Confession

by Gary Whitmore

  My name was Jimmy Nalla and have you ever wondered, why humans kill other humans?”

  Some humans kill because of war and it’s their duty to protect their country from others that are deemed evil.

  Some humans kill because if involves money that was stolen from them or their desire to get it the easy way.

  Some humans kill to protect their power.

  Some humans kill because their lover cheated on them.

  Some humans kill in the name of self-defense.

  Some humans kill by accident and didn’t mean for the other human to die.

  But some humans kill because they loved it. It excited them for some sick reason. Jimmy absolutely loved killing. Why? Well, maybe because it started when he was a young lad.

  The town of Boldger was a quiet sleepy town located in the lower western part of the State of Alabama. It was located twenty miles from the Mississippi border.

  It was now 1948 and Boldger had a total population of two thousand six hundred and thirty people. A quarter of the town’s population was the colored folk, but they were often called by the offensive “N” word. It was the sign of the times in the Deep South and life was grand if you were white.

  The main industries that sustained Boldger during this time were a sawmill, some cotton fields, diary farms, and chicken farms. And of course some Moonshine stills deep in the woods.

  Boldger was also home to twelve year-old Jimmy Nalla. Jimmy lived with his father Melvin, mother Elizabeth and seven-year-old brother Ricky.

  Melvin Nalla owned Nalla Ford located in the center of the town. Melvin’s father, Gus, founded the Ford dealership in Bolder back in 1925. Gus retired in 1942 and let Melvin take the reins of the business. Melvin was planning on letting Jimmy take it over when he becomes of age.

  It was now August 21, 1948 and another hot and muggy Saturday with a clear blue sky.

  It was high noon and the Little Baseball field of Boldger was in fill swing with a game between the Badgers against the Rattlesnakes. These were the only two teams in the town so they only played against each other.

  Young Jimmy was on the Badgers and was one of their worst players. The only other bad player was the only friend Jimmy had besides his brother Ricky. This kid was Homer Maris and he was deemed to be dumb and often poked at by the other kids.

  Jimmy played right field today and missed a lot of fly balls and struck out most of the time. Because of this, he would take ribbing from some of the more talented players like Ralph Johnston. Ralph would be Jimmy’s nemesis for the rest of his youth.

  The game was now in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Badgers were losing to the Rattlesnakes by ten to three. Jimmy had struck out two times and hit a grounder and was thrown out at first base.

  Ricky Nalla watched the game from the edge of the woods by the outfield. He loved his big brother Jimmy and always felt bad when Jimmy performed poorly. Since there was no way for the Badgers to come up from behind and win the game, Ricky decided to go home.

  At the edge of the woods way over by left field stood twelve year old colored boy named Joey Sampson. He had one trait in that his left nostril was smaller than his right nostril. Joey loved the game of baseball but the colored boys were not allowed to play with the whites. That often brought tears to Joey’s eyes as he wanted to play in Little League for years. But he had to accept the way of these times in the Deep South. So he would often watch the games from the woods, as this was a safe location for him.

  He turned around and started walking off into the woods.

  After five minutes of walking in the woods, Ricky found a long stick in the dirt. “Perfect,” he said while he bent down and picked up the stick. He held the long stick in his hands and pointed it like it was a gun. “Bang!” he called out pretending to fire off a bullet.

  Ricky strutted off into the woods and pretended his long stick was a M1 rifle. It was Ricky against the Nazi’s that were trying to take over the town of Boldger.

  He stopped behind a pine tree as he thought he heard some Germans approaching. He had his M1 rifle ready and peeked around the trunk of the tree.

  He took aim with his stick rifle. “Bang! You're dead you stinking Nazi!” he said and got a huge smile pretending he killed a Nazi.

  Ricky stepped away from the tree and cautiously inched his way through the woods. He scanned the area over for any more sightings of other Nazi’s.

  He inched his way through the woods for another ten minutes peeking around the trees in search of the evil Nazi’s.

  He walked for another two minutes when a sound filled the air in the woods. “Ahhhh!” a girl’s voice gave a bone-chilling scream that echoed in the woods.

  Ricky stopped dead in his tracks and scanned in the direction of her scream. He stood there for a few seconds not knowing what to do. His curiosity took over, as he had to investigate.

  He cautiously walked and snuck from pine tree to pine tree to locate the source of the scream.

  “Ahhhh!” the girl screamed louder and Ricky knew he was getting closer.

  Ricky inched another one hundred feet then saw some commotion up ahead between some trees.

  Ricky tiptoed in that direction and was observant that he did not step on any branches to give away his position.

  The second he saw a fat redneck, named Buster Chaney, Ricky hid behind a thick pine tree ten feet way.

  Buster Chaney was a forty-year old fat slob redneck from Mississippi. He had greasy black hair that he slicked back. His face always had a week’s growth of beard stubble and his teeth had never seen a dentist let alone a toothbrush. They were stained and rotten and would make any woman sick when he smiled.

  He always wore coveralls that hadn’t been washed in six months. The same went for his tee shirt what was once white but now had a gray tinge to it because of his nasty sweat. Buster wasn’t married as what woman would want a slob like him on top of her. He made his living making and selling Moonshine.

  Ricky peeked around the tree trunk, and got a glimpse of Buster, who stood bare ass naked but still wore his black work boots. His filthy coveralls and tee shirt and filthy boxers lay in the dirt by a tree.

  Ricky stared at the sight of Buster’s fat hairy ass cheeks and hairy back. He wanted to vomit in the dirt. Gross. He thought.

  Buster had his hands wrapped around the neck of a fourteen-year-old colored girl named Gale. She was stripped completely naked and dangled from Buster’s grip.

  Ricky never saw a naked girl before and the sight of her turned him on.

  “So, you think you're gonna tell?” Buster yelled at gale.

  He walked her over to a big pine tree and squeezed her throat with a tighter grip. “No you won’t,” he yelled then repeatedly slammed the back of Gale’s head into the tree trunk.

  All Ricky could hear was the thud, thud, thud, sounds of the back of Gale’s head slamming against the trunk of the tree. “AHHHH!” cried out Gale, as the pain to the back of her head was excruciating.

  Gale was suddenly quiet. Her body went limp with a blank stare from her eyes. Buster let go and she dropped to the dirt. She was dead. Buster looked at the trunk of the tree and saw a stain of blood. He was proud of himself.

  “Stupid colored girl thinking she would tell on me,” Buster said then gave her a hard swift kick in her temple with his right boot.

  Ricky’s nose twitched, and he knew what was coming. He pinched his nose and fought hard not to sneeze. That did not work and he sneezed from behind his tree.

  Buster heard it an immediately turned around looking in the direction of that sound. He knew this wasn’t some critter in the woods.

  Ricky peeked around the tree trunk and saw Buster inching his way in his direction. He got scared and ran off back towards the direction for the baseball field.

  Buster ran after Ricky, and he ran as fast as his fat body would allow him.

  Ricky turned around and saw Buster running naked after him.

  Buster huffed and puffed while he r
an and more sweat poured out of his skin.

  Ricky looked forward and saw a bush in front of him near a pine tree with a curved trunk. It was too late. He ran into the bush and tumbled to the ground.

  He looked up and saw Buster’s fat naked sweaty body that towered over him with dangling balls and small pecker pointing down at him. Buster was pissed while he huffed and puffed for oxygen.

  “Well, well, I seem to have a witness!” Buster said while he reached down. He grabbed Ricky by his throat and lifted him up. He glared at Ricky with fire in his eyes.

  Ricky peed his pants and his legs started to tremble with fear.

  “This will be your last piss!” Buster said the second he saw the big pee stain on Ricky’s crotch.

  Buster squeezed Ricky's neck.

  Ricky gasped for air while Buster’s tight grip closed off his air supply.

  Then there was a sudden whack sound behind Buster.

  Buster gave Ricky widened and surprised eyes with the sudden pain in the middle of his back. Then another whack sound came from behind Buster. “Ahhh!” Buster cried out in excruciating pain and loosened his grip on Ricky’s throat.

  Ricky dropped to the ground at the same time Buster dropped to his knees in pain.

  Ricky quickly sat up when he realized he was free and scooted away on his butt.

  He saw his brother Jimmy was still in his Badger’s baseball uniform with a baseball bat in hand. Ricky smiled in relief that Jimmy came to his rescue.

  Jimmy had hatred in his eyes while he gripped the bat tighter.

  Buster turned around and saw Jimmy. “I’m going to kill you, you little turd!” he yelled out while he started to stand up.

  Jimmy swung the bat and made contact with Buster’s jaw. Blood and a couple of rotten teeth flew everywhere.

  Buster dropped to the ground stunned. He got up on his knees to lunge after Jimmy. But Jimmy swung the bat again and smacked Buster’s crotch. Buster froze in excruciating pain while he cupped his crotch. Jimmy swung again and smacked Buster in his left temple.

  Buster dropped to the ground on his back with a blank lifeless stare.

  Ricky stared at the motionless redneck.

  Jimmy poked at Buster’s chest with his bat. No movement, just a blank stare of disbelief. Jimmy loved the sight of the dead redneck. Then he repeatedly beat Buster’s head and split it wide open. Buster was dead in a pool of blood.

  “Go home Ricky and never tell anybody about this! It'll be our secret forever, little brother,” Jimmy told him.

  Ricky stood up. “Okay Jimmy,” he replied then they locked pinkies to seal their promise.

  Ricky ran off through the woods scared yet relieved that Jimmy saved his life.

  Jimmy stared down at the dead redneck with interest. He smiled over his accomplishment. It felt like a David and Goliath tale.

  He turned and saw the dead colored girl Gale. He got really curious so he walked over to her.

  He dropped his bat to the ground and knelt alongside the girl. He touched her face, and she did not move.

  He looked down at the beginnings of some breasts, and he curiously touched her nipples. He squeezed them.

  He looked down at her vagina with very little pubic hairs.

  He got curious and touched and stroked her up and down her vagina lips. This would be the first time he saw and touched a naked girl. Yet with her being dead made it even more exciting for some sick reason.

  He stood up and grabbed his bat, and walked away. He stopped when he was ten feet from the scene and looked back at the two naked bodies. He liked the feeling killing that redneck gave him. He rushed away with a satisfied smile on his face. He did not notice the blood on the tip of his bat.

  This would be the moment in Jimmy’s life where he enjoyed killing another human being. August 21, 1948 would be the day that would change Jimmy’s life forever.

  What Jimmy didn’t realize, was that young Joey Sampson was also in the woods at that exact moment. Joey had seen the part where Jimmy hit Buster with the bat while Buster was on his knees.

  Joey cautiously followed while Jimmy rushed through the woods.

  Jimmy rushed out of the woods and entered the city limits of Boldger. He was totally unaware that Joey Sampson had been following him.

  Jimmy saw Joey walk out of the woods from the same direction he cam from. He got scared. He ran off.

  Joey stood by the edge of the woods and got a little nervous knowing Jimmy spotted him. He didn’t know what to do.

  His eyes lit up with and idea and he ran off toward the center of Boldger.

  Fifteen minutes later and Joey raced into fifty-five year old Sheriff Nate Damon’s office. He thought that telling him what he saw in the woods would keep him in the good graces with the Sheriff.

  Sheriff Damon always wore a khaki uniform, as that was the dress code for his department. He sat with his brown cowboy boots kicked up on his desk. The office was typically quiet today.

  He saw Joey while he ran up to his desk out of breath. “What the hell do you want boy?” Nate said and was irritated that Joey was in his office. He hated colored people with a passion.

  “Mister Nate, I saw Jimmy Nalla beat some white man in the woods. He used a baseball bat,” Joey cried out of breath. “That man is dead.”

  Nate removed his boots off his desk and stood up. He glared down at Joey. “Okay boy. I’ll check it out. Now get the hell out of my office,” Nate said then lit up a cigarette.

  Joey ran out of Nate’s office and started to wonder if he did the right thing.

  Nate sat back down and smoked his cigarette. He wasn’t concerned about some story coming from a colored boy.

  Later that Saturday night, Jimmy snuck out of the house at one in the morning. He had his baseball bat in hand while he ran off down the dark and quiet street.

  He ran through town and headed over to the colored section. He was on a mission that could only be accomplished in the middle of the night when everybody was sound asleep.

  Three days passed and two local residents of Boldger named Elmer and Howie were in the woods hunting for squirrel that afternoon. It would be dinner for tonight.

  They stumbled upon Buster and Gale’s naked dead bodies in the woods.

  “What the fuck?” said Elmer while he stared down at the dead naked bodies.

  “That looks like Buster Chaney,” said Howie.

  “It is,” replied Elmer and he looked pissed that Buster was killed because he and Howie were frequent customers of Buster’s Moonshine.

  “We better get Nate,” said Howie while he stared down at the dead naked bodies.

  “You’re right,” replied Elmer

  Elmer and Howie ran off through the woods to go back to their car.

  An hour had passed and Sheriff Damon and overweight sixty-year-old Deputy Ernie Hughes were in the woods with Elmer and Nate.

  “Yep, that’s Buster alright,” said Sheriff Damon and he was also a frequent customer of Buster’s Moonshine.

  “Looks like we got a murder on our hands, Sheriff,” said Deputy Hughes.

  “No shit,” said Sheriff Damon and he always thought Deputy Hughes was getting too old with being a deputy.

  The four just stared at the dead bodies for a few seconds.

  “I better go round up Doc Stone,” said Sheriff Damon then he looked at Deputy Hughes. “Do you think you can keep people from messing with my crime scene?” he said.

  “You bet, Sheriff,” said Deputy Hughes and this was his first murder case involving a white man.

  “I hope so,” said Sheriff Damon while he had his doubts. “I need you two to come to my office and fill out a report,” he told Elmer and Howie.

  “Sure Sheriff,” said Elmer and Howie nodded in agreement.

  Sheriff Damon, Elmer and Howie walked away leaving Deputy Hughes alone in the woods.

  After five minutes, Deputy Hughes started to get the creeps being alone in the woods with two dead bodies. Every critter that made a sound caus
ed Deputy Hughes to remove his pistol out of his holster to defend himself from being attacked. After all, he didn’t know if that killer was still lurking in the woods.

  An hour had passed and Doc Stone had Buster and Gale’s dead bodies in the morgue of the small hospital of Boldger.

  Later that evening, Sheriff Damon drove over to Melvin Nalla’s house in his 1940 black with white squad car. He recalled Joey Sampson’s claim on what he saw in the woods on Saturday and decided this was his first visit for his official investigation.

  He got out of his car and walked up on the front porch. He knocked on the screened door.

  Melvin appeared in a tee shirt with a Mason jar with a little Moonshine at the bottom of the jar. He also had a lit Lucky Strike cigarette that dangled out of his cracked lips. “Why Nate, what brings you over o my house?” he asked then took a little drink of Moonshine.

  “Well Melvin, it appears we found Buster Chaney’s dead body out in the woods naked along with the dead body of a young naked colored girl,” he replied then he looked sad.

  The screen door creaked opened while Melvin stepped out on the wooden front porch. He looked sad. “Poor Buster. His daddy will be devastated. Do you know how he died?” said Melvin while he glanced down at his Moonshine in his jar. This was Moonshine Melvin had bought from Buster two months ago.

  “Looks like someone beat him to death according to Doc Stone. His head was split wide open.”

  “Who would do such a horrible crime?” Melvin asked and fumed inside that a fellow KKK member was murdered.

  “Well, on Saturday afternoon, a young colored boy named Joey Sampson ran into my office. He claimed that your boy Jimmy beat Buster with a baseball bat. I thought that boy was just trying to stir up trouble so didn’t think much of it.”

  Melvin looked back inside his house. “Jimmy, get your ass out here,” he yelled out.

  They waited for a few minutes then Jimmy appeared at the screen door. “Yes sir,” he said and got nervous at the sight of Sheriff Damon on the front porch.