Clarity Castle

by Marie-Hélène Lebeault

  Mom peered at my phone and said, “it might be best if we keep this to ourselves for now.”

  “I figured as much. I told Sam the same story you told Nana and told him I’d see him tomorrow. It’s a ped day, anyway,” I replied, acting way calmer than I felt.

  April clearly had better emotional control than I did. I’d still be knocking on the door to be let out. After she texted Sam and Julie, she started searching the internet for reasons why people might be detained at the airport.

  Mom’s phone rang and we both jumped. “Riley? What’s going on?” she asked a little shrilly. She got up and moved away from me, presumably so I couldn’t hear what she had to say.

  Her hand flew to her mouth and she exclaimed, “what?” This was bad. I was still hoping this was a random inspection. According to the internet, it happened. Mom was shaking her head in disbelief and thanking Riley for his help.

  There’s no time to ask her what’s going on as the door opened and two uniformed officers came in, one of which was the officer that brought us here, along with a lady in a power suit.

  She headed straight for Mom and put out her hand. “Hello, Mrs. Knox. I’m Isabelle Lariviere. I’m an attorney at Tremblay and Smith. My colleague, Michel Beaumont, is currently with your husband.” Mom shook the woman’s hand, bewildered, and looked at the officers waiting by the door. One of them had a slightly different uniform and she looked like a regular cop.

  “The Canadian Border Agency has detained your family on behalf of the Sureté du Québec. Your husband and his attorney have been escorted to the downtown precinct for questioning. You and the children are free to go,” she said.

  When Mom was about to talk, she shook her head just a little and added, “your husband has given me the keys to your car and parking voucher.” She places the items in Mom’s hand. “Are you okay to drive?” she asked. “If not, I can drive you home, and this uniformed officer will follow us and drive me back.”

  Mom snapped to attention. “No, I’m fine. Just surprised and confused,” she said, pocketing the keys and voucher. “Clare, get your sister, we’re going home.”

  Once we gathered our luggage, the officer opened the door and let us out of the room. We followed the attorney up to the parking garage level. It was cold and we all donned our winter parkas before heading to the car. No one said a word as we made our way to the car, loaded the bags in the trunk, and got inside.

  She handed Mom her card and said, “call me when you get home.”

  Chapter 16

  As Mom pulled out of the garage, Penny looked up from her game and yelled, “hey, aren’t we waiting for Dad?”

  “Sorry, shrimp,” I said ruffling her hair. “Dad had to work. He’ll meet us back home later.” Her eyes narrowed at me. As oblivious as she had been until now, she could tell this is a bunch of baloney.

  “The police had questions for Dad. I don’t know what they want to know or how long he’ll be there,” said Mom, resigned. She stopped at the first drive-through she saw and we ordered some food. It should keep us busy on the hour-long drive home.

  Mom put on the radio and focused on the road. When Penny went to ask her something else, I put my hand on her mouth and told her Mom needed to concentrate on the road. She riffled through her backpack and found the candy we bought at the airport.

  Happy, she munched on it and watched a movie on her tablet. Taking my cue from her, I pull up some of the shows I downloaded for the trip and never got around to watch.

  When we got home, Mom asked us to unpack, put our dirty laundry in the hamper, and put away our suitcases. She locked herself in her room, presumably to call the lawyer. She didn’t come out for over an hour.

  When she did, I could see she’d been crying. She told us it’s time for bed. It was eight thirty, which was Penny’s bedtime and not mine, but I didn’t argue. As we said good night to Penny, Mom pulled out her phone and dialed Dad’s number. She held it out to Penny.

  I didn’t know what he told her, but Penny smiled, told Dad goodnight, and gave the phone to me as she snuggled in for the night. Mom kissed her forehead and we left her room.

  “Dad? What’s going on?” I asked, tears blinding me as I made for my room. Mom didn’t follow.

  “Hey, Clare. I’m sorry about all that. It’s just a misunderstanding. It seems some money is missing in some of our accounts and they are trying to figure it all out. I had to answer some questions,” he said casually.

  “But did they need to pick you up at the airport? Why not just ask you come in tomorrow when you go back to work?” I asked him, smelling a rat.

  “It’s really complicated. They’ve closed the office and wanted to catch me before I went in or had a chance to talk to the other bankers. Because we were away this week, they were waiting on my input. Sweetie, don’t worry. It’s going to be okay. The officers were just doing their jobs. I’m not in jail or anything. In fact, I’m at the downtown flat. I’m too tired to come home. I’ll get an Uber and see you tomorrow,” he promised.

  It sounded reasonable, and if I planned to get any sleep tonight, I had to believe him. “Ok, Dad. Be safe. I love you,” I said in a strangled voice.

  “Sleep tight, Clarabelle,” she said before hanging up. He hadn’t called me that in a while. I would normally roll my eyes, but tonight I found it oddly comforting. I came out of my room and hugged mom. She was standing just outside the doorway.

  I could see she didn’t want to talk about it. I got it, we both needed our beauty sleep. I handed her the phone and said goodnight.

  * * *

  Dad came home the next day after lunch. He and Mom thought they had been clever keeping Penny and me in the dark, but early this morning, I was scrolling through the news. I found some headlines from last week about the fraud charges at Dad’s bank.

  They detained and questioned everyone from the CEO to the night watchman. Four corporate bankers were arrested on Friday. This morning, they arrested a fifth and released their names to the press. Parker Knox was among them.

  I waited for him to unpack, shower, and change into jeans and a t-shirt. When he finally assembled us in the dining room for a family meeting, I couldn’t help being angry. I wish I had a proper newspaper to slap in front of him. It would be more dramatic.

  Instead, I shoved my phone under his nose and cocked my head. “Explain.” Mom frowned at me and was about to tell me to watch my tone and respect my elders or some such crap. I knew that look.

  But Dad only sighed and hanged his head. Oh, God! I thought. He’s guilty. I pulled the phone back and put it in my pocket. Mom started crying and Penny had the look she got when she was wondering what she was in trouble for. She started to fidget.

  There’s a knock at the door, and Nana’s head popped in as she let herself in. Dad shot Mom an accusing look. Mom ignored him and rushed to her own mother. Nana held Mom for a bit, stroking her hair and back. I could hear her saying “it’s going to be alright.” She gave Mom a piece of tissue she pulled from her pocket.

  Stepping out of her boots, she dropped her coat on the back of one of the dining room chairs. She kissed my temple and went to sit with Penny, who was too old to be sitting on her lap, but no one mentioned it.

  “Good morning, Parker. I hear you had rough night and the morning hasn’t been all that great either,” she told him.

  Mom sat next to him and he took her hand for support. Mom was clearly upset with him, but she let him. He nodded at Nana’s statement and took a deep breath.

  “Guys, I messed up,” he started. “Big time. Here’s the truth. One of our clients offered a few of us the chance to invest in a new venture. This guy had the Midas touch, everything he touched turned to gold. It was a great opportunity. But none of us had enough capital, so we decided to borrow it from some clients, fully intending to pay it back with dividends once the venture was up and running.”

  “These clients you were borrowing from, did they give you their consent?” Nana asked. Her face was neutral,
she was gathering information before she made any hasty judgements. I decided to do the same.

  “Not in so many words. However, we are legally allowed to move funds between accounts on a short-term basis,” he hedged.

  “Yes, of course. However, I don’t think your personal account is among those you can transfer to,” said Nana shrewdly. She had a point.

  “That’s true. But we created an account in trust for all of us. The money never even left the bank, nor did it ever enter our personal accounts. The accounts we drew on would have benefited greatly from the investment, if we’d had time to implement it,” he said at last.

  “Ok, so it wasn’t illegal, but it wasn’t right. And you were caught before you could put the money back, which made it illegal,” I said, checking that I was understanding this right.

  “Yes, that’s basically what happened,” he acknowledged.

  “So, what happens now?” I asked.

  “I was arrested last night and spent the night in jail. This morning, I went before the judge and was released until the trial. Don’t freak out, there won’t be a trial. Not for me anyway. The attorney suggested I accept the settlement drafted by the prosecuting attorney,” he explained.

  “And what are the terms of the settlement?” asked Nana. Mom started to cry again. She already knew.

  “I plead guilty to the charge in exchange for a reduced sentence,” he said.

  “You’re going to jail?” I screamed, standing up abruptly. Nana rubbed my back and urged me to sit back down again.

  “I’d be sent to the minimum-security unit in Sorel for nine months. If I went to trial and was found guilty, I would get a minimum of two years up to a maximum of fourteen years because the overall sum was over one million dollars. But since we never actually took the money out of the bank, we’ve been offered a conditional sentence,” he said.

  “What about your job?” I asked. “And why can’t you go to the Cowansville jail?”

  “I could never work in a bank again. And likely not for any government agency because I’ll have been convicted of a criminal offence,” he answerd, rubbing his face with his hands. “As for the jail, only those with a sentence over two years go to a federal penitentiary. And besides, the Cowansville prison is a medium-security facility.”

  Penny had been listening attentively. “So basically, Daddy did a bad thing and now he’s being punished,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “That sounds about right, kiddo,” he replied.

  She hopped off Nana’s lap and went to him. Earnestly, she placed her hands on either side of his face and asked, “do you promise never to do it again?”

  Dad nodded, tears in his eyes. “I promise,” he said gruffly.

  Penny kissed his forehead and asked, “can we visit you in jail?”

  Dad hanged his head and replied, “there are visiting hours every day, honey. Mom will decide when the best time to visit might be.”

  She thought about this for a minute and finally said, “so it’s like camp. When do you leave? When would you come home?”

  “If I accept the settlement, I’ll have another hearing later this week and would likely be expected at the penitentiary this weekend. I would likely be home by Christmas,” he said.

  Penny said a quick “ok” and left the room to go watch cartoons on TV.

  “But you’re going to take the deal, right?” I asked.

  “I don’t see that I have a better option,” he replied.

  Chapter 17

  The next day, Penny and I went back to school. I had petitioned my parents to stay home with Dad this week, seeing as he would be going away for a long time, but they didn’t go for it. Then I tried again on the grounds that everyone at school would know about Dad’s arrest and it would be awkward and humiliating.

  Mom called the principal however and was assured there would be no bullying or awkwardness. They had a team that dealt with this kind of situation. Should things go south, the principal would send me home.

  Last night, I texted Sam and Julie and they walked me to my first-period class. But when I got there, a counsellor was waiting for me outside the door. Sam kissed me and said he’d be back after his math class and Julie squeezed my arm and went into the classroom to take her seat.

  While I was having a chat in the counsellor’s office, a member of the staff was talking to the rest of the group, providing minimal information, and ways to support me in this trying time. Julie later said it was a nice speech and most students responded with compassion to my situation.

  By lunch, word had spread and though I did get a few more stares than usual, most were accompanied with smiles of understanding. It was too cold to eat outside yet, so we requested permission to eat in the debate team’s room. Mrs. Newman, our debate coach, was there, but she stayed in her tiny office grading papers.

  “How do you feel?” asked Julie, patting my hand.

  “I’m angry at my dad for doing this. It makes me want to become a lawyer even more. It’s just so easy to get away with white-collar crime,” I replied. So far, I had been so caught up in April’s life that I hadn’t had a chance to process how I would feel in the situation. I didn’t think I would be angry. I’d be disappointed in my dad, scared about him going to jail, and worried about the impact on our family. It’s hard to know how I’d feel if I’d had my dad around all these years. Maybe I would take him for granted.

  After lunch, we went to our respective classes and met up again after school. The day went smoothly as did the rest of the week.

  Meanwhile, Dad got his affairs in order and on Friday night we drove him to the detention centre. He showed us pictures from the website, and it didn’t seem so bad. It actually looked nicer than our high school. I recognized the visitors’ waiting and visiting rooms from the vision April had shared with me from further ahead.

  We were told that every two months, with good behaviour, inmates could invite their family to visit for up to three days. There were little ‘cottages’ set up on the grounds with two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a private bathroom. There was also a playground and a basketball court for what was termed Private Family Visits (PFV).

  The officer told us we’d receive a list of instructions if and when the time came. Grandparents were also welcome, but Dad’s parents had died a long time ago and I couldn’t imagine Nana being interested in such a thing.

  An adult was required for a PFV, but not for the weekly visits. This was why I was able to visit with Sam. He had repeated a year in elementary school, so he already had his licence.

  In addition to weekly in-person visits, Dad could apply for video visits. He could use his internet privileges to have a videoconference with members of his immediate family. They had to be set-up forty-eight hours in advance and could last no longer than fifty minutes.

  We agreed on a schedule that Dad could submit for approval. It was better than I had anticipated. We’d still have access to Dad regularly.

  When we entered the detention facility, it became all too real. The building was new, everything was spotless yet purposefully mat. Other than the reinforced glass, there were no reflective surfaces. As though adding anything shinny would might spark a rebellion. Or perhaps it was an additional way of scrubbing out the inmates law breaking identity.

  The waiting room was empty. The guard behind the glass, and likely those watching the camera feeds, was the only witness to our family drama.

  “Okay, guys. This is the end of the line,” said dad, opening his arms, inviting one of us to embrace him. Penny rushes at him, all smiles. For herm this is an adventure. One she will likely milk for all it’s worth at school next week.

  “Have fun, daddy. I hope you make new friends while you’re here,” she says, and we can’t help but laughing. It relieves some of the tension but not the cold that has seeped into my bones.

  It’s like a crew of dementors had swept the place just before we arrived and were still lurking, eager to suck the joy out of the room
for the next arrival.

  Mom went next. They’d been fighting all week. Mom was angry that he had put her in the position of having to deal with us, the house, and the bills all by herself. It looked like they may have made up in the last twenty-four hours. Or perhaps she had realized she should let go of her anger and show a little more compassion for what dad was going through. Either way, they embraced warmly and kissed like they may never see each other again. If they hadn’t been my parents, it would have been romantic. As it was, it was just awkward.

  It was my turn. Mom took Penny to sit in the waiting area, giving dad and me a little privacy. Though I was very disappointed in him, I was still daddy’ little girl. The look in dad’s eyes made me think we thought he’d lost her.

  I let him wrap his arms around me, savouring the extra tight hug April was giving him. It was one of those moments where time seems to stand still. I was acutely aware of the feel of his shirt against my skin, and the love that poured out of him, warming me to my core.

  Dad had shaved and the smell of his aftershave would linger with me long after I’d returned to my own reality. As would the featherlight kiss he placed on my head.

  “I promise I’ll do better,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion. I hugged him tighter still and replied, “I know you will.”

  On the drive home, everyone was quiet. The reality of seeing Dad at the prison, though not behind bars, had stunned us into silent reflections. Even Penny was staring out the window, her tablet forgotten on her lap.

  Over the weekend, Nana came over and livened things up. It was too early to visit Dad, he had to get settled, get to know the other inmates, find a job, and meet with his counsellor. Nana tried to get me to go out with my friends, but all I wanted was to curl up in a ball and wait for Dad to come home.

  On Monday, Mom insisted that I go to school. I felt better once I was there, and life started to make sense again. The next two weeks dragged on and I was looking forward to getting out of this reality.