S is for Silence (Kinsey Millhone 19)

“I wouldn’t go that far, but the doctor treated him and sent him home so I guess that tells you something. You know you could have called instead of following us home like this.”

“There’s something else I wanted to talk about and I didn’t think it should wait. I promise I won’t take up too much of your time…”

“Good because we spent the last two hours at the emergency room and I’m beat. Tannie’s gone to bed if you were hoping to see her.”

“It’s you I’d like to talk to. You, too,” he said, with a quick nod at me.

“Why don’t you come on in the kitchen and we’ll close the door. I don’t imagine you want Tannie hearing this.”

“Out here is fine. I intend to talk to her myself as soon as I have the chance. My son, Steve, too.”

“Smart move,” she said.

Jake ignored her testiness. “I came to apologize for what happened to Foley tonight. We’re fully prepared to pay his medical expenses. You can send the bills straight to me and I’ll take care of them. BW had no right to do what he did.”

“Shit, really? Kick a guy in the face and bust his nose?”

“Daisy, I said I was sorry and I mean that. BW was way out of line and I told him so. I’m not saying he was wrong to hustle your dad out of there. Foley had that coming, but not the violence. BW’s a hothead. He tends to act first and think about it later. It wouldn’t surprise me if Foley pressed charges.”

“Forget it. He’s not going to do that. So what else? I’m sure you didn’t tail us to inquire about his health.”

“I feel I owe you an explanation.”

Daisy nearly offered him a smart remark, but apparently decided against it. Better to let him fumble through the conversation on his own.

Jake kept his gaze pinned on the middle distance, but his manner was otherwise straightforward. “It isn’t true, what he accused me of, but I believe I know how he came by that impression, even if he’s mistaken. I hope you’ll bear with me.”

“Have at it. I’m all ears.”

“There was an incident at the Moon… this must have been a month and a half before your mother disappeared. I’d been up at the hospital, visiting Mary Hairl, and I stopped off for a nightcap. Both your parents were at the bar and had been for some time. I think it’s safe to say neither one of them was feeling any pain. By the time I arrived, your dad was in a sulk. Violet started flirting with me-I think to aggravate him as much as anything else. My wife was sick. I was lonely and maybe I gave your mother the wrong impression. We started dancing, which seemed harmless to me, but after a while she was behaving in a way that was an embarrassment. Community’s small. You know how it is. Everybody knows everybody’s business. I couldn’t have her rubbing up against me, or putting her hands on my butt. Anyway, I’ll skip the details out of respect for her. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but I knew I had to set her straight.

“Problem was, Violet was accustomed to getting her way and she wasn’t about to take no for an answer. She got mad and said I’d insulted her. About then she walked off the floor and I followed her. I hadn’t meant anything of the sort. I tried telling her it wasn’t my intent. I liked your mother… don’t get me wrong… but I was taken aback. Long and short of it, she ended up throwing a glass of wine in my face.”

“That was you? I’d heard the story, but I had no idea. Your name was never mentioned.”

“That was me all right. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of it. She started screaming and cussing. She was hot-tempered to begin with and sensitive to slights. She threatened to tell Foley we’d had sex, that I’d come on to her, and when she turned me down, I’d forced myself on her. Nothing could have been farther from the truth, but what could I do? BW could see something was going on and he got Foley out of there on some pretext.

“Once he was gone, I tried to reason with her. I hadn’t meant to offend her and I apologized for any misunderstanding. She seemed to calm down. I hoped that would be the end of it, but I couldn’t be sure. I was in a sticky position. I couldn’t go to Foley and tell him what she’d said. If she never mentioned it herself, I’d only be opening up a can of worms. He’d either take issue with me for rejecting her, or else he’d accuse her of screwing around and she’d deny everything, claiming I’d raped her. In that case, I’d end up looking like my only interest was in covering my tracks. At any rate, I thought it best to keep quiet and that’s the last I heard of it until tonight. Clearly, she did what she’d threatened. She must have told him I’d pushed her into something against her will and that’s what he believed.”