The Atonement (37 page)

“Look, the cops are still investigating what
happened in the warehouse, and I don’t want to get locked up over
somethin’ I didn’t do.”

“They have to have evidence to lock you up,
Jimmy. So far, so good, no one’s come knockin’ ‘round here lookin’
for you. And even if they wanted to take you, running down south
wouldn’t do any good, they could send the hunters to take you back
north.”

“Thanks, Rye. That really makes me feel good
right now.”

“Listen, Jim. You don’t have to tell me
what’s going on, but it’s going to be found out. Going down south
isn’t going to make whatever it is go away. Like I said, if you
want to come, you’re welcome, but I’m tellin’ you, you better deal
with your business now before it gets too big to handle.”

Jim wanted to tell Riley that it already
was.

Thirty-Four

Allyson was standing in front of the walk-in
closet in her room, trying to decide on what she was going to wear
to her surprise birthday dinner with Jason. She had already bought
what she thought would be an extraordinary dress to wear for the
occasion; one that would make Jason pant with desire. But after
receiving the dress in the mail and trying it on, she realized that
it did not live up to her expectations and she planned on returning
it. Allyson could not fathom going anywhere unless she looked
absolutely perfect. She had a lot of body flaws like the hips that
protruded in an unsightly manner from the back and what she
considered to be her thick thighs. In fact, she never really liked
how she looked, considering herself very plain and boring. As such,
it was important that everything she wore masked her flaws and
accentuated her positive features. Allyson tried to create outfits
that would transform her from her plain self into the goddess she
wanted to be. She would fantasize about the reactions she would
evoke when people saw her: desire, jealousy, respect, fear. Having
the right clothes meant people would see her and know that she
mattered. That’s what her mother always said. But as Allyson
perused through the rows of dresses, they all seemed to be
inadequate, even the ones with the price tags still on them.

She needed something that would make her look
spectacular; something that would make Jason appreciate what he
had. Allyson had to hurry because she didn’t have much time left.
After a tortured deliberation, she finally decided on the
sleeveless magenta drop front dress, a gold belt, gold stilettos, a
gold necklace with amethyst pendant, matching bangles, and her gold
metallic patent leather clutch. She meticulously gathered each
piece of the outfit and laid it out. The last thing she needed but
couldn’t find, were the bangles.

Allyson raced around her room trying to find
her gold bangles. The last time she wore them was three days ago
and she had put them back in her costume jewelry case that was
sitting on the bureau. She hoped Courtney hadn’t snuck in while she
was at class and borrowed them, as was her habit with regard to
Allyson’s costume pieces. Allyson needed them because they were
necessary to make her outfit pop. She wanted her outfit to be like
the night she’d planned: perfect. After all it was a special day
for her, even if no one else seemed to know or care.

The day was more than half-over and she
hadn’t received a genuine birthday wish from anyone, not even her
mother. She tried not to dwell on this fact as she continued to
search for the bangles. “So no one cares. That’s nothing new, Ally.
Get over it,” she said to herself, “Just stay focused on your goal
for tonight: securing Jason’s interest.” She finally found what she
was looking for in the nightstand drawer. Now she was certain
Courtney had borrowed them because when ever she returned things
she almost never put them back where they belonged. After putting
them on, Allyson got out her clutch and began to fill it with the
contents of her day purse. She was about to put her phone inside
when it rang suddenly.

“Hello, mother.”

“Hello, darling. Happy Birthday.”

“Thank you, mom.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I just ordered two
exclusives for you from the house of Sealden. They should reach you
by tomorrow morning. I apologize for the belated gift, but they
were inflexible about the release date of the new arrivals.”

“No worries. If it’s from Sealden it’s worth
it.”

“Do you have any plans for tonight?”

“I’m almost on my way out the door to meet
Jason for dinner. He thinks he’s surprising me.”

“Sounds wonderful, but before you go, I’d
like a status update on your mission.”

“Oh.”

“Tell me what you have managed to glean from
your last contact?”

“I volunteered at some kind of community
dinner drive, and I got a chance to eat dinner at the Pastor’s
house this time.”

“Excellent! What did you learn?”

“I’m sorry to disappoint, you mother, but
this is not one of those scam churches like you see on cable TV.
It’s just your standard church. Nothing shady about it.”

“I find that very hard to believe.”

“His sermons don’t have an angle as far as I
can see. I didn’t hear anything about money or prosperity, no pop
psychology stuff, no weird rituals. It was just your standard
communion service with a message about trusting God.”

“But what did you observe about the larger
operation, and the guru.”

“The church hasn’t even been around that
long. I mean they have a couple of ramshackle sister churches, but
it’s nothing like a mega church. They don’t own a lot of property,
just one catering hall across the street that they use for events,
which was where I was serving the dinners. They also have two
church vans that they use for transporting senior citizens to and
from the church. Then Mrs. Sharpe told me they have programs like
any other church for helping lazy poor people who don’t want to
work. One of their missions is feeding the hungry, so they host
community dinners and are trying to raise money to maintain a food
pantry.”

“But what about the guru?”

“He’s not your typical guru at all. He’s as
poor as some of his members.”

“You must be joking.”

“No, I’m not. There’s no entourage, no
mansion, no Rolls Royce. He lives in a raggedy brownstone not far
from Allen, drives a Honda, and buys clothes from places like JC
Penny. He only has the one daughter and she went to the local
public school with Allen. Hardly the portrait of luxury and
extravagance.”

“He may not have a lot of money now, but I
bet he’s planning on coming into a fortune by using Tim.”

“I haven’t seen any indication of that. Like
I said, I’ve never heard him make an appeal for money.”

“Not publicly. Believe me, my dear, these
people have all sorts of tactics to get money. And what about the
girl?”

“They’re just friends as far as I can
see.”

“I just don’t understand why he would want to
be around those people, then.”

“Could it be because they’re actually nice
people? I mean they seem to like having him around.”

“Oh, please – everyone wants something. I
don’t know Allyson. I still think we’re just skimming the surface
of this thing. You’re going to have to do more than go to church
and to dinners. You need to infiltrate Tim’s inner circle of
friends. Go out with them when the Pastor’s not around and see what
happens.”

“Tim’s never invited me to their
get-togethers.”

“Find a way to get invited, Allyson. This is
important!”

“Look, mom, it’s getting late and I have to
go.”

“Fine, but I want you to forget about the
church for a moment and try to get closer to Tim. I think that’s
where we’re going to find a lot of answers.”

“Will do,” sighed Allyson.

“Call me when you have, and we’ll do lunch.
Bye darling.”

“Bye, mother.”

“Who cares about Tim,” thought Allyson as she
finished fixing her purse and headed for the door. “Today is my day
and the only thing I’m going to worry about is making my life what
I want it to be. Starting with Jason.”

Allyson walked out to the living room and saw
Monica, and Courtney sitting in front of the TV watching some
reality show. They looked up when they saw Allyson approach
them.

“Faaan-cy,” said Courtney “Jason’s going to
be drooling like a saint bernard when he sees you in that.”

“Agreed. You look really hot. Are you guys
doing a public event?” said Monica.

“No, it’s my birthday. Jason’s surprising
me,” said Allyson.

“Oh! Happy Birthday, Ally,” said Monica.

“Yes, Happy Birthday,” said Courtney.

“Thank you,” said Allyson.

“
You’re the big 2-0, now
right?” asked Monica.

“Yes, and I’m planning on starting the best
decade of life with renewed passion,” said Allyson.

“Look out Jason. Do you know where he’s
taking you?” asked Monica.

“We’re going to Menagerie, but I don’t think
that’s the real surprise,” said Allyson.

“Ooooh. You expecting heavy metal?” said
Monica continuing her interrogation. Allyson knew it was because
she was extremely nosy and a big gossip.

“I don’t know what to expect, and though I
would love to sit and speculate with you, I have to be going. I
don’t want to be late,” said Allyson grabbing her coat from the
closet.

Just then Trish walked in dressed in workout
clothes and carrying a duffle bag over her shoulder.

“Hey, Trish. Guess what? It’s Ally’s
birthday,” said Monica.

“Oh, really? How nice,” said Trish as she
dropped her bag on the floor next to the couch and headed toward
the kitchen. “Are you going out with your family to celebrate?”

“No, I’m going out with Jason,” said
Allyson.

“Really?” asked Trish.

“Duh! She told us that yesterday, weren’t you
listening?” said Monica.

“But I thought I just saw…never mind” said
Trish, her mouth curling into a sinister smile as she gave Allyson
a knowing look. “Have a good time.”

“I will,” said Allyson returning the look.
There was no way she was going to allow Trish to play head games
with her. Allyson was certain that she only wanted to instigate a
break up so she could swoop in and get Jason for herself. Whatever
Jason’s surprise was tonight, Allyson was going to be sure to rub
it in Trish’s face in the morning.

*****

Allyson shifted restlessly in her seat and
crossed her legs, her top leg shaking back and forth. She took a
sip of the complimentary water that was on the table and looked
impatiently towards the entrance of the restaurant before checking
her phone. She had sent a text a couple of minutes ago and looked
to see if she’d gotten a response, but there was still none. It was
now 7:30 and Jason was a half-hour late to her birthday dinner.
Allyson knew he was busy and that sometimes he got caught up with
his work for the magazine or school, but she couldn’t help but
wonder how he could leave her waiting on today of all days? She
decided to call him to see what was going on.

Allyson took out her phone and dialed his
number, but the call went to his voicemail so she left a
message:

“Jason, it’s Allyson. I thought we were
meeting for dinner tonight at Menagerie, but obviously you’re not
here. Care to let me know what’s up? Bye.”

When she hung up, she put her phone back in
her purse and ran her hands through her hair before using them to
cover her face. “Some birthday dinner this has turned out to be,”
she thought. She was about to get ready to leave when she heard the
phone in her purse ringing.

Allyson rushed to answer it.

“Where the hell are you? It’s 7:40.”

“Calm down, Ally. We had an emergency meeting
at the magazine. I wanted to call you, but I couldn’t get out.”

“So what am I supposed to do now?”

“How about I make it up to you next week.
I’ll come over Tuesday.”

“Next week?! Why can’t we see each other
tonight? It’s not like it’s that late.”

“I’m all the way downtown and there’s a lot
of traffic out here. By the time I get over there it’ll be well
past 8:00. Besides, it’s the middle of the week. I have to get up
early tomorrow.”

“You mean you’re telling me you can’t even
spare five minutes to see me on today of all days?”

“What’s so special about today?”

“I can’t believe you’re asking me that.”

“What the hell does that supposed to mean? I
don’t have time for the games, Allyson.”

“Of course. You don’t have much time for
anything or anyone, so I won’t keep you. But before I go, I just
want to thank you for making this the best birthday I’ve ever
had.”

“Your birthday? Allyson, I’m …”

Allyson hung up and put her phone back in her
purse, put on her coat and bolted toward the doors of the
restaurant. After leaving, she headed for the elevator bank and
frantically pushed the buttons on the wall. Allyson just wanted to
get away. She didn’t know where she would go, but it had to be
somewhere far away: away from what she was feeling right now.

She paced up and down as she waited for the
elevator. Her face felt hot and she could feel the pressure from
the tear ducts in her eyes. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare cry,”
she chastised herself as she struggled to maintain her composure.
“This is no time for cracking up. Jason’s played his hand and you
have to think about what your next move is going to be.” However,
Allyson was getting tired of the chess game this relationship had
become and she considered whether or not it was worth saving. After
reflecting on Trish’s cryptic words earlier, it didn’t seem so. But
if she gave him up, what would she have? The last thing Allyson
wanted to do was to hand victory over to Trish. Allyson was getting
tired of it all: of feeling as if she was constantly at war with
everyone in her life, and having to constantly try to figure out
ways to outwit them and defend herself. She only wanted to be loved
and cared for, the way she had been so many years ago, but the
notion seemed so foolishly idealistic.