اوضاع بدتر میشه

Chapter twelve

Things Get Worse

Seven-thirty a.m. was too early for Reggie, but she had to get Mark back to Dianne. Clint called before they left.

‘Bad news, Reggie,’ he said. ‘Mark’s picture is on the front page again. Slick Moeller has written another story.’

When they got to the hospital they could see the reporters waiting outside the front door.

‘Follow me,’ said Mark, and led Reggie through a side door to the kitchens and up the back stairs. ‘I know this hospital well now, don’t I’ he said proudly.

His smile dropped when he saw his mother. She was sitting in the hall with a cop next to her. She was crying hard. Mark ran to her. She grabbed him and held him tight.

‘Mark,’ she said. ‘Our trailer burned down last night.’

‘That’s right,’ said the cop. ‘Just a few hours ago.’

Dianne was still crying. ‘Everything’s gone, Mark.’

‘What started the fire’ Reggie asked.

‘Don’t know yet,’ said the cop.

‘How’s Ricky, Mom’ asked Mark.

‘He’s okay,’ said Dianne. ‘He had a good night.’

‘Look Mom,’ said Mark, ‘can we go inside and talk?’

Dianne nodded and took him into the room. When the door closed, the tiny, homeless Sway family was all alone.

Foltrigg had a plan. ‘Maybe we can get a judge to take Mark into custody. Get the law to keep him safe for us.’

The others looked interested.

‘Here are the advantages,’ said Foltrigg. ‘First, it will protect Mark from the Mafia. At the same time, it will frighten Mark and make him ready to talk. We’ll tell the judge we need Mark safe so he can talk in court.’

‘If you want to do that,’ said McThune, ‘you need to see Judge Harry Roosevelt. He’s the chief judge for the children’s courts here in Memphis. But don’t tell him you want to frighten Mark. The best way to get him to agree to custody is to show him that Mark is in danger. And if you want to get Mark into court you will have to say he knows something that will help the Muldanno case.’

‘He knows something all right,’ said Foltrigg. ‘I’m sure of it.’

When Judge Harry Roosevelt became a judge twenty-two years ago, he was the first black judge of the children’s court in Tennessee. He was clever, he was kind, and he was wise. When he heard about the danger to Mark Sway he thought carefully. He didn’t like to do it, but he agreed to hear Mark in court, and to take him into custody until then.

He signed an order. ‘Take him into the children’s prison,’ he said.

‘Give him a private room. Do not frighten him. I’ll speak to his lawyer later today.’

Mark and Dianne were in their room talking about the fire and all the things they had lost. They whispered because they didn’t want Ricky to know about the fire yet.

Ricky was awake. His eyes were open but he was staring at the ceiling without saying a word or moving at all.

There was something Mark didn’t say to Dianne. Something that worried him. Maybe the fire wasn’t an accident. Could it be another message from the man with the knife? Trailers didn’t usually burn down at four o’clock in the morning.

There was a knock at the door. Mark opened it.

Two men entered the room. ‘Memphis Police here. Detective Nassar and Detective Klickman. Looking for Dianne Sway.’ And they handed Dianne some papers.

‘These are from the children’s court, Ms Sway,’ said Nassar. ‘We’re here to take Mark Sway into custody now, ma’am. The judge wants to see him in court this afternoon.’

‘What!’ Dianne shouted at Nassar, dropping the papers.

‘Judge’s orders,’ said Nassar, picking up the papers.

‘You can’t take my son,’ shouted Dianne.

But they could, and they did, pulling him into the hall. Dianne ran after them, grabbed Mark and screamed. Nassar held Dianne and Klickman tried to pull Mark away. Dianne kicked Klickman and there was more screaming and fighting.

In the middle of all this, Ricky appeared at the door. He stared at Mark, who was held by Klickman. He stared at his mother, who was held by Nassar. Everyone stared at Ricky. His face was white and his mouth was open.

‘It’s okay, Mom, I’ll go,’ said Mark. ‘Look after Ricky. And call Reggie. Tell her to come to the prison.’

A lady in a uniform with DOREEN on the pocket met them at the prison. She gave Nassar a paper to sign and asked Mark to empty his pockets. Everything went into a metal box. Then she took him to a small room. It wasn’t too bad, but Mark felt very lonely.

‘Can I use a phone’ he asked. ‘To call my Mom?’

Doreen brought him a phone and a phone book. ‘You can have it for ten minutes,’ she said, and locked the door.

Mark found the number for St Peter’s and asked for room 943. ‘Number 943 isn’t taking calls just now,’ he was told. Ricky must be asleep, thought Mark. He tried Reggie. No luck. Then he had an idea. He called a pizza restaurant.

‘This is Detective Klickman, Memphis Police,’ he said in a deep voice. ‘Please send me forty pizzas for a surprise party here in the police station. I’ll pay when they come.’

When Doreen came back for the phone, Mark looked much happier.