lure mail-order business to opening a fancy restaurant in Easton. Eddie always gravitated to “big” plans—things that were destined to fail simply because of his grandiose nature. He went through his inheritance fairly quickly, and then he took out a mortgage on the house and went through that, too. In the end, he had enough left to make a down payment on a deluxe boat for a water-taxi service, but no money to promote the service or even pay for the upkeep of the boat.
“After the water-taxi business failed, he left me for good,” Shayna said. “Like I told you, he just up and left. Then two days later, some men from the bank showed up to foreclose on his mother’s house.”
“Wow.”
“I didn’t even know they were coming.”
“What did you do?”
“What could I do? I left! I walked out of that house, went over to the bar, and got high. I woke up two days later in a ditch out along the highway, and that’s when I realized life just couldn’t get any worse.”
“Doesn’t sound like it.”
Shayna went on to describe how the first thing she saw as she walked back to town was a big white tent outside of the community church. There was something going on there, but what drew her were the free donuts and coffee set up on a table nearby. She took as many donuts as her hands could hold and then sat in a metal folding chair, intending to eat and be on her way. Instead, she started listening to the words and the music down front, and soon she was swept into the revival. Before the night was over, she had accepted Christ and decided to turn her life around.
“The people in that church could not have helped me more,” she said. “They prayed with me and supported me, but they also showed me how I couldn’t keep on with the way things were. They talked me into going to drug rehab so I could dry out, and then I was assigned a social worker and got job training. When I finally got out of rehab, the whole church was so proud of me. One of the deacons let me live rent free in that apartment until I could find a job, and the ladies’ group gave me an old car so I could get to interviews. They even gave me spending money in exchange for cleaning the sanctuary every Monday morning.”
Tears started to roll down Shayna’s cheeks as she talked.
“Oh, Callie, they all believed in me so much. Things were going so well. If even one of them thinks I did this—the drugs or the murder—it will just break my heart. I can’t face them!”
I sat back, waiting as Shayna pulled out more tissues and blew her nose. I thought about the crowd that had been watching the police activity near her apartment the night before. Indeed, the way they talked, they all seemed to believe she had killed Eddie Ray—but even so, they had sounded sympathetic to her, not to him.
“If things were going so well for you,” I asked, “why did you let Eddie Ray back into your life?”
She shook her head.
“He took me by surprise, I guess,” she replied. “He said he missed me and he loved me—and I was feeling kind of lonely and scared. I hadn’t been with anybody in so long. Not that we did anything this time, you know. I let him move in, but I made him sleep on the couch. Part of me wanted him to leave. But part of me just wanted a man around again. Somebody to hold my hand. Somebody to say nice things to me.”
I wondered about those nice things he had said to her. Had he really loved her, or was there some other motive? Perhaps he was just in need of a free place to crash. According to Shayna, he had five dollars in his pocket the day he showed up this time. Maybe she was simply his last resort.
“Yesterday,” I said, “at Advancing Attire, you were telling me about some new big plan Eddie Ray had. You said he told you that soon he would have enough money so that neither one of you would ever have to work again.”
Shayna rolled her eyes.
“I don’t even know what this one was about. He got all excited one day about two
“After the water-taxi business failed, he left me for good,” Shayna said. “Like I told you, he just up and left. Then two days later, some men from the bank showed up to foreclose on his mother’s house.”
“Wow.”
“I didn’t even know they were coming.”
“What did you do?”
“What could I do? I left! I walked out of that house, went over to the bar, and got high. I woke up two days later in a ditch out along the highway, and that’s when I realized life just couldn’t get any worse.”
“Doesn’t sound like it.”
Shayna went on to describe how the first thing she saw as she walked back to town was a big white tent outside of the community church. There was something going on there, but what drew her were the free donuts and coffee set up on a table nearby. She took as many donuts as her hands could hold and then sat in a metal folding chair, intending to eat and be on her way. Instead, she started listening to the words and the music down front, and soon she was swept into the revival. Before the night was over, she had accepted Christ and decided to turn her life around.
“The people in that church could not have helped me more,” she said. “They prayed with me and supported me, but they also showed me how I couldn’t keep on with the way things were. They talked me into going to drug rehab so I could dry out, and then I was assigned a social worker and got job training. When I finally got out of rehab, the whole church was so proud of me. One of the deacons let me live rent free in that apartment until I could find a job, and the ladies’ group gave me an old car so I could get to interviews. They even gave me spending money in exchange for cleaning the sanctuary every Monday morning.”
Tears started to roll down Shayna’s cheeks as she talked.
“Oh, Callie, they all believed in me so much. Things were going so well. If even one of them thinks I did this—the drugs or the murder—it will just break my heart. I can’t face them!”
I sat back, waiting as Shayna pulled out more tissues and blew her nose. I thought about the crowd that had been watching the police activity near her apartment the night before. Indeed, the way they talked, they all seemed to believe she had killed Eddie Ray—but even so, they had sounded sympathetic to her, not to him.
“If things were going so well for you,” I asked, “why did you let Eddie Ray back into your life?”
She shook her head.
“He took me by surprise, I guess,” she replied. “He said he missed me and he loved me—and I was feeling kind of lonely and scared. I hadn’t been with anybody in so long. Not that we did anything this time, you know. I let him move in, but I made him sleep on the couch. Part of me wanted him to leave. But part of me just wanted a man around again. Somebody to hold my hand. Somebody to say nice things to me.”
I wondered about those nice things he had said to her. Had he really loved her, or was there some other motive? Perhaps he was just in need of a free place to crash. According to Shayna, he had five dollars in his pocket the day he showed up this time. Maybe she was simply his last resort.
“Yesterday,” I said, “at Advancing Attire, you were telling me about some new big plan Eddie Ray had. You said he told you that soon he would have enough money so that neither one of you would ever have to work again.”
Shayna rolled her eyes.
“I don’t even know what this one was about. He got all excited one day about two
Similar Books
