Dead Peasants Read Free Page B

Byers, east of Clover Lane. I’m sure you don’t show those houses. Commission wouldn’t be worth your time. We had a two bedroom, frame house. Camp Bowie Boulevard was the dividing line. I went to South High Mount Elementary, Stripling Junior High, and Arlington Heights. The kids at Heights who lived on the north side of Camp Bowie treated the rest of us like we lived on the wrong side of the tracks. It pissed me off then and even now. Speaking of Stripling, you related to those Striplings?”
    “Yes,” Colby replied. “My great grandfather started Stripling’s Department Store downtown near the court house. He’s the one W.C. Stripling Junior High is named after. My grandfather took over the family business. Unfortunately, times passed him by. Walmarts and Targets started springing up. He stuck to the old ways his father taught him and drove the business into the ground. He finally sold the store for about the value of the land. A developer tore it down and built an office building. I grew up in Monticello, not far from Rivercrest. I moved back into my family home after my parents died a few years ago.”
    “I know where that is. Couple of my classmates lived there. I figured they must have been rich, living in a brick house with more than one bathroom.” Jack decided to be the inquisitor and asked, “Are you’re married?”
    Colby had removed the lid from her coffee and looked down while she stirred it. Finally, she looked up. “I, uh, I’m seeing someone.” Obviously uncomfortable, Colby turned to look out the window and then changed the subject. “So you made a lot of money as a plaintiff lawyer. Why retire to Fort Worth? Why not the mountains or maybe an island in the Caribbean?”
    Jack was puzzled by her change in demeanor but let it pass and answered. “Let me give you a little more background. Most of my classmates when off to college, Texas, A&M, Texas Tech, North Texas, some to the Ivy League. Quite a few stayed in town and went to TCU. My parents couldn’t afford to send me anywhere to college. So, I lived at home and commuted with three other guys to Arlington State. Joined Army ROTC to pay for my tuition and books. After I graduated I spent three years in the 101 st Airborne, mainly jumping out of helicopters. Then I talked my way into South Texas College of Law in Houston.” Jack paused as his eyes got a far away look and he re-lived his growing-up years in Fort Worth. “When I graduated, I moved to Beaumont, not because it was a paradise. In fact, it’s a polluted, mosquito infested swamp with a bunch of stinking refineries and a small port.” Jack smiled. “On the other hand, the United States Chamber of Commerce votes it a judicial hell hole every damn year.”
    “I don’t understand,” Colby interrupted.
    “Juries in Jefferson County and a few similar counties down along the Mexican border never met a big company they liked. They’re notorious for awarding giant verdicts to injured workers. I went there to get rich, and it worked.” Jack thought about what he just said and added, “Well, I did get rich, but over twenty-five years, I helped out a lot of folks who couldn’t afford justice if it hadn’t have been for me and lawyers like me. As to Fort Worth, I always loved this town even though I don’t have fond memories of a lot of my classmates, and now J. D.’s here. As to Rivercrest, a few of my classmates lived in those big houses. I just want to show them that you don’t have to be a member of the lucky sperm club to buy one.”
    “Do you mind if I ask about your cane?”
    “Not at all. I thought my military service was behind me. Then President Bush, the first one, decided he needed me in Desert Storm. I wasn’t there three months before I took some shrapnel in my left knee. Gave me an early out and I returned to Beaumont. The knee works pretty well most of the time. Then for no good reason it goes out on me. That’s when I need the cane. Otherwise, I’ll fall on