taste and refinement, her superiority to the circumstances in which she found herself. Everything had to be perfect about the house, and she pushed herself to make it so. While she fussed about inside, arranging and cleaning, Larry cleared the back yard of weeds and vines, bought a tiller and put in a late garden. He erected a gym set for Bryan and built a utility shed for his tiller and lawn mower.
Larry’s family looked on with concern. Barbara never would be happy with what she had, no matter how good it might be or how much it cost, they told themselves. Larry was so deeply in debt now that they couldn’t imagine how he and Barbara would pay for all of these extravagances. After all, Larry soon would be giving up his job so that he could finish his degree and begin teaching, as he had long dreamed of doing.
Larry left Sears that summer to do his student teaching in a class for slow learners at Trindale Elementary School, only a few miles from his new house. On the occasional weekends when he went to his parents’ house that fall, he didn’t speak of any troubles, but Doris and Henry knew that something was wrong and they suspected that the new house and all her new possessions had not been enough for Barbara. Not only did Larry seem more worried and withdrawn, he was even thinner than usual. He complained of stomach troubles, and at twenty-five his hair was already turning gray.
Not until later would Larry’s parents learn that with her spending carried as far as she felt it could go, Barbara’s needs to break boundaries would turn in a different direction. Months afterward, Larry confided to his mother that he had discovered that Barbara was having an affair during this period and they had stopped sleeping together. He did not say with whom she was involved, and Doris didn’t know if Larry knew the man’s identity. But others did. Barbara’s affair was common knowledge at the bank.
Several of Barbara’s coworkers had met Larry at various times when he stopped by the bank. They all thought him a quiet, gentle, thoughtful man, and that was one reason they could not understand why Barbara became involved with Ken Hazelwood, who usually was called by his nickname, Butch. Hazelwood, eleven years older than Barbara, was brash and aggressive, nothing like Larry.
Bob Gray, Barbara’s supervisor since 1972, knew Hazelwood well. Hazelwood had worked for him at a car dealership in High Point a few years earlier. Hazelwood was a “rough character.” Barbara’s first boss, Jack Kearns, also knew Hazelwood and described him as “hot tempered,” with a “poor reputation.” Hazelwood was often in trouble of one sort or another, and years later he would be murdered, shot in the head.
Earlier in 1973, Hazelwood had started a used-car lot called Bargain Autos. He worked out a plan with NCNB to provide financing for his customers. Barbara made the credit checks on those customers, and she was in regular contact with Hazelwood. Coworkers saw that she was getting more and more friendly with him, but nobody knew just how friendly until he came to Bob Gray that fall to talk about a problem that he wanted to avoid. Barbara was going to leave Larry and move in with him, Hazelwood said. Would that affect his business dealings with the bank? NCNB didn’t involve itself in the personal lives of its employees or customers, Gray told him. Later, when Gray stopped by Hazelwood’s house one day, Hazelwood showed him personal items of Barbara’s and said that she was spending time there with him whenever she could.
Gray wasn’t the only person at the bank who knew about Barbara’s affair with Hazelwood. The husband of one of her female coworkers was employed at a finance company where Hazelwood took customers who couldn’t qualify for bank loans. Hazelwood frequently boasted to him about his sexual exploits with Barbara. She was unlike anything he’d ever seen, he claimed.
He would not be the last to comment about
Larry’s family looked on with concern. Barbara never would be happy with what she had, no matter how good it might be or how much it cost, they told themselves. Larry was so deeply in debt now that they couldn’t imagine how he and Barbara would pay for all of these extravagances. After all, Larry soon would be giving up his job so that he could finish his degree and begin teaching, as he had long dreamed of doing.
Larry left Sears that summer to do his student teaching in a class for slow learners at Trindale Elementary School, only a few miles from his new house. On the occasional weekends when he went to his parents’ house that fall, he didn’t speak of any troubles, but Doris and Henry knew that something was wrong and they suspected that the new house and all her new possessions had not been enough for Barbara. Not only did Larry seem more worried and withdrawn, he was even thinner than usual. He complained of stomach troubles, and at twenty-five his hair was already turning gray.
Not until later would Larry’s parents learn that with her spending carried as far as she felt it could go, Barbara’s needs to break boundaries would turn in a different direction. Months afterward, Larry confided to his mother that he had discovered that Barbara was having an affair during this period and they had stopped sleeping together. He did not say with whom she was involved, and Doris didn’t know if Larry knew the man’s identity. But others did. Barbara’s affair was common knowledge at the bank.
Several of Barbara’s coworkers had met Larry at various times when he stopped by the bank. They all thought him a quiet, gentle, thoughtful man, and that was one reason they could not understand why Barbara became involved with Ken Hazelwood, who usually was called by his nickname, Butch. Hazelwood, eleven years older than Barbara, was brash and aggressive, nothing like Larry.
Bob Gray, Barbara’s supervisor since 1972, knew Hazelwood well. Hazelwood had worked for him at a car dealership in High Point a few years earlier. Hazelwood was a “rough character.” Barbara’s first boss, Jack Kearns, also knew Hazelwood and described him as “hot tempered,” with a “poor reputation.” Hazelwood was often in trouble of one sort or another, and years later he would be murdered, shot in the head.
Earlier in 1973, Hazelwood had started a used-car lot called Bargain Autos. He worked out a plan with NCNB to provide financing for his customers. Barbara made the credit checks on those customers, and she was in regular contact with Hazelwood. Coworkers saw that she was getting more and more friendly with him, but nobody knew just how friendly until he came to Bob Gray that fall to talk about a problem that he wanted to avoid. Barbara was going to leave Larry and move in with him, Hazelwood said. Would that affect his business dealings with the bank? NCNB didn’t involve itself in the personal lives of its employees or customers, Gray told him. Later, when Gray stopped by Hazelwood’s house one day, Hazelwood showed him personal items of Barbara’s and said that she was spending time there with him whenever she could.
Gray wasn’t the only person at the bank who knew about Barbara’s affair with Hazelwood. The husband of one of her female coworkers was employed at a finance company where Hazelwood took customers who couldn’t qualify for bank loans. Hazelwood frequently boasted to him about his sexual exploits with Barbara. She was unlike anything he’d ever seen, he claimed.
He would not be the last to comment about
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