by Edward Lee
Patricia knew that she had to work around her sister’s mood swings, not confront them head-on. “Of course I will; you’re my sister. And you should come out to visit Byron and me sometimes, too. But let’s just take things one day at a time. Look at the good things. Your company’s doing better than ever, and the Squatters who haven’t turned bad have never been happier or more productive. You have this beautiful house in a beautiful place. You’re a successful businesswoman with lots to look forward to.”
Judy shrugged, noncommital. Some people just had it in their heads that everything was terrible. That’s my sister, Patricia thought. “So what’s on the agenda today?” she asked.
Before her sister could answer, a horn honked. Past the shrubs Patricia saw an old pickup truck idling on the dirt road that descended the hill toward the Point.
Judy looked at her watch. “My, where has the day gone? It’s time to go.”
“Go where?”
“The Squatter cookout. Oh, that’s right, you ain’t been to one since you were a kid, but they are a lot of fun. Come on.” ,
Patricia honestly didn’t remember these cookouts. When she looked at her own watch she saw that she, too, had lost track of time. Where’s the day gone? She followed Judy down the path that exited the backyard. “Who’s in the pickup truck?” she asked.
“Ernie. He’ll be driving us down there.”
This is just what I need. Patricia thought The truck jostled down the dirt road, springs creaking. She and Judy had squeezed up front on the bench seat, the pickup’s back bed loaded up with baskets of food and chests full of ice. Of course, Patricia ended up being in the middle, pressed right up against Ernie behind the wheel. Ernie wore his typical work jeans and boots but also a nice white dress shirt. Redneck high fashion, Patricia mused. Why does he have to look so good all the time? By now the situation amused her as much as aggravated her: how fate kept putting them together. Every time he shifted gears, his hand slid against her bare knee. Yeah, that’s just what I need. . . .
“Really whacked out about Junior Caudill, huh?” Ernie made conversation.
Don’t bring it up! Patricia wished she could tell him. Don’t bring up anything that’s been going on. Judy’s enough of a basket case as it is. “He probably just had a heart attack; it happens.” She desperately shifted subjects. “So what kind of food did you prepare for this banquet?”
“Oh, just side dishes,” Judy answered glumly. “All the main courses they make. The Squatters really do have a talent for usin’ what the land gives ’em and turning it into a cuisine a’ their own.”
Ernie laughed, nudging Patricia. “Aw, yer sister’s a big fan of Squatter food, Judy. Just the other day she drank a whole cup of ald that Regert made for her down at the pier. Said it was the best thing she ever tasted.”
Patricia frowned, remembering the drink’s tang. “Actually, Ernie, it wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”
He raised a finger to denote an additional point. “Oh, yeah, and she also ate a whole bowl of pepper-fried cicadas.”
“I ate one! And never will again.”
Ernie winked at her with a cocked grin. “She never did tell me if they worked, though.”
Patricia almost blushed at the inside joke, recalling the wives’-tale insistence that cicadas had an aphrodisiac effect.
She also remembered the dense sexual fugue state she’d experienced after eating it.
I was going to have sex with him. . . . She choked before she could respond. And I can’t blame the damn fried cicadas. I can only blame my own weakness and immorality.
But she’d stopped short, hadn’t she? I said no at the last minute, so I never really cheated on Byron. . . .
Judy was scowling at her. “Patricia, one thing you don’t need to be eatin’ are cicadas, not unless your husband is with ya.”
Ernie chuckled softly to himself, their inside joke still alive. Patricia wanted to wilt right there on the front seat. My God . . .
Ordinarily the acre or so of land before Squatterville was barren, but now it looked more like a fairground. Savory smoke drifted off of open-pit fires over which abundant meats were being cooked. Squatter women busied themselves at fold-down tables, serving up plates heaped with steaming meals. Lines of people, Squatters and townsfolk alike, trailed around the table, chatting amiably. As the sun faded, the scene appeared almost surreal: faces seemed diced into wedges of firelight. Chatter warbled in and out, and laughter rose up.
“There’s pitchers of ald over there.” Ernie pointed to another table. “Too bad there’s no booze.”
“Hush,” Judy whispered. “Just ’cos Squatters don’t drink don’t mean we can’t.” And then Patricia and Ernie saw her lower a silver flask into a pocket.
“This is some feast,” Patricia said, marveling over the various dishes set out. Ernie appeared behind her with a loaded plate. “Try some duck. The Squatters do it up great. It’s slow-roasted.”
Patricia took the plate. It smelled delicious, the skin dark and crisp.
“And you must have some of this, big sister,” Judy insisted, thrusting a pewter mug toward her. “Squatter ald.”
“I had that the other day. It tastes like swamp water!”
“Shh! The Squatters’ll be offended, dear. You can’t decline their hospitality,” Judy whispered lower. “And don’t worry; I tuned it up with a drop of vodka.”
“Oh, teirific . . .”
“Come on,” Ernie coaxed her further. “When in Squatterville, do as the Squatters do.”
When Patricia took a sip, her brow shot up. Oh, yeah, just a drop of vodka . . . “You’re just trying to get me drunk,” she joked to him.
“Why?” he said, deadpan. Then he cracked a smile and laughed.
Oh, that’s right. She’d never forget what almost happened in the woods. I’m just a tease. The roasted duck came apart fork-tender beneath crunchy skin. “My God, this is probably the best duck I’ve ever had.”
“Glad ya like it,” Ernie said. “It’s not really duck. It’s seagull.”
“You’re so funny. . . .”
Her eyes roved the other offerings on the table: stout sausages, steaming kettles of stew, homemade biscuits and seasoned flatbreads. The aromas were almost erotic. Byron would go to town here, she thought. Another table sat heavy with various crab dishes. Something like a Newburg cooked in empty shells, crab-stuffed wild peppers, crabmeat po’boys. She helped herself to several fried crab fritters and found them delectably crunchy inside. “These are fantastic!” she exclaimed, cheeks stuffed.
On her third one, Judy tugged her arm. “Not too many a’ the fritters, hon. It’s the Squatter crabcake recipe wrapped around a fried cicada.”
Not those things again!
Ernie laughed.
Next Patricia scanned around in general. The quiet revelry buzzed around her; it all seemed so hearty and honest. But again she thought it strange to have such a feastlike cookout so soon after four Squatters had been killed. The positivity of their religion, she remembered. Almost like evangelists. Even death is a joyous occasion, because death is just another step toward eternal life in heaven.
Patricia hoped that was true.
She sampled more food, finding the cuisine complex and fascinating. Judy wandered off, tipsy already, while Patricia and Ernie stood aside to eat and people-watch. I must be getting tipsy, too, she suspected, or maybe it was just fatigue compounded by the perplexities of the day . . . especially her experience at the morgue. She pushed the morbid images from her mind and instead just tried to relax, melting into the lazy, darkening atmosphere. Squatters greeted her happily, offering her more of their wares. Music—a quavering violin, it sounded like—echoed around the grounds, yet she couldn’t pinpoint the source. As the sun died completely, faces seemed brighter and more focused somehow, in spite of the seeping darkness.
“There’s the money man,” Ernie commented. At the last table she spotted Gordon Felps sampling a cobblerlike dessert. He
seemed to sense her notice, looked up and nodded to her, then returned his attention to the person talking to him: Judy. She doesn’t really have a crush on him, does she? Patricia asked herself. She could tell by Ernie’s sedate expression that he found it amusing. But at least her sister was getting over Dwayne; perhaps it took his death to make her realize what an awful person he truly had been, not even worth mourning. Chief Sutter and Trey cruised another table full of plank-roasted bluefish and large soft-shell clams whose necks stood out straight from steaming. Sutter actually manipulated two plates of food, which wasn’t surprising. Eventually he wended his way over to Patricia and Ernie.
“Some spread, huh, Patricia?”
“It’s incredible,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d like much of this type of cuisine, but so far every single thing I’ve had is delicious.”
“Even the crab-and-cicada fritters?” Ernie joked.
“Even the crab-and-cicada fritters, Ernie,” she admitted.
“Oh”—Sutter changed the subject—“the county coroner told me you’d been in today.”
Damn. She hoped this wouldn’t open a can of worms. “I just wanted some details on Dwayne’s death.”
“Pretty off-the-wall. So you also know about Junior Caudill, then.”
It wasn’t a question; Patricia sensed he was fishing for something. “Yes, she did mention it.”
“Even stranger than Dwayne.” Sutter shook his head.
“Damn near everyone in town’s heard that news,” Ernie piped up. “Some contagious disease that dissolved all his insides.”
Sutter smirked. “There ain’t no contagious disease, Ernie, and don’t’cha be tellin’ folks anything of the sort. The rumors’re bad enough around here.”
Ernie shrugged. “Just tellin’ ya what I heard, Chief.”
“I don’t think it was anything contagious, Ernie,” Patricia added. “But I don’t guess we’ll know anything until more tests are done on the body.”
“The kick in the tail is there ain’t no evidence a’ foul play, yet everyone thinks that’s exactly what it was,” Ernie said.
Patricia kept her mouth shut and her ears open.
“And it don’t help for Junior’s brother to be accusin’ Everd Stanherd of being involved and then for Everd to disappear,” Sutter stepped up the gossip. “I don’t believe nothin’ that comes outta Ricky Caudill’s yap, but that don’t change the fact that I got no choice but to drag Everd ‘n’ his wife in for questioning.”
Interesting, Patricia thought. “I hadn’t even noticed. Neither Everd nor Marthe is here.”
“Probably never see ’em again,” Ernie said.
“Maybe they ain’t disappeared at all,” Sutter offered, stuffing his face. “Maybe they’re dead.”
“How would they come to be dead?” Patricia had to challenge.
“Well, it was something Trey was kickin’ about, and now that I think of it, it makes sense. Already had a couple a’ turf killings over dope. Maybe Everd ‘n’ his wife were part a’ the same dope ring that David Eald and the Hilds were in.”
Both Patricia and Ernie frowned at that one.
Sutter looked like he regretted the suggestion a moment later. “Well, I guess that is stretchin’ things a bit.” Suddenly he was looking around. “Speakin’ of Trey . . .”
“He was just here a minute ago,” Ernie said.
Patricia looked around herself, straining her vision in the fire-diced dark. Sergeant Trey was nowhere to be seen.
(II)
Got no time to fuck around anymore. It was a steadfast thought, and a calmly determined one. It was dark now, and the main drag stretched on in vacant silence. Good . . . Pam got off duty at five P.M.; then the Agan’s Point police channel was taken over by the county dispatcher.
In other words, there was no one else in the station house right now. No one else except . . .
Good ol’ Ricky, Trey thought. He came in through the back with his key. Killing people wasn’t really that big a deal. Trey couldn’t say he enjoyed it—he just didn’t mind, not if it served his own best interest.
Killing Ricky Caudill was definitely in his best interest.
Big dumb redneck’s gonna spill the beans, Trey thought. Can’t have that. I’ve put too much work into this gig to lose it all because a’ that fat fool’s big mouth. He’s just scared. Well, in a few minutes he won’t have anything to be scared about . . .
Unless, a ‘course, there really is a hell, ’cos he sure as shit ain’t goin’ to heaven.
Such were the limits of Sergeant Trey’s theological perceptions. He was like most folks: just wanted his share plus a little more, and if Felps’s plan worked, Trey stood to walk away with a lot more.
The Squatters were already hightailing it off the Point. In another month or so they’d all be gone, and that was when things would really pick up. But with Dwayne gone—and Ricky and Junior, too—that would leave all the dirty work up to Trey.
I’ll just have to get the job done.
He didn’t turn the lights on in the station when he slipped in. A radio was playing; Pam must’ve left it on for Ricky before she clocked out. Shouldn’t be too hard, Trey thought. Ricky was a big guy—but soft. It’s simple. I jack the fucker out and hang him. Earlier that day Trey had pinched one of the fresh sheets that they used for the jail cots; then he’d cut it into fat strips and made a noose. He’d hang Ricky in his cell and throw out the sheet already on his cot.
Yes. Very simple.
“Take this job and shove it,” the radio crooned very softly. The only light on was down the hall, in the cell corridor. Trey had his blackjack in his pocket already, which he could slip out in an instant. But he’d have to distract Ricky first, and open the cell.
“Hey, Ricky, ya big dolt. You awake?”
Ricky didn’t answer.
“Wake up, moron. Sutter told me to stop by ‘n’ check up on ya. Ya need to take a piss before beddy-bye time?”
Still no answer. Trey walked up to the cell, looked in.
“Hey! Redneck! Wake up!”
Ricky lay on his back on the cot, one arm dangling. Good. The fucker’s sound asleep. Easier to take him out. Trey, as quietly as possible, unlocked the cell and eased open the door.
The cell light itself was turned off; only the light from the hall bled inside. But even in the weak light Trey could tell something wasn’t right when he was several steps inside, blackjack poised in his hand. The arm hanging off the side of the cot looked oddly pale, blue veins almost black against white skin.
“You sick?” Trey leaned over. He shined his flashlight into Ricky’s face—or, it should be said, Ricky’s very dead face.
Fuck!
It was a corpse that lay on the cot now.
The fat face seemed thinner now, and the flesh appeared a translucent white, like a fresh cod fillet.
There was no pulse. The body felt cool.
Trey couldn’t have known it at that precise moment, but Ricky Caudill had lost all of his blood.
Not even one irreducible fraction of a drop remained in his body.
Twelve
(I)
The feeling made Patricia think of the few times in college she’d smoked pot. A warm buzz, a mental lightness, as though an aspect of her persona were floating. She’d been at the cookout for only an hour before it plainly occurred to her that she was not herself, and this—to a high-strung D.C. attorney—was not necessarily a bad thing.
It must’ve been that stuff I was drinking, she decided rather giddily. Aid or whatever they call it, kicked up with Judy’s booze.
But . . .
So what?
It was a party, and there was no reason why she shouldn’t have a good time. She picked at more food off and on, and drank more ald. Judy was already drunk, but that was to be expected. Everybody seemed to be fading off into the darkness tinged by firelight. Patricia found herself chatting happily with townsfolk and Squatters she didn’t even know, and several times, when she
noticed Ernie talking to some Squatter girls, she felt some pangs of trifling jealously, after which she just laughed at herself.
Eventually she lost track of Judy entirely, and when she couldn’t make out Gordon Felps anywhere in the crowd, she had to wonder, but that just caused her to laugh too. I’m getting hammered! she realized next, but with Judy not around to top off her ald with vodka, where was the inebriation coming from? Had somebody else spiked the Squatter concoction and not told anyone? That had to be the answer.
“How come we never dated in high school?” Ernie appeared out of the dark to ask right up front. He looked a little crocked, too. But what would compel such an overt question?
Maybe the fact that I practically pulled his pants down in the woods the other day? she chided herself. Suddenly, though, she seemed remorseful. “I don’t know, Ernie. I guess it was all me. I didn’t care about anything except getting an education and getting out, after . . . well, you know. What happened at Bowen’s Field.”
Ernie nodded, probably not expecting his question to cause such a dark note. He just nodded, then thrust a plate at her. “Try a mushroom stuffed with crab roe. They’re great.”
Patricia laughed. She ate one, then said very quickly, “I wish we had, though, Ernie,” and wandered off.
“Wish we had what?” he practically shouted after her.
She giggled and wended through more people, sensing him behind her. “Where’s Chief Sutter?” she asked to change the subject. “I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“I think I saw him leave earlier.”
Patricia stopped, peering between some shoulders toward the woods. She grabbed Ernie’s arm. “Is that Everd Stanherd out there?”
“Can’t be,” he said, squinting himself. “He’s wanted by the police.”