CHAPTER TWENTY - Convicted
This is Chapter 20 of Lanterns of Babylon. If you would like to read the story from the beginning, please click on the pink tabs above.
This is Chapter 20 of Lanterns of Babylon. If you would like to read the story from the beginning, please click on the pink tabs above.
Betty came and
bailed Josh out of jail. They walked down the long corridor of the police
department past pictures of Officers of the Month. Betty was not happy.
“I don’t mind
these late afternoon visits to the drunk tank, but could you tell me why you
turned down Coppola?”
“I didn’t like the
script.”
“You haven’t liked
a script since “Street Shadow”.”
“I need a
challenge, Betty. The last script I saw that I liked was “Bound for Glory”, but
Carradine tied that one up.” Betty shook her head. Josh Smythe was on top of
the world. He won an Oscar for the role of Speedo. Five of the top ten all time
grossing movies starred Josh Smythe. He was briefly married to Carlise St.
James, regarded by many as the world’s most beautiful woman. After six months,
they had an amicable divorce, citing career interference. Josh wanted to act.
Carlise wanted to continue modeling in France.
There was nothing
Josh couldn’t have, but he’d become very choosy with scripts. It was becoming
harder and harder to top himself.
“At least you
don’t need to work,” said Betty.
A more sober Josh
looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“Remember what the
judge said last time? You will have your license suspended. That’s going to go
on for a year. I’ll call Malibu Limo and arrange a chauffeur for you.”
He gave her a
dismissive wave. “Whatever floats your boat.”
As they came out
of the station, a half dozen photographers were waiting for him. Light bulbs
flashed as Josh waved at them.
“I can’t seem to
lose you guys,” he said with a smile.
“This way!”
shouted a photographer.
“Over here, Josh!”
screamed another one.
“They must have
all radios with police bands” sniffed Betty. “Let’s get you home.”
On the way to his
house, Betty stopped for groceries.
“You’re going to
need some solid food in you,” she said.
“Yes mother,” he
replied.
While she was in
the market, Josh pulled the car seat back and fell asleep. He had a hangover
that was turning mean. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, Betty
returned, tossing the full bags on the back seat.
“Let’s go Mr.
Smythe, before the ice cream melts.”
Twenty minutes
later, they pulled up in Josh’s driveway and Betty turned her engine off.
“Thanks Betty.
I’ll get the groceries.” He reached into the back for a bag.
“Listen Josh, I
want to thank you.”
“It’s no problem,
I’ve got the light bag.”
She shook her head. “That’s not why I’m
thanking you.” There was something in her voice that got his attention.
“What is it?”
She took a breath.
“You are my biggest client. You’ve made me a millionaire several times
over. But it’s time I got out.” This was
a surprise.
“You’re getting
out? But you’re only in your…late forties?”
he said, taking a guess.
“More like
fifty-four, but thanks. I’m going to announce it to the agency tomorrow.” Josh
sat in the front seat, holding the grocery sack. This was more of a shock than
a surprise.
“Nothing I’ve done
I hope.” This bit of news was sobering him up fast.
“Of course not.
You’ve been a lot less trouble than some I’ve had. I just want to spend time
with my family and do a little traveling.”
“Who’s going to
handle me?”
“Abe Firestone has
been slobbering over you for years. Charles and Tina are taking over at the
agency. I’d recommend you stay with them, but Abe’s good too.”
He nodded. “I
trust your advice Betty. You know I do.” On shaky legs, he hefted the groceries
and got out of the car. As he got out, she started her engine. Josh didn’t miss
the tears welling up in Betty’s eyes.
“Gotta go Josh.
Bye.”
“So long Betty.
You’re welcome here anytime.” He changed arms with the groceries and watched
her drive off. Then he found his keys and entered the Malibu house. “Good old
Betty,” he said to himself.
He checked his
handsome features in the entry way mirror. His head throbbed. He had become a
health nut, swearing off drugs and exercising regularly. He still had his
occasional drinking binges, but at thirty-three, he was in pretty good shape.
Maybe I’ll grow my hair out again, he thought.
Yep, he was on top
of the world. And despite dozens of affairs and a six-month marriage, he
realized that his agent was the best friend he’d ever had. And while she
mentioned her family, he only knew about her husband. Did Betty have any kids?
How old were they? Yes sir, she was his closest friend. And she was getting out
of his life.
Judd dreamed about
Goldie. They were having a picnic in a meadow. He could hear children playing
near by, but he couldn’t see them. In his dream, Goldie was tugging at his
sleeve.
“Judd?” He turned,
but Goldie wasn’t there. He could hear her voice and feel the tug at his
sleeve. “Judd?” He kept looking out at the meadow, looking for Goldie. Where
was she? “Judd.”
Jerry stood over
him. A doctor was also standing over him, speaking French.
“Where am I?”
Jerry turned and
spoke to someone. “He’s conscious.” Mickey Yulin and Lena Welch, the
cinematographer came into view.
“How are you
feeling, Judd?” Judd couldn’t clear his head. His vision was blurred. The
doctor was doing something to his leg. His eyes moved to his right leg. It was
heavily bandaged and in a splint.
“What happened?”
Then he went back to the dream meadow.
The second time he
woke up, Judd recognized Lena.
“Hey lady, why
aren’t you on the location shooting?” Lena, one of the finest cinematographers
from Norway, reached over and patted him on the shoulder.
“It’s Sunday,” she
said in her thick, Norwegian accent. “Jerry just left. It’s my turn to watch
you.”
Judd was doing the
math in his head. Sunday. Now he remembered. The stunt…gag, had been performed
on Friday.
“I’ve been out
three days?”
“You’ve been out
for nine days. I’ll go see the doctor.”
“Hey,” he said in
a weak, unfamiliar voice. She turned. “Did you get the shot?”
She gave him a
pained smile. “We had four cameras rolling. We got it.”
She left the room.
He had never been so thirsty. He looked around for a glass. There was a buzzer
to call the nurse. He reached for it. At least he tried to reach for it, but
his arm wouldn’t move. In fact, he couldn’t even feel his arms…or anything
below his neck for that matter.
“Get me some
cigarettes.” Senta looked into Kayla’s dark, angry eyes. This was not a polite
request. It was a demand.
When the women’s
unit got a weightlifting room, Kayla was the first customer. In eighteen months,
she built an already impressive figure into a super human. At five-ten and a
hundred and sixty-five pounds, she was solid muscle and stronger than a lot of
men. Her white, blond hair was barely a crew cut. At first glance, Kayla looked
like a muscle bound male. Her temper and physicality was as strong as any male.
Senta’s only
contact with the woman was drug transactions only. Now they were in the
cafeteria and Kayla was sitting opposite Senta, making her demand.
“Get me some
cigarettes now or you’ll regret it.” Senta looked helplessly at her fellow
inmates who were suddenly interested in their food.
“Anyone here have
cigarettes?” she asked those nearest her. All of a sudden, the whole table was
full of non-smokers. Kayla’s nostrils flared and her eyes burned a hole in her.
“You get me some
cigarettes or I’ll break your pretty little neck.”
Senta got up and
looked around. Who had cigarettes on them? That new girl, the one they’d
brought in yesterday. New ones always had cigarettes. She walked to a couple of
tables over.
“Hey you!” Senta
cried harshly. With eyes full of fear, the girl looked up. “Give me your
cigarettes.” The girl started to say something and Senta took a threatening
step closer. “Now!” The girl shook her head.
“I…I don’t smoke.”
Great. Five hundred women and she picked the only one with clean lungs.
Senta looked
desperately over to the next table. She picked out Tonia, a weak, timid woman.
Tonia would give her a cigarette, or she’d be sorry.
“Hey, Tonia!”
Senta felt a hand on her shoulder. She froze.
“Take mine.” Senta
turned to face Anna, a woman about fifty five years old. She was bird-thin and
had iron-grey hair. Her gray eyes, however, always looked soft and friendly.
Senta grabbed the four cigarettes that were in Anna’s hand.
“That all you
got?”
Anna nodded. “If I
had more, you could have them.” Senta gave Anna a curt nod and headed back over
to Kayla. Kayla took the cigarettes with a sneer.
“These aren’t my
normal brand,” said Kayla. Senta did a mental somersault. She was dealing with
a violent, crazy lady. Before she could reply, Kayla turned on her heels and
headed for the weight room. Senta sat back down at the table. Suddenly she
wasn’t hungry.
Two days later,
Senta was on mop detail in the prison library. She saw Anna working the
counter, checking a book out to another inmate. The woman was a pleasant sort.
Senta didn’t really know her. As she squeezed the mop out, Anna called over to
her.
“Do you need any
more ammonia?” Senta shook her head and continued mopping. After a few moments,
Anna spoke to her again. “You’re lucky to have mop duty today.”
“Yeah? How’s
that?”
Anna gave her a
broad smile. “Someone stopped up the toilets last night. Cleaning out those
toilets wouldn’t be fun today. Phew!”
Senta laughed. “I suppose you had something to
do with that?”
“No ma’am,” said
Anna. “A couple of girls from D Block stuffed ‘em up as a protest for the
prison conditions.”
“Oh, I’m sure
that’ll change things,” Senta muttered sarcastically.
Anna flipped
through some cards and re-organized them. “A church in Brentwood sent us some
books. I can’t wait to get my hands on that Billy Graham biography.”
Senta spoke as she mopped. “What’s so great
about that book?”
“He inspires
me…makes me feel good.”
“How can you be
inspired in this place?”
“I don’t know.
This is a good place to be inspired, I guess.”
Senta dunked the mop into the dirty water,
then squeezed it out. “You’ve been here too long. It’s made you crazy.”
“Since 1956,” was
Anna’s reply.
“What did you do,
knock over a bank?”
“Something like
that.”
“I don’t know how
you’ve survived this hole. I feel like I’ve been here all my life.”
Anna put the card
file up. “Once I accepted Jesus as my savior, it’s been a lot easier.”
Senta put a hand
on her hip and scowled at the woman. “What’s with you holy rollers? Jesus
always seems to be the answer. Look at you.
Look at where you are. You’re in prison honey. What can Jesus do for you
in here?”
Anna looked Senta in the eye. Her gray eyes
sparkled. “I have peace. I don’t fear the future. In fact, I look forward to
being immortal.”
Senta shook her
head. “You’re a religious nut.”
Anna walked around
the counter and took the mop from Senta. “Let me.”
Senta gestured to the grey, institutional
floor. “Knock yourself out.”
As Anna mopped, she
spoke softly, reverently. “I hated with all my heart. No one could help
me.” Anna looked up at her. “I wasn’t
anything like you Senta. I was you.”
“You don’t even
know me,” sniffed Senta.
Anna continued
mopping. “I was a lot harder case than you are sweetie. You want to know evil?
You’d find my picture in the dictionary right by that word.”
Senta sat down at
the table and took out some gum. She propped her feet up in a chair and popped
a piece of Juicy Fruit in her mouth.
“Okay, you were a
bad kitty cat, so what?”
Anna’s voice was
patient, kind. “I was given a Bible by the prison chaplain. One night, out of
pure boredom, I started to read it. I read the book of Matthew. It told a
wonderful story about how Jesus came to this world and taught goodness. And the
part that always grabbed me was how he treated sinners.”
Senta gave her a
mean smile. “I’ll bet He gave them what for.”
Anna shook her
head. “No. That’s just it. He was kind to sinners. He opened His heart up to
them.”
“Then He was a big
sucker.”
“No Senta. He had
such understanding, they were drawn to him.” Senta silently chewed on her gum.
Anna continued. “You think cocaine’s great? I’ll tell you what’s great. I read
the book of Matthew, and I wanted more. I read the other gospels, then the books
written by Paul.”
At the mention of
Paul, Senta’s mind instantly went to her friend of the same name.
“Paul was even
worse than we were, Senta. He persecuted Christians. He was full of hate and
sin. He crusaded against Christians, he held the coats of those who stoned
Stephen, a servant of Christ. But Jesus changed his heart like He changed
mine.”
“Paul,” Senta said
thoughtfully.
“And God forgave
me of my sins, Senta.”
Senta stared at
this frail woman who held the mop. “God forgave you? Well that’s great. That’s
really great. Are you saying He can forgive me?”
“Of course. You
just need to acknowledge Him as Lord.”
Senta felt
overwhelming sadness for this woman. She was delusional. “Let me tell you
something, Anna. You’re a nice lady, but your God won’t forgive me.”
“He doesn’t care
about your past.”
“My past? What do
you know about my past? What does He know? I was a prostitute in Vegas. During
that time, I took drugs, I sold drugs, I shot drugs, inhaled them, swallowed
them and I can’t begin to tell you about the other rotten things I did.” Senta
let that sink in, then continued. “I’ve cheated, lied and stole money, jewelry,
anything I could get my hands on.”
“God doesn’t care
about any of that, Senta. You just have to confess Jesus as your savior. God
will forgive you if you are truly a believer.”
Senta tried to
stifle a laugh. It came out as a snort. “Try this for size. I got pregnant. The
precautions I took didn’t work. When I found out, I immediately did something.
I got an abortion.” She watched Anna’s face, waiting to see shock and disgust,
but Anna remained passive, sympathetic. Senta continued. “Does God forgive
abortion? From what I hear, He doesn’t.”
Anna walked over
to the counter and pulled out a small, tattered purse. She fished around and
pulled out a picture.
“Here,” said Anna.
She showed Senta the picture of a little three-year-old girl. It was black and
white with wavy edges around it. The little girl was chubby and wore a ribbon
in her hair. She smiled at the camera, showing deep, friendly dimples. “That
was Susan. Cheerful, sweet Susan. She was deaf. Couldn’t hear a thing. When I
had her, and found out she couldn’t hear, I blamed God. But I took it out on
her.” Anna let Senta hold the picture of Susan. Then she turned away. “I took it
out on her and I killed my little girl.”
