Me and Nolay sat there as still as stones.
Mama shot a glance in our direction, snatched a dish towel, and began wiping up the tea. “LeRoy, I’m not sure I understand exactly what you just said. Does this mean the Dade County police suspect the wife of killing her husband?”
“Not exactly. Being that she wadn’t up here to actually commit the crime, she would have had to have someone else do it for her. Now, I don’t think she knew anybody in these parts well enough to ask ’em to do something like that. About the closest person to her husband would have been his partner, Mister Decker.”
LeRoy picked up a biscuit and stared at it as though he had been hypnotized by a carnival magician.
I sneaked a quick look at Nolay. He spread both hands on the table and said, “LeRoy, exactly what does all this mean? Do they suspect the wife or the partner, whatever his name is?”
LeRoy took his eyes off the biscuit long enough to say, “Decker, his name is Decker.” Then he cleared his throat and continued. “Well, I ain’t sure if the wife or Decker is considered a suspect, but it does mean that they will be investigatin’ that possibility.”
LeRoy chomped that biscuit in half. “Now, we all know that them two Yankees were here on your land and out back by the swamp with the Reems brothers. What I need is some solid evidence that links them together where that body was found. That is what I need, some solid evidence.”
The sheriff consumed the rest of the biscuit and leaned back in his chair. “And Nolay, I want to make one thing crystal clear: that you are still the number-one prime suspect. Ain’t nothing been cleared up. So you stick close by.” The words “You are the number-one prime suspect” fell out of Sheriff LeRoy’s mouth, dropped down on top of our kitchen table, and lay there like a dead fish.
Sheriff LeRoy got up from his chair, then sat back down. “There is one more thing. About that situation with Peckerhead Willy. First off, that occurred in my jurisdiction, so it don’t concern them Dade County po-lease. I have come up with some evidence. There were footprints left at the scene. Appears there was some sort of commotion went on. One of ’em was barefoot. I have a pretty good idea where that barefoot one come from and where it went back to.”
A thick silence filled the room. I watched as Nolay cocked his chin and said, “LeRoy, I know you take your work seriously, but I’m gonna ask you to leave that ol’ boy alone. Charlie ain’t capable of hurtin’ nobody.”
“I know what you’re saying, but I got my job to do. I need to ask a few questions is all. I have come up with some evidence, and there was more than one person involved.”
“You think Charlie saw something or was involved in some way?”
“Not sure which, but I aim to find out. And Nolay, while we’re on the subject, where were you the night that incident happened?”
“Out fishing.”
“You can confirm that?”
“If need be.”
Me and Mama exchanged a quick glance.
Nolay continued, “Could you tell me when you think you might be goin’ over there to talk to Charlie?”
LeRoy closed his eyes, as if the answer were written on the inside of his eyelids. “I got some po-lease work to do. I ain’t gonna be back for a couple of days. I’ll be stopping by then. I can let you know beforehand if you want. You sure you want to be there?”
“I’m sure, LeRoy. And thanks again for all you’re doin’.”
“Just doin’ my job.” LeRoy picked up his Stetson and placed it squarely on his thick head. “I best be getting on my way now.” His massive body squeaked and jingled as he twisted out of the small chair. “Miss Lori, I sure do thank you for the food. Y’all have a good night.”
“You’re welcome, LeRoy, and you have a good night, too.”
Nolay got up and walked LeRoy out to his car.
I looked at Mama. “I reckon it’s a good thing he wasn’t hungry.”
“Don’t be rude, Bones.” Then she shook her head and began to laugh. “My goodness, if he had been hungry he might have taken the food right off our plates! I must admit, LeRoy is an interesting man.”
Me and Mama looked at each other across the table. “Mama, you know Ironhead said Nolay wasn’t fishing with him that night. When you asked him about it, he said he was up in Jacksonville. Why did he tell the sheriff he was out fishing?”
“Hush, we’ll talk about this another time.”
Nolay walked back in. He stood in the middle of the kitchen, put his hands in his pockets, and said, “Well, am I right or am I right? Bones, what do you think? Ol’ LeRoy might be slow as pond water, but it looks like he’s stirrin’ it up a little bit.”
“Yes, sir, I reckon he’s doing something, I’m just not quite sure what. All I know is it sure took him long enough to spill out that story.”
Nolay shook his head. “You’re right about that, LeRoy does take the long road when he’s explainin’ something. But by and by he gets to his destination.”
“I just wish he could be quicker finding some ‘solid evidence.’ Whatever that means.”
After me and Mama finished with the dishes, we went in the living room. Nolay had built a big fire in the fireplace. The room filled with the warm aroma of burning pine. Nolay was sitting on the couch. “Bones, Lori, y’all come on over here and sit down.”
Nolay put one arm around me and the other around Mama. We watched silently as blue and yellow tongues of flames leaped up and chased each other around the pine logs.
Mama was first to break the silence. “Nolay, what do you think all this means? Some of it makes perfect sense, and then LeRoy says you are still the prime suspect.”
“Lori, at least LeRoy is investigatin’. I have a feeling he’s sniffing out something. And I tell you what, I don’t mind being the prime suspect for the time being, as long as I don’t have to go back to jail. I think LeRoy is doing the best he can to see that that don’t happen.”
Nolay squeezed me and said, “Bones, how big is that baby rooster of Ikibob’s?”
“It’s gettin’ to be a pretty good size. Big enough that Ikibob is starting to peck after it. You know how he is about another rooster being in his yard, even if it is his own son.”
“How about tomorrow when you come home from school, me and you go pay Charlie a visit? I think we need to give him a little present.”
Thursday morning soon as I sat down next to Little Man on the school bus, I told him about the sheriff’s visit. “I mean, I know he’s doing something, but it seems like he could be doing more. I just wish he would hurry up.”
“Bones, he’s moving about as fast as he can. You gotta be patient.”
“But he’s so confusing. I mean, is he trying help Nolay with evidence or put him in jail with evidence?”
“The sheriff don’t want no harm to come to Mr. Nolay.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Now, that part about the Yankee man’s partner sounds right promising, but that part about Mr. Charlie sounds like a concern.”
“I can’t imagine Mr. Charlie hurting anyone, not even one of the Reems brothers.”
“It don’t sound right. I think the truth will uncover itself.”
“Me and Nolay are going out to go visit Mr. Charlie today after school. I’ll let you know what we find out.”
“I sure am curious.”
After school, I could hardly wait to jump off that school bus and run home. I went straight to my room and changed clothes. Nolay was outside chopping some firewood.
“Nolay, are you ready? I’ll go get the little rooster.”
“Let me finish up here and I’ll meet you at the truck.”
I went to the chicken coop and picked up the baby rooster. As I walked out with him under my arm, Ikibob cocked his big head and glared coldly in our direction. “Ikibob,” I said, “you don’t have to look at him so mean. You have not been very nice to him lately. I’m taking him to a place where he’ll be loved and cared for, just like you are here.” Ikibob
blinked his stone-yellow eyes at me, shook his floppy red cockscomb, and strutted out into the yard.
Nolay and I got in the truck and headed to Charlie’s. I clutched the young rooster close to my body to keep him calm. We rode along in silence; the truck tires crunched on top of dry sand, sending up little gray dust devils.
Nolay turned down the guava-tree tunnel to Charlie’s house. As we pulled into the yard, the brown carpet of chickens split apart like a giant zipper.
Soon as Nolay tooted the horn, the screen door squeaked open and Charlie, dressed in his usual faded overalls, stepped out on the porch.
Nolay and I got out of the truck and walked up to the porch. Charlie’s round, plump face broke into a huge grin as he recognized us. “Well, howdy, Nolay, Miz Bones. What brings y’all out this side?”
Nolay leaned up against the porch railing. “Howdy, Charlie. Me and Bones just stopped by to bring you a little present.”
“A present? For me? Why, lordy, now … y’all just come on up here and sit for a spell.” Charlie gently picked up a fat brown hen sitting in a rickety cane chair and set her on the floor. “This here is Lorraine. She ain’t nestin’, she’s just relaxin’.” Charlie brushed off the chair’s seat. “Miz Bones, you just sit yourself down right here. Nolay, you want me to get you a chair?”
“Naw, Charlie, I’m fine right here. Thank ya.”
Charlie limped over to his well-used rocking chair and sat down. I walked over to him and held out the young rooster. “Mr. Charlie, this is one of Ikibob’s babies. I know you been wanting one for a long time.”
Charlie’s eyes glistened with happiness. He carefully wrapped his thick hands around the rooster and held him up in front of his face. “Lordy, look at this fella, ain’t he beautiful?” He sat the rooster in his lap and stroked its smooth feathers as though it were a puppy. “Thank you, Bones, thank you. This here is about the best present I ever did get in my whole life.”
I sat down in my chair. Charlie continued to admire the little rooster. “I think he looks just like his daddy, don’t you?”
“Yes, sir, I reckon he does. And from the looks of his size, I think he’s gonna be just about as big.”
Charlie nodded in agreement, the rows of fat under his neck jiggling in harmony. “I’m gonna name him Sonny. Sonny-Boy. And he’s gonna stay in the house with me until he gets big enough to be boss of this here yard.”
I looked out at the sea of chickens as they scratched, pecked, and clucked in the yard. “Mr. Charlie, do you have a name for every one of those chickens?”
“Well now, I do have to admit, there might be a few that I didn’t get around to naming. But named or not, every one of ’em is special.”
“I was wondering about something. What happens when they … you know … when they grow old and stuff?”
“You mean when they die? Well, of course that does happen. And when it does, I got a pit around the back of the house. I place ’em in there, real respectful like; sometimes I say a little prayer, then I cover ’em up with leaves and ma-newer. I ain’t never be able to eat any of ’em. Just their aigs. They’re more like my friends and family. I could never bring myself to hurt one of ’em.”
“You bury them in manure?”
“Now, Miz Bones, I know that might sound right strange. But what I do is just like my granddaddy taught me. Every day I rake up all the chicken droppins’ in my yard and put ’em in that pit, along with any of my birds that has passed on. Before you know it, the good Lord melts it all down and turns it into the best fertilizer a person could use.” Charlie reached down and repositioned the rooster in his ample lap. “Farmers come from all over to buy my fertilizer. I feel like my birds being mixed in with it, it’s like giving ’em a chance to be part of life again. That’s something my granddaddy passed on to me before he went to heaven.”
Nolay placed his foot on one of the steps and leaned in toward the two of us. “Charlie, I been curious about something. You remember when we stopped by a couple months ago and ol’ Peckerhead was here?”
Charlie looked down at the floor. “Yeah, I remember.”
“Was he over here just visiting?”
“Yeah, he was just visiting.”
“You sure about that, Charlie? ’Cause ol’ Peckerhead didn’t seem the neighborly type to just stop by for a visit.”
Charlie kept his eyes down as he gently stroked the rooster in his lap.
Nolay said, “Charlie, what was ol’ Peckerhead up to? Was he over here pestering you about something?”
Charlie looked up at Nolay. Wrinkles of concern crept across his pudgy face. “He had a paper. He said I had to sign it, that if I didn’t, he’d burn my house down.”
“What kind of paper?”
“It was a paper to try and make me sell this here land. He wanted my land. Told me I didn’t need it. I could take the money and go live in a trailer somewhere.” Charlie looked out over his yard full of chickens. “What would I do with all of ’em? If I didn’t have this land, what would happen to ’em? They cain’t live in no trailer.”
“Charlie, this is your land, free and clear. You’ve lived here nearly all your life and cain’t nobody take it away from you. Ol’ Peckerhead was just trying to scare you and pull a fast one.” Nolay leaned closer. “Charlie, the night Peckerhead got run over by that freight train, do you know anything about that?”
A flicker of fear crossed Charlie’s face; he pressed his lips together and shook his head back and forth. Ripples of fat ran down his neck and disappeared into his overalls.
“Charlie, I’m here as your friend. Did you see something? Is there something you need to tell me?”
Charlie slowly looked up at Nolay again. “I did see something, but I cain’t talk about it.”
Nolay looked down at Charlie’s bare feet. “Charlie, Sheriff LeRoy is coming out here to talk to you.”
“Oh Lordy, I don’t want to talk to him. I have done something bad.” Charlie looked at me with a face as sad as an old hound dog’s.
“Miz Bones, you done come and give me this fine rooster, and I just don’t deserve it.” Charlie’s voice squeaked as he continued. “I sure am sorry. I know what I done was wrong. I shoulda told the sheriff what I seen. But I just couldn’t, I just couldn’t.” He hung his huge head and softly said, “I ain’t no better than a cracked aig. Ain’t no good for nothin’. Just an ol’ cracked aig.”
Nolay shook his head. “Now, Charlie, I don’t want you to be feelin’ that way. I’m sure you had your reasons. I’m gonna set it up so I’ll be around when the sheriff comes out here. We’ll talk it out and set everything straight. You hear me, Charlie? We’ll work everything out.”
Nolay looked at me. “Bones, we best be headin’ back now.”
As I got up to leave, Charlie said to me, “Miz Bones, if you don’t want me to keep this here rooster, you can have ’im back.”
“Why, no, sir, Mr. Charlie, that’s your rooster. And I know Sonny-Boy is gonna be mighty happy living here with you.”
“Thank ya, Miz Bones. I sure am proud to have ’im.”
“And Mr. Charlie, you ain’t no cracked egg. You’re just about the finest Humpty Dumpty I could ever imagine.”
Charlie looked at me and laughed, his round belly jiggling like Jell-O under his overalls. “Why, thank you, Miz Bones, I sure will take that as a compliment.”
As Nolay slowly pulled the truck out of the front yard, I looked out the window. Charlie sat in his old rocking chair, the little rooster perched contentedly in his lap.
On the way home I asked Nolay, “Do you think Mr. Charlie was involved in killing ol’ Peckerhead?”
“Naw, I don’t think that.”
“Do you think he saw something he shouldn’t have?”
“It appears that way.”
“Nolay, if you knew who killed Peckerhead, would you let Mr. Charlie go to jail or the electric chair?”
Nolay glanced at me. “What kind of fool question is that?”
&
nbsp; “Well, if you know he didn’t do it but maybe you know who did do it … well … I don’t know.”
Nolay shook his head. “Bones, I don’t know, either. If I knew who killed that ol’ scallywag, I’d tell the sheriff. All I know is that old man don’t deserve nothing harmful to come to him. I’ve known Charlie all my life, knew him when his grandparents were still alive. Ain’t never heard Charlie say a mean word against anyone.”
“Yes, sir, I feel the same way.” I turned and looked out the window. My reflection stared back at me. Questions were bubbling up in my mind like a shook-up bottle of Coca-Cola. Who did Charlie see out there? Why didn’t he want to tell us?
Would he tell Sheriff LeRoy?
Friday morning on the bus ride to school I filled Little Man in on the visit with Mr. Charlie. “I swear, Little Man, Mr. Charlie was almost shaking with fear when he told Nolay about Peckerhead coming over and threatening him.”
“But why would ol’ Peckerhead want to scare Mr. Charlie off his land?”
“Probably because those Reems brothers wanted to sell it. Like those Yankee men wanted to try and buy up our land.”
“Still don’t make much sense if you ask me.”
“Little Man, not much of anything is making sense anymore. Sometimes I feel like I’m on some kind of roller-coaster ride. Everything just goes up and down. You never know what’s going to happen next.”
Little Man had that question mark sitting in the middle of his forehead when he looked at me. But he did nod in agreement.
Saturday morning when I woke up I looked over at the wishbone with the blue ribbon tied around it, still lying on top of my dresser. I picked it up and took it in the kitchen. Mama had just sat down with a cup of coffee and a Lucky Strike.
“Mama, you remember I made this for Mr. Speed? I was going to give it to him for a present. Do you think it would be all right if I gave it to his mama and daddy?”
Mama tilted her head. “I think that is a wonderful idea. I’m sure they would appreciate it.”
I walked to the Last Chance. As usual, Mr. Ball stood behind the front counter. I went up and placed the shiny turkey bone on the counter. “Mr. Ball, I made this for Mr. Speed as a present, and, well, I thought you and Miss Evelyn might like it. It was going to be something we could wish on together.”
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