Between The Yees And The Haws 2 - Tales From The Courtroom

II

"I...I'm not sure I understand what you want me to say." Clay began. "You want my opinion? I ain't been in this town long enough to form no opinion." They told the judge.

"I understand that, Shufflebottom. But you were our key witness - you witnessed Edward..." Judge Buck pulled out a piece of paper, a document of the exact words Clay had told the sheriff. "You witnessed Edward Woodson "walking out of the forest, bloody knife in hand." Is that right, Shufflebottom?"

"Well, yes. Yes, I saw him but I remain neutral to this case. He killed her, but she killed an innocent townsperson. That's what I hear, anyways. And since everyone seems to believe it, I do too. Like I said, I ain't know anyone here all that well. I only saw what I saw. Can I go now?" They rambled, fidgeting nervously.

"Why are you so panicked?" Sheriff Belle asked them. Clay shrugged.

"I don't like interrogations."

"No one likes interrogations."

"So why are you asking me why I'm fuckin' nervous?"

"Watch your tone." The Sheriff scolded them. She turned to Judge Buck, who sighed.

"Next witness - Yee Yee Hart." He called.

"Wait wait wait!" Moonshine exclaimed. "That's it? Our biggest witness and you're just gonna dismiss them?" He asked the judge, turning to the jury. "This is our biggest lead, and we're just endin' it here?"

"We'll call them back up if they wish to contribute more. For now, I think we've gotten as much as we can out of this one." Judge Buck told Moonshine, motioning for him to sit back down. Yee Yee made her way up to the podium.

"Hello." She said softly.

"What is your stance on the matter, Ms. Hart?" Sheriff Belle asked her.

"Well...I..." She turned to Edward. He averted his eyes. "I know that...uh...the death of Cletus Cowpussy was over a year ago..." she started. "An' I remember what I was told the day of it." She paused. "I believe it were the night of the winter solstice party...down at the bar?"

ONE YEAR AGO

"We're gonna head." Abigail said to the group.

"What?" Y'all just got here!" Yee Yee complained.

"I know, but..." Abigail tried to think of an excuse. She couldn't. "Sorry, partner." She gave Yee Yee a pat on the shoulder. Abigail took Leigh-Anne's hand and the girls walked out of the bar.

"That was...strange." West said. Yee Yee shrugged.

"Just some poor girl lookin' to get her heart broken by Abby, I reckon." Yee Yee replied. She focused her attention towards Vivian. "You heard anything from Cletus?" She asked the waitress. Vivian shook her head.

"Nope. No Ed or Mont, neither." She said. "I'm startin' to get a little worried."

"Oh, I'm sure they're fine." Vanilla smiled, shaking her head.

"How can you be so sure? Those boys always show up to the parties here at the bar." Yee Yee folded her arms. "I think we should go out there and-"

"No, no. You just want to go to Abigail." West said in an almost jealous tone. Yee Yee huffed.

"It ain't like her to blow me off like this." She said. "What makes that single mom bitch so special?"

"Take it down a notch, Yee." Clay softly elbowed her.

"You think she's replacin' you? You're her best friend, Yee." West put his arm around her. "Ain't no one gonna take that away from you."

"Whatever. I came here to drink, and I ain't had one drink." She turned to Vivian.

"I'll alert the boss." She winked. "Yo, Moonshine!" Vivian called. He didn't hear her. "Damn it, Moonshine..." She mumbled, turning to the group. "I'll be right back."

"I'll come with you." Yee Yee told her.

In all honesty, Yee didn't care that much about drinking. She just had a lot on her plate. She wondered if West was really in love with her, or if she was really in love with West. And if he really loved her, knowing that he had slept with her best friend, even if it was before they were together, would be a painful thing to think about. And on top of all of this, Abigail seemed to be distancing herself from Yee Yee. Before she could continue walking towards Moonshine with Vivian, Abigail and Leigh-Anne burst through the swinging doors of the bar.

"Holy shit!" Abigail ran over to Yee Yee. She was crying, while Leigh-Anne could barely form a coherent sentence. The two girls were hyperventilating like crazy.

"What happened, Abby? Are you okay?" Yee Yee asked her. She shook her head, still sobbing.

"He's dead!" She screamed, causing bar patrons to turn their attention to her. "Cletus is dead!" Vivian snapped her head towards Abigail.

"WHAT?" She spat. Her heart fell like it was going to fly out of her chest. "He's...no, no he's not! I just saw him today, goddammit! I saw him!" She said, her voice breaking uncontrollably. "He's not!"

"Sally..." Leigh-Anne tried her best to catch her breath. "Sally shot him!" By now, a cluster of bar patrons had formed around Leigh-Anne, Abigail, Yee Yee, and Vivian.

"Sally? For fuck's sake, no she didn't." Vanilla said from the group. "There's no way. I met her, she's a sweetheart. Wouldn't hurt a fly."

"He...he was wearin' the outlaw's-" Abigail let out a choked back sob. "The outlaw's jacket. An' she thought he was..." She began to sob heavier. "Just go fucking see for yourself!"

The entirety of the bar ran out onto the wooden trail, following Abigail and Leigh-Anne. They neared the part of the trail closest to the forest. There, Cletus' body laid surrounded by a pool of blood. Vivian screamed, crying as she tried to run towards his corpse. Vanilla held her back as Vivian continued to scream.

"NO!" She yelled. Vanilla shushed her, turning Vivian's head away from the body and into her shoulder. Vivian sobbed quietly, dampening Vanilla's shirt. West pointed to a bush rustling in the forest.

"Look over there!" He yelled. Everyone turned their attention to the back of a girl holding a gun, who was too far in the woods to be stopped.

Sally Elizabeth had disappeared.