Read Online Too Late to Say Goodbye: A True Story of Murder and Betrayal by Ann Rule - Free Book Online Page B
Book: Too Late to Say Goodbye: A True Story of Murder and Betrayal by Ann Rule
Read Free Book Online
Authors: Ann Rule
Tags: Fiction, General, True Crime, Biography, Georgia, Murder, Case studies, Investigation, Murder victims
Ads: Link
what had recently been acres of woods. The lots there radiated from the center of a circle, most of them narrow in front, widening in back so that their backyard fences touched. It was an ideal place to raise children. The Barbers could talk over their back and side fences to four other families.
“We shared our good news and not-so-good news over our fences,” Narda recalled. “Our neighbors have always rallied around each other for years, some thirty years now.”
Pine trees, oaks, and poplars grew from saplings over those decades. Narda planted a garden every year, full of the sweet potatoes Max liked, along with peas, okra, tomatoes, and pole beans.
Kids in the area played in each other’s yards and swam in the country club pool just beyond their fences. It wasn’t a fancy and expensive country club—but it, too, represented the solidarity of longtime friends who grew older together, scarcely noting the years that passed.
Rajel was a brunette, and petite like her mother, but Jenn and Heather took after Max; they both grew tall enough to be models; their wavy hair was as thick as Narda’s.
Narda is an artist, and her paintings and other art projects were hung throughout the Barbers’ home. She had a studio at the rear of the property, where she experimented with many different techniques and media.
As most parents do, Narda and Max Barber cherished memories of their girls when they were small—especially Jenn. “She was sweet and kind—always—but there were moments,” Narda recalled. “One time, I had left several cans of spray paint on the back porch, and I warned the girls not to touch them. Of course, they all promised they wouldn’t. Well, some time passed and I heard Jenni sobbing her heart out. I went to check on her, but she wouldn’t look at me. When she finally looked up, I could see that she had sprayed herself in the face with red paint and her little nose was solid red. I think she thought it was going to stay that way forever.”
And then there was the episode with Hershey’s chocolate syrup.
“Max liked chocolate syrup on ice cream, and the girls all did, too. I explained to them that it was for special occasions, and that they weren’t allowed to take it out of the refrigerator without permission.
“One day, I went to get it, and it wasn’t there. Nobody admitted that they had taken it. I noticed that Jenni was wearing a jacket all zipped up the front—and it really wasn’t cold enough for a jacket. When I asked her why, and suggested she unzip it, she kept coming up with reasons not to. Well, she didn’t have a single drop of chocolate on her—not that I could see—but when we unzipped her jacket, that little girl had chocolate syrup from just below her chin down to her waist! It was hard not to laugh.”
A LL OF THE B ARBER GIRLS attended Central Gwinnett High School. Rajel graduated and married young, giving birth to a daughter who would be a decade older than her cousins born to Jenn and Heather. Rajel moved out west for a while, where she invited a small boy into her home after she realized he lived with a huge, motherless family in her California neighborhood. When Rajel and her husband had to move away, she knew she couldn’t leave Joey behind. He became part of the Barber family.
Rajel joined a congregation much stricter than the Methodist church her parents attended. Her life was quite different from those of her younger sisters, who were still teenagers while she was a married woman. It was natural that Jenn and Heather grew closer in their high school years. Both of them were recruited for the basketball team; at their height, they were the most sought after for the squad.
Jenn dated off and on in high school. She tended to be the loyal half of any relationship. The son of a couple who were close friends and neighbors of Max and Narda loved Jenn from afar for years, but they were never closer than buddies who had grown up together.
Jenn Barber took after
“We shared our good news and not-so-good news over our fences,” Narda recalled. “Our neighbors have always rallied around each other for years, some thirty years now.”
Pine trees, oaks, and poplars grew from saplings over those decades. Narda planted a garden every year, full of the sweet potatoes Max liked, along with peas, okra, tomatoes, and pole beans.
Kids in the area played in each other’s yards and swam in the country club pool just beyond their fences. It wasn’t a fancy and expensive country club—but it, too, represented the solidarity of longtime friends who grew older together, scarcely noting the years that passed.
Rajel was a brunette, and petite like her mother, but Jenn and Heather took after Max; they both grew tall enough to be models; their wavy hair was as thick as Narda’s.
Narda is an artist, and her paintings and other art projects were hung throughout the Barbers’ home. She had a studio at the rear of the property, where she experimented with many different techniques and media.
As most parents do, Narda and Max Barber cherished memories of their girls when they were small—especially Jenn. “She was sweet and kind—always—but there were moments,” Narda recalled. “One time, I had left several cans of spray paint on the back porch, and I warned the girls not to touch them. Of course, they all promised they wouldn’t. Well, some time passed and I heard Jenni sobbing her heart out. I went to check on her, but she wouldn’t look at me. When she finally looked up, I could see that she had sprayed herself in the face with red paint and her little nose was solid red. I think she thought it was going to stay that way forever.”
And then there was the episode with Hershey’s chocolate syrup.
“Max liked chocolate syrup on ice cream, and the girls all did, too. I explained to them that it was for special occasions, and that they weren’t allowed to take it out of the refrigerator without permission.
“One day, I went to get it, and it wasn’t there. Nobody admitted that they had taken it. I noticed that Jenni was wearing a jacket all zipped up the front—and it really wasn’t cold enough for a jacket. When I asked her why, and suggested she unzip it, she kept coming up with reasons not to. Well, she didn’t have a single drop of chocolate on her—not that I could see—but when we unzipped her jacket, that little girl had chocolate syrup from just below her chin down to her waist! It was hard not to laugh.”
A LL OF THE B ARBER GIRLS attended Central Gwinnett High School. Rajel graduated and married young, giving birth to a daughter who would be a decade older than her cousins born to Jenn and Heather. Rajel moved out west for a while, where she invited a small boy into her home after she realized he lived with a huge, motherless family in her California neighborhood. When Rajel and her husband had to move away, she knew she couldn’t leave Joey behind. He became part of the Barber family.
Rajel joined a congregation much stricter than the Methodist church her parents attended. Her life was quite different from those of her younger sisters, who were still teenagers while she was a married woman. It was natural that Jenn and Heather grew closer in their high school years. Both of them were recruited for the basketball team; at their height, they were the most sought after for the squad.
Jenn dated off and on in high school. She tended to be the loyal half of any relationship. The son of a couple who were close friends and neighbors of Max and Narda loved Jenn from afar for years, but they were never closer than buddies who had grown up together.
Jenn Barber took after
Similar Books
