by J. M. LeDuc
“I don’t hear any talking,” Carmelita called out.
Sin turned toward her father and curled a jean clad leg up and under, so she was sitting on her foot. “Dad, you know I love you, and I wish I could tell you my exact reasons for needing to go to Heap’s church tomorrow, but I can’t.”
“Why not?” Thomas asked. “Do you know how that is going to make me look to the people of this island when they see you show up?”
Sin closed her eyes and began to draw her bottom lip into her mouth. She wanted to tell her father everything, but she knew the information would put him in danger. She thought so hard, her lip began to bleed. The taste of blood had her recalling Charlie’s voice in her head telling her that she needed to stop that ‘tell.’ She pressed the side of her finger against her cracked lip and concentrated on her father’s eyes. “I’m not supposed to tell you anything,” she murmured, “so you need to promise not to say a word to anybody,” she pointed toward the kitchen, “not even, Carmelita.”
Thomas nodded.
Sin dabbed her lip with a napkin―no blood. “The main reason I came back to the Keys was because I heard you were sick, but there is another reason. There has been a series of deaths around the Keys and the gulf, and I was asked to look into the situation while I was down here. Part of that looking involves me going to Heap’s church tomorrow.”
Thomas sat quiet and seemed pensive. “If there have been bad things happening down here, why would they send a soldier, why wouldn’t they send in one of the agencies to look into it?”
As the words left his mouth, Sin could practically see the light bulb above his head turn on.
“You’re not in the military are you?” His voice rose in pitch and amplitude with each word.
Sin put a finger to her lips and shushed him. She glanced toward the kitchen to see if Carmelita had heard anything. Convinced she hadn’t, Sin looked back at her father. “That is all I can say. You can assume whatever you want, but you know what they say about assuming.”
“When you assume, you make and ass out of ‘u’ and me,” Thomas answered.
Sin nodded. “So you understand why I need to go?”
“Not really, but I trust you. I made the mistake of not trusting you when you were younger, and I promised myself I wouldn’t make that mistake again.” He took his daughter’s hand in his. “Old habits are hard to break. Forgive an old man?”
Sin leaned and kissed her father’s cheek. “If you will forgive me for keeping secrets.”
He nodded.
They both heard Carmelita clear her throat as she came in with a tray of espresso.
“When this is over,” her father said, “I want you to tell me the truth—all of it.”
Sin swallowed hard. “Okay,” she breathed.
“That’s what I want to see,” Carmelita beamed. “Love between father and daughter.”
“Amor entre familia, mi madre,” Sin said as she took a cup.
“Si, mi hija,” Carmelita said, “Love among family.”
23
“I appreciate you coming with me,” Sin said as Troy pulled his truck out of her driveway.
“No problem. I’ve wanted to see Heap in action. This gives me an excuse to go.”
Sin was a little surprised at his response. “You have never been to Heap’s church—never heard him preach?”
Troy shook his head as he pulled the truck onto the ferry.
Sin waited until he had pulled the truck into the proper spot and put it into park. “Why not?”
“I felt it would be an affront to your father. He’s the one person I still respect in this town and I didn’t want to do anything that I knew he wouldn’t like.”
Sin sat back and stared out the windshield. “What is it with the relationship between you and my dad that I don’t know?”
“I already told you how he took care of my mom when she became ill.”
“That’s bullshit, Stubbs. There is more to it, and we both know it. If you don’t want to tell me, just say so but don’t lie to me.”
Troy opened the console between the seats and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He grabbed one and handed one to Sin.
Sin cocked her head to the side. “You smoke?”
“Only when it’s appropriate, like when I’m about to spill my guts to someone.”
Troy flipped open an old Zippo and lit both cigarettes. “Hold that thought,” he said as the ferry docked on the mainland. He quickly backed the truck off the ferry and turned onto the Overseas Highway.
He took a deep drag and blew the smoke out the window. “You’re right,” he said, “there’s more to my relationship with Thomas than just what I’ve told you.”
Sin brought her cigarette to her lips and inhaled. She didn’t move, fearing that any change might affect what Troy was about to say.
He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. “Breathe.”
She exhaled. “Didn’t realize I hadn’t,” she grinned. “So you were saying.”
“It’s complicated,” Troy said.
Sin looked about the cabin of the truck. “You have a captive audience. I’m all ears.”
“When we had that drink in Key West, you asked me why I left the University of Miami.”
“Yeah,” Sin interjected.
“You probably think I left because I couldn’t hack the academics or because I sucked on the field, but neither of those is true.”
Sin thought back to what Charlie had shown her at his house. She wondered if Troy would come clean and tell her the full truth. She stared at her lit cigarette and in her silence, watched the paper burn down.
“Believe it or not,” Troy said, “I got my act together when I left Tumbleboat. I know I was an asshole while I was here, especially to you, but things changed when I got to U.M.”
“How so? People don’t change overnight,” Sin said. “I mean, asshole was pretty engrained in your personality.”
Troy chuckled as he took one last hit of his cigarette before tossing the butt out the window. “It didn’t happen right away. I left here shortly after you did for summer practice. I was the same dickhead I had been in high school. I quickly garnered a reputation with the coaches and the older players.”
“What kind of rep?”
“Not a good one,” Troy said. “I was known as a smart-mouthed jerk who could out drink anyone and, who could bang any chick he wanted.”
“Sounds like the old Troy I used to know.”
Troy smirked. “Yeah, I guess it does.”
“When does the change part come?”
“I don’t know if you followed college ball at all, but I was touted as the next big thing at the U. I was the backup quarterback my freshman year and I even got to start three games when Shawn Millen went down with a shoulder sprain. We won all three games.”
Sin turned toward him and brushed her hair away from her face.
“Anyway,” Troy continued, “the press coverage only made me a bigger jerk. At the end of the season there was a huge party for the team on Star Island.”
Sin’s eyes opened wide as she stared at Troy with gaping mouth. “Star Island, I’m impressed—not.”
Sin expected her sarcasm to lighten the mood, but it seemed to have the opposite effect—she could sense Troy’s demeanor change. His aura seemed to darken. She perceived a heaviness in the air. “Sorry,” she swallowed, “please continue.”
“There was a girl there that had quite a reputation. The word was that if you were a jock, you knew you could bed her whenever you wanted.”
Sin rolled her eyes.
“As the night went on, I noticed that she wasn’t drinking. When I asked her why, she told me that she never drank. That surprised me. She then told me that the rumors about her weren’t true. I decided to play dumb and I asked her what rumors. She told me I was a terrible actor and that she hadn’t slept with any of the players. She said she only came to the parties as a designated driver for her younger sister.”
&nbs
p; Sin pulled another cigarette from the pack and lit it. This story was starting to sound like her own.
“Throughout the night, I kept an eye on her. She was true to her word—stone-cold sober. I left around two a.m. The next morning there were cops all over the campus.”
Even though Sin knew where this story was going, her pulse still quickened.
“Two of my teammates came barging into my room and started babbling about the whore at the party and how she went to the cops after sleeping with a bunch of the players saying she had been drugged and raped. They asked me to back up their story, that they left the party with me.”
Troy pulled into the church parking lot and was directed by a parking attendant to a spot. He put the truck in park and slumped over the wheel, his head in his hands.
“I found out that the girl they were talking about was the one I met the night before. The cops questioned me and told me that they knew of this girl’s reputation and that she was found passed out drunk and naked on the lawn of the estate where the party was held.” Troy turned to look at Sin. “They told me that they didn’t plan on charging any of the players, but they had to go through the motions of an investigation because the girl insisted she had been raped.”
“What happened?” Sin exhaled.
“The next day, I went to the coach and told him that the girl had been sober all night. I told him that she was telling the truth.”
Troy shook his head.
“And?”
“And he told me to keep my mouth shut if I wanted to start next year. He told me that it would all pass over and that the newspapers and authorities were on the players side.
“I left there disgusted. I saw a couple of my teammates reading the paper and laughing. I grabbed the paper and skimmed the article. The reporter painted the girl as a tramp who came on to the guys and as someone who did this sort of thing all the time. It made me sick. I ripped up the paper and threw it at my ‘friends.’ As I walked the campus, I saw a bunch of news trucks outside one of the female dorms. In the middle of the reporters, I saw the girl. Her face was bruised—she looked like hell. But . . . the amazing thing was she held her head high and when she was asked for her statement, she told the reporters that she planned on following through with her charges and hoped that someone who had been at that party would step up and tell the truth.
“Some of the reporters actually laughed when she was finished.”
Troy turned the key and shut off the engine. He stepped out of the truck and Sin did the same.
He started walking toward the church as Sin grabbed him by the arm. “You don’t think you’re stopping there, do you? What happened?”
“I went to the police and told them the truth.” Troy took a deep breath and spoke a bit faster. “The drug tox screen came back showing Rohypnol in her system, she was cleared, four of my teammates were found guilty, I was ostracized, quit the team, and left school.”
Sin stopped walking and pulled Troy to a stop. “I appreciate the story, and I’m impressed that you stood up for that poor girl, but what does any of that have to do with your relationship with my dad?”
“I had a lot of time for reflection after I left school. I started thinking about all the shit we gave you and how we weren’t any better than the players who actually raped that girl. I went to your dad and told him the truth. I apologized and told him that if I ever had the chance, I would tell you to your face.”
Sin kicked the shell-rock with the toe of her boot. “What did my dad say?”
“Nothing.” Troy smiled. “He just swung and punched my lights out.”
Sin grabbed him by the arm and walked toward the church. “You suck at apologies, but apology accepted.”
Troy chuckled as he hip-checked Sin.
His laugh was short lived as they were greeted at the door by Bubba and Joey.
The two were dressed in suits and ties as they handed out bulletins and held the door for everyone entering.
Bubba scrunched up his nose, but before he could make some crude comment about Sin, she beat him to it. “You can dress up shit, but it still smells the same,” she said as she flicked Bubba’s tie and took the bulletin from his hand.
Troy pulled Sin inside before any other barbs could be thrown.
Sin stopped at the second to last row and sat down. She wanted to be able to see everyone as they walked in and out.
She half-heartedly listened to Heap conduct the service and had to restrain herself when he started talking about all the prosperity that had come to the Lower Keys since his arrival. He made indirect reference to the point that it would continue as long as the people continued to tithe and put God first.
At the end of the service, Troy stood up to leave, but Sin pulled him back down. “Let’s sit until everyone leaves,” she mumbled.
The last people to walk down the aisle were Jeremiah Heap and his wife.
Sin drew in a silent breath when she saw her. She felt she somehow knew her, yet she couldn’t remember ever meeting her.
Heap stopped in front of Sin and Troy. “I’m glad to see that you accepted my invitation and came to worship the Lord,” Heap drawled.
Sin sensed that his slime factor was ten times higher than usual.
His wife stood by his side dressed in a very provincial manner and stared at the ground. As Heap spoke, Sin kept glancing at her.
Her eyes are so familiar. Sin glanced at her face and did a double take, I don’t forget much, and I don’t remember ever meeting her, but there is no mistaking those eyes.
Sin interrupted Heap in the middle of some diatribe and said, “I haven’t had the privilege of meeting your wife.” She stuck out her hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you—”
His wife looked at Sin’s hand and then directly at her for the first time. “Maggie,” she said in a heavy Louisiana accent. “I apologize for my husband’s lack of manners.”
Sin shook her white-gloved hand. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Heap. Maybe we can have a cup of coffee some time.”
Sin watched as Maggie’s eyes sparkled, almost in a mischievous way.
“Yes, that would be lovely,” Mrs. Heap answered. She then addressed her husband, pulling on his arm, “Come dear, we have many others to say hello to.”
Heap puffed out his chest and flattened his white tie against his white shirt. Before leaving, he looked at Sin as if inspecting her and said, “Next time, it would be better if you wore something a little more befitting of God’s house.”
Sin smirked. “I seem to remember Jesus welcoming everyone to his side—isn’t that right, Mrs. Heap?”
The corner of Mrs. Heap’s mouth arched upward as she tugged her husband along before he could say another word. He followed blindly.
Sin smirked. I know who wears the pants in that relationship.
She and Troy spent the next couple of hours eating lunch and talking like old friends, or new lovers depending on where their relationship was headed.
As the sun began to set, Troy pulled his truck in to the parking lot by the beach.
“I had a great time today,” he said. “I hope it’s one of many to come.”
Sin swallowed hard. “I hope so, too, but you know I’m still on active duty. I’m not sure when I’ll be told to pack up and rejoin my unit.”
“Well, then we better not waste any more time.” Troy leaned over and kissed Sin on the lips.
A guttural moan emanated from her throat as she kissed back.
The kissing led to some high schoolish heavy petting and the windows began to steam up. Sin’s blouse was halfway unbuttoned when Troy’s police scanner buzzed an emergency signal.
“Damn,” he mouthed as his lips were locked with hers. “I need to get that.”
They reluctantly released their embrace and Troy depressed the talk button. “Unit sixty-two responding to the emergency signal. Over.”
“Troy, it’s Helen. I’m sorry to bother you, but another dead girl has been found. You’re the closest to the
hospital and the captain has asked for your help.”
Troy hung his head. “I’m on my way.”
Sin quickly buttoned her shirt as she listened to the conversation.
“I will take you home and then head to the hospital.”
“Bullshit, I’ll go with you.”
“Why would you want to go to the morgue in a hospital?”
“I’m not going to the morgue, but I need to speak to Dr. O’Rourke about my father’s medication. We can kill two birds with one stone.”
Troy grimaced. “Under the circumstances, bad analogy.”
“Just drive”
24
They separated as soon as they entered the hospital. Troy went to take the statement of the person who found the body and Sin headed to Dr. O’Rourke’s office.
Sin noticed Dr. O’Rourke’s door ajar and knocked.
“Come in.”
“Hey, Doc, you got a minute?” Sin asked.
Dr. O’Rourke looked up from a pile of papers. Her eyes looked tired and older than her years. “Sure, but only if you stop with the doc nonsense and call me Deborah.”
“Done.”
Sin noticed the dark circles under the doctor’s eyes. “You look like you could use some caffeine, how about I treat you to some in the cafeteria?”
She waved her hands over the pile. “I’m not a coffee drinker, but if it will give me a breather from this mess; it sounds like a good time to start.”
Sin watched as she stood from behind her desk and stretched. Without her lab coat on, Sin couldn’t help but notice what great shape Dr. O’Rourke was in.
“Is this the end of the week paper pile up?” Sin asked.
“Pff, I wish. This is the end of every shift pile.”
“I thought all hospitals were going paperless, you know, Electronic Health Records.”
“Every time the government goes paperless, the pile gets bigger. Go figure.”
Sin laughed. “That sounds about right.”
Walking toward the cafeteria, every eye turned toward the pair. Conversations stopped, women looked catty, and men appeared to turn into drooling, pubescent boys.