CHAPTER 6 — WHAT DAD REALLY MEANT
Emmett Price had been old my entire life.
Some people are born looking like they already know which fence posts will rot first. Emmett had white hair, one bad knee, and the kind of voice that made dogs settle down without knowing why.
He walked to the front of the county room slowly, every eye following.
Clay’s attorney objected before Emmett reached the table.
Commissioner Malloy looked exhausted.
“To what?”
“To surprise testimony.”
Emmett looked at him.
“Son, I been surprising people since Korea.”
That got one laugh, quickly swallowed.
Malloy allowed him to speak.
Emmett faced the room.
“That video was taken the winter Clay’s mother died. Walt was wore down. Clay had been handling repairs because Maggie was in school and Walt’s hip was bad. I was sitting at that kitchen table drinking coffee.”
Clay shook his head.
“You’re confused.”
Emmett looked at him.
“Clay, I may forget why I walked into the pantry, but I remember a man lying with my dead neighbor’s face on a county wall.”
The room went still.
Emmett continued.
“Clay asked Walt if he trusted him to handle the farm while Maggie was gone for exams. Walt said yes. Then Clay asked, ‘And Maggie?’ Walt said, ‘Maggie’s gone,’ meaning gone to Lexington for the week.”
My eyes burned.
That sounded like Dad.
Practical. Literal. Not cruel.
Emmett pointed at the screen.
“The rest is cut.”
Clay’s attorney stood.
“Mr. Price cannot know—”
“I know because I took that video.”
Silence.
Even Clay looked surprised.
Emmett nodded.
“Old camcorder. Walt wanted to send Maggie a message because she was homesick and crying on the phone every night, though she’ll deny it.”
Half the room looked at me.
I did not deny it.
Emmett said, “I filmed him telling her exams don’t last forever and Junebug bit Clay again so there was still justice in the world.”
Lorna snorted.
Clay’s face turned purple.
Commissioner Malloy leaned forward.
“Do you still have the original?”
“No.”
Clay exhaled.
Emmett looked at him.
“But my grandson converted all my tapes to digital last Christmas because he said my closet was a fire hazard.”
The room erupted again.
Malloy called for order.
Preston Hale’s attorney requested immediate copy of the full video.
Clay’s attorney objected so hard he nearly lost a button.
Clay himself just stared at Emmett with a hatred that made my stomach turn.
Because this was not a document Clay could claim I forged.
This was an old man he had underestimated.
A witness with a memory attached to a joke about a horse bite.
The hearing paused for an hour while Emmett’s grandson drove from work with a laptop.
During recess, I found Emmett in the hallway.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He looked ashamed.
“I didn’t know what video Clay had. I knew Walt would never leave you out, but knowing ain’t proof. Folks already thought I hated Clay.”
“You do hate Clay.”
“Sure. But I like to be fair about it.”
I laughed and cried at once.
He patted my shoulder awkwardly.
“Your dad knew you loved him.”
I looked away.
“That’s not what people say.”
“People say a lot when casseroles are involved.”
Before I could answer, Clay came down the hallway.
Not with his attorney.
Alone.
Emmett straightened.
Clay stopped in front of me.
“You should’ve stayed gone.”
My fear cooled into something harder.
“I was never gone, Clay. You just kept changing locks.”
He leaned close.
“If you keep pushing, you won’t like what gets dug up.”
Then he smiled.
May you like
And for the first time, I realized Clay was not only afraid of losing the farm.
He was afraid of what was buried on it.
