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They wanted him to themselves at least briefly.

About two dozen relatives were scattered around the parking lot, waiting. At the sight of the hearse, they gathered into a dense group, with his parents, Merlese and Harry Pickett, at the center.

Someone brought out a chair for Merlese Pickett.

"Step back, get us some air in here," someone said.

Then she stood and began moving past the hearse that still held her son's body, toward the door to the funeral home.

"Oh, my baby," she said. "Oh my baby."

The family went inside. The honor guard performed its careful choreography again and followed them with the casket.

Paying respects

Today, hundreds of people are expected at two visitations. On Tuesday, police expect the roads in Wallace to be lined with people as the funeral procession drives to First Baptist Church, where hundreds more will pack the service.

The procession to the cemetery will take Emanuel Pickett past his police department and will stop there briefly, because his family figures that would have been one of his first stops if he had made it home alive.

At some point Tuesday, the hearse will pass the flea market where he stopped for homemade pork skins, maybe a toy for one of his three kids and usually a quick look around to make sure no one was selling anything illegal, his brother said.

It was his town, after all, and he wanted to look out for it.

On Sunday, when he came back, it was the home folks' turn to look out for him.

More than half a dozen local law agencies have volunteered to guard the funeral home while Pickett's body is there.

They planned patrols there Sunday night, then shifts of guards Monday night, figuring that by then nearly everyone in southern Duplin will know Emanuel Pickett is home.

(Visitation for family and friends will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at Rose Hill Funeral Home. The funeral will be 2 p.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church in Wallace.)

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