The Second Doublewide on the Right, part 91

I’m Fixin’ To present part 91 of The Second Doublewide on the Right:

Marthalene Benton, the lovely and willowy young victim of Mister Ray, Leon and so many others, seemed to have finally found her soul mate, only to have him snatched away after only a few precious days and nights together.

On the Sunday morning her beloved had been arrested, after she had secured the collection plates in the apartment, Marthalene had driven straight to the Ocmulgee County Jail where she was informed that Rev. Jones was in the process of being booked into the jail and that visiting hours weren’t until this coming Wednesday.

She almost panicked at that point, but then she remembered the instructions Ricky Lee had whispered in her ear just before he was taken from the church in handcuffs.

Ocmulgee County had always been her home, and like everybody else, she was well aware of Slick Waddell’s reputation as the lawyer you wanted if you got in trouble with the local law. Since it was Sunday, she knew he wouldn’t be in his office, but she knew where he lived. After returning to the church apartment to retrieve a bag full of cash, she drove straight to his house.

That night and all day Monday, Marthalene kept herself secluded in the church apartment. It wasn’t the same without him being there, but was still snug and already felt like home. Late that afternoon the phone rang. It was Slick, who informed her he had met with the reverend today and they were scheduled for an arraignment in court the next morning.

So early Tuesday morning she slipped onto a pew in the back of the courtroom where she was easily concealed behind the crowd of observers in front of her. But being that far back she couldn’t hear what the lawyers and the judge were saying when it was Ricky Lee’s turn to face the judge. All she knew was that he was wearing an ugly orange prison jump suit with chains wrapped around him instead of her arms.

After what seemed like a lot of mombojumbo to her, Marthalene watched as the authorities left the courtroom with Ricky Lee. Then she returned to the church apartment and began calling Sick’s office every hour, but he didn’t return any of her calls the rest of the day.

After a restless night, which seemed to take forever to pass, early Wednesday morning Marthalene remembered that today was visiting day at the jail. She arrived there early and told the uniformed lady behind the heavy glass window whom she was there to visit. After a short wait she was shocked when she was informed that, at his own request, Ricky Lee Jones was not seeing any visitors.

Finally, mercifully, late that afternoon the phone rang and it was Slick. “Miss Benton, this is—-”

“I know dang well who you are. What I don’t know is what the heck is going on. What happened in that courtroom yesterday? Why is Ricky Lee still in jail? And why wouldn’t he see me when I went to visit this morning?”

“It’s a little complicated, Miss Benton. Justice moves slow, but I should be in a position to give you some satisfaction tomorrow afternoon if you can be at my office at two o’clock.”

“Yeah, uh huh, I can be be there, but why can’t you—-”

The line went dead. The dirty rat had hung up on her!

To pass the time Marthalene began to clean the church, the entire church. She vacuumed, mopped and polished until the sanctuary shined like new money. Late that night she went into the bathroom and sprayed herself with a little sprit of Ricky Lee’s cologne. Then she went to bed and breathed in the sweet scent of him as she wrapped her limbs around a pillow and pretended it was him.

Mister Waddell’s office was on the second floor of a historical building across the Square from the courthouse. Marthalene was parked in front of the building watching the minutes tick by until the appointed hour. At five minutes before two she started up the stairs and when she reached the landing at the top she pushed the glass door open and presented herself to the secretary, who immediately escorted her into Slick’s office.

After the secretary had departed and she had been invited to take a seat the lawyer began, “Miss Benton, I have some information which might be distressing to you, but I also have information which will be very beneficial to you.”

She bit into her bottom lip, steeled herself for the worst, then nodded and said, “All right, I’m ready.”

She was astounded after Slick related all the details of the reverend’s legal problems. He concluded by saying, “And he was extradited back to Arkansas this morning. He instructed me to inform you that he believed you deserved better.”

“I can’t believe he already had a wife!” Marthelene sobbed.

“Actually, two of them,” Slick said, “well, only one was legal, and there was also the matter of—-, but no need to get into that. Now, I have the good news. Miss, Benton,” he said leaning forward for emphasis, “Reverend Jones signed papers to transfer sole ownership of the property on Hwy. 11, the building and all its contents to you. By this time next week I’ll have the papers prepared for your signature!”

The next day, as if posting what she believed in her heart, she put letters on the outside church sign which read: “SERVICES ARE FIXIN’ TO BE TEMPORARILY ON HOLD PENDING THE RETURN OF REVEREND RICKY LEE JONES.”