“I know something about that, Governor,” I mumbled. I remembered what Detective Riggs had said but somehow I had to tell him.
“Oh, you know, do you?” he answered. “Well spill the beans, young lady. I’d love to find out.” He sounded mocking.
“Ace told Kelly and me about how he lost his insurance license. He said he went to you for help, only you wouldn’t do nothin’ because he was a Republican.”
“He what?” the governor spouted, standing up and dropping the paper on the table. “I called in Cal Roscoe, our insurance commissioner, and told him to take care of it. I think you heard wrong, Billie. Or else Ace got his wires crossed. I’m calling Roscoe about this right now. I want to know what’s going on. And I’m calling some other people too, by God!”
After he disappeared into the house, Tuck came out carrying a tray. He shoved plates in front of Kelly and me, and gave juice and coffee to Jessie. “My, oh my, Old Johnny’s riled today,” he said. “I haven’t seen him like this since the night they shot his mule in Bisbee.”
“He’s got reason,” Jessie answered. “There’s a terrible story in the paper about him.”
Just then I saw Captain Sykes come around the side of the house. He didn’t look all spit and polish like usual. His uniform was rumpled and his boots were scuffed. He kissed Jessie on the cheek and sat down in an empty chair. “Would you mind bringing me some coffee, Tuck?” he asked. “I don’t think I could tolerate food this morning.” He took his cap off and brushed his hand over his head, then set the cap on the ground beside him.
“You look like you didn’t get much sleep,” said Jessie. “Oh God, Charlie,” she went on. “I’m so sorry. I’ve made such a mess of things.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” he replied. “I did it myself. I failed my boys, but I can’t change that. Vergie is burying Tommy today. She won’t even let me be there.”
Jessie reached across and put her hand over his to comfort him, but he pulled away. Then he picked up the paper. “I saw this article by Cooley,” he commented. “It’s damned unfair. The governor did the right thing yesterday. I’ll make that clear to anyone who asks me.”
“But you didn’t come to talk about that, did you?” said Jessie.
“Not exactly,” he answered. “I’ve got a proposition for the governor. I hope he likes it.”
“You hope I like what?” blared Governor Atkins as he came back outside, scratching his big white mustache and still looking mad. “This is the damnedest morning I’ve ever seen. Everything’s gone wrong that can go wrong. I just called Cal Roscoe about this insurance thing. I called some other people, too, and there’s something brewing. Roscoe’s on his way over. Of course, he’s denying it all. Have you heard anything about this?”
“I doubt it’s anything serious,” answered the captain. “But I do need to talk to you, Governor. About something else. Should we go inside?”
“No, no,” answered Governor Atkins. “We can talk out here if it doesn’t embarrass you.”
“No,” said the captain. “It won’t embarrass me. I’m past that. Let me get right to the point.”
He wiped the sweat off his high forehead with a handkerchief. “After all this stuff about Tommy being involved in killing the Garcia girl—not to mention the Shanty Town murders and the attack on Jessie—I realize that you won’t be appointing me as Chief. I’d do the same in your situation.”
Everybody looked at each other expectantly, but the governor held his tongue. Finally he spoke up again. “Well, I hate to discuss this right now, but yes, you’re right. It just wouldn’t work, Charlie. It just wouldn’t work.”
There was another silence until Captain Sykes spoke again. “Governor, I’ve got a proposition for you. A good one, I think. You’ve been talkin’ for years about a capitol police guard to provide security for you and your family. And for the legislature and the state buildings, of course. Right now, the State Police assigns only three officers to do all that, and they’re part-time.”
“That’s true,” the governor replied. “We need a security unit, and it’s really past time to do it. I’m not sure the legislature would go along, though. It would cost too much.”
“No, it won’t,” said Captain Sykes, as he hunched forward. “Look, I’ve got this all worked out on paper. I’d like to be the guy who heads it up. It wouldn’t be a promotion, just a lateral transfer. I’d need to hire only two people, but they would be full-time. We’d trade off on our assignments. In unusual situations, like a speech, a rally, the election or something, we could bring in temporary guys from the force. But that shouldn’t be often.”
The governor pondered the idea for a minute. “Well, sounds all right to me,” he said. “But I don’t particularly like those boys we have now. I think Al Rutledge sent his culls over here. You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you?”
“Of course not,” answered the captain as he shook his head and narrowed his eyebrows. “And I agree with you. I’d want new men, and I think I know where we could get ‘em outside the ranks.”
“Who are they?” the governor asked, picking up his coffee and sipping slowly.
“The men I like,” said the captain, “are employed by the county and the city right now. One of them is Pat Fellows, a guard over at the County Juvenile Detention Center. The other one is Jim Parsons, a city policeman. He’s Cora Malcome’s nephew.”
“Yes indeed,” said the governor, smiling. “I know both of them. Fellows is a damn good man. As far as Jim Parsons is concerned, him being Cora’s nephew would have been no recommendation if we’d talked about this earlier. I was damn mad at her for her handling of old folks brought into the hospital as charity cases. But I respect her for standing up for these children and exposing what was going on over there at the county, at the risk of her job. She’s a damn fine woman. I’m sure Jim’s okay, too.”
The governor paused as he took a cigar out of a box on the table. “Want one of these?” he asked. “We can seal our deal with a good smoke. I’ll get a legislative committee started on this today. If the legislature agrees, I’ll transfer you over as soon as possible, Charlie. It’ll take longer to hire the guys you want, though. I know they don’t make much so I’ll offer ‘em each a hundred a month raise. And, by the way, this may be a lateral transfer for you but that doesn’t mean I can’t promote you. As soon as this damned election is over, you can start calling yourself Major. Does that sound good? And it befits the new chief of security. In the meantime, stay mum about it so Cooley can’t shoot us down.”
Captain Sykes smiled for the first time since arriving. Then he accepted the cigar and lit it with a silver lighter. “Thanks for making it so easy,” he said. “I’d forgotten what it was like being close to this family. Maybe I can make Vergie see reason, too, before long. She didn’t mean what she said yesterday.” He turned and looked at Jessie.
“Of course not,” Jessie replied. “We all love Vergie. I don’t blame her for being angry. I didn’t handle things right, Charlie. I know that. If I had, Chuck would still be alive.” She looked down, then turned back to Captain Sykes. “I’m more ashamed of myself than you know. I miss him as much as you do.” Then she reached out and squeezed his hand.
There was silence after that until Tuck came hurriedly out the kitchen door. “Mr. Roscoe’s cooling his heels in there,” he announced. “Shall I bring him out?”
“Yes,” said the governor. “Send him on out. I want everybody to hear this.”
Roscoe was a pot-bellied man who wore a white shirt with a flowered tie loosened at the collar. “Too hot for this thing,” he said, loosening the tie further. “Why don’t you make a proclamation, Governor, about no ties being allowed during summer hereabouts?”
“Sit down, Roscoe,” said Governor Atkins. “You know Jessie, my daughter, and, of course, Captain Sykes. These children are our house guests.”
Roscoe nodded around at all of us, then frowned when he came to me. He seemed to recognize me. Then he
spoke up defensively, looking away. “I know what this is all about,” he said. “That damned George Cooley’s at it again, makin’ up things. There’s no scandal in the insurance department, Governor. I don’t know where he got that.”
“For now, I’ll pass on that,” said Governor Atkins. “But there’s something else we need to get straightened out. A few months ago, a friend of mine named Ace Kelly, an insurance agent, came to me with a story about losing his license.”
“Yes, I recall somethin’ about that,” said Roscoe, still pulling at his collar.
“I hope so,” said the governor, “because I asked you to handle it for him. As I recall he had been accused of not turning in money or something, even though he had proper receipts, and as near as I could see, his debit book was in order. You said you’d take care of it.”
“I did,” he said. “I took care of that for Ace. I heard about his death the other day. It’s too damned bad. Ace was a decent man.”
“Yes,” said the governor. “In fact he was a better man than I realized. He took these children in when they had nowhere else to go.” He nodded at me and Kelly. “And he did it even though he didn’t have any money. He had no way to support them after he lost his insurance license.”
Roscoe looked over at me, as if sizing me up, then turned back to the governor. “As I said, Governor, I took care of all that. He got his license back.”
“That’s not what Ace told us,” I interjected. Everybody looked around at me. “He thought Governor Atkins wouldn’t do nothing because he was a Republican. He never got his license back, at least not unless he was lying about it.”
Governor Atkins stood up and paced back and forth. Roscoe stood up, too, appearing surprised that I’d said something. “She’s just a little colored kid,” he spouted. “What could she know? I don’t know what Ace told her, but she apparently didn’t understand.”
“I’m sorry, Roscoe, but I’m putting you on notice that you will be released if a scandal does come up in your office. You’ve lied to me already about Ace. I made some calls to verify what Billie told me. What she said was true. Not only did Ace lose his license, but the county attorney told him and his friend not to bother me again at the risk of going to jail. That much I know, and I’m guessing there’s a lot more I don’t know. I’m asking the attorney general to investigate your department. Now, why don’t you leave us so you can start doing what you need to do?”
“Just like that, you’re threatening me on the word of a kid?” Roscoe asked angrily, his face fiery red. “The legislature won’t like this and neither will Cooley. Wait ‘til he hears what I have to say about this.”
“Sorry, Roscoe,” the governor resumed. “I said what I said politely, but I can be rude when I try. I’m telling you in no uncertain terms. Get out of here!”
As Roscoe walked out, he shot me an angry glance. Then the governor shouted something. “Listen, Cal!” he yelled in anger. “If this scandal turns out to be true, I’m going to send you to prison for the rest of your natural life! I’m going to see to it you get the maximum sentence.” He stood still for a moment. “Unless of course you’re willing to help us,” he added in a softer voice. “It’s up to you. Tell the truth and I’ll stand by you. I’ll see to it you’re given immunity. That’s the best I can do.”
Then Roscoe said something for me that I didn’t understand until later. “I heard about you, girl. You need some education, especially about the law of supply and demand.” Then he looked over at Jessie. “You’re still the ‘do-gooder’ I see, Jessie.” Then he turned to the governor, “I’ll think over what you told me. But I don’t think you really want the truth.”
“I’ll protect you if you cooperate,” Governor Atkins replied, “otherwise you can go to jail.” Then he went back to his paper and started cussing again as Roscoe left.
For the next few days, Jessie kept us busy with shopping trips, horseback riding and swimming lessons at the public park. I learned the basic strokes, but I wasn’t as good as Kelly. On the second lesson he was doing flips off the high dive. Only then he got in trouble for stealing cigarettes from Tuck.
On a Friday morning, Jessie said she had a surprise for us. She left us with Tuck while she went somewhere alone. By then, both Kelly and I were pretty jaded, what with new clothes, shoes, and three bicycles. One of them was a small girl’s bike for Sara. The other two were regular 26-inch Schwinns. I wouldn’t have the girl’s model, so Jessie replaced it with one for a boy.
We played around the yard with our bikes most of the morning until we saw Jessie’ s car turn into the driveway. There was someone with her. Now I knew what the surprise was—Sara! Sara was out of the hospital, although her arm was still in a sling. She got out of the car and looked around wide-eyed.
We were jumping up and down by the time Sara reached us. She was still clutching her doll. Then she put the doll down and signed to us. I caught only part of it. Of course Kelly answered right back, then translated for me. “She wants to know why we left her at that hospital for so long. She started to think we were never coming to get her.”
Then Jessie pulled a big cage out of the back seat. “When we drove by the dog pound, Sara kept pointing at it,” she said. “I finally realized she wanted us to go inside.” She opened the cage and out jumped Stranger. I picked him up and hugged him. He was skin and bones. Kelly was so excited he spent ten minutes kissing him.
Then Sara followed Jessie up to the room she shared with me. I went in behind them. I’d been sleeping on a couch while workmen finished our room. I wasn’t impressed. The twin beds had white spreads and big fluffy pillows. There was a pink colored rug on the floor, and the curtains were lace. Jessie started opening packages. She pulled out dresses for Sara and two pairs of jeans for me. “I appreciate the clothes,” I said, “but the room’s too fancy. I can’t stay here.”
“You don’t have any choice,” answered Jessie. “But we’ll make sure you can put up your own decorations.”
About two weeks later, I woke one morning and found the pool full of sparkling water. Next to it was parked the beautiful little red bike Jessie had bought for Sara, who hadn’t ridden it yet because of her arm. It was only the day before that Jessie had taken off her sling. I saw Sara put her doll down on a table as her face lit up with smiles. I spent the rest of the morning teaching her to ride it.
Apart from my father still being in prison and—and Ace dead—it seemed like everything was going to be all right. Only somewhere down inside me, I knew something was very wrong.
21
One morning, Jessie called us together. To my surprise, I found Thelma in the parlor with the same Doctor Kessler we’d met at the hospital. Sara and Kelly were both fidgety as I took a seat beside them on the couch.
“You all know Thelma,” said Jessie, “and you’re going to be spending a lot of time with her from now on. I’ve hired her away from the Deaf School. I’ve also renewed my teaching certificate. We’re going to have school right here at home. It’s ridiculous that you can’t all go to one school together, so we’ll just have to get around that. Anyway, I promise I’ll do a good job for you. Thelma’s even teaching me how to sign.”
Thelma looked both fat and fit in her big, floppy hat and the same yellow silk dress that she’d worn on the first day we’d met her. “I’m sorry about Ace,” she said, signing at the same time to Sara. “There’s nothing much I can say except I really did care for him. I could have loved him if he’d have let me. I was hoping we’d get back together.”
Then Doctor Kessler rose as if to speak. Of course we already knew him from when we’d seen Papa in the hospital. For a moment, he seemed to be gathering his thoughts. Then he introduced himself. “I’m Doctor Kessler, in case you’ve forgotten,” he said in a kindly voice. “Jessie and I have been working together for a while, trying to help her get back her lost memories. She wants me to spend some time with you kids, too, individually and together. We call it therapy, but I want you to just think of it
as a relaxing and talking time. I’ll ask you to remember things and talk about them. I’m a medical doctor, but I am also a psychiatrist—what people call a ‘shrink’—when I’m not volunteering at the clinic.”
About that time, Captain Sykes came in through the back, accompanied by Tuck and two other men who were in plain clothes. “I told them you were busy, Jessie,” said Tuck, “but the captain said you wanted to see him.”
“I certainly do want to see him,” Jessie replied, her face tightening. “Would you mind getting us all some?” As Tuck departed, I looked at the two newcomers. I quickly recognized them as Pat Fellows and Jimmy Parsons.
Pat came over and placed his arm around me. “Hey, young lady,” he said. “It looks like we’re gonna be partners after all.” Jimmy smiled at me, too, then shook my hand just like I was a grownup. Then Jessie introduced them to the others.
“I wanted us all here,” she said, “so we can clear the air and make sure we’re all on the same page. I haven’t wanted to frighten anybody, but I’ve had some threatening phone calls.” She took a deep breath. “That’s why I need you and your men,” she said as she nodded toward Captain Sykes. “My father’s hardly around anymore, what with the campaign and all. The primary election’s only a week away.”
We all sat down as Tuck brought in coffee, along with some cookies and milk for us kids.
“I’ll take my coffee black,” Kelly said self-importantly. “I don’t care for milk.” I saw Jessie nod at Tuck, who proceeded to pour Kelly a cup of coffee. Kelly frowned as he sipped it. He was putting on his act.
“Now, are we all settled?” Jessie asked, looking around at everyone. She explained to the captain and his men about what Thelma and Dr. Kessler would be doing, then she spoke to Captain Sykes. “Charlie, you’ve been through so much for this family, I think it’s beginning to get to you.”
Summer of the Guns Page 19