Grass Roots Read Online Free PDF Page A

Charlene was getting a ride home from work, so I went straight home.”
    “Who’s Charlene?”
    “She’s my girlfriend. Charlene Joiner. She lives with me.”
    “What about the rest of your evening?”
    “Well, I had a beer, and Charlene came in, I guess, a little after six.
    She gets off at six. She brought a chicken home, and we ate that. Then we watched a video. Charlene brought that, too.”
    “Where does Charlene work?”
    “At the Magi Mart That’s a convenience store out on the La Grange highway. They have a video-rental thing, and they let her bring them home overnight. She takes them back the next morning.”
    “What did you watch?”
    “Beverly Hills Cop, with Eddie Murphy.”
    “Then what?”
    Larry looked embarrassed.
    “Then we… well, we went to bed.”
    “Did you make love?”
    “Sir?”
    “I’m not prying, Larry. This might be important later.”
    “Yes, sir, we sure did. Charlene’s sort of…”
    “Sort of what?”
    “Well, sort of horny.”
    “That night?”
    “Every night.” Larry frowned a little.
    “Are you sure this is important?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, to tell you the truth, Charlene is horny all the time. I mean, she wants to do it anytime, day or night, wherever we can get away with it.”
    “You mean, outside the house?”
    “I mean anywhere. I had to stop taking her to the movies, at the movie theater. She’d be all over me. Now, we stay home and watch videos or go to the drive-in out on the highway. We were out there… let’s see, Wednesday night, and we ended up doing it on the floor of the van.
    I’m lucky I’m in good shape, or she’d kill me.”
    “So, on Thursday night, after the video, you and Charlene were… occupied with each other, for how long?”
    “I don’t know. You kind of lose track of time, you know?”
    “How long have you known Charlene?”
    “About… let’s see, we met in June, over at Callaway Gardens, at the beach.”
    “And when did she move in?”
    “In June. The same day. She’s from Newnan, but she moved in with me and got the job at the Magi Man
    “And it’s been like this with Charlene all the time, since June?”
    “Yes, sir, all the time. I don’t reckon we’ve missed a day.”
    “You didn’t leave the house again on Thursday night?
    Didn’t drive the van again?”
    “No, sir. After Charlene and I have been at it, well, I don’t feel much like doing anything but sleeping.”
    “That’s it, then. That’s your whole Thursday night?”
    “That’s it.”
    “And you told the sheriff that?”
    “Well, I didn’t tell him about Charlene and me. I mean, you said you couldn’t tell anybody what I told you. I reckon the sheriff would tell everybody.”
    Will laughed in spite of himself.
    “What else did the sheriff ask you?”
    “He asked me if I knew Sarah Cole. I said, “Yeah, I fixed the furnace at that place she works.”
     
    “
     
    “When did you fix it?”
    “It was Thursday afternoon.”
    “Had you met her before?”
    “No, sir. I went over there on a call, and I talked to a receptionist, I guess she was, and I fixed the furnace—it was just a bad thermostat, and I replaced it—and then this Sarah Cole came out of an office and signed the ticket and gave me a check.”
    “And that was the first time you had seen her?”
    “No, I guess I’d seen her around town, but I didn’t know her.”
    “Ever spoken to her before?”
    “No, sir.”
    “When you spoke to her at her office, did you have any sort of disagreement or argument?” “No, sir. Well, she said she thought the thermostat was too expensive.
    I told her it was the cheapest one we carry, and she was welcome to shop around, but she gave me the check. I don’t guess we spoke more than ten words.”
    “Was anybody else present when you spoke to her?”
    “The receptionist was there.”
    “What else did the sheriff ask you?” “He asked me if I knew where the city dump was, and I said I did. He asked me if I was out at the city dump