Authors: Robin Schwarz
“Well, if there was ever an end to Blossom season, this is it.”
“What?” Bloomberg asked. She had said it so low, a dog couldn’t have heard it.
“Never mind, Mr. Bloomberg.”
“Call me Walter, Charlotte. The people I like call me Walter.”
Charlotte watched him ascend the stairs and disappear.
“Good-bye, Walter,” she said softly.
T
HE GUARD WOKE
C
HARLOTTE
. Sleeping had become her best defense.
“You have a visitor.”
She got up and flattened her orange jumpsuit.
“Come with me,” he said.
“Where to?”
“Going to another room today.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I think you’ll like it. It’s more open. No windows dividing you.”
“And why is this? Rewarded for good behavior already?”
“Don’t know. I don’t ask. Just do as I’m told.”
Charlotte entered a large room of the color ‘infirmary green,’ with various plastic chairs staggered around.
“Over here.” MaryAnn waved. She was comfortably situated in a more or less private corner.
Charlotte pulled up an orange chair. It was hard to see where she began and the chair left off.
“A rec room. I must be moving up in the criminal system.”
MaryAnn smiled. “Listen, I have some news for you. I spoke with Dolly.”
“Tell me.”
“She said Skip was definitely planning to come here.”
“He’s all that I can think about, and it drives me crazy, and yet it keeps me sane.”
“I haven’t gotten to the best part of my story yet, Charlotte.”
“Yeah?”
“Well, I told Dolly the Ladies’ Auxiliary was raising the money for your bail, and she said that was ridiculous. She said it would take too long, and she had the money. She wants to put up the bail. In fact, she insisted on it.”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“She can’t do that. It’s too much.”
“She said it was ‘a spit in the bucket’ for her. Those were her exact words: ‘a spit in the bucket.’”
“God almighty. I’ll never be able to repay her.”
“She’s not worried about that. She wants you out of here. It’s already in the works. It has to do with putting a bond up or something like that. Your lawyer will explain it to you.”
“This means I can just walk out of here?”
“That’s what it means.”
“When?”
“Whenever the money gets here.”
“Oh, my God. That’s fantastic. Then what?”
“You plead guilty or not guilty, as I understand it, and then the judge decides something. I couldn’t quite follow—it’s all very complicated.”
“I know. Bloomberg’s going over it with me now. It’s like he’s speaking in tongues.” Charlotte paused. “But either way you look at it, MaryAnn, I still have to do time; I still have to be punished for what I did.”
“But maybe it won’t be so bad.”
“I just don’t think I’ll survive in jail. I was in jail for thirty-four years, living in Gorham. I spent a whole year being free. I finally figured out how to be free from sadness, from anger, from hurt, and now I have to go back to jail?”
“It’s not the same, Char. They can’t jail your thoughts. You’re still the same person inside. The person you’ve become.”
“I know, but I just don’t think I can do it, MaryAnn. I’ll be blackmailed by some woman called Dutch, who’ll promise to protect me if I meet her twice a week in the yard for sex and cigarettes.”
“And you don’t even smoke.”
“Very funny.”
“Charlotte, you’ve seen too many movies.”
“I can’t do it, MaryAnn. I’ll go mad in jail. I’ll kill myself. I’ll die from a broken heart. That can happen, you know. Didn’t Satchmo die two days after his wife? And didn’t they bury him with his horn? I thought that was the saddest thing I’d ever heard.”
“I don’t think it was Satchmo,” MaryAnn said.
“Who cares? Who cares who it was?!” Charlotte yelled. “It was somebody who played the damn horn. The point is, even if it’s a short sentence, it might as well be a million years, ’cause that’s what it will feel like without Skip.”
MaryAnn took her hand and studied her face long and hard, as if her intensity alone would beam them both out of there.
“There is another way,” MaryAnn said quietly, leaning conspiratorially toward Charlotte.
“There is?”
“Yes, there is. Let me just think about this for a minute before I say it out loud. I want to make sure we can do it.”
A minute passed. Charlotte stared at MaryAnn until she could no longer stand the tension. “Tell me already!”
“Shhhh. Okay. I’m going to tell you, but you can’t tell a soul, not a soul. Not Dolly, not Skip, not the ladies, no one.”
“Not Skip or Dolly?”
“No. At least not yet. Later, when it’s over. Much later. The time has to be right.”
“When what’s over?”
“You are sworn to utter and complete silence for the moment. Even when it’s over. Even after we’ve pulled it off, both Skip and Dolly have to wait. You can’t make any calls. I’ll handle that. They’ll all be made from outside of my house. Can you do this, Charlotte?”
“Yes, yes, I can. I promise. I can do it.” She paused. “Do what?”
“Because if Tom ever knew that anyone else knew what we were planning, he’d put a contract out on me. So after I get him to agree with me—which I will—Tom has to be sure this whole plan is on the Q.T. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“You know about Tom. I told you about his family.”
“Yes?”
“Besides the fact that they’re total sleazebags, scum of the earth, unredeemable, unforgivable slime buckets in every way... they just may be able to help us.”
“How?”
“We’ve never really asked them for a favor. A
big
favor. They’ve thrown some stupid jobs Tom’s way so we could make a little money when things got tight, but they did it mostly for the baby. Tom’s never been a bookie or a numbers runner or really ‘in’ on the family business, but he’s blood, and they take that very seriously. It’s a big deal to them in that family.”
“Yeah?”
“I could ask him to ask one of his cousins or uncles or conciliators to fake a passport for you,” MaryAnn whispered.
“Fake a passport?” Charlotte almost fell off her chair.
“Shush! Yeah. You get out of jail, and we get you out of here. That way you don’t have to do any time.”
“Jump bail?”
“Well, yeah, I guess that’s what it’s called.”
“Jeez, MaryAnn, I have to think about this. I mean, that’s against the law.”
“And stealing two million dollars is just an oversight?”
“Good point.”
“You could start a new life, just the way you were starting it in Hollywood. Except this time it will be forever.”
“Can I mull this over? I’m not asking for a lot of time. Just one night.”
“Of course. It’s a big decision. But when you’re mulling, remember this: You won’t be in jail, Charlotte. You’ll be free. Free as a bird.”
“Free,” Charlotte repeated it. She could taste it, like a cold glass of water on a long hot day.
And then all I need to do is fall off the ends of the earth.
“And think about two other things while you’re mulling: Where do you want to go, and what do you want your new name to be on your passport?”
“My new name?”
“Well, you can’t exactly travel as a known felon on your passport. For God’s sake, even I know that, Charlotte. I’m going to talk to Tom tonight. No commitments yet, so don’t worry. It’s all set in Jell-O right now. But if you decide to stay cooped up in jail and eat food that makes school lunches seem like fine cuisine, and wear stripes every day that do nothing for any woman’s figure, and spend every afternoon on laundry duty with a woman whose first name is Frank but prefers that you call her Mommy, well, then, that’s dandy. But if you decide to be free and smell the glorious air of a spring day and track down the man you’ve finally found love with, then you have to let me know. Because if that’s the case, then I want to have your passport ready to go.”
That was enough to convince Charlotte. She didn’t need any more time to mull. It was mulled. MaryAnn had made her point. “I’ll do it, MaryAnn; I’ll do it. Set it up. I’m ready. In fact, I’m so ready, I’m late.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“
Sure
sure, or half sure?”
“
Sure
sure.”
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea to go to Italy, Charlotte. Tom has family there. If you ever needed help, well, at least you’d have a place to go.”
How bizarre all of this was. Before California, Charlotte had never been out of Gorham, and now she was going to Italy. “All right,” she agreed. Italy was as good a place as any.
“First class to Italy, Charlotte. First class all the way.”
“This is just so... unbelievable.”
“And what do you want your name to be—on the passport? You have to have a new identity.”
Charlotte barely paused. “Lila... Lila Nata.”
“Lila Nata? How’d you come up with that so quickly?”
“Because Lila means ‘night,’ and Nata means ‘swimmer.’ Night swimmer. Skip gave me that name.”
“Oh ...” but MaryAnn couldn’t finish her sentence. Her voice was quivering ever so slightly.
“Now, don’t go all sappy on me, MaryAnn.”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath and regrouped, but not without a twinge of wistfulness. “So tonight I tell Tom what we’re planning and get him to help us.”
“He won’t mind?”
“After fifteen years of making me miserable, he owes me. It’s a down payment.”
Charlotte laughed.
“I think you may be rubbing off on me, Char. Next thing you know, I’ll be smoking marijuana behind the Knights of Columbus clubhouse.”
Now they both laughed, and MaryAnn stood to leave.
“I think of you as a little bird in a cage right now. And I’m gonna open that door. Somehow, it makes me feel oddly privileged to do it, too... and yet at the same time, there’s some part of me that wants to cry. Strange.”
Charlotte watched MaryAnn leave. That was exactly how she felt. Like a little bird in a cage. But MaryAnn was opening the door... of all people. And some part of that made Charlotte want to cry, too.
W
ELL, WELL, WELL
,” Bloomberg said, approaching Charlotte’s cell. “It appears you have a fairy godmother somewhere in this world.”
“I do?” Charlotte flashed a smile.
“It would seem so. Someone is going to put up a bond for you to the tune of two hundred thousand dollars. A woman named Dolly Feingold in California, and, I come to find out, she’s not even a relative.”
“Yeah, well, I once watered her flowers and fed her cat when she went on vacation, and she’s been eternally grateful to me ever since.” Both Bloomberg and Charlotte giggled as the guard let the lawyer into her cell.
“So what happens next, Walter?”
“There is a simple proceeding that takes place, which merely makes sure that the person signing for bail is legit. Your friend can post the money in California, and it then gets transferred into a New Hampshire court account.”
“How long will that take?”
“You should be out of here by the end of the day.”
“End of the day? That’s incredible.”
“Yup. Now, you have to remember that there are certain restrictions that come with your bail. You can’t leave the jurisdiction of the state, and you have to be at the arraignment. Remember, we spoke about that? It’s where you plead guilty or not guilty in front of the judge.”
“Oh, yes, yes, I remember that.” This was suddenly happening all too fast for Charlotte. When was her flight to Italy? Before or after she was supposed to plead guilty?
“When do I go in front of the judge?”
Walter scanned his page as quickly as an Evelyn Wood Speed Reader. Charlotte was impressed.
Now, here’s a good Jeopardy contestant, all wasted on the law.
“You’re set to go in front of the judge on Tuesday.”
Today was Friday. She needed to speak to MaryAnn immediately. Tonight she would walk out of jail. She needed to speak to MaryAnn. Tonight she would finally be able to get in touch with Skip and Dolly. But where would she go? She needed to speak to MaryAnn. She needed to pull this crazy plan together in what seemed like only minutes. She needed to act natural, to stay calm and unassuming at all times. But more than anything, one thing was perfectly clear: She needed to speak to MaryAnn. She needed to speak to MaryAnn.
C
HARLOTTE WAS SLEEPING
when she heard someone clear his throat. For a moment she thought it was Skip, and roused quickly only to turn around and see that it was not Skip who stood just beyond the bars. It was Makley.
“Hello, Charlotte.”
“Oh,” Charlotte said, disappointed, “hello.”
“May I talk with you for a few minutes?”
“Let me check my schedule.” Makley smiled, and the guard let him in.
“I’m visiting on official business. I thought maybe you could help us in clarifying what exactly went on with Kelly while he was president at the bank.”
“I heard his little scam was uncovered.”
“It was. But we still don’t know the whole story. He won’t talk. He has this high-powered lawyer now, as does his brother-in-law.”
“Is he in jail?”
“Out on bail.”
“You see? Where’s the justice?”
“Well, I’m getting to that. If you can help us with whatever you know about Kelly, then maybe we can help you.”
Maybe, there’s always a maybe.
“How?”
“The court will look very favorably on your cooperation, Charlotte.”
The idea of nailing Kelly held great appeal for Charlotte. She hated him as much as the rest of Gorham did.
“You know, I’m getting out on bail today myself,” Charlotte boasted.
“Yes, I know. Congratulations. However, bail is temporary; sentencing is another thing altogether. That’s why I hope you can help us. In helping us, you help yourself.”
Charlotte didn’t know how much weight her information would carry, but she was willing to share what she knew. As much for herself as for the people of Gorham. They had a right to know. “I couldn’t quite figure it out while I worked there,” Charlotte began, “but in going over it again and again, I started to put two and two together in California.”