Soul of Cole

by Micheal Maxwell

  “I had to return home, and tried to resign from the army. My commanding officer refused my resignation, said I was a fool, and that I would lose my benefits and regret my decision for the rest of my life. Last month my enlistment ended. Since then, I have talked to our congressman, the state department and the INS. No one recognizes our civil ceremony. They’ve all either stalled or pushed the responsibility on to someone else. I’ve talked to anybody who was anybody, what makes you think you could possibly help?”

  The voice on the other end of the line snapped Cole from his recollection. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

  “Of course I do, how are you Michael?”

  “You said you were going to help me but I haven’t heard back from you. It’s been almost three weeks. I got another denial letter in the mail. You want to hear it?”

  “Does it say anything beyond no?”

  “Not really, same old BS.”

  “Let me tell you where we are on my end. I called my old friend that worked in the State Department. He’s retired. My other guy passed away a few months ago. I’m kind of starting over, dropping their names as a way of getting my foot in the door. I did find one sympathetic guy in the INS that deals with refugees with asylum issues.”

  “She’s not a refugee, neither is my son! She is my wife!” Blackbear was nearly shouting. His anger was quite obvious, born of the resentment of getting nowhere for months on end.

  “Whoa. Take a deep breath. I’m on your side, remember?”

  “Sorry. I’m just at the end of my rope with all this.”

  “Okay, here’s the deal. We have a far better shot of getting her to the United States if she is declared political asylum status. Showing that she and the boy are in danger works way better than wife status when you have no paper work. By the way, what is the boy’s name?” Cole thought the mention of the boy might lower Blackbear’s blood pressure.

  “We haven’t named him yet. We’re waiting for them to get here to give him a real American name.”

  “Would you be willing to write out a sworn affidavit that she and your son are in physical danger and are in a hostile environment due to her relationship with you and the United States Army?”

  “Of course, of course, how do I do that?”

  “You just need to see an attorney and tell them.” Cole thought for a moment. “I tell you what, how about we go together? I have the names, departments, and address where it needs to go. You have a case number, right?”

  “I have everything that anybody, anywhere, has ever sent me. That is, after I realized I would need them and stopped tearing them up.”

  “Okay, that’s fine. How ’bout this, you make the appointment and let me know when and where and we’ll get this done. I know you’ve been at this a long while, but you’re going to attract a lot more bees with honey than vinegar. If we’re going to be successful in this you need to mellow out. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  “Yes, it’s just that…”

  “It’s just that nothing. If I’m going to work with you we’re going to have to do it as friends, not like I’m the enemy. Otherwise I don’t have time for this.”

  “I’m very sorry, sir. Truly, it won’t happen again.”

  “I’ll take you at your word. Alright, let me know when you have the appointment set up.”

  “I’ll get right on it, thank you again. And, sorry I was a jerk.”

  “All is forgiven. We’ll just start anew. Talk to you later.”

  Cole set the phone down on his desk and walked back towards the kitchen.

  “What on earth was that about?” Kelly was standing in the kitchen door wearing an expression that was a combination of amazement and anger.

  “That was your buddy, Michael Blackbear.”

  “He’s not my buddy. What did he want?” Kelly was not amused by Cole’s attempt at transferring his relationship with Michael Blackbear to her. “That guy is a ticking time bomb.”

  “He is so angry and frustrated at how slow and ineffective the wheels of government are that he lashes out, even at the people who are trying to help him.”

  Kelly wiped her hands on her apron. “I think you should cut him loose. He was a real problem at the Center. Every time he would come in it would end up with him shouting and screaming at Warren and stomping out. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he was the one that killed him.”

  “Okay, hold on. It’s your turn to take a deep breath. Just ’cause you don’t like the guy and he has a short temper doesn’t mean he’s a killer.”

  “I’ve seen far too many of the men who come off the reservation wearing a huge chip on their shoulder and angry at anyone trying to break the cycle of poverty and dependency on the government. I’ve seen it time and again. The husbands and fathers come in half drunk, ranting about how we are brainwashing their children and destroying their culture. I’ve called the police more than once when they got physical with their wives.”

  “Okay, you have some valid arguments for why an Indian would be suspect. But, you know as well as I do, you can’t throw a blanket of generalization over a whole group of people based upon the actions of a small group. Aren’t you the one who is always telling me how wonderful the Cheyenne people are?”

  Kelly went back into the kitchen, clanged pans, closed a few cupboard doors a little too hard, and mumbled and grumbled just loud enough for Cole to not be able to understand what she was saying.

  Cole waited nearly five minutes before he followed her into the kitchen. “I hope all of that steam you’re letting off isn’t directed at me.” He gave a sheepish smile thinking that maybe his mini-lecture went a bit too far.

  “No Professor, I’m angry at myself because you’re right. I love the people I work with at the Center. Most of the fathers are very supportive of our work. But, I am angry and frustrated too, at the death of my friend Warren. Say what you will about the Center’s history of hostility from fathers, I won’t be surprised at all if one of them killed him.”

  Kelly crossed the kitchen, took Cole’s face in her hands. “I could never be angry at you for being right.” She kissed him gently.

  “Thank you, that’s very kind.”

  “Actually, you’re right so seldom that it’s not a big threat.” Kelly laughed merrily and slapped Cole on the butt.

  The sound of car doors slamming announced the arrival of their guests.

  “They’re here.” Cole looked out the front window at Brooke and Randy Callen coming up the front walk.

  “Cole, I am serious about one thing.” Kelly was now standing behind him and slipped her arms around his waist. “I want you to be very careful getting involved with Michael Blackbear. I don’t have a good feeling about that guy.”

  “I promise.” Cole went out onto the porch and greeted Randy and Brooke as they approached the steps.

  The young married couple was more like a second set of kids than just friends. The newlyweds had gone through some rough water with Brooke’s dad. In a moment of sentiment or guilt he pledged to build them a house. He had since changed his mind. After an angry, tear-filled confrontation with Brooke they are now estranged, making her bond with Kelly even stronger.

  Randy’s computer sales and repair business was doing very well. Brooke came into the business after they married to run the front counter. She was a real hit with customers and her bookkeeping experience kept her young entrepreneur husband in the black.

  They rented a cute little house in a new subdivision not far from the shop. Kelly saw to it that they came over at least twice a month for dinner. It was a nice way for them to get away and have people to talk to.

  Randy did a Boy Scout salute and called up to Cole, “Is the back of the house on fire?”

  “It’s the barbecue, funny guy.” Cole shook his head in mock disgust. Brooke giggled and made her way up the stairs. She gave Cole a hug and a peck on the cheek.

  “It’s always so nice to get to come out to the country.” She looked over Cole�
��s shoulder. “Is Kelly in the kitchen?”

  “Yep, ever since about three o’clock. You know how she is.” Brooke went inside. Cole and Randy followed her. They went straight through the house heading for the backyard.

  They stopped at the newly screened in porch. “Wow, this looks amazing, did you do this, Cole?”

  “Yeah, right. I had a friend of Ernie’s do it. Actually, Ernie used to work with this guy’s dad at the sewer plant. Like it, huh?”

  “Yeah, it looks awesome.” They continued on through to the backyard. “Did he do the gazebo, too?” Randy walked across the yard to the new addition. He knelt and examined the newly sprouting Sweet Peas.

  “Yeah, I think he could build just about anything.” Cole raised the hood on the Weber and poked the coals with a stick that was leaning against the handle. This looks about ready. “Kelly, you got that meat ready?” He heard footsteps on the porch.

  “Yes, it’s on its way.” She came through the back door with a large, blue, plastic tray. Neatly laid out on it were four steaks, four chicken thighs, four pork chops, and four pale, nearly white, bratwurst sausages.

  “Is there somebody joining us?” Randy asked.

  “No, I just thought since the coals were fired up we’d do a little of everything.” She handed over the tray to Grill Master Cole.

  “Kelly’s under the foolish impression there will be leftovers.” Cole laughed and winked at Randy.

  Randy came back to where Cole worked at the grill. Taking a chair, he looked around the yard. “Man is this a nice place. Someday I’d like to live out in the country. I grew up kind of out in the country.”

  “That must be why you turned to computers.” Cole laughed at his joke. Randy just gave him a sarcastic courtesy grin. “It gets pretty boring at times.”

  Cole placed all the meat out on the grill, adjusted the air vents, and took a seat across from Randy.

  “So, how are you guys doing? Feels like I haven’t seen you in ages.”

  “Brooke is pretty upset about the Poore’s being killed. You’ve probably heard all about it, right? Kelly must be really upset.”

  “Yeah, she’s putting on a brave face, but she worked really close with Warren. It’s a weird deal. Everybody seems to have loved the guy, except for a handful of Indians who really didn’t like him or, probably better said, his Center.”

  “Brooke’s mom went to Calvary Methodist before she died. You know Sharon and Russ are good friends of her dad. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to have found them.”

  Cole kind of let the talk of Warren drift into the air along with the smoke from the grill for a while.

  “You know, I’ve never been the one to find a body, but I’ve been there shortly after and it’s something you can’t wash from your mind very easily. I really hope those folks have the good sense to get some counseling. Kelly has worked there over two years now and I’ve been down to the Center a bunch of times and Warren was a real sweet guy. He really seemed to love those kids. I don’t know why anyone would want to do him any harm. Or his wife. That’s really a weird one. The strange thing is it wasn’t a robbery. Nothing was missing, the house wasn’t torn up, the cop told Kelly they were just sitting in the family room with bullets in them.”

  “How did they know it was suicide?” Randy leaned forward in his chair and lowered his voice. “Could it have been murder?”

  Cole smiled. “You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out somebody didn’t kill themselves if there’s no gun to be found.”

  “That’s true! So, which is it really?”

  “That, my boy, is the $64,000 question.”

  “I liked it better when we used to know what was going on in an investigation.”

  Cole let that comment pass, but knew exactly how Randy felt. “So, how’s business?” Cole again tried to deflect away from the Poore’s.

  “We’re doing really well. I guess putting Brooke at the front counter was a smart idea.”

  “Yeah,” Cole said. “She’s way prettier than you are. I bet that didn’t set well with her dad.”

  “It really doesn’t seem to matter anymore. They had such a blow out he may never speak to her again.”

  “That’s too bad. What now?”

  “It’s still all about the stupid house. I wish he’d never mentioned it. I think he was just caught up in the moment, feeling generous and briefly sentimental.”

  “I’m really sorry, buddy. You know, like they say, ‘can a leopard change its spots?’”

  “You know, I never liked him in the first place. It’s really hard on Brooke, though, because he’s the only family she has. She tries to put up a good front too, but there are times I can see she’s really hurting.”

  “That’s rough.” The two stood silently as Cole took the cover off the grill. The smoke wafted through the back yard. Cole poked one of the sausages. “You’re going to have to be her family. If anybody knows what it’s like to be alone, it’s you. So, you just have to be there. We’re here, too. Don’t forget that. We’ve got your back.”

  Randy smiled. His gratefulness didn’t need to be spoken between the old friends. “So what have you been doing to keep yourself busy?”

  “I started another book.”

  “Oh, yeah? What’s this one about?”

  “Well, I thought I might try my hand at writing a historical novel. Seems like I always gravitate to history, biographies, stuff like that. What do you think about a book about World War II?”

  “Yeah, I love books based in history. The background makes for good fiction and you know the old saying, truth is stranger than fiction.”

  “Right?” Cole agreed.

  “But you know what I think would make a great book? Some of the stuff that happened in San Francisco. You couldn’t make that stuff up, either. Besides, if you need help with your fading memory, you can give me a call. Believe it or not, I kept all our stuff from the Chronicle. All the research notes, pictures, police reports…”

  “Police reports?” Cole was surprised that Randy would have kept, better yet, got his hands on, police records.

  “Yeah, well, sometimes you just can’t help yourself.”

  “You mean you can’t help yourself!” Cole turned the steaks.

  “Isn’t that what I said?”

  “Very funny.”

  “So, this book you’ve started, what’s it going to be about?”

  “Actually, I’m kind of excited about it.”

  “Your war idea?”

  “Yeah, it starts at the beginning of WWII. It’s about a diamond, and concentration camps, and a girl who goes through the whole thing.” Cole’s tone changed and a thread of seriousness entered the conversation. “I want it to show the horrors of war and how the diamond kept the girl dreaming of a better life. It kind of symbolizes hope.”

  Cole watched Randy closely, trying to read his response.

  “Does it have a happy ending?”

  “Yeah. It works out.”

  “In that case, I can’t wait to read it.”

  “What is that wonderful smell?” Brooke washed her hands in the sink and sniffed the air.

  Kelly turned and smiled at her. “A new recipe I have been wanting to try; bacon, apricot, jalapeño jelly. I thought it would be amazing on the chicken.”

  “It smells incredible.”

  “Good.” Kelly gave the pan a stir and moved to the counter.

  Kelly looked over at Brooke and she was staring out the window, the water just running over her hands. “You look troubled. Anything I can do?”

  Brooke welled up with tears. “You can start by giving me a hug. This has been the worst three or four days ever.” Kelly stepped forward and put her arms around Brooke. “I’ve known the Poore’s my whole life. Anytime I saw them, they always had a nice memory of my mom. They really were one of the few links I had to her. Judy taught my Sunday School Class when I was little. Who would want to hurt them, Kelly? I just don’t understand.” Brooke w
illed herself not to cry.

  Kelly stepped back, reached down and took both of Brooke’s hands. “There are some things, sweetie, that just aren’t explainable. I’ve worked with Warren for about two years. He was one of the kindest, gentlest people I’ve ever known. The older I get, the harder these pointless acts of violence are to understand, and they seem to haunt me.”

  “What will happen to the Center now?”

  “It was Warren’s life dream to help the Indian community. I don’t know what will happen without him there. I’m not sure how much of a commitment Cassie has to the work there. I’ve never met the other daughter, Rebecca. Do you know her very well?”

  “She’s a couple years older than I was in school, so I didn’t know her all that well either. She’s a missionary, you know.”

  “I know, her father was so proud of her. I hear she is supposed to arrive tomorrow.”

  “What a horrible thing to have to come home to.”

  “Oh heavens.” Kelly sighed deeply. “Let’s not let this horrible news throw a damper on our dinner. Let’s think of something happy. What have you got, anything? How is working in the shop going?”

  Brooke opened the refrigerator. “Goodness Kelly, you’ve got everything done.” Brooke shook her head and gave Kelly a faint smile. “I can’t believe I’m working the front counter in our own business. I’m the one who had a hard time just answering the phones when I worked for my dad. Now, I really get a kick out of meeting and talking to people and seeing Randy turn their bad situation into something good. I think that guy could fix anything!”

  “That’s wonderful, I’m so proud of you. I wasn’t going to bring it up but have you talked to your dad lately?”

  Brooke giggled. “Gee, Kelly, out of the frying pan and into the fire. I thought we were going to talk about happy stuff.”

  “I take that as a no?”

  “Yeah.”