Under the Tall Pines
Episode 8: Consequences
By Keith Yates
Published by Keith Yates
Cover Art by: Keith Yates
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011
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She had left a message for Duke that she was staying at a friend’s house, and for him not to worry about her.
Cassie had not told her brother about her and Worth, but she assumed he already had heard thanks to the gossip mill in Dark Pines. Cassie was unsure as to how he would take the news.
Will he be disappointed with me? Would Duke approve of Worth as a potential, future brother-in-law?
Regardless, Duke was a truly honest and moral man, so she knew she would be in for a lecture and a half when their paths did cross again.
Cassie stretched her arms as she strolled down the stairs of Westerveldt Manor. Despite the events of the night before, she had slept very well. Of course, Worth holding her tightly in his strong arms had a great deal to do with that.
He had made love to her over and over again during the hot and sticky night. She had noticed that her wrists were bruised, and her joints were slightly sore. She smiled. The night had been quite a workout.
If our sex life is anything like last night, I can definitely give up Pilates.
Despite the fact that Worth had taken her once on the bed that he had shared with Julie, she had made him take her to a guest bedroom. She had insisted about not wanting to sleep in the same bed that he had shared with Julie. Worth assured her that he would have Shep and Cletus move that king sized bed from the guest room into their new room that morning.
Even though Cassie knew that there would be many more bumps in the road, she felt empowered that all of Dark Pines would know that they were together.
No more hiding….
She eagerly looked forward to taking her place at Worth’s side.
She paused at a noticeably empty spot on the wall along the staircase. A picture had been removed. Cassie knew exactly which one - Worth and Julie’s wedding portrait. She smiled. Perhaps he had it moved so our wedding picture can go there!
She concluded her descent and glided into the dining room on cloud nine. As she entered the room, Worth stood up from his chair at the head of the table. He greeted her with a pleased grin.
Paul continued to remain seated until Worth slapped his shoulder. Paul reluctantly rose to his feet.
“Welcome to your first breakfast here in your new home,” Worth said taking her had into his. “Please take a seat beside me over here.”
“Thank you,” she said as he led her to the chair on the left of him. He pulled it out and she sat down.
Paul rolled his eyes and returned to his seat across from her.
“How did you sleep?” Worth asked his newest prize.
“Wonderfully,” she replied as her foot began to caress his leg under the table. It soon found its way under the cuff of his black slacks. “How are you this morning, Paul?”
“Fine, why do you ask?”
“Well,” she began incredulously. “Your wife was murdered last night.”
Paul quickly re-adapted his mourning husband role. He smiled weakly. “I suppose I am as good as I can be this morning. Last night was pretty tough,” Paul told her. “I guess I am trying to put it out of my mind.”
Cassie gazed over at the empty chair beside Paul. It was Dean’s normal position at the long table.
Poor boy….
She could not help but feel guilty as to how things had gone between the two brothers. Worth had urged her several times not to worry about Dean, but she could not help herself. Cassie was extremely happy, but the situation with Dean still weighed on her.
“Have you guys heard from Dean since last night?”
“No, but don’t you worry about him,” Worth advised her. “He will calm down.”
“I still can’t help but feel bad…. I am so happy to be here, but I hope this does not cause some permanent rift in the family.”
“I don’t want you feeling anything but happiness right now. I sure as hell know I am happy.” He paused momentarily. “Julie is finally out of my life, and you are in my life – which is where you should be. Dean will have to get over this! Besides, he has a short attention span. I am sure he will bounce back in due time, and things will get back to normal around here.”
Cassie smiled as he took her hand.
Just then, Molly came in with their breakfast on an enormous silver tray. She sat the tray full of food down on the middle of the table and began distributing the plates. She served Worth and Paul plates stacked full of biscuits, bacon and eggs. Then, Molly placed a plate full of grapes, strawberries and a grapefruit in front of Cassie. It was accompanied by a steaming bowl of oatmeal.
“You remembered that I don’t eat any meat products!” Cassie said delightfully. “Most people never seem to remember that.”
“Of course,” Worth replied. “I remember everything when it comes to you.”
“Yeah, but I’m the one who had to write up all those damn note cards for you to memorize,” Paul added tersely.
Worth shot his brother a quick grimace. “He’s kidding, of course.”
“I know,” Cassie said with an enchanted smile.
Actually, Paul was not kidding. Worth had gotten him to write up a series of facts about Cassie on note cards prior to breakfast. Worth had studied them before her arrival at the table. When it came to others, Worth had a poor memory. Cassie was happily oblivious to that fact.
Then, Clarissa entered the room. Dressed in black from head to toe, she slowly walked past them. A black veil also covered her face. Worth, Paul and Cassie watched as she slowly marched through the dining room and took her place at the opposite end of the long table.
“Good morning, Mother,” Worth greeted.
She did not respond.
“Ms. Clarissa, I hope this morning finds you better,” Cassie offered genuinely.
Still, there was no response from the veiled figure at the other end of the long table.
Paul did not even bother with a faux greeting. Actually, he wished that the old bitch had fallen down the stairs along with Pam.
“So, Cassie,” Worth began, opening the conversation back up. “You want me to go with you to talk to Duke later on? I know you’ve been dreading that.”
“Thank you.” She smiled. “But I need to face this one alone.”
Molly walked back into the room and put the morning edition of the Dark Pines Chronicle on the middle of the table. Clarissa stared closely at it through the veil.
A huge picture of Pam was on the cover. She leapt up from her seat and grabbed it. The headline read: Pamela Westerveldt Murdered. Under the headline, there was a color photo of Pam in her pink sailor’s outfit with matching beret and tap shoes.
“My Pammy!” The old woman shrieked as she tore the veil off. Clarissa’s face was a ghastly white, even more so than usual, and her eyes were horribly sunken in. “Pammy!”
“Momma, put that down!” Worth ordered, getting up and going to her. He tried to take the newspaper from her, but she pushed him away.
“You ain’t takin’ my baby!” Clarissa cried out as she grabbed the paper and held it to her bony chest. “Pammy always likes readin’ the paper.”
Having heard Clarissa’s yells, Molly ran back in from the kitchen. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Westerveldt. I didn’t mean to upset her with the paper!”
“What were ya thinking, ya damned fool?!” He scolded the old servant.
“Worth, calm down,” Cassie gently urged.
“Never mind that,” he said, pulling the old woman close to him by her arm. “Molly, go fetch me them sedative pills,” he said calmly to the cook.
“Pammy loves that Garfield!” Clarissa began to sob loudly.
Paul and Cassie watched her in silence.
“That stupid cat and them corny jokes!” She paused. “Oh, God, why did you take my baby from me!?” She wailed at the top of her lungs as she threw her arms into the air! “Why!? Why did you take her!?”
Molly returned from the kitchen with the requested pill bottle.
“Come here, Momma.” Worth said moving closer to her as he popped one out and into his hand. “Take this pill. It will make you feel better!”
“I ain’t takin’ no pills! I ain’t lettin’ you killers dope me up!” She screamed as she backed away from them toward the wall.
“Killers?” Cassie asked, standing up from her seat. “We didn’t kill Pam. They arrested that Alanna Rodriquez for that. Don’t you remember?”
“Shut-up, whore!” Clarissa screamed at her. “Can’t keep ya legs closed for any old man who wants a piece of ya!”
“Paul, help me out here!” Worth exclaimed sharply.
Paul joined Worth and Molly in an attempt to corner and corral the grieving woman.
Violently, Clarissa began to flail her arms in front of her attempting to scratch, hit or punch any of them.
“No! Leave me be! Just leave me be!” She screamed at them. “I’m gunna find my Pammy’s killer, and then I’m gunna skin ‘em like a squirrel!”
“You ain’t makin’ no sense, Momma,” Worth said calmly. “Settle down, or we’re gonna have to feed this pill to ya.”
“I’ll kill ya…kill ya all!” She screamed punching the air in front of her. “Leave me be!”
Paul and Worth rushed her. Paul held her, while Worth attempted to open her mouth. Clarissa struggled wildly. Worth managed to open her mouth. As he moved his hand toward her mouth, she bit his hand.
“Owwww!” Worth hollered.
“Let me go, or I’ll give ya worse than that!” Clarissa yelled at him as Paul struggled to hold her.
Worth made another attempt. This time Molly jumped in and held her jaws open. Worth popped the pill in her mouth. She tried to spit it out, but Worth held her mouth closed. He raised her head and forced it down the old woman’s throat.
Suddenly, Clarissa jerked away from Paul. “You people are tryin’ to kill me!” Clarissa screamed as she ran around the breakfast table.
Cassie jumped back in shock as the old woman began her deranged laps around and around the table.
“You're tryin' to kill me like you killed my baby, Pammy!”
Worth tried to grab her again. “Sit down, Momma!”
Highly agitated and confused, Clarissa ran to the opposite end of the table from him. While continuously screaming at the top of her lungs, she began slapping and pushing all the dishes, food, glasses and silverware off of the grand table. The glasses and dishes broke loudly on the hardwood floor. Unable to tear her eyes of the train wreck in front of her, Cassie moved behind Worth. Paul and Molly stood near them with their mouths open. After Clarissa had cleaned off the entire table, she ran several more laps around it, screaming as if she were on fire! Then finally, she bolted out the door into the kitchen. A few seconds later they heard the screen door slam.
“Are you okay?” Worth said, turning to Cassie.
“Yes, I’m fine, but someone should go after her.”
“Naw, give her a few minutes.”
Molly walked over to the scattered mess and began cleaning up.
“I am going to assume that this is not your normal every day breakfast over here.”
“Of course, not,” Worth replied.
He felt ashamed. His mother’s behavior had been over-the-top and embarrassing.
“She’s really losing her shit,” Paul added.
“I ain’t never seen her like this. If she keeps it up, it will be straight to the funny farm for her!” Worth stated grimly. “Come on, man.” He said toward Paul. “Let’s go track her down. As fast as she was moving, that pill will kick in, and she’ll be passed out quicker.”
Worth and Paul walked calmly outside, and they began to search. They found her a few minutes later passed out under the old magnolia tree next to where Pam had used to jump rope….
Dean’s truck was parked in the middle of an old soybean field on the outskirts of Dark Pines. His Ford F-150 had been driven through the crop in a wobbly line and sat in the dead center of the field. Surely, the anonymous owner of this land would be furious.
Dean sat on the open tailgate, turning up a can of Bud Light as the morning sun shone down on him. The back cab of the truck was littered with around a dozen empty cans of the alcoholic beverage. Several more cans rested in some of the crushed plants just below where his large feet hung off the tailgate.
Dean’s usual bright eyes were glazed over from lack of sleep and his consumption of massive amounts of beer. The ordeal from the night before with Worth, Cassie and Julie kept playing in his head over and over again.
How could Worth do this to me? My own brother? He would actually take Cassie from me, while he had his own wife already!
Despite his loss of Cassie, Worth’s betrayal had hurt him the most.
Women treat men like shit!
Dean usually had lousy luck with women. He remembered as he thought back to another one who got away…. It had been his sophomore year at Ole Miss when he had met her. Her name had been Cherry Dismuke, and he had first laid eyes on her at the Sigma Chi/Phi Mu mixer. At first glance, she had immediately taken his breath away. She had long, bleached-blonde hair, a perfect, petite body and an enormous rack. In his dazzled eyes, Cherry had been damn near perfect in every way.
Aside from her looks, she had been from a prominent North Mississippi family and would have been the perfect girl on his arm to any social event on the campus or in the rest of Oxford.
She had led him on, toyed with him and sent him mixed messages. Most of the time, she had ignored his frequent calls and other attempts to see her. Every time he had run into her during the day on campus, she was always cold, especially around other people. When she had a few drinks in her, Cherry had always warmed up to Dean. Every time he had been about to lose interest, Cherry had always lured him back in with a drunken kiss or a hot view of her tight, low-cleavage blouse.
This back and forth had gone on for about a month up until Homecoming of that year. That is when it had happened. Before the big game, he had stopped in to pick up his gym bag from his room upstairs in the Sigma Chi house. That is when he had walked in on Cherry giving his roommate, Blake Sullivan, a blow job. Devastated, he had left the scene before him with his heart broken.
It had seemed that Dean was destined for heartache, but he had avoided that by leaning on his best friend, Brandon Barrington.
He smiled to himself as he thought back to Brandon. If it had not been for their special friendship at that time in his life, Dean would have not been the same man that he was today. He missed Brandon in many ways….
Cassie did me wrong just like that Cherry bitch did! She ain’t nothin’ but a whore!
Dean was disgusted with himself. He felt stupid that he had actually proposed to her. He wondered if he really even loved her. He also wondered if he had been only chasing down one of those dreams that life was telling him that he should have. Regardless, he could admit to himself that he had liked Cassie a whole hell of a lot, and this pain was hurting him real bad.
Worth and Cassie made a fool outta me. I won’t make that mistake again! The next girl that I find will only have eyes for me!
Then, his thoughts raced back to Worth again.
Someone needs to teach that son-of-a-bitch a lesson!
Dean downed the rest of his beer and crumpled the can in his giant fist.
I’m gunna go find that asshole!
Suddenly, Dean’s thoughts were interrupted by a distant voice.
“Hey, what the fuck are you doing to my soybeans!?” An angry farmer screamed towards him. The man was standing about a quarter of a mile away at the edge of the field. He began running toward Dean, while shaking his fist in the air.
“Shit!” Dean exclaimed as he hopped back into his truck and sped off, doing even more damage to the innocent crop.
“Good morning!” Julie greeted enthusiastically as she walked onto the veranda of the St. James Estate. Olympia and Stephanie looked up at her from their seats at the white, wicker breakfast table on the wrap-around porch.
Julie’s hair was pulled back into a pony tail, and she was dressed in her peach satin robe.
Olympia was sitting there with her long legs crossed with her morning cup of whiskey in one hand and a cigarette in the other. She was dressed in a fire engine red cocktail dress and was wearing full jewelry, including her great grandmother’s ruby brooch, a strand of a quarter of a million dollar pearls and her antique jeweled hair comb which had rumored to have been taken off the head of an executed Romanov princess.
Stephanie was wearing a camouflage tank top and khaki shorts. She was busy chowing down on a jumbo sausage biscuit with grape jam.
“Morning, honey,” Olympia said as Julie sat next to her.
“I heard you were with us,” Stephanie stated. “But I wouldn’t believe you actually left that bastard ‘till I saw it for myself.”
“Yep, I am here and soon to be single.” She looked Olympia’s way. “What are you so dressed up for?”
“Oh, I got a meeting with a contractor this morning for that Burger Queen franchise that I’m opening up in town.”
“Come again?” Julie asked. “You're opening up a Burger Queen? And why is this the first time I am hearing of this?”
“Oh, didn’t I tell ya? My lawyer and I have been working on this for a while now. I didn't want to say anything ‘till it was official. Besides, things had been so crazy lately that I haven't thought too much about it to be honest.”
“Why are you opening a restaurant?” Julie inquired as she poured herself some orange juice.
“I am so sick of the Whispering Pines Café, and I am sure many folks around here get tired of it too. It gets old having to drive to Salmonella or Biloxi for another restaurant.”
“You got that right!” Stephanie agreed.
“You know that Maria McCoy is not going to be happy about this! She thinks she has a monopoly with the Cafe.”
“She has already caught wind of it, and we’ve had some words,” Olympia replied. “I told her that I wasn't trying to drive her out of business, but she still acted like a bitch to me. Screw her though! Maria McCoy does not scare me!”
“You're right…she is all talk,” Julie began. “Besides, she married old Coot McCoy, and she is set for the rest of her life. She don't need the money, so I think she will chill out.”
“Oh, did you get that card I left in your bedroom?” Olympia asked, changing the subject.
“Yes, I did, and I gave her a call already. We’ve got an appointment for later today,” Julie replied.
“Who’ve you got an appointment with?” Stephanie asked not wanting to be excluded.
“Shauntel von Schilling. She’s this new lawyer in town,” Julie said as she took a blueberry muffin off of the tray in the middle of the table.
“Word has it that she is a shark in the courtroom,” Olympia stated.
“That’s exactly what I need to represent me in my divorce - a shark and not some bottom feeder. I’m sure Worth is going to have Starkey Hodges represent him, and he is good.”
“So, you are getting divorced? No chance at getting back together?” Stephanie inquired.
“After this whole Cassie thing.... Hell no!”
“Cassie is a hottie though!” Stephanie blurted out. “I wish she was playing for my team.” Julie shot her a look. “Not as pretty as you though, Julie.”
“Thanks, I guess,” she replied to that comment.
“You’re much prettier than that tramp is!” Olympia assured her, while fanning herself with a linen napkin. “Ya got more class too.... Damn, it’s getting hot out here! Pretty soon we’re gonna have to start eating breakfast inside.”
“So, Stephanie, you got anything planned for later on this morning?” Julie asked her.
“Nope got a clean slate today.”
“Well, while Olympia is meeting with her contractor, how about going downtown with me to meet with Miss von Schilling? It would be nice to have a friendly face with me.”
“Sure, no problem,” Stephanie returned.
“Perfect!” Olympia stated. “Then, when I’m through going over the plans for the restaurant, we can all meet back here for drinks.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Stephanie replied.
Just then, Elizabeth walked up to the table from seemingly out of no-where. “Ms. St. James,” she called out softly.
“What!?” Olympia screamed.
“Santiago Sanchez, the contractor, is here for his appointment with you,” Elizabeth replied quietly.
“Very well,” Olympia said, standing up. “Ladies, if you will excuse me....”
“Molly said you wanted to see me,” Paul asked Worth as he stepped out on the front veranda of Westerveldt Manor.
Worth was standing next to the railing in the balmy morning heat. He turned toward his approaching brother. “With all the crazy shit that's been going down around here, I hadn't been able to speak to you, and there is something we got to talk about, little brother.”
“What would that be?” Paul asked warily.
“I think you know what it is,” Worth replied curtly.
“Oh, you're sorry about Pam and all. Thanks, man,” Paul stated dismissively.
“Hardly....,” the older brother began. “You can save the lame grieving act for someone who doesn't know ya. I want to know one thing and one thing only.”
“What?” Paul gulped.
Worth looked around. “I don't know how you managed to get Pam pushed down those stairs, but you better have kept your hands clean, do you hear me?”
“My hands are clean,” Paul insisted.
“Good and make sure they stay that way, because if you did arrange all this, and your ass gets busted, I ain't coming to your rescue....”
***
Patty Moore finished her cup of coffee after having scarfed down three doughnuts. She was majorly disappointed with herself. The last couple of days she had really strayed off of her diet. Just yesterday, Patty had eaten three hamburgers, a whole bag of super-size Lays potato chips, two pieces of chocolate pie and three candy bars.
Like so many others, she ate when she was stressed. Right now, her stress had been doubled. There was a nurse shortage at Dark Pines General due to budget cuts, so she was having to do the work of four nurses for one nurses' pay. To add to that, her sister, Eve, was majorly on her mind. Patty had prayed countless times that Eve had not gone through with killing some man’s wife.
She had always felt sorry for her miscreant sister, but only she knew some of the underlying factors for Eve’s deranged behavior.
Eve Moore had been born a hermaphrodite. The doctor who had delivered Eve gave their parents a choice shortly after her birth. Did they want a boy or a girl? Their parents had chosen a girl, so the small-town doctor had removed her extra genitalia and made Eve a girl.
Even though, Eve identified as a heterosexual female, those extra male hormones often made Eve an out-of-control force. Granted, most hermaphrodites are well adjusted people. For some reason, Eve was not. Perhaps, it was because their family had been too poor to afford hormone pills that would have regulated Eve’s system. Perhaps, she was just crazy.
Eve knew nothing about her gender situation. Patty was the only one left alive who did. While Eve had been in prison for running over that young woman, their mother had died. On her deathbed, Billie Jo Moore had confessed to Patty about Eve’s true identity. It had shocked Patty, but she had decided that due to Eve’s fragile mental state that her sister must never know the truth.
Patty got up from the breakfast table in her small kitchen and began toward the front door.
She thought back to when they had been kids growing up in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Three years older than Patty, Eve had always been in trouble. She had been bigger than most of the other kids. Eve’s large presence and her manly leanings had made her a target for ridicule. Her hot temper had landed her in many fights, especially growing up.
Her first brush with the law had happened when Eve had been in ninth grade. Eve had an intense crush on Troy Meade, who had been a star on the Yazoo City High football team. Back in the day, Troy had been Mr. Popularity and wanted nothing to do the mannish Eve. His cold shoulder had not swayed Eve’s crush. In fact, Eve had eventually become completely fixated on him. Moments before the huge state championship game, Troy had disappeared out of the locker room. For two days, the police had searched for the young jock, but had turned up nothing. On the third day, Patty had ventured into Eve’s room to borrow a pair of socks, when she had heard a bumping sound from the closet. Patty had opened the door to find Troy there. His wrists and ankles had been taped up, and about five inches of thick gray duct tape covered the lower half of Troy’s face. He had still been wearing in his football uniform. Eve had kidnapped him and held the strong jock captive for days, and it appeared she had been planning to leave him there indefinitely. That event had sent Eve to reform school for two years.
That memory never sat well with her. What that poor boy must have gone through. What was going through his head? What he felt being tied up and held captive by a deranged fan like that?
Patty opened her front door and leaned down to grab the morning paper. Afterward, Patty walked back into the house and opened up the paper.
On the front page was: Pamela Westerveldt Murdered!
“What?” She questioned in a gasp. She read further. “Oh God, she was pushed down the stairs! How awful!”
As Patty came back into the living room, a sinking feeling overtook her.
Eve! She said she was going to kill someone’s wife. I bet Paul Westerveldt is the man behind this! He must’ve talked her into it!
Patty plopped down on the couch and read more.
Poor woman.
Patty remembered that two Christmases ago Pam had visited the sick kids in the hospital. She had put on this elaborate tap dance extravaganza. Patty recalled how Pam had been dressed like Shirley Temple, and she remembered the old woman, who had accompanied Pam on the piano with some old rag-time tunes.
That sweet, but slow girl was now gone and had obviously been murdered!
Eve walked into the living room, wearing a pair of overalls and a cap.
Patty stood up. “Do you know anything about this?” She held the paper up in front of her sister.
Eve scanned the front page. “Naw, I don’t know nothin’ about that.”
“Are you sure about that, Eve? You admitted to me the other night that you were plotting to kill some poor woman to be with her husband, and that man’s name was Paul. You did all this, didn’t you?”
“Naw, I was talkin’ about some other folks than these,” she replied nonchalantly as she sat down on the love seat across the room. She put her large feet up on the coffee table and clicked on the television with the remote.
“I don’t believe you!” Patty stated as she moved in between Eve and the TV. “Answer me!”
She did not reply. She just strained to watch the television around her.