“I’m coming right over. I want you dressed appropriately, with Jenny in your arms. Together we’ll issue a statement.”
“I told you not to come here ever again,” Alice said icily.
“Then, my dear, I suggest you handle it yourself.”
“All right, we’ll give the statement by the front door, and as soon as we’ve finished, you will get in your car and leave.” Alice had had to back down, knowing the judge was right. This time.
JENNY WAS IN a good mood. She clutched an all-day sucker with a soft, curled stem in her chubby fist. Alice had her attired in a red velvet dress with a round Peter Pan collar. She herself was dressed in a simple skirt and blouse, with a sweater over her shoulders. She looked every bit the mother and housewife. The judge, when he arrived with the reporters he’d invited, looked staunch and stalwart, just the way a Supreme Court justice was supposed to look.
“It’s preposterous!” was the judge’s comment.
“My husband is a wonderful husband and father, and how dare you terrible people say such terrible, wicked things about him,” was Alice’s comment.
“Are you saying the story is untrue?” a middle-aged reporter demanded.
“I’m saying it’s preposterous,” the judge replied coldly. “It’s a last-ditch effort by the Republicans to try and sway votes. Malcolm would never compromise his family in any way.”
“Mrs. Carlin, is there anything else you wish to say?”
There was plenty she wanted to say, but she held her tongue. “Just that I believe in my husband implicitly, and I know in my heart Malcolm would never bring a scandal upon this family. Family is sacred to Malcolm.”
Afterward the judge said, “You carried it off, Alice,” his eyes glued to the mess Jenny was making of her dress. His eyes, Alice noticed, still expressed revulsion.
“Go to hell, Marcus,” she spat. “I told you I don’t want you here, so get out.”
His eyes were still on the child, who was trying to stick the sucker in her ears. “I’ll leave when I’m certain the reporters are all gone,” he said in a sick-sounding voice. “I kept my word, I did not leak this story. With the threats you made, what would be the point?”
“How do I know you didn’t tell someone else, and that’s the one who leaked it?”
The all-day sucker landed on the judge’s snowy-white shirt. He brushed at it as though it were contaminated. “Again, what would be the point? Look, Alice, I simply didn’t do it.”
Alice snorted, a very unladylike sound. “No, I guess you didn’t. I can see the fear in your face, Marcus. If I ever find out you had anything to do with this, in any way, I will keep my promise. Believe me, I will.”
Jenny, too big to be in her mother’s arms, squealed to be set down. She yanked at Alice’s hairdo with sticky hands.
“She belongs in an institution,” Marcus said through tight lips.
“That’s one place she will never go, and don’t ever say that to me again. Say good-bye to your daddy, Jenny,” Alice taunted.
The judge slammed the door in both their faces. “Come along, sweetie, I’m going to clean you up, and then we’ll play with your new doll house. Mama loves you,” Alice crooned as she took Jenny upstairs to the nursery.
At his campaign headquarters, Mac made a statement on the evening news. It was a short, complete denial. In a voice shaking with compassion, he explained who Lily Gia and her son were. He ended with a plea. “Lily Gia is dead. She was a nurse who took care of your sons, saved their lives, and then had the misfortune to fall in love with an American doctor who refuses to acknowledge the child he gave her. The boy deserves a better life than an orphanage can give him. I was prepared to adopt him, and I still am, if that is possible, since his real father wants no part of him. That’s all I have to say, ladies and gentlemen.”
Beyond his news appearance, Mac refused to comment. “It’s up to the voters who they believe,” he told his campaign workers. “I’ll take my chances with them.”
“That’s good enough for me,” Benny said.
“Me too,” Sadie agreed, her eyes alight with pride.
“Benny, can I see you a minute, in private?” Mac said as soon as Sadie was out of earshot.
In a tiny room filled with stacks of campaign literature, Mac told Benny about the phone call he’d had earlier from the private detective.
“He honest to God found him!” Benny yelped.
“Found him and he’s goddamn alive,” Mac hissed. “Where the hell is Perth Amboy, New Jersey?”
Benny shrugged. “He’s alive! We should kill him, Mac, for what he’s done to Sadie. We’re going there, right?”
“Just as soon as we can scare up a map of New Jersey, square things away here, and get something to eat. It’s almost midnight now. If we drive all night, there won’t be much traffic, and we’ll be there when he wakes up. What do you say?”
“Listen, I’m game. I can’t wait to see this guy. I’ve got this picture of Bill in my head of what he looks like now. How about you? I never thought they’d find him. Do we bring him back with us?” Benny asked anxiously.
“Even if we have to hog-tie him.”
“They call that kidnapping, buddy. Since you’re a public figure, maybe I’d better do the hog-tying.”
THE CAMPAIGN WAS forgotten, as was everything else, when the two friends set out for New Jersey in Benny’s Land Rover. They drank coffee and ate sandwiches Carol had prepared at the last minute as they tooled along the turnpike. Their conversation consisted of ways they could torture the still-faceless Bill. When they ran out of possibilities, they tried to guess what Sadie’s reaction would be when they marched Bill into the bar.
Six hours later, Benny pulled the Land Rover into a service station.
“We’re in Perth Amboy,” Mac said as they waited to have the tank filled at a Texaco station. “Ask this guy where we are and how close we are to Elm Street.”
“Well, boys, you’re just a spit away from Elm. This is Market, so’s all you have to do is go down three blocks and make a right. Elm runs both sides. Who you looking for?” the attendant asked.
“Bill Trinity. Do you know him?” Mac asked, holding his breath.
“Yep, gets his gas here. Just seen him yesterday. Won’t do you no good to go to his house. He opens his bait and tackle shop at five-thirty.”
“Where’s the shop?” Benny demanded.
“Down on Water Street. Make a left out of here, go all the way down to High, make a right and follow it to the end. Bill’s shop is right there. Can’t miss it.”
Now that they were within, as the attendant said, a spit of where old Bill was, neither man knew quite what to do. “We can’t just barge in and snatch him,” Benny said.
“Yeah, and what if he’s married?” Mac fretted. “Do we snatch him anyway? Jesus, what if he yells for the cops?”
“Listen, this whole thing was your idea to begin with,” Benny grumbled as he pulled out onto Market Street.
“Shit, let’s just tell him we came to renew his subscription to what the hell is the name of that magazine? Better yet, let’s tell him he won a prize. A thousand bucks. Yeah, that should do it. Then we tell him we have to take him back to Washington so we can take his picture. Whatcha think of that, Benny? I’m open to any and all suggestions here,” Mac said sourly.
“What if he doesn’t remember Sadie? What do we do then? Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all.”
“It’s a good idea, we just failed to come up with a good plan. I say we go with the prize and picture bit. The dick said he had a subscription for twenty years. That in itself is worth a thousand bucks. Do you agree?” Mac asked anxiously.
“Yeah. It’s as good as anything I can come up with. This is High Street. Make a right.”
It was a tidy, little, smelly place. Bill was just as tidy, dressed in clean coveralls with a black and white plaid shirt. Wizened was too kind a word to describe him, Mac thought. The man had a stringy body, white hair and
beard, and eyes the color of his coveralls, pale blue, though bright and alert.
“Coffee smells good. Bet Mrs. Trinity taught you how to make it, huh?” Benny said, believing he was being clever.
“Made it myself, young fella. Never been a Mrs. Trinity. Got close a couple of times, but couldn’t bring myself to take that final step. A man has to be real careful who he gives his name to.”
“I always say that too,” Benny babbled. “You say that too, don’t you, Mac?”
“Yeah. Do you do a good business here, Mr. Trinity?” he asked, looking around. He had no idea what all the paraphernalia was. Something fishermen used, he supposed.
“Make a living. My customers keep coming back. Satisfied customers are what make a business work. ’Course you always smell like fish. Where are you fellas from?”
“Ah, Virginia. Just visiting. We’re leaving today as a matter of fact. We, ah, what we do is we . . . sort of have this bar and grill. Real good money in bars,” Benny said, tripping over his words.
“ ’Spect so. Men like to drink. Women too. I don’t drink. Used to, but then I got this ulcer and, well, I drink a lot of milk.”
“Uh-huh,” Benny said brightly.
“Can you eat popcorn?” Mac asked.
“Used to. Used to do a lot of things. Don’t do them anymore.”
“You should have gotten married, then you’d have someone to take care of you,” Mac said, in what he hoped was a burst of insight. “Plenty of good women out there looking for good men. Isn’t that what your wife Sadie always says, Benny?”
“Yeah, that’s what Sadie always says.” Benny grinned.
“What can I do for you fellows?” Bill asked, failing to pick up on Sadie’s name.
“It’s like this, Mr. Trinity,”. Mac said candidly. “We, ah, we’re friends of an old friend of yours. We’ve been looking for you for a few years now. We finally tracked you down through your magazine subscription. Sit down, Mr. Trinity, this is going to take a while.
“SO YOU SEE, Mr. Trinity, we have to take you back with us,” Mac said as he finished his story. “We’re . . . we thought we were prepared to hog-tie you if necessary. After you see Sadie, if you don’t want to stay, you can come back. We’ll have someone drive you back here, that’s a promise.”
“The old girl’s still alive, eh? Would have thought she hated my guts. A shrine, you say,” he said, preening like a peacock. “How’s she look?” he asked craftily.
“A real looker,” Benny said truthfully.
“Salt of the earth,” Mac said.
“Has powerful friends.”
“And she’s rich. A hell of a cook. Always smells good. Sadie, I mean,” Mac babbled.
“What do you say, will you come back with us?” Benny asked anxiously.
“Guess I can take off a day or so. I’ll have to make a few phone calls though. It’s pretty early in the morning to be making decisions like this. I’ll have to go back to the house to pack my dancing shoes and pick up some duds. Sit down, boys, while
I make some phone calls.”
Benny and Mac listened, their mouths hanging open, as Bill called first one business and then another. “And you thought I just ran this bait shop, eh?” He chuckled. “Got two apartment houses, a bakery, a sandwich shop, a quarter interest in the yacht club, and I own a Buick dealership. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention my assets to Sadie, though.”
“Our lips are sealed,” Benny agreed happily.
“I’m ready. It will only take me a few minutes to pack my duds, and I live five minutes from here.”
Bill was as good as his word. It took him fifteen minutes to change his clothes and pack his bag. He still smelled like fish. Mac drove with the windows down all the way to Washington.
“Well, here we are,” Mac said brightly as he pulled the Land Rover to the curb.
“I’ll be damned,” Bill said, eyeing the neon sign. “You boys weren’t putting me on. Wasn’t sure for a while back there.”
“It shouldn’t be too crowded now. Lunch is almost over,” Mac said as he got out of the car. “Are you excited, Bill?”
“A tad. You boys look more excited,” he said, nervously fingering his red tie. “She’s going to tell me I’m dressed all wrong and to cut off this beard. Bossy woman. Well, open the door, son, and let’s see what time has done to Sadie. If she turned out half as good as I did, we might have something to talk about.”
Mac wrinkled his nose as he opened the door to the bar. He saw Sadie talking to a smiling congressman. Even from where Mac was standing, he could smell her scent. She was wearing something the color of burnt orange, and as always, her skirt swished when she moved. She turned and looked at the three men. When she spoke she sounded so calm and matter-of-fact that Mac’s jaw dropped. So did Benny’s.
“Hello, Bill.”
Confused, Bill backed up a step. He’d anticipated something a little more ecstatic.
“Hello, Sadie,” he mumbled.
“Where have you been, Bill?”
Mac thought it sounded like she didn’t give a hoot where Bill had been all these years.
“Perth Amboy, New Jersey. You look good, Sadie,” Bill said sincerely.
“You look old, Bill.” Sadie smiled.
Mac and Benny both groaned.
“Bar’s closed,” Sadie announced to all the patrons. The burnt-orange dress swished angrily.
“Why’s that?” Bill asked. “First rule of business is you never close your doors if there’s money to be made.”
“Why? Because I’m going to strangle you, and I don’t want any witnesses. Mac, honey, snap the lock on your way out.”
They snapped the lock.
Benny smacked his hands together in glee. “We do good work, Carlin.”
“The best. Couldn’t have done it without you, Benny. She won’t kill him, will she?” Mac asked anxiously.
“You kidding? She’s probably loving him to death as we speak. He was ready, I can tell you that.”
“You know what scares me, Benny. I can see Sadie in that bait shop wearing a coverall just like Bill’s.”
“Nah,” Benny said.
“Ten bucks,” Mac said.
“That’s a sucker bet, and I’m no sucker. Buy me lunch instead.”
“You got it,” Mac said happily.
Over lunch, in a coffee shop down the street from campaign headquarters, Benny unfolded the paper he’d snatched off Sadie’s bar, while Mac gave the order for two bowls of chili. Benny found an article, the headline of which read: FRIENDS AND FAMILY SPEAK OUT FOR VA. SENATE CONTENDER. “I think you’re going to like this, Mac. Aside from the fact that your father finally got around to issuing a statement, your wife backed you up again, one hundred percent. But wait till you hear this. This reporter said that as the paper was going to press, a rash of telephone calls from men who had served under you started to come in. You were national on the eleven o’clock news, by the way, so I guess that’s how these guys knew. They all claim to know the father of Lily Gia’s son, and they said it ain’t you, Mac. Pender, Freeze, Stevens, Aspacolas, and three or four others whose names I can’t even begin to pronounce. Captain Pender, who now works for IBM, said he was willing to give out the name of the copter pilot who personally ferried the father, and that’s in quotes, back and forth in-country to see Lily Gia.”
“Pender said that?” Mac said in awe. “Let me see that, Benny. I’ll be damned. He’s talking about Rick, that crazy chopper pilot I was telling you about. His girl was . . . she was killed with . . . when . . .”
“I know, Mac,” Benny said softly. “It’s great, your father and Alice coming through like this. And I don’t for one minute believe your old man leaked the story. He knows that sooner or later those news hawks would come up with his name. He wouldn’t risk that, don’t you agree?”
“No, I don’t think he did it either. Cover your ass, is my father’s credo. They flushed him out though. He gave a statement. That bothers me. He doe
sn’t like to lose, Benny. As far as I know, he only came out on the bad end of a deal once.”
MAC AND BENNY left the restaurant with their eyes watering and their throats burning.
“That chili was so hot, I think I scorched my vocal cords,” Benny complained. “Hey, that’s Alice, isn’t it? Uh-oh, that guy swooping down on her is from the Herald. Should we head him off?”
“Why? If Alice has something to say, I guess she has the right. You go ahead, Benny, I’ll catch up to you later. She’s here for a reason, so I might as well find out what it is.”
At first, by the look on her face, Mac thought his wife was in pain. She was strapping Jenny into her car seat. Mac climbed into the car next to Alice.
“Is something wrong, Alice?”
“No. You got a letter marked urgent from the Bureau of Asian Affairs, so I thought I would drop it off. It looks . . . important. I had to take Jenny to the doctor for her checkup, and this isn’t out of my way. I saw the news last night. I want you to know I never . . . I don’t believe any of it. I know if that child were your son, he’d be here already. I know you better than you think. Your father didn’t leak the news, either. He swore to me he didn’t, and I believe him. He was absolutely livid. I have to get back before Jenny starts to get cranky. Feel free to use me any time, Mac,” she said bitterly.
“Alice, I didn’t . . . I made no demands on you. I didn’t ask you to give out any interviews. I’d be a fool if I said they weren’t important. You’ve really helped me. However, I can’t help wondering what it’s going to cost me,” Mac said just as bitterly.
“At one time, probably a pair of diamond earrings. Now, nothing. I wish you’d given me a chance to talk to you when you got back. I wanted to tell you that I’m not like that anymore. Yes, I was shallow; yes, I was selfish; and yes, I was a lousy wife. I know all that. But yes, I also finally came to my senses. Jenny . . . Jenny made me stop and look at myself.” She lowered her hand from the steering wheel. “Jenny needs a father, and I appreciate any time you do give her. I also want you to know that if you are successful in bringing Lily Gia’s son to the United States, I am agreeable to having him live with us. That’s if you decide not to get a divorce. I won’t fight you if you decide to go ahead with it. I don’t want Jenny traumatized in any way. That’s all I have to say, Mac.”
For All Their Lives Page 33