Black & Tan Blues Ch. 03

As I got up to leave he got up and offered me his hand and one of his business cards, "I wish you luck with the divorce. With those pictures there shouldn't be any question about custody."

Without another word I turned and walked out. I arrived at the court house well before ten. I wandered around until I found Judge Brown's courtroom. There were about a dozen people waiting already and I found a seat in the back. The benches slowly filled up with what appeared to be family or friends of people being charged, attorneys and some police officers.

I recognized Detective Williams standing by the door and another man who came in alone and sat down near the aisle. I puzzled over it until it came to me that this was Connie's first husband. I had seen him a couple of times years ago when we lived next door to her. I made a mental note to try and catch him before he left.

The judge and bailiff came in and they called the first case. A steady stream of orange jump suited prisoners was escorted in to stand before the judge one by one to have their charges read and a plea entered. Some prisoners were handcuffed, some not. The judge would look over the arrest file and read the prosecutor's recommendation. He would then set bail and a trial date and the prisoners were then just as quickly ushered out. Then the next group would be brought in.

The third group of prisoners brought in was Donna, Connie, Curtis and James. Curtis and James were both cuffed. Curtis walked with a limp and had a bandage across his nose. He looked angry and belligerent. James looked at the floor most of the time, sullen and subdued.

Donna and Connie both looked like hell. Hair unkempt, no makeup, eyes red and puffy, and stress lines obvious on their faces. They both looked around like they were hoping to find someone they knew. I made sure to stay behind the person in front of me so she wouldn't spot me. I saw her shoulders sag when she thought she was alone.

Curtis was called first. The charges read included all the drug charges as well as resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. The lawyer standing with him entered a not guilty plea and the judge specified bail of one hundred thousand dollars and set a date for next month.

James was called next and the charges read including all the drug charges and another charge I didn't quite make out. A man stood up and identified himself as the County Prosecutor. He and the attorney representing James approached the bench. After a few words with the judge both attorneys stood back. The defense attorney entered a plea of not guilty. The judge set bail at two hundred thousand and said court date to be determined later. I gathered from the buzz of conversation that arose that the bail amount must have been something unusual.

Connie was summoned next. The usual drug charges were read with an added charge of solicitation. A not guilty plea was entered and bail was set for twenty-five thousand. Donna was next and as she stood to make her plea tears were streaming down her face and her attorney had to hold her arm to keep her standing upright she was shaking so much. Again the same charges were read including solicitation. Her attorney pled not guilty and her bail was set at twenty-five thousand, the same as Connie's.

The four of them were hustled away and Donna never looked up again. I got up and made my way to the aisle as the next group was led in. I remembered Connie's ex-husbands name was Mark. I called out to him as he went out the door. He stopped and turned around.

"You probably don't remember me, I'm Ken Colville, Donna's husband." I said.

"Yeah, yeah I think I do. Hell of a thing, isn't it?" He said.

I just shook my head in agreement, "I'm meeting with a divorce attorney this afternoon. But I wanted to catch you. I remember a while back you were trying to get custody of your son, right?"

"Yeah, never got anywhere with the court. But I think this will help." He smiled without humor.

"I would think so. Here's a business card of the photographer who took pictures of the bust. They will make your custody battle a slam-dunk. It will cost you a few bucks but it will be worth it. You might want to let Connie's other ex' know too."

"The pictures are that bad, huh? Or maybe I should say that good? Yeah I will let him know. Thanks."

As I turned to leave, Detective Williams touched me on the arm. "Mr. Colville?"

I stopped and looked at him, "Oh, hey, how's it going?"

"Do you have a few minutes to talk to me and my partner?"

He was polite in phrasing it but I had the distinct impression the request was more on the order of a directive. Inwardly I sighed, and thought I might as well get it over with. I said, "Sure."

"Let's go next door to one of the interview rooms."

I just nodded and followed him over to the Sheriff's building. He introduced me to his partner and we sat down at a table with a stack of files on it. He opened one of them and then said, "I have a couple of questions I need to ask you to help with our investigation. You have a right to have a lawyer present if you so desire."

"Well, I don't have one yet. But I am meeting with a divorce attorney this afternoon. Is there some reason I need one?"

"Are you filing for divorce?"

"Hell, yes! I went over and saw the photographer this morning. He showed me the rest of the pictures. He even sold me a set. Could you live with that?" I said bitterly.

He looked at my sympathetically but ignored my question, "I'll tell you what, anytime you get uncomfortable with the questions, you tell me and we'll stop until you can have an attorney present. Is that acceptable?"

"Yeah, sure." I tried not to get concerned. I had prepared for this knowing that at some point someone would want me to tell them what I knew.

"Do you know Connie Wilkerson?"

"Yeah. We were neighbors for awhile. I haven't seen her since we moved out of that townhouse complex a couple of years ago."

"Did you know your wife was going out with her regularly?"

"No, I told you on Saturday that I knew she had been out with her that one time. She told me she wouldn't see her again. It's obvious now, she lied to me."

"I take you weren't friendly with Connie?"

I snorted, "You got that right, she is a bitch and a slut. But then apparently so is my wife so they are in good company."

I then proceeded to tell him the story of our friends John and Traci and her part in breaking up their marriage. How he then caught her in bed with another man after he moved in with her. I also told him now she neglected her kids and used them against her ex-husbands.

He nodded and then asked, "Had you ever heard of Curtis Hallock or James Martin?"

"Not until the arraignment this morning. But as it turns out I do have a couple of good pictures of them." I said ironically.

"Donna never mentioned them?"

"No, what was she going to say? Thought you'd like to know I'm screwing a big black stud named Curtis Hallock?" I replied sarcastically.

He ignored my comment and asked, "Are you familiar with a night club called the 'Black and Tan'?"

"Sure, everyone in this part of the state knows the Black and Tan. Is that where they hooked up?"

He shrugged, "We think so. We have a witness that puts them there several times over the last month."

I just shook my head in disbelief.

"I know I asked you Saturday but I have to ask you again. Did you have any knowledge of your wife's involvement with illegal drugs?"

"No sir, not a clue. I guess that makes me kind of stupid, doesn't it? Our schedules have been pretty hectic this past semester. I have been attending MSU almost full-time to complete my degree and working nights six days a week at the assembly plant. Donna was working days about thirty hours a week at the hospital and taking care of our four year-old. About the only time since the holidays we spent any time together was Saturdays and Sundays."

"No changes in behavior or problems with attendance at work?"

"I never heard anything about her work but I did notice that she had been out of sorts the last couple of months. And her parents commented on it too. Now I know why. But when I confronted her about it she said the schedules we were keeping were getting to her but she would get over it."

"Okay, I guess that's all the questions we have for now. Here's my business card in case you think of anything. And thanks for your cooperation."

"Can I ask you a question about bail? Someone is going to have to bail her out. How does that work?"

He handed me a list of bail bondsmen in the area and explained that the bond could be secured for ten per cent of the bail amount in cash. As soon as the bond was presented at the jail she could be released in about an hour.

As I drove away I thought the interview had gone pretty well and was immensely relieved. I decided I had better see Jack and Brenda before my appointment with the attorney.

I got to the hospital and was directed to Brenda's room. As I went in Brenda appeared asleep and Jack was sitting beside the bed. He got up and put his fingers to his lips and walked over to the door. We stepped outside and I said, "How is she?"

"Good, good. Her blood pressure is back to where it should be. They are going to release her in the morning. The doctor is going to keep her on anti-depressants for awhile. How did it go at the courthouse?"

"The charges where read, her lawyer pled not guilty. Bail was set at $25,000. It lasted all of ten minutes."

"She called again early this morning. She almost got hysterical when I told her mother was in the hospital. She said she misses you, misses Sam and doesn't understand why you won't call her back or come see her. She asked if someone was coming to the arraignment. I said I needed to be at the hospital but someone would probably be there. She begged for someone to come and get her out of there. I told her we would see what we could do."

"Yeah, she looked pretty rough this morning." I said without any sympathy.

Jack looked at me sadly, "What are you going to do, Ken? Are you going to bail her out?"

I looked Jack in the eye, and said, "Jack, I can't have her around Sam, or me right now. I have an appointment to see an attorney this afternoon to see what my options are."

"Is it that bad Ken? Aren't there any doubts left in your mind?" Jack said in anguish.

"You saw the story in Sunday's newspaper?" He nodded yes.

"I went and saw the photographer this morning. There are other pictures, explicit pictures. Pictures that as Donna's father I hope you never have to see. Pictures that as her husband I will never be able to put out of my mind. There is no doubt about the cheating, none whatsoever." I said vehemently.

Jack wiped his eyes, and said, "Okay Ken, I understand."

"The bail bond cost is twenty-five hundred dollars. If you need help with that I will give it to you. As far as where she goes when she gets out, I don't much care. Maybe she can move in with Connie, the other woman involved in all this. I'm thinking her kids will get taken away from her soon so she will have room."

"No, no, I will talk to Brenda after she wakes up. I'm sure as tough as it will be she will still want her to move in with us. The one thing about being a parent, even though you disagree with, or are appalled by their behavior, even an adult child, you still have to love and support them." He said sadly.

As we looked at each other I was surprised we both had tears in our eyes. "I want you to know Jack, you and Brenda can see Samantha anytime. I don't want this to change your relationship in any way. Or ours either for that matter, I have always thought a lot of you and Brenda."

He nodded and we hugged each other. As he quickly turned and went back into the hospital room I distinctly heard him trying to hold back the sobs. I slowly walked away shaking my head at how much misery Donna had caused.

My meeting that afternoon with the attorney went pretty much as I expected. I explained the circumstances, provided him with a copy of the arrest report and the pictures. I told him my number one priority was to get custody of Samantha. And I wanted to keep Donna away from Sam as much as possible. I didn't care about the settlement. He said he could file the divorce papers the next morning on grounds of adultery and also seek an injunction to keep Donna away as an unfit parent and a danger to the child. He thought with the arrest and the pictures there shouldn't any problems. I asked him to call me when the papers were ready and I would pick them up. I wanted to give them to Donna myself.

When I got home late in the afternoon the phone was ringing, when I picked it up it was Mary calling.

"Ken, this is Mary. Donna didn't show up at work today and she didn't call. What's wrong?"

"Donna is in jail, Mary." I said without emotion.

"What?" She said incredulously.

"You heard right, Mary. She's in the Eaton County Jail."

"What? Why?"

"Did you see Sunday's paper about the drug bust at the Red Roof Inn on Friday night?"

"I didn't read it, but I heard something about it."

"She was one of the four arrested that night."

I heard Mary gasp in shock.

"So I don't imagine she will be at work for awhile."

"But, but it can't be true? What are you going to do?"

"I will do what I have to do. I'm sure she will be in touch with the hospital as soon as she makes bail."

"Ken. I'm so sorry!"

"Yeah, me too." And I hung up

I went to work that night as usual. Trev and I talked for a bit and brought each other up to date. After getting home from work I wandered aimlessly through the house, thinking about how much had changed in just three days. I slept in my own bed for the first time since Thursday night, alone and realizing I had better get used to it. This was the way it was going to be. I had been married for nearly five years and hadn't slept apart from Donna since leaving the Army.

Tuesday I got up and started on my list of things to do. I got Donna's luggage and some boxes out of the basement and started packing her things. All her clothes, shoes and toiletries I packed and put into the trunk of her car. All her clothes on hangers I pulled out of the closet and laid across the back seat.

Just as I was finishing the phone rang. When I answered it was a reporter from a local television station asking if Donna Colville lived there. I told him no and hung up. Immediately it rang again and it was the same individual. He insisted this was the number listed for a Donna Coleville who was arrested the previous Friday night. I asked him where he had heard that and he said it was reported in today's newspaper. I told him there was no one here by that name and hung up again.

I hadn't picked up the paper off of the porch yet this morning. I thought I had better find out what I was in for. On the second page was a follow up story on the bust including mug shots of those arrested. The story detailed the arraignment and stressed the connection between Curtis and James and the drug problem within the Ionia prison. I about dropped the paper when I read the street value of the drugs seized was over one hundred thousand dollars! I thought damn, Curtis must have been packing some serious weight in his Lincoln. I decided to put changing my phone number on the list of things to accomplish today.

Following my attorney's advice I got our checkbook and savings statements and headed over to our branch bank. I opened a separate individual checking account for me and transferred half the money from our joint accounts into it. I then had my name taken off the joint accounts. On the way home I stopped at the post office and submitted a change of address for Donna to her parent's house. I also stopped at the telephone company office and filled a request for a new telephone number in my name only.

When I got home the phone was ringing and the answering machine message queue was full. I went through them quickly. Most of them were from reporters except for three. One was from the hospital wanting someone to call them back about Donna's status and the other was Jack telling me that Brenda had been released from the hospital and that they were home. The last one was from a lawyer that said he was representing Donna and needed to talk to me about her case.

I gave Jack a call and asked if everything was alright. When he assured me it was I told him I wanted to drive Donna's car over with her things in it and was hoping he could give me a ride home. Sadly he said yes and that would give us a chance to talk. I told him I would be over shortly.

I made a few more calls cancelling joint credit cards and establishing a couple of new ones in my name only. I called the landlord and talked to him about having Donna taken off the lease and made an appointment to come over later in the week.

By the time I got to my in-laws it was the middle of the afternoon. The three of us exchanged hugs and Brenda put her head on my chest and cried. I patted her on the shoulder and told her I felt the same way. Jack and I unloaded Donna's things and put them in a spare room. I gave him her mail and the bank books and asked him to hold them for her.

As we drove back to my house, I said. "I am filing for divorce, Jack. I decided I can't go on after this."

"Yeah, I figured that when you left yesterday." He said sadly.

He continued, "I called a bail bondsman today. I have an appointment to pick up the bond tomorrow at eleven."

"Jack, I would like to go with you to the jail to pick her up. It's my responsibility to tell her what is going to happen. I don't want her to have any doubts and I don't want you to have to deal with it." I said firmly.

"Sure Ken. I guess it will be a hell of a day for all of us." He sighed.

We rode the rest of the way in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts. As I got out of the car I said I would plan on meeting him around noon at the jail and he agreed.

I called the attorney's office and arranged to pick up the divorce papers the next day. I then called up north to speak to Sam and my parents. I brought Dad up to speed on what was happening and asked how Sam was. He said she was having a great time but when it came time for bed she missed me and her mom.

"Well put her on the phone, I miss her too."

"Daddy? Is that you?"

"Hi Sam, are you having fun?"

"Umm hum! Gran'pa and Gran'ma took me out on a 'toon ride again!"

"That's wonderful baby!"

"Daddy, is mommy there? Can I talk to her?"

"Mommy's not here Sam, but she is feeling better."

"I miss mommy. Can you ask her to call me on the phone so I can tell her about the 'toon ride and everything?"

"I sure will Sam." I said my heart breaking.

We talked for a few minutes more than she decided she had to go back down to the dock to see what Grandpa was doing.

As I hung up, I shuddered thinking what was going to happen when she realized she wouldn't be seeing her mother for a long time.

I went in to work and faced an added twist. The story in the newspaper had gotten around and I had a steady stream of questions from friends and co-workers. When lunch time finally rolled around I told Trev I didn't think I could take it anymore and he nodded and said let's go see the foreman. I explained the situation and the foreman said go ahead and take leave for the rest of the shift. I thanked him and Trev walked me to the gate.

"You know Trev, one thing I don't understand. The newspaper reported the street value of the drugs they found was over a hundred thousand. Where did that come from?"

He laughed. "You know, sometimes the strangest things happen. From what I've heard on the street is that apparently they really were doing a drug deal that night!"

Looking around I said, "Is there any whispers about what really happened that night?"