Читать книгу The Jealous Son - Michele Chynoweth - Страница 15

DESPITE HER PLEADINGS, Paco Becenti forbade his daughter to ever see Jack again.

“He’s a snake,” her father said, crossing his arms, his back turned toward her as he faced the massive fireplace in their living room. A fire built earlier had burned down to a pile of embers, which deceptively reflected a warm radiance on her father’s stern features. He leaned wearily onto his hands, resting against the amber-colored mantel, which he had lovingly carved and finished out of an old oak beam.

In addition to being a former president of the Navajo Nation Council, Paco was a master woodcarver and had made a lot of the furniture that decorated their home, from the huge, oak dining room table and chairs to the cherry wood kitchen cabinets. He had also carved many of the elaborate decorative statues and figurines that his wife sold at the market at prices fetching hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars.

“Papa, you don’t know him.” Anna stood meekly at the other end of the large, high-ceilinged room. Cedar beams crossed overhead in an A-line frame, and stone covered the fireplace. A large couch and two recliners rested on a homemade rug, which covered a golden wood-planked floor. The room was much like the rest of the Becenti home, grand yet comfortable and homey.

“I know his kind,” Paco said, turning now to face her, a tall, formidable, handsome man who had aged well, his black hair graying at the temples, his dark brown eyes flickering with emotion. Anna knew she saw love in them but also sadness and a fierce, father-like determination to protect her. He uncrossed his arms and thrust his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I know he’s up to no good and that you need to stay away from him. How dare he come into our sacred hogan and offer you drugs? How dare he try to take advantage of you? It’s a good thing I showed up when I did!”

Anna felt her cheeks flush red, not finding any words to say. Paco crossed the room and looked into his daughter’s eyes, grasping her shoulders firmly, his tone somber and deep. “You are forbidden to ever see him again. Do you understand me?”

Anna nodded meekly, unable to defend herself as she looked up into those piercing dark eyes, her father’s figure towering over her petite five-foot-six frame.

His grip softened, and he wrapped his large arms around his daughter, giving her a bear hug, enveloping her, making her feel safe and loved.

“I love you, Anna,” he whispered into her hair and kissed her on the cheek. She could see tears of love filling his eyes, and her own tears spilled over onto her cheeks.

“I love you too, Papa.”

BUT, as water finds a way to cut through rock, Anna’s love and desire for Jack found a way.

Since her parents had taken away her phone privileges, she waited until one night when she was alone in the house to call Jack. Flo had just left for a weekend spiritual retreat for teenagers and her parents had taken Dena out shopping to get new school shoes. Anna complained of having a stomachache, saying she really didn’t want to go shopping. She called Jack to tell him she was thinking of him.

“I miss you too, Anna.” She heard Jack’s irresistible voice and smiled. “I really want to see you, to be with you. I think I’m falling in love with you.”

Anna’s heart pounded. “I am falling in love with you too,” she whispered, sighing. “But my father has forbidden me to see you.”

“It will be our last chance to be together since we’re leaving to go home in two more days. Can we meet tomorrow night at our old meeting space at the entrance to the Coconino National Park? Please, Anna. I need to feel you next to me. I want to make love to you.”

Now her whole body ached with desire. I have to see him one last time, say goodbye to him in person and together we can figure out a way to see each other in the future. She wanted to make love to him. What did her father know of young love? Her parents’ marriage had been arranged like so many Native American marriages in the past. But I’m in a new generation. And I’ve been sheltered way too long. I’m old enough to make my own choices, to live my life, to experience love.

“Yes, oh yes, Jack, I’ll meet you. Tomorrow night then.” Her heart felt like it would fly out of her chest, and she danced around the room after hanging up.

Fortunately, Anna knew that her parents planned to dine out with friends the next night, and her older sister Dena had to work.

She waited anxiously for the designated meeting time and then snuck out the door, through the forest, and up the hill. Jack arrived a few minutes after.

But instead of looking happy to see her, the lanky teenager seemed nervous and agitated, giving her a perfunctory hug.

“Jack, what’s wrong, I thought you’d be happy to see me.” Anna tried unsuccessfully to hide her disappointment. “I took a big risk coming here, but I knew it would be worth it.”

“I know, so did I,” Jack said tersely. He dug his hands in his pockets, fidgeting from side to side on his feet.

“I thought we were going to talk about when we would…you know, see each other once you leave here to go back home. And I thought tonight would be the night…”

“Look Anna, I do really like you and all, but there’s something you gotta know. I’m in big trouble—”

“We can find a way around my dad, I’m sure he’ll cool off eventually and—”

“No, much bigger trouble.” The color drained from Jack’s face and in the moonlight, he looked haggard, older. “I’m in trouble with one of your people. I helped smuggle some marijuana into Navajo land a week ago to sell to this guy named Frankie who said he wanted it for medicinal purposes. I know, it was dumb, but I really needed the money to get me out of another jam I’m in back home.

“Anyway, I was supposed to deliver more to Frankie tomorrow night, but I couldn’t get any from this source I originally found down in Sedona. Frankie said if I didn’t show up and bring the stuff he would rat me out and the Indians would come after me and probably skin me alive or hang me. I don’t know what to do. I know you can’t talk to your dad, but…do you have a friend or cousin who can help me out? Maybe they’ll know Frankie and can tell him you and I are friends and—”

“Friends?” Anna raised her voice in indignation. “I thought we were a lot more than friends, Jack Foreman. I was starting to fall in love with you. Maybe Papa was right. Maybe I—”

“I’m sorry, Anna.” Jack instantly enveloped her into his arms. “You’re right. I was being selfish. We are more than friends. Forgive me?” He stepped back and smiled, and her insides melted all over again. He tilted up her chin with his thumb and forefinger and kissed her on the lips, gently and then fervently until she felt her whole body pressing against his, wanting to feel his hands on her like she did in the hogan.

He backed away suddenly, breathing hard. “Anna, I lose all control when it comes to you. We don’t have much time though. Do you think you can talk to someone to help me?”

Achak Yazzie. Her friend’s name somehow found its way into her swooning mind. He once told her he would do anything for her. They had made a blood pact when they were kids, cutting the palms of their hands and shaking on it. Anna and Achak had grown up on the reservation together, and when Achak’s father had died of a heart attack when his two children were still under the age of ten, Anna’s father had virtually adopted the boy and his younger sister as his own, helping widow Yazzie by providing the children and their mother with anything they needed.

Achak and Anna had practically grown up as siblings. He was a year older than she and had attended the same well-to-do Christian Academy on the reservation since money wasn’t an issue for the Becenti family.

“DO you know a Frankie who lives on the reservation?” Anna asked Achak over the phone after she returned home, thankfully beating her parents by a few hours.

“I’ve heard of him, why?” Achak sounded reserved.

“I need a favor.” Anna knew Achak would probably do whatever she asked of him and felt a little guilty since she also knew Achak had lately developed his own romantic feelings toward her. She had known his feelings for her had changed ever since they’d gone to the high school prom together. Just as friends, she’d thought. But it became apparent to her that night that he thought differently. When they danced for the first time, she had seen the gleam of longing in his eyes, felt the charge between them.

She could feel Achak’s desire for her that night, just like she felt for Jack now, which is why she had to forge ahead, she told herself. She took a deep breath. “A friend of mine is being threatened by this guy from the reservation named Frankie. My friend isn’t Navajo, he’s white in fact, and he was hoping I knew someone who could stand by him when he goes to meet with Frankie, so that he doesn’t get roughed up or anything. Would you be able to get a few guys and show up tomorrow night at a meeting they’ve arranged, sort of like protection, just in case?”

She was met with silence at first. Finally, Achak replied. “I don’t know, I guess so,” he said hesitantly. “I think I know who Frankie is and from what I’ve heard, he can be pretty mean. I’ll round up a few others. Not that I couldn’t handle him myself.”

Anna smiled to herself. She could picture Achak’s chest puffing out with pride. “Of course.”

“And who is this friend, and why should I help him?” Achak asked defiantly.

“His name is Jack.” Anna hoped Achak couldn’t sense somehow over the phone the hotness she could feel creeping into her face. “And I was hoping you would help him for me.”

“Well, okay, but you’ll owe me,” Achak teased.

“Owe you what?”

“I’ll have to think about it and let you know.”

Anna dismissed his playful banter. She had to let Jack know she had friends who could help him.

THEY GATHERED under a majestic oak tree that marked the entrance of an old sacred Native American gathering place, marked by a circle of rocks on a cleared dirt floor in the northeast woods of Oak Creek Canyon.

Anna had been there as a child, but it was dark that night. She was glad to ride with Achak and his two friends.

Jack was waiting for them when they arrived. They had agreed to meet a half hour ahead of when Frankie was due to show up.

Anna ran up to Jack, who was leaning back against the tree’s massive trunk, and hugged him. She introduced the young men to each other, and they peremptorily shook hands.

“Why should we defend this guy?” Achak asked Anna then turned to Jack. “What have you done that Frankie is coming after you and you need me to defend you?”

“I don’t need anyone defending me.” Jack sneered. “It’s none of your business what I did.”

“Well then, maybe we should just go,” Achak said.

Anna was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, the hood of her windbreaker pulled up over her hair, which was tied back in a ponytail. An onlooker might have thought she was one of the boys as she walked over to the tree and stood beside Jack in alliance with him.

“Achak, you promised you would stay,” she said. “For me.”

“Well, I’m not defending this guy until I know what he’s done. Maybe he doesn’t deserve defending. You know I’ll do what you ask, Anna, but I have to say this goes against my better judgment.”

“His name is Jack and–”

“That’s okay, Anna, I can speak for myself.” Jack disengaged from her side, distancing himself from her.

She looked at him and for the first time, doubt about her feelings for Jack crept into her. He looked small and skinny, especially next to Achak who was lean but muscular, and his face looked pinched and pale. Like he’s afraid or hiding something.

“I sold some drugs, you know, marijuana for medicinal purposes to Frankie, and he wanted more, and I promised I’d get it but then my source came up dry.” Jack shrugged his shoulders. “The big jerk threatened me, telling me he’d rat me out and have his thugs come after me and skin me alive or something ridiculous. You Indians, I swear.”

Anna looked at Jack in shock that he had uttered the racial slur in front of her friends. Just then an old, beat-up Pontiac pulled up in the distance, shining its bright lights directly on the gathering at the tree, rap music blaring from the stereo.

A hulking six-foot-tall Native American man who looked to be in his thirties strode toward them. From the light of the full moon Anna could see he was wearing a black leather jacket, black boots, and a baseball cap on backwards over his black dreadlocks. When he came close she also noticed he had a tattooed lightning bolt across his right cheek.

“Well, look at the posse we have gathered here tonight.” Frankie grinned, showing huge smoke-stained teeth in his leathery face. “You had to bring your girlfriend and boyfriends with you, huh, Jackie boy? I shoulda known a white punk like you wouldn’t have the guts to meet me here on your own.”

Achak and his buddies stepped a pace toward Frankie, leaving Anna and Jack standing a few steps behind.

“Relax, I’m on your side.” Frankie grinned at Achak, holding his hands up in mock surrender.

“How’s that, Frankie?” Achak asked evenly.

“Well, first, the obvious reason; I can’t believe you’re actually defending this white trash against me, one of your own. Second, because this piece of scum laced the stuff I was selling for medicinal reasons with fentanyl. I found out after one old Navajo dude almost died of a heart attack after smoking his pipe. Turns out his doctor tested the stuff good ole Jackie here sold me. I’m not sure what kind of stunt this dog is trying to pull, but I’d say he’s trying to get our people addicted to this junk. I not only want my money back, I want him to pay for what he’s done to our people.”

“Hey, I didn’t know, I was just the middle man,” Jack said weakly, not bothering to step forward.

“Shut up, stupid,” Achak said, not moving from his stance blocking Anna and Jack from Frankie.

Frankie crossed his arms and scowled. “C’mon, Achak, you aren’t actually going to stand in my way now, are you? This guy not only owes me clean drugs, he owes me a refund. I just came to make him pay.”

Achak stepped forward directly in front of Frankie, nose to nose with him, his friends a few inches behind.

“That’s not gonna happen tonight,” Achak answered tightly.

Anna saw Frankie’s huge hand ball up in a fist of rage, but just as he was about to take a swing, his eyes grew large and his arm stopped in mid-air. At the same moment, she heard rustling behind her and turned to see Jack disappearing beyond the oak tree into the black shadows of the thick forest.

Achak didn’t see Jack fleeing and used Frankie’s pause to hurl his fist into the older native’s face in self-defense. His two friends stood on guard, ready to back him up if needed.

Frankie fell backward, stunned, onto the ground. As he was struggling to his feet, the older native reached his hand into his leather jacket and pulled out a jagged hunting knife. But Achak was younger and quicker. As soon as he saw the glint of the blade, he lunged like a panther, delivering a solid kick to Frankie’s stomach, causing him to drop the knife, which flew through the air and landed a few yards away. Frankie doubled over, grunting in pain, holding his ribs.

Achak grabbed Anna’s hand and yanked her behind him, and the four of them ran toward their car in the distance, realizing Frankie was probably calling for back up.

“You’re gonna pay for this!” Frankie yelled after them, spitting blood as he slowly stood, clutching his side, and hobbled back toward the old Pontiac.

It was the last time Anna saw Jack and the last time she ever wanted to.

“I TOLD you I forbade you to see him!” Paco Becenti’s voice boomed this time, filling the entire house. Anna thought she saw the overhead lighting fixture in the living room shake, just like her legs were doing.

“And you, what were you thinking?” Her father turned next to Achak, who stood by her side.

“I’m very sorry, sir,” Achak said meekly.

He could blame me if he wanted to, Anna thought, proud for a moment of her good friend. I asked him to do it. He didn’t know what he was getting into. But I knew. Anna realized just then that deep down in a tiny part of her gut, she had felt like Jack wasn’t the good guy she had originally believed him to be. But she had foolishly ignored her instincts.

“You both have no idea how much trouble you’re in now, do you?” Paco’s icy anger thawed, melting into sadness.

The two teens stole a sideways glance at each other, and then they looked down, shaking their heads.

“Some members of the Council did some digging into Jack Foreman and his family. It turns out his father works for a pharmaceutical manufacturer. Jack used some Fentanyl that he stole from a shipment at the plant to mix into the marijuana he bought from his dealer in Sedona. The whole time he’s been out here in Arizona, he’s been mixing and selling bags of drugs to anybody that will buy them but mostly to various people on the reservation, including to young kids.”

Paco motioned his daughter and adopted son to come over to the dining room table in the adjoining room, where a manila folder lay. He opened it and laid out four photos of Native Americans, two older, two younger. “Besides the old man who had a heart attack, there was an elderly lady who had a partial stroke after using the marijuana for pain, one twelve-year-old who wound up in jail after hallucinating and torturing and killing someone’s pet dog, and one eleven-year-old who is now in a coma.”

Anna bit her lip, holding back tears for these innocent victims among her own people. Achak stood, showing no external emotion, but Anna knew if she looked into his eyes, she would see her grief mirrored there.

Paco gathered the photos and put them back into the folder and closed it. He turned and crossed his arms, letting the full impact of what he had shared sink in for several moments. Then he spoke in a firm, even voice, although Anna could tell he was having difficulty holding his emotions in check with what he was about to say.

“Jack is on the run from his family and the law right now, and the FBI has joined our police to hunt him down; when they catch him, he will be at the mercy of the court.

“The Navajo Nation Council expressed that both of you should also be brought to trial,” Paco said, his eyelids drooping a minute fraction with weariness, and suddenly Anna could see the pain she had caused her father. She wanted to wail, throw her arms around him, and beg his forgiveness like she had when she was a little girl, but she knew it would look undignified and disgraceful. It would only make the situation worse for both of them.

As if he could no longer look at her, Paco turned to Achak. “You, son, for assault against one of your brothers.” Achak nodded in acceptance. Then he turned to Anna with a blank stare, as if he could no longer see her. “And you, daughter, for drug and alcohol possession. And both of you for aiding and abetting a known criminal who may be wanted for murder should one of these victims die,” he added. “Because of my standing in the Navajo Nation as a medicine man, I was able to ask that, instead of you both being brought to trial and bringing shame to your mother and me, you be allowed instead to leave the reservation, never to return.”

“We’re being…shunned?” Anna’s words came out choked with disbelief.

The proud, noble elder silently nodded as he uncrossed his arms then turned his back to them and walked from the room.

“I’d rather go to trial, Papa,” she cried after him, but she knew it was too late. Once her father made a decision, it was final.

Anna crumpled to the bear rug at her feet, sobbing, and Achak bent down on one knee to try in vain to comfort her.