by Sharon Sala
Reece let him out, then turned on the back porch light as he closed the door and headed for the utility room and the bathroom beyond to tend to his injuries.
Nothing was bleeding, which was good. But the swelling was severe. He hadn’t had time to get a good look at the man and wouldn’t know him again if he saw him, which was daunting. It was always best to know what your enemies looked like. He wondered if the man had gotten a clean look at him and then sighed. It was all up in the air until he found out if the guy was still alive.
He cleaned himself up and then went back to the kitchen to make an ice pack. Bobo was at the back door whining to come in. He opened it enough to let him in and then watched him trot across the floor, leaving water and muddy footprints behind. He thought about their mother’s imminent arrival and yelled, “Heel, Bobo!”
Bobo stopped, trotted back across the floor to where Reece was standing and stopped in position.
“Now I have twice as much to clean up,” Reece muttered.
He grabbed a towel from the back bathroom and began drying Bobo’s feet and fur, then grunted as he bent down to clean up the drips and footprints.
Too many nights of eating and going back to bed were catching up with him. He’d begun buying and selling for himself out of boredom, just for something to do, and everyone, including his mother and Louis, had been surprised at his gift for picking good companies in which to invest. Making money on the computer was so easy that he didn’t see the need for breaking a sweat, but he didn’t like the idea of being a fat slob, either. Women didn’t like a big ass or a sagging belly on a man, and Reece liked women too much to fuck that up.
When he was finished, he tossed the towel in the washing machine, grabbed the ice pack and headed for his bedroom, hoping the swelling would be down by morning.
* * *
Mack was already in surgery before Lissa reached the hospital. She sat alone in the waiting room, trying to come to terms with the fact that another member of the Jackson family had been hurt trying to help her. It was beginning to feel like a curse.
One hour passed into the second, and then the third, as she sat with a cup of coffee going cold in her hands and tears drying on her face.
Then Trey Jakes walked in.
She stood immediately, praying for good news.
“Did you catch him?” she asked.
Trey shook his head. “Sorry, the rain destroyed any trail he might have left. The county crime-scene crew is at your house dusting for prints. Unless he was wearing gloves, we should get something, since he handled pretty much everything in your room. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
She sat back down with a thump, too dejected to comment.
Trey sat down beside her, struggling with how he was going to get across the seriousness of what he needed to tell her, but when she inadvertently gave him an opening, he jumped on it.
“I shudder to think what he’ll try next,” she muttered.
“That’s something we need to talk about,” he said.
Lissa looked up. “What do you mean?”
“I think you need to take a leave of absence from your job until we have this man in custody.”
The idea appalled her. She’d worked so hard to develop a rapport with her students. She started to panic, thinking of all the reasons that couldn’t happen.
“No! I have a contract to fulfill. I can’t just walk out.”
“I didn’t say quit. I mean step away until he’s caught.”
“But why?” she asked.
“Because you thwarted him, Lissa. At this point I couldn’t predict how far he would go to get you and make you pay. What if he tried to take you out of your classroom? Are you willing to risk a child’s life that it won’t happen?”
The skin crawled on the back of her neck as she thought of what he’d done to her bedroom.
She began to cry, overwhelmed by the hopelessness of her situation.
“I didn’t think. Of course I need to keep them safe. I’ll call my principal and hope he understands.”
“If he doubts the decision, have him call me,” Trey said. “I’ll make sure he understands the danger it could create if you stayed.”
“I will,” she said, swiping away the tears as she pulled out her phone.
“Is there anything you need? Anything we can do for you?” Trey asked.
She slumped. “Just catch him.”
“I’ll do my best. Call if you need us,” he added, as he left the room.
She sat quietly, gathering her thoughts and trying to get her emotions under control before she called her principal. As she was sitting there, she heard footsteps coming down the hall and looked toward the doorway. When the surgeon walked in, she froze.
“Are you here for Mack Jackson?” he asked.
She curled her fingers into fists, bracing herself for the verdict, and nodded.
He smiled and sat down beside her. “Everything went well. He’ll be in recovery for the next forty-five minutes or so and then we’ll move him to a room. You’ll be able to see him then, but he’ll be sedated, so don’t expect much. The wound on his arm was shallow enough that we didn’t have any muscle repair to do, but he has staples, a good number of them. The wound on his back was fairly deep but didn’t hit anything vital. He has internal and external stitches, but short of something unexpected, he should regain full range of motion.”
“Oh, thank you, thank you so much,” Lissa said.
“You’re welcome. I’ll check on him tomorrow when I make rounds and we’ll go from there, okay?”
“Okay,” she said. As soon as he left the room she walked to the window that overlooked the parking lot and burst into tears.
It was all good news, and she was crying from relief, but she still had to talk to her principal. She was still choking back sobs as she made the call. It was the middle of the night, but this couldn’t be put off. He would have to locate a substitute who could work for an indeterminate length of time. She felt like a failure in so many ways that she couldn’t count them. The year had started off so great. Why was this happening? What had she done to draw the attention of someone so deranged?
The phone was ringing and ringing, and just as it was about to go to voice mail, her principal picked up.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Wilson, it’s Melissa Sherman. I am so sorry to call you at this time of night, but something has been happening to me that seriously escalated tonight, and it has become imperative that you are informed.”
And with that lead-in she began to explain everything, from the first phone calls to what had happened tonight. When she told him what the police chief had recommended, Wilson was understandably shocked.
“He actually believes this stalker could try to get to you at school?”
“Well, the truth is, Chief Jakes said there’s no guarantee that he won’t, and he advised me it would be putting children’s lives at risk to ignore the possibility.”
“Oh, dear Lord! Well, I’m so sorry to hear this, and of course we can work with you and the police to everyone’s benefit. I assume you have some sick leave?”
She thought of the sick leave she’d given up to come back home to teach and sighed.
“Only what I’ve accumulated since August,” she said.
“Then, you can use that first and if you need longer, we can figure something out. In the meantime, do you have a place to stay?”
She sighed. “Not at the moment, but I’ll figure something out. Right now I’m at the hospital. They just brought Mack out of surgery. I’ll be here with him until I know he’s going to be okay. You have my phone number, and I’ll be in touch.” Then she hesitated before adding, “I hope you know how upset I am about this, and how bad I feel for putting you in this position. Please don’t hold it against me. I love my job and—”
“Miss Sherman...Melissa...your job is safe. Just make sure you stay the same way.”
“Thank you, Mr. Wilson, and again, I’m so sorry.”
“You have
nothing to apologize for. Take care, and hopefully we’ll see you soon. Meanwhile, send our best to Mr. Jackson. That was a brave thing for him to do.”
“Yes, it was,” Lissa said. She added a quick goodbye and hung up the phone.
The sudden silence was overwhelming as she leaned back and closed her eyes.
What in the world was she going to do?
She kept thinking back to what her parents had done. She and Mack should have been able to grieve the loss of their baby together. Instead, her parents had fostered a misunderstanding that tore them apart.
The more she thought about it, the more she understood Mack’s shock and his reaction to what he’d overheard. Yes, he should have given her the benefit of the doubt, but she should have called him the moment she came home. They’d both made mistakes. It was time to put the past behind them. Whether or not that led to renewing their relationship, they needed closure on their past.
She was still lost in thought when a nurse came into the waiting room.
“Are you Melissa?” she asked.
“Yes.”
The nurse smiled. “I have a patient in room two-twelve who doesn’t seem willing to settle down until he finds out if you’re okay.”
And just like that, Lissa’s panic stilled.
“Mack,” she said, as emotion welled. “So I can see him now?”
“Yes. Follow me. He’s drifting in and out of consciousness, so don’t expect much.”
Lissa had to run to keep up with the nurse’s long strides, and when they reached the room she was taken aback by all the machines around him. Some were beeping, others just registered fluctuating information on his vital signs, but he was alive, and that was enough.
While the nurse was checking the readings, Lissa moved to the side of his bed, which gave her a few moments to look at his near-naked body unobserved.
He’d always been tall, but his body dwarfed the narrow bed. His hair was still thick and dark, his eyebrows and lashes black as coal. He was no longer the boy she remembered. She realized she knew nothing about his personal life and could be completely out of line in even thinking about renewing a relationship with him.
Then he moaned, and when he did, she put a hand on his arm. Almost immediately his eyelids began to flutter.
“Lissa?”
“I’m here, Mack. Just rest.”
He exhaled slowly. “Knife... Watch out,” he mumbled.
“I know, Mack. I know.”
“Tried...to stop.”
Lissa put a finger across his lips. “Shh, don’t talk. I’m here. I’m safe. I won’t leave you.”
A tear rolled out from under one closed eyelid and down the side of his face, but he stilled. She knew when he slipped back into unconsciousness, but it didn’t change her plans. She’d meant what she’d told him. She wouldn’t leave him alone.
* * *
Louis woke up just as the alarm began its incessant beeping. He turned it off as he rolled out of bed, then burped and farted as he started toward the bathroom, scratching at his two-day growth of whiskers.
Once there, he glanced at himself in the mirror and frowned. Maybe he should shave. Whiskers made his face look fat. He already had a bit of a belly on him, although he thought Reece’s gut was bigger. Still, he didn’t want to turn himself into some kind of Santa wannabe. He grabbed the electric razor and shaved his face clean. As he worked, he thought about what it would be like to share a house with his mother again. Some things just couldn’t be improved on, and facial hair or no facial hair, he was always going to be “the slow one” in her eyes.
He heard Bobo’s toenails clicking on the hardwood floor as the dog trotted into view, his head up and tail wagging, certain of his place in this house. Louis headed for the kitchen and opened the door just enough to let the dog out, then quickly shut it. Last night’s rain was over, but the chill was still in the air.
He started a pot of coffee and then went to shower. By the time he got dressed and went back to the kitchen, Bobo was scratching at the back door. Louis grabbed a handful of paper towels before he opened the door and caught the little furball before he could get away.
“You’re a mess, boy. Mud all over your feet, and your fur is wet. You can’t make messes anymore. Mama is coming for a visit, and while she’s here you have to be on your best behavior.”
Bobo didn’t seem concerned about Mama. He was more interested in the food and water Louis was putting in his bowls.
Louis finished feeding the dog, then washed up and poured a bowl of cereal to go with his coffee, eating it standing up. He winced as he chewed. That jaw tooth without a filling was acting up. He should have had it repaired months ago, but he hated dentists and kept putting off the visit.
When he went to get his phone off the charger, he noticed he had a text. It was from his mother, telling him the bus was due to arrive in Mystic around 5:00 p.m. today, which would be just in time for him to pick her up at the station on his way home. He sighed. This probably meant the end of his evening naps. He wondered how Reece and his weird nocturnal lifestyle were going to play into the visit. Reece was always awake when everyone else was asleep. She wouldn’t be happy about that because he was her favorite, but that wasn’t Louis’s problem.
He was getting ready to leave when he heard Reece’s voice.
“Louis! Wait! I need to talk to you,” Reece said.
Louis stopped, his shoulders slumping as he turned around and looked down. It was easier listening to his brother than looking at him.
“About what?” Louis asked.
“I, uh...I might have gotten into a little trouble last night and I wanted to prepare you in case—”
That made Louis look up. “What kind of trouble, and what the hell happened to you?”
“I might have killed a man. I know I stabbed him twice.”
Louis let out a whimper and then a high keening moan that turned into a shriek. He started turning in circles and hitting the walls with his fists.
“What the fuck is the matter with you? Did anyone see you? Can you be identified? You know we have the same face! You know they’ll think it was me!”
Reece was sincerely regretful. Louis was slow, but he was a good guy.
“It was dark. No one saw me,” Reece said. “You’re safe, Louie... It’s okay.”
Louis was shaking. “Are you sure? You better be sure or I’ll tell Mama. Every time you do this, I have to worry you’re going to get caught. We left Florida because too many girls were going missing in our neighborhood because of you, and you know it. I’m not gonna lie for you again.”
Reece sighed. “You won’t have to, but I have to stay out of sight for a while, so you’ll have to do the shopping and take Mama around. I can’t show my face because if the guy is still alive he’ll tell them we fought, and then the cops will be looking for someone with a bruised-up face.”
Louis began pacing the room, trying to find a solution to the mess his brother had dumped in his lap. When he finally stopped, he looked up and saw himself in the mirror, with Reece beside him.
“I’m sorry, Louis,” Reece said.
“You did a bad thing again, and they’re gonna blame me.” Louis’s voice was shaking.
“No, they won’t,” Reece said.
“Why did you hurt the man?” Louis asked.
Reece shrugged. “He just got in the way. I was after the woman.”
Louis froze. “What woman? Do I know her? Will she know my face?”
Reece shrugged. “You know her, but she’s never seen me, I swear. I’ve just been courting her a little. She wasn’t interested, so I wanted her to pay attention to me. I just went to see her, that’s all.”
“Who is it?”
“Melissa Sherman.”
Louis shrieked, “I work where she works! She’ll see me and know!”
“No! She’s never seen me.”
“But you said you were in her house last night, so how can you say that?”
“Becau
se she jumped out the window and ran when she heard my footsteps.”
Louis picked up a paperweight from the end table and threw it at the mirror. Glass shattered and fell onto the floor at their feet. He kept his eyes down, determined not to look at his brother again as he read him the riot act.
“You weren’t courting her. You were stalking her. You promised Mama and me you’d never stalk another woman. Last time they almost caught you. You swore you wouldn’t do it again,” Louis said.
Reece shrugged and then grinned. “Well, my dick had other ideas.”
Louis flinched, unable to believe he was even related to someone who could do things like this. “I have to go to work now,” he said. He walked out of the house, his steps dragging.
“Sorry!” Reece yelled after him.
Louis kept walking to the truck, then got in and drove away. As he was pulling out of the driveway it occurred to him that he should just withdraw his money from the bank and keep driving. Leave Mama with her favorite son and forget the both of them even existed. But he didn’t. Instead, he drove straight to the elementary school and parked.
Ten
Louis saw the principal pulling into his designated parking spot as he got out and started walking toward the building. His stomach was in knots as he saw his boss turn and wave. He ducked his head and waved back, wondering why the man was here so early because it wasn’t his usual routine. Still, the principal’s job was none of Louis’s concern.
He went straight into the building, turned up the thermostat and then began turning on lights as he went from room to room. The day was chilly and wouldn’t get any warmer. It was that time of year.
He filled a little cart with rolls of toilet paper and paper towels, and started down the hall toward the bathrooms to refill the paper products. He was trying not to think of the mess Reece had put him in—again—as he reached the boys’ bathroom and opened the door. The moment he walked in and realized he was walking in water, he groaned. Something was obviously leaking.
He began moving from toilet stall to toilet stall, trying to find the leak, and then headed to the urinals to check them next. He had just squatted down to check a plumbing joint when he heard a creak, and then something wet fell on his head. He looked up just as the ceiling came crashing down.
