Sherry is on The Case

Sherry briefs Michelle on her progress investigating her husband

Michelle and Norma made their way into Michelle's kitchen through the back door. Both women were weighted down with shopping bags of canned goods. Norma kept a vegetable garden and liked to can her crops. She then distributed the excess to the neighborhood. There was always more than enough to go around, and Norma seemed to get a genuine joy from sharing with everyone.

"So, Clay was squatting out on the edge of the back porch, and Nina goes running out, smacking him in the rear end with the storm door knocking him out into my begonias!" Norma gave a rich laugh as she and Michelle set the bags on the counter.

"Oh my gosh! Was he hurt?" Michelle asked between giggles.

"Just his pride. Besides, he only landed on his head," Norma laughed. She was always filled with stories of her active household full of three energetic children and one child like husband, "Picture it! Clay spread eagled in my flower bed hollering like a I don't know what, the dog all over him barking thinking he was trying to play, and on top of all that Nina was screaming bloody murder that she'd killed her daddy!"

Michelle wiped tears from her eyes as she laughed at the vision, "So why was Clay squatted on the porch?"

Norma paused and replied, "Oh, who even knows!"

Michelle and Norma conversed pleasantly about the latest goings on in the neighborhood: Leslie caught Walt sleepwalking and peeing in the pool again.

"How many times does that make it?" Michelle smiled

"Girl, that pool is probably more pee than water about now," Norma replied and both women burst out laughing.

"Oh, Mr. Cutler left Hunter Thompson a note in his mailbox about the twins leaving paper bags of dog doo in his mailbox," Michelle said.

"No! Lord, it's going to be a war of the mailboxes," Norma giggled.

Mr. Cutler was known for his passive aggressive correspondence he placed in the mailbox of the offending party. Michelle herself had been the recipient of several strongly worded letters regarding the sinful nature of her flowers. He had informed her that if her lawn was a person it would be a cheap streetwalker and God did not like prideful streetwalkers.

"Don't move scum! The cops are on their way and I really like using this!"

Michelle turned to face a disheveled looking Sherry brandishing her handgun. Norma gasped with a start.

"Sherry! Oh my God! What is wrong with you?" Michelle cried.

"I heard noise, I thought you were intruders." Sherry said, relaxing the grip on the gun, now holding it as one might hold a water hose.

"What are you doing in Michelle's house?" Norma asked, alarmed.

"I'll deal with you in a minute Enorma," Sherry replied and turned to Michelle, "Where have you been? We had an appointment to meet here at 10:00 sharp this morning."

"Sherry, you calling me at midnight, and telling me to have breakfast ready for you at tenish, doesn't constitute an appointment. I told you I had plans with Norma."

"What is she, your lover?" Sherry pouted, and cast a glare toward Norma.

"Sherry, why are you so angry with me?" Norma asked with concern.

"You know why and don't get me started!" Sherry cried.

"I swear I don't!"

"Don't make me shoot you Norma. Get gone; the bestie and I have business to discuss." Sherry said.

Norma's eyes widened and Sherry jumped toward her like a little rooster and Norma moved quickly toward the door, "See ya later Michelle"

"She's kidding Norma, she won't shoot you, tell her you won't shoot her" Michelle urged Sherry.

Sherry rolled her eyes, "Oh, I won't shoot you Norma. I'm out of bullets," then brightly, "Love ya like herpes!"

With that, Norma was gone, and Michelle snatched Sherry's gun from her and held it outside of her reach.

"Hey! Woman! You don't go grabbing at my piece! I'm a trained killer!" Sherry cried hopping trying to reach the gun as Michelle held it over her head.

"You had one lesson down at the hunting store with Cole Edwards, Sherry!"

"Oh, well, you're conveniently leaving out my time as a bouncer at Rusty's Beer and Tackle Bar over in Felony Flats," Sherry scoffed.

"I'm still half convinced you're making Felony Flats up," Michelle scowled.

"You take that salamanderous statement back right now!" Sherry bellowed

"Will not!"

"Not even the cops would come out there Michelle! God!" Sherry shouted.

"I'm not getting into this same argument again!" Michelle responded, "What are you doing here? How long have you been here?"

"Who knows, I came over, had breakfast, fell asleep in the laundry room, and then you two came clopping in like East German milkmaid school girls and woke me up. Rude."

"Why were sleeping in my laundry room?"

"Is it my fault that your laundry makes a perfect bed when accidentally spread onto the floor?" Sherry asked.

"Sherry!" Michelle shouted.

"Hey now, accidentally" Sherry emphasized and grabbed her gun back when Michelle had lowered it just within reach, "I will pistol whip you if grab my gun again, I don't care how angelic your face is!"

Michelle rolled her eyes and resumed putting away her canned goods. Sherry popped open a jar of strawberry jam and pulled a spoon from the utensil drawer and began spooning the jam into her mouth.

"Besides, I came over to update you on my detective case."

"You mean stalking your husband?"

"Yeah," Sherry said with a mouth full of jam. "My clues lead me to believe he's either not cheating or he's really bad at it."

"And your clues would be?"

"A few hundred pictures of him going to work and coming home. And when I put the screws to him about being late coming home that one time, he didn’t hen or haw. He said he gave Mike Morgan a ride home cause his car wouldn't start."

"Hm, maybe he's cheating with Mike Morgan," Michelle giggled.

Sherry stopped spooning jam into her mouth and her eyes widened, "Dammit Michelle!" She jumped up and ran toward the door, then stopped, turned around, ran back to the counter where she had left her jam and grabbed the jar. "To be continued!" she shouted as she ran out the back door.

"Sherry! You left your gun…"