Bring on the Blessings (27 page)

Preston wasn’t sure if he was supposed to smile or not. “Yeah, that too.”

Barrett grabbed an empty chair and sat, “Time for you and me to get acquainted.” He stuck out his hand, “Name’s Barrett Montgomery Payne.”

Preston took hold of his large strong hand. “Preston Christopher Chambers. Nice to meet you.”

“Same here. So, Preston, tell me about yourself.”

Bernadine and Crystal entered the silent house. Bernadine understood why Crystal had done what she had, but all of the awful terrible things that might have happened had Sheriff Dalton not been in the right place at the right time made her want a stiff drink. She was just about to tell the teary-eyed Crystal to go on up to her room and that they’d talk in the morning when she saw a note on the table.

Picking it up, she read the wording and then slowly set it back down. “Crystal, that’s from Lily. The investigators found your mom. She’s in prison in Illinois.”

G
enevieve, Marie, and Agnes were having breakfast at Tamar’s the following morning, when a report came on the local television news that Cletus had escaped. Genevieve’s hands flew to her mouth.

“Riley did always want that hog on TV,” Tamar pointed out. “Guess he’s getting his wish, twice now. Once for killing Prell and now for busting out of the pen.”

Agnes smiled. “Hush so we can hear.”

The camera showed the pen where Riley had been locked up, then panned to the big hole in the fence.

The young female reporter said, “As far as authorities can tell no one has ever kidnapped, or shall we say pig napped, a suspect from the Department of Agriculture’s pens before, and a warrant has been issued for the hog’s apprehension.”

“Lord,” Tamar breathed.

“Police believe the hog’s owner, Mr. Riley Curry, for
mer mayor of Henry Adams, may be the person responsible for freeing the murdering animal.”

A picture of a smiling Riley wearing his black pinstripe suit with the rose on the lapel, flashed up on the screen.

The reporter finished up by saying, “If you know of Mr. Curry’s whereabouts, please call the sheriff’s office.”

Tamar picked up the remote and was about to click it off when the anchor said, “And last night, there was a reported carjacking. Three teens also from Henry Adams were allegedly involved. We’re trying to get more information on this story and will bring you more details at six.”

“Dammit,” Tamar whispered, and clicked it off.

Bernadine and Lily were outside on Bernadine’s deck, and Bernadine was on the phone. After seeing that morning’s news report on the so-called carjacking, Bernadine had put in a hasty call to her lawyers to contact the authorities and find out what the heck was going on. They’d just called back.

“What do you mean I have to go to a hearing?”

She listened to her lawyer, and what he had to say did not make her day. “But Malachi isn’t going to press charges, and there was no child endangerment.”

She looked up at Lily, who was now eyeing her with mild alarm.

Bernadine’s lips tightened. “Okay. When’s the hearing and where?” She repeated the time and date so Lily could write it down. “September twenty-ninth, nine a.m., county courthouse. Okay. What about Crystal? How soon can we get in to see her mother?”

She listened, then replied, “Okay. Stay on it and let me know as soon as possible.”

She closed the phone. “Well, looks like someone dropped a dime to a judge last night about the joyride, and we’ve all been summoned to appear.”

“Why?”

“It seems that this same judge is concerned that I’m running a loose ship and he wants to talk about it.”

“Damn.”

“No kidding. The legal beagles said the clerk was real snippy and said if the judge didn’t like what he heard, they’d start proceedings to shut down the program and ship the kids back.”

“Over my dead body!”

“Mine too. Dammit! If Crystal had just waited another two hours.”

“I know.”

Bernadine sighed. “Okay. We can deal with this.”

Lily searched her face. “This is real serious, Bernadine.”

“No, kidding.”

Later, she called all the parents and the elders together at the center and told them what was going on.

Roni jumped to her feet, “Hell, no! They are not taking my child.”

Barrett said, “It was little more than a prank. Nobody was hurt.”

Bernadine agreed. “The county sees it differently, I suppose.”

Sheriff Dalton entered the room. “Malachi called me.
I’ve come to offer my apologies. I’ve got an overzealous deputy who just happens to be the boyfriend of that little girl reporter. He went home, told her about what occurred on his shift, which he admitted he does every night, and she started making calls.”

Malachi said, “Is he still alive?”

“Just barely. Gave him the speech about police confidentiality, then gave him a week off without pay. Again, real sorry.”

He turned to Bernadine. “I want to apologize to you personally, Ms. Brown. You’ve been good for us up here in this part of the county. My brother-in-law worked on your buildings, and anytime that lazy bum can get hired and I don’t have to feed him, I’m pleased.”

She smiled, “Thanks, Sheriff.”

“No problem. If you need me to testify at the hearing, just let me know. Gotta go. You folks take it easy.”

He left.

Bernadine looked out at the worried and angry faces. “I don’t think we should tell the kids anything at this point, but they will have to be at the hearing, so how about we tell them when we get closer to the date? They’ve had enough worry in their lives.”

Everyone agreed.

Three days later, Bernadine and Crystal were on the jet with Katie flying to Illinois.

“Do you think she’ll be glad to see me?” Crystal asked.

“I would think so.”

The two were still tiptoeing around each other, but Bernadine hoped this trip would help their relationship by re
solving some of Crystal’s issues and allowing them to begin moving forward.

“Ms. Bernadine, thank you for all you’ve done. I know I haven’t been acting real grateful lately.”

“You have a lot of stuff you’re dealing with in life, Crys. Let’s hope this visit with your mom will help fix some of that.”

When they got to the airport, there was a car waiting to take them straight to the facility where Crystal’s mom, Nikki, was being held.

As they rolled through the prison gates and onto the grounds, the place was more modern than the old nineteenth-century-looking brick and stone building Bernadine had been expecting.

Crystal looked out at all the cars in the lot and the herd of people moving toward the entrance. “Must be visiting day.”

Bernadine agreed. Most of the visitors were women, many of them older, most of them walking with or carrying children. She shook her head sadly. She had no idea how many prisoners the place housed, but judging by the numbers of visitors, she assumed a lot.

Inside, they were passed through security. Their purses were checked and their bodies wanded for weapons and other prohibited items. Crystal looked grim. Bernadine wasn’t feeling real cheery herself. Prison wasn’t a place for cheer.

The female guard took them down a few long hallways that appeared to hold offices of some sort and then into a small room. She gestured for them to take seats in the
two plastic chairs set up by a small blue table in the room’s center.

She told them, “They’ll bring her in in a moment. I ask that you not touch the prisoner in any way or make any sudden moves. Privacy with visitors is not allowed, so there’ll be guards here at all times. Any questions?”

They shook their heads.

“Okay.” The guard took out a walkie-talkie, spoke into it for a moment, and then a door at the back of the room opened.

Nikki Jackson was shackled at her ankles and wrists by a long connecting silver chain. Her hair was hidden beneath a black stocking cap. She was wearing a faded blue shirt and matching loose pants. In another setting the clothing might have passed for hospital scrubs, but this was a prison and the clothing was her uniform.

She was painfully thin, so much so that she looked as if she could’ve easily slipped the chains that hobbled her movements as she shuffled into the room wearing prison-issued slides. When she saw Bernadine and Crystal, she stopped and studied their faces. It was plain she had no idea who her visitors were.

Crystal went to stand up, but Bernadine placed a gentle hold on her arm. The guard said no sudden movements. Crystal sat but her eyes never left her mother.

“Do I know y’all?” Nikki asked curiously, hobbling closer to the table and continuing to look into their faces. She sat, and the guard who’d been her escort took up a position at the door.

“It’s me, Crystal.”

Nikki looked into Crystal’s face. “Crystal who?”

Crystal looked so crushed, Bernadine’s heart broke.

“Your daughter,” Crystal replied quietly.

Nikki looked hard at the face staring back at her and then the smile that suddenly widened her face showed the missing teeth, a result of the years of crack abuse. “Baby girl,” Nikki whispered with recognition and affection. “What are you doing here?”

“We came to see you.”

Nikki turned her attention to Bernadine, who introduced herself. “I’m Bernadine, Crystal’s foster mother.”

“You don’t look like any foster mother I’ve ever seen,” she said, taking in the expensive suit and the jewelry. “You look like you doing pretty good for yourself.”

Bernadine showed a small smile.

She turned back to Crystal. “How’d you find me?”

Crystal looked more relaxed. “Bernadine hired some investigators.”

Nikki flicked a look Bernadine’s way, “Really?”

“She’s been real nice to me.”

“Glad to hear it. So, what do you want? You looking for your daddy? What?”

“No. I—I’ve been worried about you and wanted to see if you were okay.”

She shrugged. “I’m locked up and going to be locked up for the rest of my life. I ain’t got no money or nothing if that’s what you came to find out.”

“I’m not looking for money. I just wanted to find you.”

“Well, you did. Anything else?”

Bernadine could see the hurt fill Crys’s eyes.

Nikki did as well. “What’s the matter?”

“I thought maybe you’d be glad to see me.”

“I am glad to see you, and I’m glad for you to see where I’m at because I don’t want you following in my footsteps and wind up in a place like this shit hole.” She turned then to Bernadine. “She a good girl?”

Bernadine nodded.

“Then Crystal, I want you to cut that blond shit out of your head, take off all that ho-looking makeup, and be like that lady sitting next to you. You don’t want to be around anything close to the life I been livin’. You hear me, girl?”

Crystal nodded.

“Stay away from those fast boys and those blunts and concentrate on getting an education. Go to college.”

Nikki asked Bernadine, “Does she listen to you?”

“Most times.”

Nikki leaned in. “Start listening, Crystal. All the time. I didn’t. People couldn’t tell me nothing ’cos I thought I knew every damn thing already, but I didn’t know shit. And don’t come back here and see me again.”

Crystal looked struck. “Why not?”

“’Cause I’m dying. Doctors here give me three months, tops. HIV.”

Crystal’s eyes filled with tears.

Nikki shook her head. “Don’t cry. It’s another one of those things where I didn’t listen.” She directed another question at Bernadine, “She going to be with you a long time?”

“For the rest of her life if I have a say.”

“Good.”

The guard by the door said, “Two minutes.”

Nikki nodded. “Crystal, I have to go back. You are going to be okay.”

“I don’t want you to die.”

“I know, but we all do, sooner or later.”

She took a last look at Crystal’s tear-stained face and said, “You be good for Bernadine now, and do something with your life.”

“I promise.”

She nodded. “Guard.”

The guard by the door moved to her side and without a backward glance Nikki Jackson walked out of her daughter’s life. On the other side of the door, where her daughter couldn’t see, she got halfway down the hall, fell brokenly to her knees, and wept.

Riley and Cletus crossed the state line into Texas. Riley was not only tired of driving he was also hungry. Deciding he had to stop, he pulled into the parking lot of one of the fast food franchises and cruised around it for a moment, looking for police cars. Seeing none, he parked. After taking one last glance around, he got out.

Inside, he ordered burgers for himself and Cletus, then quickly walked back outside. He stopped at the sight of a very large red-haired woman standing by the bed talking to Cletus. When Cletus raised his snout to welcome Riley back with his burgers, the woman turned and gave Riley a big ol’ Texas smile.

“Is this your hog?”

“
Uh,
yes ma’am,” he wasn’t sure if he should be friendly or not.

She reached out and scratched Cletus behind the ears. “He’s gorgeous.” She went into baby talk, “Yes, you are, aren’t you, big boy, Aren’t you?”

Riley grinned.

“Name’s Eustasia Pennymaker.”

He juggled the bags so he could shake her hand. “I’m Riley.”

“How you do, Riley? You don’t sound like you’re from around here.”

“
Uh,
no.
Uh
—we’re from outside Las Vegas.”

“Welcome to Texas.’

“Thanks.” He moved by her to get to the bed and took the burgers out of the bag. As he fed Cletus, she asked, “You here visiting or on business?”

“We’re just traveling. Got up one morning and decided we wanted to see the country. Never been to Texas before.”

“Well, I got a few hogs myself.”

“Do you?”

“Yep. Smartest animals on the planet, if I do say so myself.”

Riley smiled, “I tell folks that all the time.”

“Unless they got hogs of their own they don’t much believe you, do they?”

“No, they don’t.”

She turned her eyes on Cletus again, “He’s a fine specimen. What’s he weigh, six, seven hundred pounds?”

“Closer to six.”

“Well I have a female named Chocolate that would absolutely adore him. Where y’all headed?”

Riley fed Cletus the third quarter-pounder with cheese. “Figured I’d find me a motel close by.”

“Nope. You’re staying with me.”

“I am?”

“Yep. You married?”

“
Uh,
no. I’m not.”

“Even better, while Chocolate’s entertaining big boy here, I might want you in my straw tonight,” she cooed slyly and then laughed. “I got plenty of room. Two hundred acres.”

Riley was staring.

“You game?”

It took him a moment to recover, he was still stuck on being in the straw. He managed to stammer. “Sure. Why not?”

“Okay. Let me go in and grab a diet Coke and a couple fish sandwiches and you can follow me back to my place.”

And in a few minutes they were on their way.