The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
© 2014, Text by Shawn Lawrence Otto
Cover art is in the public domain.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher: Milkweed Editions, 1011 Washington Avenue South, Suite 300, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415.
(800) 520-6455
Published 2014 by Milkweed Editions
Cover design by Mary Austin Speaker
Cover photo/illustration is in the public domain.
Author photo by Jeff Johnson
14 15 16 17 18 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition
Milkweed Editions, an independent nonprofit publisher, gratefully acknowledges sustaining support from the Bush Foundation; the Patrick and Aimee Butler Foundation; the Driscoll Foundation; the Jerome Foundation; the Lindquist & Vennum Foundation; the McKnight Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Target Foundation; and other generous contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals. Also, this activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund, and a grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota. For a full listing of Milkweed Editions supporters, please visit www.milkweed.org.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Otto, Shawn Lawrence.
Sins of our fathers / Shawn Lawrence Otto.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-57131-912-8
Summary: “After embezzling funds to support his gambling addiction, an unscrupulous white banker in Minnesota is blackmailed by his boss into sabotaging the creation of a competing, Native American-owned bank. As the banker befriends the people he’s trying to frame, he struggles to escape from his past and do the right thing”-- Provided by publisher.
1. Banks and banking--Fiction. 2. Extortion--Fiction. 3. Whites--Relations with Indians--Fiction. 4. Compulsive gamblers--Fiction. 5. Self-realization--Fiction. I. Title.
PS3615.T95S56 2014
| 813’.6—dc23 | 2014024589 |
Milkweed Editions is committed to ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book production practices with this principle, and to reduce the impact of our operations in the environment. We are a member of the Green Press Initiative, a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the world’s endangered forests and conserve natural resources. Sins of Our Fathers was printed on acid-free 100% postconsumer-waste paper by the Friesens Corporation.
To the underdogs
Contents
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
III: The Wagers
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
IV: The Play
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
V: The Payout
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Acknowledgments
The first thing JW noticed when he walked into the Hiawatha room was how different it was from what he had expected. Its low-rise tiers of seating resembled an upscale college lecture hall more than a hotel conference room. And it was surprisingly full. The air was rich with the colognes and perfumes of suited bankers. They moved up the floral-swirled tiers like a herd of mountain sheep. Clumps of them murmured in side eddies, and others sat to open laptops or check cell phones. A pretty brown-haired woman in the front row smiled encouragingly at him. He thought he might remember her from the Bemidji branch.
The setting was actually quite good, he decided, as he navigated between the long front table and the whiteboard. He