Slow to Speak
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
“He just walked in her room and shot her - and then killed himself? In the nursing home?” Les Crumpler asked as he stared at the checkerboard.
“Yep. Guess he couldn’t take it anymore.” Marshall rubbed his chin as he focused on his next move. “She was nearly dead from cancer. He was 88. Wasn’t getting any younger. I suppose he didn’t want to see her suffer anymore and he didn’t want to keep living without her.”
“Gracious,” is all Les could muster.
It was a statewide story this morning. A man in nearby Orangeburg, South Carolina walked into his wife’s nursing home room with a gun. He shot her in the head and killed her in an instant, then he turned the gun on himself. A sad and bizarre tragedy.
“Crown me,” Marshall said.
For the fourth time in as many moves, Les had to put another checker on top of one of Marshall’s red game pieces. Marshall gloated at his gaming expertise. It was one of the few things he could do well anymore. Les studied the table knowing there wasn’t much he could do to salvage a victory against Marshall. He hated checkers and he despised getting beat by Marshall. But for the sixth time this morning, he would have to submit to Marshall’s domination in the ancient board game.
“Why don’t we play chess?” Les asked.
“Told you. Chess is for smart people. Too many rules. Too complicated.”
“I’d hate to strain your brain,” Les whispered to himself.
“What’d you say?” Marshall fiddled with his hearing aid.
“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”
The Bentonville Senior Center was beginning to fill up as the lunch hour approached. Mornings were the prime hours of operation for the older generation’s local hotspot. About twenty retirees came in for coffee and activities between the hours of 8 and 11. That number doubled near dinnertime. After lunch, most folks went home for an afternoon nap.
“What was Garrett thinking?” Les asked.
“I guess he couldn’t stand it any longer,” Marshall replied. “They said he was at Ruthie’s side all day long everyday at the nursing home. She was out of it. Unresponsive. Comatose, I guess you call it. I reckon he’d had enough of it. Tired of seeing his wife miserable and tired of watching her suffer. Heck, he was suffering too. I suppose he decided to end it all for the both of them.”
Les and Marshall pondered their next moves as they reflected on the baffling act of their former acquaintance. Garrett McCombs was a native of Bentonville who moved to Orangeburg in 1995 with his wife Ruthie to be near their youngest daughter. Ruthie’s health had declined and Garrett could no longer care for her at home. She’d been in a nursing home for a couple of years.
“Poor guy,” Les said as he slid a black checker toward Marshall with his crooked index finger. “I hope I don’t lose my mind like Garrett.”
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Les Crumpler is an 81 year-old white widower who loses at checkers often and wonders if Y2K is going to drain his bank account. A former teammate of Jackie Robinson, Les makes a spontaneous visit to Banneker College, a historically black college in the low country of South Carolina, where he finds himself assisting the baseball team.
D’Ante Cook is a young black man and former gang member from Washington, D.C. whose only hope in life is to play pro baseball. Going from a small black college to the majors is almost unheard of, but it’s that or a life of crime.
In the midst of an unforgettable baseball season, Les and D’Ante are confronted by the sins of their past. Their futures become richer when they each turn from previous prejudices.
About the Author
Gene Jennings is a pastor at TrueNorth Church in North Augusta, South Carolina. He was on the baseball team at the University of South Carolina at Aiken where he collected multiple splinters sitting on the bench. His nickname was Geno.