Wrong Town: A Mark Landry Novel (9 page)

Twenty-three

Luci entered the playground, closed the chain link fence behind her, and smiled at the chorus of greetings.

“Luci! Luci’s here!”

Half a dozen kids almost bowled her over as they gathered around, all vying for her attention.

“
Hola, amiguitos,”
she said before a round of hugs, kisses, and high-fives.

On the other side of the playground, a mother quietly extinguished her cigarette and stomped the butt into the sand with a sandaled foot. A young man casually drained the remaining contents from a can covered by a paper bag and tossed it into the garbage barrel. Several teenage girls left without saying a word.

Luci surveyed the scene, smiled widely, and gave a casual all-inclusive wave to the remaining adults. Most waved or nodded back; several simply looked away with blank expressions. Walking slowly into the middle of the playground with a gaggle of children in tow, she laughed and continued scanning the area.

Where are you, Julia?

As each kid received their precious moment of Luci’s attention, the group of children dwindled to just two: a little girl who hadn’t said a word or let go of Luci’s hand since she arrived, and a little boy attached to her leg like a Koala bear. He held on tight and giggled as Luci limped slowly around the park.

An old woman spoke softly from her perch on a graffiti-filled bench as the trio passed by.

“
Ella no está aqua, mija
.”
She’s not here.

Luci stopped, looked down, and rubbed the little boy’s head.

“
Dónde
?”
Where?
she asked the woman without looking at her.

“
No sé, posiblemente cerca del andén del tren con los otros niños
.”
I don’t know, maybe down by the train tracks with the other kids
.

Luci reached down, scooped up the little boy, and repositioned him on her hip.

Gracias, Doña.

Twenty-four

Mark finished drying off and tossed the towel into the hamper in the corner of his room. He put on shorts and a t-shirt, retrieved his 9mm from the nightstand, and returned it to his waistband before sitting down comfortably in an old upholstered armchair positioned in the corner of the room.

With his back straight, feet flat on the floor, and hands resting gently on the armrests, Mark slowly inhaled through his nose until his lungs reached full capacity. Exhaling completely through his mouth, he closed his eyes and allowed his mind to drift. With each successive breath, his heart rate decelerated and the world around him started to dissolve …

“Stop thinking about your thoughts.”

“How do you not think about your thoughts? They’re thoughts—that’s what they do,” Mark replied sarcastically.

“The key to meditation is to not struggle with your thoughts, Mark. Don’t try to fight them, just acknowledge them as they float in and out of your consciousness and continue to breathe deeply,” said Father Peck as he opened a small window, allowing the dense winter air to spill into the church “dungeon.”

Mark sat upright atop a soft pillow in the middle of the concrete floor. Sweat from the preceding two-hour workout ran down his head in all directions.

“Fine. But I’ve been trying this for a few weeks and can’t say it’s doing much for me. I’m good for two or three minutes, tops. After that I start to get bored and frustrated. Can we do something else, please? What are we anyway? Are we Buddhists now or something?”

“No, we’re just humans. And God has given this important gift to all of us, not just Buddhists. Close your eyes again, breathe, and let go completely.”

Mark rolled his eyes before clenching them shut. Father Peck stood directly behind his student and continued coaching.

“Breathe in deeply and hold it for a moment. Don’t force anything—just fill your lungs with air, then slowly let them deflate on their own. When you exhale through your mouth, expel all your inner angst, anxiety”—the priest paused to nudge his student between the shoulder blades with his knee—“and your sarcasm with it.”

Mark suppressed a smile. Father Peck spoke softly as he paced back and forth with his head down and his hands clasped comfortably behind his back.

“Breathe in and fill your lungs. Feel your chest gently expand. When you’re ready, exhale through your mouth and let go. Feel the floor underneath you dissolve as you lose touch with your physical body. Imagine you are floating on your back in an infinite sea of tranquility. A warm light shines from above. No fears. No worries—only peace and tranquility. You are surrounded by the love of your creator. Tell your muscles to relax and let go. And breathe …”

As his body started to relax, the tension in Mark’s face slowly began to erode and the soreness from his training soon dissipated.

“Thoughts will appear. They may be happy, sad, angry, or scary. Simply acknowledge them, but do not struggle with or judge them. Just let them swim by like colorful tropical fish as you float effortlessly and bask in the warm glow of God’s unconditional love. And breathe …”

When Mark opened his eyes, Father Peck was seated on the floor directly in front of him with his back against the wall and a stopwatch in his hand.

“Much better. How do you feel?”

“Pretty good, actually. Different. How long was that?”

“Forty-two minutes, Mark. Forty-two minutes.”

The silence was broken by the soft sound of wind chimes coming from the smartphone in Mark’s lap, indicating that his forty-two minutes of meditation had ended. He opened his eyes and rolled his neck from side to side for several seconds before slapping the armrests with his hands and pulling himself to his feet.

Time to get unpacked
.

Twenty-five

When things started to get loud and the boys became unruly, Julia looked at her two best friends and raised her eyebrows.

Want to leave?

They knew from experience that it was better to simply depart than to announce their intentions; doing so would just invite unwanted attention and the inevitable “oh, you’re too good to hang out with us” bullshit from the loudmouths in the crowd. So they slipped away quietly and followed the narrow, well-trodden footpath up the hill toward the main road. From there, it was only a five- to ten-minute walk back to the projects.

When they crested the hill and emerged from the woods, they waited several minutes for a break in the heavy traffic so they could cross the street. A voice from behind them called Julia’s name. She turned and saw Officer Luci Alvarez standing in the door of a small family-owned diner with a cup of coffee in her hand. She shook her head and muttered under her breath.

Man, what the fuck?

“Guys, I’ll catch up to you. I just remembered I gotta get some stuff for my grandmother at the pharmacy. Don’t wait. I’m in no rush to get home anyway.”

Her friends shrugged their shoulders and continued on while Julia turned around and made her way to the diner.

“Didn’t I tell you snitches get stitches around here?” she said as she slipped past Luci in the narrow doorway without making eye contact. Once inside, she took a seat, arms folded tightly, at a two-person table in the far corner, next to the rear exit.

Luci rolled her eyes at the comment.

This isn’t exactly the inner city, Julia.

She took a slow sip of her coffee and remained in the doorway for a moment. Then she walked back to Julia’s table.

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

“Honestly, are you trying to ruin my reputation or something?”

“Looks like you already got that covered if you’re hanging out down there. I asked if you were hungry. I’m starving,” Luci said, examining the menu.

“No.”

Luci slowly ran her index finger down the numbered items on the menu, stopping her bright red nail whenever an item caught her eye.

“It all sounds good to me right now.”

“Do I have to sit here all day watching you decide what to eat? I have a life, you know.”

“Nope,” answered Luci as she slid the menu to the end of the table and held up four fingers to the owner behind the counter in the kitchen.

“Number four?” he confirmed.

Luci nodded.

“So, what’s new? How’s everything going?” she asked.

“Everything’s fine. Can I go now?”

Luci cocked her head to the side and smiled.

“Seriously? You can talk that way to me if you want, Julia. But I don’t think I’ve ever been anything but courteous to you. If I’m wrong, I apologize. A girl deserves to be treated with respect, right?”

Julia averted her gaze for a moment before unfolding her arms and pressing her palms against the seat cushion at her sides.

“No, you haven’t. Don’t take it personally. I’ve been bitchy to everyone lately.”

“How come?”

“No idea.”

“How are things at home?”

“Home is fine. School sucks. Typical teenager stuff. Nothing to worry about and nothing I care to talk about. Again, don’t take it personally.”

Luci took the last sip of her coffee and smiled as an elderly waitress immediately appeared and refilled her cup.

“Okay. And I’m only going to say it once so don’t freak out on me, but you’re seventeen, soon to be eighteen. If you end up in the wrong place at the wrong time again, don’t expect any leniency.”

“From who? You?”

“Cops, prosecutors, the people in black robes
—
the system has little empathy and I don’t have any favors left to cash in. I’ll always be here for you if you need me, but you’re basically an adult now. Act accordingly.”

The waitress reappeared and gently placed Luci’s sandwich and fries on the table in front of her. Julia reached across the table and snatched one of the fries.

“School’s almost out
—
any summer plans? You’ll be a senior when you go back. How cool is that? Have you given any thought to what you might do after graduation? College, maybe?”

“I waited this long to get out of school
—
going right back in is the last thing on my mind. Besides, I can’t afford to even apply most places, and in case you haven’t noticed, my family doesn’t have the money to send me to BU.”

Luci took a bite of her sandwich and held a napkin over her mouth as she chewed. Over Julia’s shoulder, she saw a cruiser slowly drive by but didn’t pick up the driver or car number. She sipped from a plastic water bottle before replying, punctuating her words with a more serious tone.

“Neither could my family. But I knew that at an early age, so I worked my ass off and got a scholarship. That’s probably not an option for you right now, but there are other ways to make things happen.”

“Like what?”

“Go to community college and work your ass off. Get good grades and keep applying for scholarships. Get a job and start saving money. I’ll help you where I can, but these are decisions only you can make. It won’t be easy. Hell, even with a full ride I still had to work to cover my bills. Life was anything but easy during those four years.”

Julia stole another fry and craned her neck to survey the empty diner.

“It’s just us,” Luci said reassuringly.

“You’re so beautiful, everything you do is glamorous. The way you’re eating that nasty-ass sandwich is glamorous.”

They both laughed and Julia took another nervous look around the diner as Luci continued.

“You know, when I was in college, guys asked me out all the time but I always said no. Had to.”

“Why?”

“Partly because I was always busy either studying or working. But mostly, I was embarrassed and didn’t want anyone to know that while they were out having fun, I was usually mopping floors and cleaning other people’s toilets.”

Julia put both palms on the table and leaned forward.

“
You
cleaned toilets? You? Not buying it
—
not with those nails. Besides, I’d rather be homeless than scrub other people’s toilets.”

Luci extended her arms, spread her fingers, and smiled at her hands.

“You’re right about that. I didn’t have these nails back then.”

Julia sat back, folded her arms again, and cocked her head to one side.

“So what’s your excuse now? How come you don’t have tons of boyfriends?”

“How do you know I don’t?”

“It’s a small town. I’d know.”

“Then I guess you already have your answer,” Luci said with a smile.

Her cell phone vibrated loudly on the table next to her plate. She picked it up and checked the message.

SENDER: Sergeant Cromwell

MESSAGE: Return to station to take walk-in stolen property report

              She waved at the waitress and mimicked signing the palm of her hand with an invisible pen. The waitress promptly placed the bill face down on the table as Luci wrapped up her conversation with Julia.

“We both have to go. But listen, Julia. Life has dealt you some bad cards, but that doesn’t mean you have to fold your hand. Just play the cards you’ve been dealt as best you can.”

Luci reached into her front pockets, produced a small box and a plain white envelope, and set both of them on the table. She tapped her hand first on the box and then on the envelope.

“This is for you and this is for your grandmother.”

“What’s is it?”

“Just a little gift from me to you, and some money so your grandmother can pay the phone bill and get the service reconnected. It’s been out for a month. I’m not spying on you. I cosigned for the account, so they send me notices as well. Now get out of here
—
I have a reputation to protect too, you know.”

Julia nodded, stuffed both items into her pockets, and started walking toward the front door. Halfway across the diner, she glanced out the window, noticed a cruiser parked across the street, and froze. She strained her eyes but could not clearly see the driver.

Creep alert.

She sighed deeply, turned around, and quickly left the diner through the rear exit.

Luci watched her leave, then flipped her check over. It said the amount due was zero. She put ten dollars on the table anyway and walked toward the kitchen to thank the owner.

Sergeant Cromwell watched from his cruiser across the street. He checked the time on his watch and made a mental note before putting the car in drive and heading toward the projects.