Page 70 of Wham Line
“No, he wasn’t.”
“And a thief.”
“He was not.”
“And he abandoned people who needed him.”
“No, he didn’t!He didn’t do any of that stuff you’re talking about.People didn’t understand him because—” Jethro managed to stop himself.His color was high, and he gulped air as he got to his feet.
“Because he wasn’t their dad?”I asked.
For a moment, it looked like he might try to deny it.His brows contracted.His lips parted.Then, rubbing his face, he sank back down onto the bed.
“He wasyour dad,” Bobby asked.“Wasn’t he?”
Jethro nodded.Head still in his hands, he asked, “How’d you find out?”
“The resemblance,” I said.(No need to explain that someone had to point it out.)
The boy nodded again.“My mom used to say I looked like him.Other people didn’t seem to see it, though.She’s White.I think that’s why; they look at Mal, and they see he’s half-Japanese, and they think his son is going to look half-Japanese too.”
“Mal didn’t raise you, did he?”
Jethro shook his head.
“But you knew he was your dad?”
“I always knew.It’s not like it was a secret.He sent money, but he didn’t have any contact with us.Mom always said that was better.She wasn’t bitter or anything; she just liked that it was the two of us.A couple of times, she said he wasn’t a kind person, and she didn’t want me to have to deal with that.”
Was, I thought.Notis.
“How long ago did your mom pass?”
“About a year.It was a stroke.She looked like she was totally healthy, and then she was gone.”
Bobby’s face tightened.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Jethro shrugged.“She was a good mom.”He fell silent, and the muffled cries of gulls came to us from a distance.“She had life insurance, so the house and everything, that was okay.But I dropped out of college, and I didn’t know what to do.I was cleaning out some of her stuff and found a bunch of old pictures, and he was in there.They looked happy together.”He plucked at the quilt absently.“I guess I wanted to know.”
“How did you get in contact with him?”Bobby asked.
“I read about him.I found the name of his company.I found an address, and I showed up one day.He was busy, you know, but I told his secretary my name and my mom’s name, and then Mal came out to talk to me.I don’t know what I was expecting.He had no idea what to do.He shook my hand.”Jethro gave a little laugh.“I could tell he was real happy, and I…I hadn’t been expecting that.He took me into his office, and we talked, and I told him about Mom.He said how sorry he was, and how much he’d cared about her, and he was sorry it hadn’t worked out.He wanted to know if I was okay.He kept asking me that.Everybody talks about him like he’s this monster, but he wasn’t like that at all, not with me.When he figured out I wasn’t in school and didn’t have a job, he asked me if I wanted to work with him.”Jethro looked up, his eyes rimmed in red.“That’s it.”
“How long ago was that?”I asked.
“About six months.”
“Why did you lie?”Bobby asked.
“I didn’t lie.Nobody asked me if I was his son, and it’s not anybody’s business.”
“It’s the sheriff’s business,” Bobby said.“Particularly if you killed him.”
“But I didn’t.”Jethro’s gaze cut away.“I keep telling you that.”
I took a few breaths of lavender-and-Old English.And then I said, “You’re going to inherit everything, aren’t you?”
