I’m Fixing To Play Dead (Part 45)

Louise, still on the phone with Mister Jenkins, the manager of the trailer park where Leon had lived, looked like a deer on a dark and lonely highway frozen directly in the headlights in the path of a rapidly approaching vehicle, all this after the old man had informed us that Red had Sissy’s address in Montgomery and was more than likely heading our way.

Before she could hang up the phone I urged her to ask if Mister Jenkins knew what kind of vehicle Red was driving. After she asked I heard the old man’s voice over the speaker phone as he said, “Uh huh, I saw it through the window after he left. He was driving a silver colored Dodge Durango.”

I motioned for Louise to hang up the phone. After she said thanks and goodbye to Mister Jenkins she pushed the button and hung up the phone. Then, looking directly at me she moaned, “Oh Lord, Sonny Boy, what in the world are we gonna do!?”

“The first thing we’ll do is stay calm,” I informed her. “I figure it’s about an hour and a half drive from Birmingham to here. That means we got about an hour and we know what kind of vehicle he’ll be in. He had a girlfriend in Birmingham, and it’s probably her car. In fact, I figure that’s how he got away after I shot his tires out, by hiding out somewhere and getting her to come pick him up.”

“Doggone, I’m scared, Sonny Boy!”

“Don’t worry,” I told her. “I’m formulating a plan. What time does Sissy get home from work?”

“Not till about three or four in the morning.”

“That won’t do,” I speculated. “You need to get hold of her and see if she can come get you out of the house within the next half-hour. Tell her everything we found out. While you do that I’m gonna check out around the house.”

I heard Louise ask for Sissy on the phone as I left the room. I wanted to familiarize myself with the entrances into the house. I knew the garage since we had come in that way. The front door was like most—rarely used, which I could tell by the stiffness of the lock when I opened it.

Looking outside, by the glow of a street light, I saw the walkway leading from the driveway to the front door and quickly determined a thief or murderer would never attempt to enter this way, even in the dark of night. However, as a precaution, I re-locked it and tugged and twisted on the knob to make sure the dead bolt was secure.

When I walked back through the living room and headed toward the kitchen I heard Louise talking on the phone. The tone of her voice was shrill and she was talking fast.

The door from the kitchen leading to the backyard was wooden with a glass window making up the top half. I peered out through the glass and saw only darkness. I located a light switch next to the door, flipped it, and the patio outside flooded with light. Then I opened the door and stepped outside onto a spacious patio furnished with a wrought iron table and chairs. There was a furled up umbrella in the center of the table.

I walked off the patio onto the grass and surveyed the back yard. It was all open with no fence. Hedgerows bordered it, but at the very back was a black metal barbecue grill and a concrete table complete with benches.

When I walked out and stood behind the table facing the rear of the house, I had a wide view of the entire back yard and the house; yet, I was buried in the shadows. “This is where I’ll wait for him, “I thought as my hand caressed the handle of my weapon.

At that moment Louise appeared at the back door calling out my name. She was in tears when I got back into the kitchen, but the good news was that Sissy would be home in about 10 minutes.

“Sissy’s got a little cabin on Lake Tallapossa about an hour drive from here,” Louise told me. “She said we’re gonna go there as soon as she gets home, that we can all hide out there until we figure out what to do. I’m going to throw some things together for both of us. You need to get your stuff together, too.”

I followed Louise to her bedroom and watched as she stuffed clothes into a traveling bag. Then she raked cosmetics, lotions, and other bottles from the top of her dresser, closed it and started towards the door. I saw a tube of lipstick bounce to the floor. I picked it up and followed her into the kitchen.

She sat her bag on the table and said, “Now all we got to do is wait for Sissy. I already told you, Sonny Boy, you need to get your stuff, too!”

That’s when I told her, “I’m fixing to stay here and wait on him!”