by V S Vashist
"What would you have?" Thomas asked while pointing towards the bar.
"A glass of whiskey will help," Jake said in exasperation and looked at Joseph and Andrew. The gleam in their eyes meant it was going to be tough fifty minutes for him. Even after that there was not going to be any respite as Uncle Phil's shift would start.
"So, where is Uncle Phil?" Jake asked while taking the first sip.
"He went out to the garden. He likes the place a lot. He is the one who insisted to have this wedding here," Andrew replied.
"He interferes in everything," Jake said in a low voice and turned around. "So, all these people are related to you?"
He looked towards Thomas who shook his head.
"Not all of them. Just like Andrew, some of them are close friends," Thomas said and pointed at the table near the entrance, "That is the Chatfield family. Samantha's father and Dr. Kirk Chatfield…the old man sitting beside those kids go back long way. They worked in the same hospital. In fact, he was the dean of the medicines there—a very influential man."
With that, he turned towards the other table near the window.
"That's Daryl Langley. He is been living in Chesterfield for ages. He has constructed most of the houses there," Thomas said thoughtfully.
"Even this resort has his contribution," Uncle Joseph said this time.
"Really?" Andrew said with surprise.
"They say that he had created the initial blueprint but later they awarded the contract to someone else. But, he insists that the whole construction is as per his plan, including the pond," Uncle Joseph explained.
"Fascinating," Thomas said and turned towards Jake, "Rest are all family. You will know them more at the dinner."
"If Uncle Phil spares me," Jake said with a faint smile. "He is going to tell me the second story during dinner."
"Don't worry. He is a nice man at heart. Since his wife died of cancer, he tries to hide his pain by talking a lot," Thomas said.
"Oh... I am sorry. And what about his kids?" Jake asked while gulping the last drops.
"He has two sons. One is an architect in L.A. and the other one owns a restaurant in Chicago." Thomas replied, "They hardly come here."
"I wonder why," Jake mumbled and turned around. Everyone looked so calm and relieved. The only person who looked worried was Samantha's mother Janine. Samantha's father Kent was rubbing her shoulders and was trying to reassure her. It seemed no one else had noticed that though.
As Jake was about to go back to his position, he saw Marsha taking Janine out of the room. He wished there was not going to be any drama as far as the wedding was concerned. The last thing anyone wanted was the groom or bride getting cold feet and if he was asked to help, he did not know what to say. He was not in favor of marriages in the first place and convincing someone to get married was like putting a knife through his heart. He shrugged off the thought for a moment and looked at Joseph who was quieter as compared to Andrew and Thomas.
"So, Uncle Joseph... How are you related to Samantha?" He asked, bringing Joseph out of his thoughts.
"Samantha is my sister's daughter," he said with a low voice.
"Oh...So you are Janine's brother?" Jake asked.
"No…no," Joseph replied at once, "Janine is her stepmother. My sister died during Samantha's birth."
"I…I am really sorry. The way Janine worries about her no one can tell the difference," he said while Thomas patted on Joseph's hand.
"You are right about that. Initially we were also worried but she loves her even more than what my sister would have," Joseph said with a tear glistening in his eye.
"Let's change the topic," Andrew said while pushing a mug of beer towards Joseph.
"Yeah, why don't you tell him about…" Thomas said while glancing through the room, "Yeah... about Byron Hyde."
"What about him?" Andrew said, feigning ignorance and looking at Joseph.
Joseph finally smiled. "All right."
"Byron and I studied together and were best friends. His father had a hardware store," Joseph said as Jake nodded, "We used to hang out together since childhood. Now Andrew had just started working as a detective. We are….about five years younger to him."
"Six," Andrew interrupted. Joseph nodded.
"Okay, he is six years older to us. Even during school he used to give us a tough time. I remember it was a Sunday. Byron's father had gone for lunch. We both were tending the store. Now Joseph walks in and asks for a hammer and some nails. Byron saw an opportunity there. He gave him a blunt hammer and a few crooked nails from the backyard. As usual, Andrew here gave him a dollar less on the pretext of having no loose change. Both thought that they had played a trick on one another. But, Andrew didn't stop there. He thought of another plan when he saw what Byron had given him. The next day onwards, Byron started finding the same nails soaked in blood.. one everyday outside his house. Initially he shrugged it off as a prank by Andrew, but after couple of days messages started appearing alongside the nails smeared in blood. He started to panic. He told me and I advised him to lodge a complaint. We found that Andrew had his day off on Tuesday. So we went to the station on Tuesday when he was not around and guess who do we find there?"
"Andrew?" Jake said immediately.
"No...Phil."
"Oh..." Jake said with a smile.
"Now both Phil and I were a party to this but Byron did not know about it. Phil showed anger and swore to bring Andrew down, making Byron even more confident. However there was an issue in filing the report."
"What?" Jake asked immediately. His words made Joseph's eyes gleam in excitement.
"Phil found that Andrew had already filed a complaint that his hammer and some nails had been stolen from his truck the same day he had bought it from Byron's. Phil assured Byron that he will personally see to it but there was a chance that it was not Andrew but someone else behind it. Poor Byron was so scared that he caught fever that night. But, we did not stop there. We kept this charade on for few more days. He stopped talking to me for a month once he came to know about it." Joseph said and started laughing.
"You should have seen his face," Andrew said with a chuckle.
"You guys are big time pranksters," Jake said and looked at Byron who was sitting alone. "You two don't look like the same friends now."
"No, but not because of that prank. That was a natural progression actually. His father died and he sold the store and moved countryside for few years. When he came back, we all had settled down. He never married and hence the solitude. We still meet - at least once a month. He is a close friend. That's why he is here," Joseph said thoughtfully.
Jake nodded and looked at Byron one more time.
"Everyone... let's move to the banquet," There was an announcement by Wallace Slater; the groom's father.
"Listen to him, guys. After-all he is the one who has paid for today's dinner," Andrew said and got up. Joseph and Thomas followed suit. Wallace was standing at the entrance with his son Casey standing behind him. Jake saw the groom for the first time but it was not the expression that he had expected. The father and the son were on the opposite ends of the excitement spectrum. While Wallace was brimming with excitement, Casey's face looked pale. He was looking down and appeared deep in thought.
Anyhow Jake walked behind Thomas and came out. Most of the guests were already walking through the lobby that had old Mexican paintings complimenting the old wooden linings across them.
It seemed as if everyone had rushed to the lobby together. More than walking, it was pushing each other in the direction of banquet. How could people push each other like that? Jake thought. As he was pushed thrice, he turned around and stared at the person behind him. The old man said sorry but it was Jake who was sorry at why he looked back. As soon as their eyes met, Uncle Phil started waving at him. Jake turned around immediately and started pushing the crowd in front of him.
Chapter 4
Janine, Kent and Samantha were standing near the entrance and were guiding e
veryone to their seats. Samantha gave a warm smile as Jake entered. She gestured him towards the third row from the front. Jake smiled in return and looked around for Kiara. He saw Kiara already standing near the stage. He waved at her but she didn't notice. Jake took a deep breath and walked to his seat.
As soon as everyone settled down, Janine and Kent walked towards the stage where the groom's family was already waiting.
"Well, my job was to get everyone here. Over to Janine and Samantha who have planned everything that we need to know," Wallace slater said with a beaming smile.
Janine walked to the middle. "Thanks everyone for joining us. So this is how it is going to be. First of all, the wedding party members - Bride, groom, maid of honor and best man—will rehearse their positions; followed by the recessional and then the processional."
Uncle Joseph volunteered to play the role of officiate with the bridesmaid and groomsmen lining up on either side. Some of them were missing from the rehearsal. The kids took their positions. Their happiness could be seen from the wide grin on their faces. Then it was Casey and Samantha's turn to come forward and stand facing Uncle Joseph. The flower girl took her position opposite the maid of honor, who happened to be Kiara. Jake looked at her and then towards the flower girl. He closed his eyes for a moment just to forget the image and tried to remember Kiara's face after beating up a suspect. The world looked at balance for a moment but not for long as the ring bearer walked to the best man who seemed to have eyes on all the bridesmaids.
Once everyone took their positions and some of the enthusiasts had clicked pictures, Janine watched them carefully and gave her go ahead for the Recessional. Everyone in the hall clapped and got aside to give way to the Bride and Groom who were followed by the flower girl and the ring bearer and then by maid of honor and best man. Once the Bridesmaids and groomsmen had left too; Bride's parents and Groom's parents left, making way for the Processional.
But, before that, the seating arrangement was to be done. People again started pushing each other, making Jake groan in frustration. One more day, Jake. Just keep it together, he thought to himself.
Once the seating arrangements were done, Uncle Joseph gave a cue to the band that started playing the processional music. With that, the groomsmen entered with the groom and lined up behind Uncle Joseph who walked in front. Once they reached near the stage, cue was given to the bride's party. As they walked through the aisle, Marsha got up. She walked to them and told them how the distance between them was not uniform. The music was stopped and they walked back to the entrance. The whole process was done again. Jake had now given up and was playing a game on his phone. As everyone settled down, Jake heard lots of gasping sounds. He turned around to see Kent escorting Samantha. Janine was already in tears watching her daughter walk through the aisle. Everyone was glued to each step that they took. Jake shook his head and went back to the game.
As Kent left Janine, Uncle Joseph gave a push to Casey who walked towards her and offered his arm and escorted her further.
It took another fifteen minutes before the 'I do's' came to an end. A round of claps brought Jake back to the ceremony. Everyone around him was already standing. He gave a sheepish smile to the family standing beside him and got up at once.
Kiara had assured Jake that she would be with him throughout the evening, but she had left Jake to fend for himself. He hoped she will be at least with him for the dinner. He was seated next to her parents but she was nowhere to be seen. Uncle Phil, on the other hand, was speaking with the groom's family. Jake feared the empty chair next to him more than any criminal he had faced. As Phil shook hands with Wallace, Jake's heartbeat started to increase. He knew Uncle Phil would be eager to tell the next story.
Before Phil could have taken a step towards him, he had a pat on his back. As he looked up, the whole scare got changed to a sense of relief. It was Kiara.
"Thank God you are here," Jake said. However, his relief did not last for long. As Kiara was about to pull the chair, a voice came from behind.
"You go and give company to Samantha. I need to speak with this young gentleman," Uncle Phil said, making Kiara stop her hand mid- air.
"Please don't leave me," he said in a low voice and closed his eyes. However, as he opened his eyes, Kiara had reached the far end of the room and Uncle Phil was sitting beside him and smiling while looking at him.
"Uncle Phil," Jake said with a feigned excitement. "You don't miss your chances. Do you?"
"He is beginning to understand my nature," Uncle Phil said and winked at Thomas who had no other option but to smile back.
"I really wanted to see how he handles Phil," Thomas said in Marsha's ear, making her chuckle.
"They both deserve this for their charade," she replied back softly.
Jake knew from their faces that they were enjoying this and Kiara's apathy was only adding to his uneasiness.
"So, did you like the rehearsal?" Jake asked before Uncle Phil could have said anything.
"You know I am a fast eater. We should not waste time in chit-chat," Uncle Phil said while rubbing his palms.
Thomas and Marsha pulled their chairs nearer. Jake cursed Kiara and braced for another story where Uncle Phil could boast about his 'experience'.
"Did you get any answer to the first case?" he asked nonchalantly.
"I am still thinking about that. You said that I don't have to answer till tomorrow," Jake replied.
"Yeah.. I am asking because now you have to divide your time between two cases," Uncle Phil said.
"So, here it goes. This happened when I was married for two years. Barbara…my wife and I were coming back from one of the weddings. It was late in the night...must have been around two in the morning when we saw a huge ball of light near the horizon. It was as if a plane was coming down crashing…"
"Seriously? A plane?" Jake said, interrupting Uncle Phil.
"As I said earlier... I make few changes here and there...Now listen up," Uncle Phil retorted.
"Really subtle changes," Jake murmured while taking a bite.
Thomas and Marsha were looking at them and munching on the salad as if eating popcorn at a theater.
"So as I said, we saw a giant ball of fire. The site of crash was around half a mile from where we were. I parked the car and came out. Barbara stopped me but I had to find. It was my duty. Those were the days when there were no cellphones. The nearest payphone was five miles away. I thought of giving the crash a look and there was a great chance that just like me others had also noticed it.
"By the time I reached there, the fire had engulfed the whole plane. I tried and looked inside but the chances of anyone's survival seemed very minuscule. Still, I tried to remove some of the rubble. The fuselage was full of dead bodies and the fire was still spreading. I looked around but there was nothing to help me. Suddenly, I heard a muffled scream coming from under the left wing. There was a woman trapped under it."
Uncle Phil paused for a moment. His eyes had welled up. He took a sip of water. Jake was unsure what was happening.
"There were burnt corpses all around and by God's grace she was unhurt by the fire. She was holding her husband's hand who was long gone. She had broken her leg and some of her ribs. I dragged her out and carried her near a tree. She was conscious but in shock.
"I saw Barbara waving at me. She kept calling me back. I gestured her to wait for some more time. There was a chance that someone else had also survived. I pulled the husband out but there was nothing to be saved.
"Meanwhile, Barbara kept calling me, but I was too engrossed in saving lives that I kept running between the plane and the tree where the woman was lying. I didn't know whether she was going to survive or not. After some time, I saw Barbara driving off. She called 911 from the payphone and within half an hour, a rescue mission began.
"The woman was the only survivor. She was taken to the hospital and stayed there for a month or so. In between, the investigation began. The Airlines blamed the equipment manufacturers f
or the malfunctioning of the engine while they blamed them for not paying the Annual maintenance fee. The woman attended all the hearings as she was the lone survivor and I had to attend the hearings as well I was the one who reached the crash site first.
"It was really a tough time as I had to give the same answers in each hearing. Every time they will ask if I could think of anything new, but I had already told everything.
"In between, Barbara got real sick…and…"
This time a tear rolled down his cheek.
"Why are you putting yourself through this?" Marsha said, pressing his hand.
Jake, on the other hand, had a different reaction. He had studied Uncle Phil's body language and now he knew why he was telling all these stories to him. Uncle Phil missed his wife and this was a way for him to remember her. He lived alone and the only thing that he had were Barbara's memories. He could not talk about his wife to anyone directly. Being an officer meant he had to keep his tough image alive and not to show his emotions. But, he had to share the sadness that was killing him from inside. So, he had devised this method. Clearly there was no need for Jake to tell him which story was the real one. However, now he knew that by listening to Uncle Phil's stories, he could help him emotionally. If he left Uncle Phil now, the pain would keep eating him from inside. If Jake listened to all the stories, then Uncle Phil may come out of his grief a little.
"Did they recover the black box from the crash site?" Jake asked with forced eagerness.
"What…you still want to discuss this?" Uncle Phil asked in surprise.
"If that makes you feel any better, "Jake replied back.
"Leave it. I know I should not have bothered you. You are free from now on," Uncle Phil said and threw the napkin towards the center of the table.
"But, the deal was that you were going to tell me the three stories," Jake said in a firm voice.
"There was no deal," Uncle Phil said while shaking his head on Jake's apathy. Marsha and Thomas were not able to understand why Jake was pushing him.