City Limits
3
No Good Deed Unpunished
The Library
“YOU AREN’T HAVING any difficulty figuring out the computer,” Karen said.
“It all seems pretty straightforward. I don’t remember doing this before, but it feels like I’ve done it. Is this my Gee-mail?” Gee asked.
“Yes. But remember that you are on a public computer in the library. You need to close your email when you are finished and make sure you are logged out after each use. And don’t forget your password,” she laughed. She suddenly looked shocked that she’d made a joke about his memory. Gee joined the laughter. “Are you sure you want to post pictures?”
“I don’t know how else someone could identify me, do you?” They sat with their chairs pulled close enough that Gee could feel Karen pressing against his arm while she pointed things out. The computer wasn’t difficult, but having Karen lean in to point things out was distracting to Gee in its own way. He paid attention to what she said, but he was constantly aware of her closeness.
“Okay, then let’s snap a couple pictures and I’ll send them to you. That way you’ll have my email, too.” Karen used her cell phone to snap the pictures and in a minute a flashing icon alerted Gee that he had mail. He opened it and looked at the pictures. “When you save the pictures, use the cloud server. That way you don’t store anything on the library computer. And then we’re ready to start posting inquiries.” Karen pulled out a notebook and began directing Gee to various websites where he could post his picture with a caption that said, “Do you know me?”
“Do you think I know people on all these social websites?” Gee asked.
“How would we know?” Karen asked. “You are very social… comfortable with people in ways I would never imagine a man without an identity to be. Not that I’d know what to expect. I can’t imagine you not having friends out there who would want to help. We just have to find the right place.”
“I appreciate everything you’ve helped me with, Karen. I haven’t been a resident here for two full weeks yet and already this feels like home to me. I’m glad you’re my… um… friend.”
“I am your friend, Gee. I hope we’re friends for a long time.” She looked at Gee and he got lost in her eyes.
“Are you researching a story, Ms. Weisman?” a matronly woman asked, interrupting whatever connection Gee thought they might have made.
“Oh, hello, Ms. Tomczyk. Have you met Gee? We’re researching his identity,” Karen said.
“I saw your picture in the paper, but this is the first I’ve had the pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Ms. Tomczyk said. “So, the story I’ve heard about the man with the missing memory is true? I do hope you have a speedy recovery.”
“Thank you, Ms. Tomczyk. The pleasure is mine. With Karen’s help, I’m getting the word out. She’s showing me some of the different activities and services available in Rosebud Falls. Tonight, our investigation is the public library.”
“Do you like to read, Mr. Gee?”
“Oh, yes. At the moment, I’m puzzling through Homer’s Odyssey. I understand all the words, but getting the structure and context to make sense takes a bit of time. By the looks of it, I’ve been working on it for some time.”
“Is there a way for Gee to check out books? I’d be happy to extend my card to him,” Karen said.
“I’ll have to do some investigation on that. It would be irregular not to have an ID first, but we do it for children. Hmm. For now, I’d recommend you come in and use the reading room. Just be aware that our Bookhouse meets Wednesday evenings. It can be a little chaotic.”
“Bookhouse?”
“Children’s reading groups. Summer is both a good time and a bad time for us. There are lots of children with nothing to do and long evenings in which to do it. But there are fewer volunteers. We’re stretched a bit thin.”
“I could help,” Gee blurted out. “I mean, could I help? Crowds and children don’t bother me. In fact, I’ve been looking for activities to get my three-year-old housemate Devon involved in. I know he likes stories.”
“Really? You read to him?”
“I often read a story before dinner to keep him out of his mother’s hair while she’s cooking.”
“Would you mind auditioning?” the librarian asked. Gee started to stand and follow her. Karen laid a hand on his to stop him.
“Log out first, Gee. Never leave your email open.” It only took a moment and they followed Ms. Tomczyk. She pointed to a beanbag chair and Gee settled in. Karen folded her legs beneath her and sat nearby.
“This is our story nook. Take this book and begin reading aloud. We’ll see how your voice and expression fill the room.” Ms. Tomczyk smiled and handed Gee a children’s book. Lacking any children in the nook, he began reading the story to Karen. She laughed as he used different voices for different characters and pointed out the pictures.
Before he was halfway through the book, two little children—maybe three or four years old—entered the nook holding hands and sat down in front of him. Gee saw a woman he assumed was a parent standing near the door. He simply included the two children in his reading and showed them the pictures. By the time he’d finished the book, two more children and another mother were in the room. The mothers sat on a sofa nearby and whispered to each other. Ms. Tomczyk handed him another book.
Gee read three books to the five children who had wandered in. They were laughing and enjoying the stories, often making the sound effects Gee suggested to go with the story.
“What does a train sound like? Woo-woo!”
“Woo-woo!” the children responded.
“Chug-chug-chug-chug.”
“Chug-chug-chug-chug.”
“Children, would you like to have Mr. Gee come back to read more stories one day?” Ms. Tomczyk asked the group.
“Yeah!” Even the mothers responded positively.
“How about it, Mr. Gee?” she asked. “Can you make Wednesday at six?”
“That was wonderful, Gee!” Karen said. “And you just got volunteered for a new community service.”
“It was fun. There is so much more to a book than the words when you have a bunch of children involved.”
“I’ll meet you after your reading Wednesday, if that’s okay. We can do the swabs for the DNA services. I’ll have all the kits by then.”
“It’s a date.” Gee smiled at Karen and then stepped back. “I mean… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean… I mean… an appointment.”
“I understood, Gee. We’ll have a meeting. An appointment. We’ve set a time. And a date.”
Super Marketman
“HELLO, MRS. RESNICK. It’s so nice to see you again,” Gee greeted the old woman who approached him in the aisle. He’d seen her nearly every day and remembered her name.
“Young man,” the old woman said, “I can’t reach the corned beef hash. I don’t understand why it is on the top shelf.”
“I’ll discuss the location with Nathan,” Gee said. “In the meantime, can I reach it for you? How many and which brand?” Mrs. Resnick wanted only one can of the generic brand. Gee noted the can cost half what the name brand next to it did. The woman thanked him and collected three or four more items in her basket before she left.
“Oh, Mr. Gee,” the pink-haired checkout girl named Rena panted at him after Mrs. Resnick left. “Can you show me where the tampons are?” The girl seemed to always try to embarrass Gee, but he did his best to treat it all in good humor.
“I’m sorry, Miss Rena. We didn’t get a delivery today. I could get you a roll of paper towels.” He looked at her quite seriously and she broke up laughing.
“I can’t get one over on you. I’ll come up with something. Just you wait!”
“Gee to the Deli for wet cleanup, please,” a voice over the store speakers said.
“Maybe you’d better take that roll of paper towel with you,” Rena laughed.
Gee hustled to the janitor closet to get the needed supplies and headed to the Deli. The cute blonde deli girl was hugging Rupert Grimm tightly with her head buried against his chest.
“I’m sorry. It just slipped,” she said. It took a moment before Gee remembered that the young woman was Rupert’s second wife. They made an odd couple.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” Rupert soothed her. “Accidents happen and help has arrived.” He looked up at Gee. “The minestrone soup got away from Onyx, Gee. Do you have the right supplies for cleanup?”
“I’ve got it, Mr. Grimm. “This will only take a minute, Mrs. Grimm. Nothing to worry about.”
“Please, Gee. No formalities,” Rupert said. “It’s Rupert and Onyx.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Perhaps you could make part of your mid-morning routine picking up the soup kettles and putting them in the warmers for the lunch crowd,” Rupert said. “I nearly dropped one myself and it’s silly to have Onyx trying to lift a full kettle like that. Do you mind?”
“Of course not. I’ll plan on it for about ten-thirty daily. Does that work?”
“Thank you, Gee,” Onyx said. “I’m not really a klutz, but they are heavy.”
“No problem!”
Gee finished the spill and returned to stocking canned goods. He greeted several more customers during the day and they all called him by name. Gee was feeling at home.
The Head of the Family
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
“What a terribly misguided world we live in and how simple the remedy, brothers and sisters,” Pastor Beck intoned from the pulpit. “I said ‘simple,’ not ‘easy.’ For God gives us the solution. It is all laid out in His holy Word. But it is not easy for us to set aside the burden of this world and abide by His Word.
“We are confronted on every side by the seductive voice of Satan. Satan twists the blessed words of the prophets and the apostles to make us believe that what he is offering is what God wants. Remember his first words to Eve were, ‘Has God indeed said ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?’ He subtly twists God’s Word and entraps his prey. And he tries the same thing on you and me today. ‘God,’ says Satan, ‘wants every person to be treated equally.’ ‘God,’ says Satan, ‘wants us to give welfare to those illegally in our country.’ ‘God,’ says Satan, ‘thinks deviant lifestyles are okay.’ But let me tell you something, my friends. Satan is a liar. And he is good at sounding so reasonable.
“I am here to tell you today that God is not on the side of Satan! God has told us that there is man and woman and the two shall cleave together and be of one flesh. Believe me, cleaving together and becoming one flesh is one of the great blessings God gave us. He did not say man should cleave to man nor woman to woman. He made it clear that he created male and female, not that there was a choice in the matter. God doesn’t send men into women’s restrooms. God doesn’t make mistakes about gender. God has shown us the way, the truth, and the light, and He is unchanging.”
Heads were nodding in the congregation. Roxanne agreed with the preacher. Faggots weren’t part of God’s plan on earth. If Larry found one, he’d beat the crap out of him like he did that disgusting old man, Jig Riley. Of course, her husband wasn’t in church to hear the lesson. Sunday was his day of rest. Besides, he was hungover like on most Sundays when he was home.
“Wives… oh, most precious of all God’s creation… submit yourselves to your own husbands. I can see that makes some of you uncomfortable. Bear with me. You chose a man to stand beside you through your life. Men like to think they had a choice, but you women know that you are the ones who made the decision. And what were the criteria you used in that selection? A good lover. A good provider. A good father for your children. A good-looking huuunk.” He dragged out the last syllable until the congregation started to laugh. Several women nudged their husbands and nodded.
“And yet… All too often I counsel with married women who have made it impossible for their husbands to be the men they said they wanted when they married. How can he be a good provider when he is too tired to go to work because he spent the night listening to the complaints of his wife? How can he be a good father if his authority in the home is undermined and his children see him as a second-class citizen? How can he even be a good lover if you withhold your body from him as punishment for an unseen slight?
“Satan would have you believe, sisters, that you should be free and independent, equal in pay and equal in rights. Equal in the bed and equal at the table. But God says that the husband is the head of the wife, just like Christ is the head of the church. God says to submit yourselves to your husbands in every thing. Was God unclear in what He said? Do we question Christ as head of our church? Do we prance around saying, ‘I know you said this, Lord, but I think it should be this way’? What kind of church would we be if we called into question every word of our Lord?
“And yet, that is what the feminazis would have you do, women. They would have you leave your homes and labor as a man while you give your children to heathens to educate, their knowledge prescribed by State Boards of Education. They would have you earn money to pay someone else to cook for you, clean for you… What next? To mate with your husband for you? Submit yourselves, I say again, submit yourselves to your husbands as the church submits to Christ. For in that submission, you will find peace, happiness, a growing family, and a great love.”
Roxanne shivered. She always had difficulty with that part. She needed Larry to keep her in line. At five-eleven and a hundred ninety pounds, she was a big girl and it was easy to get out of control. Raised in South Rosebud, she earned the nickname ‘Timex’ because she could take a licking and keep on ticking. Her father and her brothers proved it time and time again. She wasn’t abused. They just wanted to make sure she knew her place and could tough out the hard times.
Her husband, Larry was a hard-drinking, hard-fighting trucker and loyal member of the church. He’d smacked her butt as she waited tables in the truck stop and she’d slapped his face. It was love at first fight. Larry needed a tough woman and she could take it.
“Husbands, love your wives,” Pastor Beck continued. “I want to clarify what that means. It is not merely remembering her birthday and your anniversary. It is not about flowers and candy. Yes, those are all good things, but loving your wife goes much deeper than these trappings. How can you claim to love your wife if you do not nurture her in the way of the Lord? If you do not value those characteristics that make her lovable, how can you profess your love?
“Popular society, feminism, liberals, would all have you simply give in to her whims. But that is not how Christ treats his church and it is not how you should treat your wives. With your love… With your wife’s submission… comes your responsibility to keep her and your children pure in the sight of God. Even if it pains you to see that look of submission in her eyes, you must overcome the desire to let her get away with that little slight. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Not an irrational fear that you will capriciously knock her around a little to keep her in line. If that is how you love, you need to spend time in prayer considering how Jesus loves you.
“But, you must lead her as your head leads your body. Exercise self-discipline and let your family see by your example that you are no easier on yourself than on them. That you expect perfection. That your heart’s desire is to present her to your Lord and Savior glorious, not having spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish. You must discipline her, your children, and yourself. Let this message weigh heavy on your hearts, husbands. Like the man with the one talent, you could be judged and damned if you dare present your wife to the Lord and He is not pleased.”
The Good Samaritan
GEE HOPED Karen would want another ‘interview’ over the weekend, but she’d been called out of town to follow up on a story she was working on. She’d hinted at exposing sex traffic in Palmyra, but working in Rosebud Falls had slowed her research.
“Trafficking?”
“Sex and drugs,” Karen said. “I just can’t get a handle on where they come from. I talk to prostitutes and even some drug dealers. They all end up being normal people who do whatever is necessary to survive. Not nice people, but normal. They all point vaguely at an underground traffic that is much harder to see. No one will say anything about it. It could take me years to uncover enough evidence to begin to understand what is going on.”
“If there is anything I can do to help, let me know,” Gee said.
“I’m sure there will be.”
In the end, Gee went wandering on Sunday after Frieda picked up Devon. He knew Marian and Nathan appreciated time alone to ‘connect,’ as they said. So, Gee stopped at the basketball courts and was soon involved in a pickup game. It was an even split between high school boys and older men. Troy Cavanaugh was on the court along with a couple of other ‘older guys.’
“Hey, Gee!” Troy said. “How about the old men take on the kids?” Gee agreed and shook hands with the other men. “Luke Zimmer, Zach Poltanys, and Ken Probst,” Troy introduced the older men. “This is Gee, our local hero.”
“I think that qualifies as ‘old news,’ Troy,” Gee said. “I’m just a stock boy at the grocery store.” The guys welcomed him as he was just what was needed to round out the teams.
On the boys’ team, Gee was introduced to Ryan Moffat, Barrett Zimmer, Viktor Nussbaum, James Nussbaum, and Drake Oliver. The boys quickly proved to the old men that they could run longer and harder. When they finally gave up the match, they’d lost track of how far ahead the boys were.
For Gee, playing in the pickup game opened a door for new friendships and a wider circle of acquaintances. He promised to return regularly. Feeling invigorated by the game, he jogged north along the river trail and cut west toward the fairgrounds. The West Branch was turbulent in this area, but a hundred yards upstream it flattened into a glassy calm marked by a low dam. From the north, the canal was separated by a lock from which daily barges emerged to cross the river to the coal yards.
Gee was in the narrow section of the trail between the river and the fairgrounds fence when he heard a cat yowling. He hurried along to see if he could help the distressed animal, first looking toward the river and then toward the fence. When the yowl came again, Gee started running. This was no cat.
Leaning against the fence next to the parking lot, a woman wept, periodically releasing a long wail. She struggled toward the road, using the fence to support her. Her face was bruised and she cradled her left hand between her breasts as her right supported her against the fence.
“Can I help you?” Gee panted as he ran up. The woman startled and cringed against the fence before nodding slightly. She pointed toward the road.
“Hospital.”
Gee slipped under her right arm, replacing the fence as her support and gently circling her waist with his left arm. She winced and he did his best to support her without causing more pain as they worked their way toward the street.
She was a big woman, nearly as tall as Gee and weighing at least as much. Tears flowed down her bruised face. Gee spoke soft comforting words as they struggled slowly toward the hospital. He didn’t try to find out what had happened. It didn’t seem to be his place. After struggling a few minutes, the woman collapsed and Gee caught her in his arms before she hit the ground.
He couldn’t think of anything else to do, so he carried her. As he got used to the burden, his pace picked up until he was running toward the hospital emergency entrance.
When Gee appeared at the entrance, he was spotted by the receptionist who pressed a button and requested assistance. Two EMTs rushed to his side and eased the woman to a gurney. They disappeared into the hall and Gee sank to the floor in front of the reception desk. He could hear the receptionist on the phone, and a minute later, a nurse arrived.
“Are you also injured?” the nurse asked. “Where was the accident? Are there others?”
“No accident,” Gee gasped as he caught his breath. “Found her down by the river near the fairgrounds.”
“Why didn’t you call for help?” The receptionist showed up with a glass of water that Gee gulped gratefully.
“No phone.”
“You don’t have a cell phone? You don’t look like a Neanderthal.” Now that it was clear that Gee wasn’t injured, but was just out of breath, the nurse eased up on her interrogation.
“I… I uh…”
“Relax. Let’s get you to an examination room where I can take your blood pressure and vitals. I don’t want to risk an incident in the waiting room. You can walk?”
“Yeah.” He stood and followed her into the hall. “Will she be all right?”
“We’ll know when Doctor Poltanys is finished with his exam. You know her?”
“No. I just found her by the river. I was out for a run after playing basketball.”
“Hmm… You’re the new guy in town with no memory, right?”
“Gee.”
“Yeah. Adam told me about you. I mean Doctor Poltanys. I’m Julia. I’m sure the doctor will want to check you over, if for no other reason than to find out if you remembered anything. I’ll get him as soon as he’s finished with the emergency.” With that, Julia left Gee sitting in the exam room with a fresh glass of water.
“I’m fine, really,” Gee said to Doctor Poltanys as Julia hovered nearby. “Just a little more exercise than I’m used to. It was quite a run.”
“You ran with her?” Poltanys asked. “I thought you brought her in a car. How far?”
“The other side of the fairgrounds near the river. I don’t have a car.”
“Roxanne weighs a good one-ninety,” the doctor said. “You must be strong as a horse. You might be sore tomorrow but no permanent damage. Get out of here and be useful.”
“I was going to stop by to see about volunteer work,” Gee said. “Hopefully not as a horse.”
“There’s always grounds maintenance to do. A volunteer coordinator is here from nine to five weekdays. Give her a call and she’ll tell you about orientation. I hear you’re good with kids. We always have a few who could use someone to come in and read to them. Talk to Sofia tomorrow.”
That detective tried to force her to accuse her Larry of domestic violence. What would Pastor say if she allowed her husband to be arrested because she was a bad wife? Roxanne was in a quandary. She could scarcely deny that she’d been hospitalized before. They had records. She’d really pushed Larry this time, though. She’d needed to be punished and he wasn’t rising to the occasion. She’d badgered him about his manhood. That did the trick.
The detective showed up before the doctor had even finished his exam. He wanted a rape kit done as well and she’d violently refused.
“Roxanne, why are you protecting Larry? If I put him behind bars, he won’t be able to touch you. Where is he?” Detective Oliver demanded.
“He’s out of town. It wasn’t him. It was someone else. I don’t know who. I didn’t see.”
The doctor interrupted to order x-rays, and the nurse readied her to be rolled down to the x-ray lab.
“This can all be stopped, Roxanne,” Oliver tried once more as she was being rolled out of the room.
And then her salvation appeared. The man she met by the fence. She could sacrifice him to save her husband.
“That’s him!” she screamed, pointing at Gee. “That’s the man who beat and raped me.” Then she let herself lapse into hysterical screaming. It wasn’t difficult. She hurt so badly she needed to scream.
All hell broke loose when Gee left the examination room. He saw Detective Oliver standing next to the room across the hall and had just raised his hand to wave when the woman he’d brought in started screaming and pointing at him. Oliver dropped his head and shook it as Roxanne was rolled away, still screaming.
Mead Oliver turned to have a quiet word with Poltanys and Nurse Julia. Gee just stood there in shock. Why would the woman he helped accuse him? Oliver laid a hand on Gee’s shoulder. “You need to come with me, Gee.”
“Mead, I didn’t…”
“Shh. It is better right now that you don’t say a word. Come with me.” Mead followed Gee outside and pointed to his car, opening the back door. “Watch your head,” Mead said automatically.
They drove to the police station in silence. Once there, Mead pointed to a chair next to his desk.
“Don’t say anything. I haven’t read you your rights. Just sit, damn it.”
The tone of voice took Gee more off guard than the bizarre arrest. He wasn’t even sure if he’d been arrested. Mead wasn’t angry—not at all what Gee would expect from a policeman running in a suspect. It was more like frustration. Mead went to a large coffee urn and poured two foam cups. He set one in front of Gee.
“It’s not Jitterz, but I’m a public servant. I can’t afford the best,” Mead said. Gee took a tentative sip and decided on the spot that if it wasn’t Jitterz, he wasn’t interested. When did I become a coffee snob?
“Uh…”
“Not yet,” Mead said holding up his hand. “My son says you played basketball this morning and weren’t bad. Good to know. I don’t get down to the courts as often as I’d like. We try to encourage a few adults to play on Sunday so the kids have good role models. Not muggers and rapists.”
“Mead, I…”
“Shh.” The phone rang and Mead pulled it to his ear.
“This is Oliver.— Yes, he’s with me.— No charges. He hasn’t said a word.— Send Ellie down with the affidavit, would you?— No, he likes her.— Right. Thanks.” Mead hung up the phone and grinned at Gee. “That was Dr. Poltanys. Ellie Smith is on her way here with a signed affidavit from Roxanne Syre saying she was confused and disoriented when she saw you and only remembered you picking her up. She apologizes for the inconvenience and smirch on your character and thanks you for helping her.”
Gee nodded.
“You can talk now.”
“Um… Thanks. I… I didn’t assault her, you know.”
“Yeah. I know. She’s been in that hospital or a doctor’s office a dozen times in the past twenty years. It’s not the first time she’s pointed out someone and retracted her statement an hour later. Now she says she didn’t see her assailant. Everyone knows it’s her husband. But unless he beats her in public, it’s just our word against his and she won’t accuse him. One day it will go too far, and I’ll have a murder case to solve. She won’t be able to testify then.”
“That’s really sad.”
“Most people in Rosebud Falls are just normal, mostly happy people,” Mead said. “But we have our share of nuts, and they aren’t all in the Forest.”
Ellie arrived with the affidavit and handed it to Mead.
“Are you okay, Gee?” she asked. “If he has threatened or harmed you in any way, I will testify against him. You just say the word.”
“It’s nice to see you, too, Ellie,” Gee grinned. “We had a pleasant Sunday afternoon conversation.”
“Hey! What’s the story?” another voice said from the doorway. “Do we have a serial rapist loose in Rosebud Falls or a false arrest?”
“America’s favorite snoop,” Mead grumbled.
“Detective Oliver! I’m flattered. I’m glad to see you free and apparently unharmed, Gee. No story of police brutality?”
“None at all, Karen. I thought you were…?”
“Why don’t we take a walk and maybe have dinner, Gee. Detective? Is he being held? Do you have a statement?”
“If I say, ‘no comment,’ you’ll make something up, won’t you? How does this sound. Mistaken identity resulted in confusion when a Rosebud Falls woman identified local hero George Evars as her assailant instead of her rescuer. Following proper protocol, Evars was escorted to the police station for questioning. The mistaken identity was quickly corrected, and no charges were filed in the case. How does that sound?”
“You should be a journalist. How about we just say that continuing his quest to recover his identity, George Evars stopped by to chat with Detective Oliver Sunday afternoon. Doesn’t really sound like news to me. Come on, Gee, let’s take a walk.”
“How did you find out I was here?” Gee asked. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“I have sources!”
“Julia Poltanys,” Ellie snickered. “Those two are thick as thieves.”
“I understand you are one of the Family now,” Mead said to Karen.
“Always have been,” Karen answered. “But, since Mom and Grandma are gone, Great-grandma left the estate to me. Your sources of information seem to be pretty good, too.”
“You’re a Poltanys?” Gee asked.
“No. A Roth. Poor old Uncle Ben is apoplectic about having no male Roth as heir. Made Leah hyphenate her name and the kids all take it so it wouldn’t die out. I’m hungry, Gee. Aren’t you taking me to dinner?”
“You bet I am.”
Seven Heroes
“WHAT DOES IT MEAN to be one of the Family now?” Gee asked as they walked away from the police station. They were headed for the parking lot, but Karen took his arm and redirected their walk toward the Memorial Park in front of the courthouse.
“I guess this is as good a time to educate you as any other. Let’s go sit in front of that grotesque statue in the park. I know you’ve got the basics of the story,” Karen said.
“Seven friends, comrades in arms, who went off to fight in World War II and all died at Omaha Beach,” Gee said. “I read that on the plaque.”
“Right. But who were these comrades in arms?” Karen said. “That is, in one question, the key to the history of Rosebud Falls. And history is the key to understanding the city.”
“Please tell me.” Gee was acutely aware that Karen did not release his arm as they sat to look at the statue.
“The years 1918 to 1933 were a hard time for Rosebud Falls. People were moving out of the big cities and found small towns like ours weren’t as idyllic as they thought they would be. Prohibition was strictly enforced. The seven Families that founded the city were competing for loyalty and control of the Forest. But by some miracle, there were seven boys born within five months of each other in 1924.”
“The Seven Heroes.”
“The Families put all their efforts into grooming the boys to unite the city and the Families. They were leaders in school, the front line of the football team, and genuinely good friends. But no one counted on Pearl Harbor. As soon as they could volunteer, they left to defend democracy. They all died on Omaha Beach.”
“And I suppose that ended the hopes of unifying the Families.”
“Almost, except for one little thing. The boys had left behind seven pregnant teens. Even though they were overseas already, they wrote to their families acknowledging their offspring and promising to marry the mothers as soon as they returned. Most of the Families accepted the mothers and their children. In fact, all except one. My family. My great-great-grandfather refused to acknowledge his granddaughter. I’m going to change that.”
“And why is this all important to me?” Gee mused. “I appreciate knowing more about the city, but I’m not sure how it’s relevant.”
“The seven Families—Nussbaum, Poltanys, Lazorack, Cavanaugh, Roth, Meagher, and Savage. The head of the Meagher family is a crazy old coot who lives alone in a barn full of antiques. No one has heard directly from the Savage family in years, but they are still considered full members and their Forest voting rights are held by their company, Savage Sand and Gravel. I guarantee you that all seven Families are interested in you and who you are. You could find yourself memorialized up there with the Seven Heroes one day. Or you could find yourself buried under them.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“I like you, Gee. In fact, I’m becoming quite fond of you. Maybe because I have LPS—lost puppy syndrome,” Karen said.
“I’m a lost puppy?”
“More like a strange new breed that I’m fascinated by and strangely attracted to.”
“I think you are calling me a dog, Karen.”
“No, but it should explain to you why the pack is interested. You are new in town. Maybe in fifty years, you can claim not to be an outsider. But when a new person enters the territory—especially a mysterious new person—everyone wants to sniff around and find out if he’s a threat.”
“And am I?”
“Maybe to some. Maybe not to others. I just thought you should have some background about who was sniffing.”
“Taken to jail, were you?” Ms. Tomczyk glared at Gee over her glasses when Gee showed up for Bookhouse Wednesday evening.
“It was a mistake. No charges.”
“I’m sure. We have to be very careful about who comes in contact with children in the library. I’m not saying you did anything inappropriate, but if you get taken to the police station enough times people will begin to think there is a reason.”
“I assure you, I have a clean record.”
“Keep it that way. We have a nice group of kiddies in tonight and I’ve stacked your books next to the beanbag,” Ms. Tomczyk said, the event apparently forgotten. “Oh, and you wanted one of these.” She handed him a library card with his name on it. “Now what kind of books do you like to read?”
“That’s a very good question. I’ve not read anything since I got to Rosebud Falls but the newspaper and Homer’s Odyssey. How about local history? Any suggestions?” Gee said.
“Hmm. I think I can come up with something. Go do your story time and I’ll see what I can come up with.” Gee went into the story room and settled into the beanbag. A small bundle of boy energy tumbled onto him before he was fully settled.
“Gee!”
“Dee! How’s my little buddy?”
“You didn’t have dinner with me.”
“I met Karen for dinner.”
“She’s nice.”
“Yes, indeed she is.”
“Gee, can I impose upon you to bring Devon home after story time tonight?” Marian asked as she followed her son.
“Certainly, Marian. You want to stay with me for all of story time and walk me home afterward, Devon?”
“Yeah. I walk you home.”
“Thank you. Nathan and I need to um… discuss some things. Uh…”
“We’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
Gee began his story reading to over a dozen kids. Ms. Tomczyk was a master at choosing stories and putting them in an order that settled the children and held their interest. The first couple of books were short and had lots of pictures so the younger children got involved. The stories grew progressively longer until he read just a chapter of the first Harry Potter book for the last story. This enthralled the older children, but by that time most of the younger children had either left with their parents or, like Devon, had curled into a ball next to Gee’s beanbag and gone to sleep.
“One time I saw magic,” a seven-year-old girl declared to him when he’d put down the last book. “It was different than that. There was a lot of sparkly stuff.”
“Well, Sally Ann, I’m sure that real magic is not the same as book magic. When did you see magic?” Gee asked.
“At Disneyland.”
“Of course.”
“I have to go now. Thank you for the story, Mr. Gee.”
“Goodnight, Sally Ann.”
Gee picked up Devon and the two books Ms. Tomczyk selected for him before carrying the sleepy boy home.
Confidant
OVER FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS nestled with his library card in the new wallet Gee purchased. He had very little to spend money on after giving the Panzas his rent, other than a morning cup of coffee. He was recognized and called by name in Jitterz, but most of the people he knew, he had met at Grimm’s Market.
Gee’s duties at the market expanded until he had a hand in just about everything. He was quick and efficient at stocking shelves, sweeping floors, helping customers to their cars with bags of groceries, or reaching cans off high shelves for Mrs. Resnick. He helped with the soup at the deli, much to Onyx’s relief, lifting the heavy pots and placing them in the steam table for the self-service lunch crowd. Onyx asked him to sample them and give his opinion on the seasonings. Gee considered her a good cook and said so.
After he stocked bakery items in the morning, Gee moved whatever large carcasses of beef or pork Rupert needed to or from the meat locker. Rupert showed Gee how to slice bacon and cold cuts, and gave him the responsibility of making sure that part of the butcher’s case was stocked. Customers commented that they liked the new thicker slices.
“Mr. Gee?” a teen boy said softly when he stopped Gee in one of the aisles.
“Oh, hi, Ryan. No need to be formal, it’s just Gee, same as on the basketball court. How can I help you?” Gee said brightly. The boy put a finger to his lips and looked around nervously. A girl at the end of the aisle turned her head with a hand at her mouth and giggled. “How can I help you?” Gee repeated in a whisper.
“I need… I mean... Where do you keep… Rubbers? Condoms? You know?”
“Oh, yes. Of course, I know,” Gee answered conspiratorially. He glanced at the girl at the end of the aisle. “I’m glad to know you are thinking ahead and being prepared. Unfortunately, I can’t help you. We don’t have a pharmacy section. You’ll need to go to one of the drugstores.” The boy moaned and squinted his eyes.
“No… I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“My dad owns one and her family owns the other,” he said. “We can’t just walk into one and buy something without everyone in town knowing. I was hoping that… since you are sort of new… you wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“Oh, I won’t tell anyone.”
“What am I going to do? We know we… I mean… We’re a little scared… But I love her,” Ryan moaned.
“How old are you?” Gee asked.
“Sixteen. Please don’t say we’re too young. This is for real.”
“I don’t doubt you at all, Ryan. Do you have a driver’s license?” Ryan shook his head.
“I have to complete Drivers’ Ed this summer before I can get a license.”
“I understand there’s a Rite Aid Pharmacy next door to Walmart just south of town. It’s not so far that a guy couldn’t ride his bike there. For love.”
“I could just sneak into the Pub & Grub. I hear they have a vending machine,” Ryan suggested. Gee sat down on a box of canned goods he was getting ready to shelve.
“Ryan, I’m not an expert on these things, but hear me out. You are a young man and a young woman you care about is interested in you. Interested enough, by the way, that she’s still waiting for you at the end of the aisle even though she knows what you’re asking. There will be enough uncertainty and tension when you become intimate that you don’t want to add to it by not knowing if a condom is dependable. Do you want part of the memory of that very special time to be you sneaking into a bar to get some unknown brand of condom?”
“I really want to… to show her how much I love her.” Ryan looked at his girlfriend once more and a smile crept across his face. “What kind should I get?”
“A top name brand with a spermicidal lubricant. Remember, you are going to take good care of your girlfriend. Nothing but the best.”
“Thank you, sir. Um… Just thank you.” Ryan turned and walked swiftly to where his girlfriend still waited. She immediately took his hand and the two left the store.
“That was so sweet,” a voice said behind Gee as he watched the couple leave the store. Gee turned to see the wild-haired cashier behind him.
“Rena, you shouldn’t have been eavesdropping,” Gee reprimanded her.
“But it was so… He could treat me like that. I want a boyfriend who adores me like he adores her.”
“I’m sure there is one out there for you someplace.”
“Pastor Beck says he’ll find someone for me. He teaches our young singles class in Sunday School. You’d think that a guy who has so much fire and brimstone in him during the sermon would be that way in Sunday School, but he’s really good and kind. He takes time with us like you just took with that young man. Of course, he’d tell him to stay pure until marriage and not to go get condoms,” she snorted.
Gee hadn’t been impressed when he met Pastor Beck. Nathan and Marian had been furious at the preacher. It was hard to reconcile their experience with Rena’s. He wondered that the minister even tolerated her. She sported the most unnatural shade of pink hair he had ever seen. Her face was so pale she might have been wearing clown white, with lips colored the same shade as her hair and black eyebrows penciled into a permanent look of surprise.
What was more disturbing, however, were her eyes. Not the fact that she was wearing blue tinted contacts over her normally brown eyes, but the glassy look that told him that whatever drug she was using was fresh in her veins. People were such a contradiction at times. How did she reconcile her religion and her drug use?
Pressure Points
“YOUR GREAT-GRANDMOTHER never wanted her proxy revoked.”
“Great-grandmother didn’t need to cast her own vote,” Karen said. “She knew everything before the votes were cast. I have to build from nothing.”
“I could just tell you what is planned,” Leah responded. “Or is that too easy for you?”
“Oh, I appreciate your confidence. I’m sure you will tell me exactly what I should hear. Leah, I’m not planning to bring down our family, even in the midst of righting some wrongs. But something is not right. We’re going to inherit a lot of problems when the annexation goes through. Problems for the city and problems for the Families,” Karen said.
“The plan to annex South Rosebud has been in the works for fifty years,” Leah said. “The time is right to implement it. Everything indicates that we have seeded enough votes in the residential area to carry it without a problem.”
“Mmmhmm. So that’s why you’ve been buying up houses and changing tenants.”
“How did you…?”
“I won’t upset things. I have a story ready to run the day after Labor Day that announces the planned annexation and supports the vote. We’ll have two months of campaigning. I just hope we don’t run into problems with the special interests.”
“They’ll campaign against it, but they don’t have a vote. They aren’t actually residents.”
“Thank you, Leah. The information you brought me will help me write a convincing story. We’re on the same side, you know.”
“Yes, cousin. Come for dinner sometime soon. We should become a closer family.”
Leah left Karen’s office with a wistful look at her aunt’s former possessions, the Rose Hickory desk, and the stacks of her grandfather’s journals. Inviting her to meet here had been like rubbing salt in her wound. Karen knew her cousin felt the contents of this room should have been her property. But the deeper she got into the family history, the more convinced she was that Leah would never be granted access to what was here.
Karen settled back at her desk to go over the details of the planned annexation and to identify the problems she knew lurked there.
The musical chimes of her cellphone startled her back to reality. She’d been so immersed in the papers that she’d missed dinner.
“Weisman.”
“Karen, you don’t need to be so curt with me.”
She sighed, unsure of why she didn’t block his calls. “What do you want?”
“I sense a disturbance in the Force.”
“Get real.”
“I’m serious. I’m not sure what’s going on, but there’s an undercurrent. I’ve always been sensitive to these things, Karen. Someone is planning something and people in Rosebud Falls are in danger. I don’t think it is directly related to the annexation.”
“How did you know about that?”
“I’m Family, Karen. I might not hold my own vote, but my Family doesn’t hide secrets from each other.”
“So, if not the annexation, what is the threat?”
“From my window, I see parents hanging on to their children more tightly. I see cars coming through town I haven’t seen before. A policeman walks by every morning. We’ve never had police on foot patrol. People are like animals preparing for a storm.”
“I think you’re crazy, but I’m not discounting what you say. You watch out your window every day. I won’t deny that you see things changing,” she said.
“You’ve changed.”
“No doubt.”
“You don’t really want him, do you? Come back to me, Karen. We were always good together. Gee’s a nice guy. I can’t help but like him. But he’s not made of steel. He won’t be able to stand up to your heat. Not like me.”
“We broke up long before he came to town. Don’t interfere in my relationships. You and I are not together. Understand?”
“Anything you say, Karen. But be careful out there. It’s a cold cruel world.”
She rolled her eyes and hung up.
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