Bill Fitzhugh - Fender Benders Read Online Free

Playing the casinos from Biloxi to Lula.”   Eddie pushed up the brim of his hat with his
index finger.   “What do you say to that?”
    There was a pause as Tammy put her hands over her mouth in
amazement.
    “Careful with that knife,” Eddie said.
    Tammy slid her hands from her mouth to her cheeks.   Her voice took on a sudden sweetness as her
eyes went wide.   “Eddie,
how much?”
    Eddie strummed the Gibson.   “Three-fifty a week.”
    Tammy laid the steak knife in sink, real gentle.   “Before or after taxes?”
    “That’s take-home, sugar.   I’ll be sending most of that back to you.”   Eddie picked a couple of notes and improvised
a lyric.   “ I’ll be sending you the money, ‘cause I love you so much honey . . .”   Eddie put the guitar down and crossed to
where Tammy was standing.   There was one
more thing he knew she wanted to hear, even if he didn’t want to say it.   “And I tell you what.”   He pulled her close.   “You come up when I’m playing the casino in
Lula and we’ll get started on making those babies.”
    Tammy squealed again.   “I knew you were going to make it, Eddie!   I told you I believed in you, didn’t I?   Haven’t I always said that?   You are going to be such a star!”   She kissed Eddie’s neck while hopping around
squealing.   Then she suddenly
stopped.   Her mouth opened wide.   “Eddie, I just had the best idea!   Let’s drive up to Memphis
and go to that Chinese restaurant I like.   I think we need to celebrate!”
    Eddie thought about it for a moment before a smile crossed
his face.   “Yeah,” he said.   “That’ll work.”
     
 
    4.

 
    Lee County , Alabama

 
    It was three o’clock on a stifling afternoon.   The air wasn’t
moving.   The oppressive heat was battling
the humidity to see which could do the most damage.   Sheriff Bobby Herndon of the Lee County
Sheriff’s Department was driving north on county road 147 with his windows
sealed and the air conditioning chilling the cruiser.   Having lived in this part of Lee
County all his life Sheriff Herndon
knew the 147 was lined on both sides by cotton fields even though he couldn’t
see them.   All he could see was the tall
bushy shrubs the Highway Department had planted along the property lines most
of the way between Auburn and Gold
Ridge.
    For the past hour Sheriff Herndon had been testing the new
UltraLyte Laser gun but traffic had thinned out and everybody was doing the
speed limit so he switched the gun off, sat back, and tried to enjoy the
drive.   He was gazing down the road
thinking about where he was going fishing that weekend when his peripheral
vision suddenly picked up some movement in the tall shrubs on his right.   As he turned to look, a bright red 1995
Massey Ferguson 8150 with the big 18.4R 42 duels in the back came roaring
through the bushes, hellbent for crossing the road about thirty yards ahead.
    Sheriff Herndon could see the driver struggling terribly
inside the tractor’s big glass encased cab.   The man’s face was red and hideously twisted as he fumbled desperately
to open the door.   The sheriff recognized
the man as Hoke Paley, one of the richest men in Lee
County.   He owned half the land that bordered the
147.   Mr. Paley was famous all across Alabama
for his unscrupulous business dealings.   Word was he had screwed half the people in the county without having sex
with a one of ‘em.   He was a mean, hard
man who didn’t lack for enemies.
    Sheriff Herndon hit his lights and brakes at the same time
as the big red tractor lurched onto the roadway.   Hoke managed to open the door and, looking
skyward with his hands clutched around his own throat, he stepped out of the
tractor’s cab as if to walk a plank.   Unfortunately he was eight feet above the ground and there was no
plank.   He tipped over like a cartoon
character and landed flat on his terrified face.
    The big red tractor continued, driverless,
across the