Fatal, Family, Album

by Joanna Campbell Slan

  “But Brawny didn’t tell us about her past! She pulled the wool over our eyes.”

  Clancy smirked. “More like she pulled a Shetland sweater over your eyes.”

  “It’s n-n-n-n-not funny!” I stuttered. I took a quick breath and added, “Anya is so upset that she ran away from home.”

  “What? How could she do that? How far could she run in this weather? She doesn’t have a driver’s license or a car.”

  There were times when I really hated how cool and logical Clancy could be. This was one of them. I wanted to lash out at her and the way she was minimizing the problems in my life. “Of course she doesn’t have a car! I drove Anya to school. Instead of kissing me goodbye, she announced that I shouldn’t bother to pick her up. She wouldn’t be coming home ever. She was moving in with Nicci Moore, and Jennifer had given her permission.”

  “Did you call Jennifer? What does she have to say about all this?”

  “Of course I called! It went to voice mail.”

  “Then you are getting your panties in a bunch for no good reason. Jennifer will back you up. You know that.”

  She was right. Jennifer would take my side. But just the thought of my daughter telling me that she was “gone, baby, gone” hurt me terribly. The pain was like a knife wound in my gut.

  Clancy stared at me for a sec before saying, “You realize that Anya knows exactly how to push your buttons, right? All kids do. They own our hearts, and they know it. After everything you’ve gone through to keep custody of Anya, saying she was moving out would have to hurt you terribly. That’s exactly why she did it. She intended to get maximum mileage.”

  Yes, Clancy was right. That was exactly why Anya had said she was moving out. Her intent had been to hurt me, and she had succeeded. I couldn’t decide what hurt most: the fact that she’d intentionally hurt me or the fact that I was so dumb I hadn’t seen her manipulation coming.

  Clancy leaned close to me. “Kiki? Can you hear yourself? Honestly. Get a grip. This doesn’t sound like you at all. You know Anya is a thirteen-year-old who has been through a lot in the past three years. She’s hormonal and emotional. Her grandmother, her dear friend, has married and is out west at a rehab clinic. Imagine getting not one but two brothers in less than six months. And a new father. Your family just moved from a small house into a bigger one, and everyone knows how stressful moving is, even when it’s for the best. The news about Brawny was a breaking point for Anya. That poor kid has been coping with overload for a long time. She’s just come to the end of her rope. Give her time to come around.”

  I sniffled and mopped my face with a clean paper napkin.

  “Why do I think something else is going on? Did you have any alcohol last night?”

  “Yes. Why? I’m an adult.”

  Clancy rolled her eyes. She never used to roll her eyes, but after spending time with me, she’d adopted the habit. “Yes, you are an adult. As your friend, I’ve noticed that the day after you’ve had something to drink, you’re usually just a tad depressed. Not surprising. Alcoholism runs in your family. You’re sensitive to sugar. It’s part of your chemistry.” With that, she got up to rinse out her coffee cup.

  Not surprisingly, I felt defensive. “Maybe it’s not the whisky I had. Have you thought about that? Huh? I told you that I had a bad morning. A really, really bad morning. That’s why I’m so down!” I proceeded to tell her about the puke-fest in my kitchen.

  Clancy laughed so hard that she had to grab the refrigerator handle to keep from crumpling onto the floor or falling face first into the sink. “That’s the funniest story I’ve ever heard. You are full of it, Kiki. What a hoot! You’ve been watching entirely too much reality show TV.”

  Her raucous amusement was totally at odds with the sleek, sophisticated style that Clancy projects. People often remark that she’s a dead-ringer for the late Jackie Kennedy. Although she would never admit it, Clancy cultivates that image. From her carefully colored auburn pageboy to her classic wardrobe, she mimics the iconic former First Lady. That sense of style is compounded by her demeanor. Clancy is borderline OCD, well educated, cultured and restrained.

  “I can just imagine Detweiler slipping in that mess and Gracie trying to…oh…yuck!” Clancy does not erupt in giggles. She does not laugh so hard she wets her pants. Nor does she dissolve into belly-laughs that weaken her knees.

  Until today.

  Today she raced into the bathroom rather than tinkle on the floor.

  When she staggered out of the john, I said, “Glad to know that one of us is capable of laughing.”

  This time she actually threw her arms around my neck. I stiffened with surprise, just for a second. Her affection overwhelmed me, and after the shock wore off, I relaxed and leaned against her. She held onto me and patted my back. “Someday you’ll laugh about it, too. In the meantime, I’m here for you. We’ll talk more about this later. Why don’t you give Jennifer Moore another call?”

  This time I got her, but Jennifer couldn’t talk. “It’ll be okay. I’ll come by at noon and bring you lunch,” she said, in a voice made breathless because she was hurrying to get somewhere. Her goodbye was simple: “Later.”

  “Thanks. See you later,” I echoed.

  “Enough lollygagging,” Clancy said. “We have to get the store organized.”

  CHAPTER 10

  For the next twenty minutes, Clancy and I kicked it into high gear to prepare the place for inventory. We organized the shelves, returning supplies to their designated places. We were sorting stray sheets of paper when the ringing of the doorbell in the back sent Clancy racing to greet our guests.

  “Hello,” Lee sang out.

  “Ta-dah!” Jeff shouted as he waved to me. “Let’s get this party started.”

  As always, Jeff was dressed to the nines. He could have walked directly off the pages of GQ. I had no idea which designer made his sweater, but I could bet it was someone famous. His slacks held a neat crease, and his shoes looked like soft leather.

  And Lee? Her sparkling blue eyes drew you in. She also wore a lovely cashmere sweater and nice slacks, but those eyes were the showstoppers.

  “Jeff brought supplies.” Lee’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “He’s volunteered to be a celebrity bartender at a fundraiser for War Dogs.”

  “You couldn’t have caught us at a better time.” He pulled bottles of liquor out of the bag he’d been carrying. “I need to practice my skills making cocktails, and there’s nothing like a live audience.”

  “No drinking on the job.” Clancy shook a finger at Jeff. His mega-watt smile faltered.

  “Don’t mind her. She’s not a teetotaler, but Clancy can be a bit uptight,” I said. “She’s worried because I’m worried about getting all of this done in time to finish updating my profit and loss statements.”

  “Why didn’t you say so?” Jeff’s impish grin came back. “Let me call in reinforcements.”

  “What do you suppose he meant by that? Reinforcements?” Clancy whispered as we used bright blue masking tape to section off the store. Otherwise, it would be too easy to do the same areas twice.

  “Beats me. I’m thrilled we’ve got help. As for the booze, sounds like a plan to me. I could use a stiff drink.”

  Lee knew the store, and she was a big help in dividing the place into manageable sections, while Jeff disappeared into the back.

  “Are we ready?” Clancy asked as she handed out clipboards. Attached were sheets we would use to document our counts. At the top of each sheet was the general category of merchandise and a map of the store with each category marked in colors. Lee, Clancy, and I divided the areas to be covered and began the laborious act of physically counting stock.

  Jeff rejoined us, working next to me to take counts. “Thanks for calling us.”

  “Huh?” I looked up from the torn container of tiny brads that I held in my fingers. Each of us had a bucket for spoils, for merchandise that was damaged or defective. I grabbed tape from my bucket, sealed the brad containe
r, and tossed it into the bucket. “Did I hear you right, Jeff? You’re thanking me? I asked you to come do manual labor and you’re grateful?”

  “Lee needed to get her mind off of Nancy Owens’ death. She’s been really upset. In fact, they’d been to the same Zoo Keepers’ board meeting yesterday. It must have been right before Nancy drove to Ferguson.” Jeff marked the counted items with a yellow sticky note.

  “I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize that Lee was on the board of Zoo Keepers or that Nancy and Lee were friends.”

  Jeff tilted his head thoughtfully. He said, “I wouldn’t call Nancy and Lee friends exactly. In fact, Nancy was one of the few people that Lee doesn’t get along with.”

  With that, I dropped another open container of brads. This time the pieces scattered all over the floor.

  “Come again? I can’t imagine Lee not getting along with somebody.”

  Jeff smiled as we both dropped to our knees to pick up the tiny brads. “It is pretty hard to believe, isn’t it? Lee gets along with everybody. She even got along with Nancy until recently.”

  “What happened?”

  Holding up a tiny red brad, Jeff studied it. “Zoo Keepers fiscal year starts each January 1. There was an election. Nancy went from being the treasurer to the vice-president. Lee was voted in as the new treasurer and believe me, she was really excited about being a part of the board. Can you keep a secret?”

  I crossed my heart.

  “You know how the media has been buzzing about the upcoming visit of Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton? Well, as you’ve heard, he’s coming here to talk about his efforts to save the rhinos from extinction. Here’s the surprise: Zoo Keepers will be handing him a check for one million dollars. That’s money they’ve raised in support of his cause.”

  “A million dollars?”

  “Right. They’ve been working really hard to get that much, but last month they hit their goal. Lee’s thrilled.”

  I could see why. “What a terrific time to be elected to the board!”

  “So, the election happens. The officers are sworn in, and Nancy took her sweet time getting Lee the books. Finally, she handed them off to Lee right before their board meeting. Typically the Zoo Keepers’ board meetings take place an hour before their general meetings. When Lee got home after the general meeting she had her first chance to look over what Nancy had given her. That’s when Lee discovered a missing check. One that couldn’t be accounted for, written on their money market account.”

  “Is that a big deal? I void checks all the time.”

  “Yes and no. Like a lot of charitable organizations, Zoo Keepers keeps the bulk of their money in reserve, separate from ongoing operating funds. Usually if there’s a voided check, you write that down in the register. It just needed to be accounted for. That’s all.”

  “Okay, that doesn’t sound like a big deal. Not to me, at least.” I didn’t add that I once lost a paycheck and had to dig around in the dumpster behind the store for it. Of all people, I was the most likely to lose a voided check and to forget to write down what had happened.

  “Lee didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but she did want to act responsibly. So she called Nancy at home and asked where the check was.”

  “How did Nancy react?”

  He chuckled. “At first, she didn’t believe Lee. Nancy was adamant that Lee was mistaken. Lee offered to show her the checkbook. After sputtering around, Nancy swore the check had been there when she handed the checkbook over, but Lee knew it hadn’t been. I was in the same room when Lee made the call, and I could hear the escalating tension. Nancy became defensive. She told Lee that she must have voided a check and forgotten to write it down. That’s perfectly reasonable, but why hadn’t Nancy said so in the first place? Why had she insisted the check wasn’t missing? Lee decided to end the conversation rather than push the matter.”

  “Sounds ugly.”

  “It was. When Lee got off the phone with Nancy, she called Fareed Farkada, Zoo Keepers’ president. He told Lee that he and Nancy were meeting soon to get the cashier’s check for a million dollars, and he’d discuss the missing money market check with her face-to-face.”

  “Why were they both going to meet at the bank?”

  “In most non-profits, it takes two signatories to write a check over a certain amount.”

  “Oh. So he didn’t think it was a big deal? He wasn’t worried about the missing check?”

  “Fareed has known Nancy for decades, and he assured Lee he’d get to the bottom of the situation. Lee was careful to say that she didn’t want to make trouble. She wasn’t accusing Nancy of any malfeasance. She just wanted Fareed to know about the missing check in case any questions arose in the future.”

  I gestured with my head toward the rack of ribbons that we’d count next. Jeff nodded. As I watched him flip the page, I couldn’t help but think that Lee had handled the missing check as graciously as she possibly could under the circumstances.

  I counted the packages of ribbon, gave Jeff the number, and moved to the rolls of ribbon. “So Fareed handled it, and that was that, right?”

  Jeff frowned. “Not exactly. Fareed called Lee back. He said he and Nancy had gone to the bank and gotten the cashier’s check to give Prince William. He told Lee that he’d discussed the matter of the missing money market check with Nancy, and he was satisfied with her answer. In no uncertain terms, he told Lee it was handled. Done. End of story.”

  Jeff shook his head. “Things got even stranger. At the board meeting yesterday, everyone was supposed to sign this big card that would be handed to the prince along with the cashier’s check. The mood should have been celebratory, but Nancy was acting very strange. She kept glancing at her cell phone. Lee said she was jumpy.”

  “Jumpy?”

  “That’s right. You know Lee. She’s pretty unflappable. The meeting ends. Everyone leaves the building, but Nancy and Fareed. They hang back in the meeting room and talk. Lee decides to use the ladies room. When she comes out of the stall, Nancy is standing at the sink, waiting for her. Lee decides it’s a good time to mend fences. She says to Nancy, ‘I’m sorry if you took it the wrong way when I asked about the money market check.’ And then Nancy explodes! She gets right up in Lee’s face and warns her to let it go or else!”

  “Nobody overheard this, did they?” I was busy re-winding a roll of stickers. I hate stickers. Probably because they often come on these big rolls that easily unwind, ruining stickers and making a mess.

  “Fareed was nowhere around. Lee assumes he’d left. The only other person in the building besides Nancy and Lee is the janitor. He was standing in the hall, waiting for them to leave. They head out the door. He locks it behind them. Lee keeps trying to apologize, and Nancy keeps on screaming. She actually follows Lee into the parking lot. Then Nancy notices two board members scraping ice off their windshields. They’re staring at her because she’s acting like a crazy person. Only then does Nancy quit yelling. Lee was shaking when she got into the car.”

  “And now Nancy is dead.” I shook my head, thinking how awful the situation must have been. I could imagine being screamed at, because that’s happened more times than I want to count. But to get screamed at and then have that person die the same day? That would be awful. Just terrible. I would hate the fact that my last memory of that person was such a negative one. But then, that’s just me, I guess.

  However, Jeff seemed to have read my mind. “Yes, and Lee feels terrible that they parted on such bad terms. As you said, Lee likes everybody, and she gets along with everybody. Lee was trying to act responsibly when she brought up the check, and she was trying to be a good sport by apologizing to Nancy.”

  “Wow. What a mess.” I craned my neck around the shelf unit so I could see Lee and Clancy discussing whether to move all of our glitter off the shelves or count the bottles in place. “Jeff, is it okay that Lee’s here? I mean, if she’s upset about Nancy—”

  Jeff smiled at me. “Are you kidding? Like
I said, I was glad you called. This was the perfect opportunity for Lee to shake off the whole nasty business with Nancy. Honestly. You might think we’re doing you a favor, but you’re actually doing one for us.”

  I reached over and gave him a hug. It was nice to know I’d done the right thing. As we went back to counting, I realized the conversation needed closure. “Okay, let me make sure I’ve got the timing of this right. Nancy screamed at Lee in the parking lot. Both women got in their cars. Lee came home, and Nancy drove to Ferguson where she was shot in the head. Ugh. That’s ending a board meeting with a bang.”

  He looked at me. I realized what I said and added, “Oops. My bad.” We both smothered the kind of nervous laughs you get when you’re feeling guilty.

  “Yes,” Jeff said with a sigh. “Despite all that, Lee really admired Nancy. That woman was really devoted to animals. I once heard Nancy say that because she didn’t have kids, her legacy would be the sister city program and the zoo’s breeding program. It’s a real shame that she died before she could see the prince receive that check. Nancy cared so much about the zoo and was looking forward to hearing the prince speak.”

  He was interrupted by a knock at the front door. The sound puzzled me because the sign I’d taped up had made it clear that we weren’t open for business.

  “I’ll get it,” Jeff shouted and he scurried off. He came back with six young people.

  “Reinforcements from Wash U’s School of Business,” Jeff explained. Leaning closer to speak quietly, he added, “My interns. I’m always looking for real world ways to get them involved. This is about as real world as it gets.”

  I panicked. “Jeff, I don’t have the money in the budget to pay them.”

  “You don’t need to. This is great experience for them. It’ll give them a better idea of how a real business requires hands-on attention. Now that we have reinforcements, I need to practice my bartending skills.”