“You knew, didn’t you,” Thaddeus said. It wasn’t a question.
“I know he loved her very much. She shouldn’t’a shot him.”
“She didn’t shoot him,” Thaddeus said. “You, more than anyone, should know that. She never killed coyotes or wild dogs. She didn’t even kill spiders. Tell me you didn’t know that?”
The stolid face never changed expression. “I know,” he agreed. “She wouldn’t.”
Katy came back for a turn. “Then why do you say she shouldn’t have shot him? You know she didn’t do it. How do we know you didn’t do it?”
His eyes returned inside. They were wide and darting. “Me shoot Randy? I couldn’t’a do that. He’s my brudder.”
Thaddeus leaned forward. “Do you know anyone who was mad at your brother?”
“No.”
“Was he buying or selling drugs?”
“I—”
“Turquoise says he gave her drugs.”
“Just cocaine, I think.”
“Did he give you cocaine too?”
The man spread his hands and studied his long, brown fingers. “I wouldn’t take the cocaine. It’s too strong for me. I like whiskey.”
“I’ll bet you’re a Wild Turkey man. You look like a Wild Turkey man.”
“I like Wild Turkey.”
“Sure you do. Was your brother making Turquoise use the cocaine?”
“I think. Maybe she wanted to.”
“Like maybe she wanted to be married to him?”
“Mebbe.”
“Mr. Begay, isn’t it true you knew your brother was raping your little girl and giving her drugs and yet you did nothing to stop it?”
“I guess.”
“Why didn’t you stop it?”
“He was my brudder.”
“But she was your daughter!” Katy cried. “I mean, what the hell?”
“I don’t know. I was scared of Randy, I think.”
“You were afraid he would hurt you?”
“Yes, I was.”
“So you gave him ownership of your daughter.”
“I don’t know about ownership.”
Katy was frustrated. “You basically let him do anything he wanted to Turquoise, like he owned her.”
“It is our way.”
“No, it’s not! I’m Navajo too! She was raped because you just plain didn’t give a damn. Why don’t you admit that? You were just a lousy father!”
Thaddeus touched her arm. She was on the edge of the couch, ready to pounce like a wild mama lion. He pulled her back against the cushions. She resisted, he pulled even harder.
Thaddeus said, “Mr. Begay, I’m going to recommend that you allow Turquoise to come stay with Katy and me while the court is going on. She needs stability and we can give her that. Would you be able to sign papers that agreed?”
“I guess I would sign. Yes.”
“We’ve discussed it, Mr. Begay,” Katy said. “I’m not sure we would ever let her come back home to you. I know I wouldn’t let her but I can’t speak for a judge.”
“It would be good if she could be with you, I think.”
“We think so too, Mr. Begay,” Thaddeus said. “Katy will be back tomorrow with papers for you to sign. We have your word, that you’ll sign?”
“I give my word I will sign.”
“Fair enough. Now, do you have any bottled water around here? I’m dry as a son of a bitch,” Thaddeus said, the anger heavy in his voice. “Why don’t you look inside that refrigerator and see what you can find?”
“Let me get you some water,” the Navajo man said. He appeared relieved for the opportunity to get up and move away from these two. Katy looked at Thaddeus, who nodded at her. She nodded back. They were a team, at least for a few minutes here, and Thaddeus felt glad about that. He and his wife were united about something, about the care and feeding of one young Indian girl. It was good and made him feel better for the child.
The man returned with one bottled water, which the twosome shared.
Thaddeus wiped his mouth and swallowed hard. This was very difficult, dealing with the insanity of the child’s life, but he was determined to leach out everything he could about the shooting.
He began. “Were you home the morning of the shooting?”
“I was not home.”
“Where were you?”
“At Ida’s house. She has four children.”
“Who is Ida?”
“She’s my wife.”
“You’re married to Ida?”
“No, but she’s my wife.”
“All right. Are the children yours?”
“Two young ones are mine.”
“You are their father?”
“Yes. So sometimes I stay over there.”
“And you leave Randy here alone with Turquoise.”
“She was marrying Randy.”
“Damn, man!” Thaddeus exploded. “She was not married to him! Quit saying that!”
“He wanted to marry her and I said he could marry her.”
“So you gave her to him?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know he gave her an STD?”
“What?”
Thaddeus sighed. The guy was all but impossible. “Did you know he gave her the clap? Gonorrhea?”
“IHS called me. I think she didn’t get it from Randy. I think her boyfriend Tommy Begay.”
Katy fished. “And who is Tommy Begay? Is everyone in her life named Begay?”
“Tommy is also my brother. He is ten years younger.”
“Than you?”
“Than Randy.”
“You’re what, about thirty-five?”
“Thirty-six. Randy was twenty-six and Tommy is sixteen.”
“Your mother had kids twenty years apart?”
“Thirty years apart. I have an older brudder.”
“Tell me about Tommy, her boyfriend. Where does he live?”
“With my mother.”
“What town?”
“Kayenta.”
“What does Tommy do?”
“He goes to school and studies veterinary.”
“He’s studying to be a vet?”
“That’s right.”
“Where’s that?”
“Monument Valley High School. Kayenta.”
“Was Tommy having sex with Turquoise? Were you having sex with Turquoise?”
“I didn’t have sex with her. One time mebbe. Before Randy moved here.”
“You had sex with your daughter?”
“No, I was mistaken.”
Again they traded looks. Thaddeus was feeling queasy. The entire ordeal was making him want to throw up. He looked at Katy. Clearly she was feeling the same way. But she was tough; she plunged ahead.
“Why do you think it was Tommy who gave the clap to Turquoise?”
“He had to take medicine for it. I think he gave it to Turquoise.”
“Did Randy have the clap too?”
“Don’t know about Randy and clap. He never told me nothing about that.”
Katy sat back against the couch. The frustration was evident on her face. She crossed her arms across her chest. Thaddeus could see that she was exhausted from the craziness that was Turquoise’s life. “She’s just been treated like their receptacle,” she muttered. “Whatever they wanted to put in her, they just put in her. She’s been lower than a sheep.”
Thaddeus nodded, his feelings exactly.
“Mr. Begay, the police have taken Turquoise and she’s now in foster care. They say she shot your brother and killed him. Tell me what you know about that.”
“She was a good shot. I taught her to shoot out back to care for our sheep.”
“Do you know anything about who killed Randy?”
“Not her, I think.”
“Why not? Why do you think it was not her?”
“She wouldn’t kill nothing. I had to shoot the coyotes and dogs myself. She refused.”
“So you don’t think she would
have killed Randy?”
“Not Turquoise.”
“Even if he was raping her?”
At that moment Myer-Rothstein came back down the hall. “Okay, I’m done in there. Loaded up and ready to go.”
Katy and Thaddeus stood. They told Garcia Begay that he could phone his daughter if he wanted. He answered with a stolid look that barely hid his defiance. They thanked him and left the trailer. Pulling down the road nobody looked back.
34
They drove up to Kayenta to talk to Tommy Begay, the boyfriend. They had no idea where to start looking. Katy said she was hungry and they stopped at the McDonald’s on the west end of town. They went inside and ordered.
Except for Thaddeus and Myer-Rothstein, everyone there was Native American. Thaddeus studied them closely, as he had many times in the past. He knew they were a people who suffered quietly. They had endured their banishment to the luckless reservation for so many generations that he was guessing it had become congenital, like depression and crossed-eyes. All faces were forlorn, with only the occasional half-hearted smile, usually from a young girl playing eyes with some young boy. But never was there the fulsome expression of happiness or joy that would have been found in an Anglo version of the same fast food chain. There was no horseplay behind the counters, no casual meets and greets among the people, even though, Thaddeus guessed, everyone there knew everyone else. The town and region were too small not to know everyone. Kayenta was part of the Navajo Nation and was located in Navajo County in the northeastern corner of Arizona. The population of 5,500 souls was ninety-five percent Native American and had the highest per capita poverty rate of any incorporated area in the United States. Still, the local Mickey D’s was jumping.
They sought out a somewhat-clean corner table, swiped over it with a handful of napkins, and plopped down with burgers, fries, and drinks. Myer-Rothstein loudly slurped his diet cola and Katy popped back up to fetch all the ketchup she would need.
Between bites of his Big Mac, Myer-Rothstein said, when Katy had returned, “Well, your client didn’t fire the fatal shot and I can prove it.”
Thaddeus froze, the Quarter Pounder halfway to his mouth. “Say again?”
“It’ll be in my report. But she didn’t fire the shot that killed him. She couldn’t have.”
“Because?”
“Because of her height. Relax, it will all be in my report.”
“Excellent,” said Thaddeus, “you just made my day. My week, my month.”
“You’re worth every penny of the ten thousand we sent you,” Katy added. She had taken an interest in the law firm’s finances, now that she was showing up on the premises every day, ready to work. “You get her out of this mess and it’s worth everything to us.”
“We’ve taken a real interest in this young lady,” Thaddeus said. “We’re going to ask the court to let us foster-parent her.”
“Is that wise?” said Myer-Rothstein. He brushed a napkin at the mayonnaise on his chin. “Excuse me,” he said.
“It is important to her well-being,” Katy said, “to be where she feels safe. She already trusts Thad, and I’ve become very close with her. We’re only ten years apart—well, eleven. She could be my younger sister.”
“Excellent,” said the forensic expert. “She’s damn lucky you feel that way. Not everyone would welcome an accused murderer into their home. Do you have kids?”
“Sarai, five. She has met Turquoise and loves her. Turquoise played Barbies with her one afternoon and made up huge fantasy worlds for their play. She’s very creative and Sarai was smitten.”
“Our little girl has had some problems,” Thaddeus said. “We think Turquoise will be great for her to be around.”
“So it’s a win-win,” said Myer-Rothstein.
Twenty minutes later they were again on the road.
They located Tommy Begay at MVHS and the principal arranged for them to meet between classes. “Ten minutes, no more,” they were told.
It was a small room where they met, mint walls, overhead lights, popcorn ceiling, tile floor. The principal led Tommy Begay into the room and introduced him. He was a handsome boy of sixteen, bright-eyed and earnest, black hair center-parted and short on the sides. He evinced a can-do attitude and love for his major, large animal veterinary assistant. He wanted to assist vets with cattle and horse care, he said, and eventually enroll at the University of Arizona veterinary school. First he would work four years, he said, save his money by living with Turquoise and splitting costs, and then apply. His mother was a cook at Monument Valley High School and his father drove a gasoline delivery semi rig around the northern part of the state. The father was home at night, the mother was demanding of high grades and educational excellence, and Tommy appeared to be in good hands and thriving. He didn’t appear, to Thaddeus, to even be related to his two older brothers, Randy and Garcia.
“As I follow it, what you’re telling us is,” Katy said, “you and Garcia are of the same clan but in reality you’re not brothers.”
“Correct,” Tommy said with a smile. “We just call ourselves brothers but that’s because our mothers are of the same clan.”
“How close are you to Turquoise?” Thaddeus asked. “In fact, our time is limited, so let me be blunt. Have you been having sexual relations with her?”
“Good grief, no! I worship that girl!”
“Fair enough,” Katy said. “Did you know about her uncle, Randy Begay, your brother?”
“Not my brother but we’re of the same clan. Just like Garcia. What’s to know about him?”
Katy and Thaddeus traded looks. Best to let Turquoise explain these parts to Tommy, they agreed by silence.
“I know she’s in trouble. But someone should call me to be a witness. That girl wouldn’t hurt anyone. She’s in the CTE vet assistant program with me. She’s small animals, I’m large.”
“She’s studying to be a veterinary assistant,” said Katy, “I believe she told me that.”
“Yeah, we had some courses together at first but now we’re in our specializations and we don’t usually get together, except at lunch. We both brown-bag and trade stuff. Like my mom makes healthy sandwiches and Turquoise usually only has Pringles and Ding-Dongs and crap food. So we trade and that way she gets a good meal every day. Plus, this year my mom even makes an extra sandwich for Turquoise.”
“So you’re making sure she eats well.”
“Yes. Plus she doesn’t get all the clothes she needs. So I help with that too.”
“How do you do that?”
“I change truck tires at night at the truck stop. Ten bucks an hour. I can buy her winter coats and boots and stuff. Garcia drinks up his pay and never buys her nothing.”
“So you’ve kind of jumped in to care for her.”
“Get used to it, I say. We’re going to get married as soon as we graduate. Then we’re moving to Tucson so I can go to vet school.”
“Fantastic,” said Katy. “You sound like a great young man for her.”
“I try,” he said. “I do what I can to help.”
Thaddeus had no more questions. Katy shrugged and looked at her husband; she had no more questions either. Myer-Rothstein was silent, lost in thought.
They thanked Tommy for coming in to talk with them, thanked the principal, and left the school property.
“Incredible kid,” Katy said once on the long drive back.
“Both of them,” Thaddeus said. “Turquoise and Tommy.”
“Yes. Both.”
35
The Juvenile Court judge saw things Katy’s way. She had appeared before him and requested temporary guardianship of Turquoise. The judge said she had two things going for her: one, she was Navajo, like Turquoise, which would give her special insights into the girl’s needs, and two, she would have an M.D. after her name in six weeks. Which gave her enormous credibility with the court, especially when Katy added that she had applied to do her residency with Indian Health Services. She wanted to study fami
ly medicine and IHS was bending over backwards to lure doctors out to the reservation. Her application for residency was approved the same day it was received. In all, the judge was impressed. He entered a finding in the sealed court records that both Thaddeus and Katy were fit and proper parties to have the temporary care, custody, and control of the minor child, Turquoise Begay.
Turquoise left the court with Katy and they drove straight over to meet with Thaddeus. He wanted to go over the plea offer from District Attorney Wrasslin Russell.
The two women sat across from him.
“I met with the DA about your case,” Thaddeus explained.
Turquoise nodded. “Is it about over with?”
Thaddeus shook his head. “Hardly. We’re just getting started. Anyway, in criminal cases the defense lawyer always meets with the prosecutor for plea negotiations. This is a time to talk and try to agree on the outcome for the case. Sometimes it works; sometimes it’s not so great. She wants to put you in prison for forty years. She says that’s her final offer.”
“Did you agree?” Turquoise asked, panicky and turning pale.
“No way. I told her we would go to trial.”
Turquoise leaned back in the black leather client chair. She shot a look at Katy, who reached and patted her arm. “We’ll take care of you. I told you that. Now let Thad do his thing. He’s very good at this stuff.”
“When will the trial be?”
“One month. A little less, now. We’ve got lots to do to prepare.”
Turquoise nodded. “Can I tell you something and have you believe me?”
“Sure. Of course I believe you.”
“I didn’t shoot Randy Begay. I wanted him to die, but I didn’t shoot him.”
“I know that.”
Her eyes clouded over with tears. “And I can’t go to jail. Tommy and I want to be together. We want to move to Tucson and get jobs.”
“We met him,” Katy said. “What a neat guy.”
“I love him,” Turquoise said. “He’s the only man who didn’t hurt me.”
“We know that,” Thaddeus said. “We liked him very much. Here, I got you something.”
Defending Turquoise (Thaddeus Murfee Legal Thriller Series Book 5) Page 14
