Chapter 25 end

Mr. Exedus H. Clay was still dozing when Jackson arrived.Seeing that the door was open, Jackson went in without knocking.Another of Mr Clay's employees - a driver named Smith - was whispering to a woman in the dimly lit chapel. Jackson gently pushed open the door of Mr. Clay's office.Mr. Exedus H. Clay was reclining on a divan against the wall, wearing a tailcoat; his long, thick gray hair fell loose over the sofa cover, and against the dark walls he stood out like parchment. Clear skin. In the dim light of the floor lamp at the front window, which was always on, Exedus H. Clay looked like a refugee from a museum.

"Marcus, is that you?" Mr. Clay suddenly made a sound before turning over. "Oh no, it's me, Jackson! . . . " "Did you get my money, Jackson?" "Not yet, sir..." Jackson shook his head. "I don't think so." "But, Mr. Clay, I will give you back every penny, including the five hundred dollars I borrowed from you, and the two hundred dollars you paid me in advance. Please don't worry, sir." "I'm not worried about this, Jackson." Exedus H. Clay shook his head with a relaxed expression, "You can file a claim application in the local court and ask the authorities to compensate you. Those who were defrauded by rogue groups money."

"Can you claim compensation from the local court?" Jackson said in amazement. "Of course, they took the eight thousand dollars from the deceased." Exedus H. Clay looked reassured, "But you must keep the money, Jackson, you must keep it. " "Yes, sir, I will certainly do so." "Also, Jackson!..." Mr. Exedus H. Clay sat up suddenly, looking directly at Jackson. "What's the matter, sir?" "Have you got my hearse back?" "No, sir. I don't know if I can get it back. I parked it at the police station."

"Go get it back, Jackson, come on, you've got other work to do." "Will you let me back to work, Mr. Clay?" Jackson said happily. "I never let you go, Jackson. It's hard to find a good black man like you." "Excellent. Will you help me bury my brother, Mr. Clay?" "I'm already working on it, Jackson. How much insurance does he get?" "I don't know yet." Jackson clapped his hands together. "Inquire as soon as possible, Jackson, and then we can do business." "Okay, sir." Jackson said happily.

"How's your poor woman, Jackson?" "She's fine, Mr. Clay. She's in jail, though." "That's unfortunate, Jackson." Mr. Exedus H. Clay made a resigned gesture, "but, anyway, you know she's not lying to you." Jackson forced a smile and said: "You always like to joke, Mr. Clay, you know, she can't do that kind of thing at all." "Anyway, now that she's in prison, she won't do anything like that," said Mr. Exedus H. Clay sleepily. "I'm going to see her now." "Well, yes, Jackson. You go to Joe Simpson and ask him to do me a favor and bail her out," urged Mr. Exedus H. Clay, "provided, of course, that if there is no need If it's too much money."

"Okay, thank you very much, Mr. Clay." Jackson bowed excitedly to Mr. Exedus H. Clay. Joe Simpson's office, on the corner of Lenox Avenue.Jackson hitchhiked with him back to the administrative mansion downtown. When Assistant District Attorney Lawrence learned that someone was going to release Imabella on bail, he sent for Joe Simpson. "Gravedigger" Johns and the court stenographer had left, and they were the only two left in the office. "Joe, I wonder who's going to bail that woman?" Lawrence asked. Joe Simpson looked at him in surprise: "Why, you don't know? It's Mr. Clay."

"My God! . . . " Lawrence exclaimed, "why? It’s cheap, and he’s rushing to bail them out of jail. I want to know why.” "Among the group, two guys were killed with $8,000 on them." "What does that have to do with it?" "Oh, I thought you knew that, Mr. Lawrence. The money will be spent on their funeral, and Mr. Clay will take care of it." Joe Simpson said with a smile, "That is to say, they brought him business .” At this time, Jackson was waiting in the foyer on the other side of the building. The jailer brought Imabella out of the cell. He smiled and sighed, and pulled her into his arms.She pressed tightly against his big belly, twisting her body excitedly, her bruised lips met his fierce kiss.

Then, Imabella took a few steps back, looked at Jackson and said, "Honey, we have to hurry up, find that old guy, and get our room back, so we can have a place to sleep tonight." "Everything will be fine." Jackson told Imabella excitedly, "I got my job back, and Mr. Clay bailed you out." Imabella wrapped her arms around Jackson, and the two looked into each other's eyes. "It's so nice of you to be able to keep working, baby!  …" "Imabella," Jackson whispered with some unease, "I was just about to tell you that I lost your gold ore box. Despite my best efforts, I tried to protect it."

Imabella laughed out loud and pinched his big, fat arm. "My baby, don't worry. Now that I have you, who cares about the box of gold ore?"