by R L Delaney
“I don’t know,” Justin said. “If we had not, he would not have exploded like he did. That gave him away. Have you seen him today?"
Amy shook her head. "It's on the bulletin board that all his classes are canceled. He supposedly had a relapse."
Justin shook his head in disgust. "He’s such a liar. Only God knows what the man is up to."
“And now?” Amy asked. “What shall we do now?”
Justin sighed. “I suppose we need to lay low for now. We need to act as if we are intimidated, so Sternfoot and his cronies are not thinking about us so much. What's more, my Mom told me I am not allowed to see Uncle Harry anymore.”
Amy narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
“She thinks it’s too dangerous. She's afraid Uncle Harry will get me into trouble."
Amy chuckled. "I suppose she has a good point there."
"Whatever," Justin scoffed. "The point is, I need to go home right after school. She wants her chicken safely in the nest, even though she has no clue what's going on."
A smile appeared on Amy's face. "Shall I come to your place then?"
Justin blushed. "T-To my place… you mean my room?"
"No, silly," Amy said with a twinkle, "to your Mom's room, of course."
The thought of having Amy come over was just about the closest thing to heaven, and Justin's eyes lit up. "I'd like to. Sternfoot even told my Mom about you."
Amy's face darkened. "He did?"
Justin nodded. "Yes, he told my Mom that you are my girlfriend."
"He did, huh?"
Justin nodded again, not knowing what else to do. Amy didn't say much for a few seconds, and Justin began to worry he had said the wrong thing. But then a glorious twinkle appeared in Amy's eyes and she took Justin's hand in hers. "Well…?"
Justin's ears turned red. "Well what?"
"Am I your girlfriend?"
"You…eh…Yeah, I mean… if-if you would like to be," Justin stammered.
"Would you like me to be?" Amy said as she leaned over a little closer to Justin. Justin smelled her perfume. Japanese Cherry Blossom, at least that's what Lilly Witherspoon said it was.
He realized they were sitting on a bench right in the middle of the school's playground. They were an obvious spectacle to all… Billy Bratmeyer would start talking about it… but to have Amy this close, to see her gorgeous eyes so near, to smell her scent…
Then Justin did something he had not thought he was capable of doing. He leaned forward too and placed his lips on those of Amy and kissed her, long and ardently.
So this was what heaven was like. He was well on his way to become a believer.
After the kiss, that as far as Justin was concerned, could have lasted at least another hour or two, Amy looked up and said with a gentle smile, "I’ll take that as a yes."
Justin couldn't help but laugh. He felt light as a feather and it appeared a swarm of butterflies had been released in his stomach. Good butterflies they were, all carrying happiness and joy.
Amy wiped a strand of hair off her face. "I'll come home with you this afternoon and will help you with your chemistry."
"You are already messing with my chemistry." Justin chuckled. "I am pretty sure I am just about the happiest boy in the schoolyard."
It was Saturday, and most of the Ames' neighbors were relaxing, mowing their lawns or doing nothing in particular. The sun was bathing the neighborhood in its glorious morning light, and if the signs were correct, Justin concluded it was going to be an uneventful, but peaceful weekend at home. He did not mind. After having Amy over for dinner the night before, Justin's love cup was filled to overflowing, and not even people like Sternfoot could darken the bright skies that were smiling down on him. At least, that's how it seemed to him as he finished his bowl of Cheerios. Mom had been delighted to meet Amy, and had forced her to stay for dinner, and had only wanted to let her go home after Amy had made the promise of coming back as many times as she wanted.
No problem. That suited Justin just fine. If only Mom could relax like this around Uncle Harry. Then, life would practically be perfect.
The doorbell rang.
Justin looked up. They weren't expecting anybody. Mom was upstairs pulling back the bed covers.
"Justin? Can you get that?" Her voice echoed throughout the house.
"Sure, Mom." Justin got up, wiped a few crumbs of cereal from his mouth and walked over to the door.
As he glanced through the little peephole he blinked once, no twice. There, on the front porch stood Father Gálvez.
Justin swung open the door. “Father Gálvez? What are you doing here?”
The Father smiled an apologetic smile and shrugged his shoulders. Then he pulled out the same grimy, grayish little book with the linen cover that he had consulted the day before. “I’ve been up pretty much all night, reading and thinking. I was wondering if you would like to introduce me to your uncle, the detective. I’ve got an idea.”
“Sure,” Justin answered, “I’ll be happy to.”
“No you won’t.” Mom had come down and she had overheard Father Gálvez’ request. Her voice was cold and caused Justin to shiver. Without thinking of good manners she pushed Justin aside and glared at the priest. “We do not sell at the door, Father, and we are very happy with the religion we already have.”
Father Gálvez stared at her; not quite comprehending why Justin’s mother was so hostile. He cleared his throat. “I wasn’t planning on sharing the glories of the church with you, Mrs. Alves… I just—“
“-- He is not here to push his religion, Mom,” Justin interrupted, “He just wants my help.”
“And he is not going to get it,” Mom replied. She turned her attention back to Father Gálvez who made a helpless impression as he stood on the doorstep, while the wind was playing with his priestly garb. “My son’s uncle is a detective, and detectives are involved in dangerous work. My son is just a kid who has to keep his mind on chemistry instead of crime, and we told him he’s not to help his uncle with the solving of crimes.”
Justin gaped at his mother, as the words were streaming out of her mouth.
“If you want to talk to Detective Ames, you can do so yourself. You can find him at the police station. Good day, Father.”
She closed the door. The last Justin saw was Father Gálvez’ perplexed face and his distraught expression. Then the door closed with a bang.
Justin felt his blood rising. “That was so…so rude, Mom.”
“Was it?” Mom fired back. “I told you, we don’t want anything to do with crime, and for now, I want you to stay away from your uncle. If I don’t protect you, you will end up in the hospital, just like your uncle.”
“You don’t understand, Mom. There’s real evil going around.” Justin’s jaws tightened. How could he make his mother understand?
Mom stared at him, while she narrowed her eyes. Justin knew that when Mom got like this, she was not open to rhyme or reason. “Real evil?” she sneered. “If you don’t study for your chemistry test, you are about to find out what real evil is, like the evil of failing and having to repeat chemistry, young man.” Whenever Mom got angry she no longer called Justin by his real name, but switched to 'young man' with the emphasis on young. Justin hated that. “You are only seventeen and should do well to listen to your Dad and me. We’ve crossed this path way before you, and we know what real evil is.”
Justin felt the urge to start yelling that his chemistry test could go to Hades and that his chemistry teacher already came from there, meaning they had to do something about that, but something Amy had told him a while back forced its way into his mind. When he had told her he wanted to do something, get back at these wicked people, she had simply stated, Discretion is the better part of valor. She was right. He needed to wait for the right opportunities, for the open goals, so he could properly score. Arguing with his mother was of no use at this point. She could not even be expected to understand. It would be best to flow with the tide and just wait for the ri
ght moment.
“Sure, mom,” he said through gritted teeth.
Mom, still having the remnants of a scowl on her face, relaxed. “Good, Justin. Then go to work.”
Justin nodded and climbed the stairs to his room.
“I am glad you understand, Justin,” Mom called after him. “It’s for your own good. Anything to do with Uncle Harry’s investigation is out of the question.”
“Yes, Mom,” Justin replied from the top of the stairs. “You’ve already said that many times over.” But what Mom didn’t understand was that he did not necessarily have to leave the house to continue with his investigation. For starters he would send Amy an email. Maybe he could even chat with her on Skype. There was enough he could do from home.
He switched on the computer and after he had arrived at the welcome screen, he opened Skype, hoping to find Amy online.
He sighed. Amy was offline.
He switched to his Gmail account, but there were no messages of any interest either. He could app Amy and see if she knew what Father Gálvez was up to. As he tried to decide what to do, he heard the excited yelling of some of the guys outside. He got up and stared out the window. There, on the field behind his house, Billy Bratmeyer and some others were kicking the ball around and seemed to be involved in an exciting game of soccer. That’s what he needed too. A good game of soccer was just the thing. He grabbed his soccer shoes, told Mom what he was doing, and minutes later he was running around in the sun. All at once, his worries about chemistry teachers, Shadow Walkers and unyielding mothers melted away and, at least for the moment, were strangely absent.
On Sunday afternoon, Amy pinged him on Skype. The ding dong of Skype’s ring tone was a welcome relief, as he had been looking over some of Amy’s notes about his problems with chemistry, and was in need of a change. Funny, how when Amy explained it, it all seemed so simple. Sternfoot just made things unnecessarily complicated, and Justin was now convinced the man was doing it on purpose.
Within seconds he stared at Amy’s gentle face, although it was a bit distorted and jerky because of the connection.
She had no time for chit-chat and came straight to the point.
“Have you heard?
“Heard what?”
“About Father Gálvez?”
“No,” Justin replied, while sipping a cup of chamomile tea. “What about him?”
Amy’s face jerked a bit to right. “He had to run for his life.”
Justin stared at the screen, his eyes growing wide. “What do you mean?”
“Like I said. He had to run for his life. He was chased…”
“Chased by who?”
“You’ll never guess… By Alfred Rodeo.”
As she said it Justin felt his skin tingle. “How do you know all that?”
“He told me, Justin.” Amy seemed impatient. “Listen, can you come over? He wants to meet us at his house.”
Justin frowned, as he thought about what he would have to tell Mom. Amy seemed to understand as she said, “We are not going to Uncle Harry, Justin, so there should not be any domestic quarrels about it.”
Justin smiled. How he longed to go see Amy, and he most certainly wanted to hear from Father Gálvez as well. “Sure. Where do we meet?”
“I’ll meet you in front of the Pick Right Thriftway in ten minutes,” Amy replied. She seemed to have it all worked out.
Justin nodded. “I’ll be there.”
“Wonderful.” Immediately Amy broke off the connection and the screen with her lovely face disappeared.
Justin glanced at his watch. Ten minutes? Then he had to run.
He grabbed his coat and stormed down the stairs. Mom was just coming up, carrying a basket filled with laundry, and she looked up with fearful eyes.
“Calm down, Justin… where are you going?”
“Amy, Mom,” Justin replied. “I’m meeting her at the Pick Right.”
Mom smiled. “That’s good, Justin. Have fun and don’t be home late for dinner.”
“I’ll be on time, Mom,” Justin called out as he opened the front door and was greeted by a fresh wind. The sky was growing dark. It was going to storm.
Chapter Eleven
When they entered Father Gálvez’ house, Justin noticed the man was not nearly as joyful and radiant as he had been before. After he opened the door he glanced left and right, as if to make sure no one had been following them, and then ushered them into his house with a quick movement of his hand.
His face was pale, and his right eye constantly twitched.
Maybe that was how you looked after you had been running for your life, as Amy said he had. Justin hoped he would never have to experience something like that.
This time the priest gathered another chair from his kitchen, so he wouldn’t have to stand up, and motioned for them to sit down on the other two chairs. When he had plopped himself down, he sighed and licked his lips, while staring at them for an instant. Then he cleared his throat. “Thank you for coming.”
“Of course,” Amy replied. “You told me over the phone you had to run for your life…Tell us what happened.”
Father Gálvez peered at Justin and said in a low voice, “I apologize I came to your house yesterday. I wanted you to introduce me to your uncle, as I believe these Shadow Walkers are behind the murder of Alvaro Cruz, or Alvaro Ironbark as his stage name is. I did not want to make your mother upset.“
“Of course not,” Justin replied. “You didn’t know. “ He raised his brows. “Did you get to talk to my uncle?”
Father Gálvez shook his head. “He was out when I got to the station. I left him a message, but he has not responded yet.”
“So you think that the Shadow Walkers are involved in the murder of Alvaro Ironbark. We have suspected it all along,” Amy interrupted. “How did you make the connection?”
“I will spare you the details,” the priest sighed, “ but what it basically comes down to is that the Shadow Walkers seek to invite demons into their bodies through the use of drugs and strange rituals. This gives them supernatural strength, weird abilities to move around without being spotted and they seem to be able to read people’s minds to some degree.” The priest looked down, looking for the right words. “I now believe Alvaro Ironbark was a member of the Shadow Walkers but he wanted out, and it cost him his life.”
Father Gálvez lowered his voice to a whisper. “I believe they know everything that’s going on, and are planning some sort of takeover here in Dewsbury.”
“How do you know?” Amy wanted to know.
Justin, feeling as if the air was being squeezed out his throat, did not understand how Amy could sound so confident and positive.
Father Gálvez plucked at his eyebrow and continued in the same volume of speech. “Remember, I told you Alfred Rodeo was a friend of Alvaro Cruz, and that Rodeo’s mother is still coming to confession?”
“Sure,” Amy answered.
Justin listened spellbound, but he sure did not like that strange, creepy fearful sense of foreboding that was pounding on the door of his heart. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to hear everything Father Gálvez was telling them. To be truthful, he actually hated this place with all those obscure books against the wall.
“When I found out that Detective Ames wasn’t around, I decided to visit Geraldine.”
“Geraldine?”Amy asked while frowning.
“Geraldine Rodeo; Alfred’s mother,” the priest clarified. “She was happy to see me, and told me Alvaro came over to their house a lot. Alfred had told her they were in some sort of a club together. A social club they called it, together with a bunch of others too. You know, a club where people do lots of good things for the community. At least that’s what Alfred Rodeo told his mother.” Father Gálvez let out a little sigh. “But she didn’t like it. She told me, she always feels terrified when they are around.” He looked up, a weak smile playing around his lips. “I can sure understand her feelings.”
“Go on,” Amy coaxed.
“They don’t visit her place very often, but occasionally they do, like last week. She said there were about five of them and they had a bad argument. Alvaro was there, and they were meeting in the basement of their house. There were apparently lots of strange sounds… Geraldine described it as weird grunting, animal sounds. She called it spooky.”
“And then?”
“At one point, Alvaro stormed out of the basement and he just ran through the front door as if the devil was on his trail. He was followed by her son who shouted something like: ‘you know what we do with traitors.’”
Amy shook her head. “That’s terrible…no, it’s horrible.”
“Uncle Harry needs to know about this,” Justin stammered. The priest shook his head. “It won’t help. We are dealing with supernatural forces.” His eyelid began to twitch again and his lips trembled as he recalled what had happened next. “I only heard this from Geraldine while I was sitting on her couch. Then Geraldine offered me a cup of tea. So she got up and left. And… that’s when it happened.”
“What happened?” Amy narrowed her eyes.
“Right after she left, I could still hear her rummaging about in the kitchen, Alfred Rodeo appeared. He literally showed up out of nowhere. He was just there somehow. He glared at me with an intense and deep hatred, and then right before my eyes his face morphed into that of an ugly monster, a demon really. Scaly and harsh with eyes that were glowing. Then he spouted out a bunch of Latin words as he approached me and he lifted up his claw-like hands as if he was about to strangle me …”
“W-What did he say?” Amy asked.
“Terrible, obscene curses. Some I had never even heard, although my Latin is pretty good.” The priest fished out a handkerchief from the pocket in his garb and began wiping his forehead.
A sour chuckle escaped the priest’s lips. “Then I remembered how I, as a priest, was supposed to have power over evil spirits, so with my one hand I pulled out the cross that I always wear around my neck, and with my other hand I pointed to the man, and I… well, I rebuked him in the name of Jesus. At least I tried to. “