250 hours, p.14
250 Hours, page 14
A look of doubt crossed Gus’s face. But it was replaced by resignation. “Waz takin’ so long?” he slurred. “Only got a few weeks to live.” He looked up at them with a hangdog expression. “Liver cancer. Gonna die soon.” The officer narrowed his eyes with disbelief.
Gus’s head wobbled on his neck as he tried to focus on the officer. “You gonna let my kid go?”
Jess held his breath and squeezed his fists together. The metal handcuffs dug into his wrists. Jess trembled with a new kind of anger. His dad was going to be locked up for the last few weeks of his pitiful life. He turned away, unable to look at him any more.
The officer nodded. “Your kid’s got an alibi, corroborated by Chief Duck. If you’re saying you did it, we can’t keep him,” he said and hoisted Gus to his feet. “Let’s get you inside to sober up.”
Gus shuffled past. Jess could feel his eyes on him but refused to meet them. He was throwing away his last chance to be a father by trying to be a hero.
< • >
Kokum sat on the front steps of her house. A chipmunk danced around, tracking the bread crumbs she tossed to it. Jess had walked to the edge of town and then hitched a ride to the reserve. He hadn’t eaten all day and dragged his feet across her yard. The late afternoon sun reflecting in the front windows blinded him.
Jess sat down beside her. “I didn’t do it. He’s going to go to jail because he thinks I burned down that fucking school!” All the venom that had been stirring in Jess since he left the station spilled out with his tears. He closed his eyes against the image of his dad, tinged yellow by the cancer and cuffed, the cops towering over him.
Kokum shook her head. She moved imperceptibly closer to him.
“He’s going to die in jail,” Jess mumbled.
Kokum gave a resigned sigh and nodded her head. She reached behind her. “Your friend came by. Brought these back to me.” In her hands were the moccasins. “Told me how you found them. Each of my boys had a pair. These were Phil’s.” She rubbed a loving hand over the hide.
Sara Jean had been here.
“Brought this back too.” A blue folder lay on the steps. Jess opened it. Sara Jean had signed off on hours for every day since he’d met her. Double what he’d actually worked. His throat tightened as he closed the folder.
Kokum stuck out her bottom lip. The chipmunk, no longer being fed, scolded her and scampered away. “Gus told me about Phil last night, before the band meeting. Hard to hear, even now.” She took a breath and clasped her hands in her lap. Tears leaked out the corners of her eyes. “Glad I got these back,” she said. Her hand trembled. “He woulda burned that school down if he had the guts.”
Jess shook his head. For once his kokum was wrong. “He has guts.”
She slipped her warm, weathered hand in his.
“He acted drunk at the station,” Jess told her.
“Boney’s idea. Give him a defense in case he makes it to trial.”
A cricket jumped across the yard, propelling itself a few inches each time. Jess remembered scurrying around after them when he was a kid, trying to catch one to put in a jar. He learned quickly that once it was captured, it wasn’t fun any more. Not much room for a grasshopper to jump in a jar. “Gang’ll have to find a new base. Slow ’em down a bit.”
Kokum nodded. “Elders had a meeting this morning. Gonna advise Chief to pass your idea about people helping the gangs.”
Jess raised an eyebrow. “That was fast.”
“Tom’s gone. His uncle said he went to the city.”
“He’ll be back.”
Kokum nodded. “Hydro wants to meet with the elders. Want you to be there too. Need a young person’s voice.”
The setting sun cast an orange glow behind a band of clouds.
“How can I make it better here?”
She looked at him a long time and finally said, “Stay.”
Chapter 37
The highway stretched in front of me like a concrete ribbon weaving through the fields. I’d opened the window a crack, and the wind crackled and roared in my ear, drowning out the radio. I glanced over at the books on the passenger seat, and a glow of satisfaction spread through me.
Even as I drove to Edelburg, the tangible reality that I was free, I could leave, made me shiver with excitement. I’d drive back and forth to university until I found a place to live. Then I’d come back once in a while on weekends to check on the house. Maybe I’d sell it or rent it out. Mim would help. But soon I’d leave Edelburg behind and make my life in Winnipeg.
I thought of my mom as I drove. I could invite her over to see my apartment, or my dorm room. The tearful reunion I thought would never happen, would. We’d have a shaky beginning at first, full of hiccups and awkward, guilt-filled silences. But over the years, a bond would grow, and we’d be able to look at each other without any silent accusations or apologies.
And I would write about it – all of it. It would be my story to tell.
Acknowledgements
First of all, I would like to thank my family, especially my “indirectly helpful” husband (his words, not mine) and my boys, James and Thomas. A lot of determination and hard work goes into writing, but it is only possible with the love and support of those around me.
My sister, Nancy Chappell-Pollack, is my best and favourite reader because she doesn’t shy away from telling me the truth. I appreciate the time you give to reading and commenting on my books – often suffering through some horrendous first drafts!
I am fortunate to have supportive siblings and parents. Thank you to Karen Deeley, Gordon Chappell, Chuck Chappell and, of course, my mom, to whom the book is dedicated.
Thank you also to Sacha Nelson and Kathy Tarrant, both early readers of this book, and Rocky Pollack for his judicial fact-checking services. (Any errors in the text are mine!)
Finally, I would like to thank Kathryn Cole, my insightful editor, and the wonderful team at Coteau Books. It has been a pleasure to work with all of you.
photo by James Nelson
About the Author
COLLEEN NELSON is the author of two other young adult novels, Tori by Design, winner of the 2012 McNally Robinson Book of the Year for Young People Award, and The Fall, winner of the 2014 McNally Robinson Book of the Year for Young People Award, selected as a CCBC “Best Book for Teens” and nominated for the OLA’s 2014 White Pine Award.
Colleen has lived in Japan and New York City but currently calls Winnipeg home.
Colleen Nelson, 250 Hours
