Read Online House of Secrets by Lowell Cauffiel - Free Book Online
Authors: Lowell Cauffiel
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her father. She told Lyons the same circumstance she’d revealed to Wayne Welsh. She listed her counselor, Ruth Killion, as a potential witness. Lyons filled out four pages, a standard form.
“So, do you want to press charges?” the sergeant asked. “No, I don’t want to do that,” Machelle Sexton said. The next morning, Wayne Welsh picked up Machelle Sexton at the Y.W.C.A in downtown Canton.
Accompanied by Sgt.“Barry Lyons, all three went to the house on Caroline Street. Machelle needed to pick up her clothes. Lyons went inside first to talk to Ed Sexton, then motioned Welsh and Machelle to come inside. Ed Sexton was waiting in the living room. It was Welsh’s first face-to-face encounter with the man. Welsh glanced around the living room. The home appeared relatively clean and orderly, certainly nothing like the hellholes Welsh had seen through the years. More than two dozen portraits of Sexton children lined the shelves in the living room. Sexton looked well-groomed, the goatee around his chin smartly trimmed. He said that there must be some kind of misunderstanding. He appeared to be an exceptionally gentle man, his voice soft, his southern drawl refined, not harsh and twangy like many of the southerners who’d migrated from West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee over the years. Ed Sexton turned to Machelle, saying in a calm voice, “Now, Machelle, now tell the truth. Did I hit you?”
“You don’t have to answer that, Machelle,” Welsh said. And she didn’t have to tell him where she was going or where she was staying, either, he’d tell her later. Wayne Welsh had already detected that smell. As Valentine’s Day approached, the announced date of Joey and Pixie’s wedding, only Danny, Joel Good’s younger brother, displayed any excitement. Joel had promised Danny he would be his best man. Every day, Danny waited for his brother to call with the details, the exact place and time, where the reception would be held. The rest of the family waited for the invitations they were promised, but nothing came in the mail. Velva, or Teresa, or their parents hardly saw Joel in late January and early February, but they assumed the wedding was still scheduled. Velva’s daughter Jeannie had gone with Joey to Canton Center Mall to help him pick out a wedding ring. They picked out a simple, inexpensive gold band. During one rare visit, Joey said he and Pixie were looking at an apartment in the same building he used to live in, near Velva’s “You sure you want to do this?” Velva said. “I love her,” Joey said. Velva and Teresa learned that they weren’t the only ones advising Joey against the marriage. He said his fellow workers were trying to talk him out of it, too. They pointed out to him the last thing he needed at his age was an instant family. Then Joey was laid off and certainly was in no position to marry, Velva and Teresa reasoned. Valentine’s Day came and went with no word. Danny sat around all day, still waiting for a call. Joey showed up alone at Teresa’s a few days later. They sat at the kitchen table. She could tell something was on his mind. He announced they were married.
“When?” Teresa asked. A couple of days before Valentine’s Day, he said. The ceremony was held at the house of Ed Sexton’s sister, Nellie. Ed Sexton, with his ordained minister card, had officiated the ceremony himself. “Why didn’t you tell anybody?” Teresa asked. “Why didn’t you wait until Valentine’s Day?”
“That’s the way they wanted it,” Joey said. “They just said it was best if we did it that way.”
“Who’s they?”
“Mr. Sexton.”
“Why, Joey?” she asked. “What would you have thought of me if I didn’t? She was pregnant.”
“That doesn’t make a difference,” Teresa said. “I mean, she’s already had two without a husband.”
“Those kids call me dad,” he said. He said he’d moved in with Pixie and the Sexton family. It wasn’t
“So, do you want to press charges?” the sergeant asked. “No, I don’t want to do that,” Machelle Sexton said. The next morning, Wayne Welsh picked up Machelle Sexton at the Y.W.C.A in downtown Canton.
Accompanied by Sgt.“Barry Lyons, all three went to the house on Caroline Street. Machelle needed to pick up her clothes. Lyons went inside first to talk to Ed Sexton, then motioned Welsh and Machelle to come inside. Ed Sexton was waiting in the living room. It was Welsh’s first face-to-face encounter with the man. Welsh glanced around the living room. The home appeared relatively clean and orderly, certainly nothing like the hellholes Welsh had seen through the years. More than two dozen portraits of Sexton children lined the shelves in the living room. Sexton looked well-groomed, the goatee around his chin smartly trimmed. He said that there must be some kind of misunderstanding. He appeared to be an exceptionally gentle man, his voice soft, his southern drawl refined, not harsh and twangy like many of the southerners who’d migrated from West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee over the years. Ed Sexton turned to Machelle, saying in a calm voice, “Now, Machelle, now tell the truth. Did I hit you?”
“You don’t have to answer that, Machelle,” Welsh said. And she didn’t have to tell him where she was going or where she was staying, either, he’d tell her later. Wayne Welsh had already detected that smell. As Valentine’s Day approached, the announced date of Joey and Pixie’s wedding, only Danny, Joel Good’s younger brother, displayed any excitement. Joel had promised Danny he would be his best man. Every day, Danny waited for his brother to call with the details, the exact place and time, where the reception would be held. The rest of the family waited for the invitations they were promised, but nothing came in the mail. Velva, or Teresa, or their parents hardly saw Joel in late January and early February, but they assumed the wedding was still scheduled. Velva’s daughter Jeannie had gone with Joey to Canton Center Mall to help him pick out a wedding ring. They picked out a simple, inexpensive gold band. During one rare visit, Joey said he and Pixie were looking at an apartment in the same building he used to live in, near Velva’s “You sure you want to do this?” Velva said. “I love her,” Joey said. Velva and Teresa learned that they weren’t the only ones advising Joey against the marriage. He said his fellow workers were trying to talk him out of it, too. They pointed out to him the last thing he needed at his age was an instant family. Then Joey was laid off and certainly was in no position to marry, Velva and Teresa reasoned. Valentine’s Day came and went with no word. Danny sat around all day, still waiting for a call. Joey showed up alone at Teresa’s a few days later. They sat at the kitchen table. She could tell something was on his mind. He announced they were married.
“When?” Teresa asked. A couple of days before Valentine’s Day, he said. The ceremony was held at the house of Ed Sexton’s sister, Nellie. Ed Sexton, with his ordained minister card, had officiated the ceremony himself. “Why didn’t you tell anybody?” Teresa asked. “Why didn’t you wait until Valentine’s Day?”
“That’s the way they wanted it,” Joey said. “They just said it was best if we did it that way.”
“Who’s they?”
“Mr. Sexton.”
“Why, Joey?” she asked. “What would you have thought of me if I didn’t? She was pregnant.”
“That doesn’t make a difference,” Teresa said. “I mean, she’s already had two without a husband.”
“Those kids call me dad,” he said. He said he’d moved in with Pixie and the Sexton family. It wasn’t
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