The Witches of Huntington.
"Bad Brad Schilty, shot his wife. Shoulda been found guilty of murder and been in prison for life."
"Instead, the prick got rich, after he was done killin the bitch."
Yeah, I heard the words many, many times. The kids in my neighborhood sing or at least sang it aloud over the years.
My wife Kellie and I got married when we turned 22. It was a fun ceremony held in Las Vegas. Her parents, my parents and a handful of good friends. Lots of partying. Lots of sex. Lots of love.
We both worked in downtown Chicago, which was a big change from the small towns that we came from. Big city life was way more fun. We made new friends. New adventures. New everything.
Friday's and Saturday's were date nights for us, which meant a trip to a restaurant or pub somewhere downtown in the Loop. It was a ritual that continued even after Kellie found out that she was pregnant. The drinking and partying stopped, but date nights continued. It was on one of these nights that the song got its start.
Chicago has a long-standing tradition for St Patrick's Day. The whole city goes crazy for the event and we happened to get caught up in the chaos.
Walking along South Wabash, a sting operation for some local drug gang went bad and we were stuck in the crossfire. Kellie was shot twice, and I was shot once. Sadly, hers were fatal.
The trial lasted for months with our names and reputations being dragged through the mud. I couldn't leave my apartment without some sort of media attacking or following me. If it wasn't the media, it was the police. Turns out that ours was a story that everyone wanted to hear. In the end it was found that the bullets that struck us, came from the firearms of law enforcement, they did everything in their power to tarnish us. They said numerous things that were very unflattering and up until the bitter end, tried to clear their names. The only thing that saved us, well me I guess, were eye-witness testimony and the word of the pub owners where we had eaten earlier. The jury did not take kindly to the lies and blatant perjury laid out before them. They held the city accountable and handed out a very large settlement. It was appealed, but when it was done, an agreement was made.
In the end, I left Chicago behind along with my memories of Kellie and my unborn child.
I should have taken the advice of my father and moved far away. Somewhere where no one knew me. Somewhere that I could have a fresh start. Instead I chose to move back to my hometown. It was a mistake that haunted me for many years.
The house that I bought was a big old place on a big piece of land. Big by city standards that is. The house was in an ill state of repair. I could have afforded better, much, much better, but I wanted something that would occupy my time and this place was just the ticket.
So, there I was. Almost 24-years old. A widow, single and a new homeowner. Some might say "fuck my life", but I was trying to keep it together.
Time rolled by slowly. The home renovation part of my life was finally over, and even though I didn't need to, I worked part-time for the firm that I had left behind in Chicago. My tormentors seemed to dwindle in numbers as the days, months and years passed. The only ones that kept up with antagonizing me were a group of teenaged girls led by a little bitch named Jade. Honestly, who in white bread suburbia names their daughter Jade?
Jade must have been all of 14 or 15 when I moved home. Her parents lived 5 houses down and on the opposite side of the street, but that never stopped her from the routine harassment. For years to come, her gang of little witches would soap my windows, egg my house and car. But it was never anything that caused permanent damage or would get them caught.
Though the gang warfare on my street continued, I have to admit that when it slowed to a point where it had almost disappeared, I missed it.
A waving arm alerted me that someone was trying to get my attention. Claude Lemay and his family moved into their place around a year after I had, and we had become fast friends. He and his wife May were older than me. They had 3 kids, all girls, two of them, immediately became "little witches" when they moved in. Sometime later, Elle had matured out of that phase of her life, but Francine, was also Jade's best friend, remained, but she was harmless when Broom Hilda wasn't around.
Turning off my mower, I walked over to the fence.
"What's up Claude?"
"You goin over to the McAlister's tonight?"
"I wasn't invited, so I'm guessing no."
"Well guess again. For sure you were invited. Read an e-mail once and awhile and you would know these things."
"I'm fairly certain that John and his wife don't have my e-mail address and I'm not on Facebook, so, even if they wanted to, there's no way for them to get in touch with me."
"May gave them your info. It's Jade's birthday. McAlister's doing a pig roast and a big side of beef. Plus, the cheap prick has a keg of beer chilling."
"Nah, I have never been to any of her other birthday parties. I'll probably pass on this one too."
"Your call, but everyone will think that you're a dick. A guy's daughter only turns eighteen once." I nodded my acknowledgement. I knew what Claude was saying, but I still didn't have any interest in going. "Remember something else. Franny's birthday is in less than a month, so it's going to look really shitty when you show up at my place and not McAlister's. You got off the hook for Eleanor's, because we had just moved in, but this one...I'm not so sure my friend. Plus, going might help you prepare for all those crazy girls running around at Franny's party."
"We'll see."
"Yeah, yeah. Drop over for a beer when you're done the grass and I'll set you straight."
The constant drone of the mower's engine didn't do anything to help my sudden headache. Although I hate no one, Jade was very close to being my first. I truly disliked her and her friends, including Claude's daughter. But he was right. He always was. If I didn't go to Jade's 18
th
birthday party, I would be burning bridges that I wouldn't be able to repair.
Sure enough, the invitation was in my "inbox". It was "Best Wishes Only", but we all know what a crock-of-shit that is. The start time was slated for 5:00pm, so I had plenty of time to get ready.
Claude was in his garage. He was always in his garage. It was the only place where he was free from the constant nattering of 4 women.
Flopping down in the chair next to him.
"So, what do I bring?"
"Gift cards. These little bitches love gift cards."
The local drug store had every gift card on the face of the earth. If it hadn't been for Franny telling what to get, I would have been dead in the water. $100 worth of cards all crammed into a card worth $3. Signed, sealed and soon to be delivered.
I walked over to Jade's house with the Lemay's and 2 of their daughters. The oldest and the youngest, Franny the middle daughter, was probably already there. May curled one of her arms in Claude's and one in mine. Chained together, she started singing, "we're off to see the wizard..." Neither of her daughters found any humor in it.
Claude and May's daughters were all lookers. They had very similar features. Strong healthy appearances. Longer dark hair, with strikingly bright blue eyes. Eleanor, the oldest, was 22-years old. She was a heartbreaker. There was always a line-up of gentlemen begging for her attention, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. She was very pretty, had a nice athletic body, and she was smart. Like I had said before, she, at one time, was one of the original "Witches", but it only happened a few times. I could see the hurt in her eyes when she was singing the song. And with her being a few years older than the others, she had many different interests. Franny was the spitting image of her oldest sister, but the 3 years difference in age had her at a maturity disadvantage. Franny was also very pretty, but she was not nearly as filled out as her older sister. She was still a "Witch", second in charge if you checked the pecking order. The youngest Lemay girl was thirteen and jealous of her sisters. She had zero interest in being mean.
The McAlister's invited us into their home with open arms. Most of the neighborhood was standing or sitting around in their backyard. They had a bartender making drinks, and pulling cold drafts, while the sweet smell of charred animal flesh filled the air. Jade was in full princess mode. Her light brown, almost blonde hair was pulled back behind her ears with a flower headpiece holding it in place and she was also dressed to impress. She had on a black bikini top and a long flowing pink linen skirt. The kind that doubles as a beach wrap. Her heels were at least 4 inches high, putting her way taller than she was. Her hip pressed the table where she was standing. The table held a lacy bucket where people were dropping cards and it also served as somewhere for placing gifts. So much for the "Best Wishes Only" part of the invitation. She had huge hugs for everyone in our group, everyone but me. The floral crown, had her acting a lot like a princess on her special day
