To read the beginning of the story find the blog that I posted on 7/19/2024 "Who Killed Norma Irene Ray"
Those thoughts no sooner left his mind when he heard someone say. "Pay him no mind!" the woman who took his order said. She then set his meal down in front of Aaron. "I will have the others ready by the time you are finished. My name is Faith, what's yours?" she asked. "Aaron. It's nice to meet you." Aaron replied.
"What is his problem?" Aaron asked. "He has been in a bad mood since the murder of Norma Ray." Faith replied. "A couple people have mentioned that name to me. I am retired and am not looking to solve a murder case. I hope he knows that." Aaron said. "Don't worry about it. She was a distant cousin of his and they have not been able to find the killer." Faith replied.
"If you talk to the sheriff again, will you tell him that I am not going to interfere?" Aaron asked. "Oh, I will see him again, he comes in every day for a meal. He is my husband." Faith replied. "I'm glad I didn't say anything bad about him." Aaron thought. "Come back for dinner one night. I am told my lasagna is a prize winner. We only have it for dinner meals though." Faith said.
Aaron paid for his meals and thanked Faith for being so nice to him. He then made his way out to his truck. "I need to stop for a minute and at least get a few things for the refrigerator." he thought, as he put the meals into a cooler on the passenger seat of his truck. He got in, made his way to the store, and went inside. He didn't want to talk to anyone, he just wanted to get his items and leave.
He was almost finished when someone walked up to his right. In a very low voice, he heard. "You're my new neighbor, right?" He slowly turned to see the elderly woman who lives beside him. She never looked his way; she was moving packages of meat around like she was going to buy one. He quickly turned his head and also moved meat packages around.
"I am and who are you?" Aaron asked. She continued speaking in a whisper. "My name is Jean. I hear you are a detective." she said. "I was a detective. I am retired now." Aaron replied. "I am sure you heard about the murder that happened." she said. "Yes, I have but what does it have to do with me?" Aaron replied.
"They haven't charged anyone for killing her. I think I know why." Jean whispered. "I wish I could help but like I said. I am retired and I already had a run in with the sheriff earlier." Aaron replied. "Oh Frank, don't worry about him, he is a relative of mine." she said. "Well, like I said I am no longer a detective." Aaron said.
"I just wanted to come in and get a few things and leave." Aaron thought as he stood there. "Aaron are you a Christian man?" Jean asked. "I was at one time but the things I saw on the job in time changed me to where I no longer have time for God." Aaron replied. "So, you let the things of the world change how you see God?" Jean asked. Aaron really didn't want to talk about it, so he politely excused himself and paid for his groceries.
He quickly put the bags into his truck and left. "What is it about this killing. I can't seem to go anywhere without the woman's name coming up." Aaron thought. As he pulled into his driveway, he saw the husband of the woman from the store. The man barely looked his way, then quickly turned. "He is not very friendly that's for sure." Aaron thought.
He got everything out of the truck and put the food up. He was happy that the food from the restaurant was still warm. He wrote on top what each had in them then put them into the refrigerator. "Now I won't have to go into town for a while. After today that may be a good thing." he thought. He grabbed a bottle of water and went into the living room.
Once again there was the box, the one from his mother. He sat there staring at the thing for a while, then suddenly he got up. He walked over to the box, picked it up and started walking to the garage with it. He got no further than the kitchen when he stopped. He set the box on the counter and turned to move something that was going to fall off a shelf.
When he turned back to pick the box up, he couldn't. Something was pulling at him to open it. He grabbed the box and turned around, going back into the living room. He had no idea what was inside the box. A friend of his mother's handed it to him and said his mother asked him to give it to Aaron after she passed.
Aaron loved his mother, but they were not close. She had married a couple men while he was a child. They all treated him terribly. She read the Bible to Aaron every chance she got. Telling him many stories, things that happened. Aaron in time found his way to a church and as he grew, he continued to go.
As he became an adult and got a job, he slowly started to drift away from going to church and in time stop going all together. When he got hired in the police department and then worked his way into becoming a detective. He then stopped reading his Bible and even stopped thinking about God. The things he saw, the lies people told, the corruption in the system pulled him away from believing.
As he sat there with many memories flowing through his mind, he finally reached out and opened the box. He found a few envelopes, some files and a book. It wasn't a book he wanted to see, so he quickly laid it to the side once he saw what it was. He held a lot of pain, anger and unforgiveness in his heart toward his mother. He had no intention of ever opening the box.
He pulled everything out and moved the box out of the way. "Why did I do this? I said I would never open it. Now I am sitting here with all of it spread out in front of me. Why should I read it now" he thought. He only saw pain laying there before him. Pain that he went through from his childhood.
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