Prohibition

Chapter 33

Evelyn woke late the next morning. For much of the night, she had tossed and turned in bed, happy with the moment she and her father had shared, yet still in turmoil over Raymond. Finally, exhausted and unable to think anymore, she had fallen asleep. By the time she woke up, sunlight was streaming in through her bedroom windows in full force, and she could hear breakfast dishes clinking downstairs.

Mr. Collins was seated at the breakfast table, reading the newspaper, when Evelyn entered the room. "Good morning," she said, going over to kiss his cheek. "How did you sleep..." Her voice trailed off as she looked at her father.

Mr. Collins' face, so bright and happy just the night before, was now a miserable, sickly gray. His eyes, unnaturally bright in contrast to the pallor of his face, stared down at the newspaper.

"Dad?" Evelyn ventured, kneeling beside him. "What's wrong?"

Without replying, Mr. Collins handed her the newspaper. There, emblazoned across the front page, just as it had been last time, was the headline "Teapot Dome Scandal: One Not Brought to Justice."

Evelyn froze, her stomach wrenching violently as though someone had just punched her. No, she thought frantically. Surely, not another accusation. But it was. As Evelyn read through the article, her eyes grew wide with horror. The words used to defame her father were elaborate, filled with euphemisms and carefully-placed speculations, but their meaning was clear: Mr. Collins had bribed Albert Falls to let him and the Pan American Petroleum company—of which he was a substantial shareholder—drill on the Elk Hills and Buena Vista lands. Then, in the aftermath of the scandal, he had paid out millions of dollars in hush money to anyone who could speak out against him.

"How dare they!" Evelyn seethed, throwing the paper to the ground. "How dare they!"

"They dare," Mr. Collins said, his voice unbelievably weary, "because it is true. Not in the way they construed it, but true nonetheless."

"What?" Evelyn stared at Mr. Collins, hearing his words, yet unable to comprehend them. "You did this? You bribed Falls?"

"No, of course not." Mr. Collins ran his hands through his hair, his fingers shaking. "I didn't know about the bribes until it was too late. I would never have agreed to such a thing, you know that. But, as a significant shareholder in the company, I did collect a large share of the profits. Illegally gained profits." His eyes met Evelyn's, embarrassed, pleading. "You believe me, don't you?" he asked.

"Once you knew about the bribes, why didn't you return the money?" Evelyn asked. "Explain what you just explained to me? Let the government know you had no desire to be part of illegal dealings?"

Mr. Collins looked down at his hands. "I was embarrassed...and scared. I knew how it would look, me returning the money only after everyone else had been caught. I would have looked like a bootlicker."

"Better a bootlicker than a criminal." Even as she said those words, Evelyn's conscience smote her. Was she not a criminal too? What right did she have to reprimand her father?

"I know." Mr. Collins refused to meet Evelyn's gaze. "I should have gone to the government the moment I learned of the scandal. But, for whatever reason, I didn't. By the time I thought better of it, it was too late to turn myself in. Everyone else involved had already been indicted. I would've been too. So I paid off everyone who knew about my involvement the scandal and prayed that it would never come to ."

Evelyn was silent, digesting what Mr. Collins had just told her. "What does this mean?" she asked finally. "What's going to happen?"

Mr. Collins stood and paced around the room. "There will be an inquest," he said, fingers drumming against his leg. "My bank records will be examined. My employees will be questioned. They'll find the people I paid off. They'll know what happened. I may go to jail." He laughed bitterly. "I really am ruined now."