Shawn Lawrence Otto

Sins of Our Fathers


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      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

       www.milkweed.org

      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—dc232014024589

      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 DEAL

      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