Sudden Death on the Back Nine -Part III

Troy watched his home from the inside a neighboring home where the inhabitants were on an extended vacation. They had asked him to keep an eye on the place and he could feed their exotic fish, so he knew where the key was hidden. He decided he would just stay there and not get a hotel room so if she filed a missing persons report they wouldn’t find him, at least not yet.

Gerald took Troy to the house and he had waited for Polly to leave before entering. He went into the house to his study where he opened the safe and withdrew several hundred dollars in cash and then raided the pantry and refrigerator. He laughed knowing she would be perplexed by the raid. He took several changes of his casual clothes in a duffel bag and went back across the street and waited.

As Troy watched clandestinely from behind the curtains of the window facing his home he saw Polly pull up and into the garage. She lugged heavy shopping bags into the house just as if nothing had happened. About an hour later Archie pulled into the drive and got out. He took her hand as if consoling her and patted her arm. Troy wished he had a directional microphone to hear them. They went into the house and a few minutes later the police showed up. He smiled to himself. “She must have found the missing items.” He wondered out loud if she would report everything missing or if she had even checked the safe. Would she tell them he was missing?

A half hour later the officers came outside still writing in their notebooks. One of them pointed to the house where he was and Troy ducked back just enough that he could still see what was going on without being seen himself. She was shaking her head and he thought it looked like she said the word ‘vacation’. Safe, he thought, at least for now. They walked door to door to the neighboring houses questioning the inhabitants and scribbling in their notebooks. At last they left and Troy breathed a sigh of relief. She had said ‘vacation.’

As darkness fell Troy wondered why Archie was still there. Around ten he left but he looked a bit disheveled. Troy narrowed his eyes as he recalled what Gerald had told him about the phone call Polly made after she buried him. Could it be that she was talking to Archie? Hmmm. Suspicion gnawed at him for hours. His friend Archie and Polly? No way; Archie didn’t even like Polly.

Troy watched the news and knew there was mention of a break-in at his house but no mention of his being missing or his belongings or the money; just some food, which they thought odd.  He snickered, either she didn’t notice or she wouldn’t report it. He started watching carefully when she left and when she came home. She was gone all night twice and he paced the floor. He knew if he took his neighbor’s vehicle, word would get around so he couldn’t follow her and he couldn’t take his own because if she came home and it was gone she would report it stolen.

Two days later Archie pulled into the drive. Several hours later he saw the lights go off in the house and Archie didn’t leave. Troy knew he had been right. Archie’s dislike of his wife was all for show. He sat down hard on the sofa and cried. It was bad enough what Polly had done, but now it looked as if his best friend was also involved and more than just with a murder plot. He thought for a while longer and then made a decision.

Where Were You September 11, 2001?

To borrow from an Alan Jackson song, where were you when the world stopped turning? Obviously September 11, 2001, the world did not stop turning- but it sure felt like it. I was in our dairy barn cleaning up after the morning milking. My youngest son had already gone inside and saw the report on the Today Show.  He ran to tell me a plane had hit one of the buildings of the World Trade Center. My reply after the 'Oh my God!' was, "Somebody's in trouble," the last word being dragged out. I asked if it was a small plane like the one that hit the Empire State Building so many years ago and of course he looked confused not knowing what I was talking about. (I only knew about it from historical reports-I am not old enough to have read about it real-time.) He just shook his head and said, "No, Mom; it was a jetliner." You could have knocked me over with a feather. As I was finished in the barn, we came inside to watch the updates together. Horrified, we watched as yet another plane hit the second tower and then the towers collapsed. Panic reigned supreme in the streets as people understood we were under attack even as they had no idea what had happened.  I told him one is an accident, two is on purpose. Then of course came the reports of the plane crashing in Pennsylvania and the one that hit the Pentagon. All air traffic was officially grounded. We just stared at the television, my arm around his shoulders. We knew we were at war. My husband having heard vague reports on the radio that we kept in the barn came in and asked if we'd heard the news.

As the days went on we learned, if we had not already known, what real heroes were. Those brave, selfless individuals who caused their own plane to crash rather than let the terrorists take it into the White House or some other government building, gave everything for their country. The rescuers who knowing full well they might not make it out, went into those burning towers to save those that could be and then retrieve those who couldn't and many of them too gave everything to their fellow man not just their country. There were poor, unsuspecting people conducting business, going about their day who were killed inside those infernos, many of which died trying to save their coworkers. We will never forget.

All these years later, we still remember vividly where we were. Of course many have been born who have never felt the devastation of seeing that awful, terrible site except on historic news reports around the anniversary, and many of those will go on to defend our country, once they are old enough, so that it doesn't happen again, or if it does, they will be there.

September 11 has been named Patriots Day in observance of those thousands who died that day.  Just as December 7, 1941, is remembered as Pearl Harbor Day in honor of those attacked in Hawaii while they slept is not meant to bring about hatred for the Japanese, Patriots Day is not meant to bring about hatred for those of Middle Eastern descent. There is enough hatred in the world. It is to remember the victims, the fallen heroes of that terrible day, and to remind us to keep ever mindful, ever vigilant and not let it happen again.

God bless America, the survivors, the families left behind wherever in the world you hale, and the heroes who defend us against those who would do us harm if given the chance again.