world is responsible for this?”
We went upstairs, my feeling of trepidation confirmed at the sight of the bedrooms. My dresser drawers had been turned out on the floor and on the bed, with underclothes strung everywhere. Clothes from the closet were piled on the floor, and shoe and hatboxes emptied and discarded. Even the bathroom cabinets and the linen closet had been cleared. It looked like someone had just swept his arm along the shelves, knocking everything to the floor. Soap, bath crystals, talcum powders, cologne, towels, washclothes—everything had been flung to the floor and walked on. A full roll of toilet paper was stuffed into the commode, along with the red rubber bag that had to do with my personal hygiene. The lemon scent of Jean Naté was almost strong enough to mask the putrid smell of the semisoft clump of you-know-what on my white Royal Cannon towels.
“My land,” I gasped, holding my hand over my mouth. “This is unbelievable.” I pulled Little Lloyd away from the door. He didn’t need to witness such an affront to sensitive natures.
“That the worst thing I ever seen,” Lillian said. “What kind of person do somethin’ like that? We better call the police.”
“I’m going to,” I said, pulling Little Lloyd out of the room. “But let’s check the other bedrooms first.”
They were the same. Little Lloyd’s room was worse than mine, if that was possible. The mattress had been pushed off his bed, where it leaned half on the floor. His clothes were on the floor and his cardboard suitcase had been cut and stomped. We stood there surveying this senseless damage, and I could feel Little Lloyd’s damp hand closing tighter on mine.
“I’m real scared,” he said.
“Don’t be,” I said. “Let’s go to the kitchen, and I’ll call the sheriff. Little Lloyd, don’t you worry. Somebody sick and evil did all this, but they won’t do it again. Don’t you be afraid; I’m going to see to it.”
C HAPTER E LEVEN
W HILE I CALLED the sheriff’s office, Lillian paced the kitchen, wringing her hands in her apron. She cried and apologized for going to the store, taking all the blame on herself. Little Lloyd stood next to me, his eyes big with fright.
“They’re sending somebody,” I said, hanging up the phone and hearing the nervous words pour out of my mouth. “I told them to contact Deputy Bates, too. Now, Lillian, sit down and get yourself together. This was not your fault, and I don’t want to hear another word about it. Looks to me like it was either somebody looking for something in particular, or vandals who just like to tear things up for the sake of it. I didn’t see a thing missing, did you? Television’s still here, and so is my silver. I’ll have to go through the papers in the desk, but I can’t imagine anybody’d want canceled checks, can you? Sit down, Lillian. You’re making me nervous. We’ve got to think about who could’ve done this. Did you see anything missing? How you reckon they got in?”
She finally took a seat at the table and wiped her face with her apron. “I ’spect they climb up the back stairs. Didn’t you see Deputy Bates’s door standing open with the glass broke out?”
“You’re right. I did see it, but I was still thinking of what was in my bathroom to make much sense of anything else.”
It wasn’t long before two sheriff’s deputies arrived to look through the house and begin making a report. Would you believe they wanted to know my age? As if that had anything to do with what’d happened. Sheriff Earl Frady drove up soon after with Deputy Bates, and everybody had to tell their stories all over again. I was asked a dozen times if anything was missing, but the more I went through the house with one or the other of them, the more I was sure that not one thing had been taken. I was close to the end of my patience, what with uniformed officers trooping in and out, poking here and there and asking one question after another, until I
We went upstairs, my feeling of trepidation confirmed at the sight of the bedrooms. My dresser drawers had been turned out on the floor and on the bed, with underclothes strung everywhere. Clothes from the closet were piled on the floor, and shoe and hatboxes emptied and discarded. Even the bathroom cabinets and the linen closet had been cleared. It looked like someone had just swept his arm along the shelves, knocking everything to the floor. Soap, bath crystals, talcum powders, cologne, towels, washclothes—everything had been flung to the floor and walked on. A full roll of toilet paper was stuffed into the commode, along with the red rubber bag that had to do with my personal hygiene. The lemon scent of Jean Naté was almost strong enough to mask the putrid smell of the semisoft clump of you-know-what on my white Royal Cannon towels.
“My land,” I gasped, holding my hand over my mouth. “This is unbelievable.” I pulled Little Lloyd away from the door. He didn’t need to witness such an affront to sensitive natures.
“That the worst thing I ever seen,” Lillian said. “What kind of person do somethin’ like that? We better call the police.”
“I’m going to,” I said, pulling Little Lloyd out of the room. “But let’s check the other bedrooms first.”
They were the same. Little Lloyd’s room was worse than mine, if that was possible. The mattress had been pushed off his bed, where it leaned half on the floor. His clothes were on the floor and his cardboard suitcase had been cut and stomped. We stood there surveying this senseless damage, and I could feel Little Lloyd’s damp hand closing tighter on mine.
“I’m real scared,” he said.
“Don’t be,” I said. “Let’s go to the kitchen, and I’ll call the sheriff. Little Lloyd, don’t you worry. Somebody sick and evil did all this, but they won’t do it again. Don’t you be afraid; I’m going to see to it.”
C HAPTER E LEVEN
W HILE I CALLED the sheriff’s office, Lillian paced the kitchen, wringing her hands in her apron. She cried and apologized for going to the store, taking all the blame on herself. Little Lloyd stood next to me, his eyes big with fright.
“They’re sending somebody,” I said, hanging up the phone and hearing the nervous words pour out of my mouth. “I told them to contact Deputy Bates, too. Now, Lillian, sit down and get yourself together. This was not your fault, and I don’t want to hear another word about it. Looks to me like it was either somebody looking for something in particular, or vandals who just like to tear things up for the sake of it. I didn’t see a thing missing, did you? Television’s still here, and so is my silver. I’ll have to go through the papers in the desk, but I can’t imagine anybody’d want canceled checks, can you? Sit down, Lillian. You’re making me nervous. We’ve got to think about who could’ve done this. Did you see anything missing? How you reckon they got in?”
She finally took a seat at the table and wiped her face with her apron. “I ’spect they climb up the back stairs. Didn’t you see Deputy Bates’s door standing open with the glass broke out?”
“You’re right. I did see it, but I was still thinking of what was in my bathroom to make much sense of anything else.”
It wasn’t long before two sheriff’s deputies arrived to look through the house and begin making a report. Would you believe they wanted to know my age? As if that had anything to do with what’d happened. Sheriff Earl Frady drove up soon after with Deputy Bates, and everybody had to tell their stories all over again. I was asked a dozen times if anything was missing, but the more I went through the house with one or the other of them, the more I was sure that not one thing had been taken. I was close to the end of my patience, what with uniformed officers trooping in and out, poking here and there and asking one question after another, until I
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