I’m Fixing To Play Dead (Part 44)

Louise and I sat in shocked silence for a little while after we heard the news on TV about the escapade where I had shot out the tires on Red’s taxi yesterday. The part that shocked us was that they reported no arrests had been made in the incident, which meant Red was on the loose, and that was bad news for both of us.

For Louise because she had witnessed him murder and rob Leon, and for me because he knew about the $600,000 cash I had.

I broke the silence when I informed Louise that I did indeed have the pistol in my possession.

“Well, you keep it handy, Sonny Boy! What you think that red devil is up to right now?”

“He’s probably in Birmingham by now, snooping around the trailer park where you and Leon lived,” I told her. “I know how we can find out if he’s been there, we can call that old man, Mister—I can’t remember his name, the trailer park manager.”

Louise excitedly responded, “That would be Old Man Jenkins, Elroy Jenkins. I know his phone number as well as I know my own. I must have called him a hundred times to tell him my rent was going to be late. Did you talk to him?”

“Sure did. That’s how I found you and Leon. He told me that Leon had come in and paid a lot of back rent and then he saw the two of you leave together in Leon’s truck. He also told me he thought Leon had come into some money and that he liked to go to Biloxi to gamble. He even told me half of the hotel’s name. That’s how I found y’all.”

“Dang! Sonny Boy, you ought to of been a detective or something. You think I ought to call Old Man Jenkins to see if he’s been there?”

“Yes,” I said. “Just to be safe let’s check it out. Use the speaker phone so I can hear.”

Louise took a long drink from her beverage, sat it down, reached for the phone and sat it on the coffee table between us. She pushed the speakerphone button, a dial tone came on and she began to punch in numbers. He answered after the third ring.

Louise leaned over toward the phone and said, “Hello, Mister Jenkins, this is Louise Bedwell.”

“Hey, Louise,” he answered, “you ain’t back home, are you?”

“No sir, I was just calling to see if maybe anybody had been there looking for me?”

“Yes, they have. You seem to be a poplar girl lately. A couple of days ago Leon’s nephew was here looking for him, be he also asked about you. Said he was heading down towards the coast. Did he catch up with y’all?”

“Yes sir, Mister Jenkins, he found us,” Louise replied.

Old Man Jenkins cleared his throat and then continued, “I’m glad he did, ‘cause he was a nice young man. Right polite, and respectful too, nothing like your cousin, who was rude and mean. To tell you the truth, he kind of scared me.”

Louise’s eyes widened and we both leaned in closer to the phone as she said in a shrill voice, “My cousin! What cousin?”

Mister Jenkins continued, “He didn’t even bother to tell me his name, but he’s the one that’s got bright red hair.”

I thought Louise was going to fall off the sofa when she heard that information, but in a trembling voice she said, “Mister Jenkins, what did he want and when was he there?”

“He said there had been a death in your family and he was trying to fine your whereabouts. I told him I thought you might be down in Biloxi, but he said you had already left there and that he intended to find you one way or the other. That’s when I figured out that he intended to hurt me if I didn’t tell him where I thought you might be.”

Almost panic stricken Louise asked, “What did you tell him, Mister Jenkins?”

“Louise, you know I keep a form on file for all my tenants and one of the things on it is who to contact in an emergency. He had said somebody in your family had passed, so I gave him your sister’s address in Montgomery. He just left here about 20 minutes ago.”

Louise was looking at me with real fear in her eyes when she spoke into the phone, “Why did you do that, Mister Jenkins?”

The old man’s voice came back over the phone weak and trembling when he said, “I had to, Louise. He had a knife and he was fixing to use it on me!”