Justified killings, p.16
Justified Killings, page 16
“Wow, what a story. And how much fun was that? Boys and tits. Classic.” Jessica laughed out loud. “Your brother was a wild one, that’s for sure.” She stood up and gazed out toward the bay. “Didn’t Peterson die last year of AIDS?”
Tazz’s phone vibrated. “Mom sent a text. Listen to this: Tim, it’s your mother. She still doesn’t get when she texts me I know it’s her from the contacts. It’s getting late. When are you coming home? Don’t forget tonight is Patrick’s wake.”
“Why do they call it a wake?”
“There are different interpretations. The Irish think of it as a celebration of life. One last gathering to honor the deceased. In the early days, some undocumented diseases caused some to appear dead, and as the family began to mourn, the dead person would awaken. That certainly would freak out the living. Hence the name wake. Most people think of a wake as a watch, or vigil, or even a guard. People would gather to have a prayer vigil or would keep watch over the dead until they were fully buried.”
“You are like a living Google. Are you going to the wake?”
“Yes. I don’t think I have a choice. Mom wants me to drive with her.”
“Have you ever been to one before?”
“Nope. This will be my first.”
“Can I go?”
“Do you want to? I mean you can if you want, but you don’t have to.”
“No. I want to. Do you think Edward will be there?”
“I don’t know. Don’t care. I don’t want to be around him.” Tazz’s phone started to ring. “Mom. Again. I better get home and get ready.”
Jess held out her hand. Tazz looked at it, then held it. Jess smiled.
Chapter 20
The ride from Tazz’s house to the funeral home took about fifteen minutes. Larry volunteered to drive his new platinum trimmed SUV which had all the luxuries that model offered. Maryanne sat in the front seat. Tazz sat by the window in the back with Katherine, and Grace in her car seat. Only the voice from the directions broke the earie silence. The wake took place at the Miller funeral home which was also a crematorium. Edward believed Catholics should not be cremated, so Patrick would be buried in a casket. Because of the amount of damage to Patrick’s face, the casket would be closed.
There were many more cars in the parking lot than Maryanne expected to see. “Look at all the cars. I didn’t think there would be this many people. Tim? Why do you think there are so many cars?”
Larry pulled into a parking spot near the front door reserved for the immediate family. “Patrick did play sports in high school and won several state championships; and I bet he has friends here from college, or his job,” Larry said. “He was popular.”
“That makes sense, Larry,” Maryanne replied. “It’s nice to see that for Pat.” An usher opened Maryanne’s door. Larry opened the trunk lift gate and pulled out the stroller.
Katherine put the baby in and turned to Tazz. “Is this your first time doing this, Tazz?”
“Yes.”
“When we go in, there will be a foyer, and likely some people there greeting us. The main room will have chairs in the middle area, or benches, and Pat’s casket will be in the front surrounded by flowers. I also included a couple pictures of Patrick. For the most part, this will be relatively informal. I am sure you will see some people you know, and others you don’t know. Here.” Katherine handed Tazz a small packet of tissues. “I won’t get through this without crying a hundred times. Maybe you will do better. But just in case.” Katherine hugged Tazz. “Love you Tazz-maniac.”
“Love you too Kat Ballou.” Katherine smiled.
Larry wheeled the stroller into the funeral home followed by Katherine who was holding Maryanne’s hand. Tazz took his time entering the building. The décor was exactly how Katherine described. Tazz entered the main room filled with no less than seventy people of all ages. Some were standing around the perimeter, others were seated, and a few more were up near the casket.
Father Androski approached Maryanne and gave her a hug. “Hello Maryanne. God bless you.” He turned to Katherine. “My dear Katherine, it is so good to see you again.”
“Hello Father. This is my husband, Larry Jenkins.”
“Larry. It is finally good to meet you.” They shook hands. “And this little one must be Grace. Maryanne has told me so much about her. She is as beautiful as Maryanne described.”
“Thank you, Father.”
“Many of Patrick’s friends are here. I think his entire football team showed up, along with his coaches. I have also met several of his teachers.”
“Thank you Father Androski for being here. We appreciate it,” Katherine said nodding to Androski.
Tazz didn’t know what he should be doing. He looked around the room recognizing several of the teachers but had no interest in speaking with them. Larry and Katherine worked their way up to the casket. Maryanne admired several of the large flower bouquets around the front. Tazz wished Jess would show up. He decided to sit on the end cushioned folding chair near the middle row.
An older woman using a cane stood next to Tazz and looked down at him. “Did you sign the guest book?”
“Excuse me?”
“When you came in, did you sign the guest book?”
“Uh, no. I didn’t. I must have walked past it.” Tazz looked back toward the front of the room.
“Everyone needs to sign the guest book.” Tazz glanced back up to the woman and smiled. “You’ve grown since I saw you last.”
“Do I know you?”
The woman tapped Tazz’s leg with her cane. “Don’t be rude. Make room for this old lady. Move over a couple seats so I can sit.” Tazz moved two seats toward the middle. The woman plopped in the second seat from the end of the aisle. “Please move over one more chair.” Tazz complied. The woman leaned her cane against the chair on the end of the row. “Good.” She turned to Tazz. “You have to set your cane in such a way it won’t fall over, and it won’t cause someone to trip over it.” The woman was well into her eighties, with a small humped back, snow white thinning hair, but neatly brushed, and glasses with thick lenses. She wore a Spring flowered long dress with a thin sweater.
Jessica slipped in the row and chair in front of Tazz. “Hey. I’m here. Sorry I was a little late.” Jess looked at the old woman. “Is this your grandma?” Tazz had a blank expression on his face.
“Jessica Bakersfield.” The old woman leaned closer to Jessica.
“Do I know you?” Jess looked at Tazz. “Are you going to introduce me, Tazz?”
The woman took her hand and moved Jessica’s jaw to the left, then to the right. Jessica pushed the woman’s hand off her. “I see you still drive that old blue truck.”
“How do you know what truck I drive?”
The woman studied Tazz’s gelled hair. “You have always had such nice hair. Why do you put all those chemicals in it?” The woman looked around the room. “I think when my days are done, I’m going to make sure there is a bar at my wake.”
“Excuse me, lady. I think you are a little confused. I don’t know you.” Tazz started to stand up, but the woman put her hand on his shoulder.
“I am Gretchen Macklenberry. My friends call me Gretta. Don’t you remember me, Tim?” She removed her glasses and pulled out a small tissue from her purse. “My glasses get so dirty so quickly.” She put her glasses back on. “I don’t suppose you would remember me. We met two or three times. You were young; about five if I recall. Your sister will know who I am.”
“You know Katherine?”
“Are you paying attention? Do you have another sister I don’t know about?”
“No.”
“Then yes, I know Katherine. Is she here?”
Tazz looked around the room. “Yes. She is to the right of the casket, by the guy pushing the stroller.”
Gretta looked to the front of the room. “Yes. There she is. Maybe she will have time to meet with me later.” Gretta looked back toward Tazz. “I knew Patrick when he was knee-high to a grasshopper.”
“How?” Jess asked.
“I was the neighbor. I still live in the same house you know. Off Pleasant Court?” Gretta looked at Jessica. “I am sure you could find it on the computer map thing.”
“So you were in the house next to Patrick and Katherine when they were younger?” Tazz confirmed.
Gretta looked at Jess. “Is he on drugs or something?”
Jess laughed. “No Mrs. Macklenberry. He was the valedictorian of the high school this week. He’s clean.”
“I heard about that. Saw it on the news.”
Jess glanced at Tazz. “It was an unfortunate sequence of events.”
Tazz nodded. “Yes. Unfortunate.”
“The man should be in prison is where he should be.” Tazz and Jess were shocked by her statement. “Tragic what happened.”
“He definitely made a scene at the graduation,” Jess said agreeing with Gretta.
“What? I’m not talking about the graduation. It’s about the…” Gretta paused. “No one ever spoke about it. Nothing was ever done. It’s barely a memory now. But she was a beautiful person. Loved to garden. Had the best roses in the county.” Tazz and Jess both looked at each other and smiled. “Life is short, kids. Even if you live to a hundred, which is about how old I feel today. So live each day…”
“As though it was your last?” Jessica said finishing the quote.
“It’s funny how we know a thing but choose to act differently.” Gretta turned around and noticed Edward in the foyer. They locked eyes. Gretta took her cane and pulled herself up. She turned to Tazz. “Patrick was a good brother. That is how you should remember him.” Gretta slowly shuffled her way up toward Patrick’s casket.
Jessica’s facial expression changed as she looked up. Detective White took the seat next to Tazz. “You must be Tim’s friend, Jessica Bakersfield.
“Hello Detective,” Tazz responded. “I am a little surprised to see you here. I would have thought you would respect the privacy of the family during this time.” James still had a bandage across his nose, but it was black, not white. His eye still had a purple hue under it and his lip was mostly healed.
“Hello Timothy. I wanted to come by and pay my respects. I knew your brother. I coached him in high school. He was a good athlete. I am not here on police business. But since you brought it up, please know we do need to talk. Take the weekend. Can we meet on Monday?”
“What time?”
“How about one. There is a Dairy Queen off Waterway. You know it?”
“Yes,” Tazz responded.
“I can pick you up or you can meet me there.”
“I can drive him,” Jessica said.
“Don’t let me down, Tim. Not showing up to this meeting will have consequences. Understand?”
“I do.”
White nodded. “I am going to pay my respects to Patrick.”
Tazz watched the Detective walk up to Patrick’s casket and put his hand on it and bow his head to pray. “I’ll go to the meeting, but I really don’t have anything to say to the Detective.”
“Your stepdad is here. It looks like he is being escorted by the military police.”
“Does he see you?”
“Not yet. He is speaking with Father Androski. What do you want to do?”
“Let’s do one lap and pay our respects to Pat. I’ll tell mom we are leaving. You okay with that?”
“Sure. But we need to move quickly. It looks like Edward is coming into the room.” Jess and Tazz stood up and briskly walked toward the front of the room.
“Tim?” Darryl Johnson was sitting in the front row.
“Hi Dr. Johnson,” Jessica responded. “It was nice for you to come.”
“Hi Jessica. Good to see you too. Here Tim. I have something for you.” Darryl reached into a bag and pulled out Tazz’s high school diploma and his valedictorian certificate, displayed in a nice black frame. “You left these at the graduation, Tim. I hope you don’t mind I had them matted and framed.” Tazz didn’t reach out for them. Instead he turned and put his hand on Patrick’s coffin. “I know my timing is off, Jessica. But I didn’t know if I would see Tim again before he left for England, and I can’t be at the funeral tomorrow.” Darryl put them back in the bag.
“I’ll hold them for Tim, Dr. Johnson.
“Thank you Jessica.”
Tazz bowed his head as tears streamed from his eyes. Jessica took the bag from Darryl and put her other hand on Tazz’s shoulder. Katherine came up to Tazz and turned him toward her and hugged him. “It’s okay Tazz. It’s okay.” Katherine started to cry. “We are both going to miss him.”
Edward paused by the back row of chairs observing Katherine hugging Tazz. He turned to the military escort. “You can hold fast here. You don’t have to follow me to the casket. I won’t leave the room.” The guard backed up and stood at attention against the back wall.
“I have to go, Kat. I don’t want to be here with your dad. I hope you won’t be mad at me.”
“I won’t be mad. Are you coming home tonight?”
“Not sure. If I don’t, I’ll call mom and let her know.”
Edward began to walk toward the casket. “Here comes dad. You’d better go.”
Tazz turned and saw Edward approaching him with a look of contempt. “Come on Jess.” Tazz and Jess left in the opposite direction from Edward and out a side door. Edward followed them with his eyes.
“Hi dad. I’m glad you could make it.” Katherine hugged Edward. “Are you coming home tonight?”
Edward glanced backward to the MP who had moved to a chair at the end of the last row. “Not tonight.” Katherine looked to the back of the room. “It seems that someone phoned the base and filed a complaint against me.”
“Who did that? You don’t think it was Tim do you?”
“It doesn’t matter Katherine. I am here now. What happens after tonight is what will happen. Right? Anyway, I am here for your brother. My son.”
“Come on dad. Let’s pay our respects to Patrick.”
Chapter 21
Katherine, holding a cup of coffee, knocked on Tazz’s door just after eight on an overcast morning. “Tazz? You ready?” Tazz opened his bedroom door. “My, my. Don’t you look handsome.” Tazz was dressed in a pair of black pants, and a light blue buttoned down pressed shirt. His shoes were shined to the nines. A dark thin black tie was draped around his neck. “Let me help you with that tie.”
“Sure.”
“Where’s your mirror?”
“Behind the door.”
“Okay. Scoot in.” Katherine stood behind Tazz facing the cheap plastic mirror hung with clips on the back of the door. “You’re almost too tall for me to do this.” Tazz smiled. “First, you make sure the tie is not crooked and the right side is up. Make the right or top part a little longer than the left or bottom part. Cross the top of the tie over the bottom of the tie near the collar and pinch that intersection with your left hand. Then you push the top part under the intersection of where you have it pinched and wrap the top part around once and push it through between the tie and your collar like this. Then you wrap the top piece completely around the top area that you have been holding with your left hand, under the tie and your collar, and then pass it over the intersection. Finally, you push the top part under the piece you wrapped around and pull it through. There. Just like that.”
“Katherine. It’s a Windsor knot.”
“Why am I not surprised you know what it is.”
“I watched a video about how to tie a Windsor just a few minutes ago.”
Katherine looked at Tazz’s laptop with a paused image of a person giving instructions on tying a tie. “So why did you make me show you?
“Because we hardly ever talk.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I wasn’t looking for an apology or to make you sad. It is as much my fault. I could have called you just as easily, but I don’t know what to say. It is strange and hard for me to understand why I am not afraid to go to college for the academics, but I am petrified to go to college because I am only fourteen. I am socially retarded. I am naïve. I have no street smarts.” Katherine sat on the edge of Tazz’s bed. “You’re married to a wonderful guy. You have a baby. You are on a life path. A good life path. A common sense path.” Tazz sat next to Katherine. “Now I find myself missing a brother I hardly knew. I didn’t know how to talk with him either. I don’t want that to happen to us.” Katherine rested her head on Tazz’s shoulder with tears falling from her cheeks. “I didn’t know how permanent death felt until now. How lonely it can make you feel. So desperately hopeless.” Tazz started to cry. “I just wish I could have done something to help Patrick when he needed me; but I didn’t know how. I failed.”
“Tazz, what happened wasn’t your fault, was it?”
“No.”
“Then you didn’t fail Patrick. He made his own choice to do what he did for whatever reason he had.” Katherine straightened up. “I am going to call you. Probably more often than you will want me to. But you have to promise me you will answer the phone.”
Tazz smiled. “I promise.”
“Look at us. We’re a mess and we aren’t even at the funeral yet. Your mom and Larry are waiting for us downstairs. It’s time to go.” Katherine stopped at the door and turned around. “I saw you speaking with Gretchen Macklenberry last night at the wake.”
“I did.”
“What did she tell you?”
“She said she used to live next door to you when you were younger. She knew your mom.”
Katherine looked in Tazz’s mirror and wiped her eyes. “She did. I hope she comes to the funeral. She’s an interesting woman. Oh, my makeup is a mess. I have to go fix myself. Meet you downstairs in a couple minutes.”
“The cemetery is The Saint Charles Catholic Cemetery in Maryland, right?” Larry asked Maryanne as he checked the directions on his phone.
“Yes. It’s in Maryland, not Virginia. I think it is about an hour away, at least that is what Father Androski told me last night. But you know we are going to The Holy Sacred Catholic Church service first? It begins at nine.”
