Letter to Belinda (59 page)

How
did
it
happen?

How
did
Leon’s
torso
get
through
that
concrete
and
reinforcement
rods?

How
did
he
get
into
the
pool?
And then she had another thought:

He
almost
drowned
me!
He
DELIBERATELY
tried
to
drown
me!

She raised up on her knees, wanting to look into the pool, but she was afraid to. Afraid that the torso would pop to the surface. She got to her feet, still hacking deeply, and backed away from the pool. She finally mustered up the courage to creep to the edge of the pool and peer in.

Nothing there.

Just clean, clear water.

She could easily see everything in the bottom of the pool. The drain grate, the nozzles that circulated the water. She could even see the grouted joints between the tiles, but there was nothing else in the water. Nothing at all.

She broke out into a hysterical laugh, which quickly turned to tears. It wasn’t real, she knew that. It was just a figment of her tormented mind. Those deftly floating, dead arms had been pointing a guilty finger at her, but even
that
had been her imagination too, because there was nothing in the pool now. She had scratches on her ankles, which were bleeding, but she refused to believe that they were
fingernail
marks.
That was absurd. They had to be from where she had scraped them on the new concrete. She would have to convince herself of that.

She got a cold shiver down her spine, and went to get her towel. She would not be getting back into that pool any time soon. Probably never again. She would probably never get into
any
pool again, after this.

*     *     *

Travis was glad to be done with his last English book signing. It was gratifying to meet and talk to the fans of his work, many who said they were eagerly waiting for his next book. But the week had been exhausting, and he hardly felt like he had been on vacation. As they left the book store, Angel asked, “What is your schedule for tomorrow? You are leaving for America tomorrow, are you not?”

“Yes, leaving for home. I think our flight is at 2 in the afternoon. We leave from Dover in the morning, and drive to the airport, seeing a few sites along the way, getting to the airport just in time to catch our flight.”

As she unlocked her car door, she said, “So I guess I should meet you at the airport, no later than noon, to get you your copy of the contract. Father did not have it ready this morning when I left for Dover. Either that, or you can ride back to London with me tonight, and pick it up personally.”

Travis knew what she had planned, and he didn’t want to do something as absurd and as reckless Donna had done the day before, so he shook his head. “No, tonight we have our farewell dinner, and I need to be there with my family. In less than an hour, in fact. I didn’t realize it was so late. I need to get there in time to catch the bus to wherever they are going to eat.”

“And if you get there too late?”

“I have no idea where to meet them.”

“Well, that doesn’t give me much incentive to get you there on time, does it? The alternative is, you will have to spend the evening with
me
!”

“Angel, I really need to get there on time.”

“And you shall. Hop in.”

She drove him to the Bed and Breakfast, arriving just as everyone was loading the bus to go out to the restaurant. “Darn! I got you here in time! I was hoping they would already be gone!”

“I bet you were. Thanks for the ride. So I will see you at the airport about noon?”

“Yes, I will be there.”

She seemed disappointed as she drove away.

It was a festive evening in Dover. Fred uncorked his bottle of mead and passed it around, but it was only a small part of the liquor consumed by the college kids. Even Steve seemed to loosen up on heir last night in England. Fred secretly filled Travis in on what happened at lunch, when Steve found out that Donna was back with the group. It was an ugly scene, but it was over now. Steve finally conceded that he was just glad that she was back and okay. “He seems to be well on his way to getting drunk tonight,” Travis noted.

“Yes, that might be the best thing for him. When he gets drunk, he mellows out.”

“Then my recommendation is that he
stay
drunk the rest of his life.”

“I think I will suggest that at our next faculty meeting. He may not like the idea, but everyone else will love it! A
drunk
Steve is a
happy
Steve!”

Lois was not much of a drinker, but she enjoyed watching everyone else having fun. At some point she leaned over to Travis and said, “I have had a real good time! How about you?”

I feel like I have been on a one week, whirlwind book signing tour. I haven’t been able to enjoy the trip itself. But I did get to see most of the sites I wanted to see. But remember, this was supposed to be Drew’s trip anyway.”

“Do you think he had a good time?”

“See for yourself. He seems to be having a good time. He especially liked the Tubes, . . . the subway. I think he and Audrey rode every inch of it.”

“I think he is really fond of Audrey.”

“I think so too.”

“Is she his first girlfriend?”

“As far as I know.”

“You never had any girlfriends in high school, did you Travis?”

“None that you knew of, Mom.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you didn’t know everything that went on with your kids, as much as you like to think that you did. But no, I wasn’t that interested in girls in high school. I wanted to see the world, so I joined Uncle Sam’s Overseas Adventure Club, otherwise known as the U.S. Army.”

“I know I never asked you this before, but have you ever regretted that choice?”

“Mom, I regretted the choice as soon as I got to Boot Camp! And every time I felt a bullet zing through my hair, and every time I was laid up in the hospital with gaping wounds, I regretted it. That was four years of my life that I wish I could do over, but what is past, is past. I am glad I came through the Vietnam war, but I sure wouldn’t do it again. Know why it took me so long to get through security at the airport? Because I still have so many pieces of steel shrapnel in me! Every time I pass the refrigerator at home, some of Janice’s’ magnets stick to me.”

“Oh, you’re just exaggerating now!”

“Nope. Ask Janice. I used to entertain the kids by sticking a magnet to my leg. According to x-rays, I have a chunk of Chinese iron above my knee the size of a silver dollar.”

“Couldn’t they remove it?”

“Didn’t know it was there until years later, then they said trying to remove it would cause nerve damage. Besides, it provides my body with its daily recommended dosages of iron and magnesium. No mineral supplements for me!”

“I never know when to believe you, Travis!”

“I’m not kidding about the shrapnel, but in answer to your question, yes, I do regret going into the Army. I wonder sometimes what direction my life would have taken if I hadn’t.”

“That’s one of those questions that we were never meant to know the answers to. Life can be a wonderful ride, whatever road you take. But you have to enjoy the sights along the way, because your final destination might be a disappointment.” She didn’t elaborate, and Travis let it rest.

*     *     *

The next morning they got up and boarded the bus back to London. There were a few sites left on the agenda to see en route, but basically the trip was winding down. After a light lunch, they arrived at Heathrow Airport at 12:30, for their 2:00 departure. Angel was waiting in the ticket terminal with a manila envelope in hand. He left the group to go see her.

“Good to see you one last time before you leave, Travis! Here is Father’s contract. Inside you will find a self addressed envelope with which to return the signed contract. Or if you are not pleased with the contract, there is an e-mail, and phone number you may use to contact us directly, to negotiate possible changes. It is my hope that you will come on board with Jester Books, because I think we can sell tons of books for you!”

“Are you done with the obligatory sales pitch?”

“Yes I am. I also hope you sign with us, because on a personal level, I would like to see you, and work with you again. You will find the number to reach me as well in the envelope. Please feel free to call me. I find you a very stimulating man.”

“Is that so?”

“And I think we had a five pound bet, did we not?”

“Yes we did.”

“Then it is time to settle up.”

As the deafening roar of departing 747 drowned out all conversation, a five pound note changed hands. As the roar faded, she moved closer, to be sure he could hear her.

“I would like nothing better than to leave you with a hug and a kiss, but I see that your mother and son are watching, so I will politely shake your hand. Good-bye!”

“Good-bye Angel. There is a chance I may be back to London. If I do, I will give you a call.”

“Please do that.” She turned and walked away without looking back, and Travis returned to his group. As he approached, his mom asked, “Is that the contract?”

“Yes, fresh from the desk of Aaron Bagley!”

“Well, are you going to open it up, so we can see it?”

“No time right now. I may open it on the plane. Or I might wait until I get home to open it, just to keep you in suspense.”

*     *     *

Saturday morning, as Travis was on the plane, headed home, Miranda was dressed in black for the 10:00 funeral for Lennie. He was to be buried beside his parents in Tuscaloosa.

The funeral home brought Lennie’s plain casket to the grave site, where orange clad Tuscaloosa County work-release prisoners were waiting to shovel the dirt back in on the grave they had just dug. They were also used to carry Lennie’s casket to the grave. She couldn’t imagine a rougher looking crew of pall-bearers. Nor could she imagine a less dignified way to bury someone, than what she was seeing, but it would soon be over. It broke her heart that she was literally the
only
person there to pay respects to Lennie, except for the elderly pastor who was conducting the ceremony. No family, no friends, just her, the pastor, and a half dozen prisoners waiting to close the grave, watched over by a county deputy with a shotgun.

As the pastor spoke his words over the casket, she wondered just what kind of friend she had really been to Lennie. Deep down, she had to admit that she was more
relieved
that he was dead, than grieving his loss, because with his death, a lot of her worries melted away. From her selfish perspective of life, Lennie’s death was perfectly timed, and so convenient, that if anyone had known the details, they might conclude that she had actually killed Lennie herself.

And in a sense, she felt that she had.

True, he had been dying anyway, because she heard the doctor say so. And it was true that Lennie
wanted
to help her out. But it was wrong of her to take advantage of such a simple-minded man the way she had. She had made
him
feel selfish, for not dying and helping her out. As she stood looking into his grave, she asked herself,
what
kind
of
a
monster
am
I?

When the brief ceremony was over, the pastor walked over to her, took her hand, and said something that was meant to comfort her, but instead, it cut her to the bone.

“God bless you, child, for being Lennie’s only friend in life, and in death.”

As she left the cemetery, she looked about to see if she could see one of the police detectives that she was sure were tailing her, but she saw no one at all. A maintenance man was in the distance weed-eating, but that was the only human in sight.

She left Tuscaloosa and drove straight home to Kellerman, the small community that bore Lennie’s last name. She remembered Lennie telling her one time that his ancestors were the first people to settle this area, so that was why it was called Kellerman. Lennie was the last of the clan, and now he was gone.

She quickly changed out of her funeral clothes, into a yellow sun dress, and began making preparations for the pool party, that was to begin in 30 minutes. Janice and her kids would probably be here before then. She had invited her daughters from school in Atlanta, but she knew they would probably not be there. She had earlier sent out invitations to four families that lived on Kellerman Road, as well as to the Rosewoods next door. She had done that just for appearances, to pretend that she was just a regular neighbor, like everyone else.

She had to pretend that she did not know that Mrs. Rosewood was in Europe, or that Mr. Rosewood was not at home. No one would know it, but the Judge would definitely be at the party, though Miranda hoped he would not make himself seen, as he did the day before. The pool party was an opportunity to make things appear to be normal in her world, when she knew they were not.

She was surprised when her neighbors actually began showing up. The Smith’, from three drives down. The Culpeppers, and the McMeads, and of course all their kids. There were twenty people there before Janice arrived with Rebecca and the boys.

She was glad that she invited everyone, because it was the first time she had actually met any of her neighbors (except for Lennie and Leon, and they were both dead. One could look at this another way. It was probably just coincidence, but every Kellerman resident who had so far befriended Miranda, had ended up dead. Had these neighbors realized that, they might have been leery about responding to her invitation.) Miranda was pleasantly surprised to see that they were all likeable people, and were grateful for the invitation.