Jan Burke - Remember Me, Irene

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’ve offended you. And you’re right, it’s unkind of me. Nothing personal against Maureen-I hardly know her. I started calling my mom ‘Tres’ as a joke some years ago-she’s my father’s third wife. Just a joke, not an insult. I suppose it was an attempt to cope with my ‘stepmother’ situation. Maureen is my father’s fifth wife, but I’ve lost count of all the other women my father asked me to form some sort of mother-daughter relationship with-you were one of them.”

I felt my cheeks growing warm.

“I’m not criticizing you, Irene. It’s my father’s problem, not yours. You and some of the others were good to me, but most-Maureen included-have no interest in me whatsoever. For the most part, it’s mutual.” With an impish grin, she added, “I do have some marvelous dirt on some of them from the attic days!”

“I had forgotten about that feature of the attic room,” I said. “You mean your dad never found out how well sound carried up through those heating ducts?”

“Never! Isn’t that rich?”

I couldn’t help but return her grin. As we walked a little farther, though, we both grew silent and serious. “Are you doing okay?” I asked.

“You mean because of my father’s illness?”

“Yes.”

She stopped walking and said, “Are you talking to me as a reporter or as my friend?”

“Your friend, of course.”

“Then I’ll tell you the truth. Of course I’m worried about Andre. But for Jerry’s sake. That’s all. I know you think I’m a terrible daughter, but I can’t lie to you about that. You’ve watched me struggle with all of this over the years, Irene. Before you judge me, think about what it would be like to have Andre for a father.”

“Not exactly a typical childhood, I suppose.”

She sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t know about other people. I just know I can’t change Andre, can’t make him a different father. Sick or well, he will never love me. It’s a simple fact. I could wallow in self-pity over that, but I prefer not to. I’ve got my mom, I’ve got Jerry, I’ve got friends like you. Andre ceased to matter to me long ago, but not before I ceased to matter to him.”

I thought about my father. I had been a rebellious daughter, but I had never questioned his love for me. Lisa was right; my childhood was nothing like her own.

“You were in my father’s house when I was growing up,” she continued. “Are you surprised by my feelings?”

“No,” I admitted. “Andre’s just reaping what he has sown.”

THE BURGER JOINT, currently being called the Lucky Golden Palace, didn’t appear to be any of these things. Lisa ordered a burger and fries, I ordered a salad.

“Jerry know anything about the meeting your dad was at last night?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

She laughed. “I wondered when you’d ask about that. I suppose I smell the same rat you do. Some redevelopment connection, obviously. Roland Hill buys old run-down properties, Corbin Tyler designs new buildings for them, Keene Dage builds what Corbin draws and Roland pays for.”

“With money Ben Watterson’s bank has loaned.”

“Right. The head of the Redevelopment Agency reports to-or reported to-Allan Moffett. My father has supplied a lot of statistical studies for redevelopment projects over the years. Booter Hodges arranges for the college to get grant money from the city for the studies.”

It was good to be talking to someone who understood all of the political and economic connections. “That’s the dinner party. So what’s your guess? Why would Allan resign?”

“You don’t have any leads?”

I considered telling her what I had heard from Charlotte Brady about Allan Moffett’s visitor, but decided against it. Charlotte hadn’t insisted on confidentiality, but if she got another job in city hall, I wanted her to think of me as someone who could be trusted.

“Nothing very substantial,” I said.

“Maybe I can help you, Irene.”

I looked up from my salad.

“Roland Hill has expressed concern about my father. Maybe I could ask him about the meeting, ask if anything upset Andre.”

“I don’t know-”

“Why not? I’m staying in town a little longer than I had planned. I don’t want to leave Jerry here to cope with all of this alone. The next time I see Roland, I’ll ask.”

“Just ask him to return my phone calls.” I wasn’t too excited about the idea of getting a story second- or thirdhand. “Tell me what you’ve been doing for Barton Sawyer lately.”

The change of subject didn’t seem to bother her. In fact, she became quite animated. As she talked about her job, it was apparent that she respected her boss.

“He’s been so good to me,” she said. “Once I had my master’s, I was afraid I’d be pigeonholed, that he’d have me working on demographics forever. But he’s allowed me to branch out from there, to pursue my own goals.”

“Still, your background in statistics has been helpful to him, I’m sure,” I said.

“Of course, it’s very useful. And it will help me plan my own campaign. I guess I do owe that to Andre-I was never afraid of numbers.”

“So you aren’t completely without admiration for him?”

“‘Admiration’ might be a little too strong,” she admitted. “But I’m not ungrateful. Barton pointed a few things out to me. He said that Andre taught me to be thorough, not to be afraid to take on challenges, to follow through on what I started. He was right.”

“You turned out just fine, Andre or no Andre.”

“Jerry did, too.”

“I don’t know your brother very well. Is he still teaching at Las Piernas College?”

“Yes. I don’t know if he’s happy there or not.” She bit her lower lip. “Let’s quit talking about sociologists. Tell me about your husband. He’s a cop, right?”

“Yes, a homicide detective.”

“Homicide!” Her eyes widened. “How did you meet him?”

“Meet him? Hmm. We met a long time ago-remember when I moved to Bakersfield?”

“Of course. I was just a kid, and I thought I’d never see you again. You mean you’ve dated this guy for a dozen years and never told me about him?”

“No-we didn’t date then. But we met there, and became friends. I moved back here, and as it turned out, he moved here, too. There were a number of years in between the two moves, and all kinds of complications once we were both here. We finally got together last summer.”

“Last summer? And now you’re married? Las Piernas must have been a little more conducive to romance than Bakersfield.”

“It wasn’t that,” I said. “It was the timing as much as anything. Besides, I was a green reporter, he was a rookie cop, and even among the more experienced ranks, members of the two professions are discouraged from mixing socially-for good reasons.”

“I can see why. He might leak information to you, you might not be as critical of the police as you need to be.”

“Among other problems. But Frank’s worth the hassles I get at work, and so far, he seems to think I’m worth the ones he gets where he works.”

“Any chance of my meeting him before I go back to San Diego?”

“Sure. His schedule is pretty erratic, but we can try. Why don’t you come over for dinner on Monday? I’ll check with Frank and let you know if there are any problems.”

ICAME BACK TO MY DESK to find a voice-mail message waiting for me. Jerry Selman had returned my call.

“Hello, Irene,” the message said. “I’m glad you called. I’m here at the college now. I’ll be in my office until three.” He left his work number.

I started to dial the number, hung up, and walked over to the city desk to tell Lydia where I’d be.