The door opened and Luther Griggs peered out first, and then opened the door wider, shotgun in hand. "What the hell do you want this time of night?"
"Are you all right?"
"Hell, yes. Are you?"
"Can I come in? I need to talk to you."
As Macky stepped into the trailer, which stank of beer and cigarettes,
he looked closely at Luther to see if he looked sick but Luther Griggs had never been a picture of health, so it was hard to tell.
"I'm sorry to come over this late but we might have a little problem. Is your boy home?"
"What's he supposed to have done now?"
"Nothing. It's just that he may have been given some bad candy and he might need to have a doctor look at him."
By this time Mrs. Griggs, in a ratty pink chenille robe with maroon flowers, had come into the room frowning. "What's he done now?"
"Nothing, Mrs. Griggs, I just need to see him for a moment. If you don't mind."
"What for?"
"It's a long story. But my aunt might have given him some bad fudge this morning and we just need to make sure he's all right."
She did not move but yelled, "Get in here this minute, you hear me… right now!" After a moment, Mrs. Griggs whipped around and flew into the bedroom. "I said get up! Now!"
Soon Mrs. Griggs reappeared, dragging the boy by the ears, with him kicking at her the whole time.
Macky said, "My aunt says you took a couple of handfuls of some candy she offered to you… Is that right?"
"She's a damn liar… I never took no damn fudge," the boy said.
"She's not accusing you of stealing. She…"
"Well, she's a crazy damn old fool. I never took no candy."
Luther Griggs got all puffed up. "You heard my boy, he never took no damn candy. You calling my boy a liar?"
"No. I'm not. I just wanted to make sure he wasn't sick. The candy might not have been… uh, not made with the right ingredients." Macky looked closely at the little boy. "Are you sure you feel all right, son? That candy didn't make you sick? "
"I never took no candy."
"Well, all right then, as long as you are all right. But if you do feel sick, call me… Here's my number." He wrote it down for them.
In truth, Luther Jr. had grabbed the candy but when he took one bite it was so bad he spit it out and threw the rest over the Whatleys' fence.
Macky walked in the door at Aunt Elner's and winked at Norma.
"Well, Aunt Elner, I've got bad news for you. They're still alive. Too bad. You might have gotten a medal from the town if you had wiped them all out."
Norma said, "I'm glad you can joke about it. We came very close to having Aunt Elner wind up in the state penitentiary. Wouldn't that have been nice for Linda, having her great-aunt sitting up on Death Row."
Macky laughed.
Norma looked at him. "Laugh if you want, Macky, but she would never have gotten into a decent sorority!"
It was some time after the memorial before Betty Raye could get up the nerve to do something she had wanted to do for a long time. She asked State Trooper Ralph Childress to let her out a half block away and when she reached the front of the building in Kansas City a uniformed doorman tipped his hat saying, "May I help you, ma'am?"
She fumbled around in her purse. "Uh, I'm here to see Mrs. Vita Green?"
"Yes, ma'am. Who shall I say is calling?"
Betty Raye, who was wearing a scarf and sunglasses, panicked. She had not realized she would be announced. She almost turned around and left but she figured she had come this far, she might as well come out with it. She said almost inaudibly, "Tell her it's Mrs. Sparks."
"Yes, ma'am." He pushed a button. "Mrs. Green, I have a Mrs. Sparks here to see you."
There was a pause. He repeated the name "Mrs. Sparks" and there was another long interval.
Betty Raye's heart was pounding so hard she wanted to run. After a moment, he hung up and said, "Go right in. Take the elevator up to fourteen, get off, and take a left up the stairs. Turn right and you will see ISA."
"Thank you," she said and got in the elevator and almost threw up.
Vita was caught a little off guard by this unexpected visit. Her first thought was to say that she was not home. But she might as well get this over with, so why not today? She had no idea why the woman was here but she guessed that whatever the reason, it was not going to be a pleasant one. She called out to her maid, who was in the kitchen.
"Bridget, answer the door and tell the lady I'll be right out." She went to her bedroom to get some clothes on. After all this time it was still hard to even get up and get dressed.
When Betty Raye got off the elevator, she walked up the stairs. When she reached the door she pushed the buzzer to the apartment and the noise made her jump. After a moment the door opened and Bridget was prepared to say, as she had a hundred times, "Please come right in and have a seat. Mrs. Green will be with you shortly," but when she recognized Betty Raye from the pictures she had seen of her in the papers all she could do was to drop her mouth open and stare. Betty Raye was surprised as well; she had steeled herself, expecting Vita
Green to be standing on the other side of the door. Finally she asked, "Is this Mrs. Green's apartment?"
Bridget managed a "Yes, ma'am."
"Is she in?"
"I'll go see."
She ran and threw open the bedroom door white as a ghost, her eyes wide with fright. "The archbishop's wife is here. She's at the door right now. What do you want me to do? Are you here?"
Vita was sitting at her dressing table, calmly putting on her lipstick.
"It's all right, I'll handle it."
"I can tell her you just left town."
"No, but if you hear a gunshot call the police."