Jack Spade: Dream Detective

Chapter 17

                                    Chapter 17                       

 When they get to his room, he is sitting up in bed reading a comic book.

 His surgery was a success and he is making a full recovery. “Hey, kid, how

 You doing?” says Jack. Jennifer goes over and sits down by his side on the bed.

“I’m doing great, Jack,” replies Sonny. ”The doctor says I should be out of here in two more weeks, then it’s more bed rest at home,” he says sadly. “Guess I’m not going to be much use to you for a while!”

Jack says, “Don’t worry about that, kid… you just take your time getting better.

You’re a lucky man! You know that?”

“I know.” He smiles in agreement.

“Look, kid, we got to split. You understand; hospitals give me the jitters.”

“I understand, Jack,” says Sonny. “It’s okay.”

“All right then,” replies Jack. “You keep your fingers crossed.” Jennifer gives him a kiss on the cheek as they leave

Sonny asks Jack, “How is the case going?”

“No work talk, kid. But it’s coming along,” he says, trying hard to look convincing. “We’ll talk later.”  

After he and Jennifer have left Sonny’s room, Jack tells her that he forgot to tell Sonny something. Jennifer says okay and waits in the lobby.

“Hey, Sonny, I didn’t want to say anything about the case in front of Jennifer.”

“I kind of figured that,” replies Sonny, smiling a little. “What’s up?”

He says, “This case is really getting me down, kid! I even tried a palm reader.”

 Sonny started rolling his eyes. “Jack, you didn’t?”

“Yeah, it was a complete waste of time. Didn’t tell me nothing I didn’t already expect.”

“And what’s that?” Sonny asked.

“Well,” he says, “I think Lauren Jefferson is dead.” Sonny sadly agreed. “Look, we’ll talk later. I don’t want to keep Jennifer waiting any longer.” Okay, “replies Sonny, giving him a salute as he leaves.

When he gets back to the lobby, Jennifer had left and was sitting in the car.

“Everything’s okay?” she asks.

“Yeah,” replies Jack. “Let’s go get something to eat.” They drive to a little place just outside of the city called Moms & Pops. After their meal he takes Jennifer home. It is a Sunday night and, in spite of what he told Jennifer, he is pretty sure he is getting close to wrapping up this case. He is also pretty sure that Lauren is dead, but he doesn’t want to let on to Jennifer that he felt this way.

Then again he is not 100 percent positive about her being dead so he is kind of keeping his fingers crossed. He gives her a kiss good night then drives to his hotel room. Before he gets there, he stops at the cemetery. He walks over to Joe’s grave site, and stares down at the white cement marker,

Which is customary for veterans. “Funny thing,” he says, “hospitals give me the creeps but here I am late at night in a grave yard.

As he is standing there, a strange feeling comes over him. Suddenly all the anger and

Hate that had built up inside of him was lifted from his body.

It was as if Joe’s spirit was right there beside him, telling him that he was okay and was having a ball. Now Jack has never been much of a religious man or a praying one for that matter but he got down on his knees, prayed and thanked God. Then he went home, had a drink and went to bed. He never told Jennifer of his experience at Joe’s grave; he’s not even sure it happened.

The next day at the office, he gets a phone call from Lt. Kimble. “Hello

 Jack. Thought you’d like to know we found the person who shot Sonny!”

“Yeah?” replies Jack. “Was it Mrs. Peterson?”

“Yes, it was,” says Kimble. “And you were right about her thinking it was you.

Man, that woman hates you. What did you do to her?”

“Is that right?” says Jack, smiling. “I don’t think too much of her either.” Then he hesitates. ”Tell me, Peter, is there any law against a woman planning to kill your husband?”

“What? What are you talking about, Jack?”

“While Sonny was tailing her and her boyfriend, he overheard them plotting to kill Mr. Peterson.”

“Are you sure?” replies Kimble.

“Positive,” says Jack. “Now they didn’t do it, but if you pressed her hard enough, I think you would get a confession.

And pick up her boyfriend, Larry Simmons. You could get him to confess easily.

He’ll turn state evidence against her, I’m sure of that.”

“Why are you so sure?”

“Because his heart was never in it. And just hint to him that you know about the meeting at Frank’s bar.”

“What meeting?” replies Kimble .

“Don’t worry about that,” says Jack. “He’ll spill his guts out.” “Okay,” replies Kimble I hope your right.

“Just say we know about the meeting at Frank’s.”

“Thanks, Jack. I’ll do just that. And how is Sonny doing?”

“He’s doing fine, should be out of the hospital in a couple of weeks.”

“That’s good to know. I’ll see you later, Jack.”

While Jack is still in his office, Peterson comes in. He has the rest of Jack’s money. “I must say, Mr. Spade, I sure picked the right man for the job. And how is your friend doing?”

“He’ll live,” replies Jack, still sitting at his desk. “Do you have something for me?”

“Oh yes,” says Peterson. He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out his check book; leans down on Jack’s desk and writes out a check. “Let’s see, that’s four thousand dollars, right?”

“That’s right, Mr. Peterson,” replies Jack. He looks at it, smiles and puts it down on the desk.

“I never would have thought my wife would do such a thing.”

“Well,” says Jack, “I have another surprise for you. She and your partner were planning to kill you.” He pauses for a second. “Come to think of it, your partner was not too keen on it, but she was trying to talk him into it.”

Peterson is a little taken back at hearing this news. “Oh my,” he says as he nearly falls. Jack gets up and helps him to sit down. “Are you sure?” says Peterson as he wipes his forehead.

Jack walks over to the water cooler and gets him a cup of water. “Yes,” he says as he hands him a cup. “I’m sorry to tell you this, Mr. Peterson.”

“Well,” says

Peterson, sipping his water, “just goes to show you never really know a person,

Even the ones you think you know.” As he is talking, Jack is thinking about the good relationship he and Jennifer have. “Are you married, Mr. Spade?”

            ”No,”

Replies Jack, “but I am thinking about it.”

 Peterson gets up from his chair, gathers himself, and says, “Well, I hope you do better than I did,” then turns and leaves.

Jack sits there thinking about Jennifer and about his old pal

Joe and how he died out there, all alone in the open sea. And then he thinks about Deerfield, and he being dead. That makes him feel a little better.

Sam Deerfield was an ex-cop out of New York. It was also believed that he was on the take, as crooked as they come. He was kicked off the force for beating a man half to death. He got off without doing any hard time. Well says Jack I’m not surprise, later that evening he goes to see Jennifer and spends the night with her.

***

Suddenly James Harper leaps up from his seat on the plane. The stewardess had spilled a martini all over him. “Oh my goodness’, I’m so sorry, sir. Are you all right?” she says as she attempts to dry James’ wet pants.

“I’m fine, Ms.,” he says as he grabs the cloth from her hand. “It’s okay.” He gets up and goes into the bathroom where he cleans himself up. As he is drying off, he chuckles to himself about a line in the Humphrey Bogart film Casablanca − of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine. James has always been somewhat of a movie buff but why this particular incident would remind him of that movie, only James knows.

When he returns to his seat, he smiles down at Chloe, who is still sound asleep.

She hasn’t moved a muscle. He sits down and thinks

 Just how much Chloe reminds him of his Jenny. The stewardess comes over to apologize again. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Harper.”

“It’s quite all right, Ms. Don’t worry about it.” After assuring her he is not upset with her, she finally goes back to her station.

You would think she’d never spilled a drink on a passenger on a plane before.

As he is thinking, Chloe opens her hazel green eyes, smiles and asks, “Are we there yet?” as she lets out a sleepy yawn.

“Not yet. We still have a few more hours to go. You go back to sleep.”

“I think I’ll watch a movie if that’s okay?”

“Sure, Jenny.”

“Who?” replies Chloe, with a curious look .

“I’m sorry, kid,” says James as he tries to hide his embarrassment.

Chloe looks up and smiles at him. “Is your daughter’s name Jenny?”

“Yes,” says James. “I didn’t mean to call you her.”

“Oh, it’s okay, Mister Harper.” She then turns her full attention back to the movie she is watching, which is the original 1932 classic King Kong. She really seems to be enjoying it, even if it is black and white. James settles back in his seat and is soon fast asleep again.

                                                                      ***

When Jack awakes, it’s around 8 am. He gets out of bed, trying very hard not to wake Jennifer but she opens her eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry, baby,” he says. “I was trying not to wake you.”

“It’s okay, Jack,” as she stretched out her arms and purrs out a yawn. She motions for him to come over and give her a kiss, which he does willingly.

“Can I fix you some breakfast?” he asks.

Jennifer replies, “You know, Jack, you’re going to make some girl a great little housewife one of these days.” Jennifer smiles.

“Cute, baby, very cute.” While Jack is fixing breakfast, Jennifer takes a shower. By the time she is done and dressed, he has everything ready.

While they are eating, he tells her all the information he has gathered on Lauren but he tries to be unemotional when confronting her. He slowly gets up from the table and looks out the window. “I’ve never noticed this great view of the city you have here,” then says, “By the way, do you know a character by the name of Willie Jones?”

 Jennifer thinks about the question for a second; while she is thinking, Jack is watching her closely, looking for any sings of untruth. She replies, “I think I have seen

him a few times.” She pauses for a second then says, “What about him?”

Jack does not answer right away. He walks over to the stove and bends down to light his cigarette on the burner. “Damn, Jack, you never seem to have your lighter!” He turns to face her. “I had a little run in with him,” replies Jack.

“About what?” says Lauren .

“He told me that Lauren didn’t want to be found by anyone, especially me. I asked him where she was hiding out and he said that he didn’t know where she was at.”

“When was all this, Jack?” she asks. “Before you took me to see that witch doctor?”

“Yes,” replies Jack.

“And why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“I don’t know,” says Jack. “I guess I just didn’t want to upset you.”

“What do you mean, upset me, Jack?”

“You know, him telling me that she didn’t want to be found…”

“But that doesn’t mean anything, Jack.”

Jack then looks a little bewildered. “You know, baby, you’re right. There was no excuse, you got me on that one.” He gives her that manly smile of his.

“Well,” replies Jennifer, “if he says he does not know where she is at, you should believe him,” she says as she takes a sip from her coffee.

“Why?” replies’ Jack.

“Because he was nothing to Lauren. She just kept him around to do errands.” Then she pauses. “I love Lauren, Jack, but when it came to men, she likes to play with them, like they were toys. To tell the truth, I think some of the men liked it that way.”

Jack smiles. “Oh really? I hope that does not run in the family.”

“Not me, Jack. I’m a one-man girl. ..When we were kids, she had all the colored boys running after her…and some white ones. They wanted us more because of our skin color. All of the colored girls gave us a hard time. They kept calling us want to bees.”

“What is that?” replies Jack, looking like a deer in headlights. He was clueless.

“You know," says Jennifer, “want to be white!”

“Oh, I see,” replies Jack. Then she looked into his eyes’ and said’ I don’t want to be white Jack’ I just want to be loved.

“So, after graduation and our father’s death, one day she just packed up and went out on her own. I just found her a few years ago

Here in Frisco, married to Tom Jefferson. And she pleaded with me not to tell him and I always wondered why she did that. There was no reason I would have said anything to him about that.”

“So did she know Jefferson was a homosexual?”

“I don’t know, Jack, but I think she found that out later.”

“Think he thinks of himself as a bi-s****l, whatever,” replies Jack.

She then takes his hand. “So you think there’s a chance she’s still alive? You don’t think that Madam Zelda knew what see was talking about?”

“Of course not,

Baby.” But Jack is thinking that Madam Zelda might not be that far off. “

There’s always a chance she is just hiding out,” he says. “Come on.” He takes her by the hand, stands, and motions for her to get up.

“Where are we going?” she asks.

“I’ll tell you on the way.”

When they get outside, she comments on

The new car. “Very nice, Jack, but isn’t this the same car you had before?”

“Yeah, baby, it’s the same model.” He then opens the door for her to get in.

Jennifer gets in reluctantly. As they are driving, he looks over at her and smiles.

“That’s a nice outfit you’re wearing, baby.” She is wearing a lace pink dress that covered her legs just below her knees. It had little designs of butterflies all over it and, as the wind blew from the open window of the car, they look as if they would fly away. She truly was a sight to behold.

They drive until they are out of the city. Six hours later, Jennifer is getting a little impatient. “Jack, where are we going?” she demands.

“It’s a surprise, baby. Be patient,” he says. “It’s just a little farther.”

With that said, he stops the car on the side of the road, a few miles away from their destination. He then reaches into the glove department and takes out a blindfold.

“Here,” he says, “put this on!” She hesitates for a second then takes the blindfold and puts it over her eyes.  

Jack assures her it will be okay. He again starts up the car. They had been driving most of the day into the early Saturday evening.

And now they are there. “Okay, Jack, where are we?” “San Diego,” he says.

“San Diego,” screams Jennifer as she takes off the blindfold. She sees that they are in the front yard of her mother’s house. “Oh Jack!”

She kisses him then opens the door and hurries in to see her mother.

She is almost like a little girl again as she runs to knock on the door. Her mother is running out to meet her; they hug, and embrace each other. They stand there holding each other for the longest time. Soon Jack joins them. Jennifer composes herself

.

With tears running down her face, she says, “Mother, this is Jack.” “I know, dear.

We talked on the phone.”

 Jack is standing there with his mouth open wide,

Staring at Jennifer’s mother, Lena. Finally Jennifer says, “What’s wrong, Jack?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mrs. Wilson, but I thought Jennifer said that her mother was colored! You’re almost as white as Jennifer is.” Then they all go inside, Jennifer and her mother still embracing each other.

Lena goes over to the piano and picks up a picture of her mother; she is much darker. ”This is my mother,” she says. “You see, my mother’s mother was a slave and it was common for the white plantation owners to go into the slave’s quarters and take the young black girls and have s*x with them.”

 “Oh, I see,” says Jack, his expression turning from happiness to sorrow.

“Don’t be sorry,” says Lena then she goes and sits on the sofa with Jennifer. Lena looks like one of those models in a magazine. She is in her early sixties, but could easily pass for forty. Jack could see where Jennifer got her great looks. She sets settles back and tells Jack her whole family’s story, how she grew up in the deep south. She sits there telling her story, with her eyes gleaming like a little girl who had just woken up on a Christmas morning and seen all of the gifts that Santa had left. She truly loved her family.

A single tear fell from her eyes as she remembered the bad times.

Her mother’s father was hung one cold dark night for stealing a chicken, she says.

At least that’s what her mother always told her but she always felt that it was for something else, like maybe standing up for his family. Well, after the war was over, the family moved up north where they thought things would be better. Soon her mother got married, and Lena was born. Her father was a fairly light- skinned man so when Lena came out, she was nearly white.

 Lena soon met Jennifer’s and Lauren’s father. A school teacher, he was a big man in stature and heart.

He stood nearly 6’5, weighed 190 pounds and had a baritone voice that was as toffee smooth as his smile. When he first saw Lena, at the restaurant where she was working, it was, as they say, love at first sight for the both of them. Lena told him all about her background, knowing that it would be deceiving if she did not,

But John Wilson couldn’t care less. All he knew was that this was the woman that he wanted to marry.

But John’s family didn’t feel the same way. All they kept saying was when you have children someday, what if they turn out colored? And John would always say, so what?

They ended up moving to California where they had a happy life until John fell ill and died suddenly. His family didn’t even come to the funeral.

After his death, Lauren left home and Lena and Jennifer continued to live in San Diego until Jennifer decided she wanted to spread her wings. But with all the bad and good times, Lena did not regret a single

Moment she spent with the love of her life.

She says she hopes that Jennifer has found the same love with Jack that she found with her father.

Then she stops talking and looks over at Jack. “Mr. Spade-”

Jack interrupts her. “You can call me Jack, Mrs. Wilson.”

She nods her head in

Agreement. “Okay, Jack. What can you tell me about my Lauren?”

“Well, you know, Mrs. Wilson, I’m doing all I can to find her.” Jack was never the best diplomat so he quickly changed the subject. “But you know, we didn’t come up here to talk about Lauren. We came so that you and Jennifer could get re-acquainted.”

“That’s right,” says Jennifer. She takes her mother’s hand and pulls her closer to her on the sofa. “Come on, tell me what’s going on in your life,” says Jennifer.

While they are talking, Jack decides to go out and get a pack of cigarettes. “You ladies want anything?”

“No, Jack, we’re fine.” But then Jennifer decides

To go with him. They leave the car and walk to the drug store. As they are walking, Jack moves to Jennifer’s other side. “What are you doing?” she asks, smiling.

“I’m being the gentleman,” he says. “The man always walks on the outside of his lady.”

“Why?” she says, smiling again.

“So that we can protect our ladies.”

 Jennifer then grabs his arm even tighter and lays her head on his shoulders. On the walk back home, they walk past a park bench and sit down. Jennifer puts her head back on his shoulder. “Tell me about Joe,” she whispers.

For a long time Jack does not say anything. He finally takes a big breath. “I can’t talk about him, baby. I just can’t.”

“It’s all right,” she replies, and then sits up. “It’s getting dark. We should get back to the house. Mother will be wondering what happened to us.”

When they get to Lena’s house, Jack goes into the bathroom. After he leaves, her mother whispers to Jennifer, “Does he love you?”’

Jennifer smiles and says, “Yes.” She is like a little girl again, and Lena looks and smiles back at her as if she was her little girl again.

They had planned to drive back to San Francisco that same night but Lena insists they stay the night. “I have not seen my little girl for such a long time. Please stay!” And, of course, they do. Jennifer stays in her old room. It looks the same, not a thing had been changed. It still has the same wallpaper with the little pink rabbits hopping all up and down the walls.