Summer of the Guns

by Justin Daniel Herman

  “It’s too late for tears, young lady,” said the judge impatiently. “For what you’ve done, we really don’t have an adequate sentence in this state. If I had my way, I’d put you in the state prison for a good long time. But you’re a juvenile, and the law won’t allow that. All I can do is sentence you to the girls’ reform school until you reach the age of eighteen, with no possibility of earlier discharge. That isn’t nearly enough punishment for killing another human being. Perhaps the people of this state can find forgiveness, however, since you are merely following the example set by your father, who is now in prison himself. I, however, do not feel sympathy, and I pray that your stay will serve to rehabilitate you as a human being so that you are no longer a threat to society.”

  I hardly heard the words, I was crying so hard. Pat Fellows was beside me again, his arms around me. “It’s all right,” he said. “It’s all right. Go ahead and cry all you want. We’ll fix this some way, by God. I don’t know how, but we’ll fix it.”

  Just as Pat Fellows got up to take me out of the room, I heard a voice boom from behind us. “Judge Baines, I want to see you and Mr. Horne right now, in your chambers. Do you hear me?”

  I looked back and saw a huge man in a white linen suit standing between two ladies, Cora Malcome and Jessie Atkins. It was the governor.

  18

  “Good Lord!” Pat shouted. “She done it! Cora done it! She got to the governor!”

  Judge Baines seemed flabbergasted and so did Mr. Horne. Neither of them moved an inch, as though they’d been frozen in time. Then the governor spoke again. “Since you prefer to talk right here, gentlemen, I’ll say what I have to say in front of all these people. Judge Baines, I have documents here signed by Judge William Knapp of the Superior Court.” He waved around a manila folder while everyone continued to stare at him. “This document happens to be a court order,” he said, “giving temporary custody of the juveniles known as Percy Kelly, Billie Jane Moran and Sara Moran to me and my daughter, Miss Jessie Atkins. Furthermore, I am informed that what went on in this hearing was a disgrace to the state.”

  “Governor!” cried the judge, “you’ve got no right to do this!”

  “I have every right, Judge. Let me re-introduce you to some folks you’ve already met.” I saw Judge Knapp step out from behind the governor, accompanied by a tall, pencil-thin man who had a face like a hawk. “Judge Baines, County Attorney Horne, you both know Judge Knapp here,” continued the governor, “and, in case you’ve forgotten, this is Mr. Laurence Defoe, the State Attorney General.”

  To my surprise, the attorney general held a small metal box in both hands. It was the lock box Oaf and I had taken from the Wells place. Then I saw Jack and Lenny Wells start to force their way out of the hearing room. Someone else I recognized stopped them cold. It was Captain Sykes.

  “Leonard Wells,” said the captain, “they need to talk to you at police headquarters regarding the disappearance of Miss Jenny Garcia.”

  “I didn’t have nothin’ to do with that,” Lenny shouted, “it was your own son who forced me to write that confession.” His words were halted as his older brother placed his hand on Lenny’s mouth.

  “Shut up,” he stormed. “They ain’t got nothing on you.”

  “I’m afraid we do,” said Captain Sykes, “and we’ll need you, too, Mr. Wells. I want both of you to come voluntarily, but if you refuse, we’ll try it the other way, with handcuffs.”

  “And I’ll gladly put them on you,” said Detective Riggs.

  I saw the newspaper reporter rush over to Horne with a notebook in hand. He wrote furiously as Horne talked. Then Horne stood up and addressed the governor. “You’re a damn publicity hound, Governor,” he howled, “and you’re usurping power here.”

  Mrs. Sykes stood up with him and shouted at her husband. “Oh, dear Lord, Charlie, how could you do this?” she said in a tearful voice.

  Pat Fellows was beaming as he took Kelly by the hand and brought him over to me. We hugged each other and cried. Then someone was bending down beside us. I knew her from the smell of her perfume. It was Miss Atkins. “You’re both coming with me now,” she said. “I shouldn’t have let this happen to you. I’m sorry, Billie, I’m so sorry.”

  “What about my sister?” I asked. “What about Sara?”

  “Sara’s in the hospital, honey. When she’s better, she’ll be with you. I promise.”

  The governor’s voice came thundering through the room again. “Next bench you sit on, Judge, may be a bench in the park. We will have some hearings first, but you’re done, sir. You are done!”

  “You’re out of line, Governor,” howled the judge. “I’m appointed for life. You have no authority over my office!”

  “I don’t,” said the governor with patience, “but the Supreme Court does. I’m sure they will see it my way about your impeachment, when they know the circumstances.” Then he turned to Lacy Horne. “You’re a disgrace, sir. The state attorney general will be calling on you tomorrow with a court order for all your records. We’re going to investigate you up one side and down the other.”

  “Governor,” cried the reporter, peering up through his coke-bottom glasses, “Governor Atkins, the paper will be commenting on your actions here today. What are you basing your accusations on? I’ve never seen anything like this. What you’re doing appears to be unconstitutional.”

  “Whatever you say,” the governor replied. “It wouldn’t make much difference to you whether I’m right or wrong anyway, would it? I look forward to reading your account tomorrow while I puff a Cuban cigar.”

  Jessie took Kelly and me by the hand and led us out of the room, with Cora walking beside us. Outside, in the reception room, we ran into Detective Riggs and Jimmy Parsons again. “I’ll have to ask you some more questions, Billie,” said Riggs.

  Before I could answer, the governor walked out, followed by Mr. Horne and Mrs. Sykes. Right after them came the captain.

  “Calm down, Virgie,” he said as he put his hand on his wife’s shoulder.

  She turned and slapped him hard across the face. “So you’re with her now,” she said loudly, pointing at Jessie. “She’s the person who killed Chuck, sure as if she pulled the trigger. She’s the one who drove him to drink! Well, I hear you’re at it again, you bitch!”

  Jessie turned her head away without replying.

  Then Mrs. Sykes looked at me and shouted,“you murdered my boy. You shot him like a dog!” Then she ran to catch up with Mr. Horne. When he stopped, I could see him embrace her.

  “I’m ashamed of you, Charlie,” Lacy Horne said to Captain Sykes. “I see you’ve joined the enemy. Well, you’ll have a hell of a fight ahead of you. That I guarantee.” Then he led Mrs. Sykes out of the room.

  Detective Riggs leaned into my ear so no one else could catch his words. “I’m glad the governor’s stepped in,” he whispered, “but don’t tell him about those papers Ace hid. I’ll need to take a look at them before anyone else knows about them. Do I make myself clear?” He stood for a moment looking at me, then went over to Captain Sykes.

  At first I failed to understand what he meant, but then it all came back. I remembered what Ace had said about those papers. He didn’t think the governor was involved in the scandal, but he wasn’t entirely certain. And now here I was, on my way to live at the governor’s house. I was relieved to have been saved from Fort Grant, but I didn’t know who to trust.

  As people continued to swarm around the governor, I looked over to where Riggs, Jim Parsons and Captain Sykes were huddled together.

  “Damn, I’m sorry about all this, Charlie,” Riggs said with a pained expression. “I know you’re going through hell. Has Vergie left you?”

  ‘“I’m afraid so,” answered the captain in a sorrowful voice. “She blames it on me, what happened to our boys. They’re both gone now—both of them. But there’s nothin’ I can do to change things—nothin’ at all.” His voice was controlled again. “What’s right is still right and what’s w
rong will always be that way. Tommy was wrong. Oh, God, he was wrong. We found his fingerprints on that hunting knife they recovered where the church women were murdered. Lenny’s, too. After we got a look at what was in the lock box, I knew what he’d done. Lenny had written out some kind of confession to killing Jenny Garcia, but I strongly suspect they were in it together. Plus we found Jessie Atkins’ wallet and ring in there.” He stopped himself and shook his head as he looked down at the floor. “We even found all those clippings about the crimes. They were reading about themselves like they were proud of what they did. Oh God, I’m so ashamed. I should have known immediately when Billie told me about the blue Model A at the rest stop, but I just didn’t want to believe it. Oh God, how wrong I was!”

  19

  The governor’s mansion was a big red brick house they said was built before the turn of the century. Jessie called it “Victorian” because it was built while Queen Victoria was still alive. It was a huge house—three stories high with little round turrets and spires and lots of fancy wooden trim that the governor called gingerbread. It didn’t look like gingerbread to me, but it was fun to climb on, as Kelly and I discovered later.

  The inside of the house was gloomy and filled with musty furniture. The governor told us to keep off his favorite Morris chair. He said it was made by a man named William Morris who wrote fairy tales. I guessed he was someone important, judging from how the governor talked about him. Mostly we stayed out of trouble, though Kelly and I took turns now and then sliding down all three stories of the circular staircase with its polished banister.

  As soon as we got there, the governor, Captain Sykes and Mr. Defoe, the attorney general, went into the governor’s study while Miss Atkins took Kelly and me upstairs. “I hear Sara will be with us soon,” she said, “maybe in a week or two. Nurse Malcome said she’s progressing nicely. By the way, we got her doll back from the police. She wouldn’t go to sleep without it, even with its side torn open. Oh, I’m sorry, I know that’s unpleasant to think about. Let’s see your new rooms now and we’ll talk about what you want in there.”

  “You mean we can pick and choose’?” Kelly asked.

  “Certainly you can,” answered Miss Atkins, “and you too, Billie. You will have to share a room with Sara, though, because we only have two extra bedrooms.”

  “You’ll need me to talk to Sara,” Kelly proclaimed. “Billie was too slow to learn.”

  “That’s not true!” I barked, “I just had too much on my mind to learn.”

  “Well, I’d like to learn, too,” Miss Atkins said as she led us into a large bedroom with flowered wallpaper and a bay window that had a view of the city. “This will be yours and Sara’s room,” she said to me. “Kelly, your room’s next door. I’m afraid it used to be a nursery, but we’ll move out all the little children’s things. It’s about time they went into storage.” I caught a faint smell of alcohol on her breath as she led us into our room. I’d become familiar with that smell when we’d lived with our white aunties. I knew to stay away from them when they smelled like that or I’d be sure to get a whipping.

  When we entered the room, we saw stuffed animals everywhere. “We’ll get a regular bed in here soon,” said Ms. Atkins. “You can sleep on this tonight, though. It won’t be that bad.” She went around the room then, picking up stuffed animals. I could see she was tearing up. Then she got control of herself and smiled again. “Sorry about that,” she said. “I’m just happy you’re here. I can’t even tell you how happy I am. This old house isn’t going to be lonely anymore.”

  Then something strange happened. She made a choking noise and fell on the floor. Her arms and legs started twitching funny. I ran downstairs and barged into the governor’s study, where he was still sitting with Captain Sykes and the attorney general. “I think Jessie’s having a heart attack!” I blurted. “We better call a doctor!”

  The governor got up in a hurry, then walked over and put his hand on my shoulder. “It’s all right. It’s happened a couple of times since she was wounded. She’s having an epileptic fit. She’ll be over it in a few minutes.”

  Then both of us walked back upstairs to check on her. By the time we got there, she was sitting up on the floor. She coughed a few times, then smiled at us. “I’m fine,” she said, “apart from the embarrassment. Can you help me to my room, Dad? I just need a little rest.”

  20

  That night Ms. Atkins took me to my bedroom to say goodnight. Though I felt more hope than I had since Papa was shot, I got tearful as she pulled the covers back. When she asked me what was the matter, I told her I was wondering how Papa was doing. She said she’d take me and Sara to see him, if they’d let her.

  When she left she started to shut the door, but I asked her to leave it open a crack so I’d could see some light. I didn’t like sleeping in total darkness. After I rolled over to go to sleep, I heard what I thought was coughing coming from Kelly’s room. After I listened a while longer, I realized he was crying.

  I stepped out of bed and pulled on my dress, then padded barefoot into his room. Very quietly, I sat down on his bed. He was sitting on the edge of it, his face in his hands. I took his hand and squeezed it, then gave him a hug. “I want Ace, I want Ace,” Kelly kept sobbing over and over. So did I, but nothing could bring him back to us.

  Jessie came in just then and put her arms around us. I could smell the alcohol on her breath again. “It’s okay to cry,” she said in a thick voice.

  After Kelly stopped crying and lay back in bed, I returned to my room. Only I heard someone sobbing again. It was coming from Jessie’s room. I got up again and looked into the hallway. I could see that her door was slightly ajar. I walked over and peeked inside. She was sitting in a chair with a bottle beside her on the nightstand. I turned around promptly and went back to my room. I was afraid she was getting drunk.

  The next morning Jessie knocked on my door. After I said “come in,” she opened the door and brought in my old suitcase. She was still wearing her bed robe. I could see her eyes were red. “We sent for your suitcase,” she said as she smiled at me. “I also got your other clothes from the detention center. Is that all the clothes you have?”

  “Yes ma’am,” I answered. “I left some of my old clothes in Arkansas, but we didn’t have much to begin with.”

  “You don’t need to call me ma’am,” she answered. “Just call me Jessie. I had an idea that maybe we could go shopping today to get you some new clothes. Would you like that?” She was trying hard not to show how bad she felt.

  “As long as we don’t get dresses,” I answered.

  The bathroom was across the hall but Kelly was already in there, so I had to wait as usual. When he came out, he was scrubbed clean and had his blue jeans on, along with one of Ace’s old shirts that was too big for him.

  “My, you look different today,” said Jessie, sizing him up. “But I think you could use a shopping trip. I want you both to have some new clothes.”

  When we were all ready for breakfast, we followed Jessie out into the patio where the governor was having his coffee. He was already dressed in a suit and tie. Beyond him I could see the layout of the big backyard. To my surprise there was an empty swimming pool.

  “I swore that pool would never have water in it again,” said Jessie as she sat down beside her father and kissed him on the cheek. “However,” she added with a smile, “I think I know two people who would disagree with that.”

  “Who?” Kelly asked.

  “You and Billie,” she said. “I think you deserve a pool. But not until you prove to me you both know how to swim.”

  “I can swim like a dolphin!” Kelly burst out. I just stood there without saying anything, causing Kelly to frown at me. “I should have known,” he said, “Billie can’t swim.”

  Jessie looked at me and winked. “I knew we had something in common,” she said.

  Just then a small man wearing a white vest and dark trousers came out of a back door carrying a newspaper. He ha
nded it to Governor Atkins who immediately opened it as if he were looking for something. The little man seemed surprised when he saw Kelly and me, but Jessie spoke up quickly. “These are the house guests I told you about,” she announced, “Billie and Kelly.” She beamed at us, then looked back at him. “This is Mr. Tucker,” she told us. “He runs the place for us. What he says goes. I hope you both remember that.”

  “Just call me Tuck,” said the little man as he blinked a couple times, “same as everyone else does. But I do have some rules which I’ll fill you in on later. Now what would you two like for breakfast?”

  “Just juice for me and a cup of coffee,” Jessie cut in. “I’m not feeling well. The kids want the works though, don’t you?” Kelly and I both shook our heads in agreement as Tuck disappeared into the house.

  “He looked surprised to see me,” I said to Jessie. He wasn’t expecting me to be a colored girl, I kept thinking.

  Just then the governor, who had been buried in the newspaper, let out a loud snort and shouted, “Just listen to what George Cooley’s saying now! And it’s right on the editorial page.” Then he started to curse.

  “Dad!” cried Jessie, “don’t curse in front of the children.”

  “Well, I’ve got cause to cuss,” he spouted. “Listen to this crap. Cooley’s outdone himself.” He shook the paper to straighten it, then started to read slowly. “He’s accusing me of violating the Constitution. And on top of that, he says there’s a big insurance scandal about to break, and I’m going to be implicated in it!”

  “What insurance scandal?” Jessie said as she moved to peer over her father’s shoulder at the paper.

  “I’ll be damned if I know,” the governor answered. “That’s a new one on me. I’m going to call Cal Roscoe about this. The only trouble concerning insurance I recall was some stuff a debit agent told me last year. Hell, it was Ace Kelly who brought that to me. I told Roscoe to give Ace some help with it. But that was petty stuff. Ace had lost his license.”