The Turnaround

Twenty-three

On his way to work, Alex Pappas often topped off the tank of his Cherokee at the gas station on Piney Branch Road. This served two purposes. The gas was relatively cheap at this particular outlet, and if he desired, he could check on his investment property, situated directly behind the station, while he was there.

It was not smart to have unrented property, as the absence of a tenant left the owner vulnerable to vandals and possibly even squatters. But Alex did not have much cause to worry, as his property was in a decent neighborhood and was visible from a heavily traveled road. Also, it was well fortified by design, solid brick with no windows. The electric company had built the substation with the intent of blending it in, as much as possible, with the rest of the neighborhood.

Still, as secure as the building was, he needed to find someone to lease it, if only to get Vicki off his back. She was right, of course. She was almost always right when it came to money.

Alex was pondering this, looking at his building as he set the pump’s nozzle into his vehicle. He could see the wide, corrugated bay door that fronted the property, and the small parking lot, which the Iranian, the last tenant, had enlarged at his own expense to accommodate his flooring and carpet customers.

When the tank was full, Alex drove around to the front of the building and parked. From the glove box he got his Craftsman measuring tape and a set of keys holding one that operated the bay door.

Later, he drove down Piney Branch Road, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. Piney Branch became 13th, and farther along he turned onto New Hampshire Avenue and headed toward Dupont Circle. It was the same route he had taken for over thirty years. Most days, his mind was focused on day-to-day minutiae and the mundane. But not today.

Raymond Monroe found his mother in the living room, watching a morning news show on the television. He held his overnight bag in his hand.

“I’m off, Mama.”

“To work?”

“Yes.”

“I heard you talking to those people at the hospital on your phone. Something about you had an appointment.”

“Yeah, I got something I need to take care of. I was just telling them I was gonna be in late.”

“And I can see that you won’t be coming home tonight.”

“I’m staying with Kendall and her son.”

“I’ll be all right.”

“I know it. You’re like that Energizer bunny.”

“That winds down, too, eventually.” Almeda Monroe looked up at her son, her beautiful eyes set deep in a face plowed by time. “Your brother doing okay?”

“He’s fine. Drinks too much beer, but hey.”

“So did your father. If that’s the worst you can say about a man. ..”

“Right.”

“I was married to a good one. And I raised two fine sons. I would say that my life has been a success. Wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Raymond. He bent down and kissed her. “I’ll call you tonight, hear?”

“Have a blessed day, Raymond.”

Going down the road in his Pontiac, he went by Rodney Draper’s house. Raymond was reminded that he needed to give Rodney a call. He did so as he drove toward Northwest, heading for a street called Delafield.

“HELLO.”

“Can I speak to Alex Pappas, please?”

Alex, standing at the register, looked over his shoulder. John, Darlene, Blanca, Juana, and Rafael were beginning to mobilize for the lunch rush, all of them moving about without being told to, fulfilling the duties of their respective stations.

“Speaking.”

“It’s Rodney Draper. I’m getting back to you.”

“I’m glad you called.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have, quite frankly, given the circumstances. It was Ray Monroe who asked that I help you. He said that you kept up your end of the bargain, whatever that means. He told me to give you any information you need.”

“I’ve got a pencil.”

The woman’s name was Elaine Patterson. The kids in Heathrow had always called her Miss Elaine. She was in her mideighties now and in poor health. The victim of a stroke, she lived in a nursing home off Layhill Road, past the Glenmont Metro station in Wheaton.

“She’s one of our treasured citizens. Miss Elaine took classes in the one-room schoolhouse, before the courts sent our kids out into the public system. The stroke shut down some of her brain functions and sharpened others. She has very strong memories of the distant past but often can’t remember what she did yesterday. Her speech is halting and she can no longer read or write. I’ve been doing oral history work with her when I find the time.”

“I’ll be mindful of her health. I promise you I won’t stay with her long. Could you let her know I’m coming, so this won’t be a shock?”

“I will. But I’m not sure what you’re looking for, exactly.”

“Thank you, Mr. Draper. I appreciate the call.”

Alex hung up the phone and turned to find Darlene standing behind him. She was looking at him with her big brown eyes, now heavy with bags. For a moment he saw the girl with the large Afro under the newsboy cap, small decorative mirrors patterned above the visor. He smiled.

“What are you, eavesdropping?”

“Nope. I came down here to tell you we’re eighty-six on the roast beef today.”

“I saw one come in this morning.”

“It smells funny. I wouldn’t serve it to my dog.”

“You need to call the meat man and tell him to get one over here before lunch starts. He’s not gonna like it, but that’s too bad.”

“I was thinking we’d let Johnny do that. Have him experience the conflict you and I deal with every day. He’s gonna have to get used to solving problems like that.”

“Right.”

“What with you disappearing more and more.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You cuttin out early again today, sugar?”

“Matter of fact, I am.”

“You’re not fixin to leave your old friend completely behind, now, are you?”

“Not completely. John’s not ready to take over one hundred percent. But you will be seeing less of me around here, and that means a little more pressure on you. Don’t worry, there’s gonna be a raise in it for you.”

“There you go, spoiling me again.”

“You’re worth it. This place doesn’t function without you.”

“Am I blushing? I feel kinda hot.”

“Stop it,” said Alex. “Go on, get ready for lunch.”

He watched her walk down the rubber mats, twirling a spatula to the music in her head.

Raymond Monroe parked the Pontiac in the middle of Delafield Place and studied the block. The majority of the houses here were detached four-square colonials with large front porches showing lacquered white columns, shaded by huge oaks and situated on a gentle grade. It was a lovely street, and Monroe could not see that it would be a viable location for a house of offenders. But as his eyes continued along the block, he noticed the odd houses that were not so fine. Fronted by Formstone rather than wood or vinyl siding, and with weedy, overgrown yards and hoopties parked out front, there were two or three candidates that bore the run-down mark of group homes.

A knock on any door would have told him what he needed to know. Longtime residents who took pride in their homes were always eager to point out the homes of those less inclined to take care of their properties. But he didn’t want anyone to remember him later on. Squinting his eyes, he noticed the mailboxes stuffed with flyers and letters. The mailman had an early route here, and that was good.

Monroe got out of the Pontiac and adjusted his loose nylon jacket. The screwdriver, now tipped with cork, lay in the inner jacket pocket, handle up, point down.

He walked to the first run-down house nearest his car and stepped up onto its porch, looking around at the streetscape as he moved along. He went directly to the mailbox and quickly checked its contents. A dog rushed to the closed door, barking. Monroe saw that all of the letters were addressed to a couple of individuals with the same last name, and he moved off the porch and back down to the sidewalk. The dog was still barking as Monroe crossed the street and headed for a house sided by pink and green Formstone. Its yard needed to be mowed, and there were old chairs set up on its porch. Monroe checked the mailbox. It held letters and advertising material addressed to several different male names. Raymond felt his heart race as he knocked on the door.

A man with a comically long nose stood before him as the door swung open.

“Yeah.”

“Baker here?” said Monroe.

The man blinked hard. “He’s here.”

Monroe stepped into the foyer of the house. His eyes told the man to step aside and let him. Before Monroe was a long staircase. Beside him, through open French doors, was a living room that had once been nicely furnished but was now trashed. A big man sat in a shredded armchair with the sports section open in his lap.

“Where’s he at?” said Monroe, looking at the man who had opened the door.

“Who are you?” said the big man.

“Where is he?” said Monroe to the man with the trombone nose.

“He sleepin, most likely.”

“You ain’t his PO,” said the big man.

“What room is he sleeping in?”

“You ain’t his PO and you got no right to be in here,” said the big man.

“If I was talkin to you, you’d know it,” said Monroe.

“I’ll call the police.”

“No, you won’t.” The big man looked down at his newspaper. Monroe turned his attention to the man with the long nose. “What room does he stay in?”

The man jerked his head up. “First door to the right of the bathroom.”

Monroe took the stairs. The flame grew inside him as he hit the landing and went to the closed door and kicked it at the jamb. It did not crack, and he kicked it a second time. The door swung open, and he blocked it on the backswing as he stepped inside. Charles Baker, bare to his boxers, was throwing off the sheet, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. Monroe drew the sharpened screwdriver in one motion, tore off its corked tip, and leaped onto the bed. He punched Baker with a sharp left to the jawline that sent him back to the mattress. Monroe straddled Baker and pressed his left forearm to Baker’s upper chest. It pinned him there, and Monroe put the sharp end of the screwdriver to the top of his neck. He pushed it until it punctured the skin and Baker moaned. Blood trickled down over his Adam’s apple.

“Quiet now,” said Monroe softly. “Don’t speak. I’ll push this pick straight up into your brain.”

Baker’s hazel eyes were still.

“Stay away from Pappas and his family. Stay away from my brother forever. I will kill you. Do you understand this?”

Baker did not respond. Monroe pushed the weapon farther and saw the tip of the screwdriver go deeper into Baker’s skin. Blood flowed freely down his neck. Baker made a small high sound against the pain, but still his eyes were steady. It was Monroe who blinked.

He felt sick and a sudden chill. The flame died inside him. He pulled the screwdriver out of Baker’s neck, got off him, and stood away from the bed.

Baker wiped at the blood. He sat upright, his back against the wall. He rubbed at his jawline where Monroe had struck him and he stared at Monroe and smiled.

“You can’t,” said Baker. “You could have once. But you can’t today.”

“That’s right,” said Monroe. “It’s not in me and I’m not you.”

“James and Raymond Monroe,” said Baker with contempt. “The good boys in the neighborhood. Sons of Ernest and Almeda. Lived in the clean house had the fresh coat of paint on it each year. Everything so clean and nice. Only thing missing was the apple pie gettin cool on the windowsill and the bluebirds flyin around it. Weren’t you the lucky ones.”

“You got wronged when you were young,” said Monroe. “But that don’t excuse you now.”

“I deserve things.”

“Leave us alone, Charles.”

“I’ll think on it,” said Baker.

Monroe replaced the screwdriver in his jacket, exited the room, and went down the stairs. The men in the living room did not look at him as he left the house.

In his room, Baker pressed fingers to his neck and walked to the landing at the top of the stairs.

“Trombone,” Baker called down to the living room. “I need you up here, man. Bring some of that medical shit you got, too.”

Trombone, the house mother, slowed the blood from Baker’s puncture wound as best he could, cleaned it and dressed it with Neosporin, and sprayed it with Mastisol, a liquid adhesive. Over that he taped a gauze bandage. Almost immediately the bandage became dotted with blood.

“You better have someone look at that,” said Trombone.

“Yeah, all right.”

Baker dressed in black slacks, a lavender shirt, and the tooled leather shoes that looked like gators. He wore his deep purple sport jacket with the white stitching on the lapels. He was not shook up. Instead, he felt almost jovial as he prepared to leave the house. The visit from Ray Monroe had only confirmed what he knew. He was like one of those strong animals, walking proud in plain sight, a hunter who had no need to hide his intent. Because who was going to stop him? No one, it seemed, had the will.

Charles Baker took Delafield east on foot. He’d catch the 70 on Georgia Avenue, go on over to Cody’s apartment. The boy was out delivering his weed, but he’d be back. There Baker would compose another letter, this one to Pappas, with none of the niceties that his letter to Whitten had contained. Cody could help him with the spelling and grammar. He wasn’t as smart as James Monroe, but he would have to do.

Baker hummed a tune as he walked down the block, confidence in his step, his knobby wrists protruding from the too-short sleeves of his sport jacket, his hands swinging free.