Stilettos & Scoundrels (23 page)

“After you left for Chicago
,
both of us were aimless with no goals to speak of,
” Dirt began.
“We s
pen
t
our days drinking and playing
video games, e
ngaged in a life of petty crime, underage drinking, and cow-tipping, joy-riding type stuff.
A
t the time, we thought we were hot shit. Now it is somewhat embarrassing when I think about it. One day, after a few beers, we got the bright idea to join the Army. We had watched the movie
Full Metal Jacket
for the umpteenth time and felt we were tougher than those guys
.
O
f course, we were not in our right mind. Somehow,
we
felt it would be a piece of cake
,
and we would even get paid for it. Life couldn’t get any better.”

“It was probably the best thing for the both of you,”
I
interrupted. “You both were always smart, just more interested in fun than anything else.”

“Oh, I don’t disagree with you there. I know now
that
joining the military was the best thing for us. However, we found out very quickly that life in the military was not
Full Metal Jacket
. We definitely weren’t tough enough to handle it
,
and we needed that knowledge. It brought us both back to reality.” He paused for a minute.
He needed to choose his words carefully.

It was clear to us that this was a
difficult
story
for
Dirt
to tell
.
For a moment,
we weren’t
sure if he was going to continue.
We all exchanged glances, and then Dirt continued.

“Once we woke up to the reality of our situation and made peace with it, which admittedly took a lot of time, we found
that military
life suited us. We got the chance to do the macho bullshit we liked to do. During off
-
duty times
,
we drank and partied with the guys. And got paid,” he smiled at the memory.

“Ok
ay
, Dirt. Not really seeing the problem here. It looks as if you were both having fun.”

“We were. Until
Cooper
ruined it,” he replied bitterly. “I had started to think I wanted a career in the military, but
Cooper
didn’t take it as seriously as I did. He got in
to
trouble and dragged me down with him. I can’t forgive him for that. He ruined my future.”

“You were both young. I’m sure he didn’t intentionally ruin your career. That sounds a little dramatic
,
Dirt,”
I
said. “Besides, you seem to be doing pretty good for yourself right now.”

“We might have been young, but we were old enough to know right from wrong. Yeah, we did some petty shit when we were in high school. Like taking my grandma’s car and joy riding or selling a little pot. Thinking we were big, bad drug dealers. We knew it was wrong but thought it was cool and didn’t think we had anything to lose. When the stakes were higher,
Cooper
should have known what the right decision was. He chose the wrong one.”

“What did he do that was so bad you can’t forgive him?”

“He started selling pot on base and got caught. He denied it and they didn’t have enough proof to charge him for it. He got reassigned to a lowly position at a different base and served his time until he could get out.”

“And this affected you how? So
unds like he got his punishment” I said.

“If he denied it, why do you think he did it?” Katy asked.

“All the evidence pointed to him. To make matters worse, he wouldn’t help with the investigation. If he wasn’t doing it, he certainly knew who was and wouldn’t give him up,” Dirt replied. “That makes him guilty either way.”

Dirt paused while the server too
k his order. It gave me
a moment t
o digest what he was telling us. I
understood how he was hurt by
Cooper
’s actions
,
but it was so long ago, why the continued extreme hostility? Dirt was still carrying a big grudge.

“I still don’t understand how this affected you.”

“We were best friends.
So
, of course
,
people thought I was involved. Most people who thought he was innocent and just covering up for someone thought that someone might be me. I was guilty by association.”

“That’s hardly his fault, Dirt.”

“If he wasn’t selling drugs
,
he could have come clean about who was. He could have told me if he was guilty. Of course, I would have still been mad, but he owed me the truth. He didn’t have to let people think it was me,” Dirt said angrily. “If he had been a true friend that’s what he would have done. But, instead, he just didn’t say anything.”

“Did you ask him? Give him a chance to tell his side of the story?” Katy asked.

“Of course I did. I asked him
,
no, I begged him
,
to come clean about selling the drugs. I would support him as a friend, but he had to tell the truth about what he was doing or if he really wasn’t the one
,
who was. He had to clear my name and his. But he didn’t,” Dirt spit out. “He told me it wasn’t him, but refused to name anyone. So I just figured he was guilty and just too ashamed to admit it to me.”

“You couldn’t give him the benefit of the doubt?
He’d been your friend for how long and you couldn’t believe
that
he was innocent?”

“Get off my back, Presley
;
you weren’t there. If he was innocent
,
then why couldn’t he tell me who the guilty party was?
” Dirt practically yelled at me
, fists clenched, knuckles white. “If he had just told me that, there would have never been an issue. Either with our reputations or him getting in trouble.”

“Don’t you think that
,
as his best friend
,
you could have
just
taken his word for it? Maybe believed he had a good reason to not tell you, or anyone else, who was involved?
You’re the one who was a bad friend, Dirt. Not
Koop
. A true friend would stand by your
side no matter what.” While I
meant every word
I
said, by the look on Dirt’s face
I
thought in hindsight
I
should have been more tactful. Especially since Dirt was already having a not-so-great day.
Idiot
,
I
thought,
probably shouldn’t have brought this up in the first place
. “I’m sorry
,
Dirt,”
I
said, reaching out to touch his hand gently. “I kind of got caught up in the moment and carried away with wanting to know. I shouldn’t have brought this up
,
and I didn’t mean to be so blunt. However, you know I’m right. You always trusted Koop before. Why not this time? Do you really think he would have ever done anything to hurt you?”

“Presley, you haven’t even been around in years. What do you know about anyone?”

“Maybe not, but I know what he was like back in high school and this was soon after. People don’t change the fundamental core of who they are that much.”

“Presley, you had one night with him. Don’t act like you know everything
there is to know
about
Cooper
Sands.”
I
stared at Dirt, shocked that he had said that.
I
didn’t realize
Cooper
ever told anyone.
I
just assumed he never said anything.

Before I
could say anything else, the server brought Dirt’s food wrapped up to go.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. What’s done is done. I’ve got a murder to solve.” He stood up to leave. “I don’t need to deal with this bullshit. Thanks, Pres
.
I
t’s just what I didn’t need.”

“Dirt, I’m sorry. Really
,
I am. Please stay. Let’s talk about this.”

“Just drop it
,
Pres. I’ll catch up with you later.” He started walking out of the diner.

“Hey, Dirt! Wait!”
I
wanted to mention what Brian had told
me
about the Senator stopping by.
I
didn’t want to keep everything from him and felt a little guilty bringing up the
Cooper
situation and wanted to do something helpful. He turned back around and looked at
me
, raising one eyebrow as if to ask
what
. Rather,
what the hell
, and looked at
me
expectantly.

“I just wanted to tell you that Brian said he thought the Senator might be depressed. Do you think this could be suicide?”

“No,” he said shortly. “It’s definitely murder.
People don’t usually commit suicide by stabbing themselves.
” Then he continued on his way out.

“Dirt, wait…”
I
called, but he didn’t loo
k back. He either didn't hear me
or was ign
oring me
. Probably the latter.
I knew I
had
pissed him off
, but at least I
knew to rule out suicide. Not that
I
wanted him murdered
,
but before
I
could make it into a good story,
I
had to figure out who killed him and that might not be easy. It’s not as if
I
had any experience with this.

There was s
o much going on
here
.
I
never would have expected all this when
I
came home
—t
he Senator being murder
e
d
or
this thing between Dirt and
Cooper
, which was another mystery in itself, albeit not nearly as pressing as the murder.
I also wondered
why
my
dad lied about where he
had been
last night.

“Why didn’t you tell me about what Brian said?” Katy asked as she watched Dirt leave.

“I didn’t have time before Dirt showed up
.
I didn’t figure the Senator really committed suicide. He was probably having a bad day when he was at Brian’s. Happens to all of us
.
”
She
shrugged. “What do you think about the drama between Dirt and
Cooper
? Did you know any of this?”

“That’s not really what I expected
.
I had heard something had happened between them
,
but I guess you never know. I figured they had just grown apart
,
and
I
didn’t think much of it.”

“I’m surprised too.”

“It’s a shame. Obviously, it still bothers Dirt.
“
And
,” added Katy,
“
by the way
Cooper
acted last night
,
I think it still bothers him too
.
I feel like we should do something.” That was Katy, the fixer
: w
anting everyone to get along and be happy.

“Me too, but I don’t know what,”
I
said thoughtfully. “After all this time
,
maybe we should just leave it alone.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell him about Helen,” Katy changed the subject.

“I can’t believe that you started to. I told you that I wasn’t ready to say anything yet. I counted on you to keep my secret. Luckily I distracted him.”

“I still think you should have told him. You are going to be in a lot of trouble when Dirt finds out.”

“I told you, don’t worry about that. All in good time.”
My
phone rang. Looking at it,
I saw it was my
parents
’
nu
mber. “My mother, I’m sure,” I
said to Katy. “Hello
,
M
other
,” I
barely got out
before my mom
i
mmediately started badgering me about where I
had been and what I
was doing. “Ok
ay
, ok
ay.” I
looked at Katy
and
hung
up.