Neon Nights

by by: Anthony mayfield

  Slowly, they picked up the shovels and began to toss dirt on top of the box. 'Wait a minuet.' Thayer said. He pulled on the pipe and the lid came open. 'You, he said, pointing to the most innocent looking man, jump down there and pull the tape off of his mouth." 'Why me, Thayer?' he asked. 'Why not you?" Thayer asked. 'Oh, I don't want to do that.' he responded. Thayer eyed him sternly, 'Are you disobeying me? You can do it or join him. It makes no difference to me.' With that, the man jumped down into the grave and yanked the tape from Cecil's mouth. Immediately, Cecil emitted an ear piercing shriek. He was foaming at the mouth and violently gnashing his teeth as he shook his head.

  Thayer closed the lid again. 'Okay boys, fill her up.' When they finished filling the hole they could still hear the faint wails of Cecil through the opening in the pipe which was now flush with the ground and unnoticeable.

  Again, Charles went to the van and returned with a gallon of honey. He handed it to Thayer. 'There are two things I want you to leave here knowing, Thayer said, number one, you are all accomplices in the murder of Cecil Carrington, and number two, which is the most important, don't cross me." With that, he poured nearly all of the honey down the pipe. Some of the men gasped in horror as they imagined the sticky honey getting in Cecil's eyes and nose. With the last of the honey, Thayer poured a line from the anthill to the pipe opening. Slowly, then almost instantly, they honey began to draw the large red fire ants.. In a matter of minuets a platoon of them were marching down the pipe. The men winced as they heard Cecil cry Out from the sting of the ants fiery bites. Thayer looked at the men and asked, "Anyone have any questions?' No one made a sound. 'Good. You know what to do and say, so do it.' He turned and walked away.

  Later that afternoon, while at the airport, Thayer stopped at a telephone and called the newspaper in Briarpatch. He talked to the top reporter, Ms. Lois Kent. 'Hello. Ms. Kent? This is Thayer Diamond. As promised, I have the incriminating evidence against Kenny

  Matthews and I'll be back in SL Louis later on today. I shall give you a call upon arrival for an exclusive interview.' "I'll be waiting.' she said. He hung up and boarded the plane and fell asleep with a childlike smile on his face.

  Chapter 19

  Over the past few days, funeral services for Jim had gone as smooth as could be expected. Michael and Nancy had grown even closer to each other and to God. Johnny was searching for every clue that would lead him to a showdown with BA-El. And Mayor Matthews awaited the outcome of the scandal that he found himself thrust into which was sure to end his career.

  ,

  Chapter 20

  Thayer slept all the way back to St. Louis. When the plane landed, though happy with the way things were going, he was tired, too tired to hold an interview with Lois Kent. By the time they reached his house, he was sleepy again. Connley handed him a piece of paper. "What's this?" Thayer asked. 'It's our new address. We're headed over there now. We figure they should have at lease one unit remodeled by now." "What's the phone number?" 'We don't have one yet.' 'Well, get one first things tomorrow. I'm going to schedule a press conference for noon tomorrow so get in touch with me before then." "Where will the conference be?" Vice asked. 'I think I'll hold it over here.' 'What about Ora?" Terron asked. 'What about her?' 'Did Jake ever find her a place?' "Oh yeah, right. She won't need one right away, she's staying with us for a few days.' 'Why's that?" Connley asked. 'Hey, weren't you at the conference, since she is supposed to have come back with us from New Jersey, it would be a little odd if she already lived here don't you think?' 'Oh, yeah, right."

  'That reminds me, Thayer said, more to himself than to the others, I've got to call Jake tonight.' He trotted up the steps and opened the door. Ora had just gotten out of the van and was getting her suitcase. Thayer turned and said, 'Bring our luggage in too, Ora.' Ora stood there in disbelief, 'What am I, a whore and a pack mule?' she shouted. Thayer had already gone into the house and closed the door behind him.

  By the time Ora finished lugging the suitcase in the house, Sisela was in her nightclothes and Thayer was on the phone. 'Hello Jake, this is Thayer." 'My Lord, what a pleasant surprise.' Jake said. 'Listen, I've got a packet of information that I need for you to type into the master computer system and I need it done tonight. Is that a problem?' 'No, master. I'll get right on it.' "Good. I'll leave it for you in my mailbox. You can come over here and get it now.' "Yes sir. How was your . . . ' 'Click. Buzz." Thayer had hung up. He turned and Ora was standing over him. "Your room is down that hall to the left. I suggest that you try to get some sleep my dear because you will occupy the center stage of the spotlight to­morrow." He picked up the phone again. This time it was Lois Kent that he called. In a matter of minutes, he .hung up the phone. Smiling, he said, 'It's all set.' The words rang in Ora's ears. She hurried to her room, locked the door, got in bed while fully dressed and pulled the covers over her head.

  'Get up!' Thayer was shaking the bed and shouting at Ora. 'What, who, huh." She was still groggy. She blinked a couple of times until her eyes focused. Thayer was standing beside her bed nude. 'Oh no, not again.' she cried. 'I would, but I haven't the time." he said. Now get up and get dressed.' 'What time is it?' she asked. 'Never mind what time it

  is, get up, now!' he scowled. She threw back the covers and jumped from the bed. Though it was not cold in the room and she was still fully dressed, she shivered as she looked into his evil eyes.

  He turned and walked out leaving her bedroom door wide open. Water was trickling down his back and she realized that he had just come from the shower. She glanced over at the clock, three in the morning. 'Is this dude nuts or what?" she thought. She was still standing there, frozen, when she saw Sisela slowly navigating up the hall. Ora leaned forward to get a better view. There were bruises over most of her body. Tears were flowing down her face and she was whimpering like a child who had been severely beaten. Which she had. Instantly, Ora knew why Thayer hadn't taken her, not only did he not had the time, but he had satisfied himself with Sisela all that night.

  "Hurry up and get dressed.' Thayer shouted from the other room. At the sound of that voice, Sisela jumped and hurried into the bathroom. Ora started to tremble again. For the first time, she felt sorry for Sisela. She wanted to run to her and console her but she couldn't, something was holding her back. There standing in the darkness of the unseen realm, Quanna was speaking to Ora's mind. The words she spoke were almost unnoticeable due to the other thoughts that occupied Ora's mind. Nonetheless, it was those sublime suggestions that held Ora back. Soon all thoughts of compassion has dissipated from Ora's mind, it was totally blank. Sensing this Quanna injected one more dominate thought. 'She deserves it." she said. 'Yeah, Ora agreed, Better get dressed before he comes back." Immediately Ora sprang into action, abandoning all thoughts of Sisela. Quanna laughed and jumped in the bed to get some "beauty rest'.

  Thayer had stepped outside and retrieved the daily newspaper. He wanted to be abreast of what was happening locally. He read the editorials and all the articles about local politics. He was pleasantly surprised to see that Lois Kent had made mention of his evidence to prove Kenny Matthews was a fraud. The article went on to say that, "according to Mr. Diamond, we shall have all of the proof that we need today." Smiling victoriously, he folded the paper and was about to drop it when another headline caught his attention.

  "WOMAN SEVERELY BEATEN EXPEL 1 ED TO RECOVER.' He began reading, "A

  woman, who was savagely raped and beaten remains comatose in the hospital. The doctors first prognosis for Marla Roberts was that she would die. However, witnesses say that a man prayed for her. This man told the doctor that despite what they see, that the woman would fully recover. And today, doctors got their first indication that she would recover when she responded to stimuli. They hope that she will be able to come out of the coma and identify

  her attackers. However, the doctors maintain that complete restoration of her body is literally impossible. An interesting side note, it's been said that the man who prayed for Mar
la Roberts, walked down the hall to make a phone call and ended up praying for a blind girl who, herself, had been badly beaten. The results were miraculous. The young woman is completely healed and doctors are still baffled. It definitely gives credence to the belief that there is a God.'

  Thayer dropped the paper and mumbled, 'Nimmeon." "Ring. Ring." "HUH!" The telephone startled him. He snatched it up, 'Hello.' 'Yeah, Thayer, what's wrong?" "Tenon, it's you. Where are you?' 'In a phone booth down the street from our apartment and let me tell you man it is nice.' 'Yeah right, listen we don't have time for chatting. Cut the bull, round up the others and get over here immediately. We've got a problem.' 'Clang." He slammed the phone down. 'Click Buzz."

  Tenon pulled the phone from his ear and looked at it as if he had just been offended. He slammed the receiver into the arms that held it in place. The force caused the receiver to bounce off the arms and tumble toward the ground below. However, the shiny cord that was attached to both the phone and the receiver stretched out and stopped it from hitting the ground. Tenon stepped out of the phone booth and left the receiver dangling and twirling in mid air.

  "I'm getting good and tired of Thayer.' he said. Olar was walking with him. "Yeah, Olar said, Thayer is careless and scared. You should finish him off and take the 14 million and then split. Hey, you could even get Ora to go along with you, you might as well have one of the babes." 'Yeah, Tenon thought, that's not a bad idea." In defiance, he took his time getting back to the apartment. 'Well, what did he say?' Vice asked. 'He wants us to get over to his place pronto." Tenon answered. 'Man, I tell you, if it's not one thing with Thayer, it's another. Rush, rush, rush. What more does he want? I mean, technically our mission is finished. We've gotten rid of Nimmeon, right?" Connley asked. Vice hunched his shoulder and said, 'Man, I don't know what's up. Let's just get over there and get it done." 'Here, Tenon said, while tossing the van keys to Connley, you drive."

  Connley drove like a mad man. 'What's the rush?" Vice asked. 'Tenon said that Thayer wanted us there in a hurry, so I'm hurrying." he answered. Vice eyed him and shook his head in disbelief. Tenon only laughed. In addition to speeding, Connley ran red lights and stop signs. The thirty five minuet drive to Thayer's house had only taken fifteen minutes and Connley was proud of his achievement. Beaming, Connley knocked on the door. He was about to rap on it the second time when it flew open. 'What in the name of Lucifer took you

  so long to get here!" Thayer shouted. 'Long?' Connley asked. 'Man do you know how far we live from your place? We made it here in fifteen minutes. Normal time would have been about . . . ' 'Save it, I don't want to hear any more. Just get in here.' he commanded. Irritated, Connley asked, "So, what's so important?" 'This," he said while shoving the newspaper into Connley's face. Connley took it from Thayer. Vice and Terron gathered around Connley and they read the article. After finishing, Terron asked, 'So, what's the big deal?" "What's the big deal?' Thayer shouted. 'Didn't you read the article, fool. Are you so innane that you fail to recognize that it was Nimmeon who healed the blind woman? At the very least, can't you fathom in your bulky cranium that the woman can identify us if she lives? HUH!?" he shouted. Terron bristled and was ready to pull out his knife and lunge it into Thayer's neck. The only thing that prevented him from doing so was he didn't know how the others would respond.

  'All right, so what do you want us to do?" 'I want you to get over to that hospital and slit that heifers throat. That's what I want you to do first. After that, I want you to go by Johnny Angel's house and pay him a little visit. If he's there. Tie him up, gag him and bring him to me.' Vice began to complain, 'Wait a minuet, you mean you want us to go looking for a dead man? Thayer, Johnny Angel is dead. We made sure of that. I can understand about us going after the woman in the hospital but going back to the scene of the crime unnecessarily is pure foolishness.'

  'No, I'll tell you what is pure foolishness, your talking back to me. This isn't a request boys, it's a demand!" Connley said, 'All right, we'll take care of both issues. But hasn't it even remotely crossed your mind that some visiting christians could have laid hands on those two? I mean, isn't that a possibility?' "Like I said, Connley, this is a demand. End of discussion." Turning from them, he shouted in the direction of the bedrooms. "Ora, Sisela, get out here." The two emerged. Without thinking, Ora helped Sisela to the living room. 'Sit down!' he shouted.

  'Now, he began again, these are the plans for the day. Listen and listen closely. I don't want any slip ups or mistakes. We haven't much time to pull this whole thing off." He glanced over at the clock. Unfazed by his ranting, it boldly proclaimed 8:30. "8:30!" Thayer bellowed while grimacing. "Where in the name of Lucifer has all the time gone?" Terron snickered at Thayer's antics. Seeing him laugh, Thayer reached up grabbed the clock from the mantle and hurled it at Terron. Terron put up his hands just in time to prevent the clock from crashing into his face. 'I'm not in the mood, Terron. Don't try me!' Terron stared at him. Olar whispered in Terron's ear, 'He's got to go!" 'Yeah, thought Terron, the first opportunity I get, Thayer leaves this planet.'

  Thayer began again, 'As I was saying, we haven't much time. Let's not waste any of it. A mistake here will cost you your earthly and spiritual lives. Understand?" He turned and looked at Terron.

  "Now then, these are our plans for the day. At noon, the press will arrive here to conduct their interview of me and Ora. Basically what we will do is destroy Kenny Matthews. Ora will tell them that she is his lover and has been for some time. In addition to that she will tell them that she runs one of his prostitution rings in New Jersey; Jake has taken care of the rest."

  'Information has been stored into necessary computers systems that will place Ora and Kenny together at various hotels and other information will present him as the leader of a drug ring. The press conference shouldn't last more than twenty minutes.' He looked toward Terron, Vice, and Connley. 'When you finish you assignments, meet me here, all right? Well, that's it. Let's get started.'

  He walked to the door and opened it for the men to leave. 'Hey, what's the rush? Visiting hours aren't until 10 o'clock. It's only a quarter till nine. Can't we stick around here for a while?" Terron asked. Thayer didn't say a word. He just opened the door wider. Unwilling and moody the three men got up and angrily walked out. Thayer slammed the door behind them and turned to face Ora and Sisela. 'Come ladies, let us prepare ourselves."

  Chapter 21

  .Rather than going directly to the hospital, Terron, Vice, and Connley went to get a bite to eat first. They stopped at a greasy, truckers restaurant. It wasn't their intention to stay as late as they had but then, they hadn't planned on meeting Margret either.

  Margret was a prostitute, not the area's average prostitute, but of much higher class. She was six feet tall with long stringy legs and a round, plump behind. She had full lips and a bright seductive smile. She also had a serious reputation for being the best at what she did. Men didn't pick her up she picked them. And those she selected were more than willing to pay the five hundred dollar price.

  It was a known fact that most of the men who stopped in the restaurant had saved no less than five hundred dollars and that they would bring it with them every time they stopped for a bite to eat in hopes that Margret would choose them. Of course, the men who were fortunate enough to have had her would boast and brag about it. They would literally throw themselves at her feet for another date with her. They willingly brought upwards of seven hundred dollars stating that she was well worth it. This of course, only heightened the frenzy and made men desire her more.

  She was sitting at one of the tables making idle talk with a guy who had spread one thousand dollars out on the table. 'How about it baby.' he said as he slipped his hand beneath the table and caressed her inner thigh. She looked at him, smiled, leaned towards him, and with all of her might, she punched him in the eye.

  He fell backwards, jumped up yelling obscenities and started for her. Before he could reach her, some of the other truckers jumped up and wrestled
him to the floor. The owner of the restaurant, a short, balding, middle aged man with a physique like Mr. Olympic, walked over to the ruckus. 'What's the problem here?" he asked. The restrained trucker began, 'That slut hit me in the eye.' The owner bend over and slapped the man in the mouth. 'Hey, you watch how you talk about a lady around here.' 'But you don't understand, I came five hundred miles out of my way to have her.' 'So what. Take a look at the license plates on your way out. You think you're the only one. Or maybe you thought that all the truckers stopped here for my cooking.' the owner said sarcastically.

  'Get him out of here boys." The men snatched him up, and they were about to push him out when he said, "wait, my money.' The owner walked over to the table, there, spread out were crispy new hundred dollar bills. 'How much money was it?' he asked. "A thousand dollars.' he replied. The owner counted out ten of the bills, looked at Margret and smiled.

  "What a lady.' he said. He scooped up the money and gave the man nine hundred dollars. 'I'm a hundred dollars short!" he protested. 'That's for the trouble you caused. Now if you want to keep the rest, I suggest that you get going now.' Flustered, he stumbled out the door. The owner turned and handed the one hundred dollar bill to Margret. 'That's for your inconvenience.' She politely took it and thanked him and the boys and strolled over to the table where Terron and the others were .

  Through all of the commotion, Terron, Vice, and Connley never looked up. They sat quietly eating the portion of grease that had been slopped on a plate and shoved in front of them. Margret was standing over there table. 'Yeah, can I help you with something?" Connley asked. 'You've got it backwards honey, I want to help you with something. How would you boys like to have a good time?' 'What did you have in mind?" Vice asked. 'Well, why don't we go climb in the back of that van I saw you drive up in and find out." They looked around at each other smiling. 'Yeah, All right. Let's do that.' Tenon an­swered. Connley dropped a fifty dollar bill on the table and told the owner to keep the change. The four of them walked out to the van. The other men sat around looking dejected about not being selected by Margret. Once out in the van, they drove to an isolated spot not far from the restaurant and their little party began.