Page 19 of Demitrius

Shopping with Mandy was fun. The things on their list, however, were boring to shop for. Napkins for the dining room. Glasses for the kitchen. He got to help pick out the things they were getting, but for the life of him, he really couldn’t understand why it mattered if the napkins matched the placemats. He would have gotten all white ones and been done with it, but Mandy did have a point. White would show stains more.

There were other things on the list that he was glad to have gotten. A television for the living room was needed. They’d been watching TV when they did on a twenty-inch television that barely worked. When he said he wanted the largest one they had, the man looked skeptical, but he did show him the seventy-five-inch one that just happened to be on sale too.

Lamps for the room were a necessity as there was no overhead lighting in the room. The two of them decided that they did need fans in the living room to keep the room fresh, but they were going to have them installed. He could do it, but didn’t want to fall and hurt himself. Then something occurred to him. He had the ring with him.

“I have something for you.” He got down on one knee and looked up at her. “If you don’t like it for whatever reason, we can exchange it today. Will you marry me and make me happier than my sappy brothers are with their wives?”

“I didn’t think that you’d—oh, Demi, it’s beautiful. Did Martha leave this to you?” He told her that she had, but if she didn’t like it, they were in town today and could get her something different. “No, this is perfect. I feel like she’s been watching over me since I fell in love with you. Oh, Demi, it couldn’t be more perfect. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

He’d not realized that they’d drawn a crowd, but the well wishes were wonderful from the strangers. Even when he kissed his soon-to-be wife, they applauded them both and wished them years of marital bliss.

Demi caught her looking at the ring off and on all the rest of the day. When they were finishing up, they decided to have an early dinner. Shipley had called and said they were having brats on the grill, and the boys wanted to stay again. They both thought it was a wonderful idea and went to have a nice dinner in an expensive restaurant. The rest of the evening was spent with them having the grandest time ever.

By the time they were home, the two of them were so exhausted that they weren’t sure they could make it up the stairs. And they still had the truck to unload. Not to mention, put it all away.

“I’m all for leaving it in the truck and getting it tomorrow. If you pull it into the garage, things should be all right, don’t you think?” Demi agreed with Mandy, telling her that they’d get it unloaded and put away first thing. “Good. Until tomorrow then. Once we get it in the house, it’ll be easy to get it put away. And the things that need to be washed will have to wait until next weekend. I have a busy week, and I know you do as well.”

“I knew there was a good reason that I wanted to marry you. You’re brilliant.” She told him he was goofy. “I’ll own that, my dear. And I love you.”

“I love you as well, you big lug.” They were both giggling as they finally made it up the stairs. She decided that he would sleep in the big bed with her, and he couldn’t have been happier. It was turning into the best day of his life.

~*~

Georgie was waiting for her turn to see the judge. She’d been last to get off the bus and was now last in line to see the stupid judge. There were things that she needed answers to and he’d better have themfor her or she was going to be pissed off. Again.

The problem was that with being last, he was getting shorter and shorter with people who were ahead of her. She didn’t want him pissed off when he got to her and decided that she was going to have to do something or she’d be shit out of luck getting out of the jail not to mention finding out where her brother had been taken. There was no reason why the two of them had to be separated. They were all each other had.

“I wanna go next.” The officer told her that she had to wait her turn like everyone else was. “No, he’ll be too pissy when he gets to me, and I have some important stuff I need answers for. I’m not going to be waiting on that again.”

Standing up, she was told to sit down. Ignoring the officer for the judge, she finally got his attention. Telling him why she didn’t want to wait got his attention, but not the right kind.

“Well then, you just tell me what it is you want and the rest of the people will just have to wait like normal people do.” She told him she was a normal person, and he slammed his little hammer down and charged her fifty dollars for back talk. “Do it again, and we’ll just see how well you like it at the beginning of the line. What do you want that can’t wait another twenty minutes?”

“Where’s my brother? He was in the same jail as me, and now he’s gone.” The judge asked her what his name was. While he was shuffling through the paperwork on his desk thingy, she remembered her next question. “When will I start seeing benefits for raising his kids, too. They’re mine now, and I want a piece of the pie their mother was getting before she died.”

“Samuel Jameson has been taken to a bigger jail than this one. He’s up on murder charges, and they’ll handle him better there.” She said that he’d not been given a trial. “So? He’ll get one when the date comes up. I believe it’s sometime next year. July, if I remember correctly.”

“That’s not right. He’s gotta be there for all that time? You have to change your mind about that date. He’ll hate being in prison again.” The judge told her that was the point. No one should like to be in prison. “Then you’ll change the date for me? I need him around. I’ve never raised up kids before.”

“Are you Georgetta Jameson?” She told him that she was just called Georgie. “Well, not today. We’re usually a bit more formal when it comes to having people jailed. I have paperwork here for you, too. The bodies of yours and Samuel’s parents have been exhumed, and you and your brother’s DNA were all over their bodies. And who buries the weapons they were killed with in their casket? Those were found as well.”

“That’s not fair. I told them not to go digging them up. I know you have to have permission on digging up family members, and I didn’t give it. I’m sure that Samuel didn’t do it either. You tell them that it doesn’t count, whatever you found, as I’m not going back to jail either. It’s not fair.”

“Fair or not, you’re going to be remanded over to a larger prison to await your trial time as well. I have it on here somewhere that tells me when the two of you will stand trial for their murders. Here it is. December of next year.” Georgie told himfuck no. when the man stood up and pointed his hammer at her, she knew for sure that she’d been better off waiting her turn. Right now he was about as pissed off as she’d ever seen somebody and that included her brother Samuel “Five thousand dollar fine and you’ll be remanded over to the women’s prison now. Telling me no and using profanity, too. I should throw the book at you now, but I’m a better man than you are a woman. I’m about to have my retirement date moved so that I can be there when you’re up for trial.”

She was taken away in her cuffs and shackles. Before she left the room, however, she flipped the judge off and laughed when he threw his hammer at her. It was the little things that got her through the day, and she was going to get them where she could. As soon as she was on the bus, locked down so that she couldn’t move, nobody got on the bus with her after the cops left her.

“Damned idiots. What am I supposed to do here with no phone to play on?” She watched them to see what they were going to do now. “If I had me a knife, I’d kill you both without another thought.”

Another cruiser pulled up while she was waiting for them to take her back to the jail. She was beginning to like the little small town place and the good food that they served her three times a day. Also, the big comforter was nice late at night when she woke up a bit too chilly in the room.

When the other cop got out of his car, he had a bag of something, and he looked like he was in some kind of police vest. Figures, she thought, now they think I’m dangerous. When the bag was tossed to one of the officers who had been on the bus with her, they all turned and looked at her. Whatever was going on, it was somehow related to her. Then she remembered what the judge had said. She was going to a prison too. Georgie looked at the three of them as they entered the bus.

“I don’t think so.” The bigger of the three of them told her that they could do this the easy way or the hard way. “Hard way. I don’t want to go to prison for over a year, waiting on my trial. You go back in there and tell him whatever it takes to have him change his mind. But I’m not getting off this bus.”

“The hard way it’s going to be then.” He pulled out a gun and pointed it at her. When long electrical things came out of it, she knew she was going to be tazed. Christ, oh mighty, she hated that.

She couldn’t move her body at all. Her mouth was open in a scream that never surfaced for anyone to hear it. If the smells were any indications she not only pissed herself but shit in her pants as well. Nothing was moving on her body, and they picked her up and pulled her out of her seat after unshackling her.

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