by Guy Johnson
Serena had no energy to move at all, much less stand. She nodded, indicating that she could wait. The woman turned around and went back up the stairs and disappeared. There wasn’t a moment of silence before she heard King’s voice.
“Guess you found out there ain’t no easy way out, huh?” His words were said right into her left ear, as if he were standing directly behind her. She would have turned around if she had not been sitting with her back to the wall. He spoke into her ear again. This time she could smell his cologne and his cigars. She could even feel the breath of his words on her skin as he said, “You havin’ it easy. It ain’t got rough yet. Wait till all them folks you robbed of life find a way into yo’ wakin’ moments. They lookin’ for a way in right now. They’s rippin’ and runnin’, lookin’ hither and yon. They gon’ find the way too. When they get here, you won’t be able to tell day from night. They gon’ put you in a loony bin.”
Serena reacted without thinking. She replied out loud, “There’s a way out of this! Sister Bornais said so.”
She could feel him leaning over her shoulder as he spoke into her ear again. “Don’t waste time tryin’ to escape, there ain’t no way out for you! You too small to find the way! I’m gon’ walk with you until you’s as crazy as a road lizard in the desert sun. I’m gon’ escort you all the way into hell and we takin’ the slow, scenic route.” She felt the heat of his breath on her neck as he laughed. Involuntarily she turned to make sure that he hadn’t somehow materialized behind her, but all she saw was a wall covered with red-striped wallpaper.
Serena attempted to collect her thoughts. She swallowed. Her throat was dry. She took a deep breath. She had to concentrate on what she could see. She had to ignore sounds which didn’t originate from a visible source. She focused on breathing deeply and regularly. King’s laughter interrupted her thoughts. He was right in her ear again. If her eyes had been closed, she would have sworn that he was standing right next to her. “You think you got the key to sanity?” He chuckled. “Look up at the top of the stairs. I brought somebody with me.” Serena didn’t want to look, but she couldn’t help herself. Slowly, her eyes climbed the stairs until they came to rest upon a little girl. She was six or seven years old and dressed in a white gingham dress with red bows. She was light-skinned and had chestnut-colored hair, which was braided with ribbons. It was a scene that would have made Serena smile, if she had not seen the look of pure hatred on the girl’s face.
The girl started speaking as she slowly descended the stairs step by step: “I would have been eight years old in May, if I had been born. But I wasn’t born because my mother wasn’t born. And she wasn’t born because of you. You made sure we wouldn’t ever live!” The girl hopped down two of the steps then raised up a crudely made doll in her right hand. “I hated you so much, I made a doll of you out of your own hair. And when I get so angry I could just pop, I stick the doll with this pin, like this!” The girl pulled a long hairpin from her braids and pushed the pin deep into the doll. Pain lanced through Serena’s chest and abdomen. The little girl stopped and smiled evilly. “Did that hurt? What about this?” She pulled the pin out then thrust it through the doll’s head.
Serena stumbled to her feet. The pain in her forehead was blinding. She had to get out of the house. She had to escape the demon child. She pulled open the door and staggered out into the darkness of the alley. The door slammed behind her and she was in complete darkness. Initially, there was silence and Serena welcomed it, but then as her eyes began to adjust to the darkness, she heard the rats again. They were rummaging in the garbage. She turned back to the door, but decided that she didn’t want to go back inside. Once again, there was silence. Serena turned and saw the large rats sitting and staring at her. One of them took a few steps into the alley and tested the air for scent. Serena waited no longer; she stumbled out into the alley and made her way toward the streetlight.
Monday, July 5, 1982
“Are our lives still in danger?” Sandra Shue asked Jackson. She pushed her long black hair back from her face and stared at him; the slant in her dark brown eyes gave her a penetrating look. She was sitting on an ottoman in front of her husband Lincoln’s overstuffed chair. “Should we expect more attacks?”
Jackson was standing, resting an arm on the mantel, pausing a moment to seek the best manner in which to answer her question. Although he had requested this meeting of his friends at Dan’s house, he had not looked forward to it. He began carefully. “At this point, I’d have to say yes. Although I confronted the guy who sent out the Lenzinis, I can’t guarantee they’ll stop their depredations.” He looked around the room at his friends. “I’m sorry about this.”
“You’re sorry?” Sandra shook her head. “Think about Wesley!”
“Hey,” Dan boomed. “We started this meeting off on the basis that it wasn’t about blame. We’ve got to keep it on that note.”
Sandra explained. “I’m having a hard time with this. I’ve been pretty upset since we heard about it. How did we get involved in all this?”
Jackson shrugged his shoulders. “The only reasonable explanation is that they’re seeking hostages.”
“Why?” Dan’s wife, Anu, shook her head. “Why do they want hostages? And why us?”
“I guess they think if they have one of you, they can force me to sign over my grandfather’s estate.”
“Why don’t you just give it to them?” Sandra blurted out, her voice beginning to rise. “Give it to them and get them out of our lives! We have children and they are more important than any amount of money.”
Jackson exhaled. “I wish it were that simple. It appears that there are a couple of different groups operating here and they want different things. I don’t know that even if I were to turn over everything, that would stop them from attacking you. I know—”
“Why not?” Sandra interrupted impatiently. “You said that they wanted you to sign over the estate. Just sign it over!”
“Whoa!” Dan stood up and made a placating gesture with his hands. “We’re jumping all over the place here. Jax is not the enemy. Let’s give him a chance to explain. Why don’t you take it from the top, Jax? Why are they coming after you?”
“According to the papers I’ve been reading, my grandfather wanted to make sure that I wasn’t killed immediately after his death.…” Jackson went on to explain the origin of the lost certificates and how his grandfather had leaked their existence to his enemies.
After he finished, Anu declared, “You can’t say that the old bastard wasn’t smart.”
“How much money are we talking about?” Dan asked.
“I really don’t know yet, but it may be somewhere between seventy and a hundred million dollars.”
Dan exclaimed, “Holy shit!”
Lincoln asked, “Exactly where are these certificates?”
“They were left in the basement of one of my grandfather’s Western Addition apartment buildings.”
Pres said, “I thought those had all been torn down years ago.”
Jackson nodded. “There’s a plaza over where the buildings once stood.”
Sandra was confused. “How do you retrieve the documents then?”
“You have to go through the sewers,” Jackson replied. “I guess you find the point closest to where the building stood, then drill through the sewer walls and hope that you can strike the subterranean vault of the old building.”
“The atmosphere in a sewer is a mixture of carbon monoxide and methane,” Lincoln concluded thoughtfully. He looked at Jackson. “How do you propose to get the certificates?”
“I don’t. I’d rather let my grandfather’s enemies fight for possession of them.”
Lincoln said dryly, “If they were only fighting for possession of the documents, we’d have nothing to worry about.”
“Let’s not fool ourselves,” Dan said from his easy chair. “We know what they want! They want those certificates and they want to kill Jax.” There was a long silence after Dan finishe
d speaking.
“I think Dan hit the nail on the head,” Jackson conceded. “Unfortunately, it seems they don’t care how many other people they kill in the process. That’s why I’d like you folks to take my offer of one hundred thousand dollars and take a month-long vacation. I think things should be resolved by then.”
“That sounds good to me,” Dan exclaimed. “We sure could use the money.”
“Just a minute,” Anu said as she gave her husband a long steady look. She was a tall, solidly built Samoan woman who, despite giving birth to four children, was still shapely. She turned to Jackson. “What do you expect for this money?”
“Nothing,” Jackson replied. “I’m giving you the money to go away, to get out of danger.”
“Not all of us are interested in taking a vacation,” Pres stated. “I’m interested in who these people are and what you plan to do to deal with them.”
“Pres is right,” Lincoln agreed. “I think we all could benefit from having the full picture and then we can make an informed decision. Who are we dealing with?”
Jackson took a deep breath. “There are three independent groups. The first are the DuMonts and they want to kill me because the Tremains and the DuMonts have been killing one another for over a hundred years. And then there is Paul DiMarco, the guy I confronted yesterday who threatened to kill me in his restaurant.”
There were exclamations around the room.
Lincoln asked, “Is this DiMarco related to the attorney, Michael DiMarco, the mayoral candidate in San Francisco?”
“One of his nephews,” Jackson answered.
Pres declared, “They’re involved in organized crime. According to the Bay Guardian, the DiMarcos are connected to crime families in Las Vegas. The guys who attempted to kidnap me and the ones who attacked Rhasan are all working for the Mob!”
“Why can’t you go to the newspapers or the police with this information?” Sandra asked. “Wouldn’t that get these people off our backs?”
Jackson shrugged his shoulders. “I have no proof of their wrongdoing. I can’t even link DiMarco to what happened to Pres or Rhasan.”
“Who is the third group involved in this?” Dan asked.
“It’s John Tree, the drug dealer.”
Lincoln was incredulous. “You mean the guy who ran Tree’s pool hall where we used play pool when we were in high school?”
“Goddamn!” Dan exclaimed. “These are some tough customers. Just how are you going to deal with them?”
“I don’t know yet. I’m still collecting information. None of these people have made an effort to speak with me or express their desires, so I can’t truly say that I know what will appease them.”
Pres stated, “The last time we spoke, you were ready to walk away from it all.” He paused for a moment then said slyly, “Do you want to hold on to your grandfather’s estate now?”
Jackson reacted testily. “Nothing’s changed! I’d walk away from it, if I could be sure that the hostilities would be over.”
Anu was leaning against the doorjamb when she asked, “Have you told them that they could have the entire estate?”
Jackson shook his head. “No, I haven’t. No one has contacted me! Truthfully, I don’t know that I could trust them even if they did contact me. They killed Wesley before I went to Mexico. Then they assassinated my grandfather. During that time they tried to kidnap Pres and attempted to kill my nephew Rhasan. They don’t appear to have a very high regard for human life. I can’t be sure that even if I turn over everything, they won’t try to kill me afterward, and I don’t know what they could say that would make me trust them.”
“This is the crux of the issue!” Pres challenged. “You aren’t ready to give up a damn thing! You want to keep the money!”
“Who wouldn’t?” Dan argued. “Hey, I don’t think I’d trust these people either! And I sure in hell wouldn’t give them a damn thing! Let’s vote on the offer!”
“Let’s not be precipitous,” Lincoln cautioned. “I want to go back to how Jackson is going to deal with these people.” He turned to Jackson and asked, “Are you trying to deal with all these thugs by yourself, or do you have help?”
Dan interjected, “He’s got brothers. He knows he can call upon us if he needs to.”
“Now wait a minute!” Anu declared angrily to Dan. “Your family needs you. You’re not helping anyone fight thugs and criminals!”
Jackson said, “Don’t worry, Anu, I’m not asking for that. I have my grandfather’s organization to assist me. I just want to get you folks out of danger. I’ll deal with these people once you’re clear.”
“How do you plan to stop them?” Lincoln asked Jackson.
“I’ll do whatever I have to do, but I’ll try talking first. The DiMarcos are in the middle of an election campaign, I’m sure they don’t want their criminal activities to come to light. Tree doesn’t have a large organization. Once he knows we’re on to him, I think he can be brought into line.”
Pres chimed in, “Are you prepared to kill?”
Jackson gave Pres a smirk then answered, “I’ll do what I have to do, but you won’t be part of it! That’s why I recommended that you all take vacations until I get this cleared up.”
Pres barked, “I don’t want a damned vacation! I can’t take a vacation! I’ve got to transfer the whole broadcast trainee project to this new radio station within the next month. I have to set up a schedule of meetings with the station executives and governing boards. I couldn’t leave here if I wanted to. I won’t let fifteen years’ work disintegrate or dissolve because of this.”
Jackson answered grimly, “Then be prepared to be on the alert and watch your back! Use the money for a bodyguard!”
Pres replied, “This money comes at a high price. This is blood money! You described it that way yourself. I think your decision goes against everything we’ve said we stood for. People will be killed before this is resolved. It doesn’t matter what side they’re on or who started it—someone will die. I’m asking you, don’t make a decision that will domesticate your conscience! Because once you start down this road, you’re going to have to tell your conscience to roll over and play dead. It’s an unclean feeling that you can never quite rid yourself of! I’m telling you this from firsthand experience!”
Anu said, “You know, I listen and I listen, and it sounds like Jax didn’t have much choice in all this! He said he’d give the money up if it would keep us out of danger. Nobody’s contacted him. I think it’s time to figure out whether we are going to accept his offer.”
Lincoln disagreed. “Just a minute. We’ve got two teenagers and in the best of times they worry the hell out of us by roaming all over the city. We definitely need to discuss some type of security measures. Let me make sure I understand what you said earlier. You’re offering us a hundred thousand dollars each to take a month-long vacation. Can you be sure this situation will be resolved in a month? We have kids in year-round private school. We can’t keep them out of school if this situation drags on for any length of time!”
Jackson shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t know what to tell you. I can’t guarantee that it will be resolved. All I can say is that after a month, whatever you need to make your homes safe and your children secure, I’ll pay for.”
Dan said, “I think taking the vacation is the key for those of us with children. Anu and I have talked for years about taking the kids to Washington, D.C., then going down to Myrtle Beach to visit my mother’s family. Now, we’ll do it. Until we leave, we’ll keep our pistols by the bed.”
Pres interjected, “If we accept this blood money, we accept the karma that comes with it! This is a dangerous decision.”
“Pres, you’re a do-right brother and I love you,” Dan said impatiently. “But sometimes you’re really just out of the box! All money is blood money! There are a hundred tragic tales for every bill in your wallet.”
Anu punched her husband in the shoulder and said in a softer tone, “I understa
nd that you are speaking from your heart, Pres, but me and Dan could use the money. We got four kids, one starting college this September. He’s going to San Francisco State because we can’t afford to pay his tuition and board at Morehouse. Our other three would do better in private schools. Our house needs a new roof. And we’re not even talking about the money we will need if Dan is to find a good nursing home for his mother. We’re definitely interested in the offer that Jax is making.”
“Sandra and I want to take it too,” Lincoln added. “You know we’ve often sat around discussing what we would do if we had a little money. It appears to me Jax is offering us the opportunity. He’s not asking us to kill anybody. We don’t have to break any laws. All we have to do is stay on the alert until he can clean up the situation. I say it’s a great and generous offer even though it comes with some risk.”
“Don’t forget,” Anu said, shaking her finger, “a paid vacation. A four-star hotel with room service. We haven’t stayed at a first-class hotel since the eldest was born!”
Pres stood and said with resignation, “I’ll do what the majority decides, but bad karma comes with this money. And these are bad people. I’ve seen them up close.”
Lincoln asked, “Are you referring to the ones you left tied together in that house down the hill from Jax’s place?” Pres nodded.
“Ohhh.” Anu pointed her hand at Pres. “I saw the article on those two in the Oakland paper. Whatever made you pull their pants and underwear off before you tied them together?”
“I wanted to discredit them to their own people, and I wanted to make sure it got into the newspapers. Did you see that one of the guns found on them was used in a murder last year? These guys are killers!”
“Yeah,” Lincoln agreed. “That’s what makes me concerned about leaving Jackson here.”