It takes a few more minutes than planned, but eventually, Katherine and I find ourselves in the foyer, waiting for my driver to pull up.
“Can I give you a lift home, Vivi?”
I turn to the sound of my father’s voice.
“I’d like to spend a few minutes with my daughter before she leaves for Jamaica,” he says.
I hug Katherine, promise to be at the train station on time, and take my father’s arm.
Grand Boulevard, Bronzeville, Chicago
Sitting beside Major Thomas in the limo, I stare straight ahead with my heart racing. “I was looking for you earlier this evening,” I say, “I wanted to talk about what happened before.”
I’ll begin with a quiet apology, but that takes confidence, so I just blurt out, “I should have told you sooner about the trust fund.”
Major Thomas looks at me sideways. “Yes, Vivian Jean, you should have. I’m disappointed you chose to keep it from me.” He pats my knee. “But it’s all water under the bridge.”
The use of inappropriate idioms must run in the family. It’s the same phrase that upset Tully when I said it, distasteful because of Clifford’s death. But the major lacks that level of insight or sensitivity.
He’s gone back to watching the scenery, content in the silence between us. But I’m in a confessional frame of mind.
“Father, there is something else.”
He turns slowly, smiling warmly. “Yes, go on.”
“There was a pickpocket at the party, and they took my pocket watch, but it was found by a young girl named Othella Montgomery.” I pull the pocket watch from my clutch bag. “It might’ve been lost if not for her.”
“I met Miss Montgomery, but it must’ve been before the incident. But I didn’t hear any grumbling about a thief,” he says, extending his hand. “Give it to me. I’ll have a new gold chain made. Next time you wear it, steer clear of con artists and pickpockets.”
Given his reaction to my apology about the trust fund and now this, I’m surprised. “You’re very understanding, Father.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. You have bigger fish to fry with this rushed trip to Jamaica.”
“When Tully and I return, we’ll all have dinner together, even Mother. Maybe we can arrange a family vacation.”
“Speaking of which …” He stuffs the watch into his vest pocket and takes my hand. “I made a few phone calls this afternoon and hired one of the Bronzeville Federal Savings and Loan scholarship students to join your expedition as your assistant. There’s another young lady I met at the Abbotts’ who my student wants to bring along. She’ll be helpful, too. I believe you met them both, Robbie Barnes and Othella Montgomery.”
I crank down the passenger door window. A blast of hot air strikes me in the face. “Mr. Barnes and Othella Montgomery,” I whisper their names.
“I trust you and Tully,” he begins, “but this way, you’ll have help that won’t cost you anything. I’ve covered their expenses.”
Unbelievable. My father has hired two kids to spy on me. They will send daily telegrams detailing my every action, word, deed, and failure. How dare he? I am thirty years old. I don’t need his kind of help. I can’t have them reportingback to him what I’m really going to Jamaica to do. I swallow and say, “Thank you, Father.”
“Now, don’t be too enthusiastic until you hear the rest of the surprise.” He smirks, sarcasm oozing from his lips. “I can’t spend the next month worrying about my only child living in Cockpit Country. So, I plan on paying you a visit.”
“What?” I must have misunderstood him. “Plan to visit me where?”
“In Jamaica, naturally.”
I can’t breathe.
PART TWO
THE BOAT, THE TRAIN, AND THE BEAST: SEPTEMBER 1935
CHAPTER 11
OTHELLA
