Day of Atonement (19 page)

As she continued, his nerves about the process began to dissipate and Troy found himself at ease as the tranquilizing sound of
Shauna's voice walked him down the road to serenity. There, he separated from himself and followed all of her instructions, uninhibited, answering all of her questions unrestrained.

“Let's go back to the day Elana disappeared. How old were you then?”

“Eleven.”

“Troy, you are now an observer to the events that took place that day. I want you to look around and tell me everything you see and hear. Tell me where you are and what you are doing.”

Troy watched the eleven-year-old version of himself sitting alongside Elvin in the living room. It was the day after Elvin's birthday. He'd turned eleven. They'd been up all night playing the Atari Elvin's mom had given him. Both boys still had on the same clothes they'd worn yesterday—Troy, a pair of black shorts with a white crewneck T-shirt; Elvin, denim jean shorts and a red-striped T-shirt. Details that had previously escaped him had now become clear—the crumbs from all the junk food they'd eaten overnight as well as the stain from the soda that Elvin had spilled that he had not yet gotten up. To keep Miss Lilly from seeing it, he had placed a pillow over it while pretending it was being used for cushion for his knees.

“Where's Elana while you and Elvin are playing the game?”

At first she was upstairs. Elana had asked if her friend, Salome, could stay overnight, but Miss Lilly had said no because Salome was too “fast” and she didn't want that little girl staying all night when boys were around. If Miss Lilly thought that Troy or Elvin would take a second look at an eight-year-old, she was really out of touch with the minds of preteen boys. There was no way Salome could compare to the girl who played Thelma on
Good Times.
That show had been off the air now for several years and yet Troy was still stunned by her beauty. Once he heard his aunt's boyfriend say that Thelma had curves in all the right places. Troy hadn't
known what that meant back then, but now, at age eleven, he was starting to comprehend. Salome could not compete no matter how “fast” she was.

Upset that Salome could not come over, Elana spent most of the evening in her room pouting. Miss Lilly would not let her hang out downstairs with Elvin and Troy because it was a given that there would be a fight. There always was. If Elana wasn't picking on them, they were picking on her. The next morning Elana came down in her Strawberry Shortcake pajamas before Miss Lilly or Mr. Herbert had gotten up.

“What are y'all playing?” she asked, sitting on the couch behind them. She didn't have her doll.

Elvin explained the game and the concept.

“Will you show me how to play?”

“Maybe later when Troy leaves.”

“When is he leaving?”

“I don't know. Later.”

“Then I wanna watch cartoons.”

“No. Go back upstairs. Mama said that we can have the TV.” Elvin's family only had two televisions. One in Miss Lilly's room and the “good” one down in the living room.

Elvin and Elana continued arguing back and forth until footsteps descended the stairs. It was Mr. Herbert. No one spoke. As soon as he rounded the corner, Elana got up and ran up the stairs. Soon her bedroom door slammed.

Mr. Herbert belched loudly as he went into the kitchen. Moments later he returned, headed out the front door. “I'll be back.”

Elvin didn't respond. Last night, the night of his eleventh birthday, there had been another fight. This one wasn't as bad as it could have gotten, but the kids did hear yelling and a few slaps being exchanged as they sat in the kitchen eating cake and ice cream. Elana was with them and they were all getting along. Actually, they were quiet, purposely focusing on
the treats while pretending not to hear what was happening upstairs in the master bedroom.

“Tell me what was happening in the moments immediately prior to Elana's disappearance,” Shauna prodded.

Troy and Elvin had been playing Asteroids at that time. Troy's butt was numb. The heel of his right foot had left an imprint in his left thigh from him sitting Indian style for so long. The soda stain was no longer wet and had become even darker after it dried. Miss Lilly was in the kitchen making several phone calls, worried about Mr. Herbert who hadn't been seen since leaving that morning.

The boys had not moved. Still clothed in yesterday's attire, they continued playing the game. Due to her whining that she was “bored,” Miss Lilly had told them to let Elana play. They did. Kind of. She wasn't that good so her turn would be over within a few minutes of her having the controller. Instead of making allowances for her being a novice, they took advantage of the situation. They made up a rule that anyone who scored a certain number of points would get an extra turn, maximum of three, knowing that the conditions would never apply to Elana. Consequently, both Elvin and Troy could be playing for up to thirty or forty minutes each while Elana waited. At first she was patient, going upstairs to retrieve that ugly doll to keep her occupied. After a while, her patience started to wear thin and she began arguing with them. That's when Miss Lilly got involved. As a compromise, she promised to buy them all treats if they would behave while she was gone. That did not work too well. Before long, Elana and the boys were at it again and she ran out crying.

“Did Elana take the doll with her when she left?”

“Yes.” She had been holding it by one arm. Her braided ponytails flopped as she took off. She did not have barrettes in her hair.

“I want you to really concentrate now, Troy. Did you hear anything after she left?”

Crying! Troy could faintly recall hearing sobs coming from the front porch.

“Very good. Now think really hard. Is there anything else you can tell me about that day?”

Troy heard Elana crying. He was sure Elvin heard it, too, but neither of them paid her any attention. They were both too engrossed in the game and happy to have her out of their way. Troy knew that if Elana was still on the porch when Miss Lilly got back, he and Elvin would get a good fussing out. Knowing Elana, she would cry even harder when her mom returned. Now Troy wished his mom would hurry because he didn't want Miss Lilly being upset with him about anything. She was pretty. He didn't like seeing her mad. Plus, she had enough troubles with Mr. Herbert. Troy wasn't sure how long Elana sat out there sobbing. After a while he heard a car door.

“When you say you heard a car door, was this right before Miss Lilly came into the house?”

“No. It was way before Miss Lilly came home.”

Shauna asked him a series of other questions about whether or not he'd seen anything when they went out to look for Elana such as if they found her doll or any trace of her having left the front porch.

Troy answered them all.

“Good job. I am going to count down again and when I do, you will be fully functional and alert, able to remember everything that happened here today.” When she finished, Troy came to himself. “How do you feel?”

There was still a calm feeling over him, but there was more edginess to it. “Weird. Sort of like I took a nap, but watched myself do it.”

“You did great. I was a little concerned after meeting you yesterday. What did you do between last night and today to become so relaxed?”

Flashbacks of his last encounter with Natalie raced through his mind and Troy felt his insides tingle. “Uh, I got a good night's sleep.” He smiled to himself.

“Good for you. Most people would be surprised at how much sleep or lack thereof can impact these sessions. Anyhow, I'm going to give B.K. your recording and he will go over it with you. I don't think we'll have to do this again, so do you have any questions for me?”

“No.”

“Well, nice to meet you. Best of luck in solving this case. Hopefully, I've been able to help.”

Troy left without any real destination in mind. B.K.'s meeting with Bill and his attorney wasn't until next week and, as far as he knew, there wasn't any additional information about the baby that Edgar Campbell and his wife supposedly adopted. Last night, when Troy filled Natalie in on their visit with Herbert, he purposely left out the part about Herbert's sexual molestation of Elana. Troy didn't think it was necessary to share that information with his wife, knowing it could possibly bring up painful memories for her.

“Maggie hurt her,”
Herbert repeated. If there was any credibility to Herbert's words, it would be revealed through Bill or Edgar and whatever connection they had to this mysterious woman named Maggie.

A
fter leaving Shauna's, Troy decided to swing by his sister's, still concerned that he hadn't heard back from her. Tracy and Al lived about fifteen minutes away from Troy's parents in a neighborhood that wasn't the best and yet could have been a lot worse. Their house was small, maybe 1,200 square feet, if that, but it was very nice. Surrounded by a wooden privacy fence, it had a brick exterior and a huge yard with a mini basketball court that Al had put up in the back for AJ, but AJ was more interested in wrestling.

Troy did not like popping up unannounced and spending time at his sister's crib was not something he did often when he was in town. The last time he came over here was when he and Al had gotten into a fight. A fight, which Troy admittedly started, but Al provoked by grabbing on his baby sister like she was some rag doll. He figured it would be safe to stop by this time of day. Tracy, a schoolteacher, was off work during the holiday break and Troy was not concerned about seeing Al since he expected his brother-in-law to be at work. Unless, of course, Al had gotten drunk last night and was too hung over to go in. That had been known to happen a time or twenty.

Troy had already rung the doorbell twice when he realized that it was after four and that Al could very well be at home, depending
on his hours. As he considered turning around, the door opened. Relief fell over him when Tracy answered. “What's going on?”

“That's what I want to know. You left me urgent messages and when I tried getting ahold of you, you never called me back.”

“My bad. I was freaking out about something that still isn't quite making sense to me, but I know I can sometimes overreact. Everything's fine.” Sincerity was lacking in her tone as if she were trying to convince herself, in addition to him, that all was “fine.”

“Is Al here?” He asked the question all the while reminding himself to stay calm, suspecting that whatever Tracy was hiding from him involved her husband. He glossed over her for bruises. There were none.
Good!

“Naw. No one is here but me. He's working and the kids are at their friends'.”

“Well…are you going to let me in or continue to treat me like a Jehovah's Witness.”

She seemed to hesitate for a split-second before moving from the doorway.

Immediately, Troy was ready to leave. There was a depressing aura. The living room had all the perks one might expect in the twenty-first century—flat-screen, large sectional, and glass end tables, but there was a natural gloom that fell over the space. Maybe it was the drawn shades or the dark painted walls. Whatever the case, Troy was reminded that a house wasn't always a home. He took a seat without being invited to do so. “What's going on, Trace, for real?”

“Nothing.”

The sing-song manner in which she answered made him believe her even less. Troy spent the next few minutes trying to get her to open up, even mentioning the fact that for there to be “nothing”
going on, she'd obviously shared
something
with their father and if she could share it with their dad, she could share it with him. Tracy maintained her stance that she didn't want to talk, explaining that she thought she may have misconstrued some details and if that were the case, her sharing would only complicate things. Troy's interest was piqued even further, but he gave up pressing. “All right, if you say so. I'm not going to ask again.” He was sure that he'd failed in his attempt not to let his frustration with her show. He would never understand why she stayed with Al any more than he would why their mom stayed with their dad. It made no sense for two beautiful women to subject themselves to verbal and physical abuse from men who should cherish them. “I love you and I'm always here for you,” he added, in a softer tone.

“I know and I love you, too.” Her smile was forced, but her tone was sincere. “How are things going with Elana's case?”

“Slow. It's difficult to say for sure because I'm like the third wheel in this investigation. It's hard to let someone else take charge when the case means so much to me.”

“Any idea who could have taken her or where she's been until her body was found?”

“I think we've narrowed it down to two suspects.”

“Who?”

Her inquiry caught Troy off guard. He wasn't used to discussing his work with his baby sister. “Since when did you become so interested in the case?”

“I've always been interested. Well, I guess not always since I was little when it happened, but the discovery of her body has everyone talking and speculating about where she's been all this time. You got any ideas?”

He toyed with how much to tell her. He'd never known Tracy
to be a gossip. Still, he did not know who her closest confidants were and did not want to risk telling her anything that could possibly get back to Bill or Edgar. “So far, there's nothing concrete to go on, but we are making progress. I'm pretty sure things have been narrowed down to one of two suspects.”