Ruth Ann rolled onto her back and gave him a pointed look. “I don’t want to be bothered. Take a message.” She grabbed Teddy and rolled onto her stomach and pressed a pillow over her head.
“It’s Eric,” Lester said. “He said it’s an emergency.”
Ruth Ann snatched the pillow away. “Lester, what did I just say? Hello! Take a message, I’ll call em back.”
“He said it’s an emergency.”
“Take a damn message!”
“She’s not here,” Lester said into the cordless phone. “I thought she was here, she’s not… I don’t know when she’ll be back. Huh? Yes, I sure will… No, I won’t forget… I’ll tell her as soon as she comes in… Bye now.”
“Thanks, Lester. That man is a pest and a worthless bum. I don’t know why Shirley puts up with him. Nothing but trash. Won’t work, won’t hustle, just thinks someone should take care of him. Pitiful.”
“Go back to sleep, Ruthie. I should not have awakened you.” The doorbell rang, followed by insistent knocking.
“Lester, I’m definitely not up for any visitors. I don’t care who it is. I feel weak.”
“Okay, honey, I’ll handle it.”
Lester was exiting the room when Ruth Ann said, “By the way, what did Eric want?”
“He said Sheriff Bledsoe gave Shirley the blues and she’ll probably come here to talk to you about it.”
Louder knocks at the door.
In a flash Ruth Ann sat up on the edge of the bed. “He said what? Who gave who what? When?”
A loud noise: someone was kicking the door.
“Wait a minute!” Lester shouted over his shoulder. “Hold on, Ruthie, let me get the door. That’s probably Shirley.”
He was closing the door when Ruth Ann flew across the room in two steps and grabbed his arm. “No, wait! Don’t answer it!”
“Ruthie, you’re pulling on me.”
“Come on, Lester, let’s make love.”
“Again? I thought you were feeling weak?”
“I am. Your lovemaking invigorates me. C’mon, Lester!”
Loud taps on the front room window. “Okay, Ruthie. Let me get the door first.”
“Don’t let em in, Lester!”
“Why not?”
“We didn’t let your mother in. Why should we treat my family any differently? Besides, I don’t want to be bothered. I just want to lie in bed with my husband.”
“Ruthie, honey, both vehicles are in the driveway.” Clangalangalangalangalang!
“What the hell?”
They both knew what it was: a shattered window. Lester jerked free of Ruth Ann and went to look.
Ruth Ann closed the door, hurried to the lone window in the bedroom, raised the windowpane and pushed the aluminum screen to the ground. Then she dropped to her knees, clasped her hands and said a quick prayer before scurrying underneath the bed.
A second later she heard Shirley’s voice inside the house: “Where’s her funky ass at?”
Lester’s voice: “What’s wrong with you, Shirley? Why you break my damn window?”
Ruth Ann felt the vibrations of heavy footsteps. The bedroom door swung open and bounced off the wall. Shirley’s dusty sandals came into view, the right one missing the rear strap. Her toenails were long and sharp. One kick, Ruth Ann thought, and I’ll spend the rest of my days in dialysis. The sandals moved toward the bedroom window.
“Nasty heifer ran!” Shirley said. “Just like Eric.”
Lester’s steel-toe work boots came into view. “Why you break the window, Shirley? You know how much it’s gonna cost—where’s Ruth Ann?”
“She heard me coming and jumped her smelly ass out the window and ran.”
“What? No, she didn’t.” The work boots moved toward the window. “She’s sick. The doctor told her to stay in bed and rest.”
“When she comes back, tell her that her scuzzy ass is mine!”
“What’s going on, Shirley?”
“You don’t know, do you?” Shirley said. “Bless your heart.”
“Know what?”
“You better sit down.”
“Shirley, you’re making me nervous. What’s going on?”
The work boots and sandals came closer to the bed. Lester sat down and the springs squeaked. Ruth Ann noticed a splintered slat a few inches above her head.
Shirley cleared her throat. “I hate to tell you this, Lester, but you should know.”
Lester’s right work boot started tapping on the hardwood floor.
Shirley must have noticed too because she said, “First off, Lester, don’t ding out like you did before. I’m going to kick her rotten ass well enough for the both us. Ain’t no need you hurting yourself or doing something crazy. Okay?”
“Okay,” Lester said, voice squeaky.
Ruth Ann’s stomach ached, as if she’d been kicked. She wished she’d jumped out the window: hearing Shirley’s account would be more painful than being seen running through the neighborhood in her pajamas.
Now both of Lester’s work boots were tapping so rapidly the entire bed vibrated.
Shirley said, “I’m not sure you can handle this. Maybe I should get one of your family members to break the news.” The sandals started toward the door.
The sandals stopped. “I’m going to tell you anyway. Ruth Ann… Ruth Ann…” Shirley hesitated. “Ruth Ann…”
“Killed your father?”
“No. Why you say that?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’m thinking the worst.”
“Lester, it’s worse than anything you can imagine. Shameful, too. Shameful and disgusting.”
Lester groaned, and Ruth Ann stared at the work boots working like two synchronized pistons. “I don’t want to hear it. If it’s gonna hurt my marriage, I don’t want to hear a word about it.”
“If you don’t want to hear it I won’t tell it.” The sandals were on the move again, almost out the door.
“Tell me!” The sandals came back. “I’ll go crazy if you don’t tell me.”
“Exactly why I’m not sure I should tell you, Lester. If you must ding out, don’t go the self-mutilation route again, okay? It’s not your fault.”
“Tell me, Shirley.”
Shirley sighed. “Lester, Ruth Ann is a slut!”
The work boots stopped. “What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. Ruth Ann is a dirty, rotten, lowlife slut!”
“You… you can’t mean… She’s your sister. She’s my wife! She’s—”
“A slut!”
“Why—what—who… Who told you that?”
“Sheriff Bledsoe.”
“Sheriff Bledsoe called my wife a slut?”
“Not exactly. He told me about Ruth Ann and… and…” A long pause. “And Eric.”
“Eric who?”
“My Eric, Lester. My baby’s daddy.” Another long pause. “The man whom I was engaged to marry.”
“Uh-uh, Shirley. You got it wrong, terribly wrong! Ruth Ann can’t stand Eric. She hates his guts. Sheriff Bledsoe has it wrong too, and I don’t appreciate him calling my wife names.”
“It’s true, Lester. I didn’t wanna believe it at first. I know it hurts. I’m sorry, Lester, it’s true.”
