Chapter 9
Demi hung up the phone and turned to look at his little family. He and Mandy had been married just over an hour ago, and then he petitioned to adopt the boys with Mandy. They were all for it, but there was still paperwork to be filed to get things going in the right direction.
“I didn’t know who they were talking about until I remembered Georgie.” Martin asked him what had happened. “I’m afraid she was killed last night by another inmate. They don’t know if it was two people or three. She never made it to the hospital.”
“I thought you was gonna say that she escaped from the police and was coming after us. I’m glad that we don’t have to worry about her anymore.” Martin looked at Mandy before he continued. “I know it’s not nice to hope someone dies, but she was powerful mean to Teddy and me, Momma too when she’d come around.”
“I’m sorry, too, Martin, but if you can, try not to be too happy about it if someone says something to you about her dying. All right?” He nodded and said that he’d try, but was glad that she’d not be getting out again. Mandy nodded at him before continuing. “I understand, buddy.”
“They want me to go to the other prison to talk to Samuel. They said that it might be better coming from a family member. I’m not related to him.” Mandy pointed out that she was his sister-in-law, which would make him his brother-in-law. “I’m not sure it works like that. I think you’re right in how you’re related to him, but I’m not. But I’ll do it so that you don’t have to. There isn’t anyone else.”
“No, but for his kids, and I’m not sending them there to talk to him. They’re sleeping better at night now. I wouldn’t want to subject them to that again.” He told her that she was right. “I don’t know why, but if I were you, I’d take some kind of proof. Do you think they’ll have a death certificate yet? Maybe wait for it to come out in the paper?”
“That might be a good idea. But before he can hear about it through some kind of grapevine. I think that’s why they were rushing me to get there. So he doesn’t find out some other way.” He honestly didn’t want to go but knew that he couldn’t send Mandy. “I was given a number to call. I’ll call them back and ask for a death certificate so that I have proof. Not that I think he’ll recognize that as the truth.”
Demi knew that as a brother and sister, they were close. Closer he thought than he and his brothers were. They were also mean and snakes in the grass. He’d not trust either one of them with his back turned to them ever. But it had to be done, and the only thing that he could think of was that he’d have a guard with him when he got out of hand, and he was positive that the man would.
After getting off the phone the second time, the prison said that they usually expedited certificates of death so that they could be buried right away. But a postmortem had been done because of the way she’d been killed, and it would take them a day or two. Telling them that he needed something to take to her brother, the warden said that he would write up something for him that he could give to the brother. If that was all that he could get, then so be it.
His plan was to go up later today. It would take him an hour to get there, so he really needed to get a start. The warden faxed the letter that he wrote, a really good letter to his office, so that he’d have it when he wanted to leave. By two in the afternoon, he was on his way to the prison to tell Samuel that his sister had been killed and that the prison was looking into the death to see who had done it.
By the time he arrived, he’d convinced himself that all his worrying was for nothing. Samuel would be chained to whatever room he was in, and if he had to do it in a cell, then that would be between them as well. He was nervous, and he really didn’t understand why. Especially after he’d gotten there and was told how it was going to be happening.
It wasn’t as if they were going to allow him to be out and roaming around while he talked to him. He’d been assured that there would be guards there with them. Also, since it was a bereavement call, then it would be done in a closed room. Still with a guard on duty, but it wouldn’t be scary like he was thinking. Of course, he was afraid of Samuel. He’d seen the body of his wife after he’d killed her. She’d not gone easy.
After he’d been checked for items, he was given his letter back and sent into a large room. There were mirrors on each side of the room with a table that had been cemented to the floor. On the floor were two larger-than-normal eye hooks, and one was bolted to the table. If they used those while he was in here, he’d feel much better.
Samuel was brought in, and the man looked as if he’d gone a couple of rounds with a bat himself. His lips were both busted, his right eye was swollen shut, and his hair was a mess. And he smelled. He wasn’t sure what the odor was on the man, but it was bad enough that it took his breath away.
After he was locked not just to the leg irons that were on the floor but to the table as well, he sat there staring at him like he expected him to turn over something. He asked for a beer, and Demi told him that he’d not brought him anything to drink. And beer, he’d been told, was prohibited.
“Then who the fuck are you?” The guard told him to behave, and he just stared at him before turning back to him. “I don’t know you from Adam. What do you want? If you’re another one of those court-appointed lawyers, then I got no use for you. None of you will do what I want anyway. I want a damned beer and some magazines to look at.”
“My name is Demitrius Erikson. I’m married to your wife’s sister, Mandy.” He knew who she was if the cursing was any indication. “I’ve come to talk to you about your sister Georgie Jameson.”
“She get out? I hope so. Prison ain’t no place for a woman. Especially as delicate as she is. What you have to say about her?” He told him how she’d been killed. “That’s not funny, you bastard. Coming here to get me riled up is what you’ve done. Why would you say something like that?”
“I’m not lying to you, Samuel. Nor am I trying to rile you up. Georgie was killed last night at the women’s prison she was at. They don’t know who did it, but they’ve assured me that they’re looking into it using all their resources. She was stabbed three times.” Samuel snatched the letter from him, then, after reading it aloud, he wadded it up and tossed it at him. Picking it up from the table, he tried again. “She was sent there to await her trial in the death of your parents. Someone was going to talk to you about their deaths as well.”
“She can’t be dead, I tell you. Why did someone send her to prison for? She no more deserved that than I do. And what about my kids? Where are they now that she’s been carted off to prison?” He told him that he was adopting them with Mandy. “I don’t want her to have them, you idiot. They’re supposed to be going to my sister so that we can raise them together when I get out, and you can bet that I’m going to be getting out of here too. Where is she? My sister? Where is she right now?”
“Dead. I’m truly sorry.” Samuel sat there for so long that he thought that he’d gone into a trance or something. When he finally slammed both hands down on the table, both he and the guard jumped. “Samuel, I can have the warden come here and tell you, too. But Georgie was killed last night at the federal prison where she was at. While I don’t know how she—”
“You just shut up with that crap. There ain’t no way that she’s dead. She’s a good girl, my sister is, and I won’t be believing your lies about her being dead. No, I won’t. Now you tell me where she is, or so help me, I’m going to come across this table and slam your head into the wall until you’re dead.”
The words he said were scary enough, but it was the way that he said it that terrified him. His voice didn’t raise, nor did he move his hands in a way that made him be frightened of his movements; it was the very polite, soft way in which he said it. Like he was telling him that there was a movie on the television that he wanted to watch. Feeling a shiver of fear race down his spine, Demi backed away from the table and put his hands on his lap. It hadn’t occurred to him how close he was to him until that moment.
“There’s nothing more that I can tell you other than she was killed last evening. There will be a death certificate that I can send to you, but I don’t know if you’ll believe that any more than what I’ve already told you. She’s gone.” He stood up and stepped back when Samuel tried to stand as well. The guard with his hand on his weapon looked ready to pull it out and take care that Samuel was dead as well, which scared him just a little too. “You have a good life, Samuel, and I hope sometime soon you come to terms with the fact that your sister is dead.”
He was out the door before he could think that he didn’t know where to go. There had been too many turns and twists getting here that he wasn’t sure how to leave. Just as he was ready to go back into the room, an officer came out of the room next to the one that he’d been in and escorted him out of the building. If he saw anyone on his way out, he didn’t know, for his eyes were on his feet to put one foot in front of the other one to make sure he didn’t fall on his way out.
By the time he made it to his car, he was sick. Leaning over, holding onto the back of his car, he threw up everything that he had for lunch. It hadn’t been much, but it was enough to make him ill for several minutes after he’d tossed it all up. Leaning against his car, he left the breeze of the afternoon blow over him, making him feel less sick now that he was out in the open and more like he’d just avoided something huge with Sameul Jameson.
He’d never go back. Nor would he allow Mandy to come and visit the man either. Samuel was dangerous, and he didn’t care who he killed or threatened to get what he wanted. No wonder he’d been beaten up. The man couldn’t be trusted to behave himself while in prison with other inmates. How would anyone think that he’d be all right getting out to rain terror on completely innocent people that had nothing to do with him?
On the way home, he didn’t feel any better about what had happened. As the miles were eaten up behind him, he thought of how it must have been for the children of his to have been around him. And poor Betsey. It’s small wonder that she wasn’t killed before she had been. Samuel was a monster and a deadly one at that.
He came to a decision while driving, too. He was going to tell the boys daily, if not hourly, that he loved them. Demi wanted them to know that he loved them no matter what they did. And he was going to tell Mandy that she was the love of his life too. Why would anyone want to have someone in their lives if they were going to do nothing but beat them down? To have them feel like they wished you were dead so that you’d not bother them or frighten them anymore. Why? Just why would you do that to another human being that had no more to do with being your son in that you brought them into the world for your own amusement? Demi felt his belly churn up again as he was thinking about Samuel and Betsey and those two little boys. And what would have happened to Martin and Teddy had Georgie gotten them in some sort of irrational way?
She would have been no better than her brother. Using them for government assistance rather than loving them because they’d only just lost their mom. He wasn’t thrilled about Betsey either. She should have done something the first time that he hit her. Or at least tried. Talking to Mandy about her, she was getting abused even before the boys came along, and knew what sort of person her husband was. Some people he only just come to realize shouldn’t ever have children. They didn’t deserve them.
~*~
Mandy was able to get this week’s class off to a good start. With Demi coming around and helping out, it seemed to flow a good deal faster, too. With the boys back in school, it was lonely around the house even though she had plenty of things to do. It wasn’t the same without them around all the time.
“Did you get the lists for the schools?” She handed the lists off, six in total, for what each class would need in the way of supplies for the rest of the year. “Good. We’ll get them water too unless that’s already on the list.”
“It’s not on all of them, but it is on the second grade as well as the fifth grade classes. If you don’t mind me saying, I think some of the teachers are asking for things that are well out of the classroom projects. Like one of them asked for fifty headphones. Why so many when the kids were to bring in one each when the school year started? Also, there are things like paper towels as well as tissues. There are more than I think necessary on the lists. Almost like each kid could take home three boxes each for the entire school and still have leftovers.”
“I’ll look into that. Sometimes I feel like we’re supplying things for their homes, too, and that’s not what we’re doing.” Alex looked over the list. “Why do they need a microwave for the second graders. Last I heard, they didn’t have eating in their rooms. And I know for a fact that the teachers’ lounge has a nice one.” She looked over more of the lists. “It says here gift cards so that they can buy supplies not on the list. I thought that was what we did this for. So they’d not have to buy things that are listed.”
“I think you’re being taken advantage of.” Alex sat down with the list and told her a couple more things that she’d found. “Wait until you get to the sixth grade. They want paint to paint their rooms during Christmas break this year when it comes up. This is only the third week. Why does it need to be painted already?”
“I’m going to have to get some clarification on these. There is no way they’re going to need this much in the way of supplies to get them through the end of the year. There are things on here that I know for a fact are just things that the teachers lounge has had put in.” She started making a list. “This is stupid. I’m going to tell them not to do this if this is the way they’re going to be treating the charity that comes their way. Did you see this list from the front office? I didn’t know that we had anything to do with supplying them things?”
“Ms. Lavine handed me that when I was leaving. She said that it’s only a few things that they’re forever running out of. I don’t see how that’s something that, as a charity, we should be responsible for either. I mean, since when do we supply them with tissues and wipes too? And why so many?” The two of them made a list with the counts of what they were requesting. There were over two hundred and fifty boxes of tissues as well as three hundred containers of wipes. That didn’t even count the fifty-five containers for the front office and the hundred boxes of tissues. “I really think this is wrong in so many ways.”
By the time they were finished, they had three microwaves, two televisions, as well as a stereo system for one of the rooms. There were things on the list like paper napkins and paper plates. And then there were the water bottles that they wanted. Over three hundred and seventy-five cases, not individual bottles but cases of water for the rooms that requested them. This was just ridiculous.
“I wonder where they’d even store that much water. And they can’t even say it’s for the band boosters. We already supply them with water at every home game to sell. I’m going to have to have a meeting with these teachers. I’m curious as to what they’ll say when we ask them what on earth they were thinking about when they put these things on the list. I’m betting, as you said, they’re taking most of this home with them.” Locke came into the room when they were totaling up the price it would be for the things on the lists. “You’re not going to believe these lists that Mandy picked up today. We’re supplying them with things that aren’t even part of the teachers’ programs for school. Look at these.”
As Locke went over the lists, she and Alex talked about what they’d actually give them. She was of the opinion that they didn’t need anything from them if they were going to be greedy but Alex said it would be better if they just got them a few things then told them they were shit out of luck for the rest.
“I’m going to put my foot down to the principal. There is no way that he knows about these lists. And if he does, then shame on him, too. This is something out of a book, people taking advantage of the rich people in town because they think that they’re stupid or something. Having money doesn’t make you blind to people taking advantage of you. I’m going to call Zander to let him know about this and have him talk to the principal. Something needs to be done about this.” They both agreed. “Don’t buy anything yet. I want to see what’s going on with this first.”
“All right. The second-grade teacher did ask me how quickly she could get the gift cards. She said that paint is on sale right now, and she wanted to pick it up. Do you suppose she’s painting her home with charity money?” Locke said that he hoped not, that would get her into deep trouble using charity money fraudulently. “I think that they all are using it that way. We need to crack down on this before it gets really out of hand. Next, they’ll be asking us for new desks or something.”
“We are helping with the new school. Not in the way of financial needs, but with people working with the contractors to get it done quickly. They get a great deal of money to have a new school built, as well as the things that would go into it.” She asked Locke if he was sure about that. “I’m not sure now that I’ve seen these. Let me call Zander and see what he has to say about this. If he goes to the school, I might go with him. I want, like you two, to see the reaction of the people when they find out we’re not going to do this.”
Zander was pissed off about it. Locke put the call on speaker so that they could hear how upset he was. After reading him a couple of things on the list, he was furious about the way they were taking advantage of the group of them. He made an appointment as soon as today to talk to the other man.
The meeting was going to take place as soon as Zander could get there. The principal, Mr. David Sheen, said that he didn’t know what was going on, but he didn’t want it to fester and become something serious, and asked them to come in now. Since he didn’t want the teachers to know what was going on, they asked him to come to the Crockery Pot to have lunch and talk there. The man was more than agreeable. She and Alex were going too just to be there in case they wanted information about the lists. Also, to see if he was a part of it, which they all hoped that he wasn’t.
David showed up just as they were being seated. He was a good-looking younger man, but also had a serious look about him. Mandy was impressed that he brought himself a notepad and pen to take notes. She noticed that there were a couple of lines on his paper before they even began. He asked to go first.
“I don’t know why, but I was asked to see if there would be gift cards coming soon. This is from Ms. Piper, the second-grade teacher. She’s been with us a year now and perhaps doesn’t understand that you supply us with things rather than give out gift cards to let them spend the money. I might be wrong about that; I’m just not sure I ever heard of it happening.” Zander handed the man the list from Ms. Piper’s class without saying a word. As he went over it, his face got redder and redder as he got to the bottom. “I don’t understand what it is I’m looking at. Or perhaps I do, and I’m just shocked by it. I don’t know where they would have gotten the idea that—is this from my office? What do they need a microwave for? We have two now that are seldom used.”
David was fired up by the time he had gone over the lists with Zander. He told him that if this was how they were going to treat the charity that supplied them with extra, they just might not do it next year. David asked him to allow him to talk to the teachers. He’d get it to stop.
“What are you going to do?” David said he was going to find out who thought that this was a good idea, then go from there. “And if they don’t tell you whose idea it is, then what are you going to do? To be honest with you, sir, my family isn’t at all happy with these lists. It sounds as if we’re supplying them with things that, at the end of the year, will go home with them, if not before then. These lists total up to being more than eleven grand. We don’t even spend that much on the backpacks that we donate with all these supplies and more in them.”
“I would ask you to hold off on buying anything for a while. I might even have you not buy anything at all for this school year. But it won’t come back on you guys. I promise you that this is going to be laid at their feet and they’ll know too that I’m pissed off as well.” He looked over the lists again. “This isn’t even a couple of teachers here. This is all of them. Every teacher has put things on the list that shouldn’t be there.”
David was going to set up a meeting for this coming Friday. It would satisfy him on so many levels to have them stay after classes on Friday to talk to them. Hoping for a long weekend, he’d have them an answer to their lists then. Mandy thought that Daivd was looking forward to this as much as they were pissed off about it. She could almost feel sorry for the teachers who had given her the lists that they thought would amount to about five hundred dollars total, not the lists that they got.
By the next morning, word had gotten around about the teachers’ meeting the next evening. Gossip traveled quickly, and since Daivd had told them it was about the Erikson’s donations to the school, there was speculation that everything that they’d put onto their lists was going to come to them at the meeting. Some were even suggesting that they bring help with moving the stuff they had asked for into storage, which they expected the charity to pay for as well.
She and Zander, since she’d gotten the lists, were going to be there. He was already drafting a lawsuit on the things that they thought the teachers were going to be using for their own homes. No one would ever believe that they wanted that much water for the classrooms for the school year.
When the meeting was to start, she noticed that there were a lot of trucks and vans in the parking lot, like a great many of them for moving things. A great many of the teachers had changed into jeans and T-shirts with tennis shoes to work. It was going to be epic to see their faces when he told them that they weren’t getting anything.
The next afternoon, just yesterday, David had called Zander and told him that the school wouldn’t be needing their help for the rest of the school year. The more he had thought about it, the angrier he’d gotten, and he decided that they’d have to do without if they were going to be greedy. He even had him fill out a lawsuit for each teacher that stated that they were fraudulently using things that had been donated for their own personal use.
“I heard them talking about how they had pulled the wool over your eyes about the lists. I know now that the gift cards for the paint was going to Ms. Applet for her daughter’s bedroom and the kitchen. As was the microwave that she asked for on her list.” David sighed heavily. “I’m ashamed to admit that I had no idea this was going on. And to be honest with you, I didn’t think that this would happen for as much as you’ve donated to the schools in the past. I’d tell you to go to another school to help out instead of this one, but I know that without the donations, the regular donations, this school wouldn’t be in half as good of shape as it is right now. I doubt very much we’d be getting the new building that is going up as we speak.”
“I’m sorry as well, David. We won’t cut you off completely, but we won’t be donating anything to the teachers’ funds this year. Also, the end of year awards dinner, either.” He said it was no less than he expected. “The kids aren’t at fault, so we’ll continue with the backpack funds, but I’m doubtful that unless something really changes, we’ll be giving any more money to the school.”
“Would you mind if I told them that?” Zander had told him that he was going to be saying that at the meeting. “Good. I want them to come to the realization that they’ve bitten the very hand that has fed them. I mean, I expected you to tell me that your family isn’t going to be helping with breakfast anymore.”
“As I said, this has nothing to do with the students. We’d not take that from them. But the teachers are going to have to pay for their meals from it.” David asked if the teachers were eating too. “They are. All of them.”
“Christ, there is no end to what they’ll do, is there? All right.” They made arrangements to get together on what was going to be said and done at the meeting, and now here they were. Zander had even dressed up in a three-piece suit, and she in a professionally looking suit herself. This was going to be something completely unexpected for everyone there.