The primary aim of the "Novel Excerpts" blog category is to showcase my creative writing, specifically from the novels I've written. Hopefully, these posts will provide a glimpse into my storytelling style, themes, and narrative skills. It's an opportunity to share my artistic expressions and the worlds I've created through my novels.
The Boaz Schoolteacher, written in 2018, is my fifth novel. I'll post a chapter a day over the next few weeks.
Book Blurb
In the summer of 2017, Katie Sims and her daughter Cullie, moved from New York City to Katie’s hometown of Boaz, Alabama for her to teach English and for Cullie to attend Boaz High School . Fifteen years earlier, during the Christmas holidays, five men from prominent local families sexually assaulted Katie. Nine months later, Katie’s only daughter was born.
Almost from the beginning of the new school year, as Katie and fellow-teacher Cindy Barker shared English, Literature, and Creative Writing duties for more than 300 students, they became lifelong friends.
For weeks, Katie and Cindy endured the almost constant sexual harassment at the hands of the assistant principal. In mid-October, after Cindy suffered an attack similar to Katie’s from fifteen years earlier, the two teachers designed a unique method to teach the six predators a lesson they would never forget. Katie and Cindy dubbed their plan, Six Red Apples.
Read this mystery-thriller to experience the dilemma the two teachers created for themselves, and to learn the true meaning of real justice. And, eternal friendship.
Chapter 27
“I have a god-awful prediction unless we do the hell something.” Ryan said as he walked into Pastor Warren’s man-cave after Prayer Meeting Wednesday night.
“Sounds like you Radford, always wanting to stir something up so we can have more of these damn meetings.” Justin Adams said standing and gazing into a double-doored closet that contained Warren’s media collection, much of which he acquired from his father and grandfather, both former residents of the Church’s parsonage. The only thing Warren had added was 200 porn movies.
“Adams, you apparently haven’t heard. Your monthly head-in-the-sand trips to the beach keeps you behind. I said a good one, your behind is exposed when you’re so disconnected.” Ryan and Justin were best of friends but loved giving each other hell.
“Their quarterly, not monthly trips. You guys would benefit from a few days of uninterrupted silence.” Justin said opening a CD case and inserting “A Fun Day at the Water Park” into Warren’s DVD player.
“Not yet Adams, maybe when we finish.” Danny Ericson said as he joined Warren, Fulton, and Ryan at the big round table by the windows. “Ryan, tell Justin what triggered our little investigation and what we learned.
“Yesterday afternoon I picked up Riley at Kay-La’s Gymnastics. I was running a few minutes late and she was standing outside with Cullie Sims and Cindy Barker’s daughter, Alysa. Riley said the three of them are not friends and so she wasn’t paying them much attention but was close enough to hear Alysa ask Cullie why her mother had to go see Mr. Williams. Cullie had responded, ‘Mother’s still tore up over losing my grandmother and just wanted to see what Mr. Williams had seen.’”
“Here’s what Ralph told me this afternoon.” Danny pulled a notepad from his shirt pocket and laid it in front of him on the table. ‘I told her I saw you (Ralph is speaking of me) and a man that at first I thought was Dale Joiner, but now I’m not sure that’s who you had in your truck.’ That’s exactly what he said. I wrote it down after driving away from Ralph’s house.”
“I take it you went to see Williams after Ryan passed along what his daughter Riley told him?” Justin asked, still trying to catch up on the full story.
Danny continued. “I went under the ruse that Dale might entertain a much lower offer than his asking price for his pasture. Ralph really wants that forty acres. I slipped into our conversation that I had heard that Katie had come to see him. I acted as though the Church was very concerned about her and wanted to support her in any way we could. I’m sure he bought into my slurp slop story of how Raymond thought the moon rose and set with Darla.”
“I think it’s the sun and not the moon.” Fulton added.
“Either way, Ralph didn’t have a clue that he was being interrogated. I left there believing he had admitted to Katie that Nathan Johnson could have been in the truck with me.”
“What? How would he know anything about Johnson?” Justin asked, scrolling through Facebook on his iPhone.
“That’s not what I meant. I only meant that he was doubtful about my passenger being Dale Joiner. This opens the door to a lot of questioning if Sheriff Waldrup hears this and wants to know who was with me. Hell, Williams originally didn’t even tell the Sheriff about seeing me.” Danny said flipping his notepad to another page. “Here it is, ‘All I told Waldrup was I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.’ Williams confirmed this a second time when I asked him again in a slightly different way.”
“What else did Ralph say he and Katie talked about?” Fulton asked.
“That’s it. Oh, he did mention Katie being interested in some dumb candy wrapper he had found that morning along the road.” Justin said, closing his notepad and returning it to his shirt pocket. “I didn’t write it down.”
“Write what down?” Justin and Ryan both asked at the same time.
“The name of the candy bar. What the hell was that?” Danny said, standing and walking towards the bar.
“You never know what can become an investigator’s dream?” Fulton said. “Bring me a beer Danny, and a candy bar if you have one.” The first laugh of the night finally appeared from everyone present, except Fulton. “I didn’t mean that to be funny.”
“Lonely Star Chocolate or something like that.” Danny said, returning to the table with two Bud Lights, handing one to Fulton.
“That’s just piss perfect.” Fulton said slamming his beer can down on the table and glaring at Danny.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Danny said pushing his chair back from the table.
“You idiot. Lone Star refers to Texas. Did your twin idiot passenger throw out his litter after you too deposited Darla’s body by Ralph’s pond?” Fulton’s intelligence had kept the five of them out of trouble on more than one occasion.
“Hey, I’m not my brother’s keeper.” Danny now was clearly upset, and his face was red hot.
“Let’s settle down guys. For sure, we are our brother’s keeper.” Pastor Warren said, standing and leaning against the floor-to-ceiling windows. “Danny, look at that moon.” Warren turned and pointed outside, up toward a full moon, whose light was making its way through the thick cover of leaves on the trees surrounding the patio and rear entrance to his man-cave. “The moon simply reflects the sun’s light and we have to be willing to serve our brothers. That’s what you did when Ryan and Justin called you after discovering the missing videotape and silencing Darla. It was a mere coincidence that Nathan was in town and with you that morning. I do wish he hadn’t been so sloppy.”
“And, not been so dumb to steal the 22 pistol.” Justin added.
“Here’s the deal my moon brothers.” Fulton said looking at Warren as though making fun of the Pastor. “Katie is even more of a problem than we ever dreamed. No doubt she has proof we raped her back in 2002, thanks to Ryan and the missing videotape. And, now, she has information we likely were involved in her mother’s death.”
Ryan interrupted Fulton, “I think, even before she went to see Williams, she was suspicious. Later that morning I checked the caller ID on her and Raymond’s land line. Darla had called Beverly Sims. Her home number. I checked it with the phone book. Also, Beverly’s caretaker, Sammie, showed up that morning around 7:45 looking for Darla. To me, that means Katie knew her mother was okay shortly before 6:00 a.m., that’s the time of the call to the Sims residence. I bet Darla told them that Justin and I were there in the house. Yes, no doubt, Katie, even before her little trip to see Ralph, had real suspicions that we were involved in Darla’s death.”
“We’ve got to take care of her. I know it’s not a good choice. But, for me, I’d rather the videotape be disclosed than to be charged with murder. I’ve consulted with an attorney, don’t worry, it was one out of state. We can’t be prosecuted for the rape. The worst thing from a legal standpoint is a civil lawsuit. Release of the videotape showing the five of us raping Katie would destroy us but at least we would still have our freedom. If we can get to Katie before she communicates the findings she gathered from Williams, then Darla’s death can’t be linked back to us.” Pastor Warren said.
“You’re being a little star-eyed.” Fulton said, standing and walking to Warren, still gazing through the windows. “Moon-eyed maybe. Williams himself is also a problem. He needs to be silenced. As does Katie.”
Over the next hour, the five of them, the five referred to by Katie as the Faking Five, brainstormed the best way for the inquisitive Katie and the white-bearded Williams to meet their maker. At 10:00 p.m., plan in head and hand, the five settled comfortably onto leather couches and chairs around Warren’s one-hundred inch flat-screen TV and spent an hour enjoying “A Fun Day at the Water Park.”
The Pencil Driven Life 