Chapter Thirteen

Cleo

“We need to go back to Chippewa Square.” Lily suddenly ordered out of nowhere. Her words were clipped and terse. “Now.”

I stopped sketching in mid-stroke and stared up at her. “Why? What’s wrong?”

She shook her head, agitated. “I don’t know. It’s a feeling I haven’t been able to shake. Something about the way Raymond said, “easy street,” and then that man in the black jacket… I just feel like I need to go back and check on him.”

“Okay,” I shrugged my backpack off and tucked the sketchpad and pencils inside, zipping it closed. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Cleo!” a voice shouted from behind us. “Wait up!”

I turned and I swear my heart did the same thing the Seuss’ Grinch’s did when it grew three times its size within seconds. And let me just tell you, when your heart’s that size and it’s beating the way mine was at the moment, it makes you shake all over.

I somehow managed to raise my hand and wave at him. “Jonas!” I was amazed that my voice wasn’t shaking too. Granted, I’d only said one word, but since my voice was the only thing not shaking, it deserved some recognition.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of him as he jogged toward us. He looked even better than I remembered: perfect-fitting jeans and denim shirt under an Eddie Bauer-looking canvas jacket…definitely easy on the eyes. I’d been trying not to worry because he hadn’t called yet, but wasn’t having much success with that. I kept trying to tell myself that it hadn’t been that many hours since we’d said goodnight, but still… I glanced at Lily, but she looked too worried about Raymond to be thinking of ways to keep us apart.

“Hey,” he was a little out of breath, but he grinned as he joined us. “I was just going to call you when I looked up and there you were. Guess it was fate.”

“Yeah, I—”

“We were on our way to check on Raymond, remember?” Lily reminded sharply, giving me a pointed look.

“Right! No time for chit-chat. C’mon,” I grabbed his hand, trying to ignore the tingling that shot from my fingertips all the way up my arm at the contact. “You can go with us.”

My eyes met Lily’s, and I raised my brows in a silent question. She gave me a shrug, turned, and hurried away.

“Where are we going?” he asked as we tried to catch up with her.

“Chippewa Square.”

“Wait! Why don’t we just take my car? It’ll be faster.”

“Good idea!” I turned to tell Lily, but she was already halfway down the block; her pink and green hat a brilliant splotch of color that was rapidly growing smaller, the farther she got away. Jeez, she wasn’t letting any grass grow under her feet. “Lily!” I yelled. She either didn’t hear me or chose to ignore me.

“C’mon,” Jonas ordered. “We’ll catch her at the next square.”

****

Once we were strapped in, he chirped away from the curb, moving as quickly as was automotively possible. Since all of Savannah’s squares are one-way, and relatively small, cars are obliged to move at a leisurely pace. The corners are just too tight for speeding. At this particular moment, though, I was wishing we could straighten out some of those corners.

“Okay, fill me in before we catch her,” he demanded, slamming on his brakes when a truck attempted to pull out in front of him, then surging forward again.

I closed my eyes. Maybe it would be better if I didn’t watch him drive. “Lily is worried about Raymond.”

“Who’s Raymond?”

“Her friend. He’s homeless too. You know, he’s one of those guys who sit in the squares, folding palmetto leaves into roses. You might be able to use him as another source for your article.” Mentioning Raymond’s notebook scribbling didn’t seem necessary.

“Okay, so why is she worried about him?”

“I’m not really sure. A creepy looking man in a black leather jacket showed up while we were talking to Raymond this morning, and Raymond said “easy street,” but that—”

“Easy street?”

“Yeah, Raymond told us that he wasn’t going to have to make roses anymore. That he was going to be sitting in “high cotton,” and be on “easy street.”” I opened my eyes to peek at where we were, then quickly shut them again. Yeah, it was better if I didn’t watch. “I didn’t think much about it, but apparently it’s been bothering Lily ever since we left him.”

Jonas was too quiet. I took a chance and looked at him. A frown was etched between his eyes. “You say there was a man?”

I swallowed hard. His tone had me feeling more and more uneasy. “Yes, he came to Raymond’s bench, you know the one from Forrest Gump? That’s where he always sits to make his roses. Anyway, this big guy came up and just stood there, which is weird, now that I think about it. I mean, would you, as a single guy, stop to watch something like that?”

He shook his head.

“I didn’t think so. There she is. Hurry!”

We were still rolling forward a little, but I wrenched the door open. “Lily!” I screamed. “Over here!”

Her cart practically skidded to a stop, and she whirled it around, speeding over to where we sat with the engine idling. I cut my eyes sideways at Jonas. “What are we going to do about her cart?”

He didn’t answer. He’d already popped the trunk latch and was getting out of the car. “Get in!” he ordered. “I’ll put your cart in the trunk. Go on,” he added when she hesitated. “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”

Lily looked undecided for about three seconds, then she relinquished her hold on her precious cargo and scrambled in.

Jonas was back in his seat before she had the door closed. “Ready?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder to make sure she was settled. At her nod, he zoomed away from the curb.

We screeched to a stop beside Chippewa Square. Jonas slammed the car into park and turned on his emergency flashers, probably hoping that it would keep him from getting a ticket for parking illegally. The driver in the car behind us laid down on his horn. I’m sure if I would’ve taken the time to look back, I’d have been treated to a universally recognized hand-gesture, but there wasn’t time. We all jumped out simultaneously and rushed toward the bench where Lily and I had left Raymond earlier that morning. At this angle, the monument blocked the bench from our line of sight, but a few more steps took us to the point where we had an unobstructed view.

The bench was empty.

My heart sank and my feet slowed, but Lily didn’t. She made a beeline, nearly knocking down several tourists in her hurry to reach her destination. I glanced worriedly at Jonas before speeding up to join her.

By the time I reached her, she was just standing there, staring at the spot where her friend had been an hour ago. Her breathing was heavy, which struck me as odd, since she never gets out of breath, until I could see what she’d obviously already seen: the bench wasn’t as empty as we’d thought.

A plastic shopping bag full of palmetto fronds, as well as an unfinished rose sat there, tossed aside and forgotten. But the thing that really germinated a seed of panic in my stomach was the sight of Raymond’s two-wheeled cart partially hidden behind the end of the bench. That seed fast-forwarded through its germination process, unfurling its leaves until it filled every part of me.

I reached over and gently put my hand on Lily’s shoulder. My eyes stung as the reality of what I was seeing sank in. If these items hadn’t been left, it would’ve been reasonable to assume that he’d had some other engagement and he’d decided to take a day off. Not likely, but possible. Leaving them behind, though…? I shook my head, not wanting to think about it, but not being able to stop myself, either.

“What do we do?” I asked quietly.

“Well, I don’t think it’ll do any good to report him missing,” Jonas answered. “What would you say? Our homeless friend has been missing for about an hour? The police would only laugh. Someone’s not even technically considered “missing” until they’ve been gone at least forty-eight hours. And besides, you have no proof of foul-play.”

I pointed to his cart. “What do you call that?”

“I know, I know. You and I would call that undisputable proof, but I’m telling you…the police wouldn’t.”

Lily hadn’t said a word, and was still staring at the bench. I gave her shoulder another squeeze, and then asked Jonas, “Are you sure? Not even in the face of what’s been happening with the homeless?”

He shrugged. “It might make them pay a little more attention, but with Mark in charge of the police…” He sighed. “Listen…you know the system as well as I do. Like it or not, a missing homeless guy just isn’t a high priority with law-enforcement in this town, probably any town. They’re not going to waste—”

I opened my mouth to argue his use of that word, but he held up his hand.

“Let me finish. It’s a waste to them, not to me. They’re not going to waste taxpayer money looking for someone who the taxpayers would like to forget anyway. Most of Savannah’s elite would be tickled to death to round up the whole lot of them and ship them off to Charleston or Jacksonville. But because they can’t, they pull their ostrich routine, and try their best to ignore them. That’s one reason why I wanted to do these articles. To open their eyes…to make them aware…to spur them on to do something.”

I stared at him in wonder. His voice was so passionate. He really believed in this. He saw injustice and was doing what he could to change things…kind of like a modern day Robin Hood. He was right about how most people felt, though. Aunt Patricia had looked down her nose at homeless men like Raymond. She’d complained that the city officials should run them out of town, called them “beggars,” said all they were after was tourist money. I’d always had to bite my tongue to keep from pointing out that that’s what all of the businesses in Savannah were after. All it would’ve done was start an argument. It wouldn’t have changed her mind.

I blinked and came back to reality. “We’re all thinking the same thing, right? Raymond’s gone and gotten himself involved in Mark Spencer’s counterfeiting operation. Ugh! Why didn’t I see? He said, easy street. How else would a homeless man be on easy street? I should’ve seen it. I should’ve caught on!”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Cleo,” Jonas tried to calm me. “All the mental black eyes in the world won’t help him right now.”

His words didn’t help. “Hey!” I gave Lily a little shake. “Is there any other place that Raymond might be? Maybe we could drive around town, see if we find him.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. This is the only place I ever saw him. He was always here…good weather or bad; it didn’t matter…Raymond was always here.”

Her comment didn’t make me feel better about the situation, but I tried to put it out of my mind. “Okay, let’s go. Staring at this bench isn’t going to make him reappear. We’ll drive around…” I sent Jonas a questioning look and he nodded his agreement. “…and keep our eyes open. Hopefully, we’ll see something.”

****

Although we spent the rest of the day canvassing old town, questioning any homeless person we saw as we went, we were no closer to finding Raymond than we were when we started. I couldn’t speak for anybody else, but I was hungry, tired, discouraged, and growing more worried by the minute. Apparently, Jonas was thinking along the same lines, or at least the hungry part, because he suddenly slid into an empty parking spot and announced, “I think we’d all feel better if we got something to eat. Does Moon River sound all right to you, girls?”

Right on cue, my stomach gave an audible rumble, sounding embarrassingly like a Harley Davidson. “Uh…Moon River sounds great to me.” I unzipped my backpack and retrieved my phone. “I just need to give Minnie a call and let her know I won’t be home for supper. I don’t want to get on her black list again.”

I hit my speed dial and watched Lily while the number rang. Knowing how she had refused to go into a restaurant with me, I wasn’t sure she’d go along with Jonas’ idea. Minnie picked up on the other end. “Hello?”

“Hi, Minnie. It’s me. I just wanted to let you know that I won’t make it for supper.”

“Again? Honey, you got to quit skipping meals. It’s not good for you.”

“I’m not skipping. I’m going out.”

“Out?” Her tone changed. “You mean, by yourself?”

Uh-oh. Here we go. “No, not by myself.”

I was painfully aware that both Jonas and Lily could hear my half of this conversation, and I prayed that Minnie wouldn’t give me the third degree.

“With who?”

“Friends.”

“Friends? Plural? Or “friend,” like on a date?”

I could hear her grin over the phone and felt my face heat up. I was glad it was too dark for the others to see how red I knew I was. Lily’s wide smile was clearly visible from the back seat. I couldn’t bear to look at Jonas. “No! And I’ve got to go. I just wanted to let you know so you wouldn’t worry.”

“Mmhmm.”

I rolled my eyes and fought the urge to growl at her. “Uh, could you do me a favor?”

“Depends.” She laughed.

I shook my head in defeat and smiled. “Could you baby Tut a bit? I’d like to avoid another scene like last night if I can.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for letting me know.”

“Bye, Minnie.” I snapped my phone shut, replacing it in my backpack. “Y’all ready?”

Lily unfastened her seatbelt and reached for the door. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Now she decides to go into a restaurant. Great.

****

It was crowded and loud. The patrons at the bar had probably been there a while, judging by the volume of their conversations. There seemed to be a direct cause and effect relationship between alcohol consumption and noise level in a place like this. On our way to our table, I saw Ellie, draped like a set of Christmas tree lights, all over some unfortunate guy at the bar, and I stifled a groan. She aimed a fake smile in my direction and gave me a finger wave. I tilted my chin at her, barely managing a tight smile in return.

I watched her as I settled into our booth. Her eyes went from me, to Lily, to Jonas. At Lily, they widened in shock and a mocking smile lit her face. When they moved on to Jonas, her expression changed, became more calculating, like a cat contemplating a delicious bowl of cream. I clenched my fists so hard that my nails bit into my palms.

Do it and die, chick. Do it and die!

The waiter introduced himself and we placed our order. I ignored Ellie as best I could, gazing with interest at the rest of the people, as well as the décor. A long row of varied and colorful beer cans stretched out on a narrow display shelf over the bar. I thought it was a pretty ingenious decorating touch, advertising a large selection of micro-brewery brand names to those who may not be familiar with them, as well as adding a bit of color.

Moon River—the restaurant—was a brewing company, as well. It got its name from the song made famous by Savannah’s own Johnny Mercer. With it being right on Bay Street, it was a very popular place to be. SCAD students loved it. I’d been there before, but not often. It wasn’t a place to come alone.

As soon as we ordered, Lily excused herself to the ladies’ room. I offered to go with her, but she refused and scurried away. I knew she was probably uncomfortable, in spite of her declaration of not wanting to miss this. The stares from Ellie, and others like her, didn’t help her comfort level any, I’m sure, making her feel like she didn’t belong here—a square peg in a round hole—hopelessly out of place. I hoped she didn’t sneak out the back door. I found myself anxiously watching for her return.

“I wanted to ask you something.” Jonas smiled at me and spoke loudly to be heard over the din. “Who’s Tut?”

“Oh…Tut is my cat. He thinks I’m supposed to spend all my time with him.” I wrinkled my nose. “I guess you could say he’s a little spoiled.”

“Tut? As in King Tut? And Cleo is short for Cleopatra, right?” His smile grew wider and he nodded sagely. “Very appropriate name choice.”

“Glad you approve, but keep in mind…I didn’t have any choice in the first one. That’s all the parents’ fault.”

“No, I like it. It suits you.”

“Thanks,” I laughed, then made a face. “I think.” My eyes slid back in the direction of the restrooms.

“You’re worried about her.” It wasn’t a question. I guess it was obvious.

“Yeah, a little. I really can’t believe she agreed to come in here. I haven’t been able to accomplish that feat with her yet.”

“Well, to tell the truth, I was surprised myself. I think her usual reaction is pretty typical among the homeless. They know they look different. They feel uncomfortable; other guests feel uncomfortable, and it sort of escalates. I’ve done quite a bit of research on it, preparing for these articles I’m writing, and from what I’ve read, it’s almost as bad as segregation was, back in the fifties and sixties. Not quite, but almost.”

“That’s so sad.”

We were interrupted by the waiter bringing our drinks, but as soon as glasses and straws were doled out and the waiter had moved away, he continued, “At least we’re moving in the right direction with the Stand Down program.”

“Yeah…I’ve heard about that. They have it at the Civic Center, right?”

“Yep. Good Will, the Salvation Army, American Legion, and a bunch of others all work together, pooling their resources, and making at least a little bit of difference. They have volunteers who can talk one-to-one with attendees, and give them information about jobs, veteran services, housing, and a bunch of other programs. They can even get a flu shot, a haircut, and their teeth cleaned while they’re there.”

“Wow! I wonder if Lily knows about it?”

“Probably.” He laughed. “But you can ask her when she gets back.”

I glanced to the rear of the restaurant again. “She’s been in there a while. Should I see if she’s okay?”

“Yeah, but before you do…” He stared at the tabletop like he was trying to memorize it. “I don’t know how you feel about this, but I was thinking about hiding in that alley again later tonight. I don’t know if it’ll do any good, but three inter-connected things have happened there so far: one…Lily found that bag of money; two…she saw Mark Spencer beating up that man; and three…we overheard that conversation last night. It wouldn’t hurt to try to make it four for four.”

“Sounds as good as anything else. It couldn’t hurt, right?”

“Let’s hope not.” He motioned with his head toward the back. “Maybe you need to go check on her.”

“Yeah,” I said, as I scooted out of the booth. “I think you’re right.”

****

Lily was gone, of course. I had a waitress ask in the kitchen, and the cooks confirmed her exit out the back door. It didn’t really surprise me.

I also wasn’t surprised when I returned to our table and found Ellie sitting in my vacated seat across from Jonas. I was surprised she wasn’t sitting next to him.

“Cleo!” she greeted me joyously, as if we were long lost friends instead of mortal enemies. “It’s so good to see you!”

“Ellie.” Her eyes narrowed at my mispronunciation, but she didn’t correct me. I gave her a cold stare. The only thing that kept me from yanking her out of my seat by her dark rooted, bottle-blonde hair was sheer, iron will.

“I saw you come in earlier,” she trilled in her fake-friendly voice. “I wanted to be sure to come tell you “hi.” Imagine my disappointment when I finally made it to your table and found you were gone. But luckily…” she gave Jonas an impudent smile. “…this nice man was good enough to let me sit here and wait for you.”

Finally made it to my table? Yeah, right. I was sure she’d waited—on purpose—for me to leave before she swooped in. I’d seen this act before, and I thought I was ready for it, but I guess I wasn’t. When she finished her little performance with a wink, I think I may have growled.

“Well, that worked out well for you, didn’t it?” My smile was brittle. One false move and my face might shatter into a thousand little pieces. I waited stiffly for her to vacate my seat. Could a person’s blood actually boil?

Jonas was casting an uncertain look between the two of us. I’m sure he was astute enough to feel the undercurrents. He might not understand them, but he had to be aware of them.

Then he sort of jumped, shoulders stiffening, eyes widening in shock as he stared across the table. What was that about? I glanced at Ellie, looking for an answer. Uh-oh. I knew that look. I’d seen her use it often enough. It was her “come and get me” expression—gazing up through her mascara thickened lashes, a seductive smile curving her lips, promising things I didn’t even want to know about—the look that reduced men to puppy-like creatures, eager to please. A movement under the table caught my eye and my jaw dropped. Ellie’s stiletto-clad foot was rubbing suggestively up and down Jonas’ leg. Obviously, Ellie had no intention of relinquishing her spot at the table.

Oh, no you don’t, girlfriend! Not this time!

I made a totally out-of-character and utterly rash decision, praying that Jonas would just go with it and that it wouldn’t backfire. I slipped into the seat beside him, snuggling up close. “I like it better on this side, anyway.”

I’ll have to hand it to him. It only took him a split second of startled uncertainty before he dropped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me even closer. He put his lips to my ear, whispering, “I guess you’ll explain what’s going on later?”

His warm breath against my ear caused goose bumps to shiver along my arms and down my legs, but I dimpled up at him and answered, “You know I will.” Turning to Ellie, I almost shouted over an explosion of laughter from the bar. “Isn’t he a sweetheart? I just love him to death!”

Ellie’s expression had become a bit frosty and I almost giggled with delight. It felt wonderful to be vindicated. Not to mention, it was very, very cozy to be snuggled up against Jonas like this.

She slid toward the outside edge of the seat. “It was good to see you, Cleo. Happy holidays. Nice to meet you, Jonas. Maybe we could meet for a drink sometime?”

“Sounds good,” he said. “I’ll let you set it up with Cleo.”

Ellie’s jaw tightened. “Of course. See you later.” She spun around and stalked away, swaying a little on her four-inch heels.

I turned toward him, nearly beaming. “Thank you so much for playing along. You will never know how much I appreciate it. She’s deserved something like that ever since high school!” I attempted to slide away from him so I could move back to my former seat, but his arm tightened. I glanced at him, both eyebrows raised in question.

“Who said I was playing?” he replied, his voice a little gruff around the edges. His chocolate eyes were serious…warm and dark, and my heart started hammering erratically. “Besides,” he grinned. “She might come back; you don’t want to take any chances, do you?”

As soon as I opened my mouth to answer, I felt a vibration against my hip. It took a couple of seconds for me to realize that it was his phone. He leaned away just far enough to be able to reach it, and gave the screen a brief glance. His eyes narrowed a bit and he clenched his jaw, then he turned it off without answering.

I wasn’t trying to look. I really wasn’t, but I noticed the name on the screen said, “Jill,” and the green-eyed monster reared its ugly head. Who the heck was Jill? Jeez! First Ellie and now Jill? A line was forming!

I silenced my desire to swear by taking a sip of tea.

I didn’t trust my voice. I was afraid I’d growl again if I tried to say anything, and since I didn’t want him to know I’d seen the name, to think I was nosy.

“So…do you?” he repeated.

“Do I, what?” I asked.

“Want to take a chance on Ellie coming back.”

I just shook my head.

“Good answer,” he smiled.