Alva cut her eyes at John. She knew that he never lent money to anyone.
Maybe that’s why she looked surprised when he handed his keys over to me and said, “You can take my Ford. I got the money in the room. Come on. I think I got somethin’ fit you too.”
UPSTAIRS IN JOHN’S ROOM I tried on a woolen sports coat and a pair of heavy wool slacks. The jacket was loose and I needed to punch another hole in John’s leather belt to keep the pants up around my waist.
I looked like a hipster from the forties in my baggy clothes.
“Where’d you meet Alva?” I asked him after I finished with my wardrobe.
“At Omar’s wedding.”
Omar’s father, Odell Jones, was one of my best friends. It hurt to hear that he had thrown a wedding for his son without inviting me. But I understood why. Odell was a good friend but we both knew that when he called on me it would be because of trouble. He probably thought that it would have been a bad omen for me to show up at the service.
He might have been right.
“Yeah,” John was saying. “Omar met his girl down in Arkansas. He was doin’ riggin’ work for a oil company an’ then he met Cordelia. He knew right away that he was going to get married and brought her back up here. Cordelia had Alva come to be her maid of honor.
“Odell asked me to cater an’ bartend. I seen Alva once an’ that was it.”
John’s words were so heartfelt that I hesitated to ask my next question.
I hesitated but I did not fail.
“You heard from Grace lately, John?”
All of the dark reserve flowed back into John’s face. He didn’t have to utter a threat for me to choose my next words with care.
“I got to know, man. Listen, you remember that man she was in trouble with? That Bill Bartlett? He’s connected to this trouble I’m in. Somehow he’s in it.”
“How?”
“You don’t wanna know.”
John trusted my judgment. He knew I wasn’t trying to fool him.
“I heard she was doin’ smack,” he said. “That she got mixed up with some bad folks after that white man put her down.”
“The Gasteau brothers?”
“I don’t know, Easy. And like I said, I don’t wanna know.”
“I might have to call on you again, John.”
“You can call, brother,” he said. “But we’ll have to see if I come.”
CHAPTER 28
I WANTED ANOTHER DRINK. Canadian Club whiskey—no ice, no chaser. Straight up and straight down. But instead I stayed in John’s Ford outside of Bonnie Shay’s apartment building. It was a hair past five and I figured that if I waited long enough she’d appear. I didn’t want to go into any more hallways or apartment buildings. I didn’t want any more surprises.
I wanted to surprise somebody else for a change.
And I wanted some whiskey.
The sun was far off somewhere. The edge of the world had begun to glow orange. I planned to be home before Jesus and Feather woke up. But if I didn’t make it in time I knew that Jesus would be up to dress and feed Feather; she’d be there to hug him and kiss him good morning. I had children who were more adult than I was. Jesus didn’t have an after-school job because he was always taking care of us.
A small gray bus pulled up in front of Miss Shay’s apartment building. It had the words AIR FRANCE stenciled across its side in blood-colored paint.
Bonnie Shay, in a sleek little uniform, got out and put down two small bags. Somebody said something from one of the windows. Bonnie laughed and waved. When the bus drove off she bent down to pick up her bags.
“Miss Shay!” I yelled out of my window. I got out and stood across the street waiting for her reply.
“Yes?” She didn’t recognize me at first.
“I was given a letter by Idabell to give to you. I wanted to ask you what this was all about, so I waited here.” I held the letter up over my head.
If I was out to hurt her I could have slipped from my car and hit her over the head, she knew that. But maybe, maybe I was slick and wanted to get her into the car with me. She looked at the bags she had hanging from either hand, then put them down and waved for me to come over.
“Thank you,” I said as I came up to her.
I handed her the letter and she read it. Then she read it again.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “She said that she had to get out of town but she didn’t say why. She just left her dog with me and went.”