Fancy Dancer (11 page)
“Now that that’s out of the way, tell me about your interests in jazz. I’ve had a secret desire all my life to be a country-western singer. Willie Nelson and Clint Black are my idols. I just love country music. The thing is, I can’t carry a note. Mom said I sound like a cat in distress. I think she called it caterwauling, or something like that.”
“No kidding. I never would have pegged you for country music. You play any instruments?”
“Guitar. Self-taught. I’ll leave it to you to figure out how good I am at it. How about you?”
“Piano. I had years of lessons. Forced lessons. I don’t even own a piano.”
“Well, we’re here. I want the biggest steak on the menu, with a load of those thick potato wedges that come with horseradish sauce, and the grilled asparagus. And you can pick up the tab, bro. Hey, how’s it feel being bald?”
Jake slid out of the car. “I feel naked. Takes two weeks for it to sprout back. You gotta shave it off, or the smell stays with you. Once you come off a rig, everyone heads for the nearest barber. You saw Zeke. The man has the thickest head of hair of anyone I’ve ever seen. And he always prided himself on that beard of his. He’ll let it grow in again. He says it defines who he is. A man with a lot of hair and a beard.” Jake guffawed.
Inside, Jake asked for a booth in the back.
“Pretty damn dark in here,” Alex said as he motioned to the dark paneling and the deep burgundy leather booths.
“Yeah, it is kind of dark; it’s even darker in the back, but what the hell. There’s enough light to see to eat and drink. That’s what we’re here for, right?”
“And for you to tell me whatever it is you think I might not like to hear,” Alex said, following the hostess to the last booth in the room.
“That, too. Right now our first big decision is do we drink beer by the bottle or by the pitcher? By the pitcher means one for you and one for me. They automatically keep bringing new ones, unlike when you order by the bottle—sometimes you have to wait for them.”
“Then by all means let’s go by the pitcher. What’s our limit?”
“There is
no
limit, Alex.”
no
limit, Alex.”
“That serious, huh?” At the expression on Jake’s face, he mumbled, “Oh shit!”
Oh shit
was right.
was right.
The beer came.
The food came.
More beer came.
And still more beer came.
When the waitress cleared away their plates, she asked if they had a ride home.
“We do, young lady,” Alex said, his eyes crossing for her enjoyment. “Do you want us to pay our bill now?”
“That would be nice as I’m going off duty in another twenty minutes, and I’d like to close out my drawer.”
“My brother is paying tonight, aren’t you, bro?”
“I am paying.” Jake squinted down at the tab, added a very generous tip, and closed out his bill. Then he started a new one with a new waitress. “See how easy that was?”
“Yeah, that was easy. So, let’s talk, Jake, before I’m too drunk to understand what you’re going to tell me.”
Jake talked and Alex listened, for almost an hour and two more pitchers of beer, before Jake would allow Alex to ask questions.
Alex knuckled his eyes. “Okay. The only thing that bothers me is that you aren’t my brother. I was just getting used to you. Ah shit, you dumb jerk, you sneaked your way into my heart when I wasn’t looking. I just told you my big secret, a secret no one else in the world knows except my mother—that I aspire to be a country-western singer. You don’t tell shit like that to anyone but your mother or your brother.”
Jake was all choked up. “I won’t tell anyone, Alex. Your secret is safe with me.”
“See! See! That’s what a real brother would say, then later on, when he gets pissed off at you for whatever reason, he threatens to tell but would never really do it. I don’t care what they say, I want you for my brother. We don’t have to tell anyone, Jake.”
“No more lies, Alex. My whole life was a lie. Think about that!”
“I don’t want to think about that, Jake. Let’s go to that guy’s house, the one who spawned you, and beat the shit out of him for a second time. I’m a lawyer, I’ll get us out of it. Hey, did you see on the news that Judge Spindler is retiring this weekend? There’s going to be a big party.”
“Big whoopee! Who cares? Certainly not me. You want his job, Alex?”
Alex drained his glass of beer and started to laugh. “A Latino judge! Oh yeah.”
“After we kill that son of a bitch who had his way with my mother, we can work on that,” Jake said drunkenly.
Alex leaned forward. “When are we going to do the dirty, bro?”
“How about tomorrow after we sober up?”
“Okay,” Alex said agreeably. “Your mother wouldn’t want you to do that, would she?”
“No. She should have told me, Alex. I have no one. You can’t count that... that... that person who spawned me, and once we kill him, there is no one. This is too sad.”
“You have me, Jake. And my mother. She doesn’t even know you, but she loves you anyway because she knows I love you. And you have Zeke. I think that Fancy person might grow to love you, too.”
“Yeah, and pigs fly.” Jake picked up his empty pitcher and waved it around. It was refilled within seconds.
“How do you feel, Jake, about you-know-who not being your father?”
Jake was drunk enough to let it all come out. “Jealous at first that you had a father, such as he is, and I didn’t have one. Betrayed by my mother and how she betrayed him. I did believe him when he said how much he loved her, but I guess he didn’t love her enough to forgive her. Isn’t love all about forgiveness, Alex?”
“You’re asking the wrong person, bro. My mother told me women are funny creatures, and men will never, ever understand them. I think she’s right,” Alex said fretfully. “That means women are superior to us men. That makes me itch.”
“So scratch,” Jake said, then burst out laughing. “Hey, you want to come home with me? We can have a sleepover. I can play my jazz favorites for you, and you can sing me some country-western ditties. That way we can get an early start to... you know, killing that skunk who spawned me.”
“That makes sense. I have to call my mother if I can find my phone.”
“Oops! Don’t look now, Alex, but I think she’s standing in the doorway, and, holy shit, Zeke is with her. That is Zeke, isn’t it?”
Alex squinted. “Yep, that’s Zeke, all right. And he’s with my mother. This is not good, Jake. Two of them against the two of us, and one of them is a woman, my very own mother. Mum’s the word, okay?”
The dark-haired woman, Zeke at her side, approached the table. “Hello, boys. I understand you need a ride home. Follow me—your chariot awaits. Meet my new best friend, Zeke Anders. He came by the bistro to thank me for what I did for him. He was worried about you two, and now I can see why.”
Jake tried his best to straighten up. “It’s all my fault. I coerced Alex. He didn’t want to get drunk—I insisted. Hi there, Zeke. I thought we tucked you in for the night. Tell this nice lady what a rascal I am and not to blame her son.”
“It’s all a lie, Mom. I came of my own free will, and I drank way more than Jake did. I was just going to call you for a ride home. Home to Jake’s house—we’re having a sleepover because we are going to . . .”
“Have a bad hangover in the morning,” Jake said quickly. He pretended not to see the strange look on Zeke’s face.
Dammit, nothing is going right tonight.
Dammit, nothing is going right tonight.
“How do you want to handle this, Zeke?” Sophia Rosario asked sweetly. “I’m sure you have more experience at things like this than I do.”
“How about this, Miss Sophia? I’ll drive them to Jake’s in Alex’s car and come back in the morning for my new truck. I think I can handle it. See if these two galoots owe any more money on the bill.”
Alex reared up and almost fell over for his efforts. “You sweet-talking my mother, Zeke?”
“Uh-huh. She invited me for dinner tomorrow. You got anything to say about that, son?”
Alex opted for the high road. “Nope.”
“That’s what I thought. C’mon now, let’s get you two drunks out to the car. I thought you could hold your liquor, boy,” Zeke hissed in Jake’s ear.
“Yeah, well, tonight was a little out of the ordinary, Zeke. I’ll tell you all about it sometime.”
Zeke nodded, his bald head gleaming under the bright fluorescent light in the foyer of the restaurant.
Outside in the crisp night air, Jake snapped to attention. He knew he was drunker than he’d ever been in his whole life, and he’d been on some serious drunks in his thirty-five years. He wasn’t sure, but he thought this was Alex’s first serious drunk. He’d corrupted poor Alex. Well, he’d have to make that right tomorrow. Tomorrow, he’d kill Clement Trousoux all by himself. He’d sneak out before Alex woke up and do the dirty deed and be back at the house in time to make him breakfast, and no one would be the wiser.
Boy, was he ever drunk.
Chapter II
Z
eke Anders looked at the digital clock on Jake’s stove. The second the clock turned over to the number six, he was on his feet and barreling up the stairs, where, like some angry drill sergeant, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Up and at ’em, boys!”
eke Anders looked at the digital clock on Jake’s stove. The second the clock turned over to the number six, he was on his feet and barreling up the stairs, where, like some angry drill sergeant, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Up and at ’em, boys!”
“What the hell!” Jake bellowed. He cracked one eye. “Zeke, what the hell are you doing here? What time is it?”
A voice, cursing ripely, came from down the hall. “Is there a fire? Did the alarm go off?”
“It’s six o’clock, and I’ve been out to the store already, so get your lazy asses in the shower so I can go home to my new digs. I’m too old to be babysitting the likes of you two. And I don’t give a good rat’s ass if you two have the queen mother of all hangovers or not. You play, you pay. How many times did I tell you that, Jake?”
“A thousand. Okay, two thousand,” Jake grumbled as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He felt like his head was going to spin right off his neck. “Why are you here, anyway?”
“Because that pretty lady at the Eye-talian restaurant asked me to bring you two home. Sweetest lady I ever met. How could I say no? She invited me to lunch. I think she recognized my sterling qualities.”
Jake wanted to laugh when he heard Alex yelling for Zeke to stay away from his mother, but his head hurt too bad.
Thirty minutes later, Jake and Alex trooped into the kitchen. Both looked at Zeke with a jaundiced eye, then they spied the aspirin bottle and the two tall glasses of tomato juice that both knew Zeke had doctored up.
“Now I got things to do and places to go, so tell me right now what the hell got into the two of you last night. And don’t even think about lying to me.”
Jake looked at Alex.
Alex looked at Jake.
Alex shrugged, and Jake licked at his lips.
“Okay, let’s hear it!”
Jake was like a runaway train as he repeated everything just the way he’d told it to Alex the night before. Then he took a deep breath and swallowed the tomato juice in one long gulp. Alex did the same.
“And your game plan is . . .”
“When our heads clear up, we’re going to New Orleans, to the Garden District, so I can kill Clement Trousoux. Alex is my lawyer; he’s going to make sure I don’t go to jail. Then I’m going to get a dog. After that, I’m coming back here to chill out,” Jake said, a wild look in his eyes.
“It sounded like a good plan last night,” Alex mumbled.
Jake looked at the dozen or so jelly doughnuts sitting on the table. He plucked one off the plate and jammed it into his mouth. “It’s still a good plan,” he blustered. “Why aren’t you saying anything, Zeke?”
“Because I’m speechless, that’s why. I knew you boys were drunk, but I didn’t think you were
that
drunk. There’s nothing worse than a stupid drunk. Especially one I helped raise. Dumb shits. Both of you are dumb shits,” Zeke repeated, to make sure the two of them got it.
that
drunk. There’s nothing worse than a stupid drunk. Especially one I helped raise. Dumb shits. Both of you are dumb shits,” Zeke repeated, to make sure the two of them got it.
Jake had the grace to look ashamed. As did Alex.
“Dammit, Zeke, don’t you even care about all that other stuff I just told you about? My mother, Jonah, how they both lied to me all my life? I don’t have anyone now. I wanted a brother all my life, and I thought I had one. Now, I’m this... this
orphan
!”
orphan
!”
“Oh, boohoo,” Zeke said. “You’re all growed up, son. So you got dealt a body blow unlike anything you ever experienced. You deal with it and move on. Your mother was human, just like the rest of us. I’d say she did one fine job of raising you. That’s what counts in the end. Right now, though, I’m thinking she wouldn’t be all that proud of you. As for Jonah, let me play devil’s advocate here. Can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same thing. You see, Jake, you just never know how it’s going to play out until you’re standing in that pair of shoes, because Jonah is human, too. I’m sure he has regrets. You even said he did. Think about this. Jonah got his revenge, but what good did it do him? He was still estranged from your mother, his wife. His life was... hell, you know what his life has been like. I don’t think the man has had a happy day in his whole entire life since all that went down. You need to think about that, too. So Jonah broke just about every bone in that skunk’s body for having his way with your mother. Who did that help?
No one
is the answer, except that Clement what’s-his-name was crippled for life. He didn’t even know about you until Jonah told him. Had he known, he might have done something, come forward, tried to make it right. I’m thinking if someone damn near killed me, I’d stay as far away from that person as I could get. What I’m saying here, Jake, is you just don’t know, and because you don’t know, you can’t go off half-cocked and do something that’s going to ruin the rest of your life.”
No one
is the answer, except that Clement what’s-his-name was crippled for life. He didn’t even know about you until Jonah told him. Had he known, he might have done something, come forward, tried to make it right. I’m thinking if someone damn near killed me, I’d stay as far away from that person as I could get. What I’m saying here, Jake, is you just don’t know, and because you don’t know, you can’t go off half-cocked and do something that’s going to ruin the rest of your life.”
Alex was still in his mumbling mood. He reached for one of the sugary doughnuts. “He has a point, Jake.” At least that’s what Jake thought he said.
“Finish up, boys. Then we can go back to the Sizzler to pick up your vehicle, Jake. And if you still want to go to see
that man
, I’ll drive you. But only if you can contain yourselves and commit no violence. I don’t have a problem with your confronting him. I also don’t have a problem with your asking him what he has to say. So, what’s it going to be?”
that man
, I’ll drive you. But only if you can contain yourselves and commit no violence. I don’t have a problem with your confronting him. I also don’t have a problem with your asking him what he has to say. So, what’s it going to be?”
Jake looked across the table at Alex, who shrugged, meaning
whatever you want to do is okay with me
.
whatever you want to do is okay with me
.
“Okay, let’s hit it, then,” Jake said, getting up from the table. “By the way, Zeke, thanks for bringing us home last night.”
“Yeah, thanks. How pissed was my mother?” Alex asked.
“That’s between you and her, son. C’mon now, time is money, as Ben Franklin said. Didn’t rightly know that he was in the oil business.”
Jake and Alex followed Zeke out of the house like two errant puppies following their big, strong leader, and got into Alex’s car.
Forty-five minutes later, Zeke pulled into a gas station. “Just out of curiosity, do either one of you two geniuses have the address to where we’re going? I can’t be sure of this, but I don’t think the man is in the phone book.”
“We can ask when we get to the Garden District,” Jake said. “Someone is sure to know where he lives.”
Alex whipped out his cell phone. “Hold on—keep driving, Zeke. I know how we can get it.” He called his office and issued orders like he knew what he was doing. Ten minutes later, his cell phone rang. He listened and said, “Got it. Thanks, Nick.”
“You actually got it?” Zeke said, sounding impressed.
“Pays to have friends in the tax office. Everyone has to pay taxes on their property.” He handed the phone to Jake and told him to type the address into the GPS.
No more than fifteen minutes had gone by when Jake heard the robotic voice on the GPS instruct Zeke to make a turn off St. Charles Avenue onto Prytania Street. Zeke followed the instructions and pulled to the curb. All three men got out and gawked at the beautiful mansion set back from a lush lawn and exquisite shrubbery and early-autumn flowers.
“This guy needs a shuttle service from here to the front door,” Zeke observed. “I know who this family is—they’re in banking, and they were big in the slave trade back in the day. I read up on this at one time. I even took the tour with a lady I was seeing at the time. The lady was more into architecture than she was into me. Come along, boys. Let’s get this show on the road. You rehearsing what you’re going to say, son?”
“I’m going to play it by ear, Zeke. Relax, I am not going to kill the son of a bitch.”
“If you change your mind, I know I can get you off,” Alex said as he rubbed his temples. “Damn, this is the worst headache I’ve ever had.”
“Serves you right,” Zeke snapped, showing the young lawyer no mercy.
Zeke was the only one huffing and puffing when Jake banged a monster lion’s-head door knocker. Even he stepped back when he heard the overly loud sound inside the house.
The door was opened by a little maid in a gray uniform and white apron with a little hat of some kind on top of her curly hair.
Alex stepped forward. “Alexander Rosario, attorney-at-law, to see Mr. Clement Trousoux.”
“Is Mr. Trousoux expecting you? He didn’t say anything about early-morning visitors.”
“Actually, no. Judge Spindler sent me. I mean us. We don’t have a lot of time, so if you’d just direct us to where we can speak with the senator, I would appreciate it. I’m due back in court.”
“Oh my, that does sound serious. Follow me. The senator is taking his morning coffee in the solarium.”
Alex grinned and winked at Jake, who scowled at him.
Jake didn’t know what he had expected, but the shriveled, wizened man sitting in a huge chair wasn’t it. A walker, a cane, and a wheelchair stood nearby. A television set was on, but the man himself was staring off into space with a coffee mug clasped in both hands.
“Mr. Trousoux, these gentlemen are here from the court. Shall I bring fresh coffee, sir?”
Clement Trousoux looked up at his guests. Jake saw the milky white cataract on his right eye. He stared long and hard and was relieved to see that he didn’t bear much resemblance to the man in the big chair. At least he didn’t think so. Thank God he took after his mother’s side of the family.
Zeke waved the maid off, declining the coffee, then shut the door behind her. He thought twice before he snapped the lock.
Trousoux looked up at the three imposing-looking men. “Isn’t it a little early in the morning to come calling?”
“Alex Rosario, attorney-at-law,” Alex said. “These two gentlemen are my... associates. Zeke Anders and Jake St. Cloud.”
Jake saw the crippled body stiffen in the big chair. “Well now, that’s a name I recognize. You here to finish the job for Jonah?”
“I’d like to, but no, that’s not why we’re here,” Jake said through clenched teeth.
“Then why are you here? I was having a nice day till you showed up,” the old man said coldly.
“I just want some answers. Give them to me, and we’ll leave,” Jake said, trying to control the rage he was feeling.
“In order to get answers, you have to ask the questions. Go ahead and ask. Doesn’t mean I’ll answer them. I do have a question of my own first, though. Did Jonah send you here?”
“No. I came on my own, with Alex and Zeke. I didn’t find out... about you until yesterday. I would have come sooner had I known.”
There was silence from the big chair. A bony hand reached over to the remote, and the soft voices on the television morning show were reduced to silence.
“Why? I guess that’s the question of the day,” Jake said.
To his credit, the man in the big chair made no pretense of not understanding what he was being asked. “It was a long time ago. Selma was my first love, and I did love her. When she told me she was breaking off our relationship because she had met this... man who, she said, made her blood sing, I was devastated. The man was Jonah St. Cloud. I couldn’t believe it at first because there was no bloodline there that was... acceptable to me. In the end, I had to accept it because that’s what a man does under such circumstances. A year went by, and I heard through friends that Selma was engaged to be married. I almost killed myself when I heard that. I thought, hoped, she’d come to her senses and want me back. It didn’t happen.”
“What did happen?” Alex asked before Jake could get the words out of his own mouth.
“A week or so before the wedding, Selma called me and asked me to come by. I was so sure there was going to be a reconciliation. I didn’t sleep for days. I was worse than any woman choosing what to wear—I got a haircut, the whole nine yards. My father, a very wise old man, tried to talk to me, as did my friends. They didn’t want me to get my hopes up, then crash if the meeting turned out to be something other than what I was hoping for. Needless to say, I didn’t listen.”
For one crazy moment, as Jake looked at the man sitting in the big chair, he knew somehow that the senator was dying. He wished he’d stayed home. Suddenly he didn’t want to hear what his father was going to say.
“Anyway, Selma greeted me cordially. We talked about silly things, she asked how I was, banal conversation. All I wanted to do was take her in my arms, pledge my undying love, and kiss her until we both passed out. She said she appreciated my coming over and that she just wanted to see me to make sure she wasn’t making a mistake in marrying Jonah. I don’t think she had any idea what those words did to me. I knew by the look on her face, the joy in her eyes, that Jonah, not me, was the one and only one for her. I went crazy. I forced myself on her. Whether you believe me or not, I have no clear recollection of what happened after that. What I do remember clearly, however, was how hard she was crying and her saying when I left that she would never, ever forgive me. So, yes, I am guilty of . . .”
“Raping my mother?” Jake said through clenched teeth.
“At the time I didn’t see it that way, but yes, that would be the truth. I went back to school and went on a binge drinking spree. I lived in fear that Selma would tell Jonah, and he would come and kill me. Actually, I wanted to kill myself, but that’s neither here nor there. The wedding went off as scheduled. The happy couple went off on a honeymoon and returned to set up housekeeping, as they say. Life went on. For them. Not for me.”
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