Capstone was in a foul mood. His receipts had been diminishing for months, and he wanted to make sure that others heard about it. Theo, a few collectors and bookies, Pad, and a few of Capstone’s associates convened in the executive suite for a lecture about Capstone’s money problem.
Capstone stood behind his desk, looked at all the men in his suite with inimical eyes, and said, “Somebody’s been skimming money from me.”
Silence.
He opened the desk drawer and plunked his pistol on the top of the desk. “No one’s leaving here till I get my answer,” Capstone said.
“Boss, no one’s stealing from you. They know better than that,” Pad said.
“Shut up!” Capstone snapped at Pad. “I’ll do the talking.”
A cordlike vein popped up on Pad’s right temple and his body swelled beyond its normal gargantuan size.
Capstone observed Pad’s vein and knuckled it with his left hand. Pad stood still as Capstone walked over to one of the collectors. The collector wore a beige slouch suit and a brown derby. He smelled of whiskey and was a head taller than Capstone. Capstone brushed off a few pieces of fluff on the collector’s lapel and looked the collector in eyes that tasted fear and said, “You doing right by me?”
“Yeah, man. I got sense not to do nothing like that.”
Capstone reached up and caressed the collector’s cheek with his right hand. He nodded to signal that he believed the collector.
A few others had passed the test, and they were told to leave. Capstone came to his next subject, Theo. Theo wore a two-piece suit that was the color of a mason’s brick. Capstone unbuttoned Theo’s jacket and looked at the double lining. “Nice suit, Theo. You got some nice threads. Assuming you didn’t steal it, it must of cost you a nice penny.”
Theo remained calm and uneffusive.
Capstone applied more pressure. “I hear your girl’s pregnant. You gonna need money for the baby.”
Theo felt a knot in his stomach.
Capstone’s teeth were clenched and his nose crinkled. There had been a crimp in his velvet earnings. “You been stealing from me, pretty boy?”
“No, Cappie. I wouldn’t do that.”
Capstone gave his head a quarter turn, then drew his right arm back and hit Theo in the jaw. Theo grabbed his jaw with his left hand, and Capstone kneed him in the groin. Theo fell to the floor. Capstone walked over to his desk and picked up his pistol. He returned to Theo and said, “Open up, pretty boy.”
With his eyes closed, Theo shook his head sideways in protest. Capstone struck Theo on the right temple with the butt of the pistol and shouted, “I said open your mouth!”
Capstone shoved the gun in Theo’s mouth. “Now, you wanna tell me the truth.”
Theo mumbled as best he could with the pistol in his mouth. Capstone said, “Speak up, pretty boy. Papa can’t hear you.”
As he straightened Theo’s jacket, he ordered two of his bookies to fill a large barrel with water. Looking at Theo, Capstone said, “Come here, pretty boy.”
Theo’s feet were anchored to the floor.
Capstone nodded in the direction of two men; they forced Theo from his mooring and dragged him to Capstone. “You know what this is?”
Theo knew the answer, as did most colored men. They had either seen it used in a prison camp or heard of it being used. It was a form of water torture. “This is the truth teller. It’s for waywards like you.”
Theo pivoted quickly and ran toward the door, but his escape was blocked by three men. Capstone said, “Don’t do that again!”
“No need to put him in the barrel, Cappie,” Pad said.
Capstone snapped, “Shut up! I run things around here.”
Three men picked up Theo and plunged him headfirst into the barrel. After a long twenty seconds, Theo began to flail his arms and kick his legs. Capstone nodded, and the men pulled Theo from the barrel. “Let this be a lesson to all of you; steal from me.…”
Handing one of the men a piece of twine, Capstone said, “Tie his hands behind his back.” With Theo’s hands now tied behind his back, Capstone added, “Now put him back in there.” The same three men picked up Theo and plunged him headfirst back into the water.
Theo kicked his legs, but after fifteen seconds, all vigor had disappeared. Twenty seconds after Theo had stopped moving, Capstone ordered his men to remove him from the barrel.
Theo lay on the ground supine, motionless. Pad lumbered over to Theo and stood him up. As his body was limp, Pad readjusted his position and squeezed Theo’s diaphragm with his muscular arms. No sign of life from Theo.
Pad gently placed Theo on the floor face down.
After a minute, Capstone said, “Get him out of here. Bury him somewhere.”
As he was being picked up, Theo began to cough. “Theo, you alive,” Pad said with a sigh of relief.
Capstone muttered gruffly, “This damn fool won’t die.”
He hurried to Theo to bring his life to a quick end. Looking at Theo’s limp body, he removed his pistol from his jacket and pulled the trigger.
It jammed. He cursed and shook the pistol. He aimed it at Theo’s head.
A shot rang out.
Blood oozed out of the back of Capstone’s head.
Theo sat up and looked at Pad, who was holding the gun that cut down Capstone.
Pad had grown sick of the way Capstone was slapping him around, the way Capstone laughed when calling him stupid or an idiot. What especially irked him was that Capstone made Pad get on his knees and clean his shoes. Through it all, though, Pad had remained the loyal lieutenant; he needed the money. That day he felt trapped and cornered like a feral cat—he couldn’t take it anymore, and he availed himself of the opportunity to bring his misery to an end. It helped that other of Capstone’s flunkies hated Capstone but just suffered in silence.
“Here,” Pad said handing Theo his whiskey flask.
Theo took two swigs and said, “Man, you saved my life.” He handed the flask back to Pad, who put the top on it.
Handing it back to Theo, Pad said, “You keep it. You gonna need it to deaden the pain you in.”
Two weeks after his near-death experience, Theo went to see John and Tilla. He arrived at nine-thirty just as they walked out of the door on their way to church with the kids.
“Theo, my baby,” Tilla said. “What a surprise to see you.”
Theo hugged Tilla, then looked at John and said, “Hi, Pops.”
“Hi, son. We’re on our way to church. You can come with us, you know. Reverend Owen would like that.”
Church wasn’t for Theo. He knew people were aware of his dissolute lifestyle, and he didn’t want to be around people who’d snicker around him. “Maybe some other time.”
“Won’t you join us for dinner?” Tilla said. “I’ll have your brothers and sisters come over.”
“Okay, Ma, I’ll be back here later on.”
”Be here by five,” Tilla said.
As Theo was leaving, John shouted, “Theo.” Theo turned around, and John said, “I love you, son.”
k
Tilla barked out instructions. “Maggie, Pearl, get supper started.” She looked at her watch. “Theo’s going to be here in an hour or so. Fix some pork chops, cow peas, poke weed, mashed potatoes. Pearl, any more sweet potato pies left in the closet?”
Pearl nodded.
“How about Coca-Cola?” Tilla asked.
“Yep,” said Pearl.
“Charlie, do whatever your sisters tell you.”
“They can’t boss me,” Charlie said while hitting Pearl.
“Boy, come here,” John said with eyes that shot fear into Charlie. “Do you want me to spank your bottom?”
He shook his body and head.
“Then you do what your mama tells you.”
Charlie looked at Money ambling across the kitchen floor. “Pa, when you going teach me to hunt with Money?” Charlie asked.
“Money’s retired now.”
“What’s retired?”
“He’s too hold to hunt. He can’t run fast enough to chase and catch dinner.”
“Oh, okay.” Curious about Money’s name, Charlie asked, “How did he get that name anyway?”
John told him about a bet he made a few years ago with a man who lived a block away. He and Clarence bet each other that one of them could grow the biggest watermelon. The loser would give whatever amount of money he wanted to the winner. John’s melon weighed fifty-three pounds; Clarence’s weighed one pound less. When John went to Clarence’s house to collect his money, Clarence gave him Money and told him that Money would help put food on the table.
It was five o’clock and Theo walked into the kitchen. He was on time; it was his first respectful showing. He wore a tasteful black suit, a sober red tie, and a white fedora hat.
“Theo, my baby,” Tilla said.
“Hi, Mama.” He walked over to Tilla, who was sitting at the kitchen table, and kissed her on the cheek.
John walked into the kitchen and said, “Son, glad you could make it.”
“Hey, Pops.”
Theo turned to Maggie and said, “Hey, Sis. You look good.”
“Thank you,” Maggie said.
Willie and Charlie walked in the living room. Theo hugged his little brothers.
“Where’s Pearl?” Theo asked.
She had finished her cooking assignment and was in the back yard playing jacks with Kathleen. “She’s in the back,” Maggie said.
After dinner, John asked Theo to join him for a talk in the living room. Theo sat across from John. “How are you doing, son?”
Theo’s jaw was still sore from Capstone’s blow, but he overlooked it. “Can’t complain.”
“Good, son. You’re the one who determines whether there’s something to complain about. Treat yourself as you want to be treated, and you’ll do fine.”
As the conversation began to dwindle after twenty minutes, John told him he loved him and wanted him to find his rightful place in the world.
As John left the room, Theo took off his jacket. As he began to lay it over the arm rest, he felt the whiskey flask; he removed it, uncorked it, and took a long pull. He was asleep within a minute.
Tilla tapped Theo on the leg. “Theo, Theo.”
He felt groggy. “Ma, what time is it?”
“Nine.”
He sat up on the sofa and said, “Nine, I need to go.”
“Okay, son. Come back any time.”
He put on his jacket, kissed Tilla, and left.
An hour after Theo left, Tilla sat on the edge of the bed and combed her hair, making sure to give careful attention to the ends. John sat up in bed, reading the newspaper. Tilla put the brush on the chiffonier and climbed into bed.
“John,” Tilla said.
“Yes.”
“Oh, nothing.”
“You sure.”
She decided to say it. “I’ve seen a hat like that before.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“The hat Theo wore here today.”
“I gave him that hat and a few others.”
“When?”
“I don’t know. I think it was after he returned from the war.”
Tilla’s mind was still a little unsettled with John’s answer, but she thought perhaps she’d forget all about it in the morning. She reached over to the nightstand and extinguished the light, and she and John fell asleep.