Theo of Golden: A Novel by Allen Levi - 40

It was another of those nights. A night of inexplicable sleeplessness.

It was well after midnight, late September, when summer and early autumn competed for dominance. Cool, calm, quiet.

Theo got out of bed, opened the door, and stood on the landing overlooking the river. It called to him. He stepped back inside, dressed, put on a light coat, and set out for a stroll.

He kept a firm grip on the handrail as he stepped down the back stairs. The streets were dark, empty, and silent. He could hear the shuffle of his steps echo around him as he made his way to the river. “Ghost town” was the phrase that came to Theo’s mind.

When he arrived at the Riverwalk, he stood at ease, hands clasped behind him. Faint light from both sides of the river shimmered on top of the Oxbow, as if a cache of diamonds was being floated to some distant destination.

The thought of water filled Theo’s mind. The incessance of its movement.

The hidden life beneath its surface.

The utter dependence of all living things on its presence.

The gentle beauty and surprising strength of its flow.

Its surrender to forces about and around it: gravity, temperature, ingratitude.

The deathlessness of it.

At some point, Theo’s mind rested, and he gave way, like a floating leaf, to the peacefulness of the current .

He turned to walk again, southward, looking down, deep in thought. The silence and sense of aloneness were total, which caused Theo nearly to stumble and fall when a figure approached him from the shadows.

The man was by himself, dressed darkly, hands hidden in the pockets of a jacket.

Theo froze. He had been warned about walking the streets alone late at night. The man was obviously coming straight at him. Theo’s heart pounded in his chest and he felt himself stagger. He avoided eye contact with the approaching figure.

When the two were only four steps apart, the stranger spoke. There was an eerie distance to the voice, as if it was being piped in through a tunnel.

“Mr. Theo, is that you?”

It was Kendrick.

Theo looked up but had no breath for a reply.

“Mr. Theo, what in the world you doin’ down here this time of night?” The tone was that of a parent scolding a child.

Still no reply. Then, in broken phrases, and with a feeble laugh, Theo finally spoke. “I’m sorry, Kendrick. I’m afraid you startled me. My, my.” He took a breath. “Please just let me catch . . . I was startled.”

“I didn’t mean to scare you, Mr. Theo, but what are you doin’ here? This’s mighty late for you to be walkin’ ‘round alone.”

They took a few steps to the nearby bench where Kendrick had been sitting moments before, mulling over the events of his long day.

“I walk here sometimes when I can’t sleep,” Theo said, still shaken. “There’s never been anyone here before.”

“Well, sometimes there are people down here, and they not always the best people to run into by yourself. Some of the people who live under the bridge can be crazy in the dark.”

Theo’s breath was slow and labored as he regained his composure. “I suppose so.” He exhaled audibly. “But Kendrick, what are you doing here?”

“I’m on my break. I been cleaning that building over there,” he nodded toward the university offices, “and I came down here to think. I don’t come down here much, but I felt like being alone tonight.”

Theo sensed a heaviness in Kendrick’s voice. “And how is Lamisha today?”

“She’s awright. But we had a hard day today. That’s what I came down here to think about.”

Theo looked his way, as if to say, “Tell me more,” which Kendrick seemed eager to do.

“We had to go to court today, about the accident, the one where Lamisha got hurt. The State has charges on the little man who caused it, and the lawyers wanted us there since she was the victim. They want to lock him up. Lamisha was so scared to go to the courtroom — I was too. She thought that man was gonna be like a monster or something. Me too. We never seen him before. The DA — his name is Mr. Derrick Prince or something like that — he wanted us to be there to tell the judge how we feel about it and how it messed up our lives. Lamisha’s too little to say anything, but the lawyer wanted the judge to see how she walks now.

Theo nodded. “That dear child.”

“So, Mr. Theo, when they brought that little man into the courtroom, he wasn’t hardly a big as a kid. He’s a man, older than me, but still just real small. He’s been in jail all this time, and I could tell he was scared to death. Had him in handcuffs, and he can’t talk in English ‘cause he’s from Guatemala, so they had to have a woman there who could speak for him and tell him everything we were saying. You could tell he was terrified.”

Kendrick shook his head and looked at the pavement.

“And when the woman pointed to Lamisha and told him that that was the little girl he hurt, you know what he did? He started crying, I mean crying hard, and he put his hands together and held them up like he was saying a prayer to us, and he started trying to say something to me and Lamisha, real soft, but I don’t know what he was saying ‘cause the lawyer was talking to the judge, but I think he was telling me he was sorry. He didn’t look like no monster, Mr. Theo. He was just a sad, little man and scared to death.”

Theo shook his head. “That dear child.”

“And then the judge and the lawyer did some legal talk and told the little man some things. I didn’t understand it, and he didn’t have no lawyer, so I don’t think he understood it even though the lady tried to tell him. But then they asked him what happened, and he told ‘em.

“He said he been living up in Fincher County for fourteen years. He’s a bricklayer. He’s an illegal, but he been working here all that time and never been in no trouble. Somehow he got caught for something, and they sent him back to Guatemala. But he didn’t stay there. He came all the way back.

“And the lawyer told him, ‘You know that’s against the law, don’t you?’ And the little man told him, ‘Yes, sir,’ but he said he had to come back. And the lawyer said, ‘Why did you have to come back?’, kind of with an attitude, like, ‘Naw, you didn’t have to come back. You could’ve stayed where you belonged.’ And the little man said, ‘Because of my little girl.’

“Mr. Theo, he’s got a little girl, eight years old, just like Lamisha, and she lives in Fincher County. She was born there, and she’s been stayin’ there with her mama till her daddy could get back.

“Mr. Theo, sumpin’s wrong with his little girl — she’s real sick — and he said he had to come back, so he could work and help take care of her. He said they’s no good cancer doctors in Guatemala. Then he said this, Mr. Theo; he said, ‘I love my little girl, and I had to come back’ . . .

“It took him three months, and when he crossed over in Texas, he borrowed a car from somebody, so he could drive home to his family. He drove at night, so he wouldn’t get caught again. And he came through Houston and New Orleans and Mobile and Montgomery, and he was coming through Golden, almost back to Fincher County, and he was tired, and he fell asleep or got drowsy or something. And that’s when he hit Lamisha.

“They had to take him to the hospital, but soon as he got well, they took him to jail. And he’s been there ever since, just a couple miles from here. Mr. Theo, he still hasn’t seen his little girl. Over a year, and still hasn’t seen her yet.”

Theo and Kendrick sat silently as the words sank in.

“So the judge and the DA gotta figure out what to do with him. And they asked me what did I think. Man, that ain’t my job! But they’re talking about locking him up for a felony, for ten years or something ‘cause Lamisha’s mama died in the crash. He didn’t have no license, no insurance, and no legal papers. So, they trying to figure out what to do with him.

“Anyway, I’m supposed to go talk with the DA tomorrow, Mr. Derrick, and tell him what I think. He seems like an OK guy, and he’s real sorry for what happened to Lamisha. I know the little man wasn’t supposed to be here in Georgia and all that, but I swear, when I was sittin’ there lookin’ at him, and when he prayed his hands together and said somethin’ to us, all I could see was one little man who loves his baby girl lookin’ at another little man who loves his baby girl.

“I know the judge and the DA gon’ do what they gon’ to do, but I just want to say the right thing tomorrow, so that’s what I was sittin’ here thinkin’ about when you walked up. So, maybe the Lord put you here to help me figure this out, Mr. Theo. What you think I should tell ‘em?”

Theo pondered before answering.

“Just tell him what you think is right, Kendrick. Be as kind as you can.

Do that.”

Kendrick looked at his hands, clasped between his knees, and shook his head. “Mm, mm, mm. And Lamisha is worried sick about that little man too. And his little girl.” He exhaled a long sigh. “Come on, Mr. Theo, I gotta get back to work. Let me walk you back up. I know this is a nice quiet place to think and stuff, but you don’t need to be here by yourself again.”