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her embrace with an intensity that stunned him. Usually he was distant with

people, radiating to no one, least of all strangers. Yet here he was, totally out

of character, comforting Cynthia Edwards, a woman he’d met a handful of

times.

When Cynthia asked Vi how she found out, Clayton stepped in, explaining

for Mrs. Simpson what happened and sharing all the facts he’d gotten from

his Captain about the robbery.

“Our precinct pastor would normally advise the family, but I asked my

Captain if I could do it.” Clearing his throat he continued, “I hope that was

alright.”

Vi Simpson immediately sought his large hand, enclosing it within her

smaller one.

“You were close to Craig and it must have been hard to come over here,”

she told him. “I just want you to know I appreciate it.”

Clay glanced down at their joined hands and felt the shock waves grab hold

of him once more. This time he fought for control of his emotions and won.

Suddenly it occurred to him, with all she was going through, Craig’s mom

seemed to truly care about what he was feeling. The knowledge puzzled and

humbled him all at the same time. Turning his hand slightly inside of hers, he

linked their fingers together and tried to convey his appreciation.

“Mrs. Simpson, I’m here for you, whatever you need me to do.”

She squeezed his hand in response, closing her eyes against his statement,

willing the tears to stop. In that moment, he couldn’t actually explain why,

but he felt an intangible bond form between them.

33

Watching this exchange, Cynthia interrupted in a somewhat dismissive

tone. “Yes, Clayton, thank you for being here today. But I’m here now, so

if you must go, well,” she paused, trailing off.

Clayton blinked in confusion and the hurt in his voice was evident to Vi

when he turned to her and said. “Oh, yeah, okay, I guess I should be going.”

Vi shot Cynthia a scathing look, embarrassed beyond belief that her sister

would be rude to this man. For the most part, Cynthia was oblivious to the

sharp look Vi cast her way. The need to take over every situation, however,

was her sister’s M.O. Granted, everyone who knew Cynthia knew she was a

control freak, except of course, Cynthia. But this was not the time, nor the

place to go at it with her sister. Tamping down her anger, Vi turned to

Clayton and told him reassuringly.

“No,” Vi said forcefully. “No, don’t go Clayton. Stay, I want you to,

please.” And it was true, she was grateful he was here, acknowledging on

some level how comforting it was to have a man around at a time like this.

Vi wasn’t a fool, she knew the days ahead would be difficult and it would be

easy to rely on him. If that happened, Vi sensed this young man would

probably be very accommodating, but she also knew she wouldn’t do it.

Although it was nice to have him here right now, she would get through this

on her own, just like before. Thinking about some of the things that lay

ahead, brought reality crashing back. She had to tell the kids!

“I need to call Janae and Tony,” she said.

“I’ll call Janae,” Cynthia offered and rose from her chair.

“No, Cynthia. Thank you, but she should hear it from me.”

Cynthia continued to insist, “Why put yourself through that?”

“No, I’m her mother, I have to do this.”

She got up and went into the kitchen, Cynthia and Clay following in her

wake.

Cynthia handed her the cordless phone, while Clayton nudged a chair behind

her knees, which she gratefully sank into. Guardian angels, she thought, as

she steeled herself to the task at hand. The phone rang, and in those short

seconds Vi fought for control.

Janae was having a great time. She and Carol spent the entire day at the

beach. While Janae could have stayed a bit longer, Carol had insisted they

hit the clubs tonight. Then again, since they had arrived, Carol had insisted

they hit the clubs every night. Janae was seriously thinking of staying in

tonight and getting some sleep, but then she remembered the cute guys

they’d met last night. Carol had promised to meet up with them at club Envy

again tonight, so they both gathered their things and left the beach early.

34

Planning to grab a couple of burgers for dinner, they stopped at their hotel

just long enough to shower and change. Both girls were dashing around the

hotel room getting ready when Janae heard her cell phone ring.

“Janae?”

“Oh, hey mom,” Janae answered excitedly. “You almost missed us. We

were on our way out.”

“Janae, honey, I need you to come home right away. Something terrible

has happened to Craig.” For a fraction of a second her voice wavered before

she forced the words past her lips. “Sweetie, I’m so sorry, I…Craig was

sh..shot earlier today.” The finality of that statement made Vi shudder.

Having to say the words was almost unbearable.

Janae slumped in a chair near the bed, covering her mouth with a delicate

hand. The silence stretched out for a time before Vi said again into the

receiver.

“Janae, Craig is dead.”

“Oh no, nooooo! Oh, mom no… Oh, God…no!”

Feeling her daughter’s pain through the phone line, Vi desperately wished

she were there by her side, instead of hundreds of miles separating them.

“Janae, I know baby, I know. Please listen Janae, you’ll have to get…the

f…first flight out and…” it was too much, Vi covered her mouth with the

back of her hand to stifle the sob aching to leave her throat. She felt

Cynthia arms go around her as Clayton gently took the receiver from her

hand.

“Janae, this is Clay Marshall. I’m here with your mother and your Aunt.

I’m so very sorry.” Talking to Janae was difficult, her words came out

disjointed and broken by her weeping. Sometimes she became coherent and

asked him questions. Difficult questions that her mother should not have to

answer. Keeping his answers short, after a time, Clayton said, “Janae put

your friend Carol on the phone please.”

Recognizing Janae was too distraught to think clearly, he spoke to her

friend Carol about changing her flight arrangements and asked her to call

back with those changes so he could pick Janae up when her flight arrived.

With those details taken care of, he gave the phone back to Mrs. Simpson

and listened to their tearful goodbye. When she hung up, Vi quickly dialed

the number to reach Tony and once again her sister offered to help her make

the necessary calls. But she stoically refused.

“This is something I have to do myself,” she explained. “After I reach

Tony I have to call the mortuary, then you can do the rest.”

35

The phone rang several times at the Washington’s before the answering

machine came on. After leaving a brief message she called information for

the mortician’s number and waited as the automated voice connected her to

the funeral home. She did fine answering the mortician’s questions, until

they got around to where the body was. Helplessness slammed into Vi,

crushing her dwindling resolve.

I can’t do this.
Her mind screamed as she looked around frantically,

repeating what the mortician had asked her.

“Where is he?” She stared at the ceiling, “I don’t know…I…”

Immediately, Clayton came over and took the phone, speaking into the

receiver with authority.

“This is officer Clayton Marshall of the Amityville Police Department. The

deceased was my friend and my partner. Perhaps I can answer your

questions.” He listened intently and responded to each question the

mortician had.

“Brunswick General morgue.”

“At 10:00 this morning.”

“Gun shot wound.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Yes, the number is 789-1346.”

“Hope Missionary Baptist.”

“If she doesn’t have one, we have one at the police department.”

“I believe that will have to wait. I think she needs a little time to make

those decisions and we haven’t reached all the family members yet.”

“Yes, tomorrow at 9:30 would be better. Thank you Mr. Jones.”

Writing some information down on a pad by the phone, Clayton hung up

and turned to Vi.

“I told him you would meet him tomorrow at 9:30. I hope that was okay.

He has enough information for now and he assured me that he would take

care of everything,” he told Vi.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know they would take him to the morgue so soon,” she

said looking at him apologetically.

“It’s fine. How would you know? Its just police procedure whenever

there’s a fatality to take the remains there,” he trailed off.

36

Again, it occurred to Vi how good it was to have Clayton Marshall here. If

he was still in shock over all of this, he hid it well. On some level, she

realized that every time she felt ready to fall apart, he seemed to be right

there, stepping in and handling the difficult tasks like a husband or grown

son.

Having him with her was like having Craig here and it gave her a measure

of comfort. Vi got up from the table where she’d been sitting with Cynthia

and went to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you, Clayton,

for all you’ve done today.”

“Think nothing of it, really. It’s a tough time and I think Craig would have

wanted me here to help you. So, if it’s okay with you, I’ll hang around for a

while.”

She hugged him hard to show her appreciation for being there. The phone

rang as she absently rubbed his back, as if he were her son. Vi listened as

Cynthia answered the phone and spoke to Carol.

“Yes, okay Carol. I’ve got it. Delta flight 74 at 8:49,” Cynthia said as she

scribbled information on a pad. Before she hung up Cynthia thanked Janae’s

friend once more and said. “I’m sorry you had to cut your vacation short

Carol, but we’re so grateful you’re coming home with our Janae.”

The telephone kept ringing after that and, although she tried the

Washington’s every half hour, Vi had no luck reaching them or Tony.

Cynthia and Clayton took turns making the calls that needed to be made from

there. Once, Vi had to take the phone and try to console her mother, who

wept uncontrollably. When she finally calmed down, Vi hung up the phone,

too drained to speak with anyone else. The house began filling with people

after that, each person carrying some kind of dish or casserole. Sitting by

herself at the dining room table, Vi wondered.
Why do people bring food at a

time like this? Do they think eating will make the families grieving any

easier
?

Feeling strangely out of sorts, she was having a hard time grasping the fact

this was all actually happening to her. Her wandering thoughts created a

dull ache at the base of her skull. Closing her eyes, Vi placed a hand at the

back of her neck and began massaging that area to alleviate the pain. It was

actually starting to work, when suddenly she opened her eyes and looked up.

For one odd moment, an insane urge struck her and Vi realized she’d been

about to ask,
Did anyone remember to call Craig?

She quickly clamped her mouth shut, startled that those words had been on

the tip of her tongue. While she silently berated herself, she acknowledged

how right it felt to think of him at a time like this. Craig had always been

there for her.

37

Just then, Nicole and Andre walked in and rushed over to where she sat.

Nicole, who was her right hand at the salon, hugged her tight. Vi listened as

she explained, unnecessarily, her decision to close the salon for the day.

When Vi hired Nicole four years ago, they quickly found out how much

they had in common. She was an excellent stylist and, the two of them were

very close in age and had a lot in common. Just like Vi had been when her

husband died, Nicole was a single mom raising her kids on her own. Having

so much in common, the two women had become very good friends quickly

and, in some ways, Vi felt closer to Nicole than she did to her own sister.

When Nicole released her, Andre moved forward and quickly gathered Vi in

a bear hug. It felt more like a baby bear, as his thin arms came around her

light as a feather. Because of his alternative lifestyle, Andre, sweet to a

fault, fit in well with the women at the salon. And like Nicole, Andre was

more than just an employee Vi thought, as she returned his embrace. They

were both just like family.