I’m not saying what we did next was right. I’m just saying we did it. I think CC and Zal thought it was more exciting than getting the reward.
Anyway, everybody pitched in. Mrs. Ludovic cleaned up the coffee spill. Aunt Jenn gathered up some things. CC, Zal, Wiley Kendall and I agreed on what we’d say, which was mostly what happened with no Lamar Del Ray. Marty/Lamar listened. Then Wiley Kendall took a garbage bag with the things Aunt Jenn had gathered, mostly her disguise gear, down behind the building and stuffed it deep in the garbage bins out back. It would be gone with the next day’s pickup.
CC and Zal went out to the car to check on Bob and let us know when the cops arrived. That left Marty/Lamar, Aunt Jenn and me. My family, strange to think. We looked at each other.
“Listen, Jenn, Duncan,” Marty/Lamar said. “About the money, I have to tell you—”
“The money stays where it is,” said Aunt Jenn. Her chin came up again. “And never mind where that is. Duncan goes to school no matter what.” She resisted lighting another cigarette.
“That’s not what I meant,” Marty/Lamar said. “I meant, I know I have a lot to make up for.” Aunt Jenn snorted and lit her cigarette after all. I waved smoke away. Marty/Lamar kept right on. “So, when you told me — yelled at me — about Duncan and school a few weeks back, I did something about it.”
I braced myself to hear that he’d been robbing banks too, but Marty/Lamar said, “I just got back a couple days ago. Brokered a deal on a sunglow ball python that I got a line on; a colour morph.”
“Were you smuggling again?” I asked.
“No way, straight commission deal for a client, strictly legit.” He shrugged, “’Cept I might not’ve said it was a colour morph on the customs form. Knew the guy on duty didn’t care for snakes.”
“I heard you say on the phone that ball pythons are cheap.”
“Not colour morphs, pardner. They’re specially bred, rarest of the rare. This baby went for thirty-eight thousand dollars. My share was five grand, plus what I saved on customs. That’s why I was so happy Thursday. I’m giving it to you two for Duncan’s school. It’s a start, anyway.”
My family. My crime family.
“We don’t need your money.” Aunt Jenn blew more smoke.
“Yes we do,” I said. “You can’t keep on …” I waved my hand, partly to finish what I was saying without saying it, and partly to keep the smoke away.
Aunt Jenn shot me a laser-beam look. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Then I’ll just give it to Duncan,” Marty/Lamar said. “You can’t shut me out forever.”
Aunt Jenn’s shoulders slumped. “Okay, you’re both right.” She looked at Marty/Lamar. “Thank you. It is a start. Let’s just deal with this first.”
Her cellphone buzzed. It was Zal.
“They’re coming up.”