Copyright 1991 Aya Katz
FROM THE RECORDS OF THE COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
To Whom it May Concern,
I hereby regretfully tender my resignation.
While I have been grateful for the opportunity to work for the comptroller's office and thankful for the trust you have shown in me, I find that the current situation with regard to the Vacuum County revenues poses a conflict that I cannot resolve except by this expedient.
While I appreciate the gravity of the crisis, loyalty to my County of origin will not permit me to participate in this matter any further. I hope that you will understand my situation.
I have been offered a temporary position with the Internal Revenue Service here in Austin, and can begin immediately. However, if you wish me to remain for an additional two weeks, I will be glad to do so, as long as my duties do not include anything in reference to the Vacuum County investigation.
Your faithful servant,
David Smith
FROM THE The Weekly Vaquero SPECIAL EDITION
JUDGE SUICIDES OVER SON'S DEATH, COMPTROLLER INVESTIGATION
VACA CITY. Tragedy struck late last night when Jonathan Jones, eldest son of County Judge Saul Jones was killed in a single car wreck on Alvar Nu·ez Road, just off of I-35. With him in the vehicle was his younger brother Ashbel. The car swerved off the road and plowed into a telephone pole. The younger Jones suffered multiple fractures but managed to make it to the highway to get help.
Sheriff Abner Brown who arrived on the scene shortly after 10:30 pm confirmed that Jon Jones was already dead. Further medical examination indicates death on impact.
Witnesses relate that after a quarrel with the Judge, Jonathan Jones was seen drinking at the Brown 'N Serve. He left there at approximately 9:30 pm, visibly inebriated, stating that he had to take his brother to the bus station. The younger Jones was due to return to his school for resumption of classes after Spring break.
Ashbel Jones is currently being hospitalized in Hill County. Doctors anticipate complications in healing the fractures due to his strenuous activities immediately following the accident.
Judge Jones, who could not be reached at his home last night, was informed of his son's death early this morning. The Judge was last seen alive in his chambers at the County Court at 8:30 this morning. His bailiff, Albert Leek, reported that shortly before his death, the Judge had asked Leek to shoot him. "He said his hands were shakin' too hard and could I please help him out," Leek explained. The bailiff went on to say that he did not take the request seriously, since the Judge had been suffering from depression for some time, due to the Comptroller's investigation. At 8:45 witnesses heard a shot emanating from the Judges's chamber, and he was found wounded in the stomach. He was rushed to to the Hill County Hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival.
The Assessor Collector, Bill Burly, when questioned following the Judge's death, stated that the Comptroller's investigation has turned up some evidence of misfeasance but refused to make any further comment.
Judge Jones is survived by his daughter Mickey Ellis, his son-in-law Paul T. Ellis, and his son Ashbel Jones.
FROM THE DIARY OF VERITY LACKLAND
At breakfast today, Pilar asked Nabal if he had read the paper. That was very odd, because usually, she doesn't say anything at all to Nabal. She doesn't even ask him what he wants to eat. She just serves it silently. He likes it that way.
He looked up at her very surprised. "You know very well I don't take the paper," he said. I think he was too astonished to berate her.
"That rag is only for the rabble," Anadora commented. "Civilized folk do not take the paper. They wait to read it in the history books. Whatever doesn't appear in the history books isn't worth reading."
Nabal gave her a sideways glance, as though he were questioning her sincerity.
But Pilar was not afraid to demonstrate how common she was. "I take the paper, se·ora," she said. And she plopped it right in front of Nabal, fearlessly. I never would have thought she had it in her. "Read."
I was afraid he was going to swat her with it, for her impertinence. But he just gave her an odd look. And read. Anadora came and looked over his shoulders, then sat back down in her place. He stared at it for a long time. Then he sighed, and not finishing his eggs, he got up to go.
"May the gods deliver you from all our enemies, my son," Anadora said, "since you don't seem inclined to lift a finger in that direction yourself."
"He wasn't an enemy." Nabal's voice was flat. "And it had nothing to do with me."
"That's a pity," she said. "You let Sam die of old age. You let David prey on Saul. And now, I suppose you'll wait till David dies in bed. From amorous overexertion, no doubt."
"He can exert himself as much as he likes," Nabal said icily, "as long as it's not on me."
"Your father died protecting others."
He nodded. "I don't intend to make that mistake." And he walked off.
I picked up the paper and started to read it. It really is called The Weekly Vaquero.
I don't know how to feel. The Judge is dead. When I came here, I just somehow assumed he had always been the Judge and that he always would be. Of course, I knew that everthing was crooked. I wanted David to win. But I don't feel anything now. Certainly not elation.
FROM THE The Weekly Vaquero
ASSESSOR-COLLECTOR SAYS ALLEGATIONS MAY BE CORRECT; LOCAL TAXES TO GO UP
VACA CITY. The Vacuum County Assessor Collector, speaking before the Commissioner's Court, stated that the charges made by the Comptroller's office may have some foundation in truth. "What they're saying," explained Assessor Bill Burly, "is it looks like that the Judge may have been fudging the records so that a greater portion of the Vaccum County revenues stayed in County than we were entitled to." The Assessor went on to explain that there was no evidence that the Judge had misappropriated funds to his own use. "Seems like that what happened was, we were paying our own staff from that money, and keeping the taxes relatively low." Vacuum County ad valorem taxation is currently the lowest in the state. "But if these charges are true," said Burly, "we've been shortchanging the rest of the people of this great State, and that has got to stop." The Assessor went on to say that he would try to negotiate some sort of settlement with the Comptroller's Office rather than embroil the County in long term litigation.
When asked about rumors that he would be running for County Judge, Mr. Burly had no comment.
FROM THE DIARY OF VERITY LACKLAND
I went and read Coriolanus in the library, having had nothing better to do. At least it's in English. Actually, it's the most childish thing I've ever read. Next to King Lear, anyway.
I wonder if Nabal is really like that, or if it's just one of Anadora's demented fantasies. Does he really hate the people of this County? Would he really rather they were conquered by an enemy than submit himself to their will? To their sovereignty over him?
I wonder whether that's what life really is about. Not justice. Not right and wrong. Just submission and domination. Pride and humility.
I'd submit to Nabal, if he'd let me.
I think he's afraid of me now. I think he feels that he might say something and I'd report it to David. Abby did that. She told David about how he wished a pestilence would strike the people down. I would never have told David that. I wouldn't have told anyone. I'd have kept it to myself, like a precious gift.
Nabal wasn't there at lunch. But Anadora regaled me with stories of her courtship. "How old are you, child?" she asked, out of the blue, without preamble.
"Twenty-one," I said. "Well, almost twenty-two."
"Excellent," she crooned. "Then you and Nabal are fourteen years apart. That bodes well. That bodes very well."
"Why's that?"
"Lovers should have an age difference which is divisible by seven. Anyone can tell you. Look at any marriage, and if it doesn't work, chances are the spouses weren't seven years apart, or a multiple thereof. That temptress, for instance, was only six years younger than Nabal. So it was doomed from the start."
I laughed. "I thought it was because he didn't beat her."
"Well, that, too," she said, considering. "That was a contributing factor. But even if he had beat her, it probably wouldn't have worked, because the age gap was wrong."
"Just as well that he didn't, then," I muttered.
"Caleb was thirty-five years my senior." It was a proud statement.
She seemed to want a reaction, so I said: "Well. That's quite an age difference."
She nodded. "And divisible by seven."
"That, too," I agreed.
"I first met him when I was ten years old."
"In Madrid?"
"In Seville."
"What were you doing there?"
"I was in an orphanage."
"What was he doing there?"
"He was looking for a bride."
"In an orphanage?"
"Just so."
I thought about that. "He wasn't a pedophile, was he?" I had read Lolita in my freshman English class.
"No. He detested children."
I was at a loss.
"When you plan to break a horse, you might as well start young. Unless you're looking for a rough ride." She paused. "He tested me. I passed. He became my guardian. He trained me. Gave me an education. Taught me how to worship the gods and how to heal the sick. Sent me to finishing school and college. And then we married."
"Well, then you can't have been his first wife ..."
"I was indeed! He saved himself for me. He was fifty-five years old when we married, and he had never once been with a woman. Well, other than those ladies of the night he used to frequent on his trips down in Mexico. But those don't count, you know."
I laughed. "Why not?"
She shrugged. "They just don't." She smiled to herself. "He picked me from all the women of the world ..."
"Don't you mean from all the little girls ..." She didn't answer, so I asked: "Why didn't he just marry someone local?"
"Ah," she said. "That is a very good question. You see, his father tried that and it turned out miserably for all concerned. You cannot simply take a common woman and expect her to be a wife and mother to a race of giants. Never works. Othniel married Beulabelle Smith for her beauty. It was a mistake Caleb never forgot."
"She was his stepmother?"
"She was his mother."
"Oh." I thought about that. "What was wrong with her?"
Anadora lowered her voice to a whisper. "She was normal," she hissed.
"You mean, there was nothing wrong with her?"
"No, I mean that's what was wrong with her. She was normal."
I laughed. "Well, how did this ... defect manifest itself?"
"Well, I don't know the exact details. But I'm told that she liked to go shopping, and Sunday socials and that she wanted Othniel to join the Baptist Church."
"So they split up?"
"On the contrary. She planned to leave him and to take Caleb with her. So he had to lock her up. For seventeen years."
"Oh," I said. "David mentioned that. That was David's great aunt, wasn't it?"
"His great, great aunt," Anadora said. "You see, for every generation of Cabeza de Vacas there are three generations of Smiths. And so even though Othniel was not all that young when he married her, David's side of the family still managed to spew forth another litter. They breed like rabbits, those Smiths."
I frowned. "That makes David and Nabal ...."
"Third cousins twice removed," she spat it out fast. "That's nothing. Everyone in Vacuum County is related to everyone else one way or another. It's a tight-knit community."
I thought about David's Aunt Beulabelle. "But how could he keep her locked up? How could he get away with that?"
"In those days there was no County Judge and everyone did as he pleased."
"Oh, right."
"Well, you can imagine how humiliating it was for Caleb to have his mother screaming 'Let me out! Let me out!' at the top of her lungs for seventeen years. She did that you know, until Othniel would go in and beat some sense into her. But it was hard on Caleb. He swore that he would never do that to his son."
"You mean, to his wife?"
"No, I mean to his son. Hang the wife. Can't you see, a boy needs to honor his mother and father. But not all the piety in the world is of any help, if they aren't worthy of honor. Caleb swore he'd find his son a mother he could respect."
"Well ..." I don't know about that, I mused. He certainly managed to find one that wasn't normal. She smiled at me. I'm afraid she knew what I was thinking. But she ignored it.
"Caleb was a wise man. Unfortunately, Nabal did not follow his example. He chose the first sweet young thing that deigned to smile on him."
"But he wasn't that young when he married Abby?"
"Twenty-seven." She leaned forward, making a point. "You see, he wouldn't stoop to pay court to the maidens."
"Huh?"
She looked disgusted with me. "What is it you call it? Dating?"
"He never dated?" I asked.
"Never. 'Let them come begging to me,' he used to say." She snorted. "Obviously, none of them ever did. He shunned them. They ignored him. Of course, Pipa used to try to tempt him, when she was just sprouting her breasts. I told him he should give her a try. He felt she was too vulgar. That she was beneath him. That he wouldn't waste his seed on her like. 'You don't have to give her your seed,' I told him. 'Even your father had his Mexican harlots.' But he would have none of that. It's what comes of reading too much nineteenth century literature, don't you know."
"What do you mean?"
"When Sam got through with him, he used to escape to the library. And what he read there was not entirely salutory. Because he favored the romantics over books of military strategy. And that is wrong in a man. And most especially, a Cabeza de Vaca."
"So, how did he and Abby get together?"
"She came to him. Dollar signs in her eyes. But he couldn't see it. Considering his policy of moral purity, it was a wonder he could see at all."
.............
FROM THE The Weekly Vaquero
DAVID SMITH APPOINTED COUNTY JUDGE; DENOUNCES ASSESSOR COLLECTOR
Vaca City. David Smith has been appointed by the governor act as temporary County Judge to complete the term of deceased County Judge Saul Jones. Judge Smith's first act in office was to praise Judge Jones and his many years of service to Vaccum County. "Judge Jones was a great man and a great Texan and he's the best County Judge we've ever had," Judge Smith stated at an emergency meeting of the Commissioner's Court last Wednesday. His death is a great loss, not only to his family, but to every one of the people of this County. He will not be forgotten."
When questioned concerning the State Comptroller's investigation into misappropriation of County funds, Judge Smith stated emphatically: "There is no evidence of any misfeasance. I have personally gone over the official county records and there is nothing. The Comptroller's report references private records allegedly kept by the Judge. I have asked them to produce these, and they were unable to do so. Unless they come up with something else within the next week, I am going insist that this whole thing be dropped. And I am perfectly willing to take it up with Governor." Judge Smith said that this sort of personal harrassment against those who are not there to defend themselves will not be tolerated. "I will not stand for it," Smith stated. "And neither will the people of this county." The Judge also expressed astonishment at the disloyalty displayed by Assessor Collector Burly in attempting to settle with the Comptroller's Office. "The Assessor Collector's job is to support the County Judge. Anyone who is not able to do that is not fit to hold that office."
FROM THE DIARY OF VERITY LACKLAND
I had to go into town yesterday, to see Seth Cain. Nothing spectacular about our conversation. It's gotten very routine. Everything that either of us may have had to say at the outset has been said. Not that he ever took his job very seriously. I mean, supposedly he was to have guided me away from my previous life of crime into something more respectable. But he mostly looks bored.
I stopped for a Coke at the Brown 'N Serve. Anadora's been slipping me some money, so that I can buy an occasional pair of panties or a popsicle despite Nabal's tight-fisted policy. Not a lot of money. Sort of like the allowance I had back home, before I went off to college.
"Did you hear what happened to Jon?" Eb asked. "Poor thing, it broke his heart."
"I read how he died ..."
"His Daddy told him they were dragging him down, the people from the Comptroller's office. That they were going to take him out. Told Jon it was all his fault. That he had given David the ammunition. Sat here for over an hour, drinking. Poor kid. Never much of a boozer. Said he couldn't believe David would actually use that stuff. That he'd sworn he would never give that to anyone. That he had only wanted to keep David safe. Keep the Judge from killing him."
"Did David really show anything to anyone?" I asked, sipping on my Coke. "I can't believe he would."
About that time Abner sauntered over. "Maybe he did, maybe he didn't," he drawled, into that oily way of his. "But Jon's dead all the same, isn't he?"
"I see you're still Sheriff," I said.
"So far." He didn't sound all that confident. "So far, so good. But if I were you, I'd be looking out for my sugar daddy. When the Judge died, he lost his last friend in this county."
"They weren't friends," I said.
"Closest thing to a friend he ever had. Judge looked out for him. Saved his hide on more than one occasion. Like that time his momma came crying to the court, when old Sam whipped the tar out of him."
"Anadora doesn't cry," I said.
"Yeah? Well, she did a pretty good imitation, if you ask me. I was in there, you know, proving up a DWI and she bursts in dressed real funny, holes in her clothes, her hair a mess. Like, she'd thrown dirt on it, you know. And talking even funnier. She goes right in there, the bailiff didn't even try to stop her, probably scared she'd put a hex on him. And she comes up to the bench and she says: 'May it please the Court, now comes this humble petitioner and prays that this honorable Court spare the infant entrusted to its care...' She sounded like a pleading, you know, like what the lawyers file in writing, only she really meant it and her voice was all shaky and she was pleading. That was just it, she was pleading. And she says: 'Please the Court, Your Honor has a son...' Now there she got him good, and he wouldn't let her continue. And he called a recess and saw her in chambers. Which was really ex parte and improper, seeing as Sam wasn't there to defend himself, but the Judge was always doing that sort of thing. And it wasn't really Sam's fault. He didn't mean to hurt him. It's just that the kid was asking for it. He's always asking for it."
I didn't want him talking about Nabal that way. So I said: "Are they really going to raise the taxes?"
Abner laughed. "Old Dave's got that one all sewed up. Doesn't miss a trick. He ran over to the Comptroller's office after we chased him out of Hillsboro. Sold them a bill of goods on the Judge. Secret doucments and all. very incriminating stuff. Then just when it's getting hot, he jumps ship and joins the IRS. I went to talk to him the other day, just after he'd been appointed. `About those records,' I says. 'The ones you gave to the Comptroller's office.' He gives me a funny look. `I didn't give them any records.' So I says: 'You still have them?' He shakes his head. `No. I destroyed them right away. I did it for the Judge. So they wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. That's why I couldn't give them back.'"
I thought about that. "Well, maybe it's true."
"Right."
I squinted. "Why did you go see David in the first place?"
Abner grinned. "I wanted to congratulate him on his new office. Tell him he has my full support."
"You went to kiss up to him?"
Abner chuckled. "If Nabal has any sense, he'll do the same. Otherwise, he's dead. Just like that." He snapped his fingers.
__________