The note was written in a scrawl

Chapter 20) The Upstate Boys meet with Churchail
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Just as the Klan leaders were awakening to problems in Blacktown, Churchail was meeting with two of the Upstate Boys at his mansion in Abbeyville.
These were the serious men of greed, the unerringly polite Alfred the Tailor and Joey Rib, known for his absolute violence and charm. Joey was wide and short with hard empty clear blue eyes with a pure white scar leaning down at an angle over the right one. For a long time he was just called Scar.

Story was he got his current name some years before when an associate joked that Joey’s head was just the ball with eyes. Apparently meaning the head was vacuous without grey matter.
Joey laughed along with several other men at the meeting then pulled a knife and ripped out the man’s rib cage. One supposes that was memorable enough to earn a new name and membership in the gang, but no matter the exact nature of prior transactions, it was clearly understood that the Upstate Boys drew no quarter from weakness, and of that, Churchail was aware.

The commissioner's appointments were canceled for the day, and the secretary gone.
The housestaff was hiding in the barn and Mrs Churchail was not at home that day.

The Upstaters arrived in armored cars. Two bodyguards came inside and four more waited outside, with another car along the driveway about eighth mile back. They were deeply allied with and infested by Klan, each needing the other for various reason of political power, which reduced the chance that Churchail's proposal could solve everything at once.

Hiding in an adjoining room were Thomas Churchail III and two other loyal men with guns.  The situation was a powder keg with lead in the barrel and if trouble came sour, they would all have to shoot it out ... doubtful however that men would arrive in that fashion intent on a gunfight, but you never knew for sure.

No pleasantries were exchanged. Churchail and the two Upstate Boys sat down.
Both sides knew why the meeting was hastily called: Statewide Bank was demanding that local strongmen get their hand out of the bank's pocket and Churchail agreed. That decision was cutting into his payments to the Upstate Boys.
Churchail's loyalty was in balance, and this might be his single chance to smooth things over.

Churchail got down to business and said, we got a problem with the Bank. But we can work out a deal.
We all know it takes money to make opportunity.

There are big opportunities here. The Interstate highway is coming through. That means concrete, gravel, trucks. New homes and development. More roads. Sewage. Inspectors.

You see, those guys at the Bank don't know the real value.
We can step back off them like they want, and still keep things running like usual.
It will cost more to start, like an investment.
Then we can move forward into the new opportunity.

And you know, I can keep those bank fellows happy.
The Upstate Boys were grim-faced. They heard Churchail was going to win the election, and they certainly didn't want Lever Lanky in there, but if Churchail was selling them short, then somebody going to be real unhappy.
How much is it costing us?
Churchail pulled out the numbers.

See what I mean? The Bank doesn't know the value. We can pull twice that on gravel alone once the Interstate gets going.

But we got another problem right now that you fellows might know about.
There's a Negro named Spade disturbing the peace down there in Blacktown, which is next to Trinity.
The new Interstate is going to come in just outside of Trinity. Hell they got the federal guys out there every day because it's the best place to put the bridge because we ginnyed the samples so it would come our way.
But if the Klan gets involved in that Blacktown problem, the federal boys might change their mind. They might postpone the whole deal. See what I'm saying? It could get real messy with all that Washington stuff, especially if those Northern newspapers get a hold of it.

Now I don't want the Klan getting started on some big project here. You understand, we need to handle one man. That's all. Just one man, real quiet. No big Klan rally. Real quiet, nobody says a word.

Churchail was bent on revenge against Spade for killing his darling love Molly Princess, and for that he wanted to know for sure they got the right man, not just a scattershot of killing and a few lynched field hands while everybody else escaped.

The real problem was the Upstate Boys were pushing Negro communities to get more money, but it got out of hand in Blacktown. And then the fight started in Crooks Tail. Plus their man Ammerson was beat pretty bad by Negroes near Trinity.
The Upstate Boys needed to get things under control quick because a bunch of noise was going to attract attention they didn't need right now. Plus Churchail's numbers added up pretty healthy. Yes, it was true, opportunity was coming and the bank didn’t know the full value, and any Klan action near the Interstate could cut into profits.
Backing off was the best plan.

They understood the Commissioner’s proposal was more important than tiny dollars from Negroes, so it didn't take long to reach agreement. They would pull back the Klan and ease off Churchail for now, and put Ammerson onto Spade to keep things favorable.

It was done. The Upstate Boys left.
Churchail III watched out the window to make sure they were gone. A man signaled from the farthest field. Houseworkers came in from hiding outside. Guns were stowed away and Churchail's home was restored.

Churchail dodged getting killed or going to jail by the slimmest margin. He dearly missed his Molly Princess, but discovered he still loved his wife. Yep, it was a fine day and all was back to normal and the doors were wide open for Statewide Bank to destroy Trinity.

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