Cajun Justice

by James Patterson

  On Sunday morning, as was custom, the family gathered around the kitchen table to enjoy breakfast together.

  As they passed around the plate of buttermilk biscuits, Seth kept staring at his brother. “What’s got you grinning like a Cheshire cat?” he asked.

  Margaret and Claude laughed.

  Cain spooned out some homemade mayhaw jelly from a glass jar and spread it on his biscuit before answering. “It’s certainly not you.”

  The family laughed harder, and Claude even slapped his leg a few times while laughing. When the laughter subsided, Margaret spoke up. “Elise has invited him to a picnic today.”

  “Oh.” Seth smirked and nodded his head. “Is that why you were out early this morning washing your motorcycle?”

  “Nope,” Cain replied.

  “I’d wash my bike if I had a date with Elise,” Seth said.

  “My Harley needed it. It was a long road trip, and the bike’s caked with bugs.” He changed the subject. “Now that everyone knows what I’m doing today, what are you guys doing?”

  “We’re going to mass at ten,” Margaret said. “Like we do every Sunday.”

  A typical Cajun family, the Lemaires were devoutly Catholic, and going to mass every week was expected. But Cain wasn’t interested in going to mass, so he didn’t reply. Instead, he just continued eating.

  To break the awkward silence, Claude spoke. “I gotta fix dat fence post on da east side of da property dis afternoon.”

  “Pops, I’ll fix that for you tomorrow,” Cain said.

  “Yeah,” Seth interjected. “Cain and I can fix that tomorrow. It’s Sunday. Just take it easy today.”

  Claude shook his head. “Nah, tomorrow will have eets own problems dat need fixin’.”

  After breakfast, Cain jumped on his Harley and rode out to Evangeline Oak Park, a small and peaceful patch of greenery near downtown St. Martinville. Elise had laid out a blanket on the grass, a perfect spot under the shade provided by the oak trees that lined the muddy waters of Bayou Teche. Brandon was nearby.

  Cain thought about their lifelong friendship. He and Elise had been best friends throughout grade school. They had been inseparable and became high school sweethearts. They even kept dating for a little bit of his freshman year at USL. But Elise never went to college, nor did she desire to leave South Louisiana and explore the world like Cain.

  “Twenty years and not much has changed in this old town,” Cain said.

  “I like the routine of it,” Elise said. “It’s comfortable.”

  “I’ll have to get used to routine if I decide to stick around,” he said.

  “Well, maybe today’s picnic will help you decide,” she said.

  “Maybe.”

  “But you’re right,” she said. “Being out here does bring back such great memories. If I could only go back in time.”

  “And do what differently?”

  She smiled. “Make sure you didn’t get away.”

  “I didn’t get away. You couldn’t make up your mind. So, I had to make up mine. Started hanging out more with Bonnie on the weekends in New Orleans, and then joined the navy right after college.”

  “Your sister never did like me very much.”

  Cain laughed. “Bonnie never approved of any of my girlfriends, at least not in the beginning.”

  “Except Claire,” Elise said. Her voice showed that she had never really gotten over that.

  “Well, Claire was her best friend, before she was mine.”

  “Mr. Cain,” Brandon interrupted. “Can I check out your motorcycle?”

  “You betcha.” Cain stood and walked over to the motorcycle with Brandon. “Are you going to ride a motorcycle when you get your license?”

  “Yeah,” Brandon said proudly. “But mine is going to be green like the Incredible Hulk’s.”

  “That’s cool,” Cain said.

  “Can I sit on it?” he asked.

  “Brandon, don’t bother Mr. Cain,” said Elise.

  “Oh, no. It’s no bother,” Cain said. “Anyone who likes my motorcycle is a friend.” He winked at Elise.

  “Okay, then,” she said. “Mr. Cain said it’s fine.”

  Cain helped Brandon onto the bike and showed him some of the dials, levers, and instruments. “This is your speedometer.”

  “What’s the fastest you’ve gone on this motorcycle?” Brandon asked.

  “Fast as the bike can go. My face nearly blew off.”

  “That is so awesome,” Brandon said. “Can we start it?”

  “Sure. This green N light means the bike is in neutral. But to be safe, we still apply the brakes. Put your hand on the brake lever and squeeze it. Hold it. And now flip this switch.”

  The bike roared to life and rumbled. Brandon clenched his fists to hang on to the rattling handlebars.

  “Slowly release the brake,” Cain instructed. “It’s okay. The bike’s in neutral. Now roll back the throttle a little bit. Let the bike talk to you.”

  Brandon rolled the throttle and the bike gyrated more and rumbled louder. The ten-year-old boy’s entire body shook. “This is so cool!” he shouted over the noise of the modified pipes.

  “Oh, God!” Elise exclaimed loud enough for Cain to hear. He turned and saw her looking over at a nearby pickup.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “It’s Scottie,” she said. “He kept texting me, but I ignored him. Now he’s pulling up over there. We better go. I don’t want any trouble.”

  “I’m not going to let him ruin my day,” Cain said.

  “He’s been drinking again,” Elise explained. “I can tell from his texts. He gets angry when he’s drunk.”

  “I can identify,” Cain said. “I’ve been angry for a while—even when I’m sober.”

  “This is different, Cain. He gets irrational—unpredictable.”

  Scottie slammed his truck door and marched toward them.

  “Get away from my family!” he yelled at Cain. “Get off that motorcycle, Brandon!” he yelled again. “Get off that thing now!”

  Elise ran toward Scottie to stop his advancement. Cain couldn’t hear what she was saying, but it was clear that she was pleading with him to go away.

  Scottie pushed her aside with his arm and moved toward Brandon. “I told you to get off that bike!”

  “Cool it, man,” Cain said. “Brandon couldn’t hear you over the pipes.”

  “You don’t tell me to cool it. And don’t tell me what my son can and cannot hear.” Scottie reached out and snatched Brandon’s collar to rip him from the bike.

  Cain saw red. He grabbed Scottie’s shirt with both hands and shoved him to the ground. The impact of hitting the ground knocked the air out of Scottie’s lungs. “You better cool it, Scottie, or I’m going to put you to sleep right here!”

  Elise ran over to Cain and tried to pull him away from Scottie. Brandon pleaded with him. “Mr. Cain, please stop. You’re hurting my dad.”

  When Cain heard Brandon’s words, he released his grip. He couldn’t believe how enraged he had gotten. Professionally, he was used to being in control of his actions. The navy and the Secret Service had once trusted him with the most important missions. But with his firing from the Secret Service, his personal life continued to spiral. He was like a wild dog without a pack.

  Scottie coughed and gasped for air. “You think you can come into town and steal my family?”

  “I’m not stealing anybody’s family.”

  “You’re drinking with my wife!”

  “Ex-wife!” Elise interjected.

  “And my son is on your motorcycle.”

  “I’m not stealing anything, cochon. I’m moving to Japan.”

  “Japan?” Elise asked. She looked disappointed. “I guess you’ve made up your mind. And it’s all my fault again, you running off to Bonnie. Please stay.”

  “Let him leave, Elise,” Scottie said, clearly embarrassed and still regaining his breath.

  “Thanks for the picnic, Elise.” Cain l
ooked at Brandon. “You’re a good kid. Listen to your momma.” He turned to Scottie. “If you hurt either one of them, I’ll come back and deal with you myself.”

  “You threatening me? I’ll call the sheriff.”

  “It’s not a threat. It’s a promise.” Cain swung his leg over his Harley and fired it up. He stomped on the gear and took off.

  During the ride back to the family farm, Cain struggled to make sense of how things had gone down at the picnic. Why did I say I was going to Japan? I don’t even know if I want to go all the way over there. I’m finally back home, and I’m enjoying it, and then this shit happens. I thought I might be able to come back home and settle in. But it never works out for me.

  When he arrived home, Cain headed straight to the rotary phone on the kitchen wall. He dialed zero and an operator answered.

  “I’d like to make a collect call.”

  “What’s the number?” the operator asked.

  “It’s going to be an international number.”

  A few moments later, he heard Bonnie on the other end of the line. “Moshi moshi.”

  “Hey, sis.”

  “Hey, brother. It’s really early here. Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, it was just my turn to wake you up.”

  She half giggled in her groggy state. “Are you still enjoying being back home?”

  “I was.”

  She cleared her throat. “Was? What happened?” Her voice was suddenly much clearer, as if she had sat up in bed.

  “I was at a picnic with Elise.”

  “Elise LeBlanc? She’s got a lotta drama. You can do so much better than her.”

  “In all fairness, you’ve never liked any of my girlfriends.”

  “That’s not true!” she fired back. “I loved Claire.”

  At that moment, Cain heard his cell phone ringing. Without even looking at who was calling, he hit the button to silence and send the call directly to voicemail. He figured it was Elise, and he wasn’t interested in speaking with her right now. He went back to talking to his sister, and the phone started ringing again. “Hold on one sec, sis. Let me turn this damn thing off.” He saw the caller ID. It was a Washington, DC, number: LeRoy Hayes. Why the hell would he be calling me? he thought. “Bonnie, can you hold on just one more second? It’s LeRoy. Let me see what’s so important he’d be calling me on a weekend.”

  Cain answered his cell. “I got Bonnie on the other line. It’s an international call, so make this quick.”

  “Nice to hear from you, too,” LeRoy said sarcastically. “I just thought you’d like to know. Figured I owed you that much.”

  “Know what?”

  “Who turned state’s evidence and ratted on the other agents.”

  Cain wanted to say he didn’t care, but that would have been a lie. “Indulge me.”

  “None other than Tom Jackson.”

  “You’ve gotta be shittin’ me—he caused this whole storm, and then wore a wire to incriminate the others?”

  “Yep.”

  “Unbelievable.” Cain ended the cell call and put the handset back to his ear. “Bonnie, I’ll take that job.”

  “Really? That’s fantastic news! What changed your mind?”

  “Surely my string of bad luck can’t cross the ocean with me to Japan.”

  “You’re going to love it here. Trust me: you won’t regret it.”

  Part Two

  The Gaijin

  Chapter 33

  Cain slipped on a pair of Bose headphones and closed his eyes to the sound of jazz music playing softly in his ears. The international flight afforded him plenty of time to think.

  “You an’ your sister are two peas in a pod,” Claude had said as he drove Cain to the Lafayette municipal airport.

  “We are twins,” Cain said lightheartedly.

  “Jus’ when I got you back home—you’re leavin’ again.”

  “It’ll be just for a while.”

  “Dat’s what Bonnie said, too. An’ now eet’s been over a year.”

  “I’m going to go reconnect with Bonnie. Bring family a little closer to her until she can get transferred closer to home. Plus, it’ll give me the time and distance I need to clear my mind and make a little money. Then I’ll be back.”

  “I’m thankful you an’ Bonnie are gonna be reunited. I jus’ fear you gonna stay like her—maybe even find a family an’ make Japan your new home.”

  “I ain’t gonna stay there forever, Pops. And Bonnie ain’t, either. Look at the bright side. She’s doing really well with the airlines, and this keeps her far away from that ex-boyfriend of hers. You know: the one with that sketchy import-export business.”

  “I never liked dat New Awlins man,” Claude said with a scowl. He sighed. “She had to git away from dat ol’ boyfriend, an’ I guess you gotta git away for a bit, too.”

  “I do,” Cain said.

  “I can tell someting’s eatin’ atcha. Fightin’ a man at da park in front of hees kid ain’t you.”

  “That’s only half of it,” Cain said. “But I don’t feel like getting into it right now.”

  The ANA flight attendant gently placed her hand on Cain’s shoulder. She was sharply dressed in a blue-and-gray suit, with a pink scarf loosely tied around her neck.

  “I’m sorry to wake you,” she said meekly.

  “It’s okay. I wasn’t asleep. Just thinking.”

  “We are serving our in-flight meal now.”

  “Great! I’m starving.”

  “Would you like spicy octopus or freshwater eel?”

  Cain was used to eating unusual things both abroad and at home in Louisiana, but these options did not sound appetizing. “Neither. I’ll just have a sandwich, please.”

  “I’m so sorry. These are our only options on this flight.”

  “In that case, I’ll skip dinner.”

  “Skip dinner?” His American idiom confused the porcelain-skinned flight attendant, whose jet-black hair was pulled tight in a ponytail.

  “Nothing for me. Thank you.”

  “I’m worried you will be hungry. This is a long flight.”

  It must be a cultural thing, Cain thought. She seemed genuinely concerned about him, but not enough to serve something palatable. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll survive, as long as you pour me a whiskey and turn the AC up. It’s hot as hell on board.”

  She covered her mouth and giggled quietly. “Americans always complain about the temperature. But Japanese people get cold easily.”

  “Well, tell ’em to bundle up, because I can’t disrobe.”

  Cain’s remark fell flat on the charming flight attendant.

  “I’m just joking with you. But I am serious about the whiskey.”

  When the plane finally landed, Tokyo’s Narita International Airport was bustling with travelers, tour groups, and uniformed volunteers directing passengers to various immigration and customs checkpoints. Cain stood out from the Japanese population, and not only because he wasn’t Asian. He was taller than everyone else, and he wasn’t wearing a white mask over his mouth like so many other travelers he saw. He immediately spotted Bonnie near his gate. She was wearing her sleeveless blue-and-black fitted flight attendant uniform and had used her airline credentials to bypass security and meet him upon arrival.

  He hugged his sister tightly, lifting her a foot into the air. Although they were twins, he was six inches taller.

  “It’s so great to see you, brother! Welcome to Japan!”

  “You look fantastic!” Cain was amazed at how Bonnie had flourished in Japan.

  “Thank you. You look like shit!”

  “Cut me some slack. I couldn’t sleep. It was so freaking hot on that plane, and I’m starving. They offered me snake on board.”

  “You mean eel?” Bonnie laughed. “That’s a delicacy here. With all your worldly travels, I thought you would have known that.”

  “If I wanted to eat snake—or eel, for that matter—I could have stayed back in Louisiana. I need a good
ol’ cheeseburger.”

  “Only place nearby for that is McDonald’s,” Bonnie said.

  “How about a coffee shop, then? I can grab a sandwich.”

  “That’ll work. There’s a Starbucks in Terminal One.” She grabbed the handle of his rolling carry-on bag. “Where’s the rest of your luggage?”

  “This is it. That carry-on and this backpack.”

  “You travel light!”

  “Don’t need much,” he said.

  She looked down at his alligator boots. “Well, hopefully you don’t need new shoes while you’re here, because they won’t have your size—or style!”

  “What exotic place are you flying to today?”

  “Guam. It’s a popular vacation destination for the Japanese. Anyway, let’s get you fed. I don’t want Mom hearing you were hungry and I didn’t do anything for her favorite son.”

  Cain laughed. “You and I both know Baby Seth is her favorite.”

  She smiled. “You mean the one who still lives at home?”

  “I’m kind of glad he’s home,” Cain said. “He helps take care of Mom and Pops.”

  “You give him too much credit,” she said. “Mom and Pops take care of him! But enough about home for now. You are finally in Japan. I can’t believe it!” She reached an arm out and wrapped it around Cain’s waist as they walked through the airport. “I’m so excited for you, being here. Give it a little time. You’re going to fall in love with this place, just like I have.”

  “I can’t promise I’ll fall in love, but I promise to keep an open mind.”

  “Good, because you’ll need it here.”

  They exited the arrivals lobby and took the elevator to the airport mall. The Starbucks was busy, but they were able to find a small table after waiting a few minutes. Bonnie placed her purse on the table, put Cain’s suitcase next to her chair, and got in line.

  “You’re kidding, right? You’re leaving your purse on the table?” Cain said, shocked.