“Hey, they’re here,” Barry said, positioning himself on the couch so he could make a good first impression on Aunt Ledley.
“I know, one second,” Corey said as he put his finger up.
Barry could hear the garage door close and voices in the garage, it sounded like Aunt Ledley was looking at Corey’s car. A few moments later, the garage door opened and in walked Karen and Aunt Ledley. Barry stood up and walked over and tried to shake Aunt Ledley’s hand, but got a hug instead.
“You must be Barry; I don’t know why, but I thought you would be short.”
“Probably Corey was saying I’m short, but it’s nice to meet you finally.”
“It is nice to see you all in person finally and meet, now where is that big-headed nephew of mine?”
“He’s on the phone; it rang just before you walked in.”
“Probably one of those fast girls he’s always messing with,” Aunt Ledley said looking around the room for Corey.
“Aunt Ledley flew all the way out here, and he’s on the phone? He better get off that phone and get out here,” Karen said, raising her voice so Corey could hear her talking.
Corey stuck his head out of the bedroom and put a finger up signaling that he needed another minute, but Karen wasn’t having any more delays.
“Get off the phone and get out here. Stop being a dickhead,” Karen said as Aunt Ledley laughed.
“You stop being a dickhead, oh um not you miss, I have someone in front of me, I’ll call you back,” Corey said, looking embarrassed and ended the phone call.
“It’s about time,” Karen said, rolling her eyes at Corey.
“I wasn’t on the phone that long.”
“Another five minutes and Aunt Ledley would be going home on her return flight.”
“Alright, you two break it up,” Aunt Ledley said, and she walked over to Corey and hugged him.
“She started it,” Corey said, and he hugged Aunt Ledley.
“And I ended it. I swear you two are worse than my kids,” Aunt Ledley said, shaking her head.
They all started laughing and then sat down and began to talk. Aunt Ledley was telling them how her flight went and that the guy sitting next to her fell asleep and must have been drunk to snore the way he did even after she elbowed him three times on accident. They all sat and talked for hours; Aunt Ledley was a great soul. Barry could see why she was so loved by all the people she knew. They decided to get a bite to eat, and it was about time for lunch anyway, so they headed over to the little diner, they would probably go to the steak house for their final meal before they left for Hawaii.
“This is a cozy little diner do you guys eat here often?”
“Oh yes, we come in here twice a week at least, probably more,” Karen said, smiling.
“I can already see why, and we haven’t even eaten yet.”
“I know you’re going to love this food, it’s fresh, and the chef can get down,” Corey said, peeking from behind his menu.
While Aunt Ledley was getting ready to enjoy her dining experience at the little diner, the Senator’s phone started to ring. The Senator looked at the phone’s caller id and saw it was Agent Marone. The Senator thought that it was odd because he knew he didn’t have a meeting scheduled with his F.B.I. Cronies and he figured something might be wrong when he answered the phone.
“Yes.”
“Sorry to bother you sir but I just got a call from the Captain of the precinct where the first C.C.K kill happened, he wants to speak to you, he says he may have some very good information on the killer,” Agent Marone said.
“Is that so? Well, let the good Captain know I will be happy to see him, but it may take me a day or so to get by there.”
“I will relay the message, sir.”
“Good, let him know my assistant will be in touch with the exact date and time by this afternoon or evening.”
“Yes sir,” Agent Marone said, and then the Senator hung up.
Barry, along with everyone else, was stuffed and thoroughly enjoyed their meals. Corey was trying to wait until he had more room so he could eat a piece of pecan pie.
“One good burp and I’ll have room,” Corey said, pushing on his stomach.
“Boy, you better not burp at this table, you’d better get up and go to the bathroom,” Aunt Ledley said as Karen and Barry laughed at Corey who was looking like a kid who just got scolded.
“I was going to go to the bathroom, I was just saying I needed a burp to make more room,” Corey said, looking proud of himself for such a quick comeback.
“Boy, ain’t nobody Boo-Boo the fool, we all know you were going to let that burp fly right out of your mouth here at this table, so save that lie,” Aunt Ledley said as Karen and Barry laughed at Corey again.
“Boo-Boo the fool? Oh, I’m going to have to remember that one for sure,” Karen said as she laughed even harder.
Corey looked like he was mad, but he saw Aunt Ledley looking at him closely, so he didn’t respond to Karen. Barry could see that Karen was having fun messing with Corey as Aunt Ledley was protecting her. Karen had been getting away with murder messing with Corey since Aunt Ledley’s arrival. Barry knew it would be World War 3 after Aunt Ledley left and I’m sure Karen did as well, but she was having a blast giving Corey the business without any return fire from him, or very limited insults at best.
“Go on and get your clown on,” Corey said as he looked around for the waitress.
“Okay, Boo-Boo,” Karen said, laughing.
“I ain’t sweating it, I will get my clown on in Hawaii tomorrow,” Corey said, still looking for the waitress.
“Um, no you’re not,” Aunt Ledley said, which stopped Corey’s search for the waitress and his pie, then he sat up and looked at Aunt Ledley.
“What do you mean, no?” Corey said, making a screwface.
“Well, I guess I messed up, so we might as well let them in on our little surprise,” Aunt Ledley said, and she looked at Karen to take it from there.
“Okay, okay, stop giving me the death stare, you two. Aunt Ledley and I came up with a better travel itinerary,” Karen said when Corey started to talk.
“I-10? How are we going to get to Hawaii on the I-10?” Corey asked, looking confused.
“Itinerary, not the I-10 fool, we changed the plans,” Aunt Ledley said, shaking her head while Barry and Karen laughed, and Corey looked a little confused still.
“We will start our vacation in Europe and finish our trip in Hawaii. Then we can take a cruise back to California and see some sights there,” Karen said, and she looked at Corey and Barry for their approval.
“Europe?” Corey said, scratching his head.
“Yes, Europe,” Aunt Ledley said, looking a little cross, knowing Corey was bound to say something crazy.
“I don’t speak Europe: I was hoping to have one of my Hawaiian honies help me out before we rolled over there.”
“Oh Lord! Give me strength, I don’t speak Europe, they speak English fool,” Aunt Ledley said, then she reached back to hit Corey, who put his hands up to defend himself from the incoming attack and let out a little scream and Barry and Karen laughed.
“See, my Hawaiian honies would have hipped me to all that Europe stuff,” Corey said, peeking out from behind his upheld arms.
“You and your honies, I didn’t know honey and crabs went together,” Aunt Ledley said.
Barry was taking a sip of his soda right at the moment Aunt Ledley told Corey about his honies and choked. Barry was laughing and choking so badly that they helped him out of the booth so they could slap his back.
“See Aunt Ledley, you’re always clowning me, you gonna feel bad if Barry dies,” Corey said, while Aunt Ledley looked at him sideways.
The back and forth between Aunt Ledley and Corey only made Barry laugh and choke more. He knew with Karen being a nurse she wouldn’t be too worried about him, but he thought about dying and Karen telling everyone during the funeral, “it was a bad case of honey crabs that killed
him,” which only made him choke and laugh more. By this time, more than a few of the diner’s patrons had come over to see if they could be of any assistance. He even heard someone ask if they wanted 911 called. He finally got himself composed, but as he did, he noticed his continued laughter had caused almost everyone in the little diner to laugh as well, there were even a few people choking and gagging like he had been doing just a few moments ago, even Corey was in tears and holding his stomach. It took a few minutes, but the little diner finally started to get back to normal, with the occasional cough and giggle still being randomly heard throughout the little diner. Corey was known to get full of himself at times; the outbreak of laughter had touched him, and he spoke to the entire diner.
“I just wanted to let you all know that I, we, I should say, appreciate your sense of humor and thank you for a memory we will never forget. So, breakfast, lunch or dinner or whatever you’re having is on us,” Corey said as the little diner erupted in cheers.
While people applauded and began to walk over to their table Barry saw their waitress Sue run out of the diner. He started to walk toward the door to see what was going, amidst the well-wishers and thank yous from the patrons. When he finally worked his way through the crowd and could see outside, he knew what Sue was running for, a tow truck hooking up to a car, which he figured out pretty fast was her car getting repossessed. He walked out as their table was being bombarded with gratitude from the people in the diner. Sue was in tears, talking to the tow truck driver that had her car. Barry walked up but stayed behind a pick-up truck so that he couldn’t be seen, but he could hear everything they said.
“Please sir, I just need a little more time, the man at the bank said everything was fine,” Sue said, pleading her case to the tow truck driver.
“Lady, I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do, it’s my job.”
“I just talked to the bank; they said I have two more weeks.”
“I’m sorry, but I just got this order today, to repo this car.”
“I just made a payment today, I’m calling the guy at the bank right now, there has to be a mistake,” Sue said as she fumbled nervously through her phone to find the number to the bank.
The tow truck driver nodded his head, agreeing to wait and leaned against his truck while Sue dialed the bank's phone number. Barry was hiding behind the pick-up truck, but he didn’t think either one of them would have noticed him, they were so involved and focused on what was going on. Sue finally got through to the guy at the bank, and it was clear that he had set her up to believe she would be okay for two weeks, but ordered the repo today, even after she had made a four-hundred-dollar payment. He could see Sue was ready to break down, so he knew it was time for him to step in. He walked up and scared Sue and the tow truck, driver.
“Sue, give me the phone please,” he said as she still looked at him like he appeared out of thin air, as she handed him her phone.
“Hi, I believe Mike is your name?”
“Who is this? I need permission to talk to you about this account, if you’re not on it,” Mike said with a shitty tone.
“Tell him I have permission to speak to him about your account,” Barry said, and he handed Sue the phone.
“I give him permission to speak on my account, or about my account,” Sue said and handed her cell phone back to Barry.
“Good, now that’s over we can get down to business, and your name is Mike, correct?”
“Yes, it’s Mike. I want to let you know because of the serious delinquency of this account that nothing less than a full payment will be accepted on what is due. I will need that payment today. Otherwise, I am taking the car,” Mike said with a shitty tone that made Barry want to choke the life out of him right through the phone.
“I plan to pay the entire balance owed, then I plan to speak to your supervisor and also request a transcript of the conversation you had earlier with my friend, so when the complaint against you is filed, they won’t ignore it. Are you ready for my card number?”
“Sir, I am just doing my job, I…….,” Mike begins to say, but Barry cut him off.
“No, you aren’t doing a job. You're a sadistic idiot who has taken the little power they have and used it to torture people and put them in a worse position than they are in already. Well, today you fucked up. Now are you ready for my card number, I can give you my black card number, if you know what that is and accept it. Otherwise, I have a shit load of platinum cards to use. Are you ready yet, Mike?” Barry asked coldly.
“Yes sir, and I can take the black card,” Mike said, sounding like a beaten bully.
Barry was thinking of killing this guy for the way he treated Sue and must have played other customers, but he thought of a better way to handle this jerk, but he would need to have Polo do him a favor to get this job done. Mike took the information and tried to apologize, but Barry still spoke with his manager and had Sue file a complaint on him, and then he made a quick call to Polo and slipped back in the diner before anyone realized he had been gone too long. There were two people at their table talking and thanking everyone when he slid back into the booth.
“You all better now?” Karen asked as the people left.
“Yes, all better.”
“I saw you outside, everything okay?” Karen asked as she looked out the window, and saw the tow truck putting the car back down.
“It is now, I’ll tell you later.”
“I figured you would,” Karen said as she smiled at him and Sue walked up to their table.
“Thank you, thank you so much.”
“No problem, I am just glad I happened to be at the right place at the right time and was able to help.”
“I don’t know what to say, I will pay you back….,” Sue was saying when Barry cut her off.
“No, you owe me nothing, well maybe a fresh soda, deal?”
“You got it,” Sue said while she wiped tears from her face.
“You guys are great people; I am glad Corey has some great positive influences like you in his life,” Aunt Ledley said as she was looking out the window watching the tow truck driver finish putting Sue’s car down.
“Don’t embarrass me, Aunt Ledley.”
“I’m not trying to embarrass you; I’m telling the truth, you got it good, better than most will ever have it and I’m sure that these two have a lot to do with it. I’m not saying you didn’t earn your keep, but you just better remember who put importance on you when nobody thought you were worth a damn, you hear me?” Aunt Ledley said, looking at Corey with a serious expression.
“I know.”
Aunt Ledley turned her head slightly to the side and scrunched her mouth up a little looking at Corey.
“I hear you.”
“That’s right because you have some money now people will have time for you and tell you who your friends are, remember it’s these two right here, I’m done now. I’ll get off my soapbox,” Aunt Ledley said as she picked up her soda and took a drink.
Barry noticed a breaking news headline rolling at the bottom of the television screen that was talking about a body being found in a car that was set on fire. He had no details of Robert’s death, but he could almost see Dale lighting Robert up like a charcoal briquette. He thought to himself that must have hurt like Hell, but Robert deserved to die badly, and Dale was sure that being burned alive had to be close to the top of the list in worst ways to die. He was glad the day was going so well and that Robert most likely went out sniveling and crying like the punk ass coward he was. There had been so much excitement, with Sue and him choking, he realized he had room for a piece of pie when Sue came back to the table with his soda.
“Can I get you, fine folks, anything else?” Sue asked as she put the soda down and reached into her front apron pocket and pulled out a new straw and laid it next to Barry’s drink.
“Yes, with all the excitement and nearly dying from laughter, I think I would love to have a piece of that pecan pie please.”
“Now th
at’s what I’m talking about, I’ll take a piece of the Sock-It-To-Me cake,” Corey said, and he grabbed his fork almost like the cake would magically appear in front of him.
Aunt Ledley got a piece of the German Chocolate cake, and Karen got a piece of the Lemon Meringue pie. Sue was back almost instantly with all their desserts, and from the looks of it, they all got slices on the large size, which Barry could tell pleased Corey, watching him stuff the cake in his mouth and then gave Sue a thumbs up as they all looked at him.
“Okay, let me know if you all need anything else,” Sue said, and she walked toward another table.
“We better eat and get our bill paid, we still have to get ready to go, and tomorrow will come quicker than we think,” Barry said as everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
Barry had just seen the breaking news story running at the bottom of the television screen at the little diner. The Senator was watching it as well, while he was leaving a message for the kingmaker to call him so they could meet and talk. Having a meeting with the Captain of the two Detectives who discovered the first C.C.K. kill was something that the Senator felt the kingmaker should know about, and more importantly, the Senator wanted his input on how to handle the situation. It was getting a little late in the game to make a mistake when the pieces were in place and a few more moves, the ultimate checkmate would happen. The Senator wasn’t too worried about the Captain or his new information, but he figured this was a good excuse to meet with Mr. Ron Donaldson A.K.A. the kingmaker and see what was going on with his plans for the Presidency, and to be assured that things hadn’t changed.
Death of the C C K Killer Page 14