The Bootlegger’s Legacy (13 page)

Oh my goodness, her minister had just said that he loved her, wanted to be with her—what kind of sin was this? Bugs was speechless. She knew this was wrong. She knew she cared greatly for Todd, but not the same as she did for Pat. Why had Todd thought this, what had she done? She began to cry.

“Todd, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe you mean these things. You belong to the church. I’m a married woman. Oh my, I’m so sorry.”

“Bugs please, I know you’re married—but it’s a bad marriage. You should leave your husband and I will be here for you. I know it’s wrong, but I love you.”

Bugs couldn’t handle it and ran out of the room. She found her car and went home. It was early afternoon and no one was there. She knew Mike was still at school and she had no idea where Pat might be. She went upstairs and lay down for a while. She felt all mixed up. The church has been a safe place for her, but it couldn’t be that now. It was so sad. She cried some more. After a while she went downstairs and fixed some tea.

Bugs’ ambitions in life were small. She knew who she was—a wife and a mother—and that was all she wanted to be. She sure did not want to be someone’s lover. It repulsed her. She thought about Pat. She thought about Todd. She knew Pat was ten times more the man she wanted than Todd was. It shamed her that she had let Todd think otherwise. She knew why—she wanted someone to pay attention to her, and maybe she wanted to hurt Pat. The phone rang.

“Hello.”

“Hey Bugs. Just wanted to let you know I expect to be home pretty early tonight—thought maybe you and Mike might like to go out and have a hamburger, what do you say?”

“Sure, that sounds great. Mike’s not home yet, but he never turns down eating out, especially a hamburger.”

“Okay. See you a little later.”

What was that about? Pat almost never took them out to eat, and usually when he did it was a last minute sort of thing because Bugs hadn’t fixed what he wanted. This was preplanned and seemed joyful. While she was being propositioned by her minister of the church, Pat was planning a family outing—so who was the bad person? Sure the hell wasn’t Pat. Bugs started crying again and went upstairs.

Bugs knew she couldn’t go back to the church. It would be too embarrassing. She also wondered if other people had noticed that Todd was attracted to her. She knew what she had to do—she had to devote herself to Pat. She would forgive him everything he had done to hurt her. After all he was just a man, and apparently all men were weak and flawed. She would concentrate on being the best wife and mother anyone could ever be. These thoughts made Bugs feel a little better—she was back in control. She made a special effort to look her best for their evening out.

All of them enjoyed the evening, with Pat seeming to be having a really wonderful time. They went to Johnnie’s Grill and had onion burgers and fries. Mike thought it was the best food he’d ever eaten. Especially the french fries—with a huge amount of ketchup—and the Coca Cola, a treat he was seldom allowed. The whole restaurant smelled of onions and wood smoke. Several people came up and said hello to Pat, but he actually seemed more interested in his family than in these business contacts. Bugs felt more and more guilty.

Pat drove them home in the Cadillac with the top down. The whole evening felt unreal—like something from a storybook. Pat carried Mike into the house and up to his room. He came back down and gave Bugs a kiss on the cheek and said he had some office work to finish.

Bugs felt elated. She went upstairs and kissed Mike good night. She went into her room and changed into her most alluring lingerie and got into bed. She fell asleep. When she awoke it was morning and Pat wasn’t in bed—it appeared he hadn’t slept in the bed at all.

Bugs got dressed and went downstairs. Pat was gone. She didn’t know if he had left that morning or the night before. There was a note on the kitchen table.

Bugs Honey,

Sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye. Forgot to mention I had a business trip to Texas. Be gone a few days. See ya when I get back.

Pat

Bugs wondered if she was going insane.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma / Las Cruces, New Mexico

It was time for another trip to Las Cruces. Pat debated with himself about Giovanni’s threat and whether the trip put him closer to danger, but decided he had to go. He also decided he really wanted to invite Sally. She’d been a little cooler to him lately, no doubt because of the Giovanni incident, but he still craved her company. The trip to Las Cruces would be a lot more appealing if she were with him. He asked her, and while there was obvious reluctance, she agreed to go.

Pat had given more thought to Sally than to his business. He knew he wanted to have Sally in his life, but also knew it was impossible to continue this double existence. He had to make a decision of some kind about the business and about Sally. He needed to get on with whatever in the hell he was going to do. But he was reluctant—he wanted it all and knew he couldn’t have it.

Pat picked Sally up at her apartment and they had headed to Wiley Post. It looked like a nice day to be flying, the morning bright and sunny as they became airborne. Pat was happy just thinking about flying, so the moment the plane left the ground was always exhilarating to him. While he understood the concept behind flight, it was still very exciting for that huge, heavy machine to lift off the ground and climb smoothly into the sky.

The flight was uneventful. Sally napped. Maybe it was a way to avoid conversation. They had discussed the Giovanni mess very little and it seemed to hang over their heads. Pat knew that something would have to happen and that his days with Sally were about over, but he hadn’t voiced any of this to her. He also knew that she was more than likely thinking some of the same things. Their relationship was now different. They had pretended before that they could go on in this playful way without worrying about it ending, but now they knew it would last only a little while longer.

Pat had been trying to think about all of the ramifications of any course he decided to take. He knew a decision couldn’t be avoided. His business had been important to him, and in many ways had defined who he was, but he was ready for that to be over. Add Giovanni’s threats, and he was sure he wanted nothing more to do with this kind of life. But the decision about Sally was harder, and he couldn’t seem to settle on an answer. He knew what was right, but it wasn’t what he wanted.

They chatted during the flight about clouds, about various landmarks they could pick out, and about the remaining time to reach El Paso—but said nothing about what was really on their minds. Once in El Paso, they had a late lunch at the terminal while the plane was being refueled, then quickly lifted off for the short flight to Las Cruces. Emerson was supposed to leave a car at the airstrip with the keys hidden under the seat—not much crime in Las Cruces, so it was probably still there. Sally was relieved that they would have the car waiting so she wouldn’t have to be around Emerson again.

Pat was aware that some weather issues had come up around the Las Cruces and El Paso area, but they were just rain showers so he didn’t anticipate any problems. As he approached Las Cruces, though, the weather thickened. Clouds could be a serious problem in being able to get low enough to get a visual on the airstrip and Pat was getting a little worried. He was a good pilot, but he was still an amateur who made a point not to fly in bad weather conditions. He knew he had plenty of fuel and could head back to El Paso or up to Albuquerque if Las Cruces was socked in.

As they continued to Las Cruces, the clouds became too thick to see anything on the ground. “Looks like we may have to turn around and go back to El Paso—don’t worry we’re not in any danger.” His monotone announcement didn’t seem to settle Sally’s nerves. She was glued to her seat and her eyes never left the cockpit windows.

Once they reach the area above Las Cruces, there seemed to be a break in the clouds. Pat banked the plane over a large clear circle where he could see the ground below. “Sally, I believe we can spin down through that hole in the clouds and land in Las Cruces. This is going to feel a lot more dangerous to you than it is. I practiced just this type of maneuver when I was in flight school. Are you okay with that?” The answer in her expression was
no
, but she said she was—as she gripped the armrests with all of her strength.

The break in the clouds looked like it was closing. If Pat was going to do this, it would have to be now.

“Sally, you’re sure you’re okay with this?”

“Yes, damn it—do it, I’m ready.”

She sounded tense, but Pat thought it was the right decision so he began his maneuver.

Many planes are equipped with alarms to warn pilots if they’re about to stall or if their descent or ascent is too steep. Pat’s plane had those alarms, but he’d forgotten about them and hadn’t told Sally about any sort of alarm. As he was starting the spiral maneuver to spin down into the hole in the clouds, the descent alarm went off. It was loud—very loud and very disconcerting, as it was designed to be—and suddenly, along with the alarm, came the sound of Sally screaming. She had been doing just fine until the alarm started and then—sort of like a dog howling at a fire truck siren—she had begun shrieking in a strange accompaniment to the plane’s alarm. Pat concentrated very hard on the task at hand, but the combination of the alarm and Sally’s screaming unnerved him, and for reasons he would never be able to fully explain, he started singing his high school fight song.

Alarm, alarm, alarm.

Scream, scream, scream.

“Go team go. Fight team fight.”

The spin through the clouds to the tune of this unholy clamor lasted only a few minutes, but it seemed like hours. As the ground began to come up at them, Pat backed off the spiral. They were closer to the ground than Pat wanted, but he still had room to level the plane and line up the airstrip, which was off in the distance about a mile. Once the plane was leveled and lined up, he let out a deep breath. “Son of a bitch—are you okay Sally?”

Sally was wide-eyed, staring straight ahead. After a moment she began to laugh. It was contagious, and within a few seconds they were both laughing. They laughed so hard that it edged toward being painful. And even with the laughter, the landing was silk smooth—best landing he’d had ever made. They continued to laugh uncontrollably all the way to the plane parking area. Once parked, they simply sat while tears streamed down their faces.

“You know, Pat, I am going to miss you.” She gave him a peck on the cheek—and one of her famous smiles. They were both happy to be alive.

They hauled their luggage out to the car.
Where’s Emerson when you need him?
Even though the clouds were thick, there was only a slight mist falling. They found the key where it was supposed to be and headed to the hotel. They checked into the same room as the previous time and cleaned themselves up a little. Pat said he needed to run downtown to Citizen’s Bank to check on something, then would be back in about an hour and they could go get something to drink. Sally reminded him that she hadn’t even been to Las Cruces yet and wondered if she could go along for the ride. Pat saw no problem with it, so they headed out to the bank.

Sally was surprised at how small Las Cruces was. She liked the look of it, but there wasn’t much there. Although when Pat drove past New Mexico State University it was bigger than Sally had thought it would be. They circled around town some, even though there wasn’t a lot to see. At the bank, Sally went in with Pat but waited in the lobby while Pat went into an office to meet with one of the staff. The lobby seemed more like it belonged in a hotel than in a bank, and Sally remembered Pat telling her that the building had housed a brothel many years before. She chuckled at the thought of the same building housing both a brothel and a bank—somehow it seemed appropriate. Sally didn’t have a lot of respect for banks or bankers.

Pat quickly completed his business and they returned to Old Mesilla. Having a drink before dinner sounded inviting and the atmosphere of the lobby bar was particularly enjoyable, with its old world charm. It had a calming effect on their frayed nerves and they were soon enjoying a more intimate conversation.

Over drinks, Pat told Sally about the cabin he’d purchased in Hot Springs, or as it was now known, Truth or Consequences. The cabin was located just outside T or C, on a large lake called Elephant Butte. The name made Sally laugh—he loved it when she laughed. They made plans to go see the cabin the next day. Pat would have time in the morning to drop in on Emerson and sign some papers first.

While it would have been logical to try a new place for dinner, they decided to stick with the familiar, and that meant La Posta—hello margaritas and heartburn. They held hands as they walked the short distance to the restaurant and the evening air seemed especially fresh and wonderful. Maybe the spinning dive in the plane that day wasn’t exactly cheating death, but the emotions and the adrenaline sure made it feel that way. They’d shared something that gave them a whole new appreciation of being alive and being with someone you loved.