by C. Kennedy
An older guy with long gray hair and an equally long gray beard operated a computer. He reminded Michael of an old elf as he keyed instructions into it, and the screen flipped from image to image and back again.
To Michael’s surprise, Detective Davis sat in one of the chairs studying the screen. “You found Tony on traffic cam footage?”
“Yeah, but we still can’t see what he was doing down in the city,” Lisa said in dismay. “Uncle Smitty, go to where we lose him.”
Smitty nodded, and the old elf sped the footage until Tony’s Camry left the thruway and entered the Bronx. Traffic cams continued to provide images until the car entered a residential area and was no longer in range of a camera’s lens.
“What time is that?” Jake asked.
The elf touched the Pause key, and the screen froze at 3:02 p.m.
“Then it picks up two hours later when he leaves,” Detective Davis added.
The gray-haired man hit Fast Forward until Tony’s car could be seen leaving the residential area with one motorcyclist following it. That motorcyclist was wearing the Fourth of July jacket Michael recognized.
“We have no way of knowing if that’s Rich,” Michael said.
“I think we have something.” Smitty motioned to the computer elf to zoom in on the motorcyclist. The shot narrowed until it focused on one of the rider’s hands.
Michael and Jake bent to study the screen, and Michael pointed a finger at it. “Class ring.”
Lisa nodded slowly. “Our class ring. And the stone is red with a C carved into it.”
Detective Davis turned and looked up at Jake and Michael. “Rich Carlisle’s birthday is July sixteenth, and the birthstone for July is a ruby. We’ll verify that he purchased that exact ring.”
“So now what?” Michael asked.
“We’re looking into where Barry Williams currently resides,” Detective Davis answered.
“And he is?” Jake asked.
“Chase,” Smitty answered. “The guy who heads up these losers.”
“No wonder he goes by Chase,” Michael said, only half tongue in cheek.
“We still don’t know what Tony was doing down there,” Jake said.
“There’s more.” Again, Smitty gestured to Elf Man to hit Fast Forward. The screen showed Tony pulling off the thruway for gas and the motorcycle following him into the gas station. It parked, and the rider got off the bike and approached Tony. It looked as if they exchanged words, but the motorcyclist didn’t lift his face shield or remove his helmet, and then the rider went back to his bike.
Next, the screen showed Tony on the 90 thruway again and several motorcycles boarding the thruway as Tony headed north. By the time Tony hit the Mohawk River overpass, several motorcycles followed him. One motorcycle swerved in front of Tony’s car, hit the brakes, and Tony swerved to avoid hitting it. His Camry hit the guardrail, sailed over it, and plummeted below. The cyclists continued on as if nothing had happened, including the one they believed to be Rich.
“That’s it,” Smitty said with finality.
Michael winced and rubbed his eyes with thumb and forefinger. “If that’s Rich, he should have stopped.”
Detective Davis turned to look up at Michael again. “You’re assuming he cares about Tony.”
“They’ve been friends since middle school,” Jake said.
“Loyalties change,” Lisa said softly.
“That is so not cool,” Michael said as he turned to Smitty. “At least they weren’t at track practice today.”
“Practice?” The expression on Smitty’s face went from tranquil to furious in a fraction of a second. “Tell me.”
Jake spoke up. “They were in the student parking lot when we finished practice yesterday. Michael tried to reach Lisa to tell you and couldn’t. I called my dad and, for once, the press was useful. They arrived, and the bikers left.”
Lisa looked at her phone. “Mike, you didn’t leave a message.”
“I hate bothering you with this stuff,” Michael said quickly.
Smitty seemed to gather his calm as he looked at the computer screen. “Don’t hesitate, Michael. Chase has incentive.”
“What incentive?”
“Other than stupid? No idea.”
Michael checked the time on his phone. “I need to get to Christy’s. What do you want us to do?”
Smitty met his gaze. “Watch your back and keep security with you.”
“WHAT DO you think?” Jake asked as they walked to their cars.
“It’s hard for me to believe Rich would do that to Tony.”
Jake stopped and looked at Michael. “Not everybody has the friendship we do.”
Michael squinted in the afternoon sun. “I get that, bro. I get the whole ‘people aren’t in our shoes’ gig. But you can’t go around…. Look. It’s beyond bad for business. It’s over the top. It’s criminal.”
“Not like we haven’t faced a hell of a lot of criminal shit in the past two months.”
Michael blew a long breath as Detective Davis’s warning words filled his mind. “This needs to stop.”
“For reals,” Jake agreed.
Michael mouthed a silent swear word.
“Sophia left a message while we were in with Smitty. I’ll call you if her convo with Ariel didn’t go the right direction.”
“And the hits just keep on comin’. That’s the last thing Christy needs right now.”
“You go, I’ll go, and we’ll connect.”
“You got it.” Michael headed to his car. “Jake?”
Jake turned back to him.
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Always being there.”
“Back at you.” He held his phone up. “Check it.”
Michael nodded and climbed into his car. He fastened the seat belt, started the car, and dialed Christy. “Hey, babe. I’m on my way,” he greeted when Christy answered the phone.
“Please be slow with Thimi. He is very afraid.”
“Okay. Any other pointers?”
Christy’s voice dropped to a near whisper, and Michael almost couldn’t hear him. “Keep the voice low. He will be afraid of your size. He may vomit or make the bathroom in the pants.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“This is the big adventure for him to meet you. He does not understand how a person can love… the people like us.”
An invisible band tightened around Michael’s heart, and it ached the way it always did when he thought about Christy’s past. Now it ached for Thimi too. The abuse they had suffered had charred their souls and reduced them to human rubble in their minds. “There’s nothing wrong with you. I’ll tell him that, okay?”
“Thimi is the little bit stubborn and may not believe you.”
Though Michael sensed that Christy felt this first meeting to be dire, he detected a note of happiness in Christy’s voice. “That’s okay. I’ll keep repeating it until he believes me.”
“Thank you, Michael. I miss you.”
“Miss you too, babe. I’ll see you in twenty.”
Michael hit the CD button and began to tap the steering wheel to the rhythm of blink-182’s “I Miss You.” He pulled out of the parking lot, and the security SUV filled his rearview mirror. Funny, he hadn’t seen security follow them to Smitty’s bar.
He remembered how frightened Christy had been when they’d first met and decided no matter how laid-back he was, Thimi would be terrified of him. He thought hard and tried to figure out how to break the ice, then decided on the universal language of children: candy. He stopped by a convenience mart, and security pulled in behind him. Tad rolled down the window. “Just going to grab something,” Michael called as he headed into the store.
He checked the candy aisle and decided Gummy Bears would be good. The package had purple Gummy Bears in it too. Epic! Then he grabbed a handful of lollipops just for the heck of it.
He arrived at Wellington to find Christy sitting on the front porch swing with Thi
mi. For a twelve-year-old, Thimi looked extremely small—not to mention skinny as a rail. Even dressed in sweats, the kid looked like a stick figure. Michael parked, got out of the car, and took the steps up to the porch at a measured pace. “Hey,” he said as he bent and kissed the top of Christy’s head.
Thimi leaned away, fear evident on his face.
Christy reached for Thimi’s hand, squeezed it, and said something in Greek before smiling up at Michael. “Kaliméra, filos. This is my good friend who is like the brother to me, Timotheos. We use the name Thimi.”
Thimi’s expressive green-hazel eyes were beautiful. Large and flecked with bright gold, they showed overt fear, and Michael kept his voice soft and even. “Hi, Thimi.” In an effort to appear less intimidating, he opted to sit on the porch tailor style in front of Christy rather than in a chair.
Christy spoke rapidly in Greek and gestured to Michael. “I tell him the Greek name of you is Mihalis.”
“Cool. Thought you might like these.” He held up the two bags of Gummy Bears and the lollipops.
Christy smiled and explained what they were. Thimi pointed to the multicolored bag and Christy opened it, selected a red bear for himself, and held the bag out to him.
Thimi peered inside and selected a red one too. He set it on his tongue and his face puckered briefly before he began to suck on it.
“Good?” Christy asked in English.
Thimi nodded. “Ef-fharistó.”
“He says the thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Michael said.
Thimi said something in Greek, and Christy translated as he gestured to a pile of pictures sitting next to Thimi. “General Sotíras gives the pictures to Thimi before he comes to the states. He says you look like the picture of you.”
“He has pictures of me?”
“Jacob gives me the pictures of you to give to Thimi.”
Michael chuckled. “I hope he picked decent pictures.”
Christy smiled again and gestured for Thimi to show him, and Thimi held the eight-by-ten photographs out to Michael with a trembling hand. Michael took them and looked through them. At least Jake hadn’t chosen pictures of them goofing around and making faces. “I forgot Jake had these.” He held them out to Thimi, and Thimi looked to Christy, clearly unsure whether to accept them.
“They are yours,” Christy said in English.
Michael had forgotten that Thimi understood English. He needed to remember that. “They’re yours to keep,” he reassured.
Thimi took them, his hand still trembling, and held them in his lap as they ate Gummy Bears in companionable silence for a few moments.
Michael ventured, “How do you like it here?”
Thimi nodded and said something in Greek.
“He is happy to be with me.”
“Me too. You mean a lot to Christy.”
Christy’s cheeks flushed a light rose, and then Thimi smiled.
“I explain to Thimi my first nights here are very bad, and it is okay to have the bad nights and the vomiting and bathroom accidents.”
Michael nodded. “True.”
“I tell him I am much better in one month, and in nine months I am good to meet you.”
Michael smiled. “And you’ve been patient with me. You explain things so I can help you.”
Thimi glanced at Christy briefly and said something in a near whisper.
“He asks for the example.”
“The no-touch rule. Good touch—bad touch, remember? You could touch me, but I couldn’t touch you.”
“Oh, I forget this.” Christy turned to Thimi. “If you do not like the person to touch you, does not matter how small, the touch is bad, and the person cannot touch you. It is the rule of the normal person. This is the rule for you now.”
Christy was very succinct in his words, leaving no margin for misunderstanding, but the expression on Thimi’s face was one of doubt.
“It is true. It is the rule of the normal person,” Christy reaffirmed.
Michael nodded. “You are always in control of how people treat you.”
Thimi frowned, Christy explained in Greek, and Thimi responded in Greek.
“He asks what to do if he does not wish the control.”
It was Michael’s turn to frown. “Why wouldn’t he?”
“When you first come from this terrible place, you do not know how to make the decision for two of the reason. The first because you are not allowed to make the decision most of the time, and the second because the few decision you are allowed to make will give you punishment. So, like this, you do not like to make the decision.”
“What decision? If you don’t like it, you don’t like it.”
“I will try this differently for you, filos. If you wish the control, you must be able to think about the matter and make the choice on the matter. The choice is the bad thing because the answer is always wrong, and it will mean punishment.”
“Any choice is wrong?”
“Yes. Any choice will pose the problem because they use the choice to punish you.”
“You mean you’re in trouble either way.”
“This is the problem,” Christy confirmed.
Michael mulled this over. If every choice represented a threat, he wouldn’t want to make decisions either. Michael looked at Thimi, who studied him intently, and it made Michael’s mind up. As he’d been with Christy, he’d be honest and direct with Thimi from the beginning. “There are no punishments, Thimi.”
Christy gestured to Michael as if to say what he said was true.
Michael continued. “Even if you get an answer wrong, there is no punishment.”
Christy gestured to him again.
“So that means you don’t have to be afraid anymore, and you can make choices and decisions.”
“I tell him this, but it is hard not to be afraid.”
Michael nodded. “I understand that. If you need help, ask Christy or Rob or me or anyone who you think can help you with the problem.”
Christy gestured to Michael again, and Thimi asked a question in Greek. Christy translated, “He asks how to decide what is the problem. Is it the person who makes the touch or the type of the touch?”
“Either or both,” Michael answered.
Christy translated, and Thimi looked confused.
“Look at it like this. Don’t think about it. If it feels uncomfortable, it isn’t supposed to happen, and you ask the person to stop.”
Christy translated, Thimi asked another question, and Christy repeated it in English. “What if the person does not stop?”
“Then ask for help.”
Christy explained in Greek, then in English. “He asks what if there is not the other person to ask for help, and I tell him he must always be with someone who is safe until he is good with the control.”
“Perfect,” Michael agreed.
Christy spoke in Greek and turned back to Michael. “I explain that I am always with you, Sophia, or Jake if I am not at Wellington.”
“You’re good at the hospital by yourself.”
“Oh, this is true.”
“You’re good at school by yourself.”
Christy made a comme ci, comme ça motion with his hand.
Michael had to agree with that. A few people had bullied Christy at school, and it hadn’t been pretty.
Thimi finally initiated conversation in Greek on his own. His voice was a soft whisper, yet strangely lyrical, and Michael thought it fit him nicely.
Christy translated. “He says he likes the food here.”
Michael smiled. “I do too.”
Thimi spoke again and Christy translated. “He likes the clothes.”
“Cool.”
Thimi frowned, and Christy explained what cool meant.
“Has he met any of the other kids yet?” Michael asked.
Christy nodded. “Darien.”
“What did you think?”
“Sm-mall,” Thimi said softly.
Thimi had spoken
in English directly to Michael. Point! Michael nodded. “Nonstop bunch of cute energy.”
Christy translated, and Thimi nodded, then Thimi said something in Greek that made Christy’s cheeks flush pink.
Michael smiled again. “What’d he say?”
“He says you would be the good parent… with me.”
Michael chuckled and looked at Thimi. “You’re right. I’m a great partner for Christy.”
Christy’s cheeks now flushed a furious pink, and he nudged Michael’s knee with the toe of his shoe.
“What? It’s true.”
Thimi smiled tentatively, said something, and Christy only nodded.
“No conspiring. What’d he say?”
“He says you are nice.”
Michael’s expression softened. “I try.”
Thimi asked another question, and Christy shook his head. “He asks if it bother you that I have the history of the abuse, and I say no.”
Michael nodded. “You can’t judge yourself by what other people did to you.”
Christy translated for Thimi and then said in English, “Always remember this. This is the rule for the normal person.”
Thimi studied Michael intently again, and Michael wasn’t sure what to say. To his relief, he was saved by his vibrating cell phone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
MICHAEL WITHDREW the phone from a pocket and looked at it. “It’s Jake.” He answered it with a quick “Hey, bro.”
“How’s it going?”
Jake’s tone of voice was too serious for Michael’s liking, and he began to worry. “Good. Thimi’s great. You okay?”
“As can be. I think it’s going to take Christy and Sophia together to talk to Ariel.”
“Drag. Why?”
“Ariel is being stubborn.”
“Not unusual for this family. What’s her reasoning?”
“She claims she can’t say a word.”
“Heard that already. I’m sure there’s a ‘because’ in there, bro.”