Chapter 4 – Age 18
“I promise you, we’re working on it,” said Charles Montez, the chief of the Phoenix Police Department.
He was sitting on their living room sofa.
Jule’s father had insisted they buy it because it would convey the right message to guests and his mother had argued against it because it was cream and she was sure Jule would spill something on it and destroy twenty thousand dollars in twenty seconds.
Jule hadn’t ever spilled anything on that sofa.
He probably hadn’t ever sat on it. Unfortunately, Harold Sterling was no longer around to remind Barbara Sterling that he had been right.
“How precisely are you working on it?” his grandmother asked. “It’s been four months and you haven’t arrested the person who murdered my son.”
Jule had never been close to his grandparents, to anyone in his biological family really.
But he felt sorry for them. His father’s death had hit them hard.
Both of them seemed to have aged dramatically over the past four months.
Jule, on the other hand, had been in a holding pattern.
He still got up every day, still went to school, still came home, but he didn’t think about any of it, didn’t distinguish one day from the next.
He was in a fog. And it wasn’t because his father was dead.
“It’s a very complicated situation,” the chief said.
“I fail to understand how the murder of the sitting attorney general is so complex that your department is unable to handle it, but if I need to make some calls to help you get motivated, I’ll do that.”
“We are handling it, Governor Sterling,” the chief insisted. It was always weird hearing his grandfather referred to that way because Jule hadn’t been alive when he had been in office, but in formal settings, that was what people called him. “We’ve formed a joint task force with the DEA and ATF.”
That announcement surprised everyone in the room, himself included.
In reality, he should be the person who had the most information about what happened to his father.
After all, unbeknownst to anyone, he had been there that day, and he knew who did it.
But that was all he knew because that had been the last time he had heard from Tor, and his brothers insisted that he hadn’t gotten in touch with them either.
Taking the silence as a positive sign, the chief continued talking.
“We have evidence that ties a person named John Jones to the murders of Attorney General Sterling and Victoria Dunworthy, but we haven’t been able to apprehend Mr. Jones.
We believe he has strong ties to an organization called the Knights. He may be their leader.”
“What are the Knights?” Jule’s mother asked.
“To be completely frank, we’re only now starting to learn about them.
They’re a cartel that we believe started as an offshoot from one of the bigger prison gangs and they may still be connected.
They’re insular and incredibly well organized, which is how they’ve managed to fly completely under the radar until now, which I assure you is a concern I’ve raised with my staff.
The ATF is involved because of their firearms dealings, and the DEA is on board because of their involvement with controlled substances, among other things. Many other things.”
“My gracious,” his mother said on a gasp, her hand over her mouth. “Is that why they targeted Harold? Was he investigating them? Are we in danger?”
Both of his grandparents looked down. Jule understood that it was because they, unlike his mother, knew exactly who Victoria Dunworthy was, which meant they knew the situation was probably more personal than professional.
“We don’t believe you’re in danger,” the chief assured his mother. “Of course, we’ll tell you if that becomes a concern. For now, I’m here to give you that update and to answer any questions you may have.” He paused. “Any questions that I can answer, that is.”
Everyone remained silent for a while as they processed the information they’d just received.
Jule had known John Jones was bad news. Tor had told him that very clearly on more than one occasion.
But he hadn’t realized the scope of it. Tor’s father was the head of some dangerous cartel.
He had no idea what that even meant but the details about what he was involved with gave him a clue.
Maybe Tor was hiding. He had run into that house right after everything happened so maybe his father realized he saw something, and Tor had to get away.
But where would he go and why wouldn’t he tell Jule about it?
“What’s the plan of attack, Chief Montez?” his grandfather asked. “What precisely will this task force do to get justice for my son?”
“We’re working out those details, but right now, we believe an infiltration is our best option.”
“An infiltration?” his mother asked.
The chief nodded. “As I mentioned, this cartel is extremely organized and deeply insular. They’re also very dangerous.
This is a death penalty crime and they’re closing ranks around Jones.
In order to find him, we need to infiltrate his organization, gather information about their members and activities, and if we can accomplish that, we can get him and bring the entire thing down with him. ”
“That does sound complicated,” his grandfather acknowledged.
“It is.” The chief nodded. “But we have a plan to make it happen. It’s a little unorthodox and it won’t be fast, but it will get done. We will get justice for Attorney General Sterling and the other victims of the Knights cartel. You have my word.”
***
Jule sat alone at one of the tables outside the cafeteria, a full tray of food in front of him. He wasn’t hungry. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been hungry. It was the first day of the last semester of his last year of high school and he didn’t care. He no longer cared about anything.
“Hey.”
He looked up and saw Maria Cruz smiling tentatively at him. She was one of the only people in that school he actually liked. “Hi, Maria.”
“Can I sit?”
“Of course.”
High school, like every part of Jule’s life, was compartmentalized.
His honors classes were filled with people who lived in his neighborhood.
Some of them were the children of people his parents knew, others were the children of people who wanted to know his parents.
He knew how to play the part and fit in their space, at least on the surface, but none of that was real and none of them interested him.
The people he actually liked spending time with had never been in his classes.
They lived in Tor’s neighborhood and the two of them used to hang out with them on evenings and weekends.
They weren’t friends exactly, Tor had always been his only real friend, but they were fun and Jule could be himself with them.
Unfortunately, by this stage in school most of them had either graduated or dropped out.
Maria was an exception. She lived a couple of streets down from Tor, she was chill, and she had been in the same classes as them throughout high school.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you that I’m sorry about what happened.”
“Thanks.” He never knew what to say when people offered condolences about his father, so he took pages from his mother’s script, even though it was bullshit. “He lived an honorable life. He’s in a better place now.”
“I was talking about Tor,” she whispered. She leaned forward and covered his hand with hers. “I can’t imagine how hard it is for you that he’s gone.”
Wetness formed in his eyes and he nodded.
“Do you talk to him?”
He shook his head.
“I’m sorry. Nobody knows where he is, but I thought you…”
He shook his head again.
She got up, stepped over to him, bent down, and hugged him. “I’m here if you want to talk about it, Jule. Take care of yourself.” With that, she walked away.
That was nice but he didn’t feel better. He moved his fork around the food on his tray, mixing it together and watching the colors blend.
“Hey, uh, Julian.”
He flicked his gaze away from the mush he was creating to the football player standing beside him.
Owen Jacobson. School quarterback, honor student, oldest son of a doctor who lived a few streets down from him, and a fake prick who had always been jealous that he and Tor got better grades than he did in every class.
“Owen,” Jule said.
“So, listen, whatever she told you, it’s not true. She tried to trap me.”
He blinked a few times to clear his mind. As out of it as he’d been, he could still generally follow a conversation. “What?”
Owen sat next to him and leaned close. “Maria Cruz. I saw her over here and I know she told you what happened, but she did it on purpose.”
“On purpose,” he repeated.
“Exactly. I paid her to take care of it. It’s not like I could have a kid with a girl like that.” He laughed. “I was just having fun with her. But you know how those people are, she saw a golden ticket and thought she could trap me with a baby.”
“You got Maria pregnant,” he spoke his realization out loud.
“That’s on her. She thought she was my girlfriend but come on.
It’s not like I told people about us or brought her around my family.
” He scoffed. “Can you imagine? A girl like that. And besides, why wasn’t she on the pill?
Because she wanted to get knocked up. That’s why.
But whatever she said to you, you need to know that I did the right thing.
I paid for all of it. Even the hotel room. ”
“You had sex in a hotel room?”
“No.” He shook his head and then he somehow managed to get even closer to Jule. “The one for the abortion. She had to go to California to do it. But I didn’t complain. I paid every dime. I don’t know exactly what she told you, but we can’t trust those kinds of people. You know how they are.”
The pieces of information slotted together in his mind and the haze of exhaustion and despair dissipated in a flash of familiar and welcome rage.
“Yes, Owen, I know exactly how those people are.”
Owen started to lean back, looking pleased, but that lasted less than a second because Jule grabbed the edge of his tray and swung it against his smug, superior face.
Food scattered everywhere, and Owen flew off the bench, blood spewing from his nose.
He lay on the ground yelling and crying, and that was the best moment Jule had experienced in half a year.
He would have gotten up and kicked the shit out of him, but teachers swarmed them and pulled him away.
There was no point in fighting them off, so he let them drag him into the principal’s office and he sat down without a word.
After about fifteen minutes, Ms. Devereux the principal came into the room. “Julian,” she said his name softly, walked around his chair, and sat at her desk. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
He didn’t respond.
“I spoke with the staff who saw the incident and then I spoke with Owen Jacobson.”
He remained silent.
She took a deep breath and let it out. “I understand you’re struggling, Julian.
What happened to your father…” She shook her head, expression downcast. “Owen refused to tell me what exactly transpired between the two of you. He said it was a misunderstanding and he doesn’t want to make any sort of complaint.
Normally, fighting at school is an automatic suspension but, in this case, I’m willing to let it go. ”
He kept his eyes focused on her, so she’d know he was listening, but he didn’t have anything to say. He honestly didn’t care what she did to him.
“But I am going to call your mother and explain the situation. I’m also going to recommend some counselors to her for you to see.
Your teachers have told me that you didn’t turn in any assignments last semester, and your test scores have plummeted since last year.
They haven’t let it impact your grades because we all know what you’ve been through, but, Julian, you need help. ”
That was probably true, but he doubted any counselor could help with his problem. Not unless the counselor could get him in touch with Tor.
“Alright, I can see that you don’t want to talk to me. Go ahead and get to class. I’ll be in touch with your mother. You’re a good kid, Julian. I hate to see you this way.”
He walked out of the office and almost bumped into Maria.
“Did they expel you?” she asked, looking worried.
“No, of course not.” He started walking to class and she joined him.
“Good.” She sighed in relief. “I assume you beat the shit out of Owen Jacobson because he told you that he knocked me up?”
“Yes.” He put his arm around her back. “Look, Maria, he’s a dick and you didn’t deserve—”
She started laughing. “It was all bullshit.”
He frowned. “What?”
“The story I told Owen. Total bullshit.”
“You weren’t pregnant?” he asked, stopping in his tracks.
“Of course not.” She pushed at his chest. “I’m careful. I’m going to go to college next year and then I’ll graduate and get a good job and get the fuck out of here. No babies for me.”
“So, why?”
“Because Owen Jacobson is a spoiled rich dick. He’s cute so I didn’t mind fucking him, but I heard him talking shit about me with his friends so I figured he may as well fund my tuition at Phoenix College.”
Jule slowly smiled and then he threw his head back and laughed. “How much did you get off him?”
“Five grand.”
“That’s awesome.”
“I know, right? For an abortion! I told him I had to fly to California and stay in a hotel, and he bought all of it. Didn’t even ask for proof. Honestly, I probably could have gotten more out of him, but this is enough to cover both years at PC, including books.”
“Well, hopefully he learned a lesson,” Jule said.
“That little bitch won’t learn a thing from a five-K loss. He probably got it from his mommy and daddy. A lunch tray to the face though…” She grinned at Jule.
“He deserved worse.”
“You broke his nose. I’d say we’re square.” They began walking again and then in a more somber tone, Maria said, “It’s good to see you smile again, Jule.”
“It’s good to smile again,” he said. “Let me know if you need me to fuck someone else up for you. It’s fun.”
“No way. At some point, Tor’ll come back.
I don’t need him hearing that I helped you get into trouble.
You swing a mean lunch tray, but Tor Dunworthy would find a way to ruin me silently and entirely.
I don’t fuck with his kind of heat.” She shook her head.
“Nuh uh. One broken nose victim is all you’re getting from me. ”
He sighed. “I hope that happens soon.”
She understood what he meant. “Me too.”