Chapter 7

“Excuse me, Sheriff.”

“Yes, Deputy Williams?”

“Do you have a few minutes? There’s a Mr. Jackson that would like to speak to you.”

“Sure, send him in,” Henry got up and met Mr. Jackson at his office door. “Good morning, Sir.”

“Good morning, Sheriff.”

“Come on in and have a seat. Would you like a cup of coffee or a soda?”

“Hmmm. Thank you.” Mr. Jackson said as he got comfortable in the chair. “A cup of coffee with just a dab of sugar would hit the spot.”

After Henry had served their refreshments, He sat back at his desk and gave his guest a friendly smile. “How can I help you this morning?”

The elderly man paused a moment, took a breath, then said: “I’s gonna sound a fool and you’re gonna call me a liar. But, I needs to send a message.”

Henry tilted his head a little as he looked over his guest again. “Now, I’m curious. What’s going on?”

Mr. Jackson looked at the Sheriff with the calm assurance of a mature man who neither needed or wanted another’s approval. “I’m an old man. I didn’t get this way by bein’ a fool. Dem Riders were here when my grandma was a baby and they’s here now. Dey’s here because the big bosses like you wants them here. Shit, I may be talking to one right now for all I know and I don’t wants to know. They needs to know something though.”

“If the Riders are real, why would you want to help them?” Sheriff Tulane asked.

Mr. Jackson took a sip of coffee and immediately started blowing on the cup. “That’s some hot stuff, but it’s good.”

Henry laughed. “My grandfather had an old wood stove. He would get the percolator almost glowing red before he would pour a cup. He’d pour it then drink it like a glass of water. I screamed the first time I saw him do it.”

Mr. Jackson laughed. “I’m old school, but not that old school. “He giggled for a second then said: “The reason I want to help them is life on the block is hard, but it’s poor folks hard. It’s not Detroit with all de killin’s an’ drugs. De Riders keep it that way. An old man like me can walk to the store without having to bust a cap in some punk’s ass. We’re scared of the Riders but its a good scared. We know what life would be like without them.”

Henry nodded. “I understand. What do you want to tell them?”

“De man is all over the block like a bunch of bees. They dressed up like survey takers and community service workers giving health checks. They’s think they bein’ slick. They’s asking questions. Trying to find out what happened the night all those dealers died. We told them nothin’.” Mr. Jackson slid a note across the desk to Henry. “They even rented this house.”

“How do you know it’s them?”

“Why else would a young smart couple with no kids move in? No one young making money would live here. We pray every night for our kids to make it out and dey’s movin in?” Mr. Jackson shook his head. “No, they’s feds.”

Henry asked: “Why would this concern the Riders?”

Mr. Jackson grimaced. “Oh Lord, son, I done told you. I’s no fool. They don’t think pushers did the killin’. Dey think Riders did. They’ve been asking about the Riders by name, especially amongst the older folks. They don’t know if the Riders are real but they are trying to find out. That’s all I’ve got.” He stood and shook hands with Henry. “Thank you for listening.”

“Thank you, Sir. You come by anytime you have something you want to tell me. I’ll be happy to listen.” After Mr. Jackson left, Henry rested his elbows on his desk and cradled his face. “Shit.”

“Could we all go into the living room, please? We need to have a family meeting.” Meghan said as she walked through the house.

Once everyone had seated themselves. Ben said: “What’s up?”

Meghan said: “Carly has something to say and feels safer saying it in front of everyone.”

Kathy’s voice was gentle as she spoke: “What’s wrong, baby?”

Carly’s eyes teared up and her voice trembled “I ... I’m pregnant. I’m on birth control. The doctor said my body chemistry is a little different because of the accident. If I was under a lot of stress it could stop it from working.”

Ben nodded. “Stress is all we’ve had lately.”

“Baby, I can see you shaking from here. Why are you scared?”

Carly whined and trembled harder. “I want to keep my baby. Please don’t make me kill it.”

Kathy’s jaw dropped, “What in the world would make you think we’d make you kill your baby?”

Carly looked up into her gram’s eyes, “Kevin doesn’t want to have children with me. he said so.”

Kevin pushed into the couch at his family’s glare. Then his face turned red and hardened. He sat up and stared at Carly. “When did I say that? I never said anything like that. Do you believe I’d want you to kill our baby? What’s wrong with you!”

“SETTLE DOWN!” Ben thundered. “Carly, those are serious words. When did Kevin say that to you?”

“He wasn’t talking to me. He was talking to mom the night before she got sick. I was hungry and got up for a snack and heard them arguing. He said if she died he would break up with me six months after her funeral.” Carly said

Kevin threw his hands in the air. “Fuck. Just shoot me.”

“Carly, you didn’t hear the whole thing,” Meghan said.

“Would somebody tell me what the hell is going on?” Kathy asked.

Kevin took a deep breath. “I’ll own this. He moved the coffee table and set it so he was facing Carly. “I’m going to tell you the absolute truth. Ok. No lies. It’s going to hurt and I’m sorry. Before I tell you. I want you to know that I don’t feel that way now. Now, I love you every bit as much as I love your mother.” Kevin tried to hold Carly’s hand, but she pulled it away.

“That night even though she tried to stop me I proposed to your mom. She told me that she loved me but she couldn’t move past your dad. I accepted her no. We were talking about the three of our future and she told me to marry you. It blew my mind. I was like what? I proposed to you five minutes ago and now you want me to propose to Carly. The suddenness of it shocked me.

She knows I love you. Look at me, I killed the man who had that gun on you. Nobody is going to hurt my Carly. It’s also true that for a while I loved your mom more.”

Meghan held up a finger. “Kevin, let me tell this part because it’s my fault. Princess, I love you. You are the only reason I didn’t kill myself when your daddy died. I got it in my head that Kevin wouldn’t marry you because of me. I’d already hurt you so much that I couldn’t stand the thought of it. I begged him if he loved me as much as he said he did to free me and send me away. When he wouldn’t do it I told him I would kill myself.”

Carly looked at her mother in shock.

Meghan nodded. “He got angry because I was using his love against him. That’s what you heard. He said if I killed myself he would never marry you and would break up with you six months later. He told me I was being selfish to hurt my daughter who lost her only friend in the same way. He wasn’t rejecting you. He was fighting me.”

Kevin nodded. “I’m not a nice person when I’m angry. I was being bullied and I was showing her I can be an asshole, too. If I had the smallest thought that you would have heard that I would have never said it. I am so sorry that you ever thought I would want you to kill our child. Please forgive me.”

“We can keep it?” Carly asked.

“Yes!” Kevin said standing up to hug her.

As everybody rose, Ben said: “Everyone sit back down. We’re not done.” Once everyone had sat Ben stood. “Granddaughter, you accused your husband in front of his mother, father, and other wife of being a monster who would want his own child murdered. Not only have you tarnished his name in front of us. You harmed him.” Ben looked down his nose at her. “Then as soon as you got what you wanted you were going to walk away? No thought at all of the man you harmed.”

Carly had the deer in the headlight look. She gripped her mother’s hand hard.

“You accused Kevin of something serious. All you had was a sentence out of a conversation that had nothing to do with what you accused him of. You accused him of wanting something that is horrendous by our standards.

Ben’s face was dark as he pointed at Carly. “You’re my granddaughter and I love you with every drop in my heart. Don’t you forget it. Right now, I’m angry with you. I’m going to tell it and your husband can kick my ass later. I can’t tell you how many times he’s sat in my office and cried over you. Not your momma, YOU! He was always so worried that he’d hurt your feelings. Do you know how many mornings...

Kathy said “Dad...”

Ben turned to her and said in a sharp voice. “You told me I need to share my feelings. Well, tonight they’re getting shared.

He turned to Carly and pointed at Kevin. “That man you slandered would stumble into this house at 4:00 o’clock in the morning. He did it day after day, week after week. Why? He working on your car all night so he could get two hours of sleep before school and come home and do it again. So you could go to college.