Absolution (16 page)

Pop shifts and the bed waves beneath us, squeaking. I wish he’d put his arm around me like Mama used to, but he doesn’t. He does pull the stinky blanket up around me though, like Mama did when she tucked me in. A memory I can barely conjure.

“There.” He secures the blanket around my shoulders.

“Do you have some?”
Won’t he be cold?

“I don’t need any. I’ve got you.”

I feel better hearing this, and a smile fills my lips for a moment. He needs me after all.

“Matty,” his voice is soft.

“Yes, sir?”

“This is the last time we sleep in one of these places, I promise.”

I am relieved but wonder where we will sleep tomorrow night if not in a boarding house? I hate sleeping in the train station; the conductors always discover us and kick us out. The alleys are worse: cold, wet and the rats like to chew on our shoes and gloves.

I don’t say anything.

“I promise,” he says again.

“Yes, sir.”

His hand strokes my head and my heart jumps. A hunger—one I am well familiar with, but not a hunger for food—ignites in my soul at his touch.

One stroke is all he gives me.

He shifts behind me, shivering, while I lay under the smelly blanket.

My eyes met Matthias’. He looked at me like a little boy, with questions—old questions—haunting his gaze.

I should have figured Albert hadn’t been all bad. He was Matthias’

father after all. But I’d seen so few memories of him through Matthias, less than sterling moments in Albert’s life; I hadn’t stopped to consider that, like all mortals, Albert had both good and bad qualities.

“You really do think he’s redeemable, don’t you?” Awe lined my tone.

The disbelief I’d carried inside about Albert being a savable soul was slowly being replaced by the faintest hope that Matthias’ faith in the power of love and forgiveness was applicable even to someone like Albert.

“It’s my fault the poor memories popped into my head.” Matthias’ voice was soft. “And you saw them.”

“So?” I tightened my arms around him. “I love you. I want to know everything about you, good and bad.”

“Bad isn’t worth spending even a second on, Zoe.”

“Yes, but you know all about me. The good, the bad and the ugly.” I smiled.

His finger tapped my nose. “Ugly? Not hardly. My mortal life is over.

Your vision is only via the memories that come into my head. That’s that.”

“That sucks.”

“Nevertheless,” he grinned, “that’s the way it is.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, pfooey.”

His gaze dropped to my mouth. “Say that again.”

“Pfooey?”

“Slower,” he said, voice low and gentle.

“Pfo-oey.”

“I like the way your lips move when you say that,” he whispered against my mouth, then kissed me.

My head spun, and my body felt like it levitated from the floor.

What am I going to do with you, Zoe?

Love me. Like I love you.

That’s already done.

Are you sure it’s okay for me to kiss you?

He eased back, breaking the kiss with a laugh. My cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I ignored it, content to remain in Matthias’ embrace, staring into the horizon of his blue eyes.

“Isn’t that your Alexander Graham Bell contraption?” he asked.

I laughed. “Um, yes.”

“May I?”

I pulled it out of my pocket and handed it to him, forgiving him for his electronic distraction during a romantic moment. He examined it, blinked when it vibrated, and opened it, staring at the screen.

“I believe Luke is ringing you.”

I took the phone and clicked it on. “Hey.”

“Zoe… something happened.”

Chapter Thirteen

____________________

I drove the minivan to Kiwanis Park where Luke told me to meet him, ironically, the same park where I’d lost Abria and first seen Matthias.

Early evening was settling into Utah County, and the towering mountains surrounding the valley cast imposing, dark purple shadows across the valley floor in jagged, devouring shapes.

Matthias sat silently in the front seat next to me. Was he thinking about Albert? I wondered if he knew about Krissy’s dad. Did his refined powers, his station as a guardian, allow him to know about everything and everyone in my life? How deep did his knowledge go?

“I sense things,” he said. We shared a look across the darkening inside of the van. “Being refined doesn’t make one omniscient. But, yes, I do understand things that pertain to you or Abria. I receive enlightenment.”

“So, do you know what the deal is with Krissy’s dad?”

“The deal?”

“That he’s a sicko perv loser who molests his daughter.”

Matthias stared straight ahead out the window. Seconds passed in dense silence. The corner of his jaw twitched. “She’s lucky to have found Luke.”

“I don’t want Luke to get hurt, though,” I said, wondering what Matthias’ ‘enlightenment’ was on the subject.

“Zoe.” He tilted his head at me, kindness in his eyes. “Luke’s going to be all right.”

But her dad’s a psycho
. I sighed, drove on.
Trust. Have trust
. Luke hadn’t said anything more to me on the phone except that something had happened and I needed to meet him at the park.

“Why do some people do stuff like that?” I asked. Matthias had been vehemently infuriated by Brady and Weston’s attempt to assault me, and he’d as much as said that anyone who harmed a child was culpable.

“Even in my current state of being,” he began, “it’s difficult for me to comprehend why one human seeks to hurt another. The only absolute I take comfort in is that, one day, justice will be served.”

“I agree, but how does that help someone like Krissy now? How do you help someone with scars that deep?”

“You begin with good friends like Luke. And you. Whatever Krissy faces in the future, you and Luke can offer her the support she will need to make it through.”

“No pressure or anything.
”

Matthias’ strength reached out, wrapped around me and infused me with palpable hope. The wave of strength poured into me, like water in a vase, filling me completely. “You can do it, and so can Luke.”

I pulled into the parking lot skirting the fringe of the park. Luke’s blue Samurai sat between two spots, the driver’s door left open as if he’d been in a hurry. My stomach dropped to my feet. I parked the minivan.

I opened the door and, by the time my feet hit the pavement, Matthias was already by my side. “How do you do that?” I chided him, my pace picking up speed as we crossed the grass.

“All it takes is a thought.”

“Some of us have to work to get where we want to go,” I quipped.

“A true statement for us all, sassy bearcat.” His gaze left mine and focused on something in the park. Luke.

He stood about thirty feet away, his skin pale, his purple and black eye like spilled ink on snow. A sober expression tightened his face— the same way he’d looked at Brady’s funeral. My heart began a slow, fearful pound. I started in his direction and Matthias stayed with me.

“What’s going on?” I asked Luke as we approached.

He jittered like he was choking on snakes. “Krissy…” He dragged his hands down his face. He looked at Matthias. “You’re here.”

Matthias nodded.

“That’s… good,” Luke observed.

“Battle scar?” Matthias pointed to his own eye, nodding in reference to Luke’s injury.

“Yeah.” Luke’s blue eyes dipped for a moment.

“What happened? Is Krissy all right?” I asked.

“She’s… man… this is bad, Z. She was with her dad, you know? And…

she got home and she… hit him. She thinks he’s dead.”

“What?”

Luke nodded. “It just happened. Just now.”

“Where is she?”

Luke jerked his head in the direction of the pavilion. “Over there.”

Luke led us to where Krissy sat behind a red brick wall, crouched, trembling, sobbing. Next to her, with his arms around her, was her guardian.

He looked up at us and his eyes sparkled when he saw Matthias.

The putrid scent of vomit filled the air. The mess covered her jumper and shirt.

I knelt next to her and Luke joined me. He lightly touched her shoulder. “Krissy…”

“I… I… I…” Words tumbled out of her mouth, mushy incoherent sentences. Her guardian continued embracing her, his face kind and compassionate. Did Luke see him?

Luke’s attention was completely riveted on Krissy; I doubted he could see the other guardian. “Krissy, Zoe’s here,” Luke’s tone was gentle. “We’re going to help you.”

What should I say? I have no idea what to tell her.
I couldn’t imagine what she was feeling: terror, fear and relief at the same time?

Krissy’s sobs began to subside. Finally, she let out a tremulous breath and lifted her emotionally bludgeoned face to mine. A long, belt-wide welt rose from the skin on her cheek and down the side of her neck. Blood oozed from her nose, mixing with the snot and vomit dribbling down her chin.

“I… I couldn’t take it anymore,” she hiccupped, her hands wringing each other over and over and over.

I nodded, stroking her arm. “I know.” I couldn’t say ‘it’s okay.’ How could I know if it was okay?

“I think I killed him,” she whispered.

Luke and I exchanged glances. “You don’t know for sure?” I asked.

She shook her head, wiped beneath her nose with the blood and vomit coating the cuff of her long-sleeved tee shirt.

“Maybe we should go see,” I suggested to Luke.

“Hell no,” Luke said. “I’m not going anywhere near that place.”

“What happened?” I asked Krissy.

She wiped her face with her sleeve. Her tear-ravaged eyes shifted from me, to Luke.

“It’s okay,” he said. “You can trust Zoe.”

Krissy’s fragility was laid bare: a girl who could not think or do without the permission of someone else—even in the face of disaster—was as naked and vulnerable as a soul can get.

“Tell me,” I urged.

“He was…” she muttered. “He was mad. He…”

“Hit you?” I suggested. If it was too hard for her to say the words, I wouldn’t make it any harder.

She nodded. “I picked up these glass grapes we have and when he started to… when he wasn’t looking… I… hit him.” Her eyes searched mine as if I might be able to forgive her.

“You defended yourself.”

“What if I killed him?” She wept again, burying her face in her hands.

Her guardian’s efforts to comfort remained steady. Often, he looked at Matthias. At me. Were they communicating?

“We should call 911,” I suggested.

Luke pulled out his phone but Krissy grabbed his wrist. “No, you can’t.”

“We have to.” Luke’s response was gentle but insistent.

“You were defending yourself, Krissy,” I said. “The police will see that.

When they take a look at that welt on your face they’ll get what was going on.”

Still, did she have the strength to admit the uglier part of the truth?

Zoe, the wheels of justice can’t carry her to safety until she steps forward.

I swallowed the knot in my throat and took a deep breath. “Krissy, Luke needs to call.”

She shook her head. Tears poured down her cheeks in rivulets. Her grip on Luke’s wrist remained unbroken. Luke’s gaze met mine, then shifted to Matthias. Krissy’s guardian wrapped her in an orb of comfort so bright it stole my breath. A low buzz filled the air, a powerful yet soft pitch that soothed as the light illuminated.

Slowly, Krissy’s weeping stopped. The tension stringing her limbs taut smoothed and she finally let go of Luke’s wrist. “Okay,” she whispered.

Luke walked out of earshot and made the call. No one spoke as he explained what happened, gave names and addresses and took instruction.

After the call was completed, he slipped his cell phone into his pocket.

“They’re sending someone here. We’re supposed to wait.”

Krissy’s face lifted her red, swollen eyes bulging in fear. “What’s going to happen?”

“It’s gonna be okay.” Luke’s strength and conviction took control of the moment. He took her hand and held it.

She latched onto him, sobbing against his shirt. I admired Luke’s sense of decency and compassion and I was proud of him.

You’re on the trolley now.

Nothing about this feels trolleyish.

The quiet stillness in the air filled with more of Krissy’s weeping.

I bit my lip, fighting tears.

When Matthias didn’t respond, I turned to him. His face was rigid, grave. I waited for his thoughts but none came.

Chapter Fourteen

____________________

Not three minutes passed and sirens filled the air. Two navy and white police cars sped to a stop, their lights flashing yellow and white and red into the quiet stillness of the public park.

Krissy jerked upright, panic causing her to move like a caged cat next to Luke. Luke tried to stroke her arms, but she took off, heading deeper into the shrubs and trees of the park. Her guardian remained with her.

Luke trailed after her. So did the three police officers who had just jumped from their cars.

One officer remained, and he jogged my way. “Can I ask you a few questions?”

I told him everything I knew.

Within minutes, the other officers were in sight, emerging from behind a smattering of evergreens two of them holding Krissy’s arms, the other walking with Luke.

“Her dad…” Should I tell the police what I suspected? What if Krissy chickened out and didn’t tell them her father was molesting her? “He came to my house threatening our family the other night. He didn’t want Krissy out of his sight. Ever.”

The officer listened but didn’t respond. His gaze was fixed on his fellow officers escorting Krissy our direction.

Krissy collapsed. The officers surrounded her. Another siren pierced the air and a Fire and Rescue truck barreled down the street, followed by an ambulance. Cars passing the park, slowed. Some stopped, and their occupants craned their necks for a look. A few slowed for a better view.

“I need you to wait here, miss,” the officer I was talking to said.