Chapter 13
Willow got in around eleven forty five. I had been sitting in the reading nook, not my favorite chair facing Mirror lake, but the opposite one where I could see our front lawn and drive. I went to the front door when I saw the headlights coming down the driveway. She had circles under her eyes like she hadn’t slept in days. I thought I’d talked her down yesterday when I had spoken to her about Pappy.
“Willow, honey come in, come in. How was your trip?”
She looked like she was trying to smile, but the darting glances around the store froze it in place. The smile became a grimace. “It was good Laura, I listened to an audiobook the whole way. Which reminds me I have books in the car, I should get them.”
“No, honey, they can wait, in fact I’m supposed to have extra help coming in tomorrow. Luke can handle all the boxes while you and I help Pappy. Are you thirsty, how about a nice cup of decaf Irish Coffee, made with real Irish Whiskey and Amy’s famous whipped cream. It’s what I have when I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep.
She licked her lips and then proceeded to chew on her lower lip. “Yes I am really thirsty. I haven’t had anything to drink in hours, I didn’t want to have to get off the Northway to find a bathroom.”
“Great, you grab your bag and I’ll start the coffeemaker.”
She joined me a minute later in the kitchen. Her eyes had stopped darting around. I think that she probably went into a worry spiral on her drive up here. She had sounded almost excited to come when I had spoken to her this afternoon. But when I have a big problem the same thing can happen to me. What I usually try to do is figure out the worst case scenario and let myself accept it. Once I have accepted it, the looping thoughts slow down, then I try to think of other scenarios, each progressively better than the last. But I keep going back to the worst case after I play out each scenario, to make sure that yes, I have truly accepted this is a possible outcome. But after a while I see that the worst case is just one of many possible outcomes and is by no means the inevitable outcome.
Willow left her duffle bag by the door and sat down. The coffee was almost brewed so I went to my room to retrieve the Irish whiskey. Willow was deep in thought and didn’t say a word. I poured the coffee, then added generous pours of whiskey into each mug, then I topped it off with a huge dollop of whipped cream, I put a spoon into the mug and slid it in front of Willow. Who said thanks reflexively.
Then I sat down and started to tell Willow a story. “This is probably the time when people who believe in a deity are trying to make their deals. I know I did when I was a little girl and one of my classmates told me that all I had to do was to pray and talk to god and my desire would be granted if it was a wholesome one. I wasn’t quite sure what wholesome was but I looked it up in the dictionary when I got home from school. It seemed that wholesome was a lot like eating your vegetables. That was just stupid, I wanted a bike, not a vegetarian diet, I quite liked bacon at the time and had no intention of giving it up. The exercise I got from riding the bike, would take care of any excess calories.
Then one day my aunt caught me mumbling to myself coming into the kitchen.
“Laura what are you mumbling about?” “I’m not mumbling, I’m praying.” She asked me what I was praying about. “I’m asking god to give me a cookie.” Hmm, I see she said, and what was his reply? “Well he never actually answers me back, but sometimes if what I’m praying about is wholesome, I get what I ask for.” Hmm, I see so sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, why don’t you just try using magic, it doesn’t always work but it does sometimes. It’s also simpler and unlike god, magic always gives you an answer. Some things are harder to magic than others though. “How do I use magic?” Simple she said go get that bag of dice the Game Master gave you. I got the dice and she said that she thought the odds that I would get a cookie were about ten percent. She told me to roll my two tens dice and if I got a zero on one of the dice I’d get my cookie. But don’t roll yet, you have to be ready to do the magic before you roll. What you are supposed to do, she said,was concentrate hard on those dice. Your magic is in your head, if you always use your head, even if the magic fails at least you’ll get an answer. So when you are ready roll your dice and make one land on zero and you’ll get your cookie, if you make both land on zero, you’ll get two cookies. But if you don’t get any zero’s then it’s time to do your homework.
A minute later I was in my room doing my homework. But I figured that maybe magic was like spelling, the more I practiced the better I got at it. So everyday when I came home from school, I’d go into the kitchen and roll the dice and less than a week later I got my first cookie. I don’t even think it was a month before I got my zero and zero and my two cookies. At this point I was convinced that I was going to be a master wizard when I grew up. But then it was almost two weeks before I got another cookie. Now Willow you are probably wondering why this old woman is droning on about god and praying and magic and dice. Willow, half smiled and shook her head no.
“Well I’ll tell you why, eventually I learned that my aunt in her infinite wisdom had been teaching me about chaos and how we want to control it, and how that just isn’t possible. Magic is chaos and it won’t be controlled otherwise it wouldn’t be chaos or wild magic. The best we can do against chaos is to try and guess our chances. Now Eve is a genius lawyer and she said that there is a ninety eight percent chance that Pappy will walk out of the police station tomorrow a free and clear man. She went on to say that if Chicago is stupid enough to extradite him, within two weeks he would be a very rich, free man.”
I pulled out my dice pouch, and handed Willow the percentile dice.
“Just roll these dice, ninety eight or less, Pappy is a free cleared man tomorrow, ninety nine or one hundred and two weeks from now Pappy is a rich and free man. Give the dice a roll, Willow, I want to know what is going to happen tomorrow.”
Twenty Two.
“You are good, you may be a witch, Willow. Not only is Pappy walking free tomorrow, but you just rolled a doubles and a doubles is a random event. You’ll need to roll again, one through fifty is another cup of Irish coffee, fifty one or higher Amy’s fresh baked cookies. Come on Willow, my fate is tied to yours, do we get cookies or more whiskey.”
She rolled a forty nine, and I was rewarded not just with cookies but with a genuine smile. I got up and grabbed the cookie jar.
***
Pappy, Eve, Willow and myself were to leave at five after ten. I needed to speak to Lucy first. Lucy bounced into the store at nine thirty five. Almost a full thirty minutes early. I’m not sure if it was the excitement of seeing Willow again, or the pride from having managed the store yesterday to the most sales in its history.
“Hi Laura, do you think we’ll do as well as we did yesterday?”
“It’s possible, but it’s also a work day for most people, so I have to think that aside from the tourists here on vacation, the rest of the town will go to work as usual. But I wanted to talk to you and I’m grateful that you came in early. Pappy, Eve, Willow and myself are going to the police station.”
“What can I do to help?” her eyes locked on mine like they were laser focused.
“Is Luke coming in?”
“Yes, he’ll be here for the next nine days while the show is filming, but I told him to come in today at ten, so that he could move books out to the bus, then we could train him how to help out around the store when it is really busy.” she smiled as if she were anticipating the crowd that we had here yesterday.
“Great, that’s exactly what we want him to do. When Zoe gets here, we need someone to cover for Pappy, so would you send her out to the bus. She can show Luke how to stock the books by genre. She is also the best suited to helping out there as she knows the stock better than we do.”
“Right, no problem at all. Lis and I can handle this store.”
“We’ll be back from the police department as soon as we can, and Luke should come back in here as soon as he gets the books stocked. He’s too big and will be in the way when a lot of customers start getting on the bus. But have him do just one box of books at a time. We don't want any customers to fall and get hurt.”
“Or sue us.” she winked. I’d think that she was high if I didn’t know that she was just excited about another day of big sales ahead. I hope she doesn’t start getting bored working here after the bus and the TV show leave the grounds and we go back to our sleepy bookstore vibe again.
“We have insurance if we get sued, we just don’t want any of our customers hurt. It’s only corporations that make decisions based on profits and lawsuits. If the profits are high enough, lawsuits are just the price of doing business. We value the customer more than the profits, right?”
She grinned and an eyebrow quivered, “For sure, I was only kidding, are you worried about Pappy, you seem tense.”
“Not worried per se, I know that Eve has this, I just have butterflies in my stomach. I should have eaten something instead of drinking the coffee or just had tea instead.”
“Was Pappy really at that riot in Chicago, is that why he has a felony?” she asked a little breathlessly.
“Yes, he was. It was a police riot. The government even admitted much later in a report.”
I know, her head nodding up and down, “I read about it last night in Wikipedia. What I want to know is what happened to Pigasus. I read an article on a Chicago radio station that claimed Pigasus went from the Chicago humane society to a farm close to the city. The same article said that Abbie Hoffman wanted a cute, porky the pig styled pig and Jerry Rubin wanted a fierce wild boar. It also said that the two of them never agreed on anything.”
Willow came bounding down the stairs to the counter and gave Lucy and then me a big hug. Ah, that’s how I knew she was depressed, last night. I hadn’t thought about it when she dragged herself in the door.
“You certainly look better, then when you dragged yourself in here last night. Did you sleep well?”
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Willow was cleared eyed and smiling. “I slept like the dead, the mountain air, the Irish coffee and the magic dice worked like a spell. I’m ready, let's get this done.”
Lucy reached out to grasp Willow's arm, “are you going home right away, or can you stay for another day.”
Willow crossed her arms, “If Pappy gets extradited to Chicago, I’m driving to Chicago but if he is released, I hope Laura will let me stay for the next nine days. I know that Pappy and Phoebe both said they were having fun running Urge, but I don’t want them to wind up exhausted. Urge is supposed to be a side gig. So what do you say, Laura, can I stay.” She looked at me expectantly.”
“Without question you can stay, nothing would make me happier.”
Pappy, Phoebe and Eve walked down the stairs. Phoebe’s eyes were watery, just on the edge of tears. Zoe, Luke and Lis arrived at the same time. Lucy started by introducing Zoe and Luke to Phoebe. Lucy gave the four of them a quick rundown of who was doing what and working where, while we were at the police department.
Pappy quickly kissed Phoebe goodbye and said he’d be back before you know it. I wondered if Phoebe thought about the last time that the police had separated them fifty seven years ago. If she did she didn’t bring it up, she went quiet and watched as we went out the door. We walked four abreast up the driveway but when we reached the side walk we paired up Eve and I took the lead, Pappy and Willow right behind us.
It didn’t take us very long to walk to the police department. Once there, I went right up to the desk sergeant and asked to see my cousin. He smiled politely, picked up his phone and made a call. A couple of seconds later we were navigating the halls to my cousin's office. Today I had promised myself to treat August with real respect and not get dragged into an argument with him.
We arrived at his door and I knocked. He answered with his curt rude reply.
“Come.”
Again, I reminded myself not to get emotional, cause a scene or to disrespect him, especially in front of the others. Mostly I was going to try and let Eve do the talking. I opened the door and the four of us entered. I could see his jaw clench.
“Laura, what’s all this?” He said in a sharp tone.
“August this is my friend Pappy, and he thinks he might have a warrant from nineteen sixty eight, I told him that you could fix it for him if he does.”
“Chief, I’d like it noted that my client walked in here of his own accord wishing to cooperate with you. We’d appreciate it if you could check to see if there is indeed a warrant, we’d also appreciate it if you would help us to clear it up.” she said perfectly calmly. Which calmed me down, I was just hoping that it would have a similar effect on August.”
“What’s your client's name and date of birth, counselor?” Now that he had something to do, the twitch in his eye seemed to fade away.
“Robert Cazzy, February twenty sixth, nineteen fifty three.”
August typed away into his computer, and let out a low whistle, after about thirty seconds or so. “You do indeed have felony warrants for rioting, resisting arrest and escape in Chicago Illinois. If you’ll have a seat, I’ll have someone come and process you. Laura and your friend.” He nodded at Willow. “Can go, we’ll take it from here.”
I answered reflexively without thinking, “No way, August, Pappy, has a heart condition and I’m not leaving his side until he is released and this is his granddaughter. She stays too.”
The tic was back, his eye twitched immediately.
Pappy, spoke up in a calm and cheerful voice, “I’ll be fine Laura, you and Willow go back to the store. It’s going to be fine. You two take care of each other and I’ll see you soon.”
I turned back to August and stared at him, “Just let Pappy come back to the store with us now, if Chicago wants to pursue the warrant just call us and we’ll be back. We came on our own. We’ll come back on our own. If Pappy didn’t want to clear up the warrant he could have just stayed at the bookstore for another fifty seven years.”
Eve spoke up, speaking directly to August. “Mr Cazzy is a business owner who has resided at the same address in Woodstock New York since nineteen sixty nine. He was fifteen in nineteen sixty eight and was beaten severely about the head, when he was arrested. He was taken back to the station, but never formally processed. The police dumped him on a bench in the lobby, and he finally left to obtain medical care.”
“Ms Whittle, you know that I can’t legally let him leave the station.”
“Indeed I do, Chief. But look at it this way, it’s an opportunity for you to do something that I suspect you have dreamed of for some time.” Eve smiled evenly at August.
“What might that be?”
“Why, locking your cousin in one of your cells. It won’t break any laws and if Mr Cazzy did have an unfortunate medical event in your custody, at least with Laura right there she’d be able to alert your officers immediately. Otherwise wouldn’t you need to keep an officer on watch after being notified of a serious medical condition.”
He sighed and gave her a small nod. A police officer came in to take Pappy to booking.
“Mike, take her too, she can stay with the old man, he has a bad heart. Make sure you inform them in booking. I’m hoping the pair of them will be released in a few hours, it’s a nearly sixty year old warrant in another state, I would imagine that anyone who might have cared about it back then is long gone by now.”
Mike grabbed Pappy by the arm gently, then he ma’am’ed me. “Just follow me ma’am.”
Mike took us to another section of the building, the basement I think. There was another cop sitting at a desk. They certainly have a lot of cops sitting around, no wonder my property taxes are so high. They took Pappy’s picture and fingerprints, but refused to take mine. It just seemed unfair. Then they brought us to a row of cells, all empty, all smelling of urine. They put us into a cell. There was no cot, like you see on tv or the movies there was a three feet wide, six feet long slab of wood hanging off of the wall, no mattress, pillow or blanket. There was also a toilet, with no toilet seat hanging from the back wall, no sink to wash your hands and no toilet paper. When Mike closed the cell door, it locked with a loud clang.
Pappy looked at me, sighing dejectedly. “Laura, you shouldn’t have come in here, you know that there is nothing wrong with my heart.”
“It wasn’t your heart I was worried about Pappy, Willow’s will be breaking, but she’ll be alright, knowing that you are not going through this alone. If you do get extradited, Willow, Eve and I are coming with you. Well, we’ll be traveling separately, but we’ll be there every step of the way. We’re not abandoning you.”
His eyes glistened, “It really was a great day when Willow met you, you found my Phoebe for me. Now you're helping to clear my name but more importantly, you’ll look after Willow, after I’m gone. I’m sorry I couldn’t do a better job on that essay I wrote for the protest book.”
“It’s perfect Pappy, as a matter of fact that just gave me an idea. For a closing essay if you don’t mind, I’ll write about this whole process, how after fifty seven years the government is still putting their own citizens in jail for a war they knew was wrong. But they just went ahead and did it anyway.”
Pappy smiled, “I don’t mind Laura, I don’t mind at all as long as I don’t have to write it. I would like to read it, though. But I don’t have an eBook reader.”
“Yeah you do Pappy, your laptop can read ebooks just as well as any ebook reader, it can even read them aloud to you, the voice is a little mechanical but it just takes a little getting used to. I’ll send the files you need to Willow and she’ll set it up for you. You know, you are a wonderful source of ideas Pappy. Because you made me think of another one. Lucy and I were talking about taking people's old computers and giving them a bit of a refresh, but there is no reason we can’t do that with eReaders and phones too. Phone’s make decent eReaders as well as mp3 players and camera’s and you don’t have to pay a monthly fee for any of it.”
He smiled again, “We’ll have to get arrested more often, we’ve only been in here for a few minutes and you already had two ideas. Just imagine the good we could do if I get twenty years, we can solve world hunger, and end wars forever. Maybe even do something better than that. Figure out a way to make people be kind to each other.”
Half an hour later, August stood at the cell door. With a big smile on his face. “You know Laura, your friend Ms Whittle was right. I did enjoy putting you in a cell, it was cathartic, I feel great. Mr Cazzy, sir you are a free man. Laura, will you be leaving with Mr Cazzy or should I get you a sandwich.”
I thought about what Pappy had said to me about kindness and decided he was right. So instead of giving August my usual sarcastic reply, I decided to shock him instead. “Thank you August, it was very kind of you to allow me to stay with Pappy, I know that it is not procedure.”
The grin left his face like I had slapped him. I wasn’t sure what I had done. I thought I was being nice, but obviously not. He looked at me warily like I might snap and attack him at any moment. Instead I said something to him that I’d never said before. “We are going to have a dinner party for Pappy’s release and to celebrate his freedom, you are more than welcome to come, August. Around eight if you can make it.”
His mouth fell open, but he didn’t speak at first but finally he said, “thank you Laura, that’s very nice of you to ask. I’m sorry that I can’t come, I’m on duty at the town council meeting, I have to address some issues that some of the council members have been having with our department.”
“Well, you’ll have to come another night. Amy’s cooking gets better everyday and no one in the town can touch her baking.”
“I know, we never should have let her retire.” he swallowed visibly, but smiled sadly. Eve was waiting for us in the front lobby.
“Chief, was it as satisfying as you imagined?” Eve wanted to know.
“No, Ms Whittle, surprisingly it wasn’t.” August smiled then spun on his heel and walked back towards his office.
“Jeez, Laura, what did you do to him?”
“Nothing, well I invited him to our freedom party, but that was it, thank you for getting us out.”
Eve grinned, “It was fun, I had a junior ADA to bargain with, I hardly had to threaten him personally, his department, the city of Chicago Police and the mayor's office with multi million dollar lawsuits each. Before he just caved.”
