Time Frame: In the late 1980s
POV: Ellis
Main Event: Keith's mom is a crazy lady
Did I ever tell you guys about the time Keith's mom killed a guy?
I guess this isn't really a Keith story, but he was growin in his mom's uterus at the time, so I guess he's kinda in this story. Maybe havin such a crazy little guy sharin her heart and organs made her turn into Shooty McGee. But here's what happened.
Maryanne was home one night while her husband was workin a late shift. She was just finishin up with the kitchen and she heard a noise from the back door. I think that's where he got his excellent hearin, because she could hear him comin up with a stupid idea before he could even get done whisperin it to the guys all the way down the yard.
Anyway, she went to see what was goin on and saw a guy tryin to open up the back door. It didn't budge so he went around and tried the front. After several minutes of this asshole tryin to open windows and doors, Maryanne figured he wasn't goin to go away. Eventually he pulled a knife out of his belt and started pryin at the back door.
So Maryanne got all her kids and put them in the back bedroom, and told them to hide in her closet. There was four of them, Mindy was the oldest at 6, then Jeffrey at 4, Kylie at 3 and then Paul who was just a toddler. She told her oldest kid to keep the rest of them quiet, and then went back down the hall with Keith's dad's handgun, an old ass revolver that he got from his dad, and his dad got from his dad. They called it the Family Gun.
She got to the back door just as the guy got it opened and he still had his knife in his hand when he stepped into the house. She pointed the gun at him and told him to get out of her house, but he must not have believed that a heavily pregnant woman was gonna use the gun or even knew how because he still came after her.
So she emptied the gun into the guy. It was a 6-shooter and she shot all 6 rounds. None of them missed. Right away she called 911 and the cops came but the dead people examiner guy said she killed him before he hit the floor, because the first bullet went right through the guy's heart. The other 5 would have been devastatin had he lived long enough to feel them.
Now, in the great state of Georgia, we have a Stand Your Ground law so Maryanne was never arrested and never faced any charges. The stress of the whole thing sent her into labor 3 months early. My mom was pregnant with me at the time, but only 3 months, which is almost exactly how long my dad had been overseas. She was actually still waitin for a letter back after she wrote to him to tell him the "news" of expectin me after a particularly romantic 2 weeks on leave that he had before havin to ship out again. Even though my mom was busy with school and work, she still was nice enough to keep an eye on the other kids for Keith's mom, and try to clean up the blood in the hall.
They were real close friends. My mom was 23 when she had me, and here's the kicker, she and Maryanne went to school together. They were the same age, meanin that she had all those kids by the time she was 23, before my mom even had one.