Day of Atonement (6 page)

“Oh, shoot! What time is it?”

“A quarter after ten.”

“I need to get going.”

He'd suddenly lost all the silly bones in his body, like he remembered what he was really in Houston to do. Troy transitioned from a man joking with his wife to a cop ready to protect and serve. Natalie observed him as he hurried to get clothes from the suitcase and other items he needed to shower and dress. He was quiet. Intense. Focused.

She was about to call Aneetra when he left the room, but there was a knock on the door. “Come in.”

“Hey, Tracy and Al left and Reed is headed over to his parents' house to clean. Do you want to come with me to take the kids to Discovery Green?”

“What's that?”

Diane explained that it was an attraction in downtown Houston where various events were held throughout the year. According to her, the most current attraction was ice skating, or The Ice at Discovery Green, as it was officially called. “It's a special event they have every winter. I've never been, but I heard it's nice. You comin' or stayin' here?”

“Sure, why not?” Natalie feared Troy would have a fit if she stayed behind. “Will you send Nate in here so I can get him ready?”

“Okay.” Diane was nearly out the door when Natalie called her name. “Yes.”

“For the record, Troy and I were not doing anything this morning,” she felt compelled to say.

Diane grinned. “Girl, what you and your husband do behind closed doors ain't nobody's business. I know you ain't got a belly full of babies by doing
nothin'.
” Diane left and Natalie was glad that she hadn't tried to explain herself when they were at the table as Diane's response would have only made the situation even more embarrassing.

Figuring she had a few minutes to herself, she was about to call Aneetra back, but before she could connect, Nate came running into the room.

T
roy tried calling Elvin to let him know he was running late. No answer. It was nearly 11:30 when Troy pulled up to Lilly's house. He hopped out the car and knocked twice on the door before instinctively walking in.

“I'm sorry,” he said to Lilly who was walking toward the front. “Old habits die hard.”

“Troy! It's so good to see you.” She moved even quicker and gave him a long hug. “You should know better than to apologize. My door is always open for you.”

“Yes, ma'am.” To Troy's knowledge, Lilly never locked her front door again after Elana went missing. She said that she wanted Elana to be able to get in the house if she ever came back and no one was there. “I'm sorry I'm late. My mom sprung a family breakfast on us. Tracy and her kids came over.” He conveniently left out Al who wasn't important as far as he was concerned.

“It's not a problem. Elvin's upstairs on the phone with the investigator. He should be down any second. Have a seat.”

Lilly's living room had a familiar, yet strange feel to it. Thank God that she had gotten rid of that ugly green carpet. The room now had hardwood floors, but things were pretty much as he remembered in terms of the way the furniture was placed. The consistency, he was sure, was for Elana's sake.

“I was hoping you would bring Natalie and your son. I still
can't believe y'all have been married all this time and I have not met her. I know this isn't the first time she's been to Houston.” Lilly gave him a playfully scolding look.

“She really hasn't been here that much. She was here once before we were married, then a few months after Nate was born. She also came for Mama's sixtieth birthday, last Christmas, and now this year.”

“Um hmm. Don't try and give me excuses as to why I have yet to meet this lovely lady. She must be something special because, if I remember correctly, you said you never wanted to get married.”

“You're right. I did say that and she is something special. You'll see her and Nate Monday at the service. Is it okay if my mom and Tracy come as well?”

“Of course it is! You don't have to ask. I feel bad because I've been meaning to call Diane, but I have had so much on my mind.”

“Don't worry. She understands. How are you doing?”

“I'm okay.” Lilly had been a very attractive woman in her prime. She had aged much more than only thirty years since Elana had been gone. Her hair, now straight, was completely gray. Her once vibrant high cheek bones like Elvin's did not sit as perky, and her eyes held a sadness that could not be hidden by her smile. It was a sorrow that Troy hoped to never know. “Sometimes I get angry that she's been alive all this time without my knowing. Then other times I'm relieved to finally have some sort of closure. I hope my baby did not suffer too much. I—”

“Troy, my favorite detective of all time. What's up, man?” Elvin came down the stairs and the two of them hugged.

“Sorry I'm late.”

“It's cool. We're all running a little behind. Thanks for coming.”

“No problem.”

“So, Mama, what do you think? Which one of us is more handsome? Kid,” El pointed to himself, “or Play.” He pointed to Troy.

Lilly looked as confused this time as she did in the late eighties when Elvin would ask that question. She never did catch on to the fact that Kid 'n Play was a rap duo back in the day. Troy and Elvin got that nickname from their peers because Kid was the really light-skinned rapper and Play was the dark-skinned one. “I should have known that having Troy around would bring out the craziness in you. What was the investigator saying?”

“He wanted to confirm that we're still coming by his office after we leave the funeral home. I told him Troy is here, so he's anxious to get his account of things. Oh, Bill called and said that he may be a little late getting there, but he's on his way.”

“Okay. Jeff's already there. Are Nikki and the boys ready?”

“Yep. They should be coming down in a sec. We won't all fit into one vehicle; would you mind driving? Nik and the boys can ride with you and I'll ride with Troy. Or if you don't want to drive, you can ride with Troy.” Elvin looked at him for approval.

“Hey, I'm cool with whatever works best for y'all.”

“No. I'll drive. I'm sure you boys can use this time together. Let me grab my purse and my hair from upstairs and we can get going.”

“Will you send Josh and Caleb down and tell Nicole to hurry up and quit fooling with her hair. She's paranoid about the bald spot in her head, but no one can see it unless she points it out. Maybe you should let her borrow one of your wigs.”

“I will tell her you want her, but I will not say anything to her about her hair. I know better than to touch that subject.”

“Nikki foolishly mixed two chemicals of some kind and put it in her hair. Now she has a bald spot smack dab in the middle of her scalp,” Elvin explained to Troy.

“And she would hurt you if she knew you were telling people,” added Lilly on her way up the stairs.

“It's a good thing she won't find out, huh?” Elvin waited until Lilly was out of sight and turned to Troy. His playful demeanor was now serious. “Hey, man, the investigator got a hold of Elana's autopsy report. There were tiny red fibers found on her body.” They both looked up as they heard what sounded like a stampede coming down the stairs. “Stop running!” Elvin yelled at his boys.

“Wow! Y'all have gotten big since the last time I saw you.” Troy reached out for both of them. Elvin's entire family came in various shades of high yellow. Caleb seemed to be the darkest skinned member of the Campbell family and he was still lighter than Natalie! “Man, what are you feeding these boys. I don't remember us being this tall when we were their ages. How old are y'all now?” Josh answered eleven; Caleb fourteen. Troy engaged them in a little conversation about basketball since he knew both boys played. Caleb, a center, had a stockier build than his slender brother who was a point guard. Basketball was a sport that Elvin and Troy both had a great love for and it was also in the DNA of El's sons. Hopefully it would be in Nate's as well.

Lilly beat Nikki downstairs claiming that Nicole said she'd be ready in five minutes. Troy hoped his face did not display his shock at Lilly's appearance. She had gone from having straight, gray hair to being a curly platinum blonde.
Not a good look,
he thought as they waited at least ten more minutes before Elvin went to get Nikki.

A
s far as Troy was aware, most families had viewings in the evenings and funerals in the afternoon the next day. El and Lilly had done things differently. Elana's wake was that afternoon and the actual service wouldn't be until the day after tomorrow in the evening. The family decided that a Christmas Eve service would be better than a Sunday service for some reason. Who was Troy to question this? They had waited a long time to find Elana and deserved to do as they very well pleased.

Seeing Elana in the casket as an adult was a little shocking at first. Though Elvin had certainly prepared him, Troy still had the last image of her as a little girl with ponytails in his mind. Overall, her body had been preserved well, considering the amount of time that had passed since she had first been discovered. Troy knew from his occupation that morgues did not like to freeze bodies for extended periods of time. But, Elana's case was unusual, and unusual cases often required special needs such as extra preservation time.

Though others stood behind him waiting, Troy took his time staring at Elana. What kind of life had she led for the last three decades? He wished he could ask her why she did not come home as an adult. Perhaps this was a case of
Stockholm Syndrome.
If Elana had been with her abductor all this time, it is possible that she
developed this psychological condition in which victims begin to feel sympathy and empathize with their captors. “I'm sorry,” he whispered, placing his hand on hers. She felt clammy. She looked peaceful. He felt all the emotions about things that happened during their last interaction together without producing the tears. If only he could relive that day, he would make sure that he and Elvin treated her fairly as they played the Atari. He would have even played
Soul Train
with her. If he had known how that day would play out, he would have done almost anything Elana wanted to prevent from contributing to Lilly's heartbreak.

There were a lot of people who came and Troy, unsurprisingly, knew many of Elvin's relatives. He'd spent so much time with Elvin's family, from the moment he and Elvin first became friends in third grade, until they both graduated and left for college in Ohio. Many of the people whom Troy did not know had married into the family or were friends of El's and Lilly's. Troy was most surprised to see Elana's childhood friend, Salome. She and her mother had moved from the neighborhood shortly after Elana disappeared. In fact, several families moved within a year. Elana's kidnapping had spooked them all.

Salome looked exactly the same as she did as a child—dark skin, similar to Troy's complexion, and eyes that slanted upward like her mother's had done, hinting at some kind of Asian ancestry in their family. Her afro-styled hair was neatly held in place by a decorative headband that matched her form-fitting outfit. Definitely not the body of the flat-chested eight-year-old he remembered. She'd filled out in all the right places and was letting the world know. He didn't understand why she'd wanted to draw attention to her nose with a ring. It stood out enough on its own.

Salome recognized him, too. Her face lit up when she saw him
and Troy wasn't quite sure what to make of her reaction. He remembered the many not-so-nice things his mother and Lilly had said about her and wondered if Salome's smile was a little too friendly for the occasion. “You're Troy, right?”

“Yes,” he answered cautiously, bringing his left hand to his chin as a subtle way of making sure she saw his ring in case she had any ideas.

“Hi, you might not remember me, I'm Salome. I used to live around the corner from Elvin and Elana.”

“I remember.”

Salome began sharing with him her thoughts about Elana's case and how she'd hoped the family could finally get answers. She'd even pulled down the top of her dress to show Troy a tattoo she'd gotten when she'd turned eighteen to match Elana's birthmark. “I did it as a tribute to her. She was the only real friend I had back then.”

The gesture seemed a little creepy to Troy, but to each his own.

“When I saw Elana's story on the news, I was both hurt and relieved. It has killed me not knowing what happened to her. I can only imagine how Miss Lilly and Elvin feel. This is so sad.” They talked for a few more minutes, filling in the blanks of some details that had taken place in each of their lives over the last thirty years. Her mom died when she was a teen, and for the most part, she lived with her grandmother. She was currently single, no children, and practiced law. If she wore outfits to court like the one she currently had on, Troy bet she could win over a predominantly male jury every time. He, of course, mentioned being
happily
married with one child and two more on the way. “Good for you. I'm glad to hear that you're doing well.”

Troy could not help but to wonder about the things his mother
would say if she knew that he was conversing with the daughter of one of his father's ex “whores,” as she would call them, especially considering how friendly Salome was being to him. “Like mother, like daughter,” he could hear his mom say. Troy thought that maybe he should warn her about the possibility of seeing Salome Monday at the service until Salome mentioned that she would not be able to make it. “I'm driving to Dallas as soon as this is over to spend Christmas with my cousins. I don't have family to celebrate with around here since my mom and my grandmother have both passed away and my relationship with my father is strained right now. He's married and has other children. I don't quite fit into his perfect family.”