BOOTLEG LOVE

14

The days turned into weeks. Payton was true to his word; he went out of his way every day to keep Evangeline happy to prove to her she had made the right choice by marrying him. For the first time in her life, Evangeline had to keep house, but when Payton came home after a long day of hustling, he did so with flowers. In the evenings, they would sit up by the fire, talking and making love.

On the weekends, Payton took Evangeline to his parents’ home in the countryside, where Trenton spent most of his time in a large one-room cabin; he and his family had constructed to house their production. When they arrived in the morning, they had a big family breakfast, after which the men wandered off, and Evangeline would help Tempest clean up.

Evangeline had taken an active interest in liquor, always asking Payton questions about how it was made and how they managed to distribute it so successfully in such volume right under the nose of the Constabulary. Payton would evade her questions, telling her the less she knew, the better off she would be.

This particular morning the Kingston boys were trying a new batch of Trenton’s new moonshine. He had been working on a new recipe, and the distilling process was finally completed. It was time to tasted it. They stood in the cabin watching Trenton pour them each a shot then handed them out.

Payton first smelled the liquid in his glass. It was a darker liquor, and he could smell a hint of cherries. Trenton held up his glass in a toast. “Moment of truth bottoms up.” All four men shot back the moonshine and began to cough.

“Oh God, that is strong.” Colton barely managed between coughs.

“Drink too much of that, and you will go blind,” Payton added as he cleared his throat.

“I like it,” Remington said, drinking the last drop. “We can charge twice as much for something this strong. It’s going to be a big seller. What should we call this concoction?”

“I’m calling it Wicked Cherry Jack,” Trenton said with pride.

“Perfect,” Remington said, placing his glass down. “Let’s start bottling and get it ready for shipping. I want it in the clubs tomorrow night.”

“Can I help?”

All four men jumped and turned to see Evangeline in the doorway. His father shot Payton a disapproving glance. All these years, they had kept Tempest out of their dealings to protect her from prison time should they get caught. Naturally, Remington had expected Evangeline to do the same and not get involved.

“Sure,” Payton said. “You can help by going back to the house. Help Mom make lunch.”

“I am capable of more than cooking and cleaning.” Evangeline snapped, greatly offended.

“I never said you weren’t. Look, Evangeline, I don’t want you getting mixed up in this. If things go sideways, we are all looking at prison time.” Payton tried to reason with her. “The only way I can assure you won’t go to the slam with us is if you stay out of it.”

Evangeline planted her hand on her hip and glared at her husband. “I’m a Kingston now, am I not?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, I want in on the family business.”

“It’s too risky.”

“It’s my life; I’ll decide what risks to take, not you.” Payton opened his mouth to protest, but Evangeline put up her hand to silence him. “Just say yes, Dear.” She ordered.

His brothers and father began to laugh, and Payton glared at them. “Boy, you have been told.” Remington snickered. He then gestured for Evangeline to come in. “Ok, Missy, you’re in. Your first lesson is in bottling. Trenton poured Evangeline a sample. If she’s going to work with us, she should familiarize herself with the product.”

Payton watched as Trenton filled a shot glass from the still. Then he handed the glass to Evangeline. All four men waited as they watched her smell it first then drink it. She immediately began to choke and cough, doubling over as she tried to clear her throat while her face turned a bright red from the effort.

“Good, ain’t it,” Remington asked with a grin.

“If you say so.” Her voice was barely more than a strangled whisper. All the men laughed. Even Payton found her reaction hilarious.

Evangeline handed the empty glass back to Trenton. “Would you like another?” Trenton teased, and Evangeline shook her head no vigorously, still unable to speak without dying. “Sissy.”

“Ok, enough playing around, it’s time to work. Let’s get this bottled and loaded in the trucks.” Remington ordered. “Payton, I trust you can train your lovely young wife.”

Well, if his father said she was in, and Evangeline was going to be stubborn about the matter, Payton might as well make sure she knew what she was doing so she didn’t bring them all down.

The lesson only took a few minutes. The process was fairly easy. They simply filled the bottles using a funnel and then corked the tops with a hand-operated cork press. Next, they filled the bottles using a relay. While Trenton and Remington filled the bottles one by one, Evangeline corked each one, and then Payton and Colton packed them in wooden crates.

When each crate was filled, they proceeded to put two layers of eggs their mother collected from the many coops she kept. Tempest did not involve herself in her husband’s dealings any further than providing them with the eggs to conceal their product. Payton would have preferred Evangeline did the same, but it would appear his wife wished for a more active role.

The bottling took all day. They stopped briefly in the early afternoon for lunch with Tempest, but then it was right back to work. By sundown, they had the booze packaged and the trucks packed, ready for transport. After dinner, they all said goodnight. Payton and Evangeline were heading home. Tomorrow he would return and pick up the truck heading for his club and see it was stocked before opening tomorrow night.

As they made the long drive home, Evangeline turned on the radio, trying to find something to listen to, but way out here in the boonies, it was difficult to get a signal. “With all our modern innovations, you think someone would make a radio that could get a decent signal.”

“I could sing to you.” Payton grinned.

Evangeline laughed. “No, thank you. I want to be entertained, not tortured.”

Payton laughed. She was right; he was tone-deaf and could not carry a tune. “Ok, I shall spare you then.”

“I was hoping to catch one of those new radio shows.” She said, still fiddling with the knobs. “They are so lifelike and stimulating.”

“Oh, what an age we live in.”

“Is technology wonderful?”

“Yes, it is.” He agreed, taking Evangeline's hand in his as he drove into the city.

Payton groaned when the sound of sirens echoed from behind him. He glanced in the rear-view mirror, and he spotted an old familiar sight of the local authorities behind him. It could only be Quincy Hamilton.

Evangeline twisted in her seat and looked out the rear window. “What could they want? We are not doing anything.”

Payton pulled over and put the car in park. He watched through the mirror as Quincy pulled over behind them. He got out of his car and walked up to the rolled-down driver’s window of Payton’s car.

“Detective, I was starting to miss you.” Payton grinned, still holding Evangeline's hand because he knew it grated on Quincy’s nerves. “So sorry about the election. If it makes any difference, I voted for you.” Payton patronized the Detective. The way Quincy’s jaw clenched amused Payton. The sound of teeth grinding was like music.

“Do you know why I pulled you over?”

“For stimulating conversation?”

“I am on to you, Kingston, boys. I am going to prove that you are breaking the law, contributing to the delinquency of the people. I’m not going to stop until you and your whole family are rotting in some dingy little cell.”

“First, hypothetically, you would have to prove we were doing something… which you can’t. Second, if we were doing something shady, you are always two steps behind us. Third, since you are behind us, you can just go ahead and kiss my ass. I’ll drop my trousers if you would like to pucker up right now.”

Suddenly Quincy reached through the open window and punched Payton. He then yanked the driver’s door open and dragged Payton from the car, throwing him against the hood.

Evangeline hopped out of the car and ran around the front of the car, grabbing at Quincy. “Take your hands off him.” She ordered.

“Stay out of this,” Quincy growled.

“You forget who my brother is.”

“You forget that your family has shunned you for marrying this criminal.”

“You are just mad that I married him and not you. Release my husband before I make it public knowledge that the Toronto Constabulary brutalizes innocent people without provocation.”

“Do you think the public gives a s**t what the slut wife of some bootlegger thinks?”

Evangeline slapped Quincy across the face for the way he spoke to her. Suddenly Quincy grabbed Evangeline by the wrist and spun her around, bending her over the hood as he took out his handcuffs. “You are under arrest for assaulting an officer of the law.”

“Oh, come on, let her go.” Payton snarled.

“I might not be able to arrest you, but she just committed a crime.” Quincy hissed. “I am booking you, little Mrs. Priss. Your lowlife husband can bail you out come Monday.” He said, forcefully walking Evangeline to his car a few feet behind them on the side of the road. He forced Evangeline into the back of his car and then smiled down at her before he shut the door. “I had hoped to provoke your husband into assault, but he and the rest of the Kingston boys have been too careful never to cross the line. So you’re the first Kingston I have successfully arrested. Oh, how disappointed your new family must be.”

“Don’t worry, Evangeline. I will get you out.” Payton called to her.

“Not before Monday, he won’t.” Quincy closed the door and then got in behind the while and pulled out onto the road.

***

Evangeline walked into the holding cell and looked around at all the women locked up in the same cell. Most of them looked like streetwalkers. Evangeline walked over to the corner and took an empty seat. She was nervous and uncomfortable. She had never been in trouble before. She wanted to call her parents, but she knew they would not have anything to do with her. She would have to rely on Payton to get her out. She did not know if he could.

***

Payton rushed into his parents' house the following morning. “Payton, how nice to see you,” Tempest said, surprised when Payton walked right past her to his father, who was reading the latest news about the upcoming federal election. With the municipal elections out of the way, the nation’s attention was drawn to the upcoming federal dog and pony show.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Did you see this, Payton? Prime Minister Mackenzie King is talking about revoking prohibition. I know who I’m voting for.”

“Dad, Detective Hamilton has arrested Evangeline. He provoked her, and she punched him. So he arrested her and threw her in lock up. I tried to get her out, but they won’t do anything. There has got to be something we can do to get her out. Evangeline is a sweet girl; she will never make it in prison.”

“Oh, dear Lord in heaven,” Tempest said, making the sign of the cross. “Remington, you must help her.”

Remington folded the paper and placed it on the table as he thought. “Ok, I know a few people that know a few people. Let me ask around and see what I can do to get her out. In the meantime, I’ll have Colton take over for you today with the delivery and set up for the clubs tonight. As for you, go stay out of trouble. Don’t do anything stupid that might hurt Evangeline’s case in any way.”

Payton agreed, but he worried. First, he would allow his father to see what strings he could pull, and until then, he would see if he could rattle a few cages at the Constabulary.