[The Advocate 01.0] The Advocate

by Teresa Burrell

  "Good morning, Mr. Clark. I was just admiring the flowers. They seem particularly bright this morning," Sabre said in her best Katherine Hepburn voice. "Did you get Corey off to school okay?"

  "Sure did." Bob took a sip of the coffee. He tipped his cup slightly in her direction, "Thanks," he said. She smiled and nodded. Bob continued on his favorite subject, his son. "Corey really enjoys the band. He's decided he wants to play the saxophone. This is the first thing that has held his interest for any length of time, so I try to encourage him. He has already decided what sax he wants, a Yamaha Professional, but he's not getting it. At least not right now. After he has played for a year, if he's still interested and practicing, we'll get him a good sax, maybe even the Yamaha."

  Ahh . . . the sax. Sabre slipped back in time to her childhood and her first encounter with Victor Spanoli, her little saxophone-playing friend, the memory of their meeting as vivid to her as the flowers in Clara's garden.

  It was Sabre's sixth birthday. After the gifts had been opened, she and her twin cousins carried them to her room to play with her new toys. They had just started playing a game of “Chutes and Ladders” when Ron burst into the room. "Sabre, come see. We have new neighbors."

  The children ran to the porch to see who was taking the place of “Old Man Meridian," the grumpy old goose who yelled at them every time they got close to his yard. They stood out front and watched the new family unload the truck taking up their entire driveway. Sabre climbed up on the edge of the white wooden porch and stretched her neck to see around her brother. "Do they have kids?"

  "Yeah, there's an older girl and a little boy, about your age, a mother and father and a dog," Ron replied, as if he already knew them. "And they're Italian." Ron repeated something he had heard his mother say.

  "What's an Italian?"

  "Mom met the parents the other day. She said their names are Lois and Salvatore Spanoli. They just moved here from New York," Ron said, ignoring her question.

  "What's an Italian?" Sabre asked again.

  Ron, unsure himself, explained, "It means they eat spaghetti and pizza."

  "We eat spaghetti and pizza. Are we Italian?"

  "No, dopey, we're Catholic!" Ron pointed toward the truck and a golden retriever. "Look, there's the boy. And look at that great dog! I wish we had a dog."

  They watched the new neighbors for a while, but soon got bored with them going in and out of the house carrying boxes. All four of them marched to the backyard to re-join the party just in time to catch Aunt Sallie drag her long, gray pigtail through the punch bowl. The party continued throughout the day and into the evening. The twins and their parents even stayed the night to avoid the long drive back to Bakersfield. Sabre's party was perfect, and she had lots of toys and some new clothes to wear to school.

  On Monday morning, as Sabre skipped off to school, she felt special in her new pink blouse and Winnie the Pooh overalls. She spent the day telling her classmates about her party. At 2:25 p.m., just like every other day, Ron waited outside her classroom. He walked her home, dropped her at the front door, then ran off to play with his friends.

  Sabre took her jump rope and went out in the front yard to try and see the new neighbors. She gazed into their yard as she skipped around the driveway. When she didn't see anything, she sat on the front porch and played with her jacks, in case anyone came out.

  She spotted the skinny boy with black, wavy hair as he came out of his front door carrying something shiny. It threw off flashes of bright light as the sun hit it. He looked straight at her, but just as she stood up to go say "hello" he disappeared into his backyard. A few minutes later he returned. With his head down, he walked across her lawn towards her with his saxophone in one hand and the other hand behind his back. About three feet from her he stopped, pulled his hand from behind his back, handed her a small bunch of dandelions, and said, "I'm Victor."

  "I'm Sabre." But before she could say anything else he raised his saxophone to his lips and tooted a few notes sounding a little like "Hot Cross Buns," and turned and ran home. Sabre smiled. She saw his beautiful, dark eyes sparkle when he blew his horn.

  She jumped up, ran inside, and placed the dandelions in a vase with some water, as she had helped her mother do many times with their roses. Then she ran to her room and picked up the little red notebook Ron had given her for her birthday. She was going to put all her wishes in it, and she wanted to get started. She went to the desk in the den, found a red pen, and sat down at the kitchen table while her mother fixed dinner. She picked up the pen and said, "Mom, how do you spell marry?"

  "That depends, is it the name Mary, or the wedding kind of marry?"

  "The wedding kind."

  "M-a-r-r-y."

  Sabre wrote each letter in her notebook as her mother said them. "How do you spell Victor?"

  "Who's Victor?"

  "The boy next door. I just met him. He brought me flowers and he plays music."

  Her mother chuckled as she spelled Victor and then Spanoli for her daughter.

  Victor and Sabre played together every day. They walked home from school together, with Ron teasing them most of the way. They had their afternoon snack together, sometimes at her house and sometimes at his. Then Sabre would go to her room, do her homework, wait for Victor to finish practicing his sax, and they would play together until dinner.

  One Sunday afternoon, a couple years later, Sabre and Victor were walking home from a skating party. A few blocks before they reached their street, a fire truck sped past with its siren blaring. They ran to keep up with it. They couldn't see any smoke, but they saw the truck turn up the street toward their homes.

  Out of breath, they arrived at Victor's house and saw the fire truck parked in his driveway. An ambulance, with its lights flashing and siren blasting, pulled up next to it. Neighbors came out of their homes and people crowded around. Men in uniforms ran in and out of the front door.

  Sabre's mom met them at the sidewalk and tried to talk to Victor, but he ran past her into the house. As Sabre and others watched, the paramedics carried Victor's father out on a stretcher, placed him in the ambulance, and rushed off with the sirens still screaming.

  "He died before they arrived at the hospital," her mother said at the dinner table.

  Sabre didn't see Victor again until the funeral. She tried to speak with him, but he wouldn't leave his mother's side. She wanted to do something for him, but she didn't know what to do. Everyone there was crying, except Victor, but the sparkle was gone from his eyes.

  Following the service, everyone gathered at the Spanoli's home for lunch. Victor went out in the backyard and she followed him out. "You look sad," she said, "but you don't cry. How come?"

  "I'm the man of the family now." Then he ran off to be alone, but not before Sabre saw his wet eyes.

  A few days later, Victor came to her house to tell her they were moving to a place called Chicago where Mrs. Spanoli's family lived. Sabre had never heard of Chicago and had no idea how far away it was. She just knew he wouldn't be next door, and it made her sad.

  The following Saturday afternoon he came to say good-bye. He handed her the only three dandelions he could find in his yard. Sabre wanted to tell him how much she would miss him, but the tears filled her eyes and no words came out. She heard Mrs. Spanoli yell at Victor to get in the car. Before Victor left, he said, "Don't worry, Sabre. I'll be back to get you."

  She stared at the car as it drove onto the street, with a saxophone sticking out the side. Victor had rolled his window down and played her his last tune. She never saw or heard from him again.

  Ron walked over to her, put his arm around her, gave her a good squeeze, and said, "Hey, Sunshine, you still have me. I won't ever leave you." It made her feel better to know she still had her brother. Even though he teased her a lot, he did a lot of really sweet things, too. Whenever she got mad at him, her mom would tell the story about when she came home from the hospital and how Ron would go into the nursery first thing every morn
ing and kiss his baby sister on the cheek. He continued to do that as long as they both lived at home. Even if he had a friend stay the night, he would still go to her, but she didn't get the kiss; instead, she got a flick on the head.

  "Sobs? You in there?"

  "Sorry, just thinking about someone."

  "Is it Ron?"

  "It's always Ron." She sighed, took a sip of coffee, and forced a smile.

  Bob patted her hand and made a funny face at her. "So, you have the Haley Murdock detention this morning. I hear old Gaylord is doing everything the social worker asks him to do. Tom Gilley said he hasn't missed a drug test, he's taking his parenting and anger-management classes, and he got a job as a loan officer. His methamphetamine, gazelle girlfriend may have been lying about him ever hitting her. You can't blame the guy for being upset with her for using drugs while she was pregnant."

  "Yeah, he sure is doing everything by the book, and he's very pleasant. He hasn't ticked anyone off like our perps usually do, either," Sabre said.

  "I know this new baby can't go home with him until paternity is established, but what about Alexis? Do you think she'll go home at the next hearing?"

  "I don't know. I have a lot of puzzle pieces that don't fit together, but if something doesn't break soon, I won't have any basis for keeping her out of the home. I'd really like to think he'd protect Alexis, but something in my gut tells me otherwise. By the way, what's the story with your client, Jamie's father?"

  "Well, as you know, he's in an institution in Atlanta. It's reported he took some bad drugs a few years ago and fried his brain. I spoke to him on the phone, but we couldn't have a coherent conversation. The guy doesn't even know his own name. He thinks he's Mr. Rogers, and he goes around singing, 'It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.' The damage he did to himself is permanent, so there's no chance of him as a placement for Jamie."

  The waitress came back to the table and took their orders. Sabre liked nearly everything on the menu and ordered depending on her mood, but Bob ordered the same thing every time. The waitress didn't bother to ask anymore. Sometimes she would say, "The usual?" Most of the time, she just brought his order out when she brought Sabre's.

  While they ate their breakfast, Bob spoke about Corey's progress in school and the new kitten they had acquired. They talked about how the stock market had been dropping and gave each other advice on cases. They discussed the strange things happening at Sabre's office, and they laughed and joked about some of the bizarre things that occur every day at juvenile court.

  "I guess we better get to court if we want a parking spot," Bob said.

  "Yup, it's time." They each paid for their own breakfast as they always did, except on their birthdays; then the other one would pick up the check. They left the restaurant and drove to court in their separate cars.

  Bob and Sabre went to different courtrooms to take care of their respective cases. By eleven o'clock they were called into Department Four for the Murdock detention hearing on the newborn. It didn't take long. Peggy's attorney, Russ Jensen, appeared on her behalf. It had been three days since the birth of the baby and Peggy had not yet checked into a drug rehabilitation facility like the social worker had encouraged her to do. She assured everyone she would go to a program soon, leaving the judge unimpressed.

  Murdock's attorney, on the other hand, presented the court with paperwork on all the programs in which his client had been participating. He hadn't missed a single appointment and continued to test clean. The judge ordered a paternity test for Gaylord and ordered Haley into foster care upon her release from the hospital. He made a few other routine orders, then combined Haley's case with Alexis' and Jamie's jurisdictional hearing for the following week.

  Sabre liked appearing in Department Four. She liked the entire staff, the clerk, the court reporter, Judge Cheney and, of course, Mike, the bailiff. Before she left the courtroom, she stopped to talk with Mike to hear the scoop on his daughter's latest accomplishments.

  By a quarter past eleven, Sabre had finished her morning calendar. Since she didn't have a trial scheduled for the afternoon, she had the rest of the day to work in her office, a rare occasion.

  "Sobs, we lunching today?" Bob asked.

  "Sure. Just come by my office when you finish your calendar. We'll go to Pho's."

  CHAPTER 9

  Detective Carriage discovered the address Sabre provided for Mattie Sturkey belonged to someone named Jerry Fermer. He had been living there for several months. The resident didn't know any Sturkeys or anyone named Mattie. Prior to Fermer, the house was inhabited by Gaylord Murdock. Joe checked out the neighborhood in a five-block radius and ran any similar addresses, but he didn't find anything appearing to house Mattie Sturkey. Detective Carriage decided to go to the school and obtain the address from the school records and perhaps talk to Alexis' and Mattie's teacher.

  It started to rain just as Detective Carriage pulled into the elementary school parking lot. He had left in a hurry that morning without his umbrella, so he dashed to the school office. Soaking wet by the time he reached the door, he cursed himself under his breath for not being prepared. He took his badge out of his wet pocket and showed it to the secretary. "Good morning, ma'am. I need to speak with a teacher about a couple of students. Their names are Alexis Murdock and Mattie Sturkey. Alexis is no longer enrolled. Mattie may or may not be."

  A big smile crossed the secretary's face. "I remember Alexis, quite a precocious little girl, but Mattie Sturkey is unfamiliar to me. Let me check to see what rooms they were in."

  "They both had the same teacher, I believe, and Sturkey is spelled S-t-u-r-k-e-y," Detective Carriage added.

  The secretary checked her computer and said, "Alexis' last teacher was Mrs. Wall, but I can't find any records on Mattie Sturkey. Are you sure you're spelling it correctly?"

  "Yes, ma'am, turkey with an 'S' on the front."

  "I'm sorry, but I can't find that student at all. Perhaps she's registered under a different name, but there's nothing under Sturkey. You can ask Alexis' teacher. She may be able to tell you something."

  "Thank you, ma'am. I will."

  "Mrs. Wall is in Room A-13." The secretary pointed to a door across the room and continued with the directions. "You go through that door and turn right. When you reach the end of this building, turn right again. You'll be looking at Building A. The room on the corner is number thirteen. You'll have overhang most of the way, so you shouldn't get too wet." She picked up the phone, glanced at his dripping hair and grinned at the puddle he had created. "I'll call her room. She'll be expecting you."

  "Thank you, ma'am."

  In Room A-13, Detective Carriage saw a slightly overweight, maternal-looking woman with salt-and-pepper hair and a kind face standing near the teacher's desk. She wore a green cotton dress, hitting her about mid-calf, and thick, rubber-soled shoes serving more for comfort than style. She looked like the kind of teacher every fourth grader would love to have.

  "Good morning, ma'am. Are you Mrs. Wall?"

  "Yes, I am. You must be Detective Carriage. What can I do for you?"

  "I need some information on a student you used to have in your classroom and her best friend. The student is Alexis Murdock, and her friend is Mattie Sturkey. Do you remember them?"

  She smiled as she responded, "Alexis was only in my classroom for a couple of months, but I remember her well. She's not the kind of student you forget. Have you seen her? Is she okay?"

  "No, I haven't seen her, but I have it on good authority she's fine, ma'am. No need to worry. Can you tell me about her?"

  "Alexis was the kind of student that makes me love to teach. So inquisitive, she always had to know why and how things worked. Very kind and loving, as well. She enjoyed helping the other students, and was always so well mannered."

  "What about her friend Mattie? Is she still in your class?"

  "I don't have a student named Mattie. I never have that I can recall."

  "Well, this little girl was apparen
tly Alexis' best friend. She sat right next to her in class."

  "Alexis sat right here." She walked over to a desk in the front row nearest the window and touched it. "There were boys sitting nearest her. As for her best friend, she didn't seem to have one. Everyone liked Alexis, but no one really got close to her."

  "Mattie was deaf. Did you have any deaf students in your class?"

  "No, I haven't had a child with a hearing problem for a couple of years now. But Alexis did work with the speech teacher every week. You may want to talk to her."

  "Did Alexis have a speech problem?"

  "No, she just volunteered to work with her, and since she was such a good student, I let her leave the classroom several times a week to help with the other students."

  "Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate all your help."

  "My pleasure. I hope everything is going to be okay for Alexis. If you see her, please tell her hello."

  "I'll do that, ma'am. Where's the speech teacher's classroom?"

  "It's two buildings over." She pointed towards a building that would take him even further away from the parking lot in the torrential rain. "Just a second – let me call to see if Ms. Bilby is in her room before you walk all the way over there."

  "One more thing." Detective Carriage stopped and turned. "Did you ever meet her father?"

  "Yes, a couple of times, actually. He came to our first parent-teacher conference — a very pleasant man and extremely interested in her progress. He appeared to be very good about follow-up with homework and assigned projects. Mr. Murdock went on a field trip with us once, and he proved to be a tremendous help, very patient with the children. A little boy in his group had ADD and Mr. Murdock was gentle, yet firm, with him. The little boy adored him and responded well. It made the trip much more pleasant for all of us. Other than that, I couldn't tell you much. I know the family, of course. You can't live in Atlanta and not know the Murdocks."