“It was weird to be back. When you’re black and poor and hopeless, you don’t make plans, Sergeant. You don’t see a future. You just go with the flow and that’s what I did. But Leroy, dumb ole Leroy, he was the one who kept pushing for the fantasy. He kept knocking on doors, the crazy fool. I told Leroy to forget about the tapes, but he wouldn’t give up. Then one day, I get this call…”

Wenderhole looked down.

“It’s from Leroy and he don’t sound so good.”

Marge nodded.

“He don’t sound so good emotionally, but I was also having a hard time hearing him. He was talking on a cell phone, and fifteen years ago, cell phones weren’t what they are now. They were also really expensive. The only ones who had them were doctors and dealers.”

“That’s true.”

“He had to call back a few times because the static was real bad and the call kept getting dropped. It was about nine or ten in the evening. He asked me…could I come pick him up and take him home. I asked him where he was. He told me Clearwater Park.”

Marge’s heart started slamming against her chest. “I see…”

“Yeah, we all see it now, but this was after the fact. I asked him what he was doing there. He said he had business. I asked him what kind of business. He said he’d tell me when I picked him up. I told him I didn’t have a car and I wasn’t about to drive twenty-five miles out to the Valley to get his sorry ass back where it should be.”

“What did he say?”

“He started crying. That’s when I knew something nasty had happened.”

“Did you go?”

“Of course. I wasn’t going to leave him in a bad situation. I didn’t have a car, so I boosted my neighbor’s Chevy. I figured I’d have it back before the old woman woke up. I drove the freeway out there, hoping that along the way, I wouldn’t run into a cop itching to crack a black head. The good Lord was with me. I made it to the park in record time and without any incidents.

“The place was deserted. The streets were deserted. The park is a big one, and there were spots where it was as dark as sin. It was just lucky that I found Leroy ’cause he was sitting on a bench. He was shaking and I could tell he was really scared about something. I asked him what happened. He pulled out some cash…a couple hundred bucks, which was a fortune of money. I asked him how he got it.”

“What he’d say?”

“Dealing…he said he got it dealing.”

“And what did you think?”