July

Hot, sticky, black, stillness swallowed this small southern town. He’d smiled and joked with the lady as he asked her about the hay for sale on her farm. She told the stranger he’d have to talk to her husband because she had to go into town. The tall stranger grinned and followed her to the front door of her house. She did remember that he was tall and the truck he drove was tan or brown or gold with a sticker on the bumper. Now it was dark and a crowd gathered across town while sheriff’s deputies strung yellow crime-scene tape around the yard and house.