Chapter 24: Deep Dark Depression - Excessive Misery

Fred Boyd his brother.
Alice Boyd his sister in law.
Nephew John 15
Niece Gabby 13
Jo Anne Wall old girl friend
Windy Wall her ex husband.
Lewis and Ellie Keith’s in laws.
Sarah Marsh retro hippie
General Briggs rd
Doris owner of the consignment shop.
Jo Anne Joyner Wall : Keith’s first girlfriend. Three girls 16 13 10

oldest daughter ginger
Mr Jessup buyer of Keith’s scooter.
Rebecca Avondale deacon and keith’s client.
Marsha stylist to Rebecca
Gulfcrest hotel/casino
Elanor, Mark and Simon family being stalked
Sylvia Amos sheriff’s detective.
Tomas Gorseski Sylvia Avery’s husband
Willow goth chick. Computer nerd
Abdi arab family victim of arson.
Ginger Moss Willow’s mother
Mr Serpico client in motel.
Liam Amos hunter.
Jasper Amos Liam’s son
Jerry Geyser first separated man to stay in cabin/tent.
Lou Anne Mason justice dept
Jill one of the federal cops.
Ashley Marcy’s friend.
Nurse Jane at hospital in grenada
Rodney Markham and Marcus Wilbert Deacon’s attackers
Sylvia Simmons (Marcy’s client) aka sonya
Mark Wilson sheriffs detective.
Lisa Preston mother of delinquent cook
Mike preston catfisherman and cook
Agent Rogers Doj
Marsha Edwards the girl who had a drug reaction in one of Keith’s cabin.
Debbie Schultz my first trailer rental not in danger.
Barbara Matros photography community college instructor.
Sally Rider and Teddy Martin his first bride and groom.
Iva Goodman dead Josey roommate
Josey Everette Johns dead friend.
Menendez supplier of fancy drugs to Josey.
Rita Moreno Menendez lawyer.
Rufus black hitman

After three days Sylvia gave up and drove home. I moved from the cheap motel to living on the streets of Oxford MS. Since it was a college town, and I was on the downhill slide to fifty years old, it wasn’t too hard to go unnoticed. I moved into one of the abandoned business buildings with a view of Menendez exotic motor cars. I filmed the rear entrance of the showroom. I had no idea what I was looking for, or how long it would take to find it. I used my digital camera with the long telephoto lens adapter and the high resolution circuitry to film the images.

I also checked by the Levee Club before bedtime looking for Rufus Black. It went about as well for me alone as it had for me and Sylvia. I didn’t have any idea how much longer I would continue with the two pronged approach. If nothing happened soon, I might have to rethink the method.

After seven days away from home I had nothing on Menendez and no idea where Rufus was keeping himself. It was the end of the seventh day when I saw Rufus Black go into the Levee Club. Since I was doing a good impression of a homeless wino, he didn’t make me. Not even when he passed right by me.

I waited outside in the parking lot from which I had seen him exit. I didn’t know which car was his, so I waited in a doorway at the rear of a dress shop. Since it was closed, no one seemed to mind. I leaned against that door frame for five hours. He came walking from the club to his car. He was in the company of a young woman.

I had my hair pushed up under the tow-bogon. I was also pretty ordinary looking. Since the woman was young and quickly terrified, I doubted she would recognize me. Also since she was lily white and Rufus was very black, I doubted she would be too quick to report it. The cops might be looking for some ultra right wing conservative. I had no connection with any political organizations, or movements whatsoever.

Then again the white college girl saw me zap Rufus with a Tazer. She ran like hell. Since I had waited until he had his car unlocked before getting him inside and out of the area. Since I hadn’t driven a car in over five years, getting him back to where I was squatting was more difficult. I did manage it, and even managed to get him up to the third floor. It was draining and painful, but I made it even though he came out of his unconscious state half way up the stairs.

But of course myth busters would have been proud. I had used a roll of duct tape to immobilize him. I had considered taping him to a wall, but that just seemed foolish. I left him taped to a toilet while I moved his car to a city parking lot. I made sure not to look into the cameras while I walked back to the vacant building.

It was 3 AM when I arrive back at the squat. When I got back he showed signs of struggling so I broke both his arms while he could scream but not be heard the timing to do so was right. I used one of those old galvanized water pipes for the job. I was wearing the heavy rubber gloves again, I wasn’t too worried about finger prints.

I lifted him off the toilet, then carried his ass to an interior room. I had to explain who I was and why I had kidnapped him first. When I began to see the terror in his eyes, I knew it was time to begin the interrogation. He quickly grasped the importance of that information.

“You should know that I wore these household rubber gloves to grab you, and while I taped you up, so there will be no finger prints of any significance. I’m sure you realize from your two broken arms, I do not have a problem bringing torture to the table.

You will probably appreciate the significance of all the preparation. I carried all my belonging to the self storage unit I rented earlier. I will clean this place after I dump you, alive or dead, in the woods somewhere.

So shall we get started?” I asked. “I expect you to be hard to crack, but you all crack in the end. It will probably take longer than an ordinary thug, but less time than a religious fanatic.” I looked at him before I asked him a single question. After the staring match, I swung the iron pipe and broke his left kneecap.

“Now why did you kill the college girl at my camp ground?” I asked.

He looked like he wanted to talk so I ripped the duct tape loose. “Fuck you,” he growled.

“Now you might think that is going to put and end to his party. I do not get upset and I am not really angry at you.” I said that just before I broke his right knee cap. I would have known that he was trying to scream even if I hadn’t heard the muffled animal noise.

“Do you want to answer now?” I asked.

He shook his head. I sat in a chair by the window watching the dealership. I shot a couple of car license plates for Sylvia while I waited for Rufus to adjust as best he could. It was very early in the morning, and way before opening hours, so I knew they were significant.

I went back to Rufus after I shot some picture of the crews in the cars and light trucks. Those men came and went inside a half hour. Some men were still inside the building doing god only knew what.

“Do you work for Menendez?” I asked.

Rufus shook his head.

“Were you here to do one job or were you hired as an employee,” I asked. “I’m going to remove the gag. If you talk. We can wrap this up while you have a chance to survive. I you scream it’s back to the gag till you can’t do it again. You understand?” I asked.

Rufus nodded his head.

“So are you contract labor or an employee?” I asked.

“Partner in a new operation,” Rufus answered.

“So who hired you to handle the girl,” I asked.

“Menendez, the kid works for him,” he said.

“Josey?” I asked.

“Yeah they both did. Menendez wanted her customer list. The kid was supposed to get it from her, but she refused. She got adamant. You should have been the one asking the questions,” He said.

“I’m doing a full interrogation because you were about to decide you were wrong to leave the kid alive,” I suggested.

“That wasn’t my decision,” Rufus said. “The kid only showed up on my radar as a witness and I took precautions. If Menendez hadn’t ordered me to go to that dead girls apartment to look for her list, you never would have found me. He is the one you should kill.”

“I’ll tell him you said that,” I replied.

“You gonna kill me?” he asked.

“What you do if we swapped places?” I asked.

“Give me a minute to pray?” he asked.

I clocked him. When his time was up, I twisted his neck without warning, Rufus was dead instantly, and his pain was over. I spent the day in that filthy room with Rufus Black’s dead body and my camera aimed at the showroom.

After dark I sat in a corner near the parking lot watching for any other watchers. After two hours I declared it a clean scene. I had Rufus’s car shortly thereafter and an hour later I had his body in the trunk. I spent an hour in the car wiping it down with bleach. It was late at night so no one came into the parking lot of the public boat access. When I finished I set the car at the edge of the access ramp, then pulled it into gear and rolled out. The car went into the river while barely moving so it float away and took a while to sink below the water. I imagined it if wasn’t found the next morning it would be the next time there was a drought for sure.

I began the five mile hike back to Oxford. It took almost four hours, but I finally dragged my ass back to the storage unit. I stayed inside resting until mid afternoon. Then I walked away carrying probably a fifty pound back pack.

During that afternoon I called a local cut rate taxi driver. He showed up and gave me a price to drive me home. I sat in the cab with my stump aching and tried to rest. When we arrived home I paid the driver in cash and thanked him.

In total I had been gone nine days. I found some iced tea in the refrigerator which had turned sour. I managed to drink it while I reran the last three days. I felt bad about murdering the man, even if it was kind of self defense. Everybody wants to feel better than that, but I knew I wasn’t better at all.

I made more iced tea as well as a pot of coffee. I knew it was going to be a long night. I was right it was a long night. I composed a couple of anonymous Emails to DEA agent Rogers. I sent along the plate numbers of those late night cars and trucks visiting Menendez Motors.

Even that didn’t help me justify the torture and death of Rufus Brown. I could only hope that he couldn’t be tied to Josey. The reason was simple Josey’s murder tired Rufus Black to my campground and therefore to me. I might wind up doing time for Black, but of course I hoped not.

I called Alice right after breakfast. I explained I was home but didn’t want anyone to know just yet. I suggested that I try to sneak over for Chisum before lunch. She reluctantly agreed.

After my thawed, then toasted, hamburger roll with cream cheese from a squeeze tube and raspberry jam, I went to the circus tent. In the back of my mind there was Rufus Black’s murder. I felt like bursting into tears. Knowing something was necessary and that I was the only one to do it, didn’t to shit to ease my mind. Rufus was sure as hell going to come for John eventually, and me as soon as he healed, it had been like I said a case of self defense.

I found everything as I had left it. The batteries had drained only slightly, so they were up and ready to power the bike within the first half hour. I returned to the house to warm up before I rode it to Fred and Alice’s house.

I stayed in the house long enough to drink more coffee and put on a thermal sweater and nylon windbreaker type jacket for the ride next door. The scooter was beginning to get boring. It was just unplug it and ride away most mornings. The scooter was more fun to work on than to ride.

The fact that I had driven Rufus’s car didn’t make it any more likely that I would be buying a car or truck. I just felt trapped when I was inside a car. The feeling was ten times worse when I was behind the wheel. The memory attached to cars and truck was not only being on the receiving end of pain and terrible fear, but also of causing great pain and death. I wanted to cry when I thought of what I had done. I had once been the victim and now I was also the monster.

With those kinds of thoughts running wild in my brain, I rode the mile and a half to Fred’s house, and Alice’s home. Alice had left her garage door open so Chisum could run out to greet me and he did. He was super hyper and wiggling like a basket of worms. When I got off the scooter he lick my face and hand until I had to forcefully stop him. He didn’t seem to hold it against me that I wrapped him in my arms to prevent him from licking me to death.

When Alice opened the door, I climbed the steps until I was inside the house. Chisum came in after me. I embraced Alice a little longer than necessary, but it felt safe in her arms.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Of course I am. The questions is are you alright?” Alice asked.

“Yes I’m fine,” I said.

“Did you find the man who Killed John’s friend and hurt him?” she asked next.

That is when it began. I couldn’t just be evasive, I had to be a convincing liar. “No, I think we know who it was, but he seems to have disappeared,” I explained.

“Are you going back to Oxford?” she asked.

“No I’m home to stay, I hope,” I replied.

“Good, Chisum and I need you,” she answered.

I drank more coffee with Alice, while she told me about John’s problem adjusting to Josey’s death. I didn’t tell her that he might have been complacent in her death. That was going to be a heavy load to carry, I thought. Not telling Alice my concerns was going to be difficult. I also needed to keep some distance between us. I knew that I was likely to become a target, if I hadn’t been before.

When we got home an hour later, Chisum spent the complete afternoon exploring the homestead. He needed to make sure nothing had changed. I sat on the porch in the sun while he roamed around. While I sat there the Taurus .357 was in my upside down shoulder holster. It was meant for concealment, but I wore it out in the open around the house. I wanted it for easy access at the moment. The Mossberg 12 gauge pump gun with the trench length barrel was also handy. If anyone had been following me around, they might have thought I was prepared for my own personal Alamo. There was a certain amount of truth in that thinking. Like the Alamo, if a large force came for me, there was no way to win. Also like the Alamo I wasn’t planning to surrender.