Lila Archer was in rural Mississippi acting in a film which was nearly complete. In the film she portrayed a young woman Thelma Wilson who lived in a small Mississippi town and who was accused of witchcraft, and then later arrested for practicing witchcraft and using it to murder Pastor Marshall Woods and his wife Melinda in 1960.

An African-American woman Minnie Williams who was Thelma's maid was also accused of practicing witchcraft with Thelma, 2 counts of murder, and for accessory after the fact (helping covering up the evidence of the murder) Minnie was dragged out of her home severely beaten and then shot dead in the downtown square while townspeople clapped and cheered. She never had her day in court. Her children, her husband and her parents were forced to watch the execution.

Thelma who witnessed Minnie's execution was then taken to the county jail. She was tried, convicted and given the death penalty for the two murders. Her death sentence was overturned and she was sentenced to life in prison. In 1972 a death bed confession overturned Thelma's conviction. She was released after spending 13 years in prison.

Thelma Wilson was 29 years old in 1962. Her husband had died suddenly the year before and many people believed she was responsible for his death, even though an autopsy said that he died of a heart attack. Thelma's in laws who didn't like her believed that she had something to do with his death. This is where the accusations of witchcraft started.

Thelma Wilson believed in civil rights for everyone and was not afraid to express her opinion. She spoke in favor of schools and other places to be integrated and spoke out against racism. Because of her beliefs, many of her neighbors would have nothing to do with her and she was considered to be an outcast. Several family members refused to have anything to do with her.

An Editorial in the Oxen Times spoke about the movie.

Many people in Mississippi were not happy about the film and believed it portrayed the state in a bad light. They said although the events depicted in the movie were true, they (those who killed Minnie Williams and had Thelma Wilson falsely imprisoned for over 10 years) didn't represent the people of Mississippi. This was despite the fact that the judge who sentenced her to death became governor of the state three years later and the prosecutor was later elected to the US Senate.

Both men as well as the town knew who murdered Minnie Williams. A recording and film footage of the actual execution had become public. Although most of those who participated in the murders were dead, one or two of them were still alive and now the Attorney General of Mississippi and the FBI field office in Jackson was investigating the matter.

When Lila read the editorial, it sounded more like a news report on the event. There wasn't really an opinion on it although letters to the editor had plenty to say about her.

"Lila Archer is just an example of Hollywood and the County gone amok. Back in the day, women got married and then they had children, not the other way around." Said one Letter.

"Another Hollywood Celeb having a child out of wedlock. Wouldn't it be nice if anyone got married these days? What about the baby's father? Who is he or perhaps because Lila Archer had been with many different men, she doesn't even know or perhaps he's a married man. In the old days, women were virgins prior to marriage and expected to be. I'm a proud 30 year old virgin who plans to wait till marriage." said another letter.

Lila frowned when she read the letter. She wasn't too surprised at the name. Sally Hatcher.

This woman who was a fellow student and her mother complained to the school board back when Lila was in high school that the Cheerleaders outfits was too sexy. Because of her, the Cheerleaders were forced to wear outfits that were outdated. At the dance competition, they were laughed at (all the other times were dressed in what they had), and lost the dance competition which they had won three years in a row. They got a low score for dress that was dated. Because of this outrage was directed against Sally Hatcher for the lost competition. The next year she was overruled.

Lila was born in Mississippi and was the great-niece of Thelma Wilson. She went over to her Great Aunt's home after filming had been done for the day. Thursday was art gallery day in the same town of Oxen, Mississippi. They attended the event together.

While the movie was being filmed, Lila had brought along her four month old infant whom she breastfed in between takes. Four month old Hannah had adapted very well.

Hannah became fussy just before the art gallery program started. Lila waited till the officer left to breastfeed Hannah.

"Does anyone mind if I breastfeed Hannah. Otherwise she'd going to start screaming and crying and I'd rather not have that."

"We'd better ask morality police officer Sally Hatcher first." Said someone in the group.

Everyone in the room laughed.

"She doesn't have anything better to do than to criticize you Lila. She's jealous of you. She's never had a boyfriend to my knowledge and I can't imagine any man wanting to be her boyfriend, even in this conservative town. Can you imagine any man sleeping with her or having sex with her? Gross. Gross. Gross. She's probably never have sex which frustrates her. Can't imagine still being a virgin at age 30. That must be very frustrating to say the least. Most women have found a man by that time."

Everyone in the room broke into laughter at the comments Lila's ex-boyfriend made about Sally Hatcher.

There were about 30 people who were in attendance. No one objected so Lila went to the corner of the room took her shirt off and breastfeed Hannah while her ex-boyfriend Mark Webster who owned the gallery spoke about his paintings.

The groups in attendance were liberal progressive thinking people in a mostly conservative town who didn't particularly like their values, their beliefs or their art work.

Mark Webster was very careful about what he exhibited In Oxen and in Mississippi. He had an art studio in New Orleans where he was freer to exhibit what he wanted. None of the exhibits that he had in Mississippi could be considered to be obscene, sexually explicit, or un-American.

From time to time and usually before the art gallery program, a law enforcement officer would come by say hello and say he was patrolling the area. At first Mark Webster resented this but came to realize that it would help him if he became friends with the police or allowed them to get to know him. He welcomed them to his art gallery programs. Perhaps they would see that he was not a threat to the community or wasn't trying to do anything harmful. After several years, he'd made friends with most of the law enforcement community.

Shortly after Lila started breastfeeding a female officer came into the gallery. Lila knew her as she was a former classmate.

"I'm really sorry to bother you Lila but someone has complained about you breast feeding in a public place."

"Let me guess. Miss Hatcher woman again. How does she even know I'm breast feeding?"

"Well, I'm sorry but this time I will have to write you a citation Lila because you've been warned and were warned earlier today."

"Okay but let me finish breastfeeding her in the bathroom and I will sign the citation."

The officer waited and about 5 minutes later, Lila came back out and the officer wrote her a citation and then left. Lila didn't look happy about it.

A couple of weeks earlier Mark Webster noticed something which looked odd near one of his clocks. He called the police and they discovered that someone had put a bug in his art gallery. It didn't take long to figure out who was doing this. He chuckled to himself knowing that the person that did this would be caught red handed. So did Lila when she came out of the bathroom. The person doing this probably was delighted that Lila got a citation. She wouldn't be delighted when police came to her door later that night.

After the art gallery program Lila went over to the house of Mark Webster. Her aunt went home. Many people in town believed that Mark Webster was the father of Lila's baby. Lila had openly denied this but still refused to name the father. It had been a long time since she had talked to Mark.

"So Nathan has never been to Mississippi?" asked Lila.

"Can you blame him Lila? Not exactly a friendly place for people who are gay."

"Well, you still here?" smiled Lila.

"You know, Lila I thought about leaving a long time ago but then I thought no way. I was born and raised in Mississippi and why should I leave because people can't accept me."

It was well known in the town that Mark Webster was gay. Back in high school people suspected it, including Lila. Back then Mark and Lila were a couple but they were very different than most couples. Mark never pressured Lila to have sex with him like the other guys did with their girlfriends. They didn't have sex until after they graduated from high school. When they went to Ole Miss for college, they were a couple. Mark had even gotten her an engagement ring right before they graduated. The only reason he had was because most of the women in Lila's sorority had gotten engagement rings. It was a way of trying to fit in.

"I'm just curious. Did Hannah's father attend the birth?"

"No, he didn't."

"I know you said you told him, but how did that go?"

"It's hard to say. It's really hard to say." Said Lila.

Hannah's father hadn't signed the birth certificate even though he'd said he would. Lila sent him a picture of Hannah but hadn't heard anything back.

Police had gone to Sally Hatcher's home to question her about the bug she had planted in Mark Webster's art gallery. They were surprised to see what looked like a fire in a bedroom upstairs. No answer at the door. They tried to call Sally but got no answer. Fire units were dispatched and arrived within a minute. The firefighters broke down the door and ran up the stairs. So did Lila who joined them. Mark was outside holding Hannah. The firefighters and the police got the shock of their lives when they opened the door and saw Sally Hatchett in bed having sex with Congressman Stickman.