***** Thursday August 5, Madeline picks up Jesus
In Folsom State prison parking lot there were two people sitting near the guardhouse, one in uniform and the other a boy in an orange outfit, like pajamas. She idled by the gate for almost three minutes unable to force herself to go in. On the drive up she had imagined she would be the property of a brutal gangster; three hundred pounds of muscle, tattooed black and blue. She almost drove into oncoming trucks twice on grounds that would be easier, but there was Alan to think of. This inmate looked nothing like her fears, though. He was latino, short and slender, small enough to be fourteen. With a sigh, she drove in, pulled up next to them and conferred with the officer.
The inmate was eighteen today, and he was here at Folsom transferring in from the Youth Authority. Mrs O'Hare signed the papers that testified she would provide a place for him to live in San Francisco and a job at her restaurant. Without her help he would be sent back for another four years, and this brightened her up considerably. The boy needed her. The officer gave her a copy and trudged back to the guardhouse.
Jesus opened the back door of the sedan, swung a duffle bag through the door and then climbed in beside it.
"Aren't you going to sit up front?" Madeline asked.
"No, Miss O'Hare. I'll just be back here. Let's go."
"Mrs O'Hare."
"Yes Ma'am, Mrs."
"A present from the Cook." She said, and handed a package back to him. The boy opened it, allowing her to watch. There was a knife in a sheath, no longer than six inches, a cord with plastic rings and a letter. He read the letter, slowly, mouthing the words, while she climbed in the driver's seat. She let him finish before starting the car. They pulled out of the prison parking lot and in the mirror she could see Jesus watch the guard at the gate as though afraid they would be stopped. They said nothing for a long time but eventually the urge to ask was overpowering. "Alan will be ok now?"
He ignored her question. "Pull over." He said. "Let's get this done."
"Here? On the highway?"
"Yeah. We need to now, before we go further. We need a contract, important shit and it can't be done on the road."
"No? The Cook already made a deal with me. I signed with the guard."
"You're owned now. You don't belong to Irving Street, you belong to me and I belong to the Street. I mean you pledge to me to be square with Irving." He was getting more fidgety, she could feel his leg jumping, pushing the back of her seat.
She pulled over on the gravel, wheels crunching. Cars whizzed by and Madeline tried to listen while anxiously watching the highway.
"So, your question," began Jesus, "Alan is not all right. Tonight he's turned out, punked, after a couple years as girlfriend, he's whacked out." He eyed her in the mirror. She looked scared and vulnerable.
"What have I gone through all this for?" She whined, her eyes teared up and she craned around to see Jesus in the back seat, "What do I do?"
"I gotta tell the Cook you pledged. And don't you ask me to lie. That shit would whack us both quick. I mean it would get us whacked. Please Mrs O'Hare, let's do this right."
"No, not if this is all for nothing." She replied, panic rising in her belly.
"Mrs O'Hare..." Jesus opened the car door facing the median. He turned and put his feet out on the ground, but didn't get out. "Mrs O'Hare..."
She got out, circled the hood and stood in front of Jesus. She was a half a head taller than Jesus standing, and towered over him seated. Her thick brown hair was piled over her head and pinned in place, designer pants suit in cream, white blouse buttoned to a priests collar at her neck. The suit jacket was wide shouldered, and her large bosom thrust it out like a breastplate, hands, surprisingly small and dimpled rested on her wide powerful hips. "What is this pledge?"
"Like this," he started, "I don't know God or Nation, I know you Irving Street G: You say, I do."
"A oath of loyalty?" She squeaked, not believing. The cars seemed to slow down and she became aware of the heat, the smell of exhaust and the sky moving in an arc overhead, slow...
He looked up, the brown skin of his forehead glowed in the hot sun, his eyes invisible in shadow. "Yeah. You have to, for Alan... a trade. Take it off him, on you."
Her hands moved from her hips to her breasts, protecting them. "You're not going to touch me, young man, you understand me?" Her voice rose high, almost a shriek again, "I'm old enough to be your mother. Because of me you have parole. You can live in the cottage on the grounds. I have a husband, Horace. Horace can be dangerous. No touching."
Jesus looked down again. Sweat beaded on his forehead and she could see he was shaking a little.
"Not going the way you thought? What did you think would happen Jesus, I would roll over like some gangster groupie? I'm a grown woman and a business owner."
"No, of course not Mrs O'Hare. But the Street has rules. For reasons. You gotta prove you belong. I thought about you lots, Miss. Years ago I worked with Pedro on your grounds. Before I got put away. You came out, your hair back under a blue do-rag. Pedro was afraid of you, and me too. One time we worked late. I saw you come home, party dress, hair high, glossy. I watched your show in the CYA, dreamed about you at lockdown, over and over. But. But, this ain't like I thought." He put his fingers to his temple. "In my mind you were more... I don't know. I don't deserve to touch you, maybe..." Jesus looked up again, she could make out the whites of his eyes in the shadow under his brow, they were very wide open. "When the Cook auctioned you, I cashed in two whacks and three K. If you don't take it for Alan, he'll die a girl. A sad girl. All them prison bitches are sad."
"You payed... You bought me?" This was exactly what the Cook had made her agree to, she just couldn't believe a boy had bought her.