever madder. My wife…she got real scared, ’cause Linda was saying some crazy things.”

“What kind of crazy things?” Decker asked.

“That she was gonna shoot everyone, then herself.” Pappy Darcy held back tears. “Earl didn’t know nothing, didn’t know what he was doin’. He thought Rolland hurt his brother, was gonna hurt Linda, too. So he thought he was saving her. And with my wife…you can see Granny used the shotgun in self-defense. Linda’d lost her head.”

“What about Carly?” Decker said.

“Oh Lord forgive us all!” Pappy Darcy began to cry. “Granny D said it was an accident.”

“You believe her?” Decker said.

“Yes, dear Jesus, I do.”

Decker waited a beat, then said quietly, “But wasn’t your wife angry at Carly for carrying on like she did?”

“It was an accident—”

“But your wife didn’t like Carla’s wild ways,” Decker pressed on. “And then Carla started demanding her share of the land—”

“It was an accident!” Pappy Darcy insisted. “Granny shot Linda in self-defense, and Carly accidentally got in the way!”

Decker said, “Must have been hard for Granny, a good Christian woman, to see Carla acting so bad….”

“It was an accident!”
Pappy cried out.
“Sweet Jesus, haven’t you ever had an accident in your life?”

Pappy Darcy’s cheeks were flushed, his hands were shaking. Decker backed off. He more than anyone knew what an accident felt like.

He waited a moment, then asked, “What happened with Luke? How’d his legs get blown off?”

“That…” Pappy Darcy’s knees buckled. He sank into a chair. “I did that. Luke was dead anyway. I figured maybe I could make it look like…spare Earl and my wife…I don’t know what I was thinkin’. I wasn’t right in my head by that time, neither.”

Hollander said, “You shot Luke?”

“After he was dead,” Pappy Darcy whispered.

Decker asked, “Then what happened, Mr. Darcy?”

“The rest of us…we all left together. I took all the wallets…mebbe the police would think it was a robbery gone bad. Granny grabbed Katie out of her crib—”

“Katie’s pajamas had blood all over them,” Decker said. “How’d it get there?”

Pappy looked down and mumbled, “She followed my wife into the kitchen while Granny was makin’ her bottle. Slipped on the floor. I took her out of there fast, I remember that. I didn’t even realize that her nightie had blood on it un
til we was in the car. But Granny…she forgot to pack Katie some clothes, so we was stuck.”

Didn’t even bother to wash it off, Decker thought. Just wiped it off with a Kleenex. As if Granny hadn’t cared anymore.

“Then what happened?” Hollander asked.

“We left.” Pappy stopped to think. “But it was Katie. Halfway through our trip up, I remembered
Katie
. If Sue Beth saw Katie in bloody PJs with
us
, she’d know that something was wrong with Linda. So I left Granny, Earl, and Katie at a motel ’bout twenty miles away from Fall Springs. I told my wife to put Katie to bed early, then come with Earl and make like nothing happened. Like we decided to take Earl with us after all.”

“That’s when Sue Beth saw you all for dinner,” Decker said.