Day of Atonement

by Yolonda Tonette Sanders

  Natalie made sure to knee Troy again before he could say anything sarcastic about her choice of spouse.

  “I think having twins is neat,” Tracy continued. “Y’all are lucky.”

  “Luck had nothing to do with it, baby sis. Your brother happens to be a very skillful man.” Everyone laughed, including Nate who was simply copying off of everyone else since he was too young to pick up on his father’s innuendos. Instead of kneeing him, this time Natalie chose to kick him for embarrassing her.

  Tracy used one of her hands to make the “cuckoo” motion and pointed at Troy.

  “Definitely.” Natalie nodded and the two of them exchanged an extra laugh, leaving the others at the table wondering what they had missed. Natalie and Tracy were not extremely close, but they had a decent time whenever they were around each other. Their mutual love for Lifetime movies and Troy bonded them. It always warmed Natalie’s heart to see Troy interact with his younger sister. His love and protection of her was undeniable. It often made Natalie feel nostalgic about her childhood. Though she didn’t have any siblings, she had several male cousins and when she was growing up she had been the youngest grandchild and the only girl. Her cousins looked out for her the way big brothers like Troy had surely done for Tracy.

  “What’s the game plan for today?” asked Reed.

  “Al and I were thinking about going to see a movie. AJ and Alyssa don’t want to go, so we were either going to take them home or let them hang out with y’all.”

  “I want to go to the zoo,” said Alyssa.

  “Mommy, I wanna go to ’da zoo,” pleaded a suggestible Nate.

  After such a restless night, Natalie did not want to go anywhere, but a zoo trip seemed fun. “We’ll see if we can work that out, okay?”

  “Nuh huh,” Diane quickly jumped in. “Natalie, you can’t go to the zoo. You’re pregnant.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Girl, don’t you know that goin’ to the zoo while you’re pregnant will mark your babies and they will come out lookin’ like monkeys?”

  The roar of laughter that came confirmed that Natalie had not misunderstood her mother-in-law. “I have never before heard that in my life.” Stunned by this fallacious reasoning, Natalie looked at Tracy, expecting her sister-in-law to make the “cuckoo” motion for Diane as well.

  Tracy shrugged. “That’s the same thing she told me when I was pregnant.”

  “Di, you are too superstitious. That is not true, it’s an urban legend.”

  Her mother-in-law could not be swayed. “Some things you’re goin’ to have to trust me on. We can do somethin’ else, but we are not goin’ to the zoo.”

  “I wanna go to ’da zoo and see ’da animals.” Nate pouted.

  Di looked at him apologetically. “Pumpkin, Gigi will have to take you another time. We don’t want your mommy to have monkey babies, okay? I’ll take you somewhere else today.”

  My poor child, Natalie thought, looking at the confusion on Nate’s face because he could not comprehend his Gigi’s rationale. Natalie had known her mother-in-law was superstitious, but this one defied the usual ones she’d heard like breaking a mirror brings bad luck for seven years. She and Troy both looked amusedly at each other. They would have a good laugh about this later.

  “Um, Troy, maybe, we can, uh, go to Bayou Place and hang out for a little while,” Reed suggested. “I, uh, know we haven’t really done things together, but I would like to change that.”

  Natalie swallowed her food slowly and held her breath waiting for Troy’s response. She still didn’t know much about Houston, but she was aware that the Bayou Place was a dining and entertainment center located in Houston’s Downtown Theater District. Everyone was looking at Troy. He was looking down at his plate.

  “I promised to meet Elvin at eleven so I’m going to have to leave soon.” He seemed to speak generally instead of specifically to his father.

  “Reed, remember I told you that Lilly’s daughter was found. You know how close Elvin and Troy are. I’m sure Elvin needs Troy today.” Diane obviously felt it was necessary to explain things further.

  “Oh, okay. Maybe later this week?”

  Troy didn’t respond.

  “I’m still amazed that Elana’s birthmark helped Lilly identify her after all these years,” Diane continued. “The news has said it’s heart-shaped, but I would think that there are probably a lot of people with heart-shaped marks.”

  “Maybe,” replied Troy, “but Elana’s was very distinctive. If you ever saw it, you would not forget it. I’m pretty sure it’s one of a kind.” He remembered all too well the unique pattern that branded Elana as though it had been put there by a very skilled tattoo artist.

  “I don’t watch the news much, but I did see a little bit of her story,” Tracy chimed in. “The whole thing seems so bizarre to me.”

  “Did you know her, Ma?” asked AJ.

  “Naw. I was too young when it all happened, but I remember Miss Lilly and Elvin of course. Tell them I said ‘hi’ for what it’s worth,” she said to Troy.

  “I will. They’re having a service for Elana Monday evening. You’re welcome to come with Natalie and me if you want to pay your respects in person.”

  “Why don’t we all go?” suggested Diane. “It would be great to show them the support of our entire family.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Reed’s voice was stern. “There are too many people here to show up to a funeral unexpected.”

  “Not to be rude, but I don’t know these people at all. I would feel awkward intruding at a moment like this.”

  “I can understand your point, Al, and yours, too, honey, but I think the rest of us should go. Lilly and I haven’t kept in contact much since Troy and Elvin were in school and we were shufflin’ them back and forth. I saw her over the summer and we’d talked about gettin’ together, but neither of us followed up. I still consider her a friend and I think it’s only right that I make an appearance. Maybe Tracy, Natalie, Troy, and I can go. Reed, would you mind keepin’ an eye on Nate?”

  Troy didn’t give his father a chance to answer. “Nate is going with us.” Any hint of playfulness had been drained from his voice.

  “I don’t mind watching him if you guys want him to stay.”

  “He is young and I don’t know if there’s goin’ to be an open casket or not. It might be better to let him stay with your father.” Diane’s voice was almost begging Troy to reconsider. It was a sharp contrast from the direct woman known for not holding back and often peppering her words with profanity.

  “The issue is not open for discussion. I said he’s going with us. Case closed.”

  Quietness filled the room. The venomous manner in which Troy spoke made Natalie feel sad. She could not recall a time when her husband had been so callous. She was sure she knew what was going on with him, even if he did not. Troy had told her numerous stories about his dad, recalling the tiniest details like they had happened the day before. Troy spent years resenting Reed and could list all the reasons why, but Natalie understood the truth of the matter. Each negative memory equaled an experience of unprocessed pain. Together, they culminated into a mountain of hurt, which Troy masked with anger. She knew from experience how cancerous not forgiving another could be and she prayed that God would soften Troy’s heart toward Reed.

  “What’s a casket?” Nate broke the silence.

  “It’s a bed for dead people.”

  Content with his father’s answer, Nate went about eating his food. Diane began asking Alyssa and AJ questions about school and their sporting activities. Alyssa was a cheerleader. AJ played football and wrestled. He was telling Troy about his stats from his sophomore season last year and how he hoped to break a school record this year when Nate decided that he wanted to join the conversation.

  “My mommy and daddy wrestle a lot,” the three-year-old proudly announced.

  Natalie felt her face starting to flush. “Finish eating your f
ood, honey.”

  “Okay, but I wanna tell my cousin somethin’.” He looked at AJ as if he really had valuable information to share. “Every time Mommy and Daddy wrestle, I think he wins ’cuz I hear her yellin’ more than him. But ’dis morning me and Gigi heard my daddy yellin’. Does ’dat mean you won this morning, Mommy?”

  Natalie, too embarrassed to look in the faces of anyone chortling at her expense, buried her head in her hands.

  “Our son asked you a question, sweetheart.”

  Natalie turned to Troy. Though she wanted to howl, she was too ashamed to say anything, but “I…am…going…to…kill…you!” The only good thing Natalie saw from this was that the joy had returned to her husband’s face.

  Amused, Troy said to Nate. “Yes, Mommy won this morning because Daddy didn’t get to wrestle like he wanted. Mommy didn’t want to play.”

  “Her probably not want you to hurt ’da monkey babies.”

  Natalie could have gone deaf by the boisterous sounds of cackling that filled the room. She elbowed Troy hard in his side. “I’m going to get you for this,” she said before getting up from the table and leaving. Both Diane and Troy called for her, but she kept going up the stairs, finally chuckling to herself while wishing they had used another term besides wrestling to explain to Nate what went on in their bedroom the first time he walked in on them.

  Chapter 4: Discovery Green

  Natalie’s phone had stopped ringing as soon as she walked in the room. From the specialized ringtone, she knew it was her best friend, Aneetra. She started to call Aneetra back, but then saw a text she had gotten from Corrine.

  Hey, U get 2HOU ok? Lmk. 143.

  Natalie was texting long before her twenty-four-year-old daughter, whom she had given up for adoption, came into her life, and she’d considered herself pretty good at it. But, Corrine had introduced her to a form of texting shorthand she’d never seen. The first time Corrine had put “lmk” in a message, Natalie didn’t know what in the world the girl was saying. Their relationship was still fairly new then and Natalie didn’t want to request a translation, so she Googled it, learning that “lmk” was short for “let me know.” The 143 was another brain stumper, but by the time Corrine hipped her to it, they were much closer. When Natalie learned its meaning, she cried.

  Yep. Here. Arrived l8. Sorry ddnt text. 1432.

  To this day, Natalie only used the number code with Corrine. If it had been Troy, or anyone else, she simply would have written. “I love u 2.” Corrine probably used it with multiple people, but Natalie still felt it was something special between them. They exchanged a few more texts, promising that one of them would call the other on Christmas Day so Corrine could talk to Nate.

  “You know it’s rude to abruptly leave the breakfast table without saying anything.” Troy walked in the bedroom with a huge smirk on his face.

  “Hush.”

  He caught the pillow she threw at him and tossed it back on the bed. “What’s up with you and all this abusive behavior? You were nearly beating me up at the table and now you’re throwing things.”

  “Correction. I threw a single thing, not multiple items, but I can change that.” She pretended like she would throw her iPhone and laughed when he flinched.

  “You think that’s funny?” He jumped on the bed and started bouncing so that it began squeaking again.

  “Stahhhp!” She started hitting him with the pillow this time. Thankfully, he listened. The two of them gazed adoringly at each other. “What am I going to do with you, Mr. Evans?”

  “Whatever you want. Maybe we can do that thing we did to make those monkey babies in your belly.” He put his hands under his armpits and started making animal noises.

  Natalie shook her head in disbelief. “Craziness really does run in your family, huh? Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

  “Oh, shoot! What time is it?”

  “A quarter after ten.”

  “I need to get going.”

  He’d suddenly lost all the silly bones in his body, like he remembered what he was really in Houston to do. Troy transitioned from a man joking with his wife to a cop ready to protect and serve. Natalie observed him as he hurried to get clothes from the suitcase and other items he needed to shower and dress. He was quiet. Intense. Focused.

  She was about to call Aneetra when he left the room, but there was a knock on the door. “Come in.”

  “Hey, Tracy and Al left and Reed is headed over to his parents’ house to clean. Do you want to come with me to take the kids to Discovery Green?”

  “What’s that?”

  Diane explained that it was an attraction in downtown Houston where various events were held throughout the year. According to her, the most current attraction was ice skating, or The Ice at Discovery Green, as it was officially called. “It’s a special event they have every winter. I’ve never been, but I heard it’s nice. You comin’ or stayin’ here?”

  “Sure, why not?” Natalie feared Troy would have a fit if she stayed behind. “Will you send Nate in here so I can get him ready?”

  “Okay.” Diane was nearly out the door when Natalie called her name. “Yes.”

  “For the record, Troy and I were not doing anything this morning,” she felt compelled to say.

  Diane grinned. “Girl, what you and your husband do behind closed doors ain’t nobody’s business. I know you ain’t got a belly full of babies by doing nothin’.” Diane left and Natalie was glad that she hadn’t tried to explain herself when they were at the table as Diane’s response would have only made the situation even more embarrassing.

  Figuring she had a few minutes to herself, she was about to call Aneetra back, but before she could connect, Nate came running into the room.

  Chapter 5: Kid ’n Play

  Troy tried calling Elvin to let him know he was running late. No answer. It was nearly 11:30 when Troy pulled up to Lilly’s house. He hopped out the car and knocked twice on the door before instinctively walking in.

  “I’m sorry,” he said to Lilly who was walking toward the front. “Old habits die hard.”

  “Troy! It’s so good to see you.” She moved even quicker and gave him a long hug. “You should know better than to apologize. My door is always open for you.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” To Troy’s knowledge, Lilly never locked her front door again after Elana went missing. She said that she wanted Elana to be able to get in the house if she ever came back and no one was there. “I’m sorry I’m late. My mom sprung a family breakfast on us. Tracy and her kids came over.” He conveniently left out Al who wasn’t important as far as he was concerned.

  “It’s not a problem. Elvin’s upstairs on the phone with the investigator. He should be down any second. Have a seat.”

  Lilly’s living room had a familiar, yet strange feel to it. Thank God that she had gotten rid of that ugly green carpet. The room now had hardwood floors, but things were pretty much as he remembered in terms of the way the furniture was placed. The consistency, he was sure, was for Elana’s sake.

  “I was hoping you would bring Natalie and your son. I still can’t believe y’all have been married all this time and I have not met her. I know this isn’t the first time she’s been to Houston.” Lilly gave him a playfully scolding look.

  “She really hasn’t been here that much. She was here once before we were married, then a few months after Nate was born. She also came for Mama’s sixtieth birthday, last Christmas, and now this year.”

  “Um hmm. Don’t try and give me excuses as to why I have yet to meet this lovely lady. She must be something special because, if I remember correctly, you said you never wanted to get married.”

  “You’re right. I did say that and she is something special. You’ll see her and Nate Monday at the service. Is it okay if my mom and Tracy come as well?”

  “Of course it is! You don’t have to ask. I feel bad because I’ve been meaning to call Diane, but I have had so much on my mind.”

  “Don’t worry. She
understands. How are you doing?”

  “I’m okay.” Lilly had been a very attractive woman in her prime. She had aged much more than only thirty years since Elana had been gone. Her hair, now straight, was completely gray. Her once vibrant high cheek bones like Elvin’s did not sit as perky, and her eyes held a sadness that could not be hidden by her smile. It was a sorrow that Troy hoped to never know. “Sometimes I get angry that she’s been alive all this time without my knowing. Then other times I’m relieved to finally have some sort of closure. I hope my baby did not suffer too much. I—”

  “Troy, my favorite detective of all time. What’s up, man?” Elvin came down the stairs and the two of them hugged.

  “Sorry I’m late.”

  “It’s cool. We’re all running a little behind. Thanks for coming.”

  “No problem.”

  “So, Mama, what do you think? Which one of us is more handsome? Kid,” El pointed to himself, “or Play.” He pointed to Troy.

  Lilly looked as confused this time as she did in the late eighties when Elvin would ask that question. She never did catch on to the fact that Kid ’n Play was a rap duo back in the day. Troy and Elvin got that nickname from their peers because Kid was the really light-skinned rapper and Play was the dark-skinned one. “I should have known that having Troy around would bring out the craziness in you. What was the investigator saying?”

  “He wanted to confirm that we’re still coming by his office after we leave the funeral home. I told him Troy is here, so he’s anxious to get his account of things. Oh, Bill called and said that he may be a little late getting there, but he’s on his way.”

  “Okay. Jeff’s already there. Are Nikki and the boys ready?”

  “Yep. They should be coming down in a sec. We won’t all fit into one vehicle; would you mind driving? Nik and the boys can ride with you and I’ll ride with Troy. Or if you don’t want to drive, you can ride with Troy.” Elvin looked at him for approval.

  “Hey, I’m cool with whatever works best for y’all.”

  “No. I’ll drive. I’m sure you boys can use this time together. Let me grab my purse and my hair from upstairs and we can get going.”