Southern Fried (29 page)

He rubbed my arm. “The election is months away, Trip,” he

said. “This will all be over long before then. And we’ll have what

we need to derail those assholes.”

Again I sighed. “Not if tomorrow doesn’t go well,” I said.

“It will,” he said, wisely changing the channel. “It will.”

§ § § §

Morning came soon enough, with large cups of coffee and

homemade pastries, all set up for us on the veranda, the sun

already warm, the breeze rustling the water oaks behind the

house. I smiled at my friends as we sat down and sipped away.

Sissy came out, wiping her hands on her apron. “Ya’ll look

well-rested,” she said.

In fact, we all looked well-fucked, but far be it from me to

point out the blatantly obvious. “Sorry we can’t stay longer,” I

said, really and truly meaning it. “But we have some, uh, errands

to run before we make it on home.”

She nodded and smiled. “Come back any time, sugar,” she

said, the smile growing big and wide, making me miss Granny

all the more.

My heart thumped inside my chest. “Yes, ma’am. Will do.”

We quickly finished our breakfast, hugged Sissy goodbye, and

were on our way. The University wasn’t far away. The road was

thick with greenery on either side, soon parting to reveal stately

marble buildings, students everywhere, enjoying the warm sun as

they studied on lawns and stoops and benches.
Granny should’ve

sent me here
, I thought, the sadness rising from my chest.

“There’s the main library,” said Stella. “I’ve been here

before, years ago. They have a great selection of pre-Civil-War

architecture books and blue prints. Which sure does help in my

southeRn FRied
189

line of work.” She pointed to some parking spaces off to the side

of the building. “Plus, I know where they keep all the microfilm.

If the old college newspapers are anywhere, they’ll be there.”

I said a silent prayer as we hopped out, the four of us running

up the marble steps and inside the old building, our footsteps

echoing down the hallway as we followed Stella to a set of

elevators and down, down, down into the bowels of the library.

“Cryptish,” I said, with a shiver.

“Dry and cold,” Stella said. “Better for the film.” She pointed

to the lack of windows. “And no sunshine to fade anything.”

I nodded and approached the counter, explaining what we

needed. The student-worker nodded and set the four of us up on

four machines. She returned a short while later, the canisters set

down to the side of each of us. “Each one represents one year

of the college newspaper for the years you asked for,” she told

us, quickly offering a tutorial on how the machines worked. And

then she was off, leaving us to our own devices.

Stella had what would be their freshman year, Jake their

sophomore, Zeb their junior, and me their senior. We were

looking for anything that stuck out, that named either Jeeves or

Robert E. in anything nefarious, blackmailable.

We sighed right on down the line, our hands cranking the

film, the long-forgotten pages illuminated as they slid past, the

minutes ticking by, slow as a snail on the back of a slug. But

eventually we hit on something. Something small but telling.

“Look,” whisper-shouted Stella.

We all jumped up and joined her at her machine, each of us

looking into the lens.

My heart went pitter-patter. It was a picture of Jeeves and

Robert E., both young and handsome, smiling brightly for the

camera. The caption was simple. “Roommates Walt Smithy and

Robbie Pellingham pledge Pi Alpha Sigma,” I read, then scanned

the article on pledge week. “Well, they were indeed roommates

and joined the same fraternity,” I said. “That’s a start.”

190 Rob Rosen

Stella nodded. “Roommates would know a lot about each

other. Things that could haunt you down the road.”

We all echoed her nod and went back to our machines. An

hour went by before anything else presented itself. And this was

a much bigger
anything
. In fact, it was a something. “Look,” I

whispered. “Quick.”

They all jumped up and joined me at my machine. The film

was locked to an article on an event that took place close to the

end of their senior year. The picture was merely a fraternity

house, the headline reading,
Rape at the Pi Alpha Sigma House
.

“Our boys were brothers there by then,” I said, after they’d all

read the article.

“But it doesn’t mention any names,” said Zeb. “It just says

that it happened after a big party in one of the rooms. The girl

was drunk and barely lucid. All she could remember was a tattoo.

Not a name or a face. For some reason, just the tattoo.”

I gulped, my face draining of blood. “A rebel flag tattoo,” I

said.

“So what?” said Stella. “It’s the South. Rebel flag tattoos are

common. More so back then.”

I nodded and gulped yet again. “Jeeves has a rebel flag tattoo.”

And then my white face turned crimson. Yes, I remembered the

one I saw when I’d undressed my horse-tranquilized butler. “Just

below his bellybutton,” I squeaked out. “I suppose, if the rape

included oral penetration, it’s something you’d remember.”

The others grimaced. “And, uh, how do you know about this

tattoo?” Jake asked.

“Swimming,” I quickly blurted out. “Back when I was a kid,

we all went swimming together.” I forced a smile. “I remember

the tattoo from then.” The gulp tripled. “Jeeves is a murderer
and

a rapist?” I asked, belly twisting into knots.

Stella strummed her hand on my chair. “Well, the rape is

definitely something you could blackmail someone over.” She

continued scanning the remainder of the film. With little left of

the year, it didn’t take too long. Then she looked up and frowned.

southeRn FRied
191

“No one was ever charged. Without a name or a face, the tattoo

wasn’t enough. In the end, no one believed a drunk girl; and none

of the brothers ever came forward or implicated one of their

own. Go figure.”

I flicked the machine off. “But if Robert E. knew something,

knew that Jeeves had done it, he could bend him to his wishes.

Blackmail him for years to come. Force him to go from being a

lawyer to a butler, if need be. Because if it came out that he was

a rapist, his lawyer days would’ve been over anyway.”

Now everyone was nodding, and Jake piped in next. “So when

Robert E. gets your mom pregnant with Beau, he blackmails

Jeeves to work at the mansion, to make sure word doesn’t get

out. When it looks like your mom is going to go find Beau, Jeeves

tinkers with the car and kills your parents. Your granny is scared

for you and Beau as a result and keeps the two of you apart years

later, so no one else gets killed,” he said, rattling it all off. But

then his nod turned to a shake. “Doesn’t sound like your granny,

though.”

Stella sighed. “Nope, not one bit. No way would she keep

Jeeves on staff for all these years, treat him like family like she

did. Maybe she didn’t know about the rape, but she knew he was

a suspect in your parent’s death.” Her sigh repeated. “Plus, we all

know Jeeves. Does anyone peg him for a rapist or a murderer?”

She looked at us, waiting for a show of hands. None were raised.

“Me neither,” she said. “And I’m sure your granny didn’t either,

Trip.”

“So now what do we do?” asked Zeb. “We can’t prove the

blackmail or Jeeves’ innocence.” And now it was his turn to sigh.

“Too bad your granny is gone, Trip. She’s the only person who’d

know more than we do now, the only person who was around

back then and might have the answers.”

“No,” I suddenly said, the familiar lightbulb turning on over

my head, which instantly pulsed and glowed.

“No?” Stella asked. “What do you mean
no
?”

“Sissy,” I replied, already heading toward the elevator, my

192 Rob Rosen

friends following close behind. “Sissy was there. She lived near

Granny. She knew my parents. She was around when all this shit

went down. And she was friends with all of them.”

We took the outside stairs two at a time, all of us running

now. “And she’s nearby,” said Stella. “And not a five hour car ride

away.”

We tore for the car. “Exactly,” I agreed. “Now step on it,

Zeb.”

We hopped in and he sped out of the parking lot. “Stepping

on it, boss,” he whooped. “We’ll be there quick as a wink.”

Which we were, screeching to a stop out in front before

running to her front door. Needless to say, she was surprised

to see us. Doubly so when I started pelting her with questions

as we sat in her living room, drinking our, not surprisingly,
peach

iced tea. “Did you know that my mom was pregnant before she

had me?” was the obvious first one, quickly followed by, “Do

you know Granny’s butler, Walter? Do you know about a rape at

Emory while he was in college? Did Granny know about it? Did

Granny suspect him of killing my parents? Did word get out that

he was investigated for it?”

She sat there, eyes wide, tea set down on an embroidered

coaster. “Well now,” she said, clearing her throat. “That was a

lot to take in all at one time, wasn’t it?” She forced a smile as she

looked at each of us in turn.

“Sorry,” I apologized, with a heavy sigh. “We just, uh, we just

found out about a lot of things all of a sudden and don’t know

anyone else who was around at that time.”

“Except me,” she said.

“Except you,” I agreed.

Her sigh echoed mine. She took another sip of tea and then

nodded. “That was a long time ago, ya’ll, but, yes, I knew about

some of what you’re asking about.” Her eyes locked on to mine.

“Not that your granny was one to share things about her personal

life, you understand, but the community was even smaller back

then. And some things you just couldn’t keep a secret.”

southeRn FRied
193

“Which things?” I asked, my stomach now gurgling.

Her nod repeated itself. “Your mamma was a fine woman,

Trip,” she began. “But back then, there wasn’t, well, there wasn’t

the education we have now. The
protection
. And that sort of thing

happened more often than any of us cared to admit.”

“So you knew she had another baby?” I asked.

“Suspected, yes. One minute she was dating that Pellingham

boy, the next she was gone. Less than a year later she comes back

with your daddy. Wasn’t too hard to put two and two together.”

“And what was Robert E. like?” Stella asked.

Her smile faltered. “Have you met him?” she asked.

Stella shook her head. “Not personally, no.”

“Lucky you,” Sissy replied. “All those Pellinghams, chips

on their shoulders the size of boulders. Ladies included. And

that Robert E. is and was the worst of them all. Still, he was

handsome and charming. Couldn’t rightly blame your mama for

what she saw in him. Like I always say, though, a skunk is cute as

the dickens, but that don’t mean I want to go up and pet one.”

I chuckled, understanding what she was getting at. “And

Walter Smithy?”

Strangely, now she chuckled. It wasn’t something I’d think of

doing regarding the likes of him. “Just as handsome as that best

friend of his, only with a good soul inside of him.” The chuckle

became a snort. “Now him I’d like to have pet.”

I choked on my tea. “Him? Walter?”

She shrugged. “He was a looker, back in the day. And sweet

as a bee’s behind, pardon the expression.”

“Walter Smithy?” Jake asked. “Are you sure we’re talking

about the same guy?”

Her nod returned. “The same one, yes.” Her chuckling

abruptly stopped. “He changed after your parent’s death, Trip.

The spark went out of him. All the joy. But I’ll tell you one thing,

he didn’t have nothing to do with their death. Your granny told

194 Rob Rosen

me so herself right after the funeral. Warned me about it in case

the police came asking.”

“But they didn’t, right?” I asked. “Because he had an alibi.

Robert E.”

Again with the shrug. “Yes, exactly. My, you’re all regular

Nancy Drews and the Hardy Boys, huh? In any case, if your

granny didn’t think he did it, then he didn’t do it. Because if she

had a grain of a suspicion, he wouldn’t have stayed on at the

mansion. In fact, he’d be long dead, too. Because she would’ve

killed him herself, let me tell you.”

And then it was my turn to chuckle. “Sounds like Granny.”

I paused. “And then, the rape a few years earlier? Did you hear

about that, too?”

She lifted up her tea and took another sip. “I do know about

that, yes, but why do you ask? I mean, how on earth could that

be related to your granny?”

It was Stella’s turn again. “The rape occurred in the same

fraternity house that Walter and Robert E. were brothers in. We

think that Robert E. blackmailed Walter over it. Perhaps has been

blackmailing him ever since then, in fact.”