{"id":14094,"date":"2014-06-10T18:15:44","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T23:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=14094"},"modified":"2014-06-11T13:16:26","modified_gmt":"2014-06-11T18:16:26","slug":"nipping-the-bud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/nipping-the-bud\/","title":{"rendered":"“Nipping the Bud”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JesseYancyColumnHeader\"<\/a>The afternoon had been long, impeded by discoveries of even more cracks to caulk, more questions to quell, more smoke, more smiling. Now the sun was slatted on the wall, and he heard Mazie closing her office. She came through his door minutes later, a sheaf of files in her hand.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the last of them,\u201d she said. \u201cDo you want me to take them to the bank?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Clayton said. \u201cI\u2019ve got to go see Eddie later, just leave them here.\u201d Mazie hesitated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust leave them here,\u201d Clayton repeated. \u201cI\u2019ll take care of them. And Mazie, you should know that I\u2019ve decided to let you have that free time you\u2019ve always wanted.\u201d<\/span>
\n\u201cFree time?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Clayton said. \u201cNow that Jack is gone, I\u2019ve decided to make some changes, and one of them is rewarding you for your service to the firm. You and Bud will be able to take those long fishing trips you\u2019ve always wanted.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mazie looked at him steadily. \u201cYou\u2019re firing me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll give you a nice severance check, and you have the retirement account Jack set up for you,\u201d Clayton said. \u201cThings are changing, and we need someone who knows all these new gadgets we\u2019re using better than you do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou won\u2019t get away with it. I know things,\u201d Mazie said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know things, too,\u201d Clayton said. \u201cI know lots of things, Mazie. Like I know that Jack kept Bud out of prison fifteen years ago, and I know why. There\u2019s no statute of limitation on murder, you know. I have the evidence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an accident,\u201d Mazie said, too quickly. She knew that Clayton would have the facts that Bud fired the shots that ended the woman\u2019s life, and shots fired with malice and deliberation. Jack, only Jack, could have kept Bud out of prison, and he did somehow, before Clayton had joined the firm. Mazie didn\u2019t even know that Clayton knew about it, but now that he did, and now that he intended to use it to keep Mazie at home and silent, she set her mouth.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"NippingTheBudJesse\"<\/a>\u201cThen I\u2019ll go,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019re a bastard, Clayton Isley, a shit-splattered son-of-a-bitch. Your buddy Ward Mason is in the conference room. He said you told him to come in the back door. If Jack were here . . .\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Clayton pounded his fist on the desk. \u201cJack is NOT here! Jack is DEAD! I\u2019m in charge now, and things are going to be different around here.\u201d He sat back in his chair, breathing heavily and loosened his tie. \u201cGo home, Mazie. And don\u2019t forget what I said about Bud.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mazie left, her face set in fury and resignation. Clayton took the files she had been holding, the last of Jack Delancy\u2019s records, and tossed them into the smoldering incinerator out back as he had done the rest of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

He walked down the hall to the conference room. At the end of the table sat a wiry muscular man dressed in a threadbare jacket and a badly-pressed shirt. His watery blue eyes were set in a long face topped with thinning blond hair. His hands held a cigarette that wobbled slightly over the ashtray.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHey, Clayton!\u201d the man said. His smile was wide, and his teeth were large, long, and bright.<\/span><\/p>\n

Clayton walked to a cabinet against the wall and poured a generous shot of whiskey into a glass. He sat the drink and bottle on the table next to the man and watched as he gulped down the drink, wiped his mouth with a hairy hand, and poured another.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow\u2019ve you been, Ward?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGreat! Great!\u00a0 I got a new car last week, found a place down on Hooper Road, and I\u2019m going to start fixing up the cabins on the lake, run the snakes out, do some rewiring, fix the plumbing, you know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just fine,\u201d Clayton said. \u201cYou know, Ward, since Jack died . . .”
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLoved Jack!\u201d Ward said. \u201cHe knew that boy was all about a bunch of lies, sayin\u2019 I did all those things. Hell, I got kids of my own, you know. Love kids.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Clayton looked at him. \u201cWell, I believe that, Ward, I really do. You know, Frances has been a total mess since Jack died.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can see why,\u201d Ward said, nodding. \u201cLosing a husband like that and them both in the prime of life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s been having a lot of problems,\u201d Clayton said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had to keep her under a lot of sedation. I talked to a psychiatrist in Birmingham and he said it\u2019s best that she goes to a place where she can get some rest, a private hospital he runs up in Gardendale. My wife and I are going to take care of the little girl, but the boy, well, he needs attention, and that\u2019s why I asked you here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ward\u2019s smile faltered. \u201cWhat do you mean, Clayton?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, a boy his age, he\u2019ll be fourteen next week, a boy his age needs a man in his life, and I just don\u2019t have the time,\u201d Clayton said. \u201cNow, I\u2019ve arranged for him to be sent away to school, to a school up in North Carolina, not really a military academy, just an all-boys school that stresses discipline. But I think it would be a good idea for him to get to the country for a while before he goes, and I think you ought to take him with you up to the lake. Take him fishing, get some good fresh air. It\u2019ll only be for a month or so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ward licked his lips. \u201cClayton, you know, that boy in Jackson who got me into trouble . . .\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know all about the boy in Jackson,\u201d Clayton said. He also knew about the boy in Mobile, the boy in Greenwood, and the one in Memphis. He had seen the photographs Ward had taken, the looks in the boys\u2019 eyes, and he knew that if it weren\u2019t for Jack, Ward would probably be dead; either shot by a father or killed in prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut Frances . . .\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrances doesn\u2019t need to know,\u201d Clayton said. \u201cNobody needs to know but you and me. I\u2019ll bring him to you myself next Friday to stay with you at the lake. You can go fishing, take the boat out, skinny-dippin\u2019 . . . He\u2019s a good-looking kid. You two should have a good time together. I\u2019ll pick him up in six weeks, in time for school.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNobody\u2019s gonna know?\u201d Ward asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNope,\u201d Clayton said. \u201cI\u2019ll pay you, of course. Cash. I\u2019ll arrange for you to pick it up at the bait shop on Cane Creek.\u201d He took out a manila envelope and pushed it across the table.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s some photos of him at the swimming pool.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ward opened the envelope. A smile flickered at the corners of his mouth. He replaced the photos and put the money in his jacket pocket. \u201cWonder if he\u2019s a real redhead?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Clayton looked at him. \u201cI\u2019m sure you\u2019ll find out, Ward. Now you\u2019d better go. Did you park at the supermarket like I told you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, and I came down the alley.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, I\u2019ll see you Friday,\u201d Clayton said. \u201cNow get the hell out of here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ward left. It was dusk. Clayton drew a cigar from his shirt pocket, lit it and leaned back in his chair. Sometimes, he thought, it isn\u2019t enough just to kill a man.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The afternoon had been long, impeded by discoveries of even more cracks to caulk, more questions to quell,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":14095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[7078,1086],"class_list":["post-14094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creative-writing","tag-creative-writing","tag-jesse-yancy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/NippingTheBudJesse.jpg?fit=700%2C998&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}