Texas Death Row Market

She was driving through the open space, wondering whether she would make it on time. The speedometer of her sedan was showing about 50 mph on a two way road just off the highway. There was nothing but dust and dirt on each side of the road. She was not used to this kind of a terrain. She was from Eastern Massachusetts where one quickly gets used to seeing trees on one side of the road, and the ocean on the other. Being in Texas or the first time of her life really was a great experience for her. Before going on this business trip, she did her research about the state. She spent countless hours on Texas ' history, its judicial system, death row, climate, people etc… She loved to do research since she was a kid, but now doing a research was part of her job and she loved it. She lived with the motto "one should learn as much as possible". Therefore she always investigated, traveled, learned and saw a lot of things on first hand.

When she found a new interesting story, no matter how scary or dull it might seem to her readers, she was there. Now another interesting story came up. This new occurrence did not only interest her but the whole world. She was now going to a house where the inhabitants were the first ones to buy a slave freshly from the death row market. That's what it was called now between the residents of Texas . "Death row market" initially consisted of 12 inmates. First household to buy a slave of this market was living in the suburban town of Los Ebanos . This household was consisted of a woman and her 16 year old daughter. She couldn't imagine why they would want a slave in their house where there was no man around at first place. She also thought about the danger of having an ex-death row inmate around your house in the middle of nowhere. She actually had a lot of thoughts and questions in her head and in her notebook to ask, but now her first goal was to reach there on time.

She considered herself a lucky journalist since she was going to be the first one to enter these people's home and interview them. She was also lucky because she asked the mother whether she could spend two full days with them to observe and see their new slave's behavior and how they react to it. So it was definitely more than an interview for her. She was going to experience the first ex-death row inmate's slavery first hand with the owners of him. She was very well excited and also nervous. Her work-mates called her crazy before leaving for this job. They considered it to be an extremely dangerous work to spend couple of nights with a death-row inmate under the same roof. But it didn't matter her, besides she always liked scary and dangerous jobs that no one dared take.

When her sedan passed Los Ebanos sign, she looked at her watch and saw that it was just about the right time. She took the next right at the sing which said "Calloway Residence" and her sedan started its bumpy ride on a dirt road. The three story house of the Calloways were probably about a mile off the main road but it felt like it was about 10 miles off for her, since the dirt road was terrible to drive on. That's probably why they don't drive sedans around here she thought. When she came closer to the house, she saw a police car on the side, and immediately after, a police officer signed for her to stop.

Officer: “Excuse me Madam; I am sure you know where you are going?”

Caroline: “Yes of course. I have an appointment with Ms. Calloway, here is my ID”

She grabbed her purse which was on the passenger seat, and took her ID out and handed it to the officer.

Officer: “Alright madam; carry on please, they had been expecting you”

Caroline: “Thank you”

As she parked her car next to the garage, she saw two old pick ups parked in it. She thought I am really going to look like a rich snobby town girl in front of these people.

She nervously came out of her car, took her stuff and closed the door of her sedan. As she turned to face the house, she saw the daughter of Ms. Calloway on the window. She waving her hand so she waved back. She went to the front door of the house went up couple of steps and saw both the mother and the daughter standing behind the door, smiling. Ms. Calloway was the one to open the door for the Boston Herald newspaper journalist. Her daughter stayed on her right hand side to make way for the reporter to come in.

Ms. Calloway: “Welcome to our house” extending her hand.

Caroline: “Thank you very much” extending her right hand.

They shook hands. Caroline was especially surprised at how firm Ms. Calloway shook her hand. She must be one strong of a woman, Caroline thought. “She could have easily broken my hand” she said to herself. But being a reporter, whatever she thought, always stayed inside of her. She would never let her facial expressions or her body language to tell the story of how she was feeling inside. She learned that through being in this business for quite sometime.

She let go of Ms. Calloway's hand and she extended hers to Helen's. Helen's hand felt much better after her mothers. Helen's hand shake was soft but firm, the smoothness of her skin was astonishing. Caroline could not help but think to herself that, she must be growing old for sure. For a moment she wanted to hold Helen's hand for longer to feel her skin. Caroline immediately thought of her days, when she was 16. She tried to go back, but she couldn't because Ms. Calloway broke the silence.

Ms. Calloway: "Would you like to have a seat in our living
room Caroline?"

Caroline nodded with a smile and moved towards the larger area where she thought was the living room of the house. Caroline asked Ms. Calloway to address her with her first name. She was going to spend a long time with this small family so last thing she needed was formalities on her side. But Caroline was sure, Ms. Calloway was going to formal no matter what. Just as Caroline was moving towards the room, she was also looking around, being aware of her surrounding. She was searching for a sight of a male, but she could not find any.

Ms. Calloway: "He is not here Caroline don't worry just yet" with a smile.

Ms. Calloway was not only strong, but also smart Caroline thought. "What a woman" she said to herself once again.

Caroline: “No problem, I was just examining by looking around, we reporters tend to do that often, sometimes unconsciously"

The first thing Caroline noticed in the house was the paintings on the walls. From where she was standing she could see portraits of several women on the walls. They all looked very beautiful. She was impressed by the beauty of these women as well as the quality of these paintings.

Caroline: "Who are they" while pointing to a wall where 3 of them were hung
side by side.

Ms. Calloway: "Ohhh they are great aren't they? To tell you the truth I don't know who they are either. They are just some randomly painted women. As you can see the paintings are wonderful. They cost me a lot of money" smiling.

Caroline: "I am sure they are quite expensive, where did you get them from"

Caroline was now totally concentrated on the paintings. They were so beautiful that she was about to get hypnotized.

Ms. Calloway: "They were actually given to me by my mother. But after my divorce, I went bankrupt and they were taken away from me and put into your Boston Museum of Fine Arts" looking a little irritated.

Caroline felt a little anger in her voice. Ms. Calloway probably hated Northerners she thought. She wasn't too sure of that but one thing was sure, Ms. Calloway was a typical Southern Bible Belt type of a woman. She was an attractive blonde with green eyes. She was very well toned, despite her age, her muscles looked firm and tight. That explained why she was still so strong. She was wearing a tight mini- skirt which displayed her long beautiful legs and tight round ass. She looked astonishing and no matter what the age, she could be the dream of any men. Helen looked exactly like her mother, only a little smaller version of her. It was a shame that Helen was not as tall her as her mother. She stood about 5 feet 5 inches whereas her mother looked about 6 foot 2.

Caroline: "Oh I am sorry. Well at least you managed to get these lovely paintings back. I am
sure it was not easy to take them out of Museum of Fine Arts "

Ms.Calloway: "Yes indeed it was not easy but there is nothing money can not buy these days. You can even buy a man if you would like" laughing.

Helen and Caroline both started laughing too. It was definitely true. Ms. Calloway actually already did buy a man, and she looked as if she was really happy by her decision. Caroline finally stopped staring at the paintings because of this joke, and saw a large comfortable sofa where she could sit down.

Caroline: "May I sit?"

Ms. Calloway: "Of course dear, please relax, our home is your home" smiling.

Caroline: "Thank you"

Ms. Calloway: "We will leave you alone for minute. We are going to kitchen to fetch some snacks and drinks. I don't know how you fellows do up north but hospitality is very important around here" looked very proud.

Caroline: "It is no problem, thank you"

Ms. Colloway and Helen left the living room and moved away from Caroline's vision. This forced Caroline to examine the surroundings a little more. There was nothing special about this house Caroline said to herself, besides the paintings of course. It was a medium sized home, with white walls, glass tables, grey chairs and a sofa. It looked like Ms.Callowey and her daughter was really into electronics. They had a top class home entertainment center. One of those stereos which had a funky shape with its small size, but could play quality sound and loud music. There were 3 remote controls on the side table next to the sofa and Caroline did not dare to touch any of them. They looked way too complicated to be fooled around with. The house in general was very bright. There was sun coming in from every direction. It had a very nice and relaxing atmosphere. It definitely did not give any impression that it belonged to a slave owner and her daughter.

After couple of minutes Ms. Calloway and Helen came in, each carrying a tray full of goods. Ms. Calloway put a glass of coffee to the side table next to Caroline and Helen put a plate full of pastries. They laid the trays on the glass table right in front of the sofa and each took their seats on a chair right in front of Caroline. They were just staring at her with curious eyes. This made Caroline get a little uncomfortable however as always her actions did not give it away. Caroline was a 5 foot 9. In front of these Southern women, Caroline did look a lot different. She had a much darker skin than the two women staring at her. She actually looked much more Latin American than an American from MA. She had dark black hair and big brown eyes. She was thin but fit. Her body looked a lot like Ms. Calloway's only it was weaker and less toned.

Caroline reached for the cup of coffee and brought it to her lips. Coffee
tasted really good. It was definitely a different coffee from the ones she used to drinking.

Caroline: "This is great. What brand is this?"

Ms.Calloway: "Well dear it is a Mexican one. It is the best. I am sure you folks up North do not have this kind" smiling.

Caroline: "We certainly don't. I need to get a box full of these before I leave here."

They all started laughing at this joke. They all started drinking and eating and Ms.Calloway broke the silence once again.

Ms. Calloway: "So tell me, this is the first time for you in Texas right?"

Caroline: "Yes, that's correct"

Ms. Calloway: "So how do you like it so far?"

Caroline: "Well it is an interesting state for sure. It is much different from Northeast that's for sure. It is going to be great experience for me to be here. I should travel the country much more" smiling.

Ms. Calloway: "Yes you should. This country is not only made up of couple of states in Northeast as you know, but I am sure you have been to states like California , Florida . Everyone loves those places. And when people visit Texas , they never come near this ghost town anyway. It is way too far of from any other interesting and entertaining town really. But that's what I like about it. It is quite, it is safe. There are no strangers. I am scared, now that we have a slave in this home; we are going to lose all those privileges. It looks like the whole country is watching us. Our Sheriff who has been sitting on his ass for the last 23 years, is finally working his ass off around the town to keep every curious person in line"

Caroline: "I am sure things have changed a lot around this town after you got that man here"

Ms. Calloway: "Please don't call him a man my dear. No man would go around shoot people for money. He actually shot three young women in the middle of a street in downtown Austin . No human being would do that."

Caroline: "Aren't you actually scared that you are keeping a cold-blooded murderer in your house? I mean he could kill you with the blink of an eye."

Ms.Calloway and Helen just burst out laughing.

Helen spoke for the first time.

Helen: "We keep that animal very secularly don't worry"

This was actually one of Caroline's concerns. She definitely did not want to get killed by an ex- death row inmate while in her sleep. That would just be stupid. A lot of people actually called her decision to spend couple of nights with the Calloways' stupid. Living under the same roof with a murderer was just too much for a lot of people. But Calloways' confidence and laughter made Caroline feel much better. Now she knew it was secure to live in this house. With the thought o security, she was really starting to wonder where this murderer was.

Caroline: "Forgive my curiosity but, where is he?"

Helen and Ms. Calloway both smiled.

Ms. Calloway: "Don't worry my dear; we are going to show it to you. But first, after you finish your drink and your food, Helen will show you your room. After that you can take a bath, you room has one so you can act as if you are in your own place. Once you are ready we will take you to it."

Caroline: "OK thank you very much, so I am assuming we will not be able to conduct the interview right away then?"

Ms. Calloway: "Don't worry about that right now. We have a lot of time on our hands for that."

Caroline: "OK" smiling.

Caroline took the last bite of her pastry and nodded to Helen that she was ready to go to her room. Helen jumped out of her chair and showed Caroline the way. Caroline made her way towards the front door, where she dropped her small sports bag, and then started following Helen. They went towards stairs and started going up. When upstairs Caroline could count 4 open doors.

Helen: "This is where our rooms are. We are very comfortable up here where it is in a very uncomfortable and painful situation right now" smiling.

Caroline: "What do you mean? Where is he? What are you doing to him?"

Helen: "Sssssh don't worry about it, you will meet it very soon anyway. We should not be talking about it anyway, otherwise my mama will get pissed off, and we wouldn't want that to happen would we?"

Caroline: "I don't know, how does your mother act when she is pissed off?"

Helen: "She goes mad. I never pissed her off, but the other day when it was being electrocuted, it started pissing everywhere. My mother was really pissed that it could not control his small dick. So she broke one his arms and left him hanging from the ceiling while the electrodes were still attached to balls." laughing.

Helen: "It was a beautiful site, you should have seen it. Ohh by the way, his arm is still broken, and he has been hung by it for the last couple of days. I can't imagine the pain he must be going through."

Caroline was shocked with what she was hearing, this time she let her facialexpressions to give away her thoughts.

Helen: "What happened, you look very pale? He is a murderer; don't tell me that you fell sorry for him all of a sudden?"

Caroline just kept quiet. She did feel sorry for this man even before seeing him. Even a murderer should not be treated this way, she thought.

Helen: "Well anyway, here is your room hopefully you will like it. Enjoy"

Caroline was now standing in front of a very bright room which had a huge double size bed in the middle of it. She was wondering whether her stomach could take what she was going to see for the next couple of days. Now she knew why Ms. Calloway and Helen were not scared of the man they keep. Maybe she could just conduct the interview and leave these people to themselves. Or she could just go back to Boston right now, before entering this room and getting settled in.