Yeomen of the Guard to be played throughout the viewing. I wish my body to be buried in the Exley Family plot located inside Boneventure Cemetery, Greenwich Road, Savannah, Georgia 31404; plot number 1022 on Stoddard Way.
As witness by my hand the day and year above written
Testators Signature/date
Signed by the said Testator in the presence of us at the same time who at his request and in his presence and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names at witnesses.
First Witness
Signature
Name Dr. Edward P. Cummings
Address 3 Jones St., Savannah, GA
Occupation Physician
Date18 May 2012
Second Witness
Signature
Name Grainger J. Mercer III
Address 103 E. Gordon Ln., Savannah, GA
Occupation Hospitality
Date18 May 2012
Chapter 19 – Caleb
I knock on her door, holding a bouquet of flowers behind my back, which I, of course, took from an early service we’d had in the Peace Parlor. Footsteps approach the heavy oak door from the other side. Some kind of rustling ensues. I imagine her eye pressed against the peephole lens. I imagine what it would be like to have a blow gun to blow that lens right into her eyeball, cutting the cornea.
“Hey,” Scarlet says opening the door a few inches. I see only a narrow slice of her wide body. “What’s up?”
“Hi.” I pull the flowers from behind my back. “Peace offering?”
She smiles and opens the door wider, letting me step inside her flat. It looks as though an art supply store has exploded in here. Tubes of acrylic and oil paints in every color imaginable lay strewn about the room as if they were shot from a cannon. Three easels display works in various degrees of completion. Jars of stained paint brushes stand on homemade shelves. Pallets with plastic wrap stretched over the tops, keeping custom mixed colors from drying out, line the kitchen table. Bolts of fabric stand in corners and lay beneath the Swedish coffee table. I always wondered what an artist’s home looked like. She’d never invited me over. Now I see why. But, it’s not so bad.
She could have her own studio at the Parlor. It would be bigger than her whole studio apartment.
“Listen,” I say, looking into her bloodshot eyes, “I never meant to offend you in any way by offering you a job at the funeral home. I know your skills are way beyond that, but the economy’s tough right now.”
“Don’t forget I suck so bad nobody wants me in L.A.” She lets out a laugh/sob then bites her lower lip. “I still want to go there so bad. That’s where I’m supposed to be. I feel it.”
I look down at the sketches paving the floor— heartbreaking drawings of girls crying, angry doodles of mushroom clouds engulfing the Hollywood sign, an angel kneeling before a crypt. I try to mold my face into a mask of sympathy when I really feel like laughing until my sides split. I look up at her, into her leaking sapphire eyes.
“Come work with me, Scarlet. Think about it: you can decorate rooms, do people’s make-up, have your very own art studio and bedroom— rent-free, of course— plus, you’ll get to see me every day.” I give her my best smile. I feel her ogling the space where my incisor used to be.
She looks apprehensive.
Or frightened.
Chapter 20 – Caleb
The phone rings, drawing me away from the window where I’ve been watching the rain drop from the sky in heavy gobs.
“Exley & Sons, how may I help you?” I punch the speaker phone button and straighten my blue tie with the regimental red stripes as I listen. I could not find my green tie this morning.
“Hey, kid.” I make a face. This particular police detective, Officer... I can’t remember his name at the moment, is the only person who calls me ‘kid.’ I want to pull the outdated phone out of the wall and heave it out the window. “Listen, we’ve got a body,” he says. “It’s over by the projects, you know, off Broad over there.”
He needs me to make a
As witness by my hand the day and year above written
Testators Signature/date
Signed by the said Testator in the presence of us at the same time who at his request and in his presence and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names at witnesses.
First Witness
Signature
Name Dr. Edward P. Cummings
Address 3 Jones St., Savannah, GA
Occupation Physician
Date18 May 2012
Second Witness
Signature
Name Grainger J. Mercer III
Address 103 E. Gordon Ln., Savannah, GA
Occupation Hospitality
Date18 May 2012
Chapter 19 – Caleb
I knock on her door, holding a bouquet of flowers behind my back, which I, of course, took from an early service we’d had in the Peace Parlor. Footsteps approach the heavy oak door from the other side. Some kind of rustling ensues. I imagine her eye pressed against the peephole lens. I imagine what it would be like to have a blow gun to blow that lens right into her eyeball, cutting the cornea.
“Hey,” Scarlet says opening the door a few inches. I see only a narrow slice of her wide body. “What’s up?”
“Hi.” I pull the flowers from behind my back. “Peace offering?”
She smiles and opens the door wider, letting me step inside her flat. It looks as though an art supply store has exploded in here. Tubes of acrylic and oil paints in every color imaginable lay strewn about the room as if they were shot from a cannon. Three easels display works in various degrees of completion. Jars of stained paint brushes stand on homemade shelves. Pallets with plastic wrap stretched over the tops, keeping custom mixed colors from drying out, line the kitchen table. Bolts of fabric stand in corners and lay beneath the Swedish coffee table. I always wondered what an artist’s home looked like. She’d never invited me over. Now I see why. But, it’s not so bad.
She could have her own studio at the Parlor. It would be bigger than her whole studio apartment.
“Listen,” I say, looking into her bloodshot eyes, “I never meant to offend you in any way by offering you a job at the funeral home. I know your skills are way beyond that, but the economy’s tough right now.”
“Don’t forget I suck so bad nobody wants me in L.A.” She lets out a laugh/sob then bites her lower lip. “I still want to go there so bad. That’s where I’m supposed to be. I feel it.”
I look down at the sketches paving the floor— heartbreaking drawings of girls crying, angry doodles of mushroom clouds engulfing the Hollywood sign, an angel kneeling before a crypt. I try to mold my face into a mask of sympathy when I really feel like laughing until my sides split. I look up at her, into her leaking sapphire eyes.
“Come work with me, Scarlet. Think about it: you can decorate rooms, do people’s make-up, have your very own art studio and bedroom— rent-free, of course— plus, you’ll get to see me every day.” I give her my best smile. I feel her ogling the space where my incisor used to be.
She looks apprehensive.
Or frightened.
Chapter 20 – Caleb
The phone rings, drawing me away from the window where I’ve been watching the rain drop from the sky in heavy gobs.
“Exley & Sons, how may I help you?” I punch the speaker phone button and straighten my blue tie with the regimental red stripes as I listen. I could not find my green tie this morning.
“Hey, kid.” I make a face. This particular police detective, Officer... I can’t remember his name at the moment, is the only person who calls me ‘kid.’ I want to pull the outdated phone out of the wall and heave it out the window. “Listen, we’ve got a body,” he says. “It’s over by the projects, you know, off Broad over there.”
He needs me to make a
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