Bring on the Blessings (16 page)

Barrett Payne was accustomed to rising every morning at 4:00 a.m. Now that he’d retired, his wake-up time had been dialed down to 6:00 a.m. Sheila entered the small kitchen at 6:30 to begin preparing breakfast, and by 6:45, the smells of coffee and bacon filled the trailer aromatically.

By 7:15, because Preston still hadn’t made an appearance, Barrett went upstairs and stopped for a moment in the bedroom he and Lily shared to pick up the old boom box he’d unpacked last night. With it in hand, he walked down to Preston’s door and knocked.

Nothing.

He knocked again and called out in a loud voice, “Preston. Time for breakfast.”

Still nothing so he opened the door. The overweight kid was sprawled on the bed and was out like light at night. Barrett jostled him gently. “Time to get up, Son.”

Preston opened one eye. “Go away.”

“Time for breakfast.”

“Too early. Go away,” he repeated crossly while turning over and drifting back into slumber.

The former drill sergeant reached down and snatched the covers back. Smiling, he pushed Play on the boom box. The sound of reveille, loud as the engine of a jet filled the room with its trumpet call. Preston bolted awake like the bed was on fire.

The
rata-tat-tat
of the trumpeting continued loud and long. Preston yelled angrily over it, “What the hell’s the matter with you!”

Payne cut the music. “You awake now?”

In the silence, sullen eyes met the Colonel’s. “Yeah I’m awake. I’m deaf too. That was mean.”

“Mrs. Payne gets up every morning and cooks breakfast. What’s mean is if we don’t respect her enough to eat it when it’s ready.”

Preston was in no mood for logic.

“So get washed up and come to the table.” He walked back over to the door. “Good morning, Son,” and he exited.

With a snarl on his face, Preston murmured a profane two-word reply that told the colonel exactly what he could do with himself. However, he knew further resistance was futile, so he left the bed and went into the bathroom to wash up and brush his teeth.

Tamar, Marie, and Agnes had volunteered to take the kids to Hays to the movies, and after they left, Bernadine stopped in to see Lily, who was working on setting up a Web site for the town. “I’m going into town. Is there anything I need to take to Trent?”

“I have some work orders, so is it okay for me to ride with you?”

Since Bernadine never remembered Lily actually offering to seek out Trent’s company, she wondered what this meant. “Okay when we get back I want you to see about ordering something to drive. Truck. SUV. Something so you can get around in. I’m paying.”

Lily had sold her car back home rather than have the fancy import tortured by the terrible roads. “I can pay for it.”

“I know that, but consider it my gift. Okay?”

And before Lily could argue, Bernadine said, “Let’s ride.”

B
ernadine’s vision for Henry Adams was beginning to take shape like a lump of clay on a potter’s wheel. In addition to the homes being built, the new neighborhood center the residents wanted would be the first municipal building to go up, and it was almost finished. Once it was, the town’s residents would have a sumptuous new place to hold their gatherings. As it stood now, the only places available was the church basement or the Dog and Cow, neither of which was large enough to accommodate everyone comfortably.

They found Trent up on a roof.

“Hey, Bernadine. Hey, Lil.”

Bernadine stared. She heard the quiet affection in Trent’s voice along with the shortening of Lily’s name. She also saw that Lily was smiling like a shy teenager. Had she missed something?

Trent came down to them. “How are you ladies doing this morning?”

“Fine,” Bernadine said.

“Fine,” Lily echoed. “You?”

“Spent the morning answering Amari’s’ questions but I think I’m surviving.”

Bernadine looked between the two again. She had missed something. Damn! Putting that thought away for now, she walked with them as they toured the site. Standing next to Trent as he pointed out various details on the building, Bernadine considered him a blessing. Since heading up the operation he always had time for her many questions and didn’t seem to mind helping her understand the stuff she knew nothing about, like heating and cooling installation, plumbing lines, insulation methods, and the rest. When she first began putting her dreams together for this endeavor, she was glad she hadn’t known just how much work it was going to be or how much she didn’t know. If she had, she might have said, “Never mind,” and flown off to Nepal or the Bahamas instead.

But here she was, wearing a hard hat, construction boots, and her gold bangles, watching her hopes come to life.

“Another few days and they should be ready for occupation.”

The sound of that was like music to her ears, but she could barely hear it over all the sounds of hammering, drills, saws, and heavy equipment filling the air. Accustomed to seeing her on site, the busy workers acknowledged her with waves and smiles.

“Is everybody around here always this friendly?”

Trent nodded. “Yes, but these folks are more friendly
than most because you’re providing jobs. Not much call for new construction around here these days. Economy being what it is, many of them would be working out of state this summer were it not for you. Their families are probably pretty happy with you too.”

“Never thought about that.”

“In your own small way, you’re helping a lot more folks than just us. Crew Chief Kelly told me that some of his people were a season away from losing their homes. Not anymore.”

Her heart tightened with emotion. She hadn’t thought about there being a ripple effect to any of this. She wondered how many more people would be blessed by what she was trying to do. She had no answer but hoped the numbers would soar into the thousands.

“What the hell do those two want?” Trent asked.

Walking up were Morton Prell and Riley.

“No clue,” she said with irritation.

“
Ah,
Ms. Brown. Trent,” Prell said in his Karloff voice. “How are you on this nice sunny day?” His loose-fitting brown suit fit him like the walking skeleton that he was.

“Fine, Mr. Prell. And you?”

“Doing well.”

Bernadine turned to Riley. “Mr. Curry.”

He nodded to her and to Trent and Lily. Bernadine swore she saw an evil gleam in Riley’s eyes, which was more than enough to warn her to watch her back.

Prell was looking at the construction. “I see that things are moving along well here.”

“I’m pleased with the progress.” Bernadine hadn’t seen
him since Marie’s birthday party, and seeing him today was way too soon for her liking.

“Riley tells me you’re also putting up municipal buildings, like a recreation center?”

“Yes.”

“I’d like to invest in some of what you’re doing.”

“In exchange for what, may I ask?”

He gave her the cadaver’s smile. “A small say in how things go.”

“No thanks.”

“You’re a hard woman to negotiate with, Ms. Brown. You turned down my invitation to invest in some of my ideas, and now you’re turning down my request to invest in yours?”

“That sounds about right.”

“I’m not accustomed to being told no, Ms. Brown.”

“Sorry to hear that.” She could tell by his tone that he was not liking the way this was going; she was sorry about that too.
Not!
“Will there be anything else, Mr. Prell?”

“Yes, since you’re being so difficult, you can move those trailers you have squatting on my land off my land and tell Tamar July I’m calling in her mortgage for violating the norenters’ clause in her contract.”

Trent stiffened, as did Bernadine. “What?”

“You heard me, Ms. Brown,” he repeated with a snake’s smile. “I’ve owned that land of hers for over ten years. It says specifically that there will be no other housing structures of any kind erected without my expressed approval.”

Trent said, “Let me get this straight. Just because she
won’t let you in on the project, you’re going to take it out on my grandmother?”

“I’m just exercising my rights as the landowner.”

“Which means, yes,” Bernadine replied, looking him up and down like the pitiful excuse for a human being that he was. “Who else do you plan to mess with because of me?”

“Let’s see, we could involve Dobbs and Shepard. Their combined two thousand acres went into foreclosure five years ago, but out of the goodness of my heart, I haven’t evicted them. Then there’s Agnes Jefferson. That poor old woman owes my bank over fifty-five thousand.”

“So in total, they owe you what?”

He thought for a moment. “About seven hundred and fifty thousand, give or take a dollar or two.”

“That much?” she asked.

He nodded and seemed to be pleased with apparently having the upper hand.

“And what’s the name of your bank?” Bernadine asked while digging around in her Hermès tote for her phone. Bernadine held title to the town proper, but the surrounding landowners owned their own acreage.

“First Franklin Savings and Loan,” Riley offered proudly, speaking for the first time. “Been in business for going on fifty years.” He looked pleased as well.

She noticed that Prell seemed annoyed with Riley for butting into the conversation, but that wasn’t any of her concern at the moment. She was focused on the number she was punching into her phone. “Excuse me for just a moment.”

With Prell and the others looking on, Bernadine waited for the connection to ring through and when it did, she said to her friend on the other end of the line, “Hey, Tina girl. How are you?”

“Fine,” came the response in Bernadine’s ear. The two women chitchatted for a couple of seconds, then Bernadine asked, “Need you to do me a favor. Got a bank I want you to buy.”

Prell’s eyes grew big as saucers.

“Yeah, the head cheese is a bastard and threatening to put some senior citizens that I know out in the street. Need you to buy it, then send me their mortgages so I can pay them. Hold on a minute.” Bernadine turned to Prell. “First Franklin Savings and Loan is the name of your bank, right?”

He looked like he was about to choke to death.

Bernadine ignored him and resumed her conversation and then ended it, saying, “Okay, hon. Thanks a million. I’m sure he’ll put up a fight, but do what you need to do to acquire it. I’ll fax you the names on those mortgages later today. See you soon. Love you too.”

She closed the phone and turned to the ashen-faced Prell. “I am not somebody to mess with. You may be a big fish here in this small Kansas pond, but in my world you are plankton. Is there anything else you’d like to threaten me with?”

Prell was clutching his chest as if his heart had stopped, but Bernadine was too angry and too through to care.

“Have a good day, gentlemen. Let’s go, Lily. Trent, we’ll see you later.”

He appeared pleased. “Yes, ma’am.”

In the truck, Bernadine pushed the stick into first and drove away. She was so angry she was shaking.

“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Lily joked. “That was Oscar-winning material there.”

“Asshole. I should have had Tina buy his damn house too. Threatening me.”

“Did you see his face? I’m sure he wet his pants. Riley looked like he’d swallowed his tongue. Tamar is going to want to adopt you.”

“Good, because I’ve already adopted her.” Bernadine couldn’t believe the nerve of the man. He actually thought she was going to be intimidated. Maybe if this had been 1945 when women were powerless…She wanted to turn the truck around and go back and run him down.

“Will your friend really buy his bank, or were you just kidding?”

Bernadine turned to him, “Do I look like I’m kidding?”

Lily sat back against the seat and beamed with joy. “After he gets through having that heart attack, he’s going to be real mad.”

“Good, because he made me mad.”

“So who is your friend Tina, or am I being too nosy?”

“Nope. She’s one of my Bottom Women sisters. Blonde, blue eyes, lives in Connecticut. Love her to death. She collects independent financial institutions like some folks collect sea shells. Her husband was Mitchell Craig.”

“The big banker guy that went to jail last summer?”

“Same one. He divorced Tina about fifteen years ago. She threw a party the night he was sentenced.”

“Not a friendly divorce, I take it?”

“No, he divorced her to marry their son’s nanny, who drained him like a vampire. He was embezzling for her, which is how he wound up doing ten to twenty at Club Fed.”

“Karma is a bitch.”

“Amen.”

Lily thought about her own divorce and how painful it had been. Her ex was on his fourth wife at last count, each one younger than the last. The only positive thing to come out of her short marriage was her son, Davis. The rest was crap. “Do you think you’ll ever get married again?”

“Not if I can help it. I’m enjoying running my own table.” Bernadine looked over. “What about you?”

Lily shrugged. “Don’t know. I do know that Winston won’t be the one, though.”

“Is he still calling?”

“Almost every day. He can’t believe I threw over a college professor to come back here. Says he’s going to keep calling me until I come to my senses.”

“Think that’ll happen any time soon?” she asked, amusement in her eyes.

“Not while I’m drawing breath. He’s so damn boring. I want to kick myself for even thinking about settling for him. And that’s what I was doing. Settling.”

“What’s your son saying about all this?”

“He’s all for the new me. Told me my life was stagnating in Atlanta and that it was about time I got off my butt and started living.” She smiled. “Can’t wait for you to meet him. Told him all about you. You’ll like him.”

“Can’t wait to meet him either.” Bernadine wanted to ask her about Trent but didn’t feel she and Lily had known each other long enough to talk about the truly private matters in their lives, but she hoped their relationship would reach that point eventually. There wasn’t that much of a difference in their ages; her being the older one of course, but she thought it might be nice to have someone in town under sixty-five she could talk with and relate to. “You know, even though we’re technically employer and employee, be nice if we could be friends too.”

“Thinking the same thing.”

Their eyes met.

“Then girlfriend, me and you.”

“All righty now.”

Later, back at the office, Bernadine’s phone rang. It was Tina.

“Hey, girl,” Bernadine said. “What’s up?”

“Are you sure this Prell person owns this bank?”

“Fairly sure, why?”

“If he does, he’s in big trouble.”

“Hold on a minute. I want to put you on speaker.”

Lily came out of the back with a sandwich in her hand.

Bernadine said, “You might want to listen in.”

Lily nodded and took a seat.

“Ok, Tina. Go ahead.”

“There’s nothing on file anywhere that indicates this is a registered and viable financial institution. According to what I could find, the First Franklin Savings and Loan has been defunct for years.”

“What?” Bernadine and Lily shouted in unison.

Tina laughed at the reaction and asked, “Who’s that with you, B.B.?”

“My assistant, Lily Fontaine.”

“Sounds like the name of burlesque queen from back in the day. Hi, Lily.”

“Hey, Tina.”

“Hope I didn’t offend you.”

“Nope.”

“Good.”

As Bernadine and Lily listened in, Tina explained that all records showed that the Feds had sent Prell a notice back in ’03 that his savings and loan was being investigated because of poor record keeping and insufficient deposits. Tina explained, “The auditors said Prell couldn’t produce any of his records, nor did he have copies. Everything he did show them was on paper.”

“I’m not surprised, really,” Bernadine offered. “Old as he is, he probably wouldn’t know a computer if it ran over him in the street.”

“But get this. The Feds closed him down six months later. So if he’s been taking money from folks as a mortgage lender and he’s not one, I’m pretty sure that’s a felony.”

Bernadine and Lily shared a look.

Bernadine asked, “So what’s that mean?”

“I’m going to talk to a few lawyers and you should do the same, but in my mind it means, what mortgages? If he’s not a banker and doesn’t have paperwork backing up the contract he supposedly has with them, his claims are null and void.”

Lily asked, “But wouldn’t the state have some kind of record?”

“You’d think they would, but they can’t seem to find anything current either. Either he didn’t file anything with the state, or everything was lost years ago. One of the clerks told me that lots of documents fell through the cracks when agencies switched from paper to computers in the seventies and eighties.” Bernadine asked, “So how are my friends going to prove they own their land?”

“The clerk said if they have their original deeds, fax her copies and she’ll see what can be done. She made it seem like she was just going to plug them into the system and pretend like they were already there, especially when I explained to her that these were old people who’d been scammed.”