“I love you too, Rox. Thank you for keeping me on here.” Nat’s eyes shone.
“Come on, none of that. We’ve got work to do. Let’s hurry up with this lot.”
“I’ll go and enlist some help,” Nat said. She left the kitchen, soon returning accompanied by Lily and Ada. Sam came in behind them.
“Hi, Roxy,” Sam said, his deep, gravelly voice as seductive as ever.
“Hi, Sam,” she said, briskly. She had no time for flirting. Not today. “Thanks for coming to help.”
They transported dish after dish after dish of food out to Sam’s van saving space for Elijah, who carried over piles of boxes of pastries from the bakery. When Roxy picked up the last set of plates, she turned to Evangeline, who was now loading the dishwasher. “Thank you, Evangeline, for helping us! What would we do without you?”
Evangeline came over, drying her hands on a towel. She put her arm around Roxy’s shoulder. “I know what you’re up to,” she said quietly.
Roxy’s eyes widened. “You do?”
Evangeline grimaced but pulled Roxy to her. “I recognize a fellow warrior when I see one. You do your best and seek justice. I know you need to do that for that young man. It’s just in your nature like it is in mine. But be careful. Promise me that, okay? You’re out in a big crowd. Small things have the tendency to get dangerous in crowds. Even carnival can get crazy. Just promise old Evangeline that you’ll be careful.”
“I promise,” said Roxy, relaxing. For once, she didn’t feel nervous or anxious, even with such an abundance of warnings. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. Like you said, I just want to see justice done.”
Evangeline gave her an affectionate smile. “You know, cher, you’re more like me than I thought. The first day you came in here you was like a timid little mouse. Like your cat coulda eaten you whole.” She laughed. “Sorry, cher. But now, you’re something pretty different. The moxie’s strong in you. Moxie Roxy.” She laughed and patted her on the shoulder. “Run along, sugar. I know you’ll do great.”
“Thanks, Evangeline!”
Roxy rushed out and packed the last of the food into the van. Sage, Nat, and Elijah had already led the influencers, Kathy, and Derek out of the alleyway—they were walking to the party. They couldn’t get lost because the street decorations signalled the way. Roxy planned to walk with them, but since they had already left, she swung herself into the van’s passenger seat beside Sam.
“Hey, pretty lady,” he said, giving her the half-smile that made her kneecaps feel like they were melting.
“Hey,” Roxy replied softly.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
“IT LOOKS AMAZING,” Roxy said.
The block over by the river where the party was being held was normally a rundown industrial area. Now it was alive with color.
“Kathy sure doesn’t play around, does she?” Sam said, sliding into a parking space.
Roxy spoke sadly. “I guess for your murdered son, you’d do anything. Money, effort, time, no object.”
“Indeed,” said Sam. “She must also be very determined. She would have needed a permit. How did she get around Detective Johnson to pull this off? Did he find a compassionate side?”
Roxy looked at him. “Compassionate? Him? He came to speak to us all this morning. He stared us down, each and every one of us, like we had murdered Dash in cold blood.” The truth was, one of them had murdered Dash in cold blood.
Once Sam had parked, Roxy slid out of her seat and got to unloading. Lots of people were arriving now, all wearing bright colors and laughing and joking and drinking. One vendor had started up a bar at the side of the street. A crew was setting up a modern sound system on the stage while a wall of enormous speakers stood to one side. It looked like the event was going to be loud.
Roxy smiled at the scene, her feelings bittersweet. Dash had so wanted to experience the joy of New Orleans for himself, but he hadn’t had the chance. Roxy hadn’t known him well or for long, but she knew that he loved to grab life by the horns, to explore, to learn, to grow, and above all to experience. Roxy doubted he’d ever have settled down in one place like his mother wanted him to. He was an adventurer, right down to his bones. Excitement coursed through his veins. Wind was in his sails. There was always something to be enthusiastic about, some new territory to conquer.
Now that was all over.
But Roxy looked over the growing crowd and felt something move deep within her. People were here celebrating. People clearly loved his message. It touched the hearts of strangers, of people everywhere. And they had been so affected that they had made long journeys to be at the party today, to celebrate Dash one last time.
Roxy hoped that she would be able to absorb his message into her life too. In fact, it felt like she had done so a little already. Where she had allowed her anxieties and fears to clip her wings, she now felt herself growing more expansive. Where she had seen problems, she now saw possibilities. Where she had seen danger, she now saw adventure. She also recognized that she had the potential to be a leader.
She knew it wasn’t just Dash who had helped her. It was a sprinkle of Sage who gave Roxy the confidence that everything would be all right. It was a touch of Evangeline, who was so no-nonsense that Roxy now saw many of her anxieties as simply plain silly. It was a dusting of Elijah, who just like the sugar he scattered over his pastries, showed her how to have fun. It was a smidgeon of Sam, who always encouraged her to “go for it”. And it was a nip of Nat, whose “Nat-itude” and big heart pulled no punches.
Roxy realized how far she had come since she’d climbed onto the bus headed for New Orleans a few months before. She smiled to herself as she methodically unloaded Sam’s van and placed all the food on their table. There were a lot of dishes, and it took a good while, especially as Nat, Kathy, Derek, and the influencers were nowhere to be seen.
Roxy saw that Michael was there, sitting behind the podium on the stage. He was staring into space. She walked over to him. She handed him his bag with the jar of spices, gave him a sympathetic nod, but otherwise left him alone. She saw him briefly look inside the bag before looking up again to resume staring at the horizon.
Before long, old school reggae began to play. It totally lifted the vibe, and both Roxy and Sam couldn’t help briefly doing a little dance. Roxy imagined herself being so bold as to rock right up to him and dance together but she tamped her thought down. She couldn’t afford to be distracted.
“I wonder where Nat and the others are. I haven’t seen them, have you?” she said to him.
“No,” said Sam. “But if I know Nat, she’ll be at one of the cookout grills.”
“That’s true,” said Roxy. Nat loved her grilled chicken, but Roxy was starting to get worried. Where were the others?
The crowd had really grown now. It was getting more and more difficult to pick anyone out of it. Roxy made her way up onto the podium, and peered around, looking for Nat. Thank goodness she loved to wear black, at least. For once she would stand out among this sea of color!
Finally, Roxy did see her and the rest of the group. And, sure enough, they were standing by a barbecue. It was on the other side of the crowd. “We’ve got all the food in the world here!” Roxy said to Nat when she sauntered over. “Yet you run off to the first man with a pair of tongs!”
“I worked in that kitchen this morning until I was sweating like a crawfish,” said Nat. “Heck, probably smelling like a crawfish. I needed something different for my palate.” She ripped some meat off the chicken leg she held. She looked around at the party, the colors of the crowd, the music, the food, and the way people were dancing. It was starting to look like a music festival. She saw Sage and Elijah dancing, Sage’s slow and lazy moves contrasting with Elijah’s peppier, upbeat ones that picked up the staccato off-beats of the reggae rhythm. “This is pretty amazing.”
“Are you ready for your speech?” Sam called over.
“My what?” Roxy asked.
“Your speech, aren
’t you saying something? Kathy said she was going to ask you.”
“Yeah, she did.” The truth was that Roxy had forgotten all about making a speech. Now that things were really rocking, though, she was starting to feel edgy.
Kathy didn’t look too great, either. She had on her trademark smile and a full face of makeup, but her skin underneath was pale, and her blush stood out too brightly on her cheeks. Her blue eye shadow looked wrong too, like she had made herself up as a clown. Her hands shook.
As the influencers helped themselves to food, Roxy sidled up to Dash’s mom. She linked her hand in hers. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.” Kathy looked like she was about to vomit.
Before long, Father John stood up on the podium and addressed the crowd. “Hello, New Orleans!” he boomed.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
“GREETINGS TO YOU all,” Father John said into the microphone, more quietly this time. “We are gathered here to celebrate the life of Dashiell Davies in the vivid style that he was known for. His associate, Michael O’Sullivan, has put together a video montage of Dash’s life. Please enjoy this tribute.”
The priest stepped aside, and the whole crowd stopped and quieted to watch the huge screen. Roxy turned and craned her neck to see.
What followed was a beautiful montage of pictures and videos: of Dash on top of a mountain, of Dash skydiving, of Dash fooling around at some Hawaiian resort doing the hula on the beach under the twinkling stars, of Dash hanging out of a train in India, of Dash waving underwater while scuba diving. Man, this guy had done so much.
And how he laughed as he did it all! How he smiled! He had so much light in him, and it beamed across the crowd. People began to cry, and Roxy found a tear slipping down her own cheek.
Then Michael’s voice thundered out from the speakers, a recording over the video.
“Dash, you were a hero—my hero—one of the world’s brave people, one who refused to compromise, one who refused to play the game, and one who refused to stop dreaming. You lived life to the full in every moment, in every sense. You never said no. You always said yes. You never said, ‘It’s not possible.’ You always said, ‘How can we make this happen?’ My life is forever changed because of you, and so too are the lives of millions of others. I know you wanted the world to relax because you told me that so many times.
“You know what, buddy? I regret a lot of things. I regret the way I spoke to you sometimes. I regret that I ever told you to be serious, or to be realistic, or to take your time. Especially that last one, because there was no time to waste. And you knew it. You just went at life, full speed. You DASHED! Your name suited you down to the ground.
“You wanted to build schools, dig wells, build solar power and clean water systems, give people jobs, the tools to support themselves and their families. When we had money, you gave it all away.” Over the sound of the tribute, a yell rose from the middle of the crowd. The crowd shushed and Michael’s voice carried on speaking without interruption. “I swear, buddy, you didn’t get the chance to do everything you dreamed of, but I’ll do it, and I’ll do it for you. I’ve been close to the edge, but I have a reason to live now—your memory, your mission, and your spirit live on in me. I’ll do it, buddy. And I know you’ll be watching me do it from the other side.”
Now people were crying in earnest. Even though it was daylight, they had turned on their phone’s flashlights and were waving them above their heads. Father John called Kathy up to the stage.
She’d rubbed her eyes so much that she had black rings around them where her eye makeup had smudged. All her vitality and her brave, cheerful smile had gone. She was a broken woman.
She went up to the mic and began to speak. Her voice was choked with tears. “I was going to come up here and say so many good things about Dashiell. But I can’t.” She dropped her chin onto her chest, and it stayed there.
Roxy could feel the hearts of the people in the crowd going out to her.
“I’m so sorry,” Kathy said suddenly. “I killed him.”
What? Roxy’s heart started beating too fast. It felt like everyone in the whole crowd took a sharp intake of breath.
“I did.” She put her hands up in the air. “I thought it was the right thing to do at the time, but it wasn’t. I did it because I have a huge amount of debt, and I wanted his money. I knew he had left all his money to me. I was blinded, totally blinded, by worry about my future. But now I see…I can’t bring him back. I was crazy! I must have lost my mind! But I did it. I did. And I am so, so sorry.” She broke down, sobbing hysterically.
Roxy was pushed from behind. As he passed her, she saw Detective Johnson barging his way to the front. The shove shook Roxy and propelled her into action.
“No!” she shouted. She pushed past the detective, her slight stature allowing her to weave more quickly through the crush of people in front of the stage. She rushed up the steps and onto the platform, wrenching the microphone from Kathy’s hand.
Kathy launched herself at her. “Give that back!”
But Roxy wouldn’t. She was standing in front of hundreds and hundreds of people, but she gripped the mic all the tighter and jerked it away from Kathy long enough to say, “She’s lying! Kathy didn’t kill Dash! Derek did! Dash’s brother! Kathy’s other son! She’s only confessing to protect him!” She pointed to Detective Johnson. “Arrest him!”
Johnson had stopped amid the crowd. He didn’t move. The throng fell into a silence so deep that Roxy felt she might drown in it. The heat of embarrassment rose to her cheeks.
“Detective!” Roxy hollered almost pleading now. There was a sudden movement in the crowd, and she spotted Derek. Roxy pointed, her forefinger straight and stiff. “That’s him! Somebody! Anybody!”
“It’s not true!” Kathy cried. “It was me! Not Derek!”
Chaos ensued. Derek, who had been watching the stage, attempted to bolt from the crowd.
“Get him!” Roxy shouted.
The crowd started roaring. Some people were stunned and let Derek through while others tried to grab him. Far from his usual lethargic self, Derek proved to be as quick as a fox and wriggled out of their grasp.
“No! No!” shouted Kathy above the crowd. “He hasn’t done anything wrong!”
Derek feinted and dodged his way around the throng, but eventually, several burly men linked arms and together they acted like a trap, encircling Derek, and preventing his escape. A cop pushed his way through the crowd to place Derek in handcuffs.
Roxy turned to Kathy. “I’m so sorry,” she said, “but the truth had to…”
Kathy had gone purple. She lunged at Roxy and grabbed her by the neck. Her warm hands closed around Roxy’s airway and squeezed. Roxy felt herself begin to lose consciousness, and she stumbled. She saw Kathy’s face—three versions of it—swim in front of her eyes.
Just as the world started to go black, Kathy’s grip on Roxy’s neck loosened. Sam had grabbed Kathy’s arms, and he pinned them behind her back while she screamed, “Derek! Derek!” She kicked out at Roxy, who fell to the floor.
“Give it up, Kathy,” Sam said. He was holding her tightly and, unable to even thrash against him, she slumped, defeated. Detective Johnson arrived at his shoulder and led Kathy away.
Sam bent over Roxy, who was still lying on the floor, his dark eyes clouded with concern. He put a hand to her head, “Are you all right?”
“I think so.” Roxy felt her neck gingerly. “Yes, yes, I’m good. Thank you.”
She braced to push herself up, and he helped her to her feet.
“You really didn’t want to give that speech, did you?” he said.
“I did give a speech. It just wasn’t the one anyone was expecting.”
CHAPTER FORTY
LATER, ROXY, SAM, Nat, Elijah, Sage, Lily, Sylvia, Ada, and Michael were gathered in the lounge of the Funky Cat, nursing hot milky drinks even though it was still only afternoon. Evangeline, after hearing about the commotion on her radio, had come back to the hotel to
take care of them. They were drinking sweet hot chocolate laced with brandy and topped with whipped cream and a dusting of chocolate powder. It was going down a treat.
They watched Detective Johnson on the TV. He looked very pleased with himself. “Derek Davies has admitted to the murder of his brother, Dashiell Davies. He has confessed fully. Fratricide is a heinous crime, and our thoughts are with the rest of the family.”
Sage shook her head. “I accompanied Kathy to the police station. Her soul is very damaged, poor love. She was hysterical at times, and at others, her spirit left this plane to inhabit another. She told me Derek had committed the crime to help her, and out of guilt and a misplaced sense of maternal feeling, she confessed to it falsely. Kathy had been having financial problems and Dash had helped her a lot over the years. In the past few months, Dash had stopped giving her money because he felt she was wasting it, and that Derek was enabling her in her bad habits. Derek was furious about this, and he killed Dash so that they’d inherit all of his money. Until Michael announced it in his tribute to Dash, Derek didn’t know that Dash had given all his money away.
“Kathy had no idea that Derek had killed his brother, but when she looked in Derek’s brown bag, she found your note, Roxy. Once she heard Derek yell out from the crowd when he learned that Dash had donated all his money, she figured it out.”
Roxy sighed deeply. “I’d written that I would expose him unless he confessed. I had hoped the note would encourage him to be honest, that I would flush him out, but Kathy must have got his bag by mistake after they fell on the floor.” Roxy pursed her lips in frustration before continuing. “So Derek killed his brother, just for money? That’s terrible.”
“Yes,” said Sage, looking pained. “Just awful. And poor Kathy, it will take a long time for her spirit to shed such a weight. Maybe not even in this lifetime.”
“What a mess,” said Roxy. “But how did Derek manage to kill Dash? They live in another state. How did he make it here and back home without Kathy noticing he was missing and how did we not know he was in the hotel? Surely we would have heard something? I would have heard something?”
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