Chapter Six
With musicians, things are different……they are often attracted to absurdity.
Erik Satie
When Eric Satie made a break with the conventional way of writing music by eliminating the time signature and bar lines, his father, also a musician, was aghast. Miguel admired the decision of this eccentric composer to go against the norm. He was also striking out in ways that his family didn’t approve of. The third Gnossienne had instructions written above the score which made Miguel smile. “…in a manner to achieve nothing…”
That was a manner he brought to walking the wire. He moved with conviction to achieve nothing.
They found Jorge in a room at the Juvenile Detention Center. The attendant motioned for them to sit in the common area outside the Jorge’s room. The round fake wood veneer table were attached to black plastic stools. Reggie sat down uncomfortably on one of the stools, looking around at the two story hallway. Brightly painted cell doors attempted to make the institution look like a happy place.
Jorge emerged from one of the rooms on the ground floor, looking from left to right. His eyes seemed wide, almost as if he were staring into headlights. It was Stevie who stood and walked over to him, extending her hand.
“I am Detective Dangerfield, Jorge. We talked earlier, do you remember?” She asked.
Reggie saw Jorge look at Stevie’s hand and did not offer his own.
“I remember, Detective. What is going to happen to me?”
Stevie motioned for them to join Reggie and they sat together for a few minutes in awkward silence. Jorge’s deep brown eyes looked like a dog Reggie once owned. He would put his head on Reggie’s lap and stare up, longingly.
“Your parents should be coming and you will be assigned an attorney. Can we ask you a few more questions? You don’t have to talk to us but we would appreciate understanding what happened more clearly this morning. ” Reggie took the lead wanting to extract the necessary facts before the boy was told to shut up by an attorney.
“I have been answering questions for hours.” Jorge pushed his hair to the side and rubbed his forehead. “If Miguel had worn his Satie Suit this would not have happened. It was his lucky outfit.”
“What do you mean? What is a Satie Suit?” Reggie wondered if this was part of the paraphernalia of wire walking.
“Erik Satie is a music composer.” Stevie smiled at Reggie and then turned to Jorge.
“Did he copy an outfit worn by Satie?” Stevie asked.
“He said it was like something Satie would wear. He picked it up at Goodwill. It was a tan, satin coat with a fancy stand up collar and deep pockets.” Jorge rubbed his neck as if to indicate where the collar would fit. “It reminded me of a magicians outfit. He wore it with sweatpants whenever we did a new installation.”
“Why didn’t he have it on today?” Stevie asked.
“I’m not sure. It was really hot this morning even though it was early.” Jorge’s voice broke and a large sigh escaped his throat.
Reggie shifted on the stool. The plastic was not very wide and he felt it cut into his sit bones.
“Jorge, the detectives feel that Miguel’s fall had to do with your family retaliating over something the Cervantes gang did to your brothers. Is that true?” Reggie asked.
Jorge stood up and circled around the eating area. He came back and muttered under his breath.
“Miguel and I had nothing to do with gangs.”
“But both of your brothers are in rival gangs, right? They are in conflict with each other all the time.” Reggie saw the agitation in Jorge’s body.
“I don’t know what my brother’s are doing. Miguel didn’t want anything to do with the gangs either.” Jorge turned towards Stevie repeating emphatically.
“I don’t have anything to do with gangs.”
“Did your brothers know what you were doing today?” Stevie asked keeping her voice barely above a whisper, aware that the surveillance video would be watched later by Detective Mullins.
“I went to Miguel’s last night with my brother’s truck. I told my brother I needed to pick up some stuff at the Boy’s Club. He lets me haul equipment sometimes. We packed up our gear and this morning I picked up Miguel before anyone was awake at my house. I doubt any of our brothers knew what we were doing.” Jorge turned his back on Reggie and stretched out his arms to touch his knees.
“Where did you and Miguel first meet?” Reggie asked.
“The Boys Club in Highland Park had activities and we met up there. Both of us liked acrobatics and Alex said that we were good at the balance beam and parallel bars.”
Jorge swiveled around to face them again.
“That’s what we cared about.”
Stevie lightly touched Jorge’s shoulder with her hand.
“Who is Alex?”
“Alex Douglas is a volunteer at the Boys Club. He was a gymnast years ago and even went to the Olympics. I mean he tried out to get on the gymnastics team but didn’t actually make it.”
“And he introduced you and Miguel to wire-walking?” Reggie noticed Jorge shake his head ever so slightly.
“He didn’t? How did you start walking the wire?” Reggie pressed for more information.
“Alex brought us to a park one day and he had a friend who set up an A-frame with a slack line. We started a few feet off the ground and over time we walked up higher and higher.” Jorge swiveled the stool back and forth.
“So, who was this other person in the park?” Reggie asked.
“His name was George. He came to the club twice a month.” Jorge crossed his arms and rubbed his elbows.
“Who came up with the idea to walk between the towers?” Reggie asked.
“It was Miguel. We both liked the old bell towers and often climbed up to look out at the town. It was way too high for me. I would have freaked out walking across that wire……” Jorge choked up and tears started down his face. He brushed them away with the back of his hand.
“And, how did the two of you have access to the right equipment to attempt a walk like this?” Reggie asked. He was baffled how two teenage boys had the expertise and wherewithal to make this happen.
“Well….George was a good teacher and provided all the equipment to the club. Alex was busy and basically gave the interested kids over to us to teach. That meant we had to set up the slack lines in the gym and sometimes in the park. George was there when we went to the park. But, we brought all the equipment in my brother’s truck. So we had access to hemp ropes, wire, fasteners, ….everything.”
“Is this a part-time gig or have you been doing this all summer?” Reggie asked.
“It’s a summer job and we get paid to help with the classes. We earn more than we could anywhere else.”
“More than selling drugs with your brother’s gang?” Reggie asked, not really believing that he had no knowledge of his brother’s activities.
Jorge dropped his head and was silent for several minutes. Reggie caught the glare from Stevie over the top of Jorge’s head. He raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders.
Jorge turned and looked intently at Stevie. “Are you her daughter?” He asked.
Stevie was surprised by this off hand question.
“Who’s daughter?” She asked.
“The piano teacher, Mrs. Hanson.” Jorge looked over at Reggie and Reggie looked back at Stevie. “You know,…she taught Miguel piano at your house.”
“You came to my house?”
Stevie looked at Jorge and he answered defensively.
“Yeah, I came a few times and listened. Your mother didn’t have anything against two hispanic kids coming over to her house.” Reggie saw the defensiveness in Jorge’s face. “She was proud of Miguel. I was amazed how good he could play.”
“I am not surprised that my mother taught Miguel but I am surprised you connected me to her.”
“You look like her.” Jorge grinned and added quietly, “She told us you were a detective.”
“My mother really admires Rosa, Miguel’s mother. She has worked for us for years.” Stevie said.
Reggie heard voices from the other end of the facility. He wanted to know a little more about Alex Douglas before they got interrupted.
“Where can we find Alex?” Reggie asked.
Jorge turned towards him and answered. “You can always find him after school at the Boy’s club. That is when most of the classes happen.”
A bell sounded and Jorge jumped up. Reggie could see he was frightened.
“I want to go back to my room.” He walked down the short flight of stairs towards the security guard. He never looked back.
