Silt, Denver Cereal Volume 8 (12 page)

A man’s voice seemed to curse in return.

“
Charlie gets to pick his
parole officer,” Samantha said. “Oh? That’s all right
too.”

Samantha gave the phone back to the guard
and they drove out.

“
You have to be strong
Charlie,” Samantha said. “I’m not going to let them railroad you
into taking all the risk.”

“
What about the girls?”
Charlie asked. “Will they get good lawyers too?”

“
We’re working on that
with the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center,” Samantha said. “I
know a few people there. They’re scrambling to make sure that
everyone has first-rate representation.”

“
Even the rich girls?”
Charlie asked. “I mean, I know their families have money and stuff
but . . .”

“
Even them,” Samantha
said.

Charlie nodded.

“
Are you hungry?” Samantha
asked.

Charlie
was
hungry but he felt
too embarrassed to say anything since Samantha had been at
breakfast at the Castle. He shook his head.

“
You’re not a very good
liar,” Samantha said. “Plus, I have brothers.”

“
Are you married to that
Raz guy?” Charlie asked.

“
He’s my partner,”
Samantha said. “But we’re not married. Why?”

“
Oh, nothing,” Charlie
said. “I like him. I like the way he talks to people. He really
looks at them. I mean Jake and Sam, they see me. Mike and Aden too.
But . . . I don’t really know how to explain it.
It’s like Raz knows everything good and everything bad about me all
at once, no pretending. Steve, um, Jill’s brother, does that too.
Plus, Raz helped Nash and Teddy come up with all of
this.”

“
He did?”

“
Oh sorry, I thought you
knew,” Charlie said.

“
I didn’t,” Samantha said.
“But now that you tell me, it makes sense. I wondered how Nash and
Teddy came up with such a complicated plan, and how they knew so
much about how police departments work.”

Charlie nodded. Samantha’s phone rang. She
looked at the caller ID but didn’t answer. She drove down Market
Street and pulled over at a meter across from the bus terminal.

“
Let’s go here,” Samantha
said.

They got out and she put money in the meter.
They went into the Delectable Egg and found a table.

“
You used to spend a lot
of time at that bus terminal,” Samantha said, as she sat
down.

“
Begging for money.”
Charlie nodded.

The waitress came up to the table and took
their order. Samantha ordered decaffeinated coffee and Charlie
ordered a full meal. Samantha’s phone rang again. She didn’t answer
it.

“
Is that them?” Charlie
asked.

“
Who?” Samantha smiled at
him. “Is it weird to be back here?”

“
I wondered why you picked
this place,” Charlie said.

“
If you do this thing,
collect information for the police and everything, you effectively
change sides,” Samantha said. “Forever. There’s no going back. You
won’t be able to go back to this terminal and beg for change
or . . .”

“
I know.”

“
And your
friends?”

“
They won’t either,”
Charlie said. “We’ll have to join the normies.”

“
Do you know what usually
happens when kids give depositions?”

Charlie shook his head.

“
They don’t follow
through. They go back on drugs or back to the streets or change
their minds or get pregnant or move,” Samantha said. “Especially
street kids. So they’re asking you to make their case for them.
They want you to make sure everyone shows up. It’s a lot to
ask.”

Charlie nodded. His breakfast arrived and he
started shoveling food in his mouth. He glanced at Samantha and she
gave him a smile. He slowed down a little bit. Samantha seemed lost
in thought. The waitress came by a few times, but otherwise,
Charlie ate in peace. When he was done, Samantha paid the bill.
They went across the street to the bus terminal.

Charlie’s eyes scanned the open area. People
were moving in and out of the terminal. Right in front of them, a
panhandler with a sign saying he wanted to go to Boulder got a
dollar from a guy in a suit. Over there, a kid pocketed another
guy’s wallet.

“
What do you think?”
Samantha asked.

“
I think this seems like a
long, long time ago,” Charlie said.

“
You, of all people, know
how brutal these boys have been,” Samantha said. “If they find out
you’re involved, they could come after you, or worse, Sissy or
Noelle or . . .”

“
I know,” Charlie said.
“They know the risks too. They still think it’s a good
idea.”

“
And you? What do you
think?”

“
I think that sometimes,
to become the man you want to be, you have to let go of the man you
have been,” Charlie said.

“
Emerson?”

“
Oddly, it’s something my
father said to me on my first day of Kindergarten,” Charlie said.
“I didn’t remember it until the guy who drove me downtown talked
about how much my dad loved me. I don’t know, Delphie would say
that he was with me now. But . . .”

Charlie shrugged.

“
He must have loved you
very much,” Samantha said.

“
I wish he was here,”
Charlie said.

“
Here they
come.”

She nodded toward Detective Red Bear and
Sergeant Aziz. They were walking fast in their direction. The
deputy DA ran to catch up. The three walked to Samantha and
Charlie.

“
Before you say a word,”
Detective Red Bear said. “We agree to your terms as
stated.”

“
Great,” Samantha said.
“You have that in writing?”

The detective gave her a document. Samantha
read the document and nodded to Charlie.

“
We’re a go,” Sergeant
Aziz said into his communication device.

Two police cruisers pulled up to the bus
terminal. With a bit too much showy swagger, the officer who’d come
for him this morning arrested him again. The officers were loud, in
case anyone was watching. Charlie played his part by resisting a
little bit. In the end, he was in the backseat of the police
cruiser he’d started the day in.

“
Good job, Charlie,” the
officer said when he got in the car. “I’ll take you to probation.
Did you pick an officer?”

“
Aden has a friend who
used to work there,” Charlie said. “They’re going to meet us
there.”

“
Great,” the officer
said.

Charlie looked out the window. After the
fuss of the arresting, the bus terminal returned to the ebb and
flow of people. Samantha gave him a little wave. Charlie watched
the terminal fade away.

He closed his eyes for a moment to mark the
end of his old life.

When he opened them, he was at the parole
office. Aden and an elderly black man were walking toward him.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday morning—9:56 a.m.

“
How are you feeling?”
Valerie asked Blane as she approached Jacob’s office.

“
Okay,” Blane
smiled.

“
Liar,” Valerie
said.

“
Actually, my numbers have
improved,” Blane said. “Your generous gift has changed my
life.”

Valerie smiled. Blane nodded.

“
You didn’t ask about my
numbers,” Blane said. “I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. Tink
came home last night and brought a friend.”

“
I heard,” Valerie said.
“Congratulations.”

“
We’re pretty excited,”
Blane smiled “And before you tell me, I’m going home
early.”

“
We’re having another
party, I think,” Valerie said.

“
Just the kids,” Blane
said. “Delphie offered to take all the kids for the day so we could
rest. I think they’re going to start cleaning out some of the
basement rooms, but don’t quote me.”

“
They are,” Valerie said.
“I’m going to help go through stuff this afternoon. You’ll go
home?”

“
In a couple hours,” Blane
said. “Honestly, it’s nice to just be here at my familiar
desk.”

“
Sure,” Valerie
said.

She looked up when a tall thin, graying man
came out of Jacob’s office. Jacob followed him.

“
Let me know if you change
your mind,” the man said.

“
I will,” Jacob
said.

Jacob shook the man’s hand. He turned to
Valerie and winked. Blane got up to escort the man out of the
building. Valerie followed Jacob into his office.

“
Do you know who that is?”
Valerie asked. “That’s the guy who’s building an Old West Town in
the middle of the woods. You know what his family does?”

“
They donate large sums of
money to politicians to get what they feel like they need,” Jacob
sat down in his office chair. “Yes, I know what they
do.”

“
What did he want?”
Valerie stood on the other side of his desk. “Are you going to do
the rehab on his Old West Town?”

“
No.”

“
Did he want you to donate
to his political agenda? I hope you said ‘no.’ Mom would seriously
haunt you if you started putting buckets of money into the stuff
she fought to change.”

“
He didn’t ask for money,”
Jacob said.

“
Then what?” Valerie put
her hands on her hips. “Why was he here? And why do you look so
tired?”

“
Just have a lot going on,
Val,” Jacob said.

“
Are you doing your
meditations?” Valerie asked.

“
Meditations?” Jacob gave
her his best confused look. “What meditations?”

“
Very funny,” Valerie
said. “You’d better do them or you’ll get all backed up. You have
that look.”

“
What look?”

“
Like you’re all backed
up,” Valerie said.

“
Good to know,” Jacob
said. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“
Why was that guy here?”
Valerie asked.

“
He wants to open the
Marlowe mine,” Jacob said.

“
That’s a great idea,”
Valerie said. “We could really make a difference in Leadville. It
would . . .”

“
Stop,” Jacob said. “We’re
not opening the mine.”

“
Why not?”

“
You know why not,” Jacob
said.

“
There’s got to be some
kind of new technology so you don’t have to use
your . . . skills,” Valerie said.

“
I don’t have time to run
another business,” Jacob said.

“
I could help,” Valerie
said.

“
No you can’t,” Jacob
said. “You just want to start something and let me take care of
it.”

“
What?
I . . .!”

“
You’re leaving soon,
right?”

“
Uh . . .
How did you know?”

“
Because this is what you
do right before you leave,” Jacob said. “You start a lot of work
and then wander off.”

“
Hey!” Valerie sounded
indignant.

He scowled at her.

“
Well, so what if I do?”
Valerie grinned. “You miss me when I’m gone.”

“
Right this moment, I’d
like to miss you some.” Jacob gave her a sly smile.

Valerie chuckled.

“
When do you leave?” Jacob
asked.

“
End of the week,” Valerie
said. “Are you coming to my opening?”

“
No,” Jacob
said.

“
What?” Valerie’s eyes
welled with tears.

Jacob scowled and Valerie laughed.

“
Jill can’t travel. Lipson
is at a precipice, blah, blah,” Valerie said. “I liked it better
when I had you all to myself.”

Jacob laughed.

“
Okay, I didn’t.” Valerie
grinned.

“
What’s the schedule?”
Jacob asked.

“
Premiere next weekend,”
Valerie said. “I’m in LA for two weeks to work on that animated
thing and then back home for a month to train for the next movie.
And . . .”

She looked up at him and laughed.

“
You knew all of that,”
Valerie said.

“
You’ve sent me ten
updates,” Jacob said.

“
I’m going to miss you,”
Valerie said.

“
I’ll miss you too,” Jacob
said. “But you need to follow your dreams. You’ll be miserable if
you stay here much longer.”

Valerie nodded.

“
You’ll take care of
Delphie and everybody?” Valerie asked. “Watch out for
Charlie?”

Jacob nodded.

“
We should be home when
Jill delivers,” Valerie said. “I’d never leave if I didn’t think I
would be home for . . .”

“
I know,” Jacob said. “Can
I help you at all?”

Valerie shook her head. Their eyes met for a
brief moment in silent acknowledgement of their bond.

“
Ok, well, glad we got
that settled,” Valerie said.

She flipped her head and did her best
flounce out of his office. She pulled his door closed because she
knew it would bug him, smiled at Blane, and walked toward the
entrance. She was almost to the front, when she remembered that she
forgot to remind him to meditate. Not wanting to give up one of her
last chances to boss him around, she turned around and went back to
his office.