Sam had been standing there, staring at the yellow and red boxes carrying people in the sky, unaware that Robert and her dad had emerged from the Reptile House.
Sam’s father set a firm hand on her shoulder and guided the family through the crowd. Swarms of other families headed to the gift shop far ahead of them.
“Daddy, how come we have to leave so early?” Sam asked and stared up at her father. “Can’t we go see the monkeys one more time?”
“No, we best get going,” Harold said and set his hand on Sam’s head then scruffed her hair. “Grandma and Grandpa are expecting us home any minute now. Grandma’s making your favorite, chicken and dumplings and ice cream sundaes for dessert.”
“But the zoo doesn’t close until dark.” Sam glared at the bright sun overhead.
“Baby girl, you know we fly out early tomorrow,” Harold said and laughed. “No monkeys for you this time. You’ve been to the zoo every weekend all summer long. It’s time we all go back home. How ‘bout I give you a piggy back ride to the car?”
Sam stopped walking and pouted her lips. She shook her head and folded her arms and refused to take another step.
“Hey now,” Harold said and crouched down next to her. “None of that behavior from you, you understand? Grandma has taken you to the zoo every Sunday since y’all got here last month. You’ll be back next summer. It’s time for us to get back to Mississippi. The station misses your old dad. Besides, you start school soon. Come along now, Sam.” Harold caught up to Jane then reached over to grab her hand.
While Mama and Daddy walked ahead a ways, Sam waited for Robert to catch up to her. She stared at her brother who hadn’t stopped grinning since he exited the Reptile House. “Robby, which reptiles did you see?”
“Oh, the usual. You know, huge lizards. Even saw a kimodo dragon. That thing must’ve been ten feet long.”
Amazed that such a large reptile was kept at this zoo, Sam wanted to learn more. “What does a kimono dragon eat? Would it eat a small dog or a cat?”
“Kimodo,” Robert said. “Yeah, it could kill and eat small dogs and cats. At the zoo, it probably eats rodents and stuff like that. Maybe even whole chickens. In the wild, they eat off large carcasses like deer and even buffalos.”
Robert remained quiet and slowed his pace as he studied the reptile brochure. Sam stopped walking then turned to face the Reptile House to try and get a glimpse of the kimodo dragon. Sam shuddered when she imagined a huge, ten-foot long reptile chewing on a buffalo carcass. She trotted to catch up to Robert as he continued to describe which reptiles he saw. Not used to his deeper voice after it’d started to change earlier this summer, Sam sometimes felt like her brother was no longer a kid and therefore was uninterested in hanging out with her. He’d grown a whole five inches this past year, his body now towering over her as he looked more and more like their dad.
“I saw a really cool lizard with an orange head and a blue body,” Robert said, his voice tinged with excitement. “It’s called a red-headed agama. Wouldn’t mind having one of those in my collection. Oh, and I also saw a cool chameleon that changed colors right as I stood there watching it.”
Sam would’ve liked to have seen a two-toned lizard and a chameleon that switched colors right in front of her. If he could convince Mr. Rizzo to sell those sorts of colorful lizards in his shop, Robert could bring one of those home someday. Sam wouldn’t mind Robert having one of those in his collection—so long as it wasn’t poisonous and she didn’t have to feed it. “What about...the snakes? Did you see any copperheads?”
“Didn’t see any of those, but I did see a couple huge African snakes. Lots of rare venomous ones. Saw a really cool diamondback, the kind found here in Southern California.”
“They have diamondbacks at Grandma and Grandpa’s?”
“Naw, they’re mostly in the desert or out in the wild.” Robert placed a hand on Sam’s shoulder and guided her through the crowd.
Curious about what a diamondback looked like, Sam wished she’d been brave enough to get a glimpse of what Robert saw. She stared at her brother again, hoping he would tell her more about the colorful lizards, but she knew it was the snakes he preferred to study, especially the poisonous ones. Each afternoon after school, Robert would scavenge the riverbanks for a glimpse of a water moccasin. Warnings heeded, Sam would follow behind him, her every step guarded as she moved on the boulders and rocks along the river.
Sam looked back toward the Reptile House one more time then caught up to her parents as they followed the crowd toward the exit. She’d return to the zoo next summer and maybe finally be brave enough to go back into the Reptile House—maybe even standing close to the glass while she observed the snakes and lizards with Robert right by her side.
Chapter Four
Mississippi: Summer 2014
EXHAUSTED FROM BEING at the hospital all day, Sam leaned against the old magnolia tree in her mom’s yard and closed her eyes as she tried to will away the tension in her neck and jaw. Even though it was totally dark out, she felt warm on this humid August night near the Okatoma Creek. All she wanted to do was fall into bed, but she remained under the wide, cascading branches. She inhaled the damp air and attempted to relax. Over the years, the leaves and blossoms of this tree always created a shady canopy in the yard. When fierce winter storms hit, the branches sheltered them from the driving pelts of rain. An old swing still dangled from a thick branch, so Sam plopped on the wooden slat and kicked the grass under her feet until she swayed back and forth a few times.
The babbling creek, several paces from the house, used to lull her to sleep when she was a child, but after being gone so many years, Sam found that the churning water grated on her. Ever fearful of water moccasins and copperheads, Sam as a child kept her distance from the river unless Robert was nearby. The snakes would rarely slither across the rocks and grass and into the yard, but Sam always knew they were lurking nearby. Now as an adult, Robert had a vast collection of venomous snakes that he kept in secure glass enclosures out in the barn, which he’d converted into his own separate studio near the house. With Robert in the hospital for what would likely be a long time, Jane would have to take care of the critters, so long as Mr. Rizzo came over and showed her how to feed them. Sam didn’t want to have anything to do with them. Since she still held onto that fear she’d felt as a child, she kept her feet above the ground as she swayed back and forth under the magnolia tree.
The nurses had urged Sam and Jane to go home, that they would call if Robert’s status changed. Since she’d arrived at the hospital this morning, Sam noticed there’d been no fluctuations in his vitals. She knew if his blood pressure suddenly dropped or if his heart rate plummeted, then his body was not strong enough to fight the damage from the accident. But confident that Robert was stable tonight, Sam came home to get some sleep.
Sam pulled a pill from her pocket and snapped it in half then tossed it to the back of her throat. The chalky, bitter residue lingered for a couple minutes as she waited for the medicine to calm her body and mind. It wasn’t so much the sight of her brother being so infirm as it was being back in Mississippi near this creek that caused her to need this drug. The Okatoma carried so many secrets—memories Sam chose to put as far out of her mind as possible. She was grateful she’d brought the full bottle of Xanax, relieved that she could pop a pill every few hours now that she was back in Mississippi.
In the driveway, bright beams from a vehicle shone onto the house and into the yard. Sam squinted to see who’d pulled up at such a late hour. The lights from the car turned off, and the door creaked open. Sam hopped off the swing and hid behind the tree trunk; she scanned the driveway to see who’d arrived. Her heart sped up as she searched to see who might be on the property. In the dark, she couldn’t see if the person had entered the house or gone around the side to the yard. Fortunately, the motion sensor light flashed a bright strobe on this unexpected visitor. Relieved to see that it was Annie, Sam’s body relaxed as she strode to the side
of the house and greeted her with a long embrace. After the break-up, the two of them chatted or texted a couple times a week, but Sam hadn’t told her she was back in Mississippi and that Robert was in the ICU.
“Well, what brings Officer Wright here at such a late hour? This is way past your bedtime. How’d you know I was here?” Sam asked and kept her arms around Annie.
“Your mom called me this afternoon,” Annie said and stepped back. “Actually, it’s Lieutenant Wright.” Annie stood there with hands on hips and a wide grin on her face.
“You got a promotion? You didn’t tell me that. When did you make lieutenant?”
“A couple weeks ago. Seems like we haven’t had much time to catch up lately. But, I had to see you tonight. I wanted to stop by the hospital but figured I should wait till Robert was out of the ICU.”
“I was fixin’ to call you soon. My mom didn’t tell me she called you. She was by my side nearly all day.”
“She assured me that Robert was stable, but she had a feeling you hadn’t told me what was going on. I’ve been worried about you all day. You doing okay?” Annie set her hand on Sam’s cheek and brushed the hair from her face.
Sam shrugged and didn’t attempt to speak, for she knew she’d start to cry. Instead, she buried her face in Annie’s neck and wrapped her arms around her once again. Sam’s body against Annie’s felt warm and familiar; she leaned in closer to her soft, full breasts.
Their break-up had nothing to do with falling out of love. Several months ago, Annie left San Diego to move back to Mississippi to be nearer to her elderly parents and to return to her previous position with the police department—the same station where Sam’s dad worked until he passed away.
But Sam had always been drawn to San Diego County—far different than the slower pace here in Covington County. Years ago, she made San Diego her home when she and Annie moved into the small cottage behind her grandparents’ house. Sam took classes at SDSU, hoping eventually to get her bachelor’s in biology before going to medical school. But San Diego didn’t work for Annie, and eventually she moved back to Covington County.
As much as she missed Annie when they broke up, Sam vowed never to call Mississippi home. Sam was essentially fine with the break-up, reasoning that the age difference would eventually become a problem. Nearly thirteen years older, Annie spoke of things Sam couldn’t relate to—aging parents, buying a home, settling down, saving for retirement. In what she felt to be the prime of her life, Sam at thirty-two years old enjoyed training for her next triathlon and dating around. Besides, settling down and maybe having a kid with someone that much older would’ve led to issues later in life. However, it was pointless to even consider these concerns since Annie ended up returning to her very first girlfriend shortly after moving back to Mississippi. But right now, with Annie in her arms, Sam felt calm and content.
“As always, you look great.” Annie pulled away from the embrace and looked her over then cupped a hand on her deltoid. “You’ve bulked up. Are you doing the intense workouts again?”
“Not any more than usual,” Sam said and glanced at Annie’s soft midsection. “Just the usual trail rides and beach workouts with the other lifeguards. How about you? You back at the gym yet? Or are you too busy being a lieutenant?”
“Definitely busy. I’m at a desk most days now. Rarely even get out in the field except to assist with investigations now and then. Been mostly recruiting and hiring rookies fresh out of the academy. I get out there occasionally to train and supervise them, but I’m mostly doing paperwork now. Since my surgery, my knees couldn’t take working in the field for too much longer, but I’m finally back at the gym a couple days a week now that I’ve finished with PT. Anyway, with Marsha gone a lot, a day job seems to work out better for us.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Oh, the same, busy and gone a lot for work.” Annie glanced at the ground and shook her head. “You know Marsha. Can’t settle for mediocrity, always looking for ways to be promoted. You’d think she would’ve been fine as a DA here in Covington County till she retires, but she’s taken on yet another position as a consultant for attorneys who need help handling difficult cases. Always looking for a challenge. She really hasn’t changed much. She’s in Dallas till Monday.”
“I’m glad you stopped by. It’s hard to settle down after such a rough couple of days.” Sam linked her arm around Annie’s and led her to the grassy area near the magnolia tree. As the creek churned nearby, they sat on a bench next to the tree. Despite this being August, the Okatoma’s water level was high for summertime. The usual trickle of water sounded more like a steady surge of whitewater. Sam wondered how deep the water was where Robert’s Chevy went through the guardrail and into the Bouie River, how far down he went until the truck hit the river bottom.
Sam finally felt relaxed, the heaviness of the day’s events and lack of sleep causing her muscles to weaken. She leaned her body into Annie’s and stared at the starless sky.
Annie was the only person besides Robert who knew why Sam had such an aversion to this creek, why being here sometimes turned her stomach. During all the years they were together, she never revealed all of the details to Annie, but she could tell that to some extent, Annie understood why this place still gave her nightmares. Right now, the other keeper of Sam’s secrets lay in a coma, his damaged body fighting to stay alive. Annie next to her right now helped ease her through the uncertainty and fear about what lay ahead for Robert.
“I can stay as long as you’d like,” Annie said and nestled her body closer to Sam’s. “It’s not like anyone’s waiting up for me at home.”
“If you went to the trouble of coming over here so late, you might as well keep me company all night. I figured I’d sleep in the barn while I’m back home this week. Much more comfortable than my old room upstairs. Robert’s got it set up nicely, pretty much a full-on studio out there.”
“In the snake house? You kidding me? You, the woman who can’t be ten feet near one of those things?”
“Well, you can protect me. You’re a lieutenant now.”
“I can protect you from people but not from those critters. Aren’t some of them deadly, as in...illegal to own?”
“Now, don’t go enforcing the law on us tonight. These are Robert’s prized possessions. He’s got them all secured, or so he says. Besides, we’ll sleep far away from them. But let’s stay out here for a while. It’s nice being out here. With you, I mean.”
“Sam, I should...probably go home later, but I can stay out here as long as you’d like.”
Be it the Xanax, the exhaustion of being in the hospital all day with no sleep for so many hours, or the comfort of being next to Annie’s warm body, Sam became sleepy. She inhaled deeply then exhaled slowly and rested her head on Annie’s shoulder. The murmur of the nearby creek seemed less invasive to Sam once she fully relaxed her body into Annie’s. She snuggled her body closer to Annie’s then set her hand on Annie’s leg. She sat in the same position which years ago always made Sam feel protected. Safe for now, she closed her eyes and felt that nothing would harm her.
Chapter Five
Mississippi: Summer 1990
SAM WANDERED ALONG the banks of the creek, carefully examining the ground with each step. In her brother’s thick rubber fishing boots, she crawled atop a huge log and squinted from the sun reflected off the water while she watched Robert swim to the other side of the Okatoma. He quickly reached the other side of the creek, scurried up the slope, and grabbed the rope attached to one of Old Miss Patterson’s giant oak trees. Then he soared through the air and jumped into the creek. Robert swam every chance he got when the temperature was warm enough to swim and the water level was at its highest. With this being the end of August, the water was plenty warm for swimming, but Sam preferred to stay on shore. Every afternoon when they were home in Mississippi, if Robert wasn’t in the water, he’d search for snakes along the shore. Determined to catch a poisonous water moccasin, he risked getting
bitten in order to add to his reptile collection.
His mother, aware of his risky hunts, told him and Sam about victims of the bite—the sudden drop in blood pressure, numbness throughout the entire body, then extreme weakness. Next, without anti-venom, the victim would suffer from hemorrhaging, neurological shutdown, heart failure, and impending death. Based on her medical experience, Mama described victims who were unable to get the anti-venom in time, of large, grown men whose bodies shut down before their brains had. She told them of the look of panic in their eyes—the awareness that death was imminent. Pretty soon a coma-like stupor would happen, then complete paralysis, and within hours, if the victim didn’t get anti-venom, there was no chance of survival. Regardless, Robert still hunted water moccasins.
Convinced the area around the log was free of snakes, Sam crouched down, hoisting the rubber boots up past her knees. She watched Robert swim to the other side of the Okatoma. Old Miss Patterson often remained perched on her front porch shaking her fist as they played in the creek. Since she didn’t have kids or a husband, Miss Patterson had nothing better to do than to shoo the Cleveland kids off her property. Sam was grateful that a body of water separated the Cleveland property from Miss Patterson’s old house. Sam never so much as swam to the other side of the Okatoma for fear the old woman would holler at them as they played in the water.
“Come on, Sam! Watch how this is done,” Robert said then pulled the rope up onto the shore, tromping up the slope as far as the swing would allow him to go. He stepped onto some blackberry thickets then swung high above the water. “Whoo-hoo!” he screamed as he flew in the air. He cannon-balled into the water then sunk below the moving current. Sam sat up, holding her breath as she waited for Robert to surface.
She heard him gasp for air downstream as she balanced on the log. “Quit horsin’ around! And get off Miss Patterson’s property. Mama and Daddy says to stay off it ‘cuz she’s a crazy old woman.”
Saving Sam Page 3
