Currents of Sin

by Arleen Alleman

“Do you remember Grandma, sweetheart?” Rachael asked as she handed her over. Anna smiled and answered her mother, but there was no telling what she’d said.

  Holding her out in front of me, I studied her lovely caramel skin, and the soft black curls framing her face. Her hair was so much longer now, and she looked so different from when I last saw her.

  “Oh, how you’ve grown,” I told her, clutching her against my chest and nuzzling her cheek.

  I looked over her head to Rachael. “I’ve missed so much, haven’t I? Her hair is getting long, and oh, are her eyes beginning to look hazel?”

  “Yeah, kind of.”

  “You’re such a beauty,” I told Anna and hugged her until she began to squirm. Relaxing my hold, I concentrated on Rachael. “I’ve missed you too, honey. It’s so good to see you looking so well and happy. It’s a wonderful thing you’ve done, coming here to help Sid.”

  Brooks stepped out from the shadows of the garage and stood behind her. “Yes, she has been an enormous help.” Proudly pointing to Anna, he said, “She’s something, isn’t she?”

  “Yes, she gets more beautiful every time I see her.”

  Still holding the baby, I followed them into the house. A faintly antiseptic smell permeated the kitchen, and I remembered sadly that Brooks and Rachael were providing medical support to an incapacitated person—my only close female friend. My happy mood faded, and I wondered how much responsibility my daughter had taken upon herself.

  “How’s Sid doing?”

  “She’s okay and anxious to see you,” Brooks answered. “Go ahead. I’ll fix you a drink.”

  I hurried back to the master bedroom. The door was open, and she was sitting in the bed, propped up against pillows. Nothing about her appearance hinted at the awful reality of her condition. She reached her hand out and grabbed mine.

  “Darcy, I’m so glad you’re here. Sit here next to me.”

  I hugged her and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Sid, you honestly look great.”

  “Brooks and Rachael have been wonderful. It’s such a pain to get me in and out of the bed and to shower and all that. I’m so tired of being a burden, Darcy. I try to be optimistic,” she whispered. “But sometimes it’s really hard.”

  A lump formed in my throat. I cleared it and willed myself not to cry. “I can’t even begin to imagine what this must be like, but one thing I do know: you’re not a burden to anyone. We will all work to get you back on your feet, so to speak, just as long as it takes. And we’ll love doing it.”

  “On my feet?” She giggled, and it sounded magical. “Well, the doctor says I will be back on my feet at rehab, albeit holding on to parallel bars. They want to determine if I can bear any weight and whether I can move at all. There’s been no sign that I can, but my broken legs have complicated things. I’m worried about the rehab, but at the same time, I can’t wait to get started.”

  “I’m excited for you. It’s a challenge and something to work toward.”

  She eyed me for a moment. “You have to tell me about your visit with Paul. I want to hear everything.”

  “Well, that was interesting. Sid, he’s not in good shape mentally. I think he has dementia or Alzheimer’s. I’m certain you won’t have to worry about him any longer. I’ll tell all of you the whole story as soon as I get myself settled.”

  “Oh my, something like that never occurred to me. I wish I could feel sorry for him, but I don’t. Not in the least.”

  “Of course not. Look what he’s done to you—to all of us. Sid, I’m famished. Have you guys eaten yet?”

  “No, but I’m sure Rachael has a plan. She is wonderful, Darcy. I’m so proud of her. She’s a really good mother too, and I’ll never be able to thank her for taking on the responsibility of caring for me. But I can’t let that go on much longer. She has to get on with her life.”

  “Don’t worry yourself about that just yet. Concentrate on getting stronger, and we’ll figure everything out in time.”

  I got up and started for the door. A wheelchair sat next to the dresser. “Do you use that?”

  “Yes, a lot of the time. Brooks will come in and help me get into it so we can all have dinner together.”

  78

  Six months later

  Gradually, as Metro and the FBI continued their investigations, the details of the Las Vegas trafficking story became much clearer to all of us. Paul’s role in that aspect of the case was in a way tangential. There’s no doubt he has done some very bad things, but he never tried to hurt teenagers. Sid was right about that.

  Paul’s former employees at Athens Olympia went rogue when they got sucked into the trafficking world and didn’t tell him about it. As he began his slide into dementia, his associates who were still on his payroll wanted to distance themselves and needed to generate new sources of income. The prostitution fit the bill. Why they resorted to trafficking in sex slaves was not so clear.

  With little left to lose, he agreed to testify against the Athens bunch. Mentally, he was declining but managed to get his point across regarding Nate Mirabelle’s role in the criminal activity. As a result and based on a wealth of other evidence, Mirabelle and much of his security force faced prosecution for the prostitution and trafficking.

  Further, they were indicted for other crimes they committed under Paul’s orders, including attempted murder by orchestrating an automobile accident. While Paul ordered the attempt on our lives, he left the method up to Mirabelle. Under his orders, it was Shimmer who recruited the skateboard boy from among the homeless teens. It was doubtful Paul would ever stand trial for that crime, given his deteriorating condition.

  During his lucid moments, Paul was able to explain how he managed to retain Mirabelle and the others after Sid sold the hotel to Fontana. The new owner, a man in his seventies, wanted to scale down his holdings and move to Vegas to manage the hotel himself. Paul admitted he saw this as a great business opportunity and told Nate to offer his services to the new owner under the rationale that security would need continuity during the transition.

  Nate explained to Fontana that they were still in the process of weeding out employees involved in illegal activity with Paul Denezza. As an absentee manager, Fontana was undoubtedly grateful for the help.

  Paul, then in possession of all his faculties, must have considered this a genius tactic. It enabled him to keep Nate and several other previous employees on the payroll—the hotel’s and his own. Since Nate controlled hiring and acted as the interim manager, he was well positioned to hide what was going on from the new owner.

  From prison, Paul continued to dictate terms of vendettas he wished to carry out against previous businessmen and others he blamed for his incarceration, including his ex-wife and me.

  A shadow of the man who habitually manipulated others through money and power, Paul recently slid deeper into a mental fog. Unable to take care of his own basic needs, prison officials placed him in the hospital section right there at supermax, where he will live in mental oblivion until the end.

  Asian gang members responsible for the attack at Athens were also indicted, but taking them off the street hardly put a dent in the overall trafficking problem, as Curtis predicted. I’m afraid that particular sinful brand of crime will be with us for a long time to come.

  Ping’s role in setting up the kids for transport out of the country was particularly disturbing. The gang paid him to target the most vulnerable among them. The apocalyptic stories of overall doom, which he preached daily, and the immediate terror of their circumstances convinced many gullible kids to trust him. He was adept at psychological manipulation and used religion-based fear to ensure they would accept their fate. Since the abductees went quietly in the night, no one including other kids at the Green Door realized what was happening.

  To pull this off, he had to keep the kids close to him. Following orders from his superiors, he discourag
ed them from getting real assistance so they would remain at the motel and under the gang’s control. It was beyond contemptible.

  Ping’s cousin kept a low profile as he controlled the downtown gang hierarchy and would have escaped prosecution if not for Ping’s testimony. It turned out that Ping was deeply indebted to his cousin. Ironically, he found himself in the same situation as many of the foreign street kids brought into the country by traffickers. The cousin demanded payment for bringing him to the United States. It was a debt Ping could never repay.

  79

  After further researching the horrendous international human trafficking problem, I wrote what I hoped would be a compelling article about child prostitution and the problem with homeless teens in Las Vegas. I obtained permission from Banu and Tina to use their experiences without their real names.

  Their success stories as well as the description of the unique yurt shelter and the good work of Lorraine Parkins provided uplifting messages within an otherwise-depressing story. I submitted the piece to Time magazine because they purchased my previous work, and I was elated when the magazine agreed to publish it two months later.

  With that task completed, Mick and I flew to Southwest Florida to visit the Marco Island house and Tom. The missing panthers, murdered ranger, and the cult responsible for the crimes were all old news. I’d lost interest in the story anyway because my attention would be focused on Rachael and Anna and on helping Sid in the foreseeable future.

  There was no question I would get back to my investigative journalism in time. There will always be plenty of fodder for stories. In fact, on a daily basis, news items provide ideas for areas of in-depth research and human-interest angles. I would simply take a break from the work for a while to concentrate on family.

  Speaking of family, one amazing thing came from our Vegas adventure. True to his word, Tom went back several times to visit Banu. During those trips, in addition to forging an even stronger bond with her, he arranged with the county to become a foster parent.

  He met no resistance after Grant Murray vouched for him to officials at Clark County Child Protective Services. Recently, he was granted permission to relocate Banu to Florida, where he set up housekeeping in a lovely condominium on a canal in Marco Island and enrolled her in school. Amazingly, he has begun the formal adoption process. With that, our little group of friends and family will soon increase by one lovely, intelligent, and very lucky girl—Banu Mar Smythe.

  The two of them came over to the house for a visit, and I was astonished at the improvement in her English and in her level of self-confidence. More than that, I couldn’t believe how she had filled out. She no longer looked undernourished and had blossomed into a sweet beautiful young woman.

  I couldn’t help but wonder how she must feel. It wasn’t only the miracle of finding Tom to care for her, but also living in such a beautiful area with virtually no violent crime after life with abusive parents, then forced prostitution. This was an amazing story in itself, perhaps to be told sometime in the future.

  “Tom, you’ve done a wonderful job,” I said. “She seems genuinely happy and looks terrific too. She’s really lovely.”

  He beamed as he watched her studying the plants in the backyard. “Darcy, she is so smart it’s astounding. You wouldn’t believe how easily she is fitting in at the school here. She’s lived a life so different and so much more violent than the other kids, but you wouldn’t know it. She makes friends easily. We’re continuing counseling for her for a while longer anyway, but I believe she’ll be fine.

  “I feel as if my life has real meaning now. I’ll have a few years to help her. Then she’ll go to college and be off on her own, but I’ll always be here for her.” He grinned and shook his head in disbelief.

  “I’ll be her dad.” His voice cracked, and I stepped in close and silently wrapped my arms around him. I’d never seen Tom so happy and fulfilled.

  Sid is continuing her rehabilitation, and I spend at least one week each month in Vegas. She is making progress in strengthening her muscles, particularly her upper body. With that, she is becoming more self-sufficient. We both cried tears of joy the first time she was able to transfer herself in and out of the wheelchair without help.

  While she hasn’t gained any feeling in her legs, her bodily functions work almost normally, which is a big relief. Because the spinal lesion was so low, the doctors were not sure at first if the nerves extending to her stomach, bladder, and bowels would be affected.

  However, she confided in me that, as is typical with her type of injury, her sex life was far different from before the paralysis. She said that in addition to not being able to move her muscles, she has greatly diminished sensation. She and Brooks are consulting a psychologist who specializes in helping patients with spinal cord injuries work around intimacy problems caused by the condition.

  Brooks has never wavered in his love for her and his dedication to her recovery. They are both resigned to her paralysis but are hopeful about future medical breakthroughs that might improve her situation one day. In fact, Brooks is investing substantial amounts of money in several ongoing research efforts.

  Rachael and Anna are still living with them, and I am so proud of how my daughter rose to the challenge of caring for Sid. Without her help, Sid would be in assisted living care during the day in order for Brooks to work full-time. With her condition now improving and the modifications Brooks is making inside their home to accommodate her, she soon won’t need Rachael on a daily basis.

  To Mick’s and my delight, Rachael is talking about moving to DC to live with us as soon as Sid and Brooks stabilize their situation. Mick is already looking into enrolling her at Georgetown University and hoping she can still get onto the sculling team. This was an old dream we all shared before Anna came along. Maybe it can be revived. I don’t know.

  I do know I feel badly for Rachael’s adoptive parents. The Alosas raised her well, but for now at least, they have ended up on the losing end of her relationships with three sets of parents. Perhaps that situation will change when Ray retires from the Foreign Service, and he and Marianne move back to the States. I am optimistic that my daughter can eventually have it all.

  I’ve also been thinking about the amazing and horrific events we all encountered during the past five years—the twisting, colliding currents that forged bonds that can never be severed. The latest and vilest of these currents left all of us, especially Sid, with permanent scars we will bear for the rest of our lives. But I also know that we should never underestimate the power of love, friendship, and time to overcome adversity and pain.

  That insight also informs and clarifies my personal philosophy. The way I view it, three elements are fundamental to achieving world harmony and prosperity: Cherish and nurture relationships with others. Love and accept all humanity as one family—the human race. Do good works through reason, knowledge, and perseverance.

  These have been mainstays of human advancement since we evolved sufficiently to form social structures. We would not have made it this far without them. Even so, since the beginning, we’ve struggled and failed to instill them as cultural norms the world over.

  All the current ills of the world can be traced back to this failure. We have gotten in our own way. Thankfully, individuals rise above their base natures to succeed, often without realizing the impact of their actions on future generations.

  In so doing, they cast aside learned behaviors and beliefs that spawn discontent and hatred. Through all time, whenever individuals or groups learned to live by these simple tenets, they pushed civilization forward in slow incremental steps, improving life on the planet and ultimately steamrolling prejudice and superstition. That is why despite all the world’s problems, as a whole, we are always better off than in the past.

  For me, striving—not always succeeding—to incorporate these ideals and passing them on to future generations provides all the meaning
and purpose necessary to live a satisfying productive life.