Читать книгу Train 653 - Angela Yvette Thurman - Страница 5

Chapter 1

The body of the man they had chased through the snow-covered field now lay in a pool of his own blood. He had been cut in two by the speeding train, which he had tried to jump on in order to escape from the mob that were relentless in their efforts to capture him. His torso was thrown several yards from the rest of his body. His hazel-colored, with a hint of green, eyes pierced through the blood covering his face. Even in death, he was still strikingly handsome.

By this time, most of the town folks and train yard workers had gathered to see what the commotion was about. They whispered to one another about who he could’ve been. Someone said that they had seen him drinking whiskey at JAK’s Tavern on the corner of Tudor Avenue, standing by the jukebox watching the door as if he was expecting someone, and he kept looking at his expensive pocket watch, keeping up with the time.

Lieutenant Eugene S. Brooks was the last to arrive on the scene. As he approached, the crowd parted to let him in, and everyone became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Due to the gruesome nature of the scene, the men formed a circle around the body to prevent the women and children from getting too close until the coroner could retrieve the body parts and take them to the morgue. Gracie Brooks made her way to the front of the crowd. She stood only four feet and eleven inches tall, and she was able to sneak by the men without being detected.

As she got closer to take a peek at the man, her husband, the lieutenant, came up behind her and turned her around and told her to go back home because the scene was too gruesome and she would only be in the way. He told his deputy to send all of the women and especially the children home. Most obeyed the orders given and left the scene. However, Gracie did not take heed to his instructions, and she was determined to find a way to see this mysterious man that had been sliced in half by a speeding train. In all of her years living in East St. Louis, Illinois, she had never seen nor heard of anyone being killed by a train in such a way.

As she walked away from her husband, a young boy grabbed her hand and told her that he knew a good spot to view the body, so she followed him behind some old out-of-service train cars, and he helped her climb inside one that was close enough to see him without them being caught. Immediately after seeing him, she clutched her chest and fainted. The boy became frightened and screamed for help. Officer Wesson heard him and ran over to the train, and he found Gracie Brooks on the floor passed out. He lifted the boy from the train and told him to go get the lieutenant.