The Last Jeskey - Chapter 37

 

The Last Jeskey

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 37

 

(Day 8 – Thursday)

 

Freaky

 

What’s the big deal about money?  Why is it that that’s all everybody seems to think about?  It’s useless!  It’s just little pieces of paper with drawings on it.  It doesn’t do anything!  You can’t use it for anything.  Money doesn’t make sense!  At least that’s the way I felt about it.

While we waited for someone to come back to take us shopping, Shantel and Lisa went through every cupboard I had and discussed what they should get.  But that led directly to trouble…for me.

Lisa opened one of the bottom kitchen cabinets and found the dog food and my bowl.  “Freaky,” she said.  “Did you used to have a dog?”

“No.  Never.  We have some chickens sometimes and some pigs once in a while, but we’ve never had a dog.”

“Then why do you have dog food in here?”

“For me of course.”

“You!”

“Leese!” Shantel said.  “She told us they made her eat dog food sometimes.”

“I didn’t want to believe it,” Lisa said as she pulled the bag and my bowl out and set them on the table.”

“When was the last time you had to eat this?” she asked me.

“This morning.  That’s what I had for breakfast.”

“You what?” both Lisa and Shantel yelled.

“Why the hell did you do that?” Shantel asked.

“Because Gary said I’m supposed to be eating nothing but dog food until he says I can stop.  But he’s got to kill me first.”

“Kill you is right!  As in murder.  Freaky, he’s not coming back to tell you to stop eating.  He’s coming back to murder you like someone did to those other uncles of yours.  You’re going to be dead!”

“But I owe them my life.  Without them, I would have been dead a long time ago.  They’ve told me that all my life.”

“Freaky,” Lisa said.  “No more dog food!  Ever!  You’re better than that.”  She grabbed the bag and the bowl and carried them over to the trash barrel next to the beer refrigerator, and dumped them in.

All I could see was Gary yelling at me for not doing what I was told and burying me alive for it again.  If I didn’t eat nothing but the dog food, I wouldn’t be a good girl!  What was I going to do?  And I knew both Lisa and Shantel weren’t going to understand.  Yeah, Gary was definitely going to kill me.

It was getting toward lunchtime when Natalie came back.  She was only in the house a minute before we all walked out, Shantel and Lisa both carried bags with them.  Nice looking bags with handles that went over their shoulders.  I had seen them carrying them yesterday when they came home from the shelter with me.  They even took them into that place where we had gotten the burgers.  But why did they take them?  I never once saw either of them opening them.  And now they were carrying them again.  I was never going to figure out this world.  There was one other thing I was trying to figure out.  Why was there a cop car following us?  Nobody had talked to him or even said hi.

“Why am I going?” I asked as Natalie drove away from the house.  “They never take me to get food or anything else.  I’m supposed to stay home.”

I expected Natalie to answer, but Lisa answered instead.  “You’re going because it’s good for you.  We’re supposed to be teaching you about the world away from your house, and we can’t do that if you stay home.”

Nobody else seemed to have any opinions about that.  I had one, but I didn’t say it.  As far as I was concerned, I was better off staying home, where I understood everything.  I just looked out the windows and watched the woods and then the fields, and then I started seeing all those weird buildings and places again.  I just knew they were going to take me to another weird place that I didn’t understand.

Natalie stopped the car at what she called a restaurant.  I noticed that cop car that followed us parked next to us.

“Looks kinda nice,” Shantel said as she got out of the car.

“It does,” Lisa agreed.

I just thought the building looked weird.  It had huge windows all across the font so you could see all the people inside eating.  We all went inside, but I had to wonder why that cop in that car went to all that trouble to follow us, and now he wasn’t coming in with us.  Natalie led us to an empty table, and we sat down.  There were these book things sticking up between some stuff on the table and Natalie grabbed them and passed one to each of us.  I looked at it.  It was full of pictures of food…I think.  It took me a moment to figure out that I was looking at it upside down.  Why have a book full of food pictures?  At least I didn’t have to worry about reading it.

“Freaky,” Natalie said as I looked at the pictures.  “Do you know what you want?”

“Something to eat,” I replied.

“Yes, but what would you like?”

“I don’t know.”

But Lisa suddenly moved her chair around next to me and started pointing at each of the pictures.  “This is chicken, this is a different kind if chicken, this is a salad….”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“That’s what the words with each picture mean.  Those words tell us all about the picture.”

“They do?”

“Yes!  That’s why you need to learn to read.”

I considered that.  “But I’m a girl.”

“And so am I!” Lisa said firmly.  “So is every woman in this place, every woman in the world.  And they all can read…except you.”

“They can?”

“Yes!”

“But I can’t.”

“I know.  But that’s what I’m going to start teaching you.  Tonight!”

“Tonight?  You will?”

“Yes!”

I looked at the pictures again and the word things that were with them.  It would be nice to be able to figure things out for myself once in a while.  “Okay,” I told her.  “Maybe that would be good.”

“I got a surprisingly nice hug from her.  She showed me a few more pictures and then asked what I wanted to eat.  I pointed at a picture that she said was chicken, although it didn’t look anything like the fried chicken I cooked.  “Good choice,” Lisa said before she moved her chair back around to her place at the table.

A lady came over to the table and asked something about drinks.  Everybody said something, but after Lisa told her what she wanted, she pointed at me and told the lady that I would have the same thing.  And then Natalie told the lady what she wanted to eat.  After Shantel and Lisa had told her what they wanted, Lisa told her what kind of chicken food I wanted.  The lady finished writing something then went away.  I wondered what was supposed to happen now.  Last night at that burger place, the sheriff had gone to a counter where some other people were to get the food.  This time I didn’t see a food counter like that.

“Miss Natalie,” Shantel suddenly said.  “I really hate to ask this but…well, I want to.”

“What?” Natalie asked.

“Is there any chance in the world we can buy a guitar?  Just a cheap one.”

“A guitar?” Natalie asked, sounding surprised.  “Do you play guitar?”

“Since I was little.  But I ain’t had one now since I left home.  That house we’s in has no TV, no nothin’ and I just thought that maybe a bit of music would be nice.”

“I love hearing you sing,” I told her.

“Thank you Baby Doll,” Shantel said.  “I appreciate that.  I love singin’.”

Natalie shook her head.  “I’m sorry Shantel, but right now we’re not too sure about how the money situation is going to work.  I can buy some groceries and things right now to help get you going, but then Pam and I need to sit down and work on the details of it all…including paying you two.  Maybe another time when the money situation is a bit more clear.  When I got up this morning, we had no money to work with at all.  Besides, I don’t even know where you could buy something like that around here.”

“Okay, thanks,” Shantel replied.  “I just thought I’d ask.”

When the lady brought the food to the table, it was really, really good.  I had to wonder how they made it taste like that.

When we all finished eating, that lady came back again and I watched as Natalie pulled some money out of the bag she was carrying.  I saw her count some, then give it to the lady.  Why?  As we were getting up from our chairs, I whispered to Lisa, “Why did she do that?”

“Do what?” Lisa asked.

“Give the lady some of that money stuff.”

Lisa looked at me.  “You’ve never seen anyone buy anything before, have you.”

“I never left the house before.  But what was the money for?”

“To pay for our meals,” Lisa said.

“Why?”  I asked as we walked away from the table.

I didn’t get an answer until we were back in the car.  “Freaky,” Lisa said softly.  “If you had a dozen eggs and you wanted to sell some…”

“What’s a dozen?” I asked.

“Twelve.”

“What’s twelve?”

“Oh boy!” I heard Shantel say from the front seat.

Lisa was still trying to explain it to me when Natalie stopped the car at what she called a grocery store.  I had heard Bo and the others talk about the grocery store, and groceries, which I knew was food of all kinds, so I had some idea as to what would be in the store.  But why did the building have to be so big?  My head was already confused and spinning from Lisa trying to explain money and numbers to me, when we all walked inside and I saw so much stuff.  Wow!  “This is all groceries?” I asked Shantel.

“Every bit of it,” Honey Pie,” Shantel said.

“Lisa,” Natalie said, “Why don’t you and Freaky grab a cart.  Shantel and I will take another one.”

“Have they got coffee pots in here?” Shantel asked Natalie.

“Yes,” Natalie replied.  “And we’ll get you one.”

“Thank the lord!”

While the others pushed the carts and kept putting things in them, I stared in wonder at all the stuff the place had.  So many things.  So many colors, so much…stuff!  And all of it was different.  I don’t think they picked up anything I recognized, including the coffee making machine.  Oh, there was some things that Lisa put in the cart that I did recognize, but I didn’t know why she picked them up.  I saw her take some paper, some pencils, and later she picked up a book.  Why?  And why did both Shantel and Natalie tell her that was a good idea?

When we were done picking stuff up, Natalie led us to this weird table where the entire top of it moved, and Natalie started putting the things from her cart on that moving tabletop.  There was another lady there who kept grabbing things and I kept hearing this beeping sound from somewhere.  Another lady was taking everything she had grabbed and was stuffing it in bags.  Why didn’t the first lady simply grab the things and stick them in bags?  Or for that matter, why didn’t we do it ourselves?  Why did they even need bags?  We could put it all right into the trunk of Natalie’s car.

When the lady was done grabbing things, instead of leaving, Natalie did that thing with the money stuff again.  Lisa had spent some time trying to explain it to me, so I had a vague idea, but it was too vague.  I still couldn’t figure out what the money did.  But we left that weird huge building and went back to the car, where Shantel and Lisa put all those groceries into the trunk of Natalie’s car.

When we left, I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to think about more, what Lisa was trying to tell me about the money, or all the stuff they had in that place.  The store stuff won out, until Natalie said, “Shantel, you said you wanted to see a church.  There’s one just ahead that I think you might like.  We’ve got groceries in the car, but if we don’t take too long, maybe we can stop so you can take a quick look inside.”

“Miss Natalie!” Shantel said, suddenly very excited.  It looked like she wanted to hug Natalie, but she was afraid to because Natalie was driving.

 

The Last Jeskey - Chapter 36

 

The Last Jeskey

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 36

 

(Day 8 – Thursday)

 

Sheriff Cobb

 

The minute I heard about the money I was up from my desk and all action.  Amanda was already out there, but I told Russ I needed four more deputies to go with me out to the Jeskey place.  We had been searching for the money in the wrong place.  It wasn’t in the woods, it was in the house after all.

My own car had been delivered back to me that morning and Russ and I got in it.  Russ wasn’t going to be left behind, which was fine with me.  The more deputies I had out there the better.  Especially with Gary still on the loose.

While I drove, I pulled my cellphone out and called Pamela.  She said she’d make time and come out to the house to see.  My next call went to Natalie.  Nat was just as excited as I was over it and told me she was already on her way.

As soon as we were out of town I hit the lights and the gas.  We rocketed down the rural highway at speeds that looked like we were chasing someone.  Natalie’s car was already there by the time we arrived.  Going inside, the house seemed full with all those women in there.  “Where?” I asked Amanda.

She led me to a closet by the back door where the entire floor had been pulled up.  Another hidey hole that Bo must have made.  I certainly hadn’t known it was there.  I wondered what other places he had built in that house.  I briefly entertained the idea of having the entire place torn down just so I could see.

Inside that area of the closet floor though, I saw five handguns, one for each of the Jeskey boys, and underneath those guns…money.  Stacks of money.  And it looked like there were a lot of them.

“Russ,” I said.  “We’re going to need those guns out of there and cataloged.  And that money needs to be counted before it leaves this house.”

Russ immediately started issuing orders.  I moved everyone away from the closet and the deputies went to work pulling all that money out.  They stacked it on the table and before long I had four of them working together to count it all while everyone else looked on.

“Does this mean we can get paid?” I heard Lisa ask Nat.

“More than likely,” Natale told her.  “I do think though that a judge would rule that all that money belongs to Gary.  But at the same time, since Gary will be arrested and will most likely spend the rest of his life in jail, and especially after the things that Gary and the others have done to Freaky, I believe that any judge in the world would take pity on Freaky and award all, or at least some of it to her.  So yes, in the end, I think we’ve got a good chance of giving you and Shantel at least a little something from it.  Once in a while.”

Somehow, I didn’t think that was quite the answer that Lisa was looking for.  But it was better than nothing I guess.

“Sheriff,” Russ said a little while later.  “Fifty-thousand.  Exactly.”

Fifty-thousand.  It looked like a lot of money, and it was.  I realized something else.  “One gun for each of them, and ten-thousand for each.”  And then it dawned on me.  “This wasn’t their main stash of cash,” I said.  “This was just their emergency stash.  Maybe for if they needed a quick getaway.”

“Could be,” Russ agreed.  “So where’s the rest?”

We were interrupted at that point by the door opening again.  I saw Pam McGregor walk in.  “We have money?” she asked.

“Some,” I told her.

“How much?”

“Fifty-thousand.  But I’m guessing this was nothing more than their emergency stash.  There were five guns in with it.  One gun and ten thousand for each of them.”

“Fifty-thousand still sounds like a nice workable amount,” Natalie said to Pam.

“It certainly does,” Pam agreed.

“Lisa just asked if she and Shantel can get paid now.”

Pam held up one finger and pulled out her cellphone.  A moment later I heard her say, “Judge Reinhart?  They found some money at the Jeskey place.  Fifty-thousand.  Since Gary is still alive, I know he would probably have first claim on it, but in light of everything those men have done to Freaky, and the fact that Gary will most likely be heading to jail for the rest of his life, what’s the chance of us using this for Freaky’s needs?”  I watched as she listened for a minute, then she said.  “Okay.  Thanks.  I’ll keep you in the loop.”  She turned to Lisa.  “Yes, Lisa, we’ll be able to pay you.  At least for now.  But we’re going to have to work out the details, and I can already tell you it’s going to be nothing more than minimum wage.”

Instead of Lisa answering, it was Shantel.  “Miss Pamela, that’s just music to my ears.”

Pam turned to me.  “The judge said to tell you to double check the amount and register it all as evidence, then release it to us and we’re supposed to open a bank account with it to protect it.”  She turned to Natalie.  “And he said to hurry up and find that third person to manage the trust.”

“But who?” Natalie replied.  “We’ve gone nuts trying to think of someone.”

“I talked to that detective Benson from Knoxville this morning.  He hasn’t had time yet to even look for any relatives of Clive’s wife.  He promised to try and do that today.  If he finds some, I’ll drive down there tomorrow and go with him to let them know that their daughter’s murderer has been found.  I’ll make the decision then if perhaps one of them might be a good choice for our third wheel person.”

“If there isn’t a third person, maybe we can just leave it at the two of us,” Natalie suggested.  “It would make things easier.  Especially if the third person lives a thousand miles away.”

“True,” Pam agreed.  “But at least we’ve got some money now to actually comprise a trust fund.  And it’s a decent amount to work with too.”

“Yeah,” Nat agreed.  “At least there’s that.  And it’s good news.  Even with my salary, Will and I can’t afford to feed so many people for too long.  Did the judge say how long before we can spend some of it?  I know they need food here.”

“Yes!” Lisa said.  “We do.  We need a few things.”

Pam considered that then looked at me.  “Sheriff, how long will it take you to do what you need to with it?”

“We know how much is there,” I told her.  “We don’t have to count it again.  I can have a couple of deputies take it straight to the bank for you.  Just get me a deposit slip for my records and we’ll be good.  I would imagine the bank will have no problem issuing you a credit card or something right away if you want, or I guess you can just use cash.  That’s your problem to figure out.  So it just depends on how long it takes to get the banking done.”

“Perfect!” Pam replied.  “She looked at Natalie.  “You and me will need to both go to the bank to set things up.  After that, I’ll leave today’s shopping to you.  I’m so far behind on my work I don’t know what I’m going to do.  And if I have to go to Knoxville tomorrow that’s just going to make things worse.  It’s got to be done though.”

“I’m way behind with my clients too,” Natalie told her, “but I’ll fit it in where I can.”  She turned to Lisa and Shantel.  “Maybe we can go shopping right after lunch,” she told them.  “Do what you can to make a list so we can get it done as quickly as possible.”

“Fine,” Lisa told her.  “Except there isn’t enough food here to have lunch.”

Natalie seemed a bit flustered at that.  “Then we’ll have lunch out somewhere too, and then go grocery shopping.”

“Miss Natalie,” Shantel said.  “I have a question.”

“What?” Natalie asked.

“Any chance we can visit a church today.  Just so I can take a quick look.  I promise I won’t look long.”

I watched Natalie’s face.  It took a moment, but she gradually seemed to relax.  “Sure, Shantel.  As long as it doesn’t take too long.”

“Thanks Miss Natalie,” Shantel said happily.  She looked over at Lisa.  “Leese, I’m goin’ back to church!”

 

The Last Jeskey - Chapter 35

 

The Last Jeskey

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 35

 

(Day 7 – Wednesday  to  Day 8 – Thursday)

 

Freaky

 

I was home again.  Finally.  And it felt like such a relief.  And more than that, Shantel and Lisa were here with me.  I was so happy!  It all felt really strange when Natalie, Pamela, and the cop left.  Lisa, Shantel, and me were alone in the house.  It struck me that I had never been alone in this house with other women before.  It was…nice.

“What can I do for you?” I asked them.  “Do you need anything?”  I was used to taking care of the guys.  What else would I do?

“I’m fine, Honey Pie,” Shantel told me.  “There’s no TV or anything, so I guess we just…relax for a bit.  Then I guess, bed.”  She chuckled.  “Nobody tellin’ us when to go to bed here, and when to get up again.”

“We can sleep in tomorrow,” Lisa noted.

“Right!” Shantel agreed as she plopped herself down in a chair.

Lisa took the couch, and we all sat and looked at each other in silence for a moment, then Shantel began to sing.  I loved it, and so did Lisa.  But Shantel didn’t sing long before she suddenly stopped.

“You ain’t got a guitar here, do you?” Shantel asked me.

“A…what’s a…”

“Guitar Honey Pie, and I can see that you don’t, so don’t worry about it.  If’n you don’t mind, I can sing just fine without it.”

“Mind?” I asked.

“Go for it,” Lisa told her as she stretched out on the couch.  “Sing me to sleep.”

“Oh Honey,” Shantel said.  “Close those pretty eyes of yours.  Have I got a song for you.”

She sang for a long time, and we listened.  Why would anyone rather watch one of those TV things instead of listening to this?  I just didn’t get it.  Like I didn’t get most things outside of this house.  But here, it all made sense.

Until it was bedtime.

“Freaky,” Lisa said.  “Don’t sleep on the floor.  You don’t need to do that anymore.”

“But I’m a good girl!” I insisted.  “Girls sleep on the floor!”

“No they don’t!  Now there’s two beds in some of those rooms.  If you want, you can sleep with me.”

“No!  This is where I usually sleep.  Here, by the backdoor.”

“But it’s on the floor.  And there are bedrooms and beds available that were made to be slept in.  Just…try it.  For me?”

“No!” I insisted.  “I’m a good girl, and I’m going to stay a good girl.  This is where I belong, here in this house.  And I sleep here on the floor.”

Lisa gave up.  “Okay,” she said.  “We’ll be in one of those bedrooms together.  See you in the morning.”

I felt better.  This was where I belonged.  This was what I understood.  It felt…comforting.

I think I slept better than any night since they took me away from here.

As always, I was up bright and early.  The only problem was, I didn’t have any of the guys there to take care of…unless maybe Gary came home.  I silently made my way through the house.  I didn’t see Gary in the living room.  I checked all three bedrooms.  No Gary, but Shantel and Lisa were sleeping in Ben and Steve’s beds in one of the rooms together.

I went back to the kitchen where I belonged.  There wasn’t much food left in the house.  Bo, or one of the guys was going to have to go shopping for some soon.  Except, the only guy left to do any shopping was Gary, and I didn’t know when he was going to come back.  But I had heard Natalie and some of the others talking about shopping last night.  So maybe they would bring some food for us.

In the meantime, I tried to figure out what I was going to give them for breakfast when they woke up.  No eggs or anything like that.  As far as I could see, they were down to cereal and that was all.  And more than likely, there wasn’t going to be enough for me.  But that was the way things were supposed to be.

My eye caught the dog food bowl still on the floor.  What was supposed to be was that I was supposed to still be eating nothing but dog food until they told me I could stop.  With a sigh, I pulled out the bag of dry dog food and poured some of it into my bowl.  I soon found myself on my hands and knees, lowering my face into that bowl.  The dry dog food pellets lasted nearly forever.  So did their taste in my mouth.  I remembered that hamburger that they had bought me at that weird place last night.  I couldn’t believe how good it had tasted.  How did they do that?  The hamburgers I made for the guys never tasted like that.  Inevitably though, I bent my head down again into the bowl and took another mouthful.  Breakfast.  I was home.

It was a long time before Shantel and Lisa got up, which gave me plenty of time to clean the kitchen again and visit my pee hole out behind the shed.  I was a good girl, and I was going to stay a good girl, no matter what anyone else said.

I saw Lisa come out first, but she headed straight into the bathroom.  I didn’t expect her to go anywhere else.  It seemed like none of the women I had met since I had left here even knew what a proper pee hole was.  They probably wouldn’t even know how to use it.

Lisa wasn’t in the bathroom long, and when she came out, she came over to me in the kitchen.  “Good morning Freaky,” she said nicely.  She pulled out a chair at the table and sat down.  As she was sitting, I heard Shantel going into the bathroom.  “Did you sleep okay?” Lisa asked.

I wasn’t sure I understood the question.  Of course I had slept okay.  I dredged up an answer.  “Yes.”

“Good.  I hate seeing you trying to sleep on the floor.”

“I like it.”

“Well, I don’t like seeing you do it,” she told me.  “Got any coffee?”

“Coffee?” I said.  “Natalie had a machine that made coffee.  I tried some when I visited with her, but I couldn't believe how bad it tasted.  Why would you want some of that?”

“So I’m guessing, no coffee,” she said.

“No.  Of course not.”

She suddenly sat up straight and looked surprised.  “You had all those grown men living here, but there’s no coffee?”

“No.  Why would there be?”

“Because men usually drink coffee.  Most women too.  What did they drink then?”

“Beer, of course.”

“What else?  They had to drink something else.”

“No.  Just beer.”

“What about soda?”

“That was that stuff I drank at that weird place last night where I had that hamburger.”

“Yeah.  And you said you’d never had any before.  So I guess no soda then.  Milk?  Tea?  Anything?”

“No.  Just beer.”

She shook her head.  “What do you drink all the time, beer too?”

“No.  Just water.  I’m a girl.  Beer is for the men.”

“Figures,” she said disgustedly.

“Morning everyone,” Shantel called as she walked from the bathroom to the table.  She stopped at the table but didn’t sit down.  “I don’t smell any coffee,” she noted.  “Is there any?”

“Don’t bother asking,” Lisa told her.  “There’s none, and nothing else either.  It seems the only thing Freaky’s uncles drank was beer.  All the time!”

“Oh.  I’ve known a few men who seemed to be that way,” Shantel replied.  “We got anything at all for breakfast, or are we skipping that today.  I know the cupboard is pretty bare.”

“We have cereal,” I told them.

“Perfect!” Shantel said as she went around me to the cabinets.  “Where?”

“I opened a cabinet for her and pulled the box out.  I found bowls and spoons for her and Lisa.”

“You’re not eating?” Lisa asked me.

“I ate already,” I told her.  “I was up early.”

Lisa nodded, then got up and opened the refrigerator.  “No milk either?” she asked.

“Milk?  No.  Bo only gets me milk when there’s something he wants me to cook that needs it.”

“How about for the cereal?” Shantel asked.  “You gotta have milk for that.”

“You do?  They never use it.”

“Then what do they use?” Lisa asked, then quickly shook her head.

“Beer!” Shantel said.  “I guess we’re eating it dry.”

While they spooned dry cereal into their mouths, I sat at the table with them, and we all talked about things we thought we needed to buy.  What surprised me was that Lisa made it very plain to me that they expected me to not only leave the house to go shopping with them, but that I would have to go into the stores to buy whatever we needed too.  I was having a difficult time wrapping my head around that.

When they finished eating, which didn’t take long, Lisa grabbed her bowl and spoon, and Shantel’s bowl and spoon and carried them to the sink.  I was shocked to see her start washing them.

“That’s my job!” I told her.

“I’ve got it,” Lisa said.  “Don’t worry.”

“But…”

“Freaky!” Shantel said.  “Relax.  You don’t have to do all the work anymore.  Theres’s three of us here.”

“But…”

Shantel came over and put her hand on my shoulder.  “Freaky,” she said.  “You’ve got friends now.  Us.  And friends help each other, and they watch out for each other, and they take good care of each other.  You’ve got friends now, that’s us.  Remember that.”

“But I’m not used to…”

“Baby Doll,” she said.  “Get used to it.  Those men you lived with are all gone now, and we’re here instead.  And like it or not, there’s got to be some big changes in your life.  In fact, it’s gonna be some big changes in my life and Lisa’s life too.  But we’ve got each other now, and if we all work together, we’ll get through them.  Got that?”

I didn’t answer.

“Get used to it Honey Pie,” she told me.  “The world seems to change every day.  Now it’s your turn.  Our turn too, I guess.  Get used to it, ‘cause it’s happening.”

“And it’s our job to make sure it happens,” Lisa added.

“Yeah,” Shantel said.  “Our job.  We just ain’t getting’ paid for it.”

A few minutes later we were heading for the living room to sit down when there was a knock at the door.  I panicked!  I’ve got to hide!” I whispered as I hurried toward the back door.

“Freaky!” Shantel yelled.

“Freaky,” Lisa said right after her.  “What are you doing?”

“I need to…”

“Hide?” Lisa asked.

“Baby Doll,” Shantel said.  “No you don’t.  Not anymore.  That part of your life is over.  Forever!  Now get that out of your system and stay right here with us.”

The knock came again, and Shantel headed to the door.  She opened it and stepped back in surprise.

“Hi,” I heard a woman’s voice say.  “I’m just checking to make sure everyone is okay.”

“We’s fine,” Shantel told her.  “Excuse me if I seem…surprised.  I never hung out much with the police.”

I could see who was at the door now.  “Amanda,” I called as I headed for the door.

“Come on in,” Shantel told Amanda as she held the door open for her.

Amanda came in.  “Morning everyone,” she said.  “I’m deputy….”

“Amanda,” I said.  “The woman cop from that place where all the cops are.”

“Uh…that would be me,” Amanda told her.

“Deputy Amanda then,” Shantel said.

“That works, or just Amanda if you like,” Amanda said.  “No problems last night?”

“Not unless you count the fact that Freaky there refuses to sleep in a bed and prefers the floor,” Lisa told her as she headed over toward the woman cop.  “Other than that, none.  I’m Lisa by the way.”

I watched as Lisa shook Amanda’s hand.  Why did people do that?

“Shantel,” Shantel said as she also shook Amanda’s hand.  “I ain’t used to bein’ around cops.  No offense.”

“I guessed that already,” Amanda told her.

“Have you heard anything about them coming to get us to take us shopping?” Lisa asked.  “We need some groceries pretty bad here.  And I know Natalie and Pamela knew that, even though they were worried about where the money was going to come from.  Natalie said she’d work something out though.”

“Nobody told me anything,” Amanda replied.  “The sheriff just told me to stop out here and check to make sure you were all still doing okay.”

“We’re fine,” Shantel told her.

“I know where some money is,” I told Amanda.  “But…I don’t understand what good it is.”

Everybody looked at me.  “What do you mean, you know where some money is?” Amanda asked.

“I know where some is.  The guys talk about money all the time, but I don’t know why.  It’s just little pieces of paper that don’t do anything, but the guys seem to be real concerned about it for some reason, so they hide it all over the place.”

“Like where?” Amanda asked.

I thought for a minute.  “There’s some right here in the house,” I told her.

“Can I see?” Amanda asked.

I wasn’t sure about that though.  “It’s Bo’s money.  He doesn’t show it to anyone.  He’d be real mad if I showed it to you.”

“Bo is dead,” Amanda said.  “Remember?”

“Yeah, but…what if he comes back?”

“Freaky, dead means he’s never coming back.  He’s dead!  Gone!  Forever.  The only one left is Gary now and hopefully we’ll have him in custody very soon, so you won’t ever have to worry about him either.  Now where’s that money?”

I considered what she said.  I knew I was being silly.  Dead was…dead.  And I knew without a doubt that Bo, Ben, and Steve were all dead.  They had said Dave was dead now too, but I didn’t see that happen.  “I know what dead is,” I said.  “I’m just used to the guys always coming home.  They go for a few days sometimes, then they come back.”

“The money?” Amanda reminded me.

I gave in and led the way toward the back door where I usually slept every night.  There was a closet there where I had kept my bag of all the clothes I had.  The closet contained almost nothing now.  I pulled the few clothes I had left out of the closet and got down on the floor.  I had only seen Bo open it once in my life, that was all, but since I kept my things in the closet I knew where the little pull thing was at the very back.  I got my finger in it and pulled up.  It was heavy, but gradually the entire floor of the closet came up.  Ouch, that thing hurt to pull.

When it got high enough, I started to grab the entire section of floor, but Amanda was there quickly to help me move it.  She set it aside and came back to look at what we had uncovered.  The first thing I saw was guns.  One for each finger of my hand.  But under the guns were a lot of stacks of the money stuff that the guys were always so interested in.

“Holy mother of God!” Shantel said as she stared at what had been under the floor.

“That looks like a lot,” Lisa noted.

“Don’t touch!” Amanda said as she pulled her cellphone out.  I watched as she made a call and then asked for the sheriff.  A minute later, she said, “Sheriff, I’m at the Jeskey place…” … “Yeah, they’re all fine.  But Sheriff, we’ve got money!  And it looks like a lot!”

 

The Last Jeskey - Chapter 34

 

The Last Jeskey

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 34

 

(Day 7 – Wednesday)

 

Sheriff Cobb

 

Thanks to my wife, my shitty day had gone further to shit!  First Gary had tried to kill me again, then we searched the entire farm and found absolutely nothing, and now Natalie expected me to post a deputy to watch over not just Freaky, but two of her friends as well.  And worse, she and Pam McGregor were installing all three of them in the Jeskey house!  What was my idiot wife thinking?  Not only did I not have the manpower for that, but did she forget that Gary Jeskey was out there and wanted Freaky just as dead as he wanted Nat and me?  No, of course she didn’t forget that.  She expected me to provide the protection for them…at that house…where Gary lived and knew the territory better than anyone!

She was nuts!

But what do you say to your wife?  Especially when she ignores every logical argument you try to tell her.

I myself drove out to escort them home.  I left early and we met at a fast-food place out in the middle of the next county.  It was there that I met Shantel and Lisa.  They both seemed nice enough, but over burgers, I got the feeling that they both had some kind of history that maybe I, as the sheriff, should be aware of.  Right then though, I had more than enough on my plate to handle.  I simply didn’t want any more problems.

Watching Freaky in that burger joint was a bit of an eye-opening experience.  Nat reminded me that she hadn’t ever been away from the farm before.  She had never been in any kind of restaurant or even any kind of store.  She literally had no concept of either of those things.  Maybe Nat was right, Freaky needed someone to show her and teach her.  But why did my wife…and me…have to be in the middle of it?  Gary…and the Jeskeys.  That was why.  And if I didn’t find and arrest Gary Jeskey soon, I would no longer be in the middle of this mess, I’d be in the middle of a cemetery instead.

Freaky had certainly eaten hamburgers before.  In fact, she said she fixed them a lot for Bo and the boys.  But watching her eat one from that burger joint was somewhat fun.  First she was fascinated with the fact that it came wrapped in paper, then she had to take it apart and see all the fixings they had smothered it with, and when she took a bite of it, her entire face seemed to screw up with a strange look, because it didn’t taste anything like the burgers that she cooked.  Don’t get me started on her first taste of the soft drink she had…in a cup made of paper as well.

Since there were five of them in Pam’s car, Nat transferred to my car.  A while later, we pulled up in front of the Jeskey house at their farm.  The part I really didn’t like just then was that by that time it was dark.  I couldn’t see if Gary Jeskey was lying in wait for us anywhere.  “Stay in the car,” I told Nat.  “Let me look around first.”

I got out and went over to Pam’s car where they were all getting out of it.  “Stay in the car,” I told them.  “Let me check the house first.”

Freaky and her two friends looked confused, but Pam understood.  “Get back in for a minute,” she told them.  “It won’t be long.”

“Why?” Freaky asked.  “I’m home!”

“Just…be patient,” Pam told her.

I was glad to see Freaky getting back into the car, even if it was reluctantly.  As I saw it, only death awaited her inside.  Why didn’t she realize that?

I shined my flashlight around at as much as I could see from where the cars were parked.  I took it as a good sign that so far no bullets had come my way.  So far!  I went up onto the porch and pushed open the front door.  It wasn’t locked, but then I doubt that door had ever been locked.  I was tempted to examine the door a bit further to see if it even had a lock, but I didn’t.

My hand searched the wall as I went in and immediately found a light switch where I figured there should be one.  At least that much was right with the house, but how about everything else?  With the lights on, I carefully went from room to room, switching on the lights, and searching through the entire house, including the closets.  No sign of Gary.  No sign of anyone.  So where the hell was Gary staying now?  That worried me a lot.

I went back out to the cars and called the ladies in.  I noticed that Freaky came in fast and first.  She was anxious to get here.  As the other women came inside, Freaky went straight to the kitchen where she seemed to look around at her counters and everything there.  Then I saw her open a drawer and pull a small bottle out and open it.

“What’s that?” I asked as I headed toward her.

She seemed to ignore me as she dumped a pill out and stuck it in her mouth.  She was closing the bottle again by the time I got there and took the thing from her.  “My vitamins,” Freaky told me.  “I take them every day.  Bo tells me that they help keep me healthy.”

I noticed that the way she said it, she almost thought that Bo was still alive.  But then, Nat wanted to kill him again, even though he was already dead.  I took a look at the label on the vitamin bottle.  Estrogen.  There was a whole box of those little pill bottles in the drawer.  Some vitamins!  But I remembered Amanda telling me about them before.  I should have realized what they were.  Knowing more about who and what Freaky really was, I stuck the bottle of estrogen pills back into the drawer for her and closed it.  I was guessing that she was going to need those vitamins.  Probably for the rest of her life.

I saw Shantel and Lisa looking around.  They looked a bit disappointed.

“Yeah,” I heard Pamela say.  “It’s a bit of a dump.”

“A dump?” Shantel said.  “Hell, this ain’t nothin’!  You should see where I used to live.  This is great, except…”

“Except what?” Natalie asked.

“There ain’t no TV,” Shantel finished.

I saw Lisa looking quickly around again.  “There isn’t, is there.”

“I guess not,” Pamela replied.  “Sorry.”

“There’s three bedrooms though,” Natalie told them.  “And for now, I guess just move all the belongings you find out of the way.  We’ll figure out what to do with it all tomorrow.  And as for sheets on the beds, I guess for tonight you’ll just have to make do.”  She turned to Freaky.  “Freaky, do you have any extra sheets for the beds?”

Freaky looked confused.  “Extra sheets?  Why?”

“Never mind,” Natalie replied.  She turned back to Shantel and Lisa.  “We’ll have to look at that situation too.”

“That’s not something I’m overly worried about,” Lisa told her.

I got the impression that maybe Lisa had come from a very bad situation.  But then I remembered that she had been living in that women’s shelter, so yeah, no matter what, both Lisa and Shantel had probably come straight from hell.  But hey, now look where they were, right back in hell again.  Only they probably didn’t realize that.

I saw Natalie moving closer to Lisa and Shantel.  I just barely heard her say to them.  “I don’t know if you can do it or not, but one of the first things you may want to try to tackle with Freaky, is getting her to sleep in a bed.”

“Yeah,” Shantel said.  “That’s right.  She likes the floor.”

“We’ll work on it,” Lisa told Nat.

As I headed over to talk with Nat and Pam, I saw Lisa and Shantel start looking around at the big room that was the living room and kitchen combined.

“Nat.  Pam,” I said.  “Look.  I simply don’t have the manpower to keep someone posted here all the time.  Like it or not, the best I can do is have someone drive by every few hours.  And since we’ve got less of a night crew, what I’ll do is have someone park a cruiser here, and then leave.  I think just the sight of one of our cars here would probably be enough to make Gary think there’s a deputy staying in the house all the time.”

“Thanks Sheriff,” Pam said, before Natalie could protest my lack of support.  “We’re grateful for everything we can get.”

“What the hell?” Shantel exclaimed.

I turned and looked.  She had opened one of the two refrigerators.

“This whole thing is full of beer.  And nothing but beer!”

“Oh no!” Lisa shouted.  “Shantel!  Close that door and get away from it.  I won’t have you start drinking again!”

“But Leese!” Shantel said, still looking at all that beer.

“No buts!  Shut the door!”

As Shantel sadly closed that refrigerator door, Lisa turned to me.  “Is there any way we can get all that beer out of the house, and any other booze that’s around here too?  I won’t let her start drinking again.  I won’t!”

I nodded.  “Yeah.  Sure,” I replied.  I went over and opened the beer refrigerator for a better look.  I closed it and opened the other one.  That one looked awfully sparse inside as far as food went.  But there was no beer in it.  I opened the beer fridge again.  “Can someone give me a hand?  I’ll put it in my car.  And Nat, like it or not it’s going in our garage!”  It took some doing, but I didn’t laugh at the eye-roll that Nat gave me.

Once the beer finally got loaded, Nat turned to the three girls…women…girls.  They were all still fairly young.  “I’ll be back tomorrow sometime, and we’ll see what needs to be done,” she told them.  “I know you need food, but we’ll have to see about everything else.”

“I can’t be here,” Pam told them.  “I’ve got a lot of other things that I didn’t get done today because I had to bring you here.”

“We’ll manage,” Lisa told them.

I got the impression that Lisa was going to be taking charge of things.  That was fine with me.  I just hoped she was at least somewhat sensible.

Nat rode with Pam so she could get her car that was parked at Pam’s office.  I got in the car with the beer and followed both of them so they had some kind of protection in case Gary got any ideas.  I called the station and made arrangements to have a couple of deputies drive out to the Jeskey place and leave one of our cars behind.  I also left instructions for the few guys that would be on duty all night to drive out there once in a while to make sure everything looked okay.

Once Nat was in her car, I followed her home.  I spent quite a while emptying all that beer and stacking it out of the way in the garage.  Maybe the Jeskeys had a good idea.  A separate refrigerator just for the beer would be a good thing.  A real nice thing.  I contemplated buying one, then I remembered that there was an empty one no longer being used at the Jeskey place.  I could just grab that and install it here in my garage, and I already knew that all this beer would fit in it.  The perfect solution, and it wouldn’t cost me a dime.

Then I remembered Natalie and what she would probably have to say about it.  I knew without a doubt that there would never be a beer fridge in our house, anywhere!  Ever!  Another nice idea down the drain.

Shit!

 

The Last Jeskey - Chapter 33

 

The Last Jeskey

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 33

 

(Day 7 – Wednesday)

 

Freaky

 

I felt strange.  Woozy kind of.  And every time they stuck me with that super thin knife thing it got worse again, and I fell asleep for a while.  I was so mad, but I couldn't seem to do anything about it, so I sat there every time I woke up and hugged my hair like I always did.  Except it was no longer attached to me.  I had lost…me!  I wanted to scream so bad, but I was too woozy, so I hugged my hair and rocked.

I really missed Shantel and Lisa, and I had only known them a few days.  But I had never been allowed to talk to other women before, and being with them…I liked it.  I liked…them.

And then there were more people in my room.  I looked up and saw Natalie and Pamela.  But they had Doctor Knox and Doctor Wilcox with them.  And then Natalie was there on the floor with me, hugging me, and it felt so nice.  I tried and tried to tell her how much I wanted to see Lisa and Shantel again, and amazingly, Pamela told me that if I got dressed, they would take me to them.  Shantel.  Lisa.  I miss you.  Please explain it all to me.

It felt good to get back into a dress again.  Very good.  Just putting it on made me feel a bit better.  And then we were walking out of the room, and they opened that door that was always locked, and we went through, all the way outside and into a car.  Pamela drove it, but Natalie was right there in the back seat with me, holding my hand.

“Shantel, Lisa,” I said.

“Hush Freaky.  Relax,” Natalie said softly.  “Pam.  I hate to say it, but maybe we better.”

“I was already going,” Pamela told her.

I felt a bit better by the time Pamela stopped the car again and we all got out.  I recognized the shelter.  I headed straight for it and opened the front door myself.  “Shantel!  Lisa!” I called.  But I didn’t see them.

“We’ll check with Jess Kriss,” Natalie told me, but I headed straight for the big room with all the chairs and that TV thing.

“Freaky!” Pamela called me.  “Wait.”

“I turned and she waved me to join them in Miss Kriss’s room, but I knew the place.  Even as woozy as I still was, I would be able to find Lisa and Shantel.

“Freaky?  What are you doing here?”  Miss Kriss exclaimed.  “And what happened to you?”  I turned and saw her coming toward us from another part of the building.

“I need to see Shantel and Lisa,” I told her.

“What on earth happened to your hair?” she asked.

“One of the staff members at the behavioral center took it upon herself to cut it,” Pamela explained.

“They did what?”  Miss Kriss hugged me tightly.  “Oh Freaky, I’m so sorry Honey.”  She looked up at Pamela and Natalie.  “I’m sorry, but we’re full up right now.  I’ve got no more beds.”

“It’s okay,” Pamela told her.  “We’re only here because she wanted to see her friends so much.”

“I think they’re in the lounge,” she told them.  She released me and I hurried on ahead toward the big room.  I went through the door and looked around…and saw them, together as always.  “Lisa!  Shantel!”  I ran to them.

“Freaky?” Lisa exclaimed as she stood up.  She looked so shocked.

“Honey Pie!” Shantel yelled.  “What happened to you?”

I ran to them, and they both enveloped me in a big hug.  And I cried all over again.

“It’s okay Honey Pie.  It’s okay,” Shantel kept telling me.  But I knew it would never be okay again.

“What happened?” Lisa asked once I finally stopped crying.

“This lady at the place they took me to,” I said.  “She kept yelling at me about almost everything.  And then she had some of her friends hold me down while she cut my hair off!”  My hand seemed to go straight to the back of my head again, but my hand didn’t find what it was supposed to find, and I started crying all over again.

Shantel hugged me.  “It’s okay Honey Pie.  It’s okay.  Believe it or not, it’s not the end of the world.  You just sit here with us and let us hold you.  We got you Honey Pie.  We got you.”

It felt good to be held.  I don’t know why, it just felt good.  I sat there with them and cried a bit, and they held me and kept telling me it was alright.  But it wasn’t alright.

I could hear Miss Kriss talking to Pamela and Natalie not far away.

“I had just found Lisa a job,” Miss Kriss said, “but she lost it today when the original girl she replaced decided to come back, and the company decided to go with the more experienced person, so I’m looking again for her.  Shantel is a more difficult story, but the two of them have been absolutely inseparable since Shantel arrived.  They’ve both been here long enough now that I’ve got to find some way to help them move on, but I’m afraid it’s been difficult.  They’ve both got a history of being battered and in and out of the hospital.  They’ve both been stuck in pure hell for a long time.  And like most of the women who come here, they’ve got no jobs and no safe place they can go to, other than here.  Since they arrived, I think they simply saw something in each other, and held each other together.  And now it looks like their little duo is adopting Freaky too, at least somewhat.”

“Yes,” I heard Pamela say.

I continued to sit there and relish being held.  Why was I so close to these two?  Why did I want to be with them so badly?  But just then, I was still kind of woozy, and I really just wanted to be held.

“What if…” I heard Pamela say, and then she stopped talking.

“Pamela McGregor,” Natalie said.  “What are you thinking?  And I hope it’s not what I think you’re thinking.”

“What if I had a job for them,” Pamela said.  “Both of them.  Full time.  Um…in fact, not just full time, but around the clock.  A job where all three of them could be together.  A job that included someplace for them to live and…I guess it would have to include food for them to eat as well.  More than that, I can’t guarantee.”

“Pamela,” I heard Natalie say.  “We can’t!  How?”

“It sounds like the perfect solution, for all of them,” Miss Kriss replied.

“Yeah, well there’s one big drawback,” Pamela added.  “We can’t pay them anything.”

“That’s not the only drawback!” Natalie was quick to point out.  “Don’t forget Gary!”

“Yeah.  I know,” I heard Pamela say.

“And where exactly do you expect them to live?” Natalie asked.  “Not where I think you’re thinking.”

“But you can’t pay them?” Miss Kriss asked.  “They need jobs!  They need that sense of accomplishment.”

“Yes,” Pamela said, “but this job would have plenty for them to feel a sense of accomplishment about.”

“Pam!” Natalie said sternly.  “We can’t!”

“Nat,” I heard Pamela say.  “Can you call your husband?  See if he can give them a bodyguard like he’s got for you.”

“You’re serious!” I heard Natalie say.

“What are you talking about?” Miss Kriss said.  “And if it’s a job, why can’t you pay them?”

“Ladies!” Pamela’s voice reached us, obviously wanting our attention.

Despite how much I was enjoying just being held, all three of us looked up at her.  Miss Kriss was standing there with Natalie and Pamela.

“I have a proposal for you,” Pamela said.  “For both you Shantel and you Lisa.  Together!  For Freaky’s entire life, she’s been literally locked away and has been brainwashed into believing things that simply aren’t real.  According to a doctor we just spoke with, he believes that what she needs is to get out into the world a bit more and see how life really is.  And more than that, she needs someone to start teaching her all the things that she was never allowed to learn.  What I have in mind, is for both of you to be her teachers.”

“Yeah, but there’s a catch,” Natalie added.  “A few catches actually, and they’re big ones.”

“Like what?” Lisa asked.

“Like…we can’t pay you,” Natalie explained.  “Freaky here has no money and we’ve got no budget for any of this.  Yes, we can try sending you all to the farm where she’s been living.  That would at least put a roof over your heads.  But between Pam and me, we’d have to come up with money for food and anything else you need as well, and I’m sure that neither of us have that kind of money.  And then there’s the more important issue that worries me.”

“What?” Lisa asked.

“Freaky’s Uncle Gary…although actually he’s her cousin.  But he’s sworn to kill her, and he’s been trying to kill me and my husband as well, and I’m not lying about that.  I got shot a few days ago by him.  Gary and his brothers and their father, have literally tortured Freaky there nearly to death all her life, but now that Gary is the only one left living, he wants Freaky dead too.  I can try to get the sheriff to give you some protection, but I can’t guarantee that, or even how much protection it could be.”

“You can’t pay us?” Lisa asked.

“No,” Pamela replied.  “I wish I could, but…we need money for that.”

“But we’d still be together,” Shantel stated.  “Lisa and me…and Freaky,” she added.

“That would be what the job is all about,” Pamela replied.  “Watching out for her and teaching her.”

Both Shantel and Lisa looked at me, and at each other, then Lisa turned back toward Pamela and said, “I’ve got a husband who’s tried to kill me too.  I think he’s still trying.  That’s why I’m in here.”

“And I’ve got people who’ve tried to kill me a few times as well,” Shantel added.  “I know I can’t stay here much longer, and Leese here is in the same place I am.  We got nowhere to go but back to what we came from.”

“I’ve got nowhere else to go either,” Lisa added, “and…”  She looked over at Shantel, then at me, then back at Pamela.  “If I can’t stay here, then it would be nice if I could at least be with friends I love.”

“So you’re interested?” Pamela asked.

“You got any churches up there that sing gospel music?” Shantel asked her.

“Yes,” Natalie replied.  “A few.  In fact, more than a few.”

“Then I’m in!” Shantel declared.  “And if that Gary comes around after my Freaky here, then he’s gonna have to deal with me!  Leese, get a move on.  We’s goin’ to church!”