Standing in the Rainbow - Fannie Flagg [170]
“Is that all?”
“A little dab of Mennen’s underarm deodorant.”
“Just that?”
“No.”
“What else?”
“A half cup of oven cleaner. Polident tooth powder . . . I sprinkled a little on the top . . . it looked kinda like sugar.”
Norma couldn’t contain herself. “Oh my God.”
“Hold on, Norma,” Macky said. He asked in a calm voice, “Is that all, Aunt Elner?”
Norma looked at him like he was crazy. “Is that all? . . . That’s enough to kill an entire family right there!”
Aunt Elner said, “I never thought of that. Do you reckon he may have taken that candy home? I may have killed them all. They may all be laying up in the trailer park dead.” She threw her hands up in the air. “Now I’m a mass murderer.”
Macky said, “Aunt Elner, now slow down. Start from the beginning. Tell me everything that happened.”
“I made the candy . . . and waited till I saw him skulking around in the backyard. Then I called him over and said, ‘Come here, little boy, I’ve got some nice candy for you.’ I just meant for him to have one bite and then I was gonna try and grab for him but before I had a chance to do anything he snatched most all of the candy off the plate and took off before I could get at him.”
“When did this happen?”
“This morning.”
Norma said, “Why did you wait so long to tell us?”
Aunt Elner shook her head. “I guess when you do a thing like that the criminal mind just takes over. I thought I might get away with it. I should have come clean from the start. And now I’ve killed the whole Griggs family.”
“Oh my God,” Norma said. “Shouldn’t we call a good lawyer, Macky? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do at a time like this?”
“We are not going to call anybody. I am sure he is fine.”
“Macky, we can’t guess about something like this. We’re looking at a murder charge. You go over there right now and look at that boy. We may all have to go on the lam.”
“For God’s sake, all right, but this is stupid.”
“Macky—promise me you won’t come back until you have seen that boy walking and talking.”
“All right, all right.”
The door opened and Luther Griggs peered out first, and then opened the door wider, shotgun in hand. “What the hell do you want this time of night?”
“Are you all right?”
“Hell, yes. . . . Are you?”
“Can I come in? I need to talk to you.”
As Macky stepped into the trailer, which stank of beer and cigarettes, he looked closely at Luther to see if he looked sick but Luther Griggs had never been a picture of health, so it was hard to tell.
“I’m sorry to come over this late but we might have a little problem. Is your boy home?”
“What’s he supposed to have done now?”
“Nothing. It’s just that he may have been given some bad candy and he might need to have a doctor look at him.”
By this time Mrs. Griggs, in a ratty pink chenille robe with maroon flowers, had come into the room frowning. “What’s he done now?”
“Nothing, Mrs. Griggs, I just need to see him for a moment. If you don’t mind.”
“What for?”
“It’s a long story. But my aunt might have given him some bad fudge this morning and we just need to make sure he’s all right.”
She did not move but yelled, “Get in here this minute, you hear me . . . right now!” After a moment, Mrs. Griggs whipped around and flew into the bedroom. “I said get up! Now!”
Soon Mrs. Griggs reappeared, dragging the boy by the ears, with him kicking at her the whole time.
Macky said, “My aunt says you took a couple of handfuls of some candy she offered to you. . . . Is that right?”
“She’s a damn liar . . . I never took no damn fudge,” the boy said.
“She’s not accusing you of stealing. She—”
“Well, she’s a crazy damn old fool. I never took no candy.”
Luther Griggs got all puffed up. “You heard my boy, he never took no damn candy. You calling my boy a liar?”
“No. I’m not. I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t sick. The candy might not have been . . . uh, not made with the right ingredients.” Macky looked closely at the little boy. “Are you sure you feel all