by Earl Sewell
“No,” said Detective Crane. “As I said before, we’re conducting an investigation, and other witnesses informed us that you were there.”
“Other witnesses? Who in the world gave you my name and the idea that I knew something about what went down?” I asked suspiciously.
Detective Crane didn’t answer my question. Instead she removed a business card from her shirt pocket and handed it to me. “If you think of anything else you’d like to tell us. Here’s where you can reach me.”
“I’ve told you. I don’t know anything about who did what.”
“I’ve noted that. Is there a number where I can reach you if we have additional questions?” she asked. I really didn’t want to give her my cell phone number and I certainly didn’t want to give her the phone number to the house. I suddenly felt that I was damned if I did and damned if I didn’t. I gave her my cell number.
“Thank you. We’ll be in touch,” she said as they both walked back toward the locker room and exited.
“I hope not,” I said aloud as I picked up the phone and called Jerry. His phone rang continuously before it went to voice mail. I was about to leave him another message, but heard a recording that said, “This mailbox is full, goodbye.” I grumbled when I really wanted to scream.
I worked a double shift because Maya couldn’t come in for obvious reasons. I mean, if someone started drowning, a lifeguard with her leg in a cast wasn’t going to be of much help. When 8:00 p.m. arrived it was time to close the pool, and I was extremely exhausted. I closed up shop without rearranging the furniture or removing the beach ball and other flotation devices from the pool. All I wanted to do was get out of there so that I could stop and see how Maya was doing.
I stood on the corner and waited for the bus, which seemed to be taking forever to arrive. When it finally showed up, I boarded it, paid my fare and took a seat. I tilted my head back and was about to close my eyes when I heard someone call my name. I opened my eyes and looked in the direction where the voice had come from. A few seats back I saw Katina, Mike’s girlfriend Sabrina’s friend. She waved for me to come sit with her. Without hesitation I went and sat next to her.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
“Better than it was yesterday. Did that party get out of hand or what?” she said, smiling as if all of the chaos was exciting to her.
“Yeah,” I said, trying not to relive all of the madness that had taken place.
“My parents almost died when they heard what had happened. You should see that empty house on my block. It’s so trashed it’s a total eyesore. At least that’s what my mom says. My dad says that it looks like we live in the hood now and he’s not happy about it. He said that he’s going to talk to the Village Board and try to get them kicked out of the neighborhood or something.”
“How in the world does he plan to kick someone out of their own home?” I asked.
“I don’t know. That’s just what he said.” Katina hadn’t considered the rationale of what her father wanted.
“Well, I’m glad that you and Sabrina got out before all of the madness went down,” I said, genuinely happy that she was unharmed.
“Yeah we got out, but we didn’t miss any of the action. Sabrina and I watched everything from my bedroom on the second floor. It was like watching one of those police reality shows where surveillance cameras catch all the action. I love those types of shows. I watch them all of the time.”
“Did you see who decided to ransack the house?” I asked.
“I don’t know who started it. There was just so much action going on everywhere. I pulled out my cell phone and recorded some of it. In fact, when it was all over I walked out of the house and over to the news van. I spoke to that news reporter, Angela Rivers, and let her know that I had cell phone video of what had gone down. They made me sign some silly waiver and then downloaded what I’d recorded and used it on the news!” She boasted as if she were brilliant for coming up with the idea of capturing it on video.
“Good for you,” I said. I didn’t really give a damn about what she’d recorded. “Have you seen Jerry and Erin?”
“Girl, they’re probably still in jail,” Katina said as a matter of fact.
“Jail?” I spoke louder than I intended to.
“Yeah, I saw the police handcuff them and everything,” Katina said. “My mom said they’ll probably sit in jail until their father comes back and bails them out.”
“Well, now I know why Jerry hasn’t answered his phone,” I said.
“Hey, this is my stop.” Katina stood up and pulled the stop cord. “It was nice talking to you.”
“Nice talking to you as well,” I said, moving out of her way so that she could walk over to the exit door.
“Hey, Katina, you don’t know who brought all of the alcohol and stuff do you?” I asked, thinking that maybe she had some additional information I could share with the authorities.
“No, but you could probably find out from Ed Daley. He’d be able to tell you,” she said as the bus came to a halt. “See you later.” She stepped off the bus.
I arrived at Maya’s house around 8:30 p.m. Her mother answered the door and I greeted her pleasantly and asked if I could come in and see how Maya was doing.
“Did you go that party, too?” she asked, clearly annoyed by what had taken place. I didn’t want to admit that I had, but knew her mom could probably smell a lie a mile away.
“Yes, I was there,” I answered her shamefully.
“Agh, you kids just don’t think about the consequences of your actions,” she said as she stepped aside and let me in. “She’s in the other room watching television.” She pointed.
“Thank you. I won’t be long,” I assured her.
I walked into the room where Maya was resting. She was sitting in a straight-backed chair that looked uncomfortable and had her injured leg propped up on another chair. Maya’s entire leg was covered in a cast. She couldn’t bend her knee at all, and the white cast looked totally uncomfortable.
“Hey, girl,” I said as I entered the room. I walked over to her and gave her a giant hug. “Are you hanging in there?” I asked.
“I don’t have a choice,” Maya answered. I pulled up another straight-backed chair from a corner of the room and sat in front of her.
“How does it feel?” I asked.
“It sucks, Keysha. You have no idea how difficult it is to use the toilet when you can’t bend your freaking knees!” she said angrily. “This is not how I’m supposed to be spending my summer!” She began crying tears of rage.
I felt myself tearing up because I truly understood her frustration and pain.
“It’s hard for me to get around because I haven’t figured out exactly how to use my crutches, and I can’t sleep in my bedroom because it’s on the second floor. I tried hobbling up there once and nearly fell backward. So now I have to sleep in my brother’s bedroom, on his creepy mattress which makes my skin crawl, while he gets to sleep in my room and bother all of my stuff,” Maya said, full of angry emotion. I decided that all I needed to do at that point was listen to her.
“And Misalo. My parents told me that I have to break up with him because they feel like he’s bad news and is no good for me. Even though he did everything he possibly could’ve to protect me, that isn’t enough in their eyes.” Maya smeared away the tears streaming down her cheeks. That’s when I noticed how red and puffy her eyes were.
“He even tried to come over and see me, but my dad ran him off. He told Misalo that he wasn’t welcome here.”
“Do you want me to give him a message for you?” I asked, hoping to make her feel better.
“Just tell him that I love him and nothing is going to keep us apart,” Maya said with renewed conviction. We remained silent for a minute, but then she asked me a question.
“How was work today?”
“I worked your shift for you. The park district is working on finding a replacement for you, but I don’t know when that’s going to hap
pen.”
“My life totally sucks!” Maya griped.
“Well, we’re on the same boat, honey, because two detectives paid me a visit today.”
“WTF! Why are police hounding you?” Maya seemed to welcome the distraction.
“Hell if I know. They came there asking all kinds of questions about Jerry and Erin and if I knew who vandalized the empty house next door to them.”
“I heard the place got totally trashed,” Maya stated.
“That’s what I heard, too, but I haven’t been over there to look at it or anything.”
“How did so many people hear about that party?” Maya asked.
“Cell phones, girl. People started calling their friends and those friends called more friends and it went on and on. People showed up from everywhere. If you ask me the crowd was massive.”
“Wow!” Maya said.
“And get this—Jerry and Erin are in jail right now,” I said.
“Get out!” Maya yelled.
“Yeah, girl, it’s a real mess.” I repositioned myself in the seat.
“Well.” Maya paused. “It was one hell of a party.” She laughed and tried to find a silver lining in all the mess that happened.
“Do you have any polish?” I asked.
“Yeah, upstairs in my room,” Maya answered.
“Well, I’m going to go get some so I can paint your toes. They look a mess,” I said with a smile.
“You know, Keysha, I’d like that a lot,” Maya said, giving me permission to go retrieve what I needed from her room.
Maya’s mom was kind enough to drive me back home since it was nearly ten. When she pulled into the driveway I noticed an unmarked police cruiser sitting in the driveway.
“It looks like the police are here. They don’t think you’re missing, do they?” asked Maya’s mom.
“No, I called my parents and let them know that you were bringing me home,” I said, wondering what was going on. “This probably has something to do with my brother.”
“Well, I hope everything is okay,” she said as she stopped her car and let me out. She waited until I was inside before pulling off. I walked up the steps and entered the family room. I felt my heart stop when I saw Detective Crane and Detective Rosati sitting on the sofa. Mike had his face buried in his hands, and both Barbara and Jordan looked at me with murderous eyes.
eighteen
Detectives Crane and Rosati paid Mike a visit at home to find out what he knew about the party and all the vandalism that took place. Needless to say, when our parents found out that we actually were at the party, they were beyond pissed off. Once the police left, Barbara hauled off and slapped Mike so hard that he tumbled to the floor.
“That’s for being deceitful and acting as if you were nowhere near that party. How could you lie to us like that with a straight face!” Barbara had gone ballistic. I wanted to say something but I didn’t know what, and to make matters worse my stomach started doing somersaults and I felt as if I were about to puke.
“And you!” Barbara looked at me as if she wanted to commit homicide. “After all we’ve been through since you’ve arrived. We’ve stood by you, defended you, and this is how you repay us for our kindness?”
“But—”
“But my ass, Keysha! The police told us how they paid you a visit at work today. Let me tell you something, little girl. If this turns out to be more than just an inquiry, I’m going to see to it personally that you stay locked up!”
“But—” A boulder got caught in my throat and I couldn’t speak. I wanted to assure her that I did nothing wrong, but she was inconsolable at that moment. I looked at my father, who had such a look of disgust on his face that I bowed my head and stared at the floor. I dared not say anything to upset him any more than he already was.
Jordan walked over to me and stopped. I felt his eyes glaring at me like lasers, and if they’d had the power to burn I would have been a pile of ashes.
“Daddy—”
“I don’t want to hear it!” he barked viciously. I cringed with fear. He and Barbara finally left the room.
Nervously, I walked over to Mike, who stood holding his face. His eyebrows were threaded together from the wounded scowl in his expression.
“Are you okay?” I asked, trying to comfort him with a hug. Mike pushed me away from him and didn’t say a word. He walked over to the door and walked out into the night. I stood in the center of the family room, paralyzed. I felt as if everything around me was coming unhinged, and there was nothing I could do to prevent it.
Jordan and Barbara were extremely disappointed in Mike and me. Their disillusionment with me stirred up a storm in my heart that was heavy with the burden of the truth. They still allowed me to go to work, and that’s exactly what I did. I didn’t involve myself in anything that had the potential to lead to trouble.
At night I could hear Barbara and Jordan arguing about what to do with Mike and me. My bedroom was directly above theirs, and the ventilation ducts carried their voices straight up and into my room, especially when they were loud.
Jordan wanted to ship me off to reform school for troubled girls, and Barbara wanted Mike to be placed in a mental hospital for further evaluation to determine if there was a medical explanation for his Jeckyll and Hyde personality. She even went as far as to suggest that something could have happened when Jordan accidentally dropped Mike on his head when he was still a toddler. It was heart-wrenching listening to them bickering and then observing them as they moved around the house the next morning refusing to speak to each other and completely ignoring Mike and me. I felt like an interloper, and all I wanted to do was disappear, or at least have the ability to make myself invisible.
By Tuesday of the following week, I was still walking around on eggshells, and it was unnerving. No one in the house talked to each other anymore, and it began to feel as if my family wasn’t going to survive this latest hiccup.
After eating a very light breakfast, I left the house and went to work as usual. When I arrived I methodically went about doing my chores, but it wasn’t easy because I was starting to feel as if neither Jordan nor Barbara cared for me anymore. I felt alienated and isolated from their love. I wanted to tell them how sorry I was for the things I’d done. I knew they were angry, but I didn’t want them to be viciously unkind to me. I wanted them to know that the words falling from their mouths hurt me more than they realized. But I knew that they wouldn’t listen to this, especially since trust had become an issue. I knew that I was more of a burden to them than I’d ever been before.
Then, a voice in my mind told me that I should just kill myself and end it all. But how? I thought. As I stood there rolling the vacuum on the floor of the pool and allowing my mind to entertain the thought of suicide, a notion of drowning myself entered my mind. I could do it tonight, I told myself. I could go home and take a few heavy barbells and some thick rope from the garage. I could bind the rope and heavy weights around my ankles and wrists and allow myself to fall into the deep end and wait for death to come and take me. It would be simple and easy. I wouldn’t leave a note; my dead body would say everything that needed to be said. The more I thought about the idea, the more appealing it became. It would be my way of getting back at my mother, Justine, for giving birth to me and then abandoning me. I would be able to get back at my grandmother Rubylee for getting incarcerated and leaving me in the world all alone. Finally, I’d get back at Jordan and Barbara for making me feel like an intruder. It would be my way of saying: “I’m tired and I’ve had enough.” Yes, I said to myself, committing suicide is the best way to go.
I heard someone enter the pool through the clubhouse locker room while my mind was in a trance and telling me to deliberately kill myself. I glanced up and saw Detectives Crane and Rosati approaching. I certainly thought I’d seen the last of those two. I didn’t acknowledge them. I just continued to do my work hoping they’d just go away.
“Keysha,” Detective Crane called my name.
“Yeah,” I answered.
“I have a warrant for your arrest.” Her tone was cold and heartless.
“What?” I glared at her thinking that she was joking, but I knew she was dead serious when I saw Detective Rosati remove the steel handcuffs.
“What are you trying to arrest me for?” I asked, backing away and searching for a way to run around them.
“Don’t make this harder on yourself than it has to be.” Detective Crane implored me not to resist. I dropped the pool vacuum and tried to make a run for it, but my attempt at escaping was futile. They easily captured me, placing my wrists in handcuffs, then read my Miranda Rights.
“Keysha Kendall. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?”
“Just shoot me and put me out of my misery,” I pleaded and began crying while being escorted toward their squad car.
nineteen
Officer Crane informed me that I was being arrested for criminal mischief and defacing and destruction of private property. The charges were completely bogus. I began to think that Detectives Crain and Rosati were corrupt and were just trying to close the case and move on without doing any meaningful investigative work.
“Those are false up charges and you know it. Why are you doing this to me? I’ve done nothing wrong!” I tried to speak calmly, but under the circumstances it was difficult.
“We can talk about it when we get to the station. We’ll be more than happy to accept your confession there,” explained Detective Rosati. I couldn’t believe that jackass actually thought he was going to get a freaking confession out of me! I remained silent during the remainder of the journey to the police station.
Once the squad car was parked, they escorted me inside, placed me in an interrogation room and said they’d be back shortly. The room had a table that was bolted to the floor, a clock, a surveillance camera and a two-way mirror. I sat there feeling myself going crazy, as if I were about to totally lose my mind. I didn’t understand how or why they’d come to the conclusion that I was responsible or participated in criminal activity. All I did was go to a party and then left when I saw that it was getting out of control. The only thing I was truly guilty of was not telling my parents that I was there.