Vengeance is Mine (24 page)
Authors: Reavis Z Wortham
When he had the full story, Cody went outside and reached through the open window of the El Camino to pluck the Motorola's microphone from the dash. Wind nearly snatched the Stetson off his head as he keyed the mike. “Ned. You there?”
The reply came only a second later. “Go ahead Cody.”
“Where are you?”
“Still in the parking lot here at St. Joseph hospital. That little one I brought in is in bad shape, and I'm just getting' around to leaving.”
Cody took a deep breath and spoke in Choctaw. “Listen, Ned
. Abenili anukwa n ya
.”
Hurry home.
He wasn't sure the sentence structure was right, but it should be enough for Ned to understand.
The shocked silence on the other end spoke more than words. Cody knew Ned was translating, and the use of Choctaw only meant one thing. There was news he didn't want others to hear, especially Sheriff Griffin.
Their grasp of the language was thin. Both were far from fluent, and only knew what Miss Becky taught them through the years. Much of what
she
knew came from her childhood and the ragged Choctaw Bible she inherited from her mother. The last time they used the dialect was when Cody, half Indian himself, was held prisoner in Mexico and they wanted to communicate in front of the crooked
comandante
of
Las Células,
the jail.
Ned's voice finally came back through the radio. “All right. I'm-a listenin'. What's the matter?”
“
Abeka apistikeli, bo-a
.”
Tending the sick, beaten.
“Good God. Can you say who?”
Cody had the next one down.
“Hatak lusa ohoyo.”
A colored woman.
Another long pause while Ned studied on the phrase. The only colored woman Cody would be talking about was Rachel. “Anyone else?”
“No.”
Ned stumbled, and then remembered the word. “Katâ¦katraâ¦
Katimma
?”
Where?
“
Aiilli
.” Home. “Ned,
ho-miniti!”
Come on!
The wind freshened, and the sporadic light-show overhead kicked into high gear.
The old constable's next transmission was garbled, but Cody heard one thing clearly. The roar of Ned's engine.
Sheriff Griffin slammed the heel of his hand against the steering wheel as he listened to the Parkers speak Choctaw.
“Shit!”
He steered through the darkness toward Center Springs.
It needed to be finished.
I followed Uncle Cody into the wind and listened while he talked to Grandpa in Choctaw. I couldn't understand it, but I knew Grandpa would be at the house pretty quick.
It was time for me to help, because I knew stuff they didn't.
The porch light was still off over Mr. Thurman's head and I caught Pepper's attention. We stepped into the darkness around the corner of the house while lightning spread like bright tree roots in the roiling clouds above.
“What?”
I ducked my head back around to see where everyone was.
She grabbed my shirt, yanking me around. “Hey,
stupid
. They'll know something's up if you keep peeking around the corner like that. Just stand still and tell me what you want.”
I hated that I'd never be as good a sneak as her. “Did you hear what that man was asking Miss Rachel back at her house?”
“No. I didn't hear anything. All I saw was him beating her.”
“Well, he was asking where Mr. John and Mr. Tony was.”
Her hair whipped in the wind. “What did he want to know that for?”
“How'm I supposed to know? All I can say is that he
really
wanted to know where they were.”
“Well, we need to tell Uncle Cody.”
Frustration swelled in my chest. “No, I don't think so. Something's up, and they're gonna stay here and talk about it for a long time, and then they might wait until Grandpa gets back from town before they figure out what to do.”
“So?”
“So it'll be too late by then. We need to go tell Mr. Tony right now!”
She shook her head. “I don't get why we can't tell Uncle Cody.”
I was thinking about that machine gun I'd seen in the trunk of Mr. Tony's car the first day they showed up in Center Springs. “Those people are after him 'cause I think he's into something that might be a little against the law.”
Pepper stood there in the window light, thinking. A strong gust rattled the windowpane. Finally she sighed. “I don't think I can do that.”
“You don't want to go help Mr. Tony?” I couldn't believe it was me saying something like that. Since we were little, it was always Pepper who got us in trouble, but here I was, suggesting dumb ideas I'd have expected
her
to come up with.
“I want to.” Her eyes welled, reflecting the light from the windows. She wrapped her arms around herself and I knew she was touching her burn scar. “But I'm getting a really bad vibe about all of this.”
I couldn't figure her out. Here was a perfect adventure. “Look, we'll get our bikes and ride on over, tell him what we know, and come home. We'll be back in twenty minutes, long before anyone misses us.”
Angry, Pepper wiped her face dry. “You promise that's all?”
“Sure. What could be hard about that?”
She squinted through the slit between the windowsill and the shade. Mr. John was on the couch, sitting with his back to us and his arm around Miss Rachel. She leaned in to him and said something in his ear. Before he could answer, Miss Becky appeared and lowered the shade all the way down, and then worked her way through the house, closing them all.
“See? They're gonna sit there and talk a while.” There was still enough light coming through the shade for me to see Pepper's face. “They don't know we're out here. We can get to Mr. Tony's and back before they catch us, and then we'll be all right, so all they can do is get mad and holler.”
“They might not catch us.” I couldn't see Pepper's face then, but her teeth were white when she finally smiled. “But this storm might.”
“We've been caught in the rain before.”
She wiped her tears away. “All right. I ain't no titty baby.”
Ned's car slid to a stop in front of the porch. He tracked around the hood. “Thurman, what are you doing here?”
“Keeping an eye out, Mr. Ned. I brought these folks.”
Ned climbed the steps. “What folks? Why don't you come on in?”
“I believe I'll sit out here and watch the weather. I always did enjoy a good storm.” He paused. “Sides, I didn't get a chance to clean up to be company, so I believe I'll stay right 'chere.”
“All right, then.” A stroke of lightning lit him up and Ned noticed the familiar outline underneath the rag over Thurman's lap. He went inside and paused.
Ralston was at the table loaded with dish pans full of peeled and sliced pears. Dirty dishes added to the cluttered the table and counter as the kids who looked like John cleaned up all the leftovers from the refrigerator. Norma Faye and Sam worked the table like waitresses, filling plates and bowls.
Ralston swallowed a bite of cold cornbread soaked in sweet milk and ducked his head. “Mr. Ned.”
“Howdy Ralston. What's goingâ¦?”
“In there,” Norma Faye pointed toward the living room. A revolver was tucked into the small of her back.
“Are y'all⦔
Ned glanced at a shotgun lying on the chest type deep freezer. Sam smiled. “We're fine.”
***
He pitched his hat beside the shotgun and stepped into the living room. Rachel lay on the sofa, a folded rag across her forehead and over her eye. Miss Sweet rocked a sleeping baby. Two other little ones slept on a pallet in the floor.
John stood beside the couch, radiating fury. Ned had never seen the man so angry. He was reminded of a watch spring wound far too tight. With Ned there, John sat on the couch and scooped Rachel against him. Cody leaned against the door to keep an eye on the doors and most of the windows.
Miss Becky was sitting at the telephone table with her Bible open in her lap. Her shoulders slumped when Ned appeared, as if his very presence had removed a great weight. He stopped beside the television. “What happened?”
Cody pointed at Rachel, and Ned listened as she talked quietly.
When she was finished, Ned remained silent for a long moment. “John, you don't know what any of this has to do with you and Tony?”
“I have no idy, Mr. Ned.”
“Has Tony ever been to your house?”
Rachel shook her head. “I never laid eyes on the man, honest. John?”
“What, baby?”
Her dimples appeared. “Do you realize you growlin'?”
The phone rang with a brash rattle, startling everyone. Miss Becky met Ned's eyes across the room. He nodded and she picked up the receiver. “Hello? Oh, hidy, Tony. Yep, she's right here. I'll hand her over.”
Sam came in from the kitchen and they traded places. Her eyes softened when she took the phone. “Hey, tough guy.” She listened for a long minute, her face falling. The adults watched as she remained silent, without interrupting, shrinking with every passing minute. Conversation was low in the living room, louder in the kitchen. “All right, I understand, but remember I love you.” She hung up and took a deep breath, ready to give them only part of the conversation. “Tony got home a few minutes ago. He heard what happened and called to make sure I was all right.”
Ned frowned. “Why wouldn't
you
be all right? Never mind, how'd he hear? No one oughta know but us.”
She hesitated. “He said the kids told him.”
Ned felt the blood rush from his face. “What kids?”
“Top and Pepper.”
Ned blew up. “Sonofabitch!”
Lightning fractured the thunderheads, irradiating the paper shades from the outside. Thunder rattled dishes in the china cabinet. The house lights fell dark. Kids squealed, waking the smaller children who began to cry.
Miss Becky covered her mouth in shock. “
I
don't even know what's going on, and they're stringing off in this stormâ¦!” Shaking her head, Miss Becky stood to light the oil lamps. “I can't believe we didn't know they was gone. What kind of people are we?”
Ned gave Miss Becky's arm a pat. “I know how it is. They'll get away from you before you can turn around.” He caught their attention. “Cody, John, y'all come outside with me where these kids cain't hear everything we say.”
Once off the porch, Ned stopped and scrubbed the back of his neck, staring into the darkness covering his pasture. John opened his trunk and lifted out his shotgun. “Mr. Ned, why don't you stay here and let Cody go find them kids? They know something we don't, and I bet a dollar it's about Tony. Maybe them that hurt Rachel has found out where he lives and gone there for some reason.”
“What'll you do when you find them, John? You're too mad to think straight right now.”
The deputy glared down at the older man beside him. “I'll do what I have to.” He shucked a shell into the magazine and rolled half of the shells from a pasteboard box into his big hand. He dropped them into one front pocket of his khakis, then filled the other and slammed the lid. The expression on his face was one of barely restrained violence.
Anxious to get moving, Cody opened the door on his El Camino and put one foot inside.
Ned breathed heavily, considering their options. “Y'all settle down for a second. We don't know what we're getting into.”
“We need to do
something
!” Cody dipped his head into the wind to keep his hat secure. When it threatened to blow off again, he yanked it off and pitched it into the seat.
Realizing he was about to lose his own Stetson, Ned took it off. The cool wind felt strange on his bald head. He studied on what to do for a long moment. “I don't expect anybody to come to the house, but one of us needs to stay here. This has something to do with Griffin and he's got something up his sleeve. Cody, you go find the kids. Right now we don't need to be running around like chickens with our heads cut off.”
A truck slowed on the highway and crunched up the gravel drive, headlight beams sweeping over the house and yard. The kitchen door opened and Miss Becky stuck her head out. “Ned, that'll be Ty Cobb and Jimmy Foxx.”
“What are they doing here?”
“I knew they'd be home in this storm, so I called 'em to come over and set so's y'all can go.”
Ned almost grinned at the woman who'd been his rock for decades. “That was a good idea, Mama. All right.” He waved at the truck. “Y'all get out and come in.”
The heavily armed brothers got out. Ty Cobb took a seat on the edge of porch in front of Thurman. “Ned, y'all go do what you need to. We'll take care of things here.”
Without a word, Jimmy Foxx nodded at the three lawmen, went inside, and locked the door. The kitchen went dark as he blew out the coal oil lamp on the table, leaving only a dim glow in the living room.
Cody dropped into the seat and left to go find his niece and nephew. John shifted from one foot to the next, bleeding off energy.
Ned heard John whine like a dog wanting off the leash. He realized it was the sound of frustration harnessed by the respect that John had for Ned's age and position in life.
“Mr. Ned, I believe I need to go and see what I can do to find them that hurt Rachel. I want to get my hands on 'em and anyone else who might have been a part of it. Right. Now.”
Ned didn't look right, standing outside without his hat. “John, we been through a lot these last couple of years. Sometimes you have to take your time breaking up a fistfight between two men, so they'll get tired and won't be as hard to cuff.”
“Yessir, you been shot, and I dang near got mushed to death in that old Cotton Exchange, but Tony and that little gal of his inside there need us. You take care of people all the time and lots of them don't even know you do it. I know you don't want to call for help, 'cause we don't know who's with us or against us, but we
got to do something
. It don't feel right to do
nothin
'.”
Ned rubbed his head, muttering to himself. “I got a bad feeling about this.”
“Me too. I'm afraid this is gonna be a bad night.” He wasn't talking about the weather.
Norma Faye cracked the door. “Mr. Ned. There's somebody on the phone for you.”
“Who is it?”
“Isaac Reader.”
“What does he want?”
She tried not to roll her eyes. “To talk to you.”
With that, she went back inside, but left the wooden door open. Aggravated, Ned gripped John's thick arm. “Wait here and blow a minute until I get back and we'll go together.”
Instead of answering, because he wasn't sure he could trust his voice, John nodded. Ned left him to steam and followed Norma Faye inside, slamming the screen door. He threaded his way through the crowded kitchen and living room to the telephone table. “What?”
“Ned, listen, listen, this is Ike.”
“I know it. What's wrong, Ike?”
“I was driving past the Ordway place, and somebody's shooting.”
Ned went cold.
“Listen, listen, when I looked, I saw flashes in the house.”
“You sure it wasn't lightning?”
“I'm sure.”
Ned sighed, feeling his spirits fall. “All right. I'll go check it out.”
“You want me to meet you there?”
“Lord, no.”
Ned returned to the porch to see John's car speed down the drive. His brake lights flashed, and then he took off for Center Springs.