Ravens (14 page)

He ground to a stop. He turned to Shaw.

“You should tell it.”

Tara was terrified. But the audience seemed to see nothing amiss. They were laughing; they loved watching these two shy yokels
passing the baton back and forth.

Shaw came up to the mike again. He said, “Well, I guess, I guess the rest of the story is that I was sort of
nuts
.” This won him an immense laugh. “I was having some troubles with the law, and I guess I was doing too many drugs. Well.
For
sure
I was doing too many drugs. And this was, um, ’03?”

He looked at Dad. Dad nodded.

“And I was driving one night and I was in a strange city, in Greenville, South Carolina, and I was kind of lonely and I, I
was, well, I have to say it: I was thinking about ending my life. Because I was, just, in despair. And I went past this church,
and it had a sign, that said, if you needed help? So I, I went in, and there was a guy in there. I tell you what, I didn’t
think I was gonna like this guy. I mean at first he seemed kind of, well, kind of
mean
.”

He had to wait for the laughter to fade.

“ ’Cause you know why? ’Cause he wouldn’t put up with any bull from me. None of my, I guess you’d say,
evasions
? And. So I, like I wrestled with him. I mean, I put up a
fight
. Like, you know how a smallie will fight you? Well, I know you guys down here get bigger bass than we do up north, but I
like the way our bronzebacks won’t ever give up. They’ll fight all day, they really will. You’re in a boat, they’ll pull
you
. And that’s what I was doing — I was fighting with all my might, but Mitch here, Mr. Boatwright, he just held on. Till he
kind of reeled me in. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And saved my life.”

The crowd was still. Tara glanced down again at Nell: her eyes were glistening. She was the farthest thing from sentimental
but Shaw was being so plain and straightforward and unadorned in his delivery, that she was on the verge of tears. So was
the whole room. The stillness they were offering up to Shaw stoked his confidence, and Tara felt a deep relief, a moment of
warmth in her veins. She thought: he’s OK. He knows what he’s doing. Maybe he even believes in what he’s doing: that he’s
some kind of Lamp of Redemption sent to shine upon a benighted world. But the important thing is:
they
all believe.

He said, “I’m sure some folks out there don’t think there’s such a thing as good and evil? But let me tell you guys, I’ve
seen ’em both, and I know which is which. This man here. This man, this Mitch Boatwright? This man is
good.
”

Shaw
waited for the silence to close in around him. Then he brought his lips a half-inch closer to the microphone, and dropped
his voice, and said, “So. Ever since that day, I’ve kept hoping to find this man again, this man who saved my life, so I could
thank him. And finally I figured out how. You know how I found him?”

He waited a beat. “I Googled him.”

The crowd loved that.

“I gave him a call and told him I was coming through Brunswick. And could I see him? And he said, sure. And we went out and
had barbecue, and I told him, it don’t matter that I’m not a rich man, because now I know what my calling is. Don’t matter
I’m not so-called successful, because I know about
real
success.

“And then, when he was driving me back to my car, we went past this, well like a gas station? And he was going in to buy some
lottery tickets, and I said, Heck, would you get some for me? I guess I was feeling pretty good, pretty blessed, ’cause I
gave him twenty dollars, which is more than I ever spent on the lottery in my
life
. And then, well, then you know the rest. But that’s how I come to be up
here
.”

Someone started clapping. Others took it up and the applause grew into a great wind of adulation which Shaw could feel blowing
against his brow and running through his hair. His lungs filled up. He felt the deep scarlet pounding of his blood.

Creave opened the floor for questions.

Romeo’s
eyes were on Mitch. Mitch was standing on the stage just behind Shaw, and he looked all wound-up like he was about to come
unsprung. He had that big fat lower lip which was just perched out there, and sweat dripped off his chin. And watch his eyes,
thought Romeo. Those bulgy eyes, like eggs hard-boiling, how they’re fixing on Shaw with such resentment. Bad, broken thinking
going on in that brain.

A reporter was saying, “This question is for Mr. McBride. Mr. McBride —”

“Call me Shaw.”

“Shaw, do you think all this money might change you for the worse?”

“Well. I guess that’s, that’s what brought this country down, isn’t it? That’s why we had the Wall Street collapse. Because
of greed. And it could happen to me, yeah. I hope it won’t.”

Another reporter: “What are you going to buy, Shaw?”

Shaw stroked his chin a bit, as though this was the first he’d thought about the question. The audience knew it was being
teased. Some soft chuckling, while Shaw held fire, held fire… and then: “Well, I’m not going to buy anything. I’m going to
give it all away.”

The whole room drew in its breath at once.

Had he really just said that? Had he really just committed to giving away a hundred and fifty-nine million dollars?

Then his features lightened. “Actually that’s not quite true. I plan to keep back a little bit for myself. Enough to get me
a bass boat.”

More laughter, though now the quality of the laughter had changed. Now there were notes of amazement mixed in, and crazed
ebullience. The audience was over the moon.

But Romeo kept his eyes on Mitch, and Mitch’s expression was growing darker and darker.

Mitch
was saying silently to himself, I’ll kill the piece of shit.

The piece of
shit
. The way he’s twisting the name of the Lord to his own ends, and spreading his lies all over the world, and he thinks I’ll
just stand here and
let him get away with this
? He thinks I’m such a lamb that I’ll let him drag the name of the Lord through the muck of his evil lies? He’ll soon find
out I’m not a lamb. When I take his gun from him, when I deposit a bullet from his own damn gun into his own damn eye, he
won’t think I’m a lamb then, will he? He’ll change his damn mind then, won’t he?

Mitch searched the faces of the audience. One by one he located the members of his family. All here. Mom, right up front.
Cousin Harry. And there’s Rocket; and Patsy’s brother Shelby with Miriam and their kids. And Alfred. And Will. And all of
Jane’s kids. Everyone. All safe. Even my friend Enoch, and Vince from Lions of Judah: my people are here and accounted for.
And Romeo is out patrolling the streets — so the only thing I have to worry about is Shaw’s gun. If I lunge, and come into
him hard enough, I’ll knock him clear off the stage and into the front rows of the audience. Then I’ll leap after him. Right
into the storm, into the screaming and the chairs flying, and he’ll be confused by the fall, so I’ll just grab the gun from
his holster and put it to his skull and shoot him, and the bastard won’t seem like Mother Teresa
then
, will he? But here you go, watch this, here’s a special delivery to
hell
, asshole.

And I will do it. I’ll do it now.

You think I’m a lamb?

Your time for thinking that is about up.

Romeo
was praying: Shaw, turn around. Right behind you, the fucker’s gone psycho; turn around and look at him!
Turn around!

But Shaw was running on and on about the bass boat he was going to buy, how he wanted it to have a four-stroke Verado engine,
a Humminbird Fishfinder, etc. He was oblivious to everything but the sound of his own voice and the love coming back at him
from the crowd. Completely ignoring Mitch. Mitch’s popeyed glare reminded Romeo of the animal in the wheel well. That man
wants revenge. He wants his dignity back. He’s desperate for some bloodletting here, and he knows his family’s safe, and he’ll
make his move
any second.
He’ll rush Shaw and knock him down and take his gun from him and kill him. And then I’ll have to kill Mitch, and the porks
will have to kill
me
, and everything will be pointless and blacked-out and waves of shit forever.

A reporter asked: “Mr. Boatwright?”

It took Mitch a moment to realize the question was for him.

“Mr. Boatwright, you saved this boy’s soul, and now he says he’s going to give away all this money — do you, would you call
this a miracle?”

Slowly Mitch approached the mike. And muttered into it, “A
miracle
?”

Then he fell silent. Scarily silent, like he couldn’t even
speak
, he was so full of venom.

And then right there in front of everyone, he turned and glowered at Shaw. Shaw’s grin evaporated. A hush fell over the audience.
It was like a shadow, a huge cold shadow descending over this hall. And Romeo knew he had to do
something
, anything, and right now.

He found himself stepping forward:

“CAN
I
ASK SOMETHING? I GOT A QUESTION!”

Mitch was taken aback.

Romeo shouted: “I GOT A QUESTION FOR TARA! TARA, DON’T YOU THINK YOUR DADDY’S ANGRY? AT HAVING TO SHARE THIS MONEY?”

Tara turned to him. And recognized him.

The Lottery guy was scolding from the corner of the stage, “Sir, there’s a line here! There are questioners ahead of you —”

But there was nothing in Romeo’s thoughts except the message he was sending to Tara:
I’m here
.

He boomed out: “YOUR DADDY’S GOTTA BE PISSED! HERE’S ALL THIS MONEY, AND THIS STRANGER’S GONNA THROW IT AWAY, AND IF IT WERE
ME I WOULDN’T LET ANYBODY SHARE
MY
MONEY!”

None of it came out with any coherence, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was:
I’m here. I’m ten steps from your grandmother. Stop him now.

And he saw her starting to get it. She shot a look at her father, and she got it. There was a long moment when it felt as
though the world was tottering, and then Tara put her arm over her father’s shoulder and drew him toward the mike and said,
“No sir, my father’s not angry at all! He’s just, well, we’re all kind of
stunned
, you know? But we’re happy to share this prize and it
is
a miracle and I’m just so proud of my daddy!”

She embraced him. There was a smattering of applause, as she spoke a few private words into his ear. Romeo thought: she’s
telling him who I am.

Mitch looked down at him.

Romeo gave him a little wave. And pointed at Nell.

Mitch saw this. The fight drained out of him. Right before Romeo’s eyes, he seemed to slump — but Tara still had her arm around
him and she held him up, even as she extended her other arm to Shaw. Then the three of them were arm in arm in a row, and
Tara was beaming and weeping, and the applause really got going and flashbulbs lit up all over the room. Patsy and Jase came
over and the whole family was standing there with Shaw right in the middle. The audience got to its feet, and everyone was
clapping and whooping, and there’s no question, thought Romeo: this
is
a miracle, we’re still alive and it’s a genuine fucking miracle.

Tara
drove on the way back. They pulled away from the crowd at the inn’s parking lot, and went down G Street. Deathly silence.
Nobody spoke. When Shaw sent a text message, the clicking of the phone keys was perfectly audible.

She turned onto Norwich Street. The storefront churches, the ghost-town façades. After a minute Shaw got a text reply — and
instructed her, “Turn here.”

She pulled into an abandoned minimall. Florist, beauty salon, dance academy: all forsaken. The only store that still survived
was an H&R Block, but since this was Saturday even that was shut.

“Go around back,” said Shaw.

Behind the stores, under a live-oak tree, was a huddle of dumpsters.

“Kill the engine.”

She did. He opened the door and got out, and walked away, leaving them to roast in the heat.

No one said anything.

Flock of grackles presiding in the live-oak tree. Now and then one of them would drop down into a dumpster, peck around, fly
up again.

When she saw Romeo she got so scared she thought she might black out. Tears came pouring out of her eyes. No one in the car
could see this though, so long as she didn’t turn.

Romeo was standing with Shaw by the back door to the old beauty salon. They were having a discussion, except it was only Shaw
doing the talking. He was gesticulating, impassioned; his face was flushed. Too far to hear anything though. All Tara could
hear was the spitting of the grackles in the oak tree.

Romeo
stood there as Shaw told him, “You were right. I was a fool. I keep having faith in people, and then they fuck me over. Every
time.
These assholes. They don’t even value their
own family
— how can you work with them? I’m through. I don’t care what you do to them. I tried to protect them. But that’s what people
are like. It’s kind of a pure, animal selfishness. If you hadn’t been out in that audience, they’d be dead! The whole family!
Fuck them. You have no idea how much I hate them. They’ve turned my life into a nightmare. They want to fuck us? Fuck them
right back.”

In this hell of noontime heat, with such a weight of malice pressing in the air, it was a struggle for Romeo to say anything.
But he finally managed: “I could try to talk to them.”

“
Talk
to them? We have to
punish
them.”

“Let me try to talk to them.”

“Oh, do what you fucking like,” said Shaw, and he turned away.

Romeo fetched his broken saber from the trunk of the Tercel. Then he was headed for the Boatwrights’ van, but Shaw stopped
him. “Romeo.”

“Yeah.”

“Make them believe you this time.”

“Yeah.”

“Make them believe you’ve got nothing to lose. Make them think you’re completely psycho.”