Can't Wait to Get to Heaven

Welcome Home

8:48 PM

When Norma and Macky drove up to their house, they saw that Norma’s car was parked in the driveway, with a note on the windshield. Merle and Verbena had driven it over from Elner’s house for them. And when they went to the front door, there were six or seven notes that friends had taped to the door. All saying how happy they were Elner was alive. As she went in, Norma was exhausted, but there were so many messages asking about Elner on the answering machine, it had run out of tape. Norma was not surprised by any of this. Aunt Elner knew everybody and was the only person Norma knew who didn’t hide from the Jehovah’s Witnesses. After Norma had called everybody back and cleared the machine, she came into the den and sat down by Macky. “Linda called, she got home all right and said they were going to get a cat tomorrow.”

He nodded. “That’s good.”

After a while she looked over and said, “Did I mention that she said she walked through a button?”

“No. What kind of button?” he asked.

“A big mother-of-pearl button with a door in it.”

Macky roared with laughter.

“Well, you can laugh all you want, Macky, but thank heavens I got to Mr. Pixton in time about the deposition. They could have carted her off and we would never have seen her again!”

“Norma, if anybody gets carted off, it will be you for believing such a thing.”

Norma looked at him with alarm. “I’m not saying I believe it, Macky, I said she believes it, and you’re right, I’m so tired I don’t know what I’m thinking…. I swear, if one more thing happens—”

There was a knock on the door. “Who in the world is that?” she said. When Norma opened the door, Ruby Robinson stood there with a gun in her hand and announced, “I tried to call, but your line was busy. I found this in the bottom of Elner’s dirty-clothes basket and I didn’t know if you’d want me to put it back or not.”

Norma thought about fainting again but was just too tired.

“Oh, come on in, Ruby,” she said. “Macky will have to deal with this. I’ve got to go lie down before I fall down.”

When Macky came into the bedroom a little while later, Norma was lying flat on the bed with a cold rag on her head.

“What fresh hell now?” she moaned.

“Oh, it’s nothing, Norma. Ruby found it in Elner’s dirty-clothes basket and got all freaked out, that’s all.”

“Just tell me that was not a real gun. If it is, don’t even tell me. I can’t handle it.”

“No, it’s not a real gun,” said Macky, unbuttoning his shirt. “It’s just a little starter pistol, like they use at the stock car races. It probably belongs to Luther Griggs. I’m sure she was just keeping it for him. Just go on to sleep.”

“I don’t care if it’s fake or not, it obviously scared poor Ruby to death! Tell Luther to quit leaving stuff like that at her house; first that truck, and now a gun. She could have hurt herself with that thing.”

“No, she couldn’t. It only shoots blanks.”

“I don’t care what it shoots, it has no business being in her dirty-clothes basket. I swear, if it’s not one thing it’s another, you have to watch her twenty-four hours a day.”

After Norma had gone to sleep, Macky lay there wideawake. He had lied to Norma. The gun was not a fake, or a starter pistol. Ruby knew it, and he knew it, and he wondered what the hell Elner was doing with a loaded .38 in her dirty-clothes basket? After a while he decided that the only possible explanation was Luther Griggs, and what in the hell was he thinking leaving something that dangerous at her house? He knew thinking was not one of Luther’s strong points, and he liked Luther, but nevertheless, he was going to kick his butt from here to Wyoming and back. Macky wished that Ruby had not brought it over, because Norma was looking for any excuse to try to get Elner into that damned assisted living place, and Elner was not helping matters. First falling out of a tree, and now the gun. Tomorrow he would get up early and ride over and throw the thing in the river and get rid of it. He was not worried that Luther had shot or robbed anybody with it. Luther was too stupid to do anything and not get caught; when he had broken into his father’s trailer, he had left a note saying that he was the one who had done it.