Chapter 58
“That’s my son!”
Taking Johnnie by the hand, Earl led her over to the table and they both sat down. She could tell by the dejected look on his face that whatever he had to say disturbed him deeply. His eyes welled with tears which fell when he began to speak.
“West is planning to move me out of the company.”
“What? Why?” Johnnie asked.
“After all I’ve done for him,” Earl said, almost shouting. “I’ve done everything he asked me to. I even gave him the grandson he’s always wanted. Now I have no further use.”
“What are you talking about? What happened in Chicago? Did he catch you with another woman or something?”
“No. Nothing like that.”
“Then what happened?”
“We were staying at the Drake Hotel. We were supposed to meet in the lounge for dinner and drinks. I was late because I was in a meeting that ran over by about forty-five minutes, so by the time I got there, they were already drinking.”
“Who?”
“West and Phil Seymour, the head of the Chicago office.”
“Oh.”
“West was telling Phil how I trapped Meredith into marriage and how he had to step in because we were only two notches above the poverty line.”
“How did you trap her?” Johnnie asked, curious about how a white woman could be trapped into marriage.
“I didn’t trap her,” Earl said angrily.
“You didn’t, huh?”
“No, I could never do that!”
“Earl, please,” Johnnie said, looking at him disdainfully. “Isn’t that what you did to me?”
“That was different.”
“Different, huh? Different how?”
“Uh, uh, let’s just stick to the subject.” Earl frowned. “West was telling Phil that he was just allowing me to be in a position of power and authority for little Buck’s sake. When Buck was of age, he would get rid of me.”
“Well, why does he have to get rid of you? I thought he had you start at the bottom so you could work your way up.”
“He did. That was his fatal mistake. I know everything about Buchanan Mutual. I will be compensated for my years of dedicated service.”
With an uneasy tone in her voice, Johnnie said, “What are you going to do, Earl?”
“West won’t give me what I’ve earned. Fine! I’ll take it! I’ve got about fifteen years to steal as much money as I want. I’ll take ten thousand here and ten thousand there. They’ll never miss it.”
“Don’t the banks keep a record of the checks they cash?”
“Yes. But I won’t be using checks. I’ll be taking the money from the cash he uses to pay off the politicians in Washington. They call it campaign contributions.”
“What?”
“Yeah, that’s right! All the insurance companies do it. They all have their political lobbyist. But you know what hurts the most?”
“What?”
“He had the nerve to tell Phil that little Buck was blood and I wasn’t. Whose blood does he think is in his veins? His? That’s my son! Mine!”
Johnnie truly felt sorry for him. She wished she had made love to him the way he wanted. Looking at his anguished face, she stood and walked over to where Earl was sitting. She took his head into her arms and listened to him cry for the first time. She rocked him gently in her arms, shushing him like a mother with an infant. Johnnie lifted his head and wiped the tears from his eyes, then she led him back to the bed and made love to him just the way he liked it. When she finished, Earl gave her ten thousand dollars in large bills.
“What’s this for, Earl?”
“It’s for you, and there’s more where that came from. See, I haven’t forgotten about your mother being killed. If I can do anything to help find out who did it, let me know.”
What are you going to do? It was a white man that killed her. “Okay. I gotta be going. Thanks for the money. See you sometime after the funeral when my brother leaves town.”
“Okay,” Earl said, sounding like the weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders.
“Bye,” Johnnie said sweetly. She blew him a kiss as she backed out of the room.