Black & Tan Blues Ch. 02

Now I had to stop and think about that. I had never known Donna to drink alone and most certainly not in any quantity. When I went to put her wine glass in the dishwasher, I found another dirty wine glass. I pulled it out and looked at it closely. I could distinctly see the smear of lipstick on the rim. I went back to the wastebasket and pulled out the other empty bottle and looked at it. There appeared to be cigarette butts inside. I shook the butts out of the bottle onto the counter and got the distinct odor of marijuana. That explained what the candles were for and now I was pretty sure Connie had been here. That thought really pissed me off even more. I would bet anything that Connie was here to make sure Donna was on board for their date next Friday.

I cleaned up the evidence and went to bed. As I lay there the thought occurred to me that not only does Donna have a taste for big black guys but it appears she has developed a fondness for alcohol and marijuana. Sometime in the night I woke up enough to feel Donna get into bed. I turned my back to her and went right back to sleep without another thought.

I woke up in the morning before nine. I got up and around and checked on Sam. She was lying in bed talking to her stuffed animals and playing some kind of game with them. I left her alone and got into the shower.

After cleaning up I shook Donna a couple of times. Huh, what, what is it?" She said groggily.

"Its nine thirty. We still have time to get ready for church."

"What! Leave me alone and let me sleep" she said grumpily and pulled a pillow over her head.

"Donna, did you have company here last night?" I asked.

She didn't say anything.

"Donna, answer me. Who was here last night?"

"No one, Ken! Now go away leave me alone!"

"Bullshit, why are you lying to me?"

Donna sat up in bed and screamed at me, "Damn you! Leave me alone!" before she threw herself under the covers and covered her face."

I walked out of the room and went into Sam's bedroom. "Hi daddy, can we have breakfast now?" she said.

"Sure can, how would you like to go to Sunday school today?"

"Is today Sunday, daddy?"

"Yep, so let's get some breakfast then we will get dressed and go to church, okay?"

Sam nodded enthusiastically, "Okay! Is mommy going too?"

I tried to smile at Sam, "Mommy's tired, Sam. She wants to sleep in."

Sam thought about that for minute, "Mommy doesn't go anywhere with us anymore daddy. How come?"

Sadly I looked at her and said, "I don't know why, Sam, you can ask her when we get home, alright?"

Sam nodded and ran to get her favorite cereal.

The three of us had started attending church a couple times a month after Sam's second birthday. While neither of us was very religious we recognized the benefits of having Sam brought up in a church environment. We had found a Methodist church nearby that we liked and so it became our church even though we couldn't seem to get around to going any more than we did. And with me working nights it minimized our attendance at any other social activities. And Donna didn't seem to want to participate without me. But Sam really enjoyed Sunday school, the Bible lessons and playing with her friends.

Most times the services were informative and many times just comforting. Today's services seemed to fill the need I had to be comforted. I knew what I was planning to do to those who wronged me wasn't the Christian thing to do. But somehow I felt that I would be forgiven in time. At the very least the service calmed me and seemed to give me the strength to get through the days ahead.

The house was quiet when we returned. I peeked into our bedroom but the bed was empty and I could hear the shower in our bathroom running.

Sam and I were sitting in the living room, Sam was watching TV and I was reading the newspaper when Donna came in. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she looked at me for a moment then walked into the kitchen without saying a word. Sam jumped up and followed her into the kitchen. "Mommy, Mommy, I went to Sunday school and Mrs. Benson read us Bible stories and we played and I had a cookie and some milk!"

"That's nice sweetie."

"Mommy, why didn't you go to church with us?"

"Mommy didn't feel good and needed to sleep, honey."

There was a pause for a few moments and I could imagine Sam thinking about that. "Mommy, why don't you like to go places with us anymore?"

"That's enough Samantha. I told you I don't feel good now go watch TV," Donna said sharply.

Sam walked slowly back into the living room. She picked up her stuffed puppy and climbed up on the sofa and curled up as close to me as she could get. She just stared at the TV and didn't say a word.

My heart broke for her. All she wanted was her Mother's attention and Donna was too absorbed in her own screwing around to see it. The last vestiges of uncertainty I had over what I was going to do was gone.

We stayed cuddled on the couch while Donna got something to eat in the kitchen. Eventually she walked back through the living room, down the hall and went into our bedroom and shut the door. She never said another word to either of us.

I turned to Sam and said, "You want to go for a ride with Daddy?"

Sam just nodded and said, "Okay."

I got Sam into some play clothes and we got into the pick-up and took off. I wanted to scout out the Red Roof Inn and the surrounding area. That would keep Sam occupied and both of us away from home. The Forest Road exit was just outside the city limits. Going east from the freeway the Red Roof Inn was on the left and a Best Western Motel on the right. The road ended against a cross road on the other side of which were corn fields and a horse farm.

Sam got all excited when she saw the horses romping in the fields with this year's crop of colts. I pulled off the road and let Sam get out of the truck to stand along the fence to watch. While she laughed and clapped at the antics of the horses, I pulled out a pair of field glasses out of my glove box and checked out the Inn.

The parking lot was partially screened from the road by a line of spaced pine trees. It appeared I could park at the Best Western, walk across the road and hide behind one of the pines. The Inn was an L-shaped two story building and the type where you parked up next to your room and entered directly from outside. Depending on which room they had I could slip up to their cars and plant the drugs and then slip back behind one of the trees fairly quickly. There wasn't much going on in town this weekend so I didn't think the Inn would be too full.

I needed to locate a working payphone fairly close. From a distance there looked to be one outside of the Best Western Motel Office. I finally got Sam back into the truck and I drove over to check it out. I put some change in it and dialed directory assistance just to verify it was working. It did. Sam and I spent a couple more hours driving around the countryside and looking at stuff before we finally went home.

Sam was about asleep so I carried her into the house. When I walked in the door I could smell something cooking in the kitchen and hear Donna rustling dishes and silverware. Donna stuck her head around the corner and looked at us. Without looking me in the eye she seemed to force a smile on her face and said, "Dinner will be ready in about an hour." And she ducked back into the kitchen.

Mentally I just shook my head and wondered if Donna felt as schizophrenic as she was behaving. I carried Sam into her room and laid her down. She just curled up in her blanket and closed her eyes.

I went back to the living room and turned on the baseball game and decided to finish reading the newspaper. If Donna wanted to pretend everything was okay then that was fine with me. Donna poked her head out of the kitchen once and said, "Where's Sam?"

"Taking a nap, she will probably sleep until dinner."

"Okay." She then went back to whatever she was doing.

I watched the game and read the paper. Donna never came out of the kitchen except to set the dining room table. I noticed a couple of photos of crime scenes in the local section. The byline under them had the name of a local photographer, Dennis Thompson. He was kind of a celebrity in that he was a free lance photographer who sold his pictures to several area newspapers and local magazines. And once, one of his photos had gotten picked up by the Associated Press. Our local newspaper had done a spotlight article on him about six months before. He apparently had been accepted by several police and fire departments in the area as their official photographer which got him access to take pictures where others were usually denied. Thinking about him gave me an idea.

Donna finally came out of the kitchen and said, "Dinner's ready. I'll go see if Sam is awake."

I didn't say anything. I figured she was trying to make amends for being so short with her earlier. She disappeared into Sam's room and didn't reappear right away. After about ten minutes she came back out carrying Sam and whispering in her ear. I could see Sam nodding her head and holding Donna tightly around her neck. Donna sat her down in her chair and said cheerfully, "Dinners ready."

We sat down and it seemed like the three of us were all playing a role. Donna was pretending nothing was wrong and that she was happy and content. I was pretending that I was buying her act. And Sam was pretending that her mother had not hurt her feelings earlier.

We talked superficially about work and school. I finally told a lie of my own. I said I was going to register for classes on her day off this week. The thought of being alone together with her all day was more than I could stomach.

The evening was a typical Sunday night. We played with Sam, watched some TV and read a little. When it came time for bed I pretended to be interested in a movie and Donna went up to bed alone.

The next day I started my preparations for the week. I decided I needed to lay some ground work with the tip hot-line. I went to a payphone outside the 7-11 down the street. I put a piece of cheese cloth over the mouthpiece and dialed the hotline number. I pitched my voice lower than normal and when the operator answered I said I wanted to report a crime and how did the hotline work? She told me to select a code word or number sequence and that my information would be filed under that code. If a reward should be authorized for the information the money would be paid to the informant that had that code. He also said for legal purposes all calls were being recorded.

I said, "My code word will be 'Black & Tan'. There is a drug buy being planned on Friday night at an east side motel. The buyer is a corrections officer. The supplier has a police record of drug offenses. I will call later with more information." Then I hung up.

I figured that would get their interest. I would phone in more details later in the week. I also had looked up the phone number of the photographer, Dennis Thompson. I dialed his number and got his answering machine. The message I left was, "I have information that there will be a drug bust at an east side motel on Friday night by the Tri-County Task Force. If you are interested I will call back at four today with more information."

Later at the designated time I called him back from our home phone and again disguised my voice. "I left a message earlier about a drug bust on Friday night," I said.

"Yeah, I got your message. I checked with Tri-County and they said they had nothing in the works."

"I will provide them more information later. The buyer is a state prison corrections officer. I hear he is selling the drugs inside the prison to inmates. If this goes down you might get some pictures and a story."

"And your name is?"

"Nice try but I prefer to remain anonymous."

"Okay, if the info pans out I might be interested."

"I will call you back later in the week with details as I get them. I will call this number." Then I hung up the phone.

I reported to work as usual. Trev and I got together during lunch and compared notes. I told him about Saturday night and that I thought probably Connie was there to set Donna up for their Friday night date. I also gave Trev three thousand in cash. I also updated him on my calls to the tip hotline and the photographer.

He laughed when I told him about Dennis Thompson. "Those guys are like pit bulls. You sic'em on a story and they won't let go."

"That's the idea. I want as much light on Donna and friends as possible. I'm sure the corrections officer angle will get some interest."

"Oh yeah, there is nothing like public corruption and drugs for a good story. The only thing missing is sex."

I nodded, "I may be able to do something about that before Friday too. Is $3000 enough to get what we need."

"It's more than enough. I also spoke to Tony last night. He said not to worry about him. He won't lose any sleep about anything that happens to Curtis and James. He also told me he knows where Curtis hangs out after work a couple of days a week. It's the Airport Tavern over near the UPS Warehouse. He said he drives by there almost every day and if he sees Curtis's car parked in the lot he will go in and see what he's up to."

"Okay, thanks for everything Trev."

Tuesday was Donna's day off. I left about the time she got out of bed and I told her I was going to the university to register. Instead I drove down to a suburb of Detroit where I knew there were a couple of head shops. I bought a couple of packs of cigarette papers and a roach clip. I drove around to a pharmacy nearby to buy some syringes. As an afterthought I also bought a couple of boxes of different kinds of condoms.

I got home in time to pickup Sam from pre-school and have dinner before leaving for work. During the shift Trev and I talked briefly. He said he had the Friday night union meeting all set. The foreman knew I would be attending. I asked him how things were going as far as getting what we needed. He said he would have most of it by Wednesday night and it wasn't a problem.

Wednesday I killed the day by getting some yard work caught up. I also used the day to do some research on divorce attorneys. I called a couple to check on availability and costs without giving my name. I also went back down to the 7-11 payphone and called the Tri-County hotline again. When the operator answered, I said, "My code name is Black & Tan, I called on Monday about a drug buy that is going to happen on Friday night. The supplier's name is Curtis Hallock. He has a record. He drives a silver Lincoln Town car. The deal will go down between eleven and twelve PM. The product is mostly marijuana and cocaine. I will call back Friday night before ten and give you the name of the motel, the room number and the name of the corrections officer who is the buyer." I then abruptly hung up.

Later just before Donna came home from work, I called the photographer, Dennis Townsend again. I repeated what I told the hotline.

"Are you interested?" I asked.

"Definitely! I have been talking with Lt. Mason who runs the Tri-County Task Force. Your tip and what you told me was passed to the State Police. They are very interested. It seems that they have been investigating drugs in the Ionia prison. It sounds like your buyer may be a major source on how they are getting in."

"Okay, so how long will it take you to get to the vicinity of east of US-123 just south of the university?"

"Not longer than twenty minutes. But the Task Force will probably need thirty to forty-five minutes to mobilize."

I told him I would call him five minutes before I called the Tri-County Task Force. He said he would be ready to go and I hung up.

Trev came into work whistling and a smile on his face. I kind of looked at him and said, "Something must have made you happy today."

He laughed and said, "Oh yeah, I'll tell you about it at lunch."

As we sat down to eat, he said, "Guess what? Troy managed to hook up with Curtis last night at the Airport Tavern. Curtis had had a few too many and was shooting his mouth off about his latest white piece of ass." Trev stopped and looked uncomfortable for a minute. "I'm sorry, Ken. I guess I wasn't thinking."

I just shrugged, "Don't worry about it Trev. I admit it still hurts but I'll be okay."

"Anyway, Troy told him he surely admired his taste in white women. Curtis laughed and said if he wanted to he could stop by Room 120 at the Red Roof Inn on Friday night and maybe he could get a taste. In fact maybe he would leave the window open and he could check out the action.

"It seems Curtis knows someone who works at the Inn and whenever he wants a room he always gets the same one. It's the last one all the way around the back on the ground floor. Troy thinks that Curtis uses it to do drug business on occasion as well as hooking up with the ladies.

"Troy told him he would like to but he was going to be out of town on Friday night. And in fact I told Troy it might be a good idea if he did exactly that. I didn't tell him anything else but he got the message."

I thought about it for a minute, "Knowing the room number will certainly make this easier. I scoped out the Inn and getting in and out of that part of the parking lot will be fairly simple, lots of cover."

I paused and glanced around, "How about the stuff?" I whispered.

"I've got most of it. We'll transfer it to your pick-up after work."

"Good, I hope you have been careful in handling it. I don't want your fingerprints all over this stuff."

"I've been careful. Still in the original packaging from the suppliers and I wiped it all down after I got it."

I nodded. "I really want to get this over with. The tension at home is starting to build."

"Only two more days. But have you given any thought about afterwards? You had better be prepared for questions, from the police, from family and from friends. Your story has to be airtight."

I nodded, "I haven't thought much past getting a divorce attorney. But you're right. I will think about that between now and Friday."

Part of my Thursday morning was spent on making notes on possible scenarios and how they should be played out. What my responses should be in any given one. I wanted to act surprised, but not be taken by surprise. That night after work I talked them over with Trev and listened to his suggestions and incorporated the ones I thought fit with my personality and my situation. I also made a list of everything I needed for Friday night and a list of actions in sequence I needed to accomplish.

The last few days at home had been routine but tense. I wasn't making any effort to kiss Donna hello or goodbye as we usually did. If she cornered me I didn't try to avoid her but I didn't show any enthusiasm. Donna never gave me any signals that she wanted to make love at any time and I didn't initiate anything either. Our conversations were brief and superficial. From time to time I thought I detected a puzzled look on her face as if she was trying to figure out what was different.

Donna went to work everyday, and Sam went to pre-school. I would pick Sam up from school in time to usually fix dinner or pick-up takeout for the three of us to eat before I left for work. I came straight home after work every night and stayed out of the bars. I never found any more evidence that Connie had been around, but I figured the two of them had been talking on the phone. Thursday night before I went out the door Donna casually mentioned that she was meeting her friends, Josie and Mary for dinner Friday night. I just nodded and left for work.

Friday finally came and I was up early and started my preparations as soon as Donna and Sam were gone. I went through a drawer of hospital stuff that Donna had collected the last couple of years. I put on a pair of surgical gloves from a box of them she had and also put aside a pair of them for the evening. She had several tote bags with the hospital logo on it that the hospital had distributed to all their employees. Donna used one everyday to carry her work shoes and purse into work with her. I selected an old used one and cleaned some trash out she had left in it. I found several receipts from the hospital cafeteria among the litter and I purposefully left a couple of them in the bottom of the bag.