Will You Listen Now?

By Judith Hilton

It is a true story of events that took place over a ten year period. The names are changed but the events and locations are real. It is a story of injustice to a child. His hopes and dreams were only to be safe and live his life without fear.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 22, 2009
• ISBN: 9781465322517

Judith Hilton

Judith Ann Hilton was born in Muskogee, Ok August 1952, some people call her “Patches and some Dandelion”. She attended Bacone College in Muskogee as well as U.C.A. in Arkansas. She was a Medical Lab Technician for most of her working career; until she suffered from injuries to both of her hands. She’s now single and happy and has lived most of her life between Oklahoma and Arkansas.

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Copyright © 2009 by Judith Hilton.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

PREFACE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

PREFACE

This is a true story. A story of abuse, control and murder through taking.

For whatever reason a person becomes a taker, is that of their own free will and choosing. Some people have given their opinions of takers; being that they must belong to a group of some kind. Such as: devil worshipers, cult groups, KKK, German Police or last but not least, the mafia.

During the course of my experience these past sixteen years is that the takers do not belong to any of these groups. They are just people who have chosen to do so, hoping to benefit in some way. Even if it meant telling simple lies.

They will intentionally cause turmoil in a singled out person’s life by making others believe they are involved with such previous named groups. They will take from a person physically as well as financially. They will take anything and everything in order to keep a person from being able to survive. Their main goal is to totally destroy or kill a person, without laying a finger on them.

CHAPTER ONE

I am not an author and I do not claim to have the abilities to even write this book. I was just a mother fighting to save a child. This is my story and this is where I will begin.

The year was 1979 and I was living in Weatherford, Oklahoma. My father’s family lived there and I grew up most of my life being raised and nurtured by them. It was a hot afternoon and I was driving home from work. It was a small college town and the streets were generally full of college students this time of day. I couldn’t help but notice that a car kept pulling up next to me and did not go on around. I turned to look and it was a white Corvette, with two of the largest guys in it I had ever seen. There was only one way to describe them. Their arms were huge and they hung out of the doors, making them look resemble orangutans. Their huge arms were waving at me to pull over and stop. I was frightened by them and did not want them to notice that I was. I just continued to look ahead as I drove while hoping to see a street to turn away from them on. They actually looked harmless, just large. But I was not raised to pull off the side of the road for people I did not know.

They were a cars length ahead of me at the time I spotted a turn. I whipped the car around the corner and planned to take the back-streets to my home. When I turned the next corner there they sat with their car blocking the road. They were both standing outside of the car now and waving for me to stop.

They had me now and they knew it. It was like a game to them. They were laughing and said all they want to do is talk. They proceeded telling me that they had just move to Weatherford and did not mean any harm. I realized that was exactly what it was and that their intentions were only to talk.

I told them if they were trying to meet girls then they should have stayed on Main Street. I concluded by telling them I was not interested. I told them that I was hot and tired from work and trying to get home to my little girl and needed to be on my way.

The larger one of the two was Steve Payne. He was 6'4" and weighed about 275 pounds. He had played football for West Texas State University; thus explaining his size and build. Our discussion became easier, as I found they were only trying to meet people in the area. I confirmed to myself that he must be an all American boy, since he had played football and was probably harmless.

He told me that he realized I needed to go and asked me for my phone number. He explained how it would be nice to at least have someone to call and talk to. My first response was to give him a bogus phone number so I could just get rid of him. Then I figured that it is such a small town I would be running into him more than likely, from time to time leaving work. So I gave him my number and as I handed it to him I thought of how I could let him down over the phone. I was not interested in dating and did not want to give him any ideas that would suggest otherwise.

The phone calls started. They came and they came. Even after we talked to one another for quite some time; I still would not go out with him. After a couple of months I agreed to meet him for coffee at a café. I was not thrilled about the meeting that was about to take place. All I wanted to do was go and chug my coffee down and talk fast so I could get on with my daily life as soon as possible. I was happy with my life and I had a good job and was trying to make a life for my daughter April, and myself.

As I walked into the restaurant I noticed him sitting in the far back at a booth. His looks appeared different to me and I felt as though this was the first time I had really ever seen him. He was captivating and I was mesmerized by him. I was nervous while trying to talk to him and felt uncomfortable and wanted to leave. He continued the conversation which made the meeting seem to go easier. Anyone who knows me is aware that I am not the kind of person who is ever at a loss for words. I have always tended to say what I think and very outgoing. My family always said there was not a shy bone in my body.

I think what captivated me the most were his eyes. He had blue eyes with a sincere shape about them. He was fair skinned with dark blonde hair that was a little wavy. I was generally attracted to guys with olive skin and brown eyes and so this was confusing to me too. I just could not imagine myself being so attracted to him. He spoke slowly with a soft voice; which I also found strange for a man who was so large.

As he spoke, he told me different things about himself and he made me feel as though he was an open person with good morals and upbringing. He spoke a lot of his family and how they were all members of The Church of Christ. He described his parents as loving people who had been married only to each other for overthirty years. He told me of the small town in southern Oklahoma where he was raised and laughed about the school’s football team was called The Outlaws. That was comment that I probably should have taken a little more serious. I was infatuated as he spoke to me, but I was still feeling anxious and wanting to leave. I was agitated that he was making me speechless. I was the one who generally kept a conversation going. I told him I needed to leave and how I had other obligations to attend to and thanked him for the coffee.

I could not get him out of my mind and before I even knew it I had found myself smitten by him. He called me later that night and we planned a date for a movie the upcoming weekend. It was ‘The Amityville Horror’, and that too should have been another sign. I did not really date guys that no one in my family knew. This was due to the experience I had with my daughter’s father. It was no secret in my hometown that my dad would always try and have anyone checked out it they did try and date me. He would ask around town to his friends, etc., if they knew this or that about this guy or that guy. His final opinion was always the same. It would be: I found out this guy did this or that; or he dated such and such. He would even say they were a woman chaser or they were related to so and so.

Now, for me to be going on this date meant that I was taking my own future into my own hands now. I kept wondering what daddy would say about this one. But he was three hundred miles away in Muskogee, Oklahoma and he rarely went anywhere, unless it was work related. We children were raised that way too. Everything about our life consisted on our family business and how it was running. So I worked a lot while growing up. If I was not in school then I was working somewhere in the business. I remember being around sixteen and always having to work at nights after school or on weekends. I would notice kids my age coming into our restaurant on their way to places of fun and wishing I could be having that kind of time.

Some people believed that my father’s ways were wrong and that he worked me too hard. Other people knew the truth. He wanted me to stay at work and out of trouble. Daddy would say that there were mean people in this world and they could hurt me or my sister. So this was his way of protecting us. At least if we were working he knew where we were and didn’t have to worry about us. Just what I would feel any father would do.

So, here I was now; making a decision on my own without anyone knowingthis man or anything about him, but falling for him anyway. We had now been dating for almost a year and were planning on going to Oklahoma City for a night out with some friends. Our night out was great and full of good food and company. Laughs were plentiful and spread all during the night. We were at a pub that offered different events on Friday nights to spur the crowd. And this particular night they were having a hula hoop contest to music from the fifties. They decided to enter my name as a joke and when the event started I heard my name being called to come to the dance floor. I, not being shy, proceeded. As I stepped onto the floor to join the other participants I was wondering just how the hell I could really get out of this. There was no chance. They handed me the hula hoop and the music started. I looked at the others and they were starting to twirl their hoops. I stepped into my hoop and gave it a swing and then let my hips do the talking. It was like the darn thing was glued to me! I don’t think it could have dropped if it had to. The next thing I knew they were announcing my name as ‘the winner’! All of this for just a dad gum forty five record of the twist. I think Steve found out that night that I don’t shrug away from a situation. I just do it.

We were all laughing and looking at my winning prize when the waitress announced an emergency phone call for me! She showed me a room where to take the call and I could not figure who would be calling with an emergency all the way to Oklahoma City. When I answered the phone it was April; she was crying and I could barely make any sense out of what she was saying. The best that I could tell was that she said someone was coming for me and going to kill me! The seventy mile trip back to Weatherford seemed endless and timeless. I was trying to make sense of the phone call and what it meant.

Anyone who knew April, also knew that she did not like for me to go anywhere without her. I was thinking that she had probably thrown some of her childish tantrums and is mad that I am not home by ten o’clock. I figured that she had probably pulled some sort of stunt, just to get everyone’s attention.

I was wrong. I walked into my house and my aunt called and said my dad was on the warpath in Muskogee. He had heard that I was dating and he is intent on stopping the relationship. I was upset and asked my aunt what was I supposed to have done that was so wrong? She then told me to hang up and call my dad; because the last thing he had said to her was that he was headed our way and he is going to kill you and that boyfriend! My hand was shaking so hard that I could barely dial the number. I was wondering if there was even going to be an answer at the other end.

It rang once and my dad picked up. He was talking in a slow and stern voice. He wasn’t screaming or ranting and raving. He said I have gotten word that you are living out of a hippie van and doing drugs. This, I will not tolerate. He then continued on saying that he was on his way to Weatherford and he would deal with me and my boyfriend when he got there. Then he added, Do you understand what I am saying? I asked him if this was one of his jokes or pranks that he was so popular for pulling on us? He replied, No joke! Then he asked me why I was laughing?

I started in telling him that I live in a house! And never in my life had I ever lived in a hippie van doing drugs! He asked me if I said a house? I then confirmed what I said. I continued on, by telling him that we were planning on getting married in just a couple of months. I explained that we had purchased a four bedroom two bath home in Chickasha, Oklahoma and would be moving there for Steve’s job.

Steve was a mud engineer for a company out of Houston, Texas and traveled extensively. He had taken a new job with another company, hoping not to have to travel as much, and the benefits and pay were far better than what he was getting now. I started explaining to my dad what a mud engineer was. I told him that is someone who works in the oilfield and checks the mud flow to prevent blow-outs. I told him that his job consisted of quality assurance testing, as well as chemical testing and checking for proper weights and dispersions. I could tell that my dad was growing bored as I explained all of this to him. If we were not discussing his business or horses, then he had positively no interest what-so-ever of a world that did not pertain to him. Thus ended our call with: I love you sweetheart. Be careful. You’re my baby. Talk to you soon.

CHAPTER TWO

The lawn was the deepest green and the zoysia was so thick that it contained not a weed. The entry of the house had been professionally landscaped suggesting the people who once lived here loved this home. As we approached the front door I was trying to absorb the fact this house was mine now.

It was only a three year old home, so the newness was still fresh from the concrete to the paint and wallpaper. The interior of the home had been decorated in good taste as well as the colors, that matched my furniture perfectly.

The pride and fulfillment of this being my home was beyond description. I was already walking on cloud nine being newly married to the man I loved so much. The combination between the two was overwhelming. It was simply just too good to be true. I was thinking of how this is what life is all about. A husband that I love and am proud of; a good home for my daughter and a place for all of us to build memories together. This was not going to be the case for me. Like I said : Too good to be true.

We had taken the U-Haul and turned it in and the boxes were piled and stacked in the garage. Thank God for the new double garage. What a wonderful place to leave our belongings in while we unpacked. We had just started dragging boxes into the kitchen when Roy Lee, an old friend of Steve’s pulled into the driveway. I was surprised to have visitors so soon and being the nit picker that I am, I was frustrated for anyone to see our new home until I had it all organized. They spoke outside for a while before coming into the house. I was in the kitchen trying to put things up and away and hoping to find the coffee pot. Roy Lee appeared to be acting fidgety and nervous. He did not want coffee when I found the coffee pot; but wanted for Steve to go somewhere with him. I remember thinking of how I had only been married for less than a week and this guy wants to drop by and take off with my husband before we even get a chance to unpack. When Steve approached me and asked if he could leave with him for awhile I told him I figured that he had stopped to help us unpack. Not a chance. I told Steve to go on and it would give me some time to organize the kitchen.

They had been gone for a couple of hours when they came walking into the kitchen and I noticed they had obviously been drinking. I had never seen Steve in this condition before; so I assumed they had been celebrating. Steve knew that I didn’t approve of heavy drinking. Minimal sure, but not intoxication. I did not want that kind of atmosphere in my home and never had. I had found out a few months earlier that Steve had a acquired a previous problem with the use of marijuana and I had spoken with his family about it. They assured me that it was something from his past college days and it was all behind him now. I was relieved to think that I would not have to deal with those kind of complications in my life.

When I met with Steve’s parents ( Edward and Martha Payne ), they explained to me that Steve encountered the problem with drugs, while attending West Texas State University. They told me he had sustained a knee injury that required surgery and he became dependant on pain killers. Once the doctor had stopped the pain medication Steve found an alternative source elsewhere. Then they made it clear to me that it was the football coaches fault and he was the one who was responsible for all of it. You have probably met people in your life, who are like the Payne’s. It was always someone else’s fault and never theirs.

The Payne’s were the type of people who, in their opinion, did no wrong. They also felt that if they did something that was not socially acceptable, it was because we had stupid laws. They explained to me they did not condone Steve’s actions, but they would cover for him no matter the what the situation ever was. This was all quite different from the way I was raised. We were raised to respect the laws and not break them. In fact, it was only a few months previous to this, that my dad was ready to do away with me just thinking I was into such things. I loved Steve so much and was keeping my positive train of thoughts, that something like that would not ever happen to him again.

So, here I was now, sitting at the kitchen table with Roy Lee and Steve obviously both intoxicated. I could not stop the feeling that I was hoping intoxication was all it was. Steve and Roy Lee sat there and talked about the oilfield and what kinds of possibilities there were now. Steve turned to me and asked me if I would consider working at something, other than lab work. We had not even settled in enough for me to have given any thought as to where I would be working. By profession; I was an MLT, and had been for years. I assumed I would eventually find work at the local hospital. I also had years of experience working for my father and had not really anticipated looking for something in that line of work. I did not care for clerical work. I knew that I would be bored to tears if I was to have ever ended up in an office somewhere. The lab was for me.

Roy Lee turned to me and asked me what line of work my family did. Steve broke in and said what do they not do? Then he started in telling Roy Lee about all of the business’s my dad owned. He then followed by saying the man is rich! I noticed him smiling as he said it, while glancing at Roy Lee.

I had told Steve about my life and how I was raised but to this date he had never met my dad; nor had he even been to Muskogee to see what all there was. I felt it strange of how he was explaining my dad to Roy Lee. And what should it matter if my dad had money or not. I broke into the conversation and told Roy Lee what kind of business’s my dad owned and that he and my mother had built the business starting in the 1950’s.

In the early 60’s the country was starting to level economically since WWII. And since the economy was good, people were spending money; which meant transport companies were doing well. My mother and father’s first business was a propane company and my mother was still employed as a telephone operator for Southwestern Bell. In 1955 my dad was playing a few rounds of poker with some friends and having a few drinks. One of the men at the table had started letting his alcohol do the bidding for him. He had lost all of his money and was intent on getting it back. He had no money left to throw; so he put the business he owned on the table. The hand was dealt and my father left the table with the money and now a new owner of a hamburger grill.

The following morning he awoke to tell my mother what he had done. He was sickened to think of what was he going to do with such a place. They had no idea as to who was going to run it and did not have the resources to hire anyone. They came to the conclusion they would simply try to do it themselves. They put a bed in the office and they took turns staying there between their other jobs. But in less than three years they had taken it from a ten seat hamburger grill, to a one hundred seat restaurant. The transport trucks were running 24 hours a day on the highway that passed in front of the restaurant. That was when he decided to keep it open seven days a week and 24 hours a day. He then purchased the surrounding acres and ventured the thought of making a truck plaza. Not only would they have a place to stop and eat now, but a place to rest and fuel their trucks. By the early 60’s he was making that dream a reality. J. Paul Getty ( a gas and oil tycoon from that era ) had received word of what my dad was doing in this small town in Oklahoma. They built what was the first truck stop of its kind in the U.S. Mr. Getty was counting on building more and even used ours as a training facility for his workers.

By 1965 my dad had purchased another truck stop in Joplin, Mo., and we were on the road constantly. Either my mom was traveling north or my dad was traveling south. He was so busy working he did not have time for relaxing or vacations anymore. He loved to rope and his enjoyment was team roping. He was a left handed heeler and we had an outdoor arena he had built to have his fun in. This only led him to want one that he could rope in; no matter what the weather conditions were. So he built an indoor arena along with an electric eye barrier beam. That too, was the first one ever in the U.S. Cowboys were now traveling from as far as New Mexico to try their luck with such a thing. Now, this too had turned from his private enjoyment into a full time business. Everyone knows that when you have horses and are miles from home, they have needs to be met as well. So my