The Road to Home

  Tammy hesitated and rubbed her hands nervously on the roughness of the robe. Her eyes began to tear, but she blinked back the emotion and continued boldly. “He told me that since I wasn’t smart, I needed to make use of what I had. And he said for a girl, pretty would beat out smart any day. That’s when he made a big donation to school to make sure I got to be a cheerleader. He bought the uniforms for the team. When the law office job came up in our senior year, he thought it would be classy enough for a Boone so he made a call to Mr. Parker telling him to hire me. The job was supposed to be mine. When I wasn’t chosen he was furious. You got it, Nelle. Ordinary Nelle beat me out. He was so angry. At me. There wasn’t anything left for me after cheerleading. I had no interest in college. That’s why I went to New Orleans. I was going to be a famous model and show him I could make it.”

  Tammy took in another deep breath and slumped back on the couch, exhaling hard. She looked up at the ceiling, and then said with anger infusing her voice. “Here’s where I met the famous, infamous, Jack King. I was in a bar looking at the help wanted ads. I had just come from a modeling agency that said my bust was too big and I was too short. Jack told me I was beautiful and that he could make me a famous dancer. He said I had the natural body for it.” She looked down at her lap.

  Gloria placed her hand on top of Tammy’s. “It’s alright, honey. He told all of us that.” Gloria looked at Chief Boudreaux. “Jack King owned the bar. Funny thing. Jack King wasn’t his real name. He told me it made him sound royal. Like a royal flush. Girls liked it. His real name was Rupert Muldoon. He thought it was stupid. No one in that family ever did an honest day’s work. His own daddy was shot and got dumped in the bayou. Stole from the wrong guy one time too many. He brought in Tammy to take my place, but he never guessed we’d become friends.”

  Drawing in a shallow breath, her body shuddering as she exhaled, Tammy said miserably, “He made me feel like I could be somebody. He promised,” she uttered, as her face burned with shame. “I didn’t know who he really was,” she said, swallowing hard.

  “Why did you steal the vessel and rob from the church?” Chief Boudreaux asked quietly. “What made you do those things?” The puzzle was coming into focus for him but not the reason.

  “Jack King had lots of girls working for him. We had to give him our tips but he always demanded more. He made the girls sleep with customers, but I refused. He told me I needed to bring in more money or he was going to kick me out on the street. I started stealing for him so he would keep the men away from me. It worked for a while. It was easy to take things from West River and taking that stupid vessel was a way to hurt Nelle, to get back at her. The church was a breeze, too. Money just sitting there in a box. But I didn’t like it. I wanted Jack to get caught, not me. He said West River was full of easy targets and I knew where they were.”

  “Did you leave clues on purpose?” Nelle asked.

  “No. Not in the beginning. Not until the horse race, anyway. I wanted to win that race and make my father notice me. He thought I was modelling but didn’t approve of it. He liked the idea of me racing his fancy horse, though. Another trophy. I wanted to make him proud and have everybody look at me again. Jack got people to bet on the race and stood to make a lot of money, so I had to make sure I won. Jack knew how to make the horses sick and I knew where to get the drugs. I felt ashamed when we broke into Miss Ruby’s place. That’s when I left the little charm on purpose. Everything was falling apart for me. He drugged that cowboy’s horse to make it look like we weren’t taking the favorite down on purpose. I left the doll in the truck stop bathroom because the girl there knew I needed help. She saw how bad he was.”

  Silence settled on the room as each of them considered how Tammy’s story was unfathomable and shocking, sad and inexcusable, heartbreaking and mind bending. And, yet, so human in her struggle for acceptance and survival.

  Nelle thought how the woman who had everything had nothing.

  Chief Boudreaux understood how her dreams had turned to nightmare.

  Sergeant Howard appreciated his own simple needs and ordinary desires, and Gloria wept.

  Sergeant Howard was the first to speak. “Wellllll,” he said drawing it out in eye-squinting confusion, “what I don’t get is this here voodoo thing.”

  “Oh. That was me,” Gloria said, wiping her cheek with her hand. “I showed Tammy my doll and told her to get one, too. I’ve been in New Orleans long enough to know those dolls can conjure forces for good and bad and two is better than one when you’re going in for the same thing.”

  “But what happened exactly to Jack King?” the sergeant asked, not quite understanding.

  Tammy answered, “He tripped on the cat and fell off the porch.”

  Sergeant Howard looked at Chief Boudreaux skeptically.

  Gloria quickly responded. “That’s voodoo, Sergeant. That’s the voodoo thing.”

  “You could have arrested her, Chief. Tammy confessed to breaking and entering, theft, selling stolen goods, fixing a horse race,” Sergeant Howard said, shaking his head and biting his lower lip in consternation as they pulled away from the house on Lanvale Street. “And, I gotta say, I’m not so sure about that voodoo thing. Jack King could’a been pushed. Easy to do if he was drunk enough. Either one or both of them.”

  “She’s no murderer, Sarge. Neither is Gloria. Tammy was forced into a bad situation and tried to save herself from it getting worse. She didn’t want to end up like Gloria. Gloria had no way out. I’m not sure what to do, yet. I want to talk to Reverend Dunn and Miss Ruby first,” Chief Boudreaux said, still reeling from the shocking visit.

  “I never thought I could feel sorry for Tammy Boone,” Nelle said astonished. “The envy of every girl in school. She was so mean, too. Like everything wasn’t even enough for her. She thought she was better than everyone.”

  “She was trying to be good enough for her father,” Chief Boudreaux replied. “Nothing has ever been good enough for him either.”

  “I always thought money would solve things, make it all better, make people happier,” Nelle said wistfully. “We never had enough of anything.”

  Sarge answered, “You had troubles in your family, Nelle, but your mom and dad loved you. Tammy didn’t have none of that. Still doesn’t.”

  “I guess so, Sarge. I guess so,” she replied, suddenly fiercely missing her mother again.

  “Now what I really don’t get,” the chief said, tapping thoughtfully on the steering wheel with his finger, “is how a wet drop of blood got on that card. That’s got me.”

  Neither Nelle nor Sergeant Howard offered an explanation. It had them, too.

  “All this thinking is making me hungry, Chief. Put some speed on will you. I can almost taste Miss Emmie’s biscuits. She’ll be glad to see us. Try and beat those thunderclouds coming up. Going to be a doozy.”

  The chief pressed harder on the accelerator, propelled not so much by outrunning the mushrooming dark clouds but by the thought of seeing Emmie. He hoped she would be glad, too.

  And, of course, she was. She bounced outside the door and greeted them gleefully as Chief Boudreaux pulled into the empty parking lot. “Comma ca va, mes amis! I’ve been watching for you! Big storm is coming any minute!”

  Thankful no other customers were inside, the chief hurriedly opened his door. His heart raced at the sight of her as she came closer, with a wide grin, so obviously excited to see him.

  Emmie touched him lightly on his arm, resisting the strong urge to embrace him. “You found what you were looking for?” she asked innocently.

  “Yes. Yes. I believe I did,” Chief Boudreaux answered, wanting to kiss her.

  Sergeant Howard walked up behind them. “We better go in before something catches on fire,” he said with a snicker.

  Nelle was bursting with their news of the remarkable events, and eager to tell Emmie to hear what she would make of it all. “You won’t believe it, Emmie. It’s wild what has happened. Wild.”

  “Come insi
de. We have the place to ourselves,” she said happily as the first pelting of hard rain burst over them. “Just in time!” She followed behind Beau, steering him inside with her hand on his back.

  Violent thunder and lightning erupted as Emmie seated her guests at the counter. The dim overhead light flickered three times before the room went dark. The large fan shut down lending an eerie silence to the darkened space, lighted faintly by the gas burners that warmed coffee and a pot of gumbo on her small stove. She lingered beside Beau has he took his place on a stool, assessing her power loss.

  “At least we can still eat,” the sergeant said, his upturned nose sniffing the air like the hungry hound he was.

  Suddenly, deafening thunder shook the café followed by a zigzag bolt of lightning that hit close by. Emmie jumped at the earsplitting sound, moving spontaneously into the safety of Beau’s arms. She buried her face in his shoulder and covered her ears in fright.

  He held her for a few seconds, until she raised her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t like lightning,” she said apologetically. “It scares me with the gas tanks outside.”

  As she stepped away, embarrassed by her instinctive reaction, the light flickered on and the fan began to whir. She sighed with huge relief. “Oh. Mon Dieu. We are okay now,” she said as the room swiftly brightened and the dark clouds passed rapidly away. The rain eased in intensity, changing to a soothing pitter-patter on the roof, delivering the fresh scent of cleansed earth. She walked behind the counter, self-possessed once again. “Now. I must hear this wild news you bring back.”

  They took turns, interrupting each other with corrections, impressions, and details in between mouthfuls of gumbo, biscuits, and coffee. Emmie swelled with pride each time her contributions were mentioned, mostly by Beau, beginning with Fat Cash Pawn, the DANCE4U license plate on the black truck, and, most astonishingly to them all, the voodoo doll left in the bathroom. When Nelle expressed their collective shock at finding her high school nemesis and West River’s notorious socialite Tammy Boone living with Jack King, Emmie’s eyes got wide. Tammy Boone, the confessed thief and wannabe vixen, was the perpetrator of West River’s crime spree. For Emmie, she was also the person, however guilty, that led Beau, Sarge, and Nelle to her truck stop.

  Emmie‘s expression saddened. “This troubled girl was trying to find a way home. She doesn’t fit anywhere, does she…,” she said, mesmerized by the story that was unfolding. “I’m so glad that man stopped here with her. This place seems to attract people at crossroads,” she mused, realizing she was talking about herself, too. She gave Beau a shy glance and found him gazing back at her.

  “What I don’t get is that blood spot on the King of Hearts card,” Sergeant Howard said, dipping his biscuit into his second bowl of gumbo, shaking his head. “I can’t explain that one. How’d it get there?”

  “It wasn’t there when you gave the doll to the chief was it, Emmie?” Nelle asked. “Not when you found it in the bathroom where she left it.”

  “No. No. Mais oui, this is unexplainable. Not everything can be figured out. It is not meant for understanding. A command? A message? A warning? A prophecy? A cry for help?” Emmie shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe all those things. But not a trick. It worked,” she said somberly. “It is impossible to know the unknowable, futile to try. But I believe in the mysteries.”

  Sergeant Howard replied, “Well it ain’t no mystery that Jack King, who is really Rupert Muldoon, came from a long line of bad blood. It caught up to him. No tellin’ how many lives he ruined, or how much blood he spilled. Whatever happened, he deserved it. He can’t hurt nobody else now. If he tripped, the King of Hearts died by his own hand. He finally lost.”

  The sergeant’s summation captured their sentiments. The King of Hearts was dead and his victims were freed.

  “What now?” Emmie asked. “What will you do with all this information you have discovered?”

  Chief Boudreaux answered, “I’m not sure exactly. I want to talk to some people back home that might help to sort things out. People who helped me, once.”

  “People who helped all of us, Chief,” Nelle said. “Reverend Dunn and Miss Ruby saved me, too. Never judged me because of my family.”

  Sergeant Howard pushed away his empty bowl and sat up straight on his stool, pulling his shoulders back. He said persuasively, “I’ve been around long enough to know that justice ain’t the same as the law. The two don’t always go together.” He tilted his chin upward, convinced by his assertion, finally getting his hunger satiated and his doubts resolved.

  Emmie took notice of their empty dishes and cups and sensed they were preparing to leave. This visit had lasted longer than any previous one, and she knew they had work and lives that waited beyond the tiny world of her truck stop.

  As they stood up and turned toward the door, Emmie spotted the brilliant rainbow arching over the horizon. “Look! How gorgeous!” she chirped brightly, pointing toward the sky, flashing Beau a big grin. She hurried behind Sergeant Howard and tapped him on the shoulder. “Say, mon ami Sarge. What was that place you were telling me about on Main Street? A café shop for sale?”

  Sitting with Reverend Dunn in the sparingly furnished parlor of the church rectory, Chief Boudreaux sat in front of him feeling torn between what was righteous and what was right. The Holy Bible sat on the small table beside Reverend Dunn flanked by a large wooden cross that hung on a narrow space of wall. He was talking too fast, trying to say enough without revealing points of information that might offend the reverend and render the pastor’s judgement of Tammy hopeless and unworthy. It was a fine line.

  Reverend Dunn kept shaking his head as Chief Boudreaux recounted the details of his trips to New Orleans and the final one that resulted in discovering Tammy Boone’s whereabouts and her confessed criminal activities. He left out the voodoo parts, hoping to avoid raising the reverend’s religious ire against blasphemers and devil worshipers, and concentrated instead on her predicament, vulnerability, and the remorse she was having over the bad choices she made which had taken her away from home. The chief especially emphasized Tammy’s unfulfilled need to impress her cold father and relayed how broken she was and how pitiable her circumstances were at this juncture in her young life.

  When finally he fell silent, the Reverend Dunn rested back into his chair, closed his eyes, and placed his hand on the Bible. His lips moved slightly, as he uttered a muted prayer.

  He suddenly lurched forward forcefully, giving Chief Boudreaux wild-eyed attention. “He was never a God-fearing man and did those kids no good by not getting them involved in church. He was arrogant, belligerent, and a bigheaded fool. Look what he has done to that girl. I don’t want to add to her misfortune, Chief Boudreaux. I won’t press charges, but it won’t do her any good either to get away without making restitution. She needs to come to church. I mean it. She needs to come to church and Sunday school, too. She can repay what she took from us by helping out with the little ones and cleaning up in the rectory. We always need help around here. I’ll put Tammy to work. Maybe the light of the Lord will find a way into her life if she works in his house.”

  Chief Boudreaux cleared his throat. He had a hard time picturing Tammy thriving in the house of the Lord, but was grateful for Reverend Dunn’s generous attitude toward her troubles. Reverend Dunn was not a vindictive man. He was a dedicated pastor who saw a soul in need and wanted to help. Maybe, the chief considered, this is just what Tammy Boone needs. He hoped that Tammy would prefer the punishment of church to the possibility of jail.

  The chief thanked the reverend for his time and dutifully agreed to receive his blessing. He figured he probably needed it. Couldn’t hurt, he thought, as Reverend Dunn placed his hand on his forehead, recited a short verse, and ended with a strong invitation to come to church on Sunday.

  “Yes, sir, Reverend. Thank you,” he said, relieved to leave and pleased with the outcome. “I’m going to see Miss Ruby, too. She needs to have a say in this.”

  “Ruby i
s hard as nails, Beau,” the reverend said smiling. “But she got you straightened out didn’t she. Finally.” He chuckled. “You tell that old bird I expect to see her on Sunday, too.”

  “Yes, Reverend. I’ll be sure to,” he promised.

  Driving toward Miss Ruby’s place, he remembered how working for her, first with open resentment for the menial tasks she assigned, and then with an open mind for the abilities she helped him to see, she had plucked him out of harm into opportunity. Miss Ruby was picky about those she chose, however, and reminded him of that often. He could hear her voice even now: I’m good at picking winners. Don’t waste my time on duds. The chief had no idea how Miss Ruby would see Tammy Boone.

  She was sitting on the wide front porch waiting for him and stood up to greet him as he walked up the stairs. They hugged affectionately. “I was glad to get your call. Now what’s this all about, Beau. It’s good to see you, son. Come sit with me. I made us some coffee.”

  “I have news about the case, Miss Ruby. I filled the reverend in a little while ago,” he said taking a seat in the rocker next to hers. “It’s going to shock you.”

  As he feared, Miss Ruby’s reaction was somewhat different and far less forgiving than that of the Reverend Dunn. Her cherished horse had come close to dying, all for the pride of a ruthless girl who had shown little compassion and less sense. In her view, stealing from the rectory paled in comparison to endangering her beloved Appaloosa, Lizzie.

  “I can tell you feel sorry for her Beau and it’s the reverend’s job to forgive and convert. But don’t let your feelings get in the way of doing what’s right. She almost killed my Lizzie and that other horse, too. I’m not sure it would have bothered her either. She set out to win at any cost, and did. That girl has been shining her butt at men and boys since she was a teenager to get what she wanted. Her whole life has been like that. And you know it.”

  “I know, Miss Ruby. I do. But if you could see her now, how broken. She’s paid a terrible price for what she’s done and she’s sorry. I remember how you helped me. I was a hard one, too. You remember. You gave me something to shoot for. God only knows where I’d be today if you hadn’t.”