Little Girl Lost 6: The Return of Johnnie Wise (14 page)

“You know what, Benny? I closed my eyes for just a second, and the next thing I knew, I was in the dream world. I was planning to call you though. Did you get your money?”

“Yes, Lawd. I got that nice check, and it was right on time, too. It’s about time we got something from them white niggas.”

Surprised to hear Benny call the Beauregards white niggas, Johnnie said, “Benny, do the Beauregards have black blood in ’em?”

“The hell if I know. All I can tell you is this: the Bible says the two shall become one. Since Nathaniel was havin’ his way with Josephine, he became one with her. And if we niggas . . . they niggas, too.” He laughed uproariously. “Then, he went back and had kids with his wife, making him one with her. They all niggas as far as I’m concerned . . . whether they look like it or not.”

Johnnie laughed with her brother and said, “You know, Benny, there is a certain logic to all that.”

“I know. But I’m telling you, it should’ve been a whole lot more than five grand. You know that, don’t you? After all, the Beauregards are rich, and we had to live like recently freed slaves. We deserve a whole lot more.”

“I wish I could, little sister, but I need every dollar these days. I had to borrow money just to come to New Orleans to see about you.”

“Didn’t you just win that fight in Las Vegas?”

“Yeah, but I owe people. In order to make some real money, I’ma hav’ta fight a couple fights a month to pay bills and put bread on the table.”

“It would help if you didn’t spend so much on your worthless friends and good-for-nothing women that just wanna help you spend all you make.”

“Listen, little sister, I put a lot of time in at the gym, preparing for fights. I deserve to enjoy the fruits of my labor. When mama died, I saw the house you was livin’ in. You obviously was enjoying the fruit of your labor. When I step into the ring, my life is on the line. I oughta be able to spend some of the money
I
earn on my friends, if I want to.”

“You’re right, but your wife and Baby Jericho come before your friends and before you, Benny. If you wanted to spend all your money carousing, you shouldn’t have gotten married.”

“So, you’re gonna lecture me about my life when you wasn’t doin’ right yourself, Johnnie?”

“I don’t have a husband and a little child, Benny. You do.”

“Listen, I’ma ’bout to let you go. I just called to see if you was alright. I see you are. You go ahead and live your life the way you want to. And I’ll live my life the way I want to. And we can call it a day.”

“Benny!”

“What!”

“I’m sorry, okay? Just put some of the five thousand away for the future, okay? We’re the only ones left in our family, unless you know of others.”

“Yeah, we got other family, but I don’t know where they at, and I don’t know how to contact ’em. Right now it’s just you and me.”

“That’s all the more reason not to argue. Now, Benny, I oughta be able to tell you the truth without you getting all mad. And you oughta be able to do the same with me, right?”

“Yeah. Grandma Josephine used to take me there before you was born. She used to tell me about a prince and some African woman. She had one of them Nation of Islam names. When Grandma Josephine died, I guess the stories died with her because mama didn’t want to talk about it much. She used to say that was in the past, and it didn’t make any difference now how we got here. But Grandma Josephine gave me the key to the mausoleum before she died. I visited her one last time before I left New Orleans to go out to the coast. I’m not sure why. I guess I was just paying my last respects to all the people in there, ya know. I wish I could remember all the stuff she used to tell me about the people, but I can’t.”

“I told you the door was open. But when I left, it locked automatically like you said. I’m trying to figure out who left it open in the first place.”

“You can’t leave it open, Johnnie. I can’t explain what happened yesterday, but I’m telling you. You can’t leave that door open. No way.”

“Hmph.”

“So, Brenda told me you lost all your money and everything. And since you can’t get a hold of daddy, why don’t you come out to San Francisco now? Brenda told me that Lucas is in the Army now. Why don’t you come on out. We’d love to have you with us.”

“You know what, Benny. I’ma stay here for a while. I just gotta job yesterday. And you met Gloria over the phone. Isn’t she the sweetest white woman you’ve ever met?”

“Yes, Gloria is alright. Did she tell you I talked her into letting you stay there?”

“Yeah. I appreciate that. Otherwise, I don’t know what I’d do.”

“Well, listen, this call is costing me a fortune, little sister. I’m gonna stay the night, cash my check in the morning, and fly on back to San Francisco. If you change your mind about coming out, let your big brother know, okay?”

Johnnie turned off the light, but she could not get back to sleep. So, she started, thinking, planning how she would fortify her stock portfolio.

Chapter 27

“
Make sure one ‘em is a female.”

P
rivate Detective Tony Hatcher, who was originally hired by Meredith Shamus to follow her husband, Earl, had been following Johnnie since she left Ashland Estates earlier that morning. Hatcher was in the courtroom when Meredith was killed by Ethel Beauregard. He was a surprise witness who was supposed to testify that he had bugged Johnnie’s house and had her under constant surveillance. But when Johnnie’s attorney, Jay Goldstein, tripped Meredith up during a brutal cross examination, she left the witness stand and ran at Johnnie with the intention of killing her. Instead, Meredith caught a bullet in the head. Hatcher was then rehired by Earl and had been told to follow Johnnie wherever she went, no matter how far, and to report all his findings, no matter how small. Money was no object.

At first, Hatcher felt a little strange working for Earl Shamus, particularly since he had been initially hired by Meredith to follow him. Hatcher’s testimony, had it been given, would have exposed him as the person linking Meredith to the person who leaked the stories about Johnnie’s relationship to the Beauregards, which ultimately led to Meredith’s death. Fortunately for Hatcher, Earl wasn’t at the trial. Otherwise, Earl would have known about the role he’d played in the whole sordid ordeal.

When Hatcher saw the light go off in Johnnie’s room, he went down the road to The Flamingo Den, a roadside bar and grill. The Flamingo Den was famous for its scantily clad busty women who served ice cold beer and other spirits to truckers, bikers, and unsuspecting visitors from another state who didn’t know that The Flamingo Den wasn’t the place to bring their wives and children. He ordered fish and chips and a bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. He took his food and beer into the phone booth and called New Orleans.

“I would assume so, sir. She had a brief conversation with a woman and her child before leaving the cemetery and left New Orleans.”

“She’s in a hotel called the Clementine in Jackson, Mississippi. It looks like she’s in for the night. Her car needs a little work, so she’s going to be here awhile. She spent several hours in Woolworth’s buying some new threads to replace the ones she lost in the fire. She had a verbal altercation with a woman named Linda Schumacher.”

“Where was this verbal altercation, Mr. Hatcher?”

“I’m sorry, sir. The altercation was in Woolworth’s. Miss Schumacher works there. From what I could tell, she was looking around and Miss Schumacher confronted her about something. I think she thought Miss Wise was there to steal something from the store.”

“I see. And was she attempting to steal something?”

“I’d have to say no because she bought about two hundred dollars worth of merchandise.”

“So, it’s true. She was involved in the murder of Sharon Trudeau. She does have the two hundred and fifty thousand the papers said was missing in the Fort Lauderdale Hotel.”

“Yes, sir. After the verbal altercation, she went to a phone booth and made a call. It could have been a local call, but I’m thinking it was long distance. As you know, she has a brother in San Francisco. It makes sense to me that if she lost everything, she would call him for help.”

“So, you think she called, Benny, huh?”

“Perhaps. It appears that she was going to live with her father who lives in East St. Louis. As you know, much of what I know about her, I learned when your wife hired me to find out all there was to know about Miss Wise.”

“I remember, Mr. Hatcher. Please . . . continue with your report.”

“When she came out of the phone booth there appeared to be another verbal altercation with Miss Schumacher, but this time the store manager, a Mr. Saunders, was there, apparently to investigate what Miss Schumacher undoubtedly told him. They all exchanged words, and after that, Miss Wise and Mr. Schumacher walked off, arm in arm.”

“I don’t know, sir. Only time will tell. After she left Woolworth’s, she went to the bank and made a deposit. I don’t know how much.”

“Find out how much, Mr. Hatcher. I told you I want to know absolutely everything she does, who she meets, what she eats, everything. Do you understand?”

“If you want that much information, I’m gonna need another guy or two on the job. If I do that, this is going to get really expensive, sir.”