by Angel Rose
“Jenesis, you know, this nightmare can all go away for you and Mike. Dave is dead, and if he did all of this, he paid for it violently with his brains being plastered against the wall. I’m sorry for you and Mike, but you guys can put this all behind you. Everyone believes you and Dave had something going on. It’s not true, I know, but Dave was a decorated officer and detective. You couldn’t get any better than him. He was well-respected, and there’s no way anyone is going to believe this story. The professor you mentioned was seen cheating on his wife, stealing from the college and apparently his lover’s boyfriend shot him. There were witnesses, and it wasn’t Dave. You see, this can get really ugly very quickly. Let it go. You can move on with your life with Mikey.” he said coldly.
“It was Dave, he sent someone to do it, and I know it.” I shouted. “He killed Margaret! He raped me! Get his body out of the morgue and do a DNA test!” I yelled.
“On who?” He lifted both hands, palms up, and shrugged his shoulders. “Prove it.” he said. “Dave is going to be buried and have a policeman’s funeral like he deserves. You don’t have a case, Jenesis. Drop all of this, please.” he said as he started to walk away then he turned around and faced me. “Dave and I were best friends, Jen. I was his proxy, and I was mentioned in his final will and testament. There was no mention of Michael, Margaret, or you. He only left someone in England money that was wired to them the day after he was killed.” he said sternly. I looked up at the detective with daggers in my eyes and immediately thought of Tilly. “Even when he’s buried, you’ll never get a court order to exhume his body.” I felt crushed. This was going nowhere, and I needed to end this…now. I gave in to the detective.
“How dare you? You son of a bitch. Get out.” I whispered. He stood up straight, turned and started to walk away. “Detective Corrigan, this is a cold case.” He glanced over at me and nodded his head. “Now please leave, before I change my mind.” I said with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.
“Not so fast. You have to put it in writing sweetie. It’s not that easy, can you do that for me?” he said with a smirk on his face handing over a piece a paper from his binder and pen to me.
“I’ll do that for you, but I’ll do nothing for him, do you hear me? Nothing, and Michael is off the hook with everything…is that understood?” I said angrily snatching the paper from his hand and grabbing the pen.
“Start writing, please.” He said.
I started to write a statement that cleared Dave’s name. I can’t even remember what I wrote, it read something like, “I was in a state of mind where I couldn’t think clearly. I don’t know who came into the house, but Dave was defending me and the person shot and killed Detective Hearns.” Detective Corrigan coached me the whole time. All I knew is that I couldn’t believe he got away with murder and raping me. It was like being raped all over again, endlessly. The detective hastily grabbed the paper from my hand.
“That should be enough. Jenesis, thank you for your cooperation. His funeral will be in the city tomorrow morning at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the burial will be in the afternoon over at St. Raymond’s in the Bronx. You’re welcome to attend.” he said smugly.
“Oh, I’ll be there with bells on to spit on his grave. And detective, I hope you rot in hell, now get out.” I said calmly with a burning fury that made my body quiver.
David Hearns, my friend, my father, my hero was plotting to kill me the whole time, while his son, aided him in his quest to commit unconscionable rape and murder. Then the tables turned. He got away with murder and rape for years, but he couldn’t save himself. He’s dead. He got what he deserved.
***
I hadn’t seen Michael since I was admitted into the hospital. Michael was wheeled into my room in a wheelchair by a nurse. My heart dropped into my stomach. I was flustered by his presence. The events of that day flashing before my eyes.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Michael said softly. I couldn’t believe he was part of the nightmare that I just encountered. I got goosebumps just looking at him as she wheeled him closer to the bed. My heart began to beat quickly against my chest and the memories of him placing a knife against his throat flashed before my eyes.
“I’m okay. I just spent an hour with a detective who made me write a statement clearing Dave of everything he did to me.” I said nonchalantly.
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“We don’t have a pot to piss in this case against Dave. They covered his tracks and you don’t exist. You’re not even his son. How do you like that?” I shook my head, trying not to give Michael eye contact.
“We never had anything. Dave…my father, was too smart. He’d outsmart God himself.” He said trying to get my attention.
“Well, where he’s going, he’s not going to meet God. He’ll be meeting his maker, the devil himself.” I said mercilessly.
Michael looked at me placing his hands through his hair,
“I can’t believe you allowed me to see you.” He whispered.
“I can’t either.” I said harshly.
“I’m sorry. I’m going to need years of therapy to work through this. I don’t think we should be together.” he said as he held back his tears.
“Maybe you’re right…we need time to heal. I know I do.” He reached out for my hand.
“Yes you do.” He grabbed my hand tightly and I pulled away…slowly.
***
The next morning, we were getting ready to be discharged from the hospital. The nurses as well as some people from the news and the press were waiting for us to be released. I was afraid to walk out of the room, let alone the hospital. Michael and I signed the discharged papers. I tried to prepare myself mentally to walk through the crowd without looking at anyone, but there were so many people and I began to panic.
“Excuse me, everyone back up, let them through!” Detective Corrigan shouted.
A reporter pushed her way through and practically shoved her recorder in my mouth.
“Were you having a love affair with your so-called rapist, Detective David Hearns?” She shouted in front of everyone.
“Get outta here!” Detective Corrigan shouted pushing the reporter to the side. I stared at him as he put his arm around my shoulder and shielded me from the press he escorting me into a police car.
“Let us take you home, you’ll be safe in here.” He said.
“We have to stay in a hotel. I don’t want to go back to the house.” I panicked.
“Absolutely, we can drive you to the city, and you can stay at the Hilton, we’ll pay for it.”
“Royal treatment for the person who accused your honorable detective of rape?” I said sarcastically.
“We owe you. I owe you. Let us do this for you and Mikey.”
“Michael, get in.” He said. I gave Detective Corrigan a look that could split him in half.
We drove to the Hilton in a police car driven by my biggest enemy thus far. Michael wanted to strangle him from the back seat. I had to calm him down. I held his hand, gripping it to avoid him losing his mind again. His hand felt cold, like a strangers and I quickly let go of it before he noticed. We left the squad car, and I slammed the door on the way out. Detective Corrigan went inside to the hotel and paid for our hotel stay. He smiled at me and handed me the card.
“No hard feelings, Jen?” he said.
“Like I said before, go to hell.” I snatched the card and walked away from him. Michael followed. We got in the elevator and pressed the third floor. I slid the card in the slot and opened the door to the room.
“Talk about the rich and the famous, this is ridiculous.” Michael said as he looked around the room. Ignored him and sat on the corner of the bed.
“I’m tired. I’m going to take a nap. Maybe you could set yourself up by the couch over there.” I said aloofly.
“Sure.” He whispered.
“I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.”
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“To a burial.” I answered.
***
It was 8:00 AM, and I woke up with a pounding pain in my chest.
“Hey,” I heard Michael whisper.
“Hey, well, let’s shower and get ready, we have a burial to attend.” I said.
“Why? Why are you doing this to yourself?” he asked as he placed his hands on top of his head.
“I have to, I’ll never be at peace if I don’t.”
“I wish you wouldn’t.” he answered as he stared at me.
“I wish you understood why.” My eyes welled up with tears. “I don’t have to explain anything to you anyway, Michael. We need to figure out what we’re going to do when we get back.” I said harshly.
David Hearns had a policemen’s burial with all of the bells and whistles at the cemetery. I watched as the long line of mourners threw rose petals onto the casket. Cassandra was dressed in black, wearing a small black hat with a veil attached, her hair wrapped neatly in a bun. She shook her head, placed a rose on his casket, whimpered and walked away. My heart sank. She looked at me as if I killed him, not knowing the horror he put me through. I noticed a batch of beautiful White Orchids sprawled over his casket. I skipped the line and walked slowly towards Dave’s casket. I held my breath, trying to avoid screaming his name and damning him to hell in front of everyone.
“Don’t do it. We can leave right now.” Michael whispered grabbing me by the arm.
I was still frightened of the ghost that tormented me, but I knew the body of the man that called himself my friend, my father, was lying there dead. I needed to let him know he could never hurt me again. Maybe his spirit could see me, and he would know he couldn’t hurt me anymore, he couldn’t hurt anyone. Michael looked at me tortured, lowering his head in shame.
“He can’t hurt you, you know that, but I still don’t understand why you wanted to come here.” He whispered against my ear.
“The same reason why I’m still here with you.” I answered as I approached the casket. It was a closed casket, and it was covered with a United States flag. I grabbed the white orchids from the casket and said, “You don’t get to have white orchids, Dave, I won’t let you share those memories with me.”
I turned my face away and threw the orchids on the floor and looked up to see Detective Corrigan standing in front of me.
“Please leave.” He demanded. I lifted my head and our eyes locked.
“I’m leaving. I’m just paying my respects to a fallen hero.” I said cynically.
As I passed Detective Corrigan, I noticed a women walking towards me with a baby girl in her arms.
“Tilly?” I whispered.
“Jenesis, I’m so happy to see you.” she said as she hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. I pulled away from her.
Michael walked towards Tilly. He said nothing and placed his hands in his pockets.
“Tilly, where have you been? We haven’t heard from you in months. What are you doing here?” I asked.
“My mother in-law saw the paper, and she called me, I had to come back.” she said with tear-filled eyes.
“Is this your baby, Tilly? What’s going on?” I asked curiously as the little girl grabbed on to her mother.
“Yes, her name is Chanel.” she said as her voice trembled.
“She’s beautiful. What beautiful blue eyes,” I said somberly.
Tilly didn’t let go of her and held her tighter as the trumpets played.
“I have to go. There’s so much I want to tell you, but I can’t.” She began to cry. “Poor Dave, he was such a mess.” She wiped her tears and kissed her daughter on the cheek.
“She’s Dave’s, isn’t she? Isn’t she?” I whispered. “Dave killed Eddie, you do know that don’t you?” I stared into her eyes and she that I was saying was the truth. There was no denying it.
“Jenesis, please, all of this death, Margaret, Eddie and now Dave, this pregnancy, he just couldn’t take it anymore…he couldn’t take me anymore. I’m sorry I have to go.” she said as she walked away. I grabbed her by the arm tightly.
“He.Raped.Me.” I whispered through gritted teeth. She yanked her arm away from me and shook her head.
“Good-bye Jenesis.”
“Tilly! Tilly! Wait!” I shouted.
Michael walked over to me. I looked at him as If I were looking at a stranger. He grabbed my hand and said,
“Let’s go.”
“Don’t you want your father’s flag, Michael?” I said mockingly.
“I don’t have a father, I never did. Jenesis, keep your voice down.” he said angrily.
“I can’t be with you…leave me alone.” I whispered as I walked away. I saw Nick walking towards me. He had the flag that was on Dave’s casket.
“Jenesis, Dave would have wanted you to be the recipient of this flag. No matter what you think, he loved you, Jen.” he said.
“Nick?” I said shaking my head. “After all this time, now you come to see me. Where were you when all of this happened to me? You never once showed your face at that hospital, and now you’re handing me a fucking flag.” I wanted to smack the hell out of him.
“Jenesis, you know how I feel about you.” He said as he grabbed my arm gently and escorted me away from Michael.
“You were never there. We were friends once. You knew Dave. Did you know what was going on? He raped me.” I whispered, ready to fall apart.
“Of course not, how could I.” he shook his head in disappoint. “I always loved you Jen. That’s why I never spoke to you again. I don’t know if he raped you or not, but, I’m sorry if he did. I’m sorry for everything you went through.” He lowered his head in shame.
“Right. Dave raped me and then tried to strangle the life out of me, and you’re handing me this flag. Have you no respect for the living? Burn it, Nick.” I whispered. “Burn him and make sure he goes straight to hell.” My tears fell from my eyes unannounced. The pain in my heart stabbing at me until I lost my breath. “How dare you do all of this for a man who hurt me? A man who killed dozens of women. You don’t believe me. You’re just like the rest.” I covered my mouth with my hand as I sobbed.
“We don’t believe he killed those women. Marquis did. It’s your word against his, remember, he was shot dead by him.” He pointed his finger towards Michael. “Why are you here anyway?” he shouted.
“He was shot dead by my husband because he was raping me! Michael is his son! I’m here to make sure he’s dead! I’m not opening his casket out of respect, otherwise, I would do that, too!” I yelled. I turned around and walked away from Nick when I noticed Detective Corrigan walking towards Michael.
“Mike, drop that bitch like a bad habit. We know you were just upset because your wife was fucking around with Dave, let her go, she’s no good.” he said.
“You son of a bitch!” Michael swung at him. Detective Corrigan ducked. “I’ll fucking kill you!” Michael shouted.
“Like you killed Dave?” He grabbed Michael by his throat. “Don’t be mad at me ‘cause your wife was fucking her boss.” he whispered in his ear.
“You’re a piece of shit, Eric, and one day, this is all going to blow up in your face.” Michael said as he grabbed his hand and pulled it off of his throat. “It doesn’t matter what you think. Jenesis is alive and Dave is dead…and I’m off the hook and there isn’t a fucking thing you can do about it.” He pulled in closer, touching Detective Corrigan’s face with his nose. “And yes, I killed him. And I got away with it. What’s makes you think I won’t kill you…and get away with it.” Michael stared directly into Detective Corrigan’s blue eyes.
“You wouldn’t dare.” Detective Corrigan said as he turned and walked away.
“Hey Eric. Yes. I. Would.” Michael shouted as we walked towards the car in the parking lot. He glanced over at me as we walked. “Jenesis, I’m sorry. I told you not to come here. I told you this would turn out really bad.” he said softly. I stared as Nick walked away from us with the flag in his hands.
“G
row up Michael. Nothing is worse than what he did to me…to us. Why do you think I came here?”
“I understand, but it was just a bad idea. As a matter of fact… it was crazy.”
“Crazier than staying with the man who helped a serial killer…his own father… try to kill his wife, really?” I shouted.
“Goddammit! Jenesis! You being here means something. I want you to forgive me so we can try to move on.” He grabbed me the shoulders. I shook my head and began to cry placing my hands over my face. “I’ll do anything you ask. Please, please don’t leave me.” I couldn’t look at him. I kept my hands over my face. “You promised me you would never leave me.” He whispered. I slid my hands slowly off of my face and looked up at him.
“That was before I found out you were a sick fuck!” I shouted. I turned my face away from him. His face grew pale.
“Please, give me a chance Jenesis. I was never going to hurt you. You have to believe me.” He whispered.
“Believe you? What do you expect me to do?” I said with tears in my eyes.
“We just got out of the damn hospital. How do you think I feel watching my father fuck my wife! Huh?” he growled, his eyes narrowed with anger.
“Don’t! Don’t go there! How could you? How could you?” I shouted at him as I took my fists and pounded on his chest as hard as I could. He stood there and he let me. He knew I needed to release that anger.
“Baby, please…Can we just go home, can we…please?” he grabbed my hands gently.
“I don’t know what to do.” I whimpered. “Help me, please, Michael, help me.” He grabbed me and pulled me to his chest. “I don’t want to go back to that house! I can’t. I just can’t.”
“Shhh…Okay, we won’t.” He held me in his arms and I let him.
Michael and I both stared at each other as we heard the sound of firearms being shot in the air and trumpets playing TAPS for a decorated detective, just like you would see in the movies. Michael gazed at me for a moment, as I gasped and whimpered like a wounded dog. My whole body tensed up. I buried my face in his chest, placing my ear against it, listening to the beat of his heart. I tried to remember the man I loved, instead of the monster that lay with me in my bed. He nuzzled his face in my hair and took a deep breath and said,