Crow Wing Dead

by Midge Bubany

  Nineteen days missing.

  I sensed the warm body next to me. Without opening my eyes, in my sleepy haze, I put my arm around Shannon. Then I caught a whiff of perfume and my eyes popped open. Dark hair splayed across the pillow.

  Adriana!

  Awash in dread, I gingerly removed my arm and rolled out of bed. I tugged at my pants Bullet was laying on. He gave me a pitiful look and slowly rose. I grabbed the rest of my clothing that lay scattered across the floor and numbly walked across the hall to the bathroom. As I looked in the mirror I whispered to my image, “You dumb shit.”

  After I took out Bullet and fed him, I made coffee and looked in the refrigerator to see what I could make her for breakfast. I had to feed her, right? Eggs. I heard the bathroom door close and then a few minutes later, Adriana entered the kitchen fully dressed.

  She gave me a coy smile and said, “I should go.”

  “Want something to eat first?”

  “No, I have to be on my way. I promised Maddie I would golf with her this morning.”

  She gave me a quick peck, gathered her purse, and left. And then I was alone, confused and weary. Man, I did not need this shit.

  I picked up the wine glasses, washed and dried them, then put them away. I looked in the bag on the counter. It contained a white box. I flipped the lid. Chocolate cake. I put the box on top of the fridge, then wiped down the granite counter and went to put the wine bottle in the recycling basket we kept in the closet. Seeing it was full, I took it out to the garage where we kept the large blue bin. The contents clanked as glass hit metal. When I turned around, a fist flew straight at my nose. I was knocked back against my truck. Troy Kern stood there all red-faced and mean looking. I pushed myself off the truck and touched my nose, which hurt like hell. When he pulled back his arm to land another strike, I power thrust my fist right at his face. He flinched, so I caught him on the jaw. Ow. Hand hurts. He lunged and tackled me to the garage floor.

  As he rolled me out onto the blacktop, I slammed my fists into his back again and again. Ooof! He caught me a good one in the kidney. We landed hard punches over and over. I vaguely heard dogs barking, shouts and more barks, then sirens. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

  Legs in black uniform pants surrounded us. Strong hands and arms pried us apart. I looked up to see Spanky and Greg Woods. Greg stopped Troy from popping me again. Blood and spit dribbled from Troy’s mouth.

  “What the hell you are you two doing?” Greg asked.

  Troy shrugged off Greg’s grip, rolled to his feet and brushed off his clothing. His nose was bleeding; his face and arms were skinned up. I must look similar. Not only did my nose kill, but my cheekbone, and elbows too. After I touched the cool wetness on my face, I looked at my hand. It was covered in blood.

  As Troy walked away he yelled, “Stay the fuck away from her, or I’ll destroy you.”

  Greg said, “Hey, Troy, wait a minute?”

  He just kept walking.

  That’s when I noticed the people gathered at the end of my driveway. Two squad cars, with their flashers and sirens attracted attention.

  My neighbor, Doug Nelson, yelled from his deck, “Cal, we saw the whole thing. We were having our morning coffee out on the deck here, when we saw that guy come up from behind and punch you. I called 911.”

  “You did the right thing, sir,” Spanky said.

  Doug waved. “You bet.”

  “Thanks, Doug.” I returned the wave and smiled which caused a sharp pain to shoot through my nose and up my forehead.

  Spanky said, “What got into Troy?”

  “Hard telling.”

  It wouldn’t have been too difficult for Troy to figure out Adriana and I had a sleepover with her BMW in my driveway all night.

  “Want to press charges?” Spanky said.

  “No,” I said, shaking my head.

  “I’ve got good news and bad news.”

  “Yeah, what?”

  “Your nose is swelling pretty bad, and you’re bleeding pretty good,” Spanky said.

  “What? You’re a comedian now?”

  “I think it’s funny,” Greg Woods said. “We better call paramedics.”

  “No, don’t. I’m fine.” More explanations, more paperwork. “I’ll ice it.

  “No need to write this up,” I said to the guys.

  Greg’s eyebrows shot up, and he caught Spanky’s eye. I knew they’d need to write something after a 911 call. Spanky told Greg he’d stay and take care of it, and I was glad. Greg was a veteran and too professional not to illicit the whole story, which I no way wanted to tell. But Troy could spread the word about the sleepover if he chose to. That wouldn’t be good. I couldn’t feel so high and mighty around Shannon anymore.

  After Spanky turned off his squad lights and Greg left, he pulled out a leather folder off of his front seat.

  I said, “Let’s take this party inside.”

  Bullet was at the back door, barking his head off, as I’m sure he’d been during the entire fight. Poor boy had to watch his master get pummeled. I wondered if he’d been outside with me if he would have bit Troy. A guy could fantasize, couldn’t he?

  Once in the house, I reached down to pet Bullet to calm him. His tongue landed a swipe on my skinned hand. I put him out, and he ran lickety-split down the steps to check out the battle scene where blood stains dotted the blacktop.

  “Why don’t you get cleaned up while I start the report,” Spanky said.

  I went upstairs to the master bath. I stood before the mirror. My nose was a swollen blob; blood was dripping down my face. I had abrasions on my elbows, the likes of which I hadn’t experienced since I wiped out on my bike when I was thirteen. My new pants were ripped at the knees. Shit.

  I grabbed a clean washcloth and began to clean my face. I winced as I dabbed near my nose. I put the biggest bandage I could find on my elbows.

  Spanky’s face contorted when he saw me, “Yeah, maybe you should get that nose looked at. You hurt anywhere else—like in your mid-section? You boys were landing some pretty serious punches.”

  “If I have pain in my back and abdomen, I’ll go in. Okay?”

  “Okay. So, what the heck set him off?”

  “It’s been a long time coming. You know.”

  “Yeah… I’m thinking Adriana is the center of this… or because he thinks you nixed him getting his old job back.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “Greg. He talked to him last night at Buzzo’s.”

  “I had nothing to do with it. I didn’t know he asked Patrice to come back until she told me she’d turned him down.”

  “When I saw him at the courthouse yesterday afternoon, he told me he applied for detective with Hennepin County and thinks he should get it, so I don’t know what he’s thinking asking for his job back in Prairie Falls. Why would he move back with his kid in Minneapolis?”

  “Don’t know.”

  While Spanky and I had coffee and talked about how to write up the call, I iced my nose with a bag of frozen peas.

  “How about I write it up as a concerned neighbor misunderstood a disagreement between friends. Sound good? Or do you want to press charges? You have a witness.”

  “Nooo, I don’t want to press charges.”

  After Spanky left, I thought about the mess I’d created by sleeping with Adriana again. Troy had been waiting to pounce, and I justified his paranoia—Shannon’s too. Maybe they were both right, and Adriana and I never did get over each other, but acting on it was really stupid. I took a long slow breath. If Adriana contacted me, I was going to have to tell her I wasn’t interested in her plan of casual sex. I also decided I was going to lie low all weekend, spend today with Henry and Lucy while I iced the sausage my nose had become.

  I quickly stripp
ed the linens from the guest bedroom and threw them in the wash. I had just finished remaking the bed when Clara arrived. She took one look at me and said, “What on earth?”

  “Long story.”

  “I have time,” she said.

  I didn’t know why I was so open with Clara, but I spilled the beans like she was my best friend in the world. Only she wasn’t. My best friend was missing. He was dead because his loser brother owed ten thousand big ones to a drug dealer.

  Clara agreed to be back from the market by the time Shannon arrived with the twins, so she wouldn’t see my battered face. But today she decided to show up two hours early. Her eyes narrowed as she handed me Henry, who didn’t seem to notice his daddy’s nose was twice its normal size and he was starting to resemble a raccoon.

  Henry cuddled into me. I loved that he favored me, especially now with the imminent divorce.

  “I’m almost afraid to ask,” she said.

  “Then don’t.”

  When she returned with Lucy, my baby girl’s little brow furrowed when she took her first look at me.

  “Daddy has an owie, Lucy girl,” I said and kissed her forehead, taking in her little girl scent.

  As Shannon followed me inside, she said, “Something tells me it wasn’t work related, but personal, and I know Mac wasn’t involved, so it must be… hmm… let me guess… Troy?”

  Henry was reaching down for Bullet, who was at my feet, so I set him down. My nose throbbed as I bent over.

  Bullet licked Henry’s face, and he giggled.

  “How was the party?” I asked.

  “You’re not going to tell me what happened?”

  “No.”

  She placed Lucy down beside her brother, and Bullet licked her face too. They followed him off toward the dog’s toy box.

  “The party was great. The twins were the hit. We’re lucky they have such good dispositions.”

  “They inherited it from me,” I said.

  “Right. Always so controlled until… what?”

  “Someone threatens my family.”

  “Who?”

  I pointed to my face. “This was different. It was dark. I walked into a door.”

  “Right. How does other guy look?”

  “The door? Well, I imagine it has a big dent.”

  “Oh, Sheehan. What am I going to do with you?”

  “You don’t have to do anything with me anymore, now do you?”

  Shannon scowled and let out a sigh to let me know how exasperating I was.

  “Shannon, do you have a few minutes? I have a couple things I’d like to talk to you about.”

  “I guess.”

  The twins were annoying Bullet by trying to ride him, so I put him out then turned on the television like the good parent I was. As an afterthought I grabbed a basket of educational toys to place in front of them.

  Meanwhile, Shannon had brewed us each a cup of Keurig coffee. She set them on the counter and took a sip. And for a few moments we behaved as if all was well. We sat at the counter together, sipped coffee, and watched the Twinks, who were mesmerized by a squeaky-voiced nitwit in a bee getup on television.

  She turned to face me. “Well? Are you going to tell me something, or did you just want to share a Starbucks moment?”

  “Okay. Two things: I found out from someone else you saw Mac while he was still married.”

  Her cheeks flushed a bright pink. “Tamika?”

  “She thought I knew.”

  “She was the only person who did know. It was a long time ago. It lasted less than a month. And now? You and I were struggling before the accident, then after, well, we never dug out of the hole. And to be honest, I was never quite sure it was me you really wanted.”

  I took a breath refusing to react to the same old conversation. “I just wish you’d been honest with me about Mac. I would have been more cautious about our marriage in the first place.”

  That touched a nerve because she looked down, then away. “I met with Brett yesterday… at his request. He recommended we hold off on the divorce for a year and put a hold on other relationships.”

  “For what purpose?”

  “To continue healing before any big life change.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I said I’d think about it.”

  “Did you tell Mac?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Because you haven’t decided.”

  She nodded. “You said two things. What’s the other?”

  “Why aren’t you telling the truth about who was texting just before the accident?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Emerson’s attorney claims he has proof you were texting while driving.”

  “Cal, I didn’t.”

  “I know because it was Luke. Wasn’t it?”

  She nodded. “He was playing a game, but then he must have seen your incoming text.”

  “Why? What did he say?”

  Her eyes were filled with tears. “He told me you’d written you wanted a divorce, that we were done.”

  “No. I asked if you really wanted a divorce, he answered yes. Then I said I was going to fight for us, for our family. He answered, fuck you.”

  “Oh, my God.”

  “You didn’t know this?”

  “No, because they took my cell phone, remember? Why didn’t you bring this up a year ago?”

  “Because we had lost our Colby and I was heartbroken, and when I saw you and Luke in the hospital beds, battered and bruised, none of it mattered anymore. We seemed so close for a while.”

  “Yes, I guess we were. Until we had to deal with reality and the legal matters.”

  “Do you blame me for the accident?”

  “Why would I? I was the one driving. I was the one who didn’t see the Estelle’s Candy truck coming.”

  “You had the green light.”

  “Yes, Cal, I had the green light, but I should have been aware.”

  “We have to tell Phillip what Luke did.”

  “Why?”

  “It proves you weren’t texting at the time of the accident.”

  “I don’t want to subject Luke to the witness stand.”

  “The case will never make it to trial. Estelle’s will settle.”

  “I don’t want the money. I want Colby.”

  “Me too, babe. I’ll always be there if you need me.”

  She let out a sob.

  I put my arm around her, and we shed some silent tears together.

  “I’ll call Phillip,” she said.

  “Thank you. I think Luke feels responsible for his brother’s death. You got upset and weren’t concentrating on driving because he lied to you about my texts.”

  She swallowed. “Yes, I suppose he does. I’ll talk to him.”

  Shannon kissed the Twinks good-bye, then said to me, “You know I love you. That was never the issue.”

  “And I you. Whatever you decide, I want us to have an amicable relationship for the kids’ sake. And you don’t have to hide things from me.”

  “Like what happened to your face?”

  “I’m embarrassed, okay?”

  “You and Troy had a fight.”

  I nodded.

  Just before she opened the back door to leave she said, “Well, I hope he looks as bad as you do.”

  “Golly, thanks.”

  As I watched her pull out of the driveway, I asked myself what the hell had just happened. Did she say she was willing to try again? Should I even allow myself to feel hopeful? I hate this wishy-washy crap. Either you love me or you don’t, and you want to stay or you don’t. How could I live with the wait-a-year limbo bullshit? I sat down at the computer to compose
an email telling her just that. After I changed the text a hundred times, I decided to delete it entirely. She’d end up with Mac anyway.

  Chapter 19

  June 1

  Twenty days missing

  I woke when something soft and wet brushed my face. I opened my eyes. Bullet, who never came on my bed, was straddling me licking the wounds on my face. I yelled, “No, Bullet! Down!” He gave me another good lick, then jumped off the bed. I grabbed a tissue to wipe the slobber off, then thought it best to run hot soapy water over the cuts so they wouldn’t get infected. You know what else dogs liked to lick.

  At noon on Sunday, I dropped the Twinks at Shannon’s. I loved them dearly, but part of me was relieved when I could hand them off. Shannon greeted me with a shit-eating grin. I hadn’t seen her smile for a very long time.

  “Are you happy to see me, or are you just pleased I resemble a raccoon?”

  “Oh, come on, Rocky, let me have a little fun.”

  “The Twinks ate a good breakfast. I took them to the Sportsman. Tony gave them each a mini-cinnamon roll after they ate their scrambled eggs and sausage.”

  “Did you buy a bag, and do you have extras?”

  “No, sorry. I ate only one at the restaurant.”

  “Eleanor still coming over bearing treats?”

  “She is.”

  “Has she ever hit on you? Be honest.”

  “Of course not.”

  “Now the word has spread I moved out, I imagine you have women banging on the door.”

  “Yes, as I matter of fact I have mobs of female raccoons at my door.”

  She smiled again. “Are you going to have to testify again this week wearing the raccoon mask?”

  “Oh, I hope not.”

  I wondered what Troy looked like. He had to testify again tomorrow. People would put two and two together.

  Although it was technically not a workday for me, I went in to do more research on the six manufacturers North Cross did business with, and to plot the areas where Nevada Wynn made deliveries.

  The six companies were located across the Twin Cities metro area: Minneapolis, St. Paul, Brooklyn Park, Inger Grove Heights, Plymouth, and ­Roseville. They manufactured a variety of products that were shipped all over the country: industrial pumps, valves, motors, medical equipment, kitchen utensils, and office furniture.