Targeted by the Tempest by J L Johnson

Author:J L Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: humorous mystery, small town, Louisiana, senior sleuth, southern
Publisher: J&R Fan Fiction
Published: 2018-08-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4 – Early Friday evening, September 6, 1974

“I really wanted a beer,” Walter sighed, “but with more churches in this town than any other kind of business, I should’ve known it’d be dry.” They’d just sat down at a window table in a small store-front restaurant located right off highway six in the tiny town of Many, Louisiana.

They’d considered driving back to Sinful yesterday but Walter’s dad had told him he might as well stay where he was. That if they tried to come home, they’d probably get home just in time to evacuate because of Carmen.

“We could’ve gone to the Texas side of the lake,” Ida Belle said, “you know they serve beer over there.”

They’d driven the ten miles or so into Many, hoping for a few different choices of where to eat, but Walter had said his stomach needed food, so they settled on the first eatery they stumbled upon.

“As long as I don’t have to eat more fish,” Gertie insisted before they walked in the door. Walter and Ida Belle had each caught some fish and they’d had fried fish on Wednesday night and grilled fish on Thursday night.

“It’s a good thing we’re not Catholic, you’d have to eat fish tonight,” Ida Belle had chuckled.

“I thought they did away with that rule, didn’t they?” Walter asked. “During that Vatican II thing?”

“Maybe they did, who could possibly keep up with all their rules and regulations?” Ida Belle asked right back. “Ten simple commandments is good enough for me.”

“Um,” Gertie mused, “I don’t think they refer to them as regulations. I think they do categorize the different sins though: grave sins, venial sins, and mortal sins.”

“That’s an awful lot of sins,” Ida Belle waved her hand dismissively. “How anyone could keep up with all that is beyond me.”

“It doesn’t help that they keep changing them too... A sin should just be a sin.” Gertie added.

“At least you can smoke your cigar in here,” Gertie elbowed Walter as she waved her hand to chase away some of the smoke which hovered like a dense fog in the room.

“Don’t even think about lighting that disgusting thing,” Ida Belle said, shooting daggers with her eyes at Walter as she tried to open the window above their table.

“Let me get that for you,” a young man said as he came up to their table. He dropped three menus on the table and reached up to open the window.

“There you go,” he said as the window finally opened and some fresh air flowed into the room, cutting down the fog. “Okay folks, my name’s Roger, and I’ll take your order after you look over the menu. Can I get y’all something to drink?”

After they’d eaten, the two women excused themselves to the powder room and Walter lit up his cigar. He’d smoked about half of it when Gertie came back to the table.

“Ida Belle’s still fussing with her hair. I paid the bill, so you can leave the tip,” Gertie said, returning alone from the restroom.

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