Daylight

Chapter 13

The following afternoon they set out to visit Jerome Blake’s mother. She lived in an old part of Trenton that was being gentrified. They saw this in numerous homes being remodeled and expensive late-model cars parked in the driveways of some of the newly renovated homes.

“It’s good to see old neighborhoods getting new life,” said Blum. “But the downside is the people who’ve lived here a long time get pushed out because their taxes go up. Or the home prices get out of control and a working-class family can’t afford to buy.”

“Nothing fair about that,” said Pine.

Despite the cold, a group of young men played pickup basketball on a cracked asphalt court, pouring in three-pointers and slamming dunks through a rim with no net. As Pine and Blum passed by, some of the men stopped to watch them, their expressions not exactly friendly.

Blum said, “It’s the next house on the left.”

Pine pulled into the driveway of a one-story bungalow with a metal carport, under which was parked a Buick two-door. A pair of flowerpots were on the stoop. In the distance they could hear a dog barking.

“So how come Superman didn’t come with us?” asked Blum. “I’d like to meet the Man of Steel.”

“You will, Carol. But the fact is he’s got a ton on his plate right now and superiors to answer to. I can only imagine the debriefings and paperwork John’s having to do right now, what with losing an agent like that. But I told him what I planned to do, and I’ll report back to him what we find.”

Pine noted that the house had a fresh coat of paint and what looked like a fairly new shingled roof. The colorful curtains in the windows were warm and inviting.

They got out and walked up the sidewalk to the front stoop. Before they could knock, the door opened and a black woman in her forties stared back at them. She looked over their shoulders and said brusquely, “Come on in.”

Before she stepped through the opening, Pine looked back and saw a small knot of young men gathering outside on the street in front of the house.

“Are those friends of Jerome’s?” asked Pine.

“Just come on in,” said the woman. After they did, she closed the door firmly behind them and locked it.

She settled them in the front living room, where the large picture window overlooked the street. Pine kept one eye there and observed that the young men were coming closer.

“You’re Mrs. Blake?” began Blum.

The woman nodded, her expression both grief stricken and nerve-racked. “Cheryl Blake. Just call me Cee-Cee, everybody does.”

“We’re very sorry about Jerome,” said Pine.

“On the phone you told me that you were there,” Blake said, her voice cracking. “When it happened.”

She pulled a tissue from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes, which were red and angry looking. She had on a long sweatshirt and black running tights and tennis shoes with ankle socks. She was about five four with a strong, athletic build. Muscles in her neck flexed and receded as she spoke.

Pine said, “Yes, I was there. I tried to talk him into putting his gun down.”

“But you wasn’t the one to shoot him.”

“No. That was a local police officer. But another man was killed. An Army investigator. I’m trying to understand what, if any, connection Jerome had to that.”

“The police came by late last night. To let me know about Jerome. And to ask questions. And they came by again this morning. They took stuff from his room.”

“Do you have other children?” asked Blum.

“Two. My oldest, Willie. He’s on his own now. Living and working in Delaware. And then I got Jewel. She’s in middle school. Only fourteen. She’s upstairs sleeping. Cried her eyes out all night. She loved her brother.”

“I’m sure she did,” said Blum.

Pine interjected, “Jerome had a gun last night. A Glock. Have you ever seen that weapon around here?”

“Cops asked the same thing and I’ll tell you what I told them, Jerome didn’t have no gun. He never wanted a gun and he didn’t have one,” she added fiercely.

“Well, he had one last night. I’m just trying to piece things together.”

Blake eyed her suspiciously. “You say you’re with the government? You got something that says that?”

Pine pulled out her cred pack and badge and showed them to Blake. “I’m with the FBI. I was meeting with another Army investigator when the shooting happened. We’re working the case together.”

“What you want me to tell you?”

“What did you tell the police?”

“The truth, but they don’t want to believe it.”

“I’d like to hear it,” said Pine.

Blake settled back in her chair and rubbed her eyes and blew her nose into the tissue. Then her softened features turned hard and her expression became fierce.

“Look, I’m not stupid, okay? I know the police come here and think, ‘Okay, here we damn well go again. Same old shit. Black man kills a white man, so he got what he deserved.’ But see, the picture here is different. Way different.”

“Tell me,” said Pine.

“For starters, Jerome was smart, real smart, the smart that you’re born with and then you get smarter by sucking up all the information you can. He got straight As in school. He was going to college, already getting scholarship offers and he’s still a junior. Because of his brain,” she added sharply.

“Okay,” said Pine. “Keep going.”

“Now, the police came here and start telling me that what happened last night is because Jerome was doing some gang thing. Kill someone. Kill a fed, they said. Initiation shit.”

“They actually said that to you?” asked Pine incredulously.

“Sure as I’m sitting here talking to you.”

“And you didn’t believe that?” said Blum.

“Course I didn’t ’cause it isn’t true. There are gangs all over this damn place. Everybody knows that. Look out the window, they’re out there right now. My oldest boy, he was in a gang. But he got out. Only reason Willie moved away. Hell, I made him go. I don’t want that for my kids. Too many getting shot and buried before they’re even grown. My husband’s dead now fourteen years. He was just coming home from the grocery store with ice cream for me ’cause I was pregnant with Jewel and I needed something cold. He went out for damn ice cream and ended up in a box just ’cause he was walking down the street late at night with a brown paper bag and some cops driving by had a problem with that. They said he resisted arrest, that he was going for one of their guns, and they shot him. Yeah, he was going for their guns all right. Bullshit.”

“Was there an investigation?”

“Oh yeah. Took all of like a week. Justifiable shooting, they said. Feared for their damn lives, even though it was four against one. Those cops went right back to work. They might still be out there for all I know. Shooting people for carrying damn ice cream.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“But Jerome never wanted no part of any of that. He was home every night doing his schoolwork. He was on the Honor Roll. He wanted to be whatchacallit when he graduated. You know, number one?”

“Valedictorian?” suggested Blum.

“Yeah, valedictorian. And he was gonna be, sure as I’m sitting here. So he didn’t have time for gangs. They got a robotics team at the school. Jerome was head of the whole damn thing. They won the state competition last year.”

“That’s all very impressive,” said Pine. “But it doesn’t account for him being in an alley across from where a man was shot. Or him running from the scene with a gun. That’s what I want to work through. How was he when he came home from school yesterday? Did he seem troubled or anything?”

Blake nodded her head. “He came home looking all upset and worried. I asked him what was wrong. He said, ‘Momma, I messed up on a test. Missed a couple questions.’ I told him that ain’t the end of the world. He looked at me funny, like... like maybe it was.” She pulled a fresh tissue from her pocket, dabbed at her eyes, and looked down, shaking her head. “I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe my baby’s gone. Not Jerome.” She started to rock and moan. “Lord help me, not Jerome.”

“Momma?”

They all turned to see a tall, athletic girl around fourteen at the bottom of the stairs. She was dressed in a set of two-piece pajamas and her eyes were red from crying.

“Momma, please don’t cry.”

Blake jumped up and wiped her eyes. “Oh, baby, Momma’s okay. Just blubbering a little bit.” She turned to Pine. “This is Jewel. Jewel, these ladies are with the FBI. They’re here to help find out what happened to your brother.”

Jewel looked at Pine and Blum, turned, and fled back upstairs.

Blake watched her go, her lips trembling. “Poor baby. Poor baby. Our lives just turned upside down. I didn’t let her go to school today, of course.” She shook her head. “I don’t know when I’ll send her back. I don’t want to let her outta my sight.”

Blum rose and put her hand on her shoulder and gently rubbed it. “This is every mother’s worst nightmare,” said Blum. “I am so sorry.”

Blake sniffled and said, “You got kids?”

“Yes. All grown, some with children of their own and their own problems. Some I can help with, some I can’t, so I just worry. You never stop being a parent. Not until you take your last breath.”

“That’s the truth, honey. That is the truth.” She patted Blum’s hand and composed herself while Blum retook her seat.

“When did he leave the house yesterday?” asked Pine after a few moments of silence.

“After dinner. He told me he got to run back to school to work on a robot. It’s just down the street from here. He said the principal said it was okay. I don’t like him being out at night around here. But Jewel was feeling sick and I was taking care of her, so I just told him to call me when he got there and call me when he was leaving. But I was still worried about him.”

“So he had a cell phone?” asked Pine.

“Oh, yeah. He bought it himself. Worked for a company over the summer building gadgets and such.”

“No cell phone was found on him,” said Pine. “Did he call you last night?”

Blake’s eyes filled with tears and she shook her head. “He texted me around seven. Say, ‘Momma, I’m at the school.’ And he’d let me know when he was coming home. When he wasn’t back by ten, I texted him. Then I called. No answer. I was starting to get real worried. I was gonna go looking for him. Then the police showed up to tell me my baby boy was dead.”

She jumped up and hurried into the adjacent room, where they could hear her sobbing.

Blum rose and said, “I’ll see if she has any tea or coffee and make her a cup. Give me a few minutes alone with her.”

Pine nodded as Blum walked into the other room.

Pine went over to the window and looked out. The young men had now surrounded her car and were showing it uncomfortable interest.

She walked out the front door to face them.