Gene argued there could be a problem with advertising, which was still strictly prohibited in the state. Gage didn’t see a problem. The newsletter was not an overt attempt to solicit clients. Rather, it was simply a means to share information with people who needed it.
Keith saw it as a rare, perfect moment to （1） keep clients happy, （2） subtly solicit more clients, and （3） remind the voters in the Second Circuit Court district that Jesse Rudy was a badass lawyer they could trust. While avoiding the stickiness of politics, the newsletter could be a beautiful calling card and the first salvo in next year’s race for district attorney. He wrote the first newsletter, christened it the Camille Litigation Report, and showed it to his father, who was impressed. They argued over the mailing list and Jesse was adamant in his belief that the mailing would be regarded as advertising. He reluctantly agreed to an initial run of 2,000 clients and others who had contacted his office.
The newsletter was a hit. The clients loved the attention and were encouraged to see their lawyer so actively pushing their cases. They passed their copies around, shared them with neighbors. Strangers showed up at the office, holding the newsletter, asking for some time with Mr. Rudy. Unknown to anyone at the firm, Keith ran hundreds of additional copies of the initial newsletter, virtually all of it written by him, and nonchalantly left them around the courthouses, post offices, city halls, and at a makeshift field tent being used as the unofficial gathering place in Camille Ville.
And then it was time to leave for law school. His last night in Biloxi, he met Joey and Denny at a new watering hole in Back Bay, a cheap dive at one end of an old oyster house and cannery. With thousands of relief workers still in town, someone had realized they were thirsty and opened a bar. Oddly enough, there were no strippers, no rooms upstairs, no slot machines.
The Camille cleanup was in full throttle, but it would take years, not months. Many homes, stores, and offices would never be rebuilt. Mountains of debris sat waiting to be hauled away and burned. Denny was working for a government contractor from Dallas and driving a dump truck ten hours a day. Not much of a job, but the pay was okay. Joey talked about the fishing business, which was rebounding nicely. The storm unsettled the Sound for a month or so, but the fish came back, as always. The enormous amount of debris taken away by the surge was now at the bottom of the Gulf and attracting fish for nesting. The oyster crops were especially abundant.
They finally got around to the subject of Hugh. Keith had not seen him in at least three years, certainly not since the last election. And that was a good thing, the other two agreed. They saw Hugh occasionally, and he had made it clear that he and his father had no use for the Rudy bunch. Too much was said in the heat of the campaign. Jesse had promised to take on the nightclubs and shut them down for illegal activity. He had even used a photo of Red Velvet in one of his mailings.
“Stay away from the guy,” Denny said. “He’s looking for trouble.”
“Oh, come on,” Keith said. “If Hugh walked up right now I’d buy him a beer and talk football. What’s he gonna do?”
Denny and Joey exchanged looks. They knew more than they wanted to tell.
Joey shrugged and said, “He fights a lot, Keith, likes to work the door and intimidate people. As always, he enjoys trading punches.”
“His old man makes him work as a bouncer?”
“No, he wants to. Says that’s where the action is. Also, he gets the first look at the girls.”
Denny said, “He says he’ll take over one day and wants to learn the business from the ground up. He drives his old man around, carries a gun, hangs out in the clubs, samples the women. He’s a total thug, Keith. You don’t want to be around him.”
“I thought you guys were in business.”
“Maybe before Camille, but not now. He’s too big for me, a real tough guy and a real swinger. Not my friend anymore.”
To change the subject, Joey said, “You guys read about Todd Foster, kid from over in Ocean Springs?”