Russ and Liz were fortunate not to have had such a decision to make for Vicky. Her condition allowed an open casket viewing. The turnout was tremendous. Friends and family—the Daigle boys among them—and the ever-present press who were camped outside the church like gypsies, always desperate for more insight on “The Swamp Slaughters” or “Evil in the Everglades” or a dozen other little titles the media had tried, hopeful one would stick.
Dan’s service had been another situation entirely. An empty coffin had been buried.
“Any word on what’s gonna happen to Tucker Roy?” Ethan asked out of the blue, french fry halfway to his mouth to suggest indifference to a topic that was anything but. A topic they’d only discussed once since.
Russ and Liz exchanged a little glance. Liz had been staying with her father in Bonita Springs ever since the incident, she pretending to claim she was doing it for her father, he pretending to convince her he would be fine, both pretending that neither one of them was ready to be apart just yet.
“Still pleading guilty to it all,” Russ eventually said.
Noah shook his head. “I don’t get it. Why would he confess to it all? If it was me, I’d pin it on Harlon and Ida. They’re dead; they can’t deny nothing.”
Russ said: “If it was you, you’d be a psycho getting a free lunch right now.”
They all laughed.
“Noah’s got a point though. Why would Tucker cop to it all? The state’ll fry him,” Ethan said.
“Who knows?” Liz said. “Guilt maybe?”
“For killing Mama and Daddy?” Noah asked.
“For all of it,” Liz said. “When it was all said and done, the whole thing did boil down to a stupid little lie.”
“You think Tucker found out Travis lied?”
“Maybe,” Liz said. “Maybe confessing—facing certain punishment—is his way of putting things right. Reparations.”
“What does that mean?” Noah asked.
“She just said, dummy,” Ethan said. “It means putting things right.”
“Be nice,” Russ said.
“Still doesn’t make any sense to me,” Noah said. “You think he’d wanna stay free and look after Travis. Y’all said he made a fuss to Harlon and Ida about going out and looking for him when he thought we had him tied up.”
Liz shrugged. “Well, maybe in the end, he felt having to see Travis every day would be too much to handle. A constant reminder that his wife and baby were dead because of his son’s lies.”
“So you do think Tucker found out Travis was lying? That’s why he confessed?” Noah asked.
“If I had to guess, I’d say yes. But who knows? If this ordeal has taught me anything, it’s that there are some really fucked up people in this world.”
Both Ethan and Noah burst out laughing.
Russ bit back a smile and nudged his daughter. “Language!”
When the laughter died, they ate in silence for a few minutes. And then it was Liz’s turn to ask a question. “So, have you seen Travis in school?”
Noah shook his head. “I heard he moved away.”
“Who’s he staying with?” Russ asked.
Noah shrugged. “Don’t know. The boogeyman, I hope.”
Ethan chuckled.
“So, you think two wrongs make a right?” Russ asked with a curious eye, a mentoring moment maybe.
Noah—always polite, always respectful—could not help but glare at Russ. “We never did anything wrong.”
***
Every Sunday after lunch, Russ would offer to take the boys back to Bonita Springs to go swimming, and every Sunday the boys would politely decline.
Today they agreed. And they got to Russ’ place and their eyes popped and their jaws dropped…and they fell asleep by the pool.
THE END
About The Author
A native of the Philadelphia area, Jeff has published multiple works in both fiction and non-fiction. In 2011 he was the recipient of the Red Adept Reviews Indie Award for Horror.
Jeff's debut novel Bad Games was a #1 bestseller that spawned two acclaimed sequels (Vengeful Games and Bad Games: Hellbent) and now all three books in the trilogy have been optioned as feature films and are currently being translated for foreign audiences. His other novels, along with his award-winning short works, have also received international acclaim and are eagerly waiting to give you plenty of sleepless nights.
Free time for Jeff is spent watching horror movies, The Three Stooges, and mixed martial arts. He loves steak and more steak, thinks the original 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the greatest movie ever, wants to pet a lion someday, and hates spiders.
He currently lives in Pennsylvania with his wife Kelly and their cats Sammy and Bear.
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Other Works by Jeff Menapace
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Author’s note:
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Wildlife. Every single reader is important to me. Whenever I’m asked what my writing goals are, my number one answer, without pause, is to entertain.
I want you to have fun reading what I write. I want to make your heart race. I want you to get paper cuts (or Kindle thumb?) from turning the pages so fast. Again—I want to entertain you.
If I succeeded in doing that, I would be very grateful if you took a few minutes to write a review on Amazon for Wildlife. Good reviews can be very helpful, and I absolutely love to read the various insights from satisfied readers.
Thank you so very much, my friends. Until next time…
Jeff Menapace
Copyright © 2015 by Jeff Menapace
Published by Mind Mess Press
All Rights Reserved
WILDLIFE
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner or the publisher of this book.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
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