Confession

by Gary Whitmore

  “Sheriff here says that a colored boy, Joey Sampson, saw you beating someone in the woods on Saturday. Did you do that?” Melvin asked in a stern tone.

  “No sir,” Jimmy lied through his teeth and started to shake in fear on having another whopping from Melvin.

  “Then why would that colored boy say that?” he asked Jimmy.

  Jimmy thought hard for a believable lie and got nervous while Melvin and Sheriff Damon eyed him for an answer. He had one. “I was going to tell you but someone stole my baseball bat on Saturday after the game. I saw Joey Sampson’s father run into the woods with a bat in hand. I thought he stole my bat so I ran after him.”

  “That colored man Sampson stole your bat?” asked Sheriff Damon.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me on Saturday?” asked Melvin in a raised tone that Jimmy knew all to well to know his paw was pissed.

  “I was afraid.”

  “Afraid? Afraid of what?”

  Jimmy paused for a few seconds and knew he had to continue with his lie. “Afraid that Joey Sampson’s paw would kill me.”

  “Why?” asked Sheriff Damon.

  “Because I saw Joey Sampson’s paw beat that man with my baseball bat. He beat him because that man was naked with that colored girl,” said Jimmy then he silently prayed the two would believe his story.

  Sheriff Damon looked at Melvin. “Sounds like what happened. That colored girl was Gale Washington. She lived on the same street as Sammy Sampson. Never did like him. One of those uppity colored folk.”

  “Yep. Another of our uppity colored folk,” said Melvin.

  “Well have to take care of this sad situation,” said Sheriff Damon while he looked at Melvin.

  “Yep. I’ll call a meeting for later tonight,” said Melvin then he took a little swig of his Moonshine.

  “Call me when you get things arranged,” replied Sheriff Damon then he walked off the porch and headed back to his squad car.

  Melvin looked down at Jimmy. “Get to your room,” he said and looked pissed.

  Jimmy knew what was going to happen next. “Yes sir,” he said then walked away.

  Jimmy walked down the hallway and went into his bedroom. He stood there and waited by his bed.

  Melvin entered and placed his Mason jar of Moonshine on the floor. He removed his belt off his pants. “Drop your drawers, boy,” he snarled out while he had his belt in a loop in his right hand.

  Jimmy removed his blue jeans and lowered them down to his ankles. He lowered his white boxers down to his ankles. He bent over on his bed.

  “Don’t you ever let some dumb fucking colored man make you scared,” yelled Melvin then he swung his belt and it cracked against the white bare cheeks of Jimmy’s ass.

  Jimmy cringed over the pain of his paw’s belt hitting his bare ass cheeks.

  “Never,” yelled out Melvin while he gave Jimmy’s ass cheeks another whack with his belt.

  Jimmy cringed and fought off from crying over a beating by his paw. He learned a long time ago that crying would make the beating last longer.

  After three more cracks of Melvin’s belt against Jimmy’s bare ass he stopped and placed his belt back on his pants.

  Melvin was quiet while he picked up his Mason jar and left Jimmy’s bedroom.

  Jimmy fought hard not to cry while he pulled up his boxers and then his blue jeans. He smiled knowing that he got away with killing a human being. So this beating from his father would be nothing compared if they believed Joey’s story.

  Elizabeth was in the kitchen preparing fried chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner. She heard the crack of Melvin’s belt hitting Jimmy’s bare ass cheeks. She hated it when Melvin beat the boys with the belt. After all, that was the way Melvin was raised by Gus Nalla and he figured it made him a better man.

  Melvin walked into the kitchen with his Mason jar of Moonshine still in his hand. He was still pissed with Jimmy while he took a swig of Moonshine.

  “Mel, Jimmy was scared. You can’t fault him for that,” she said.

  Melvin glared at Elizabeth and hated it when she tried to tell him that just maybe he was wrong with punishing the boys. He smacked her across her face. “Shut the fuck up and do you job of getting dinner ready,” he yelled at her then stormed out of the kitchen.

  Elizabeth’s eyes welled up and hated it when Melvin hit her. She was at the point where she started to figure out a way to leave this abusive relationship.

  She returned to finishing dinner.

  Two days later and it was two that Friday morning with a full Moon.

  Deputy Hughes checked out Sammy Sampson’s shack in the darkness. He found a baseball bat stashed under the crawl space of the shack and knew this was the murder weapon. He rushed back to the squad car and drove back to the office. He knew that Sheriff Damon would be proud of him when the sun rose above the horizon.

  Deputy Hughes was correct and Sheriff Damon was proud of the old deputy. He finally figured that there was hope this kid would be a fine lawman one day. So Sheriff Damon called Melvin at the Ford dealership and told him to round up the guys. They had a mission to perform that night.

  It was late one on a Saturday night.

  A 1939 and 1940 Ford drove down the dirt street of the colored section of Boldger.

  The two Fords stopped and parked in the front yard of a dilapidated one-story shack, which was full of bare spots and weeds.

  Eight men jumped out of the two Fords. They were all dressed in their white KKK outfits with pointy hoods.

  They rushed up to the front door of the Sampson shack.

  “Git out here, Sammy!” one of the KKK members yelled out from behind his pointed hood.

  A few minutes passed, and Sammy stepped outside on the front porch in a tee shirt and white boxers.

  He saw the KKK members standing in his front yard and freaked out. He ran back inside his house.

  Four of the KKK members ran into the house after Sammy.

  After a few minutes, they ragged Sammy outside of his shack.

  While they dragged him through his front yard, Sammy’s wife, Eliza rushed outside in her nightgown with Joey only in his white boxers. They watched in horror while Sammy was dragged over to one of the cars. Sammy tried to free himself, but the KKK members were stronger. They threw him into the backseat of one of the cars. They all got inside it and drove off.

  Eliza cried, as she knew she would never see Sammy alive again. Joey cried, as he also knew what was going to happen. And he knew why and peed in his boxers.

  Twenty minutes passed, and the two Fords drove into the woods by a creek.

  Jimmy and Ricky ran through the woods after the cars. They knew what was going to happen since they eavesdropped to their father’s phone conservation earlier in the evening. They just had to watch so they ran as fast as their legs would move.

  The two cars stopped by a tree that was normally used for this event.

  All eight KKK members got out and two of them dragged Sammy behind them.

  “I did nothing!” Sammy cried out in fear. “Please! I did nothing,” Sammy cried out again while they dragged him closer to the tree with a noose tied to a thick overhead branch.

  Jimmy and Ricky finally got closer and peaked around a pine tree. They saw two KKK members stand Sammy up on a stool while another member place the noose around Sammy’s neck.

  “You’re going to hang for killing Buster Chaney,” one of the KKK members yelled at Sammy and he sounded like the Sheriff.

  “I didn’t kill anybody! I swear!” Sammy cried out and his eyes welled up.

  “We found the baseball bat that you used to kill Buster and we have a witness,” yelled out one of the KKK members and his voice sounded familiar to Jimmy and Ricky.

  One of the KKK members punched Sammy in his stomach. “Shut up boy and face justice like a man.”

  “God help me!” Sammy cried out while he looked up at the dark sky and full Moon.

  “What do we do now Jimmy?
You killed the man. Not Joey’s daddy,” Ricky whispered and felt sorry for Sammy.

  “I don’t want to get hung for murder, so this has to be another one of our secrets until we die. We didn't have a choice. Besides, he’s colored and nobody will care. If I wasn’t there, that guy would have killed you,” said Jimmy and he felt powerful with getting an innocent man hung.

  Ricky nodded in agreement with his older brother and remembered how he couldn’t breath with Buster’s right grip around his throat.

  Jimmy and Ricky locked pinkies to seal their secrecy.

  They watched while one of the KKK members kicked the stand away.

  Sammy’s body dropped. The young boys heard his neck snap. It would be a sound they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

  Jimmy watched with extreme interest while Sammy’s dead body swayed like the pendulum of a clock.

  The two boys watched while all eight KKK members removed their pointy hoods. Their father was with them and he was the one that kicked away the stand.

  Also amongst the Klansman was Roscoe Purcell. He was an old high school buddy of Melvin and they play football together. Roscoe was actually a First Lieutenant in the Army Reserves and served his duty as Military Policeman down at Fort Benning. Roscoe also worked at the Tom’s Snacks Company down in Columbus, Georgia. He often visited Boldger so that Melvin could give him a great deal on a new Ford. Roscoe was in town to buy a new 1948 Ford when Melvin told him about the upcoming lynching. Since Roscoe had not been involved with the KKK since the beginning of World War Two, he decided to participate in tonight’s event for old times sake.

  “The beers are on me,” Melvin told his buddies. “It’s on me,” he added.

  Jimmy and Ricky ran away through the woods while the KKK members walked over and got inside the two Fords.

  The eight KKK members drove their cars off in a dusty trail down the road.

  Jimmy and Ricky ran all the way home undetected. Tonight would be another event that would help Jimmy’s craving to kill to flourish.

  Two days had passed and Eliza Sampson packed two suitcases. A friend of Eliza drove her and Joey to the bus station in the nearby town of Watson. They were moving to Chicago to be with her sister, as she felt that would be safer for Joey. She didn’t want the risk of Sheriff Damon coming after Joey in the middle of the night.

  Joey was lucky that his momma moved his out of Boldger. Because Jimmy was seeking some midnight revenge on Joey for telling Sheriff Damon what he saw in the woods that day.

  A month had passed and Jimmy bought his first issue of True Detective magazine at Paul’s Drug Store in town. He loved that magazine as true detective stories started to fascinate him. But the sick part was that some of those murder stories gave young Jimmy an erection. He would then jerk off while reading those stories. This could have been the start of a sick future for young Jimmy.

  Back to reality…

  Sam found the first chapter of Allan’s book interesting and he was glad he bought it. He continued to read the second chapter.

  Chapter 6

  A Killer’s Tale story continued…

  The years moved on and Jimmy and Ricky were true to their words and kept the secret about Sammy being innocent. Jimmy often thought about that Saturday afternoon when he beat Buster to death and then that Saturday morning when they watched Sammy Sampson get hung.

  During the past four years, Jimmy found the joys of jerking off. One sick way he would do it was to venture back to the woods to the spot where he killed Buster Chaney. Jimmy would drop his blue jeans and boxers down to his knees and jerk off while he looked at the spot where it all began. This became an event he would quite frequently during the summer months.

  It was now the spring of 1954 and Jimmy was now a seventeen-year old teenager and his hormones raged.

  Jimmy also picked up one bad habit he started with his friend Homer. He started smoking cigarettes and loved Lucky Strikes. He was young and hooked and Melvin could care less Jimmy smoked.

  But smoking wasn’t all he enjoyed. His mind was also flooded with nasty thoughts of having sex with a girl. Because of this he was head over heals in love with Fran Schaefer her to satisfy his nasty sexual desires. She had a gorgeous curvy figure with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes that would warm your heart for hours.

  But Fran hung around with Ralph Johnston the high school football quarterback and King of the campus. Ralph was the he same guy that had been Jimmy’s nemesis for years.

  But Jimmy could care less about Ralph since he still wanted Fran’s love and could not resist her gorgeous curves.

  Ralph somehow knew that Jimmy has eyes for his girl and he didn’t like it. He told his fellow football buddies that Jimmy would pay deeply if he ever tried to make a move on Fran.

  It was now the middle of April in 1954 and all the kids in Jimmy’s class was excited about graduating soon.

  Jimmy toyed with the idea of asking Fran out for a date. So at the end of April he finally got up the courage to ask her out. She refused.

  A couple of weeks had passed and Jimmy was still determined. He asked her out again. She refused and told Ralph.

  He waited three more days.

  It was now Friday and Jimmy saw Fran at the outside of the high school after classes were over. Ralph was out with his buddies and he saw this as an opportunity since she was alone.

  “Fran,” he called out from behind her.

  Fran turned around and saw Jimmy walking up to her. “Yes, Jimmy,” she said and gave his a hint of a warm smile.

  “Listen, I know I’ve been bugging you lately, but I can’t resist and have to try again.”

  Frank looked at Jimmy and knew what he was going to say.

  “I would really love it if you would allow me the honor to take you out on a date,” he said with his heart racing.

  Fran looked at Jimmy and paused for a few seconds and this made Jimmy’s heart race even faster. He got butterflies in his stomach.

  “You know what Jimmy, I’m impressed that you’ve been persistent with asking me out on a date. So I would love to go out with you.”

  Jimmy was stunned that she finally accepted. He didn’t know how to reply. “Ah, I, guess I need to figure out where we can go,” said Jimmy and he was jumping up and down for joy inside his body that she finally accepted.

  “I know, why don’t we have a little nighttime fun down at the lake tomorrow night” said Fran and she gave Jimmy a warm smile.

  Jimmy was in heaven for a few seconds then he looked sad when he remembered something. “I don’t have a car. Paw won’t allow me to use his new Ford. He said I have to get a job and buy my own car,” he said then realized that his dream of getting Fran naked down by the lake was now gone. So close yet so far. Though Jimmy while he looked at Fran.

  “I’ll tell you what, my daddy won’t mind if I use his car. I could pick you up,” she said with another warm smile to entice Jimmy.

  Jimmy’s eyes lit up knowing that his date with Fran would be a sure thing. “Great. Pick me up at the end of my street at nine tomorrow night.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you then,” said Fran then she turned around and walked away with a smirk.

  Jimmy strutted away with a spring in his step and a huge smile on his face.

  After supper, Jimmy took a quick shower for his date with Fran. He knew that tonight he would lose his virginity. He started to get erect while he soaped his body thinking about Fran. He decided to fight off his thoughts of sex so he wouldn’t blow his load and ruin it for later.

  He ran out of his house at eight fifty that night and ran down to the end of his street.

  He anxiously waited by pacing back and forth along the side of the street.

  He saw a pair of headlights coming down the adjacent street. He got butterflies in his stomach while he waited for the car to get closer to see if it was Fran.

  “Here she comes,” he said the second he noticed Fran was behind the wheel of a white 1953 Ford Victor
ia hardtop. A huge smile grew on his face when she stopped her Victoria by the end of Jimmy’s street.

  Jimmy rushed around to the passenger side of the Victoria and got in the passenger side of the front seat.

  The country song I Really Don’t Want to Know by Eddy Arnold played on the radio while Fran drove off down the street.

  “Is that that new Eddy Arnold song?” asked Jimmy to get the conversation going between the two.

  “It is and I love it,” replied Fran while she made a left turn down another street.

  It was a quiet in the Victoria while Fran drove through the streets of Boldger and headed west. Jimmy lit up a Lucky Strike cigarette to act cool.

  “Put that cigarette out. Daddy will kill me if he thinks I’ve been smoking in his car.”

  Jimmy rolled down his window and flicked out his cigarette out his window. He rolled the window back up.

  Once Fran drove out of the city limits on the eastern side of Boldger, Jimmy slid across the front seat and sat next to Fran. She didn’t say anything so he took that that she approved. He decided that since that move worked, he would try another one so he put his arm around Fran’s shoulder. She did not resist his romantic move. He smiled and felt like a stud.

  Fran drove down Route 123 that was the road that led to the next town of Harpersville. Jimmy pondered if he should take another bold step and try to touch Fran’s left boob with fingertips of his left hand. He decided to wait until they got to the lake. He thought that touching her bare nipples would be better than fondling her breast through her blouse material.

  Fran drove her dad’s Victoria a quarter of a mile down Route 123 then she slowed down and made a left turn onto a dirt road.

  Jimmy’s heart started to race knowing they were getting closer and closer to the lake.

  She drove the Victoria one hundred yards down the dirt road and the headlights showed tire tracks in the road of previous visitors.