A Killing Rain (4 page)

“Baby, you don’t mean that. It’s only money and it made him happy.”

Austin stood up and went toward her, arms spread. “Look, maybe I come on too strong sometimes, but I’m just trying to make things up to you.”

“You’re pathetic,” Susan said
.

Austin reached for her, slipping his hand around her waist.

Louis stood up. This was enough. He was out of here.

Suddenly, Susan drew back and slapped Austin. Austin touched his face then stepped backward just as Benjamin came
back into the room. He was holding a Star Wars piggy bank.

His eyes moved slowly from his father to Susan. “Are you two fighting again?” he asked softly.

Susan wiped her face. “No, Ben. We’re okay.”

Austin’s pained expression changed quickly back to a smile. He still had the cigar in his hand. He slipped off the paper ring and
held it out to Benjamin. “Want to wear Daddy’s ring?”

Ben took it
and slipped it on his index finger. Louis could see the label. It was a Macanuda cigar. Expensive.

“What do you say we go for ice cream?” Austin asked Ben.

“He hasn’t finished his hamburger,” Susan said.

“Who needs burgers when you can have Fudge Ripple? Is that little ice cream store still over on McGregor?”

“Yeah, and they have blue bubble gum ice cream now,” Benjamin said. He looked at Susan. “Can we go, Ma? Huh? Can we go?”

Austin didn’t wait for an answer. He carried Benjamin from the room
and set him on the sofa to help him with his shoes.

Louis watched Susan. Her eyes brimmed with tears and she was shaking.

“I’ll have him back in an hour,” Austin called out, slipping on his coat.

Louis waited until he heard the front door close, then he went to Susan. She closed her eyes and leaned forward into his arms.

Friday, January 15

A cold front was on the way. Louis could feel it, feel the subtle change in the night air. One moment it had been a sigh of a breeze, coming soft and warm from the gulf. Then a pause -- almost like an inhalation —- before the wind shifted. The auger shell chimes on the porch were doing their
click-clack
bone dance and the temperature was beginning to fall.

Louis got up and went inside. He returned with a sweatshirt and a Heineken and sat back down in the wicker chair.
Issy jumped up into his lap and began kneading his stomach.

Louis took a long drink of the beer, his eyes out on
the black waters of the gulf as he absently stroked the cat’s head.

Shit, it was all screwed up.

Three days had passed since that night at Susan’s. He had called once, but she had seemed distracted, distant. Louis had heard Austin and Benjamin laughing in the background. He had hesitated then asked her if Austin was still staying at the house. She said he was, but that it was only so Benjamin could have time with him. Louis had cut the conversation short and hung up.

Then, earlier tonight Susan had called him back.

“He’s leaving tonight,” she said. “He’s going back to Australia.”

There had been an awkward pause on her end.

“He wants us to go with him,” Susan said.

“What did you tell him?” Louis asked. It had been a struggle to keep his voice neutral.

“I told him no, of course.”

Of course?

“What about Benjamin?”

Another long pause.
“I haven’t told him yet. He’ll want to go. What son wouldn’t want to be with his father and go play with real koala bears?”

Louis said nothing.

“It’s going to be hard on Ben,” Susan said. “It’s always hard, but he’s old enough now to know things. Like the fact his mom and dad are never getting back together. Like his dad won’t...can’t...be there all the time.”

Louis heard the pain in her voice
but still said nothing.

“Louis? Are you there?”

“What do you want from me, Susan?”

“I don’t know. I...” She let out a long breath. “Could you come over?”

“What for?”

“Austin is going to ask me again to come with him. And he’ll do it in front of Ben this time. I know he will. If you’re here,
maybe he won’t. Maybe Ben won’t get upset. Maybe...shit, I don’t know what I’m saying.”

Louis let out a sigh.

“Louis, Austin will do whatever he needs to do to get what he wants. That’s the way he is. This time he wants Benjamin. He doesn’t care if he hurts me to get him.” She paused again. “Would you come over, please?”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea, Susan,” he said.

Silence. “You’re right” she said softly. “I shouldn’t have asked.” And she hung up.

Louis took another drink of beer, his other hand light on
Issy’s back as he looked out over the gulf waters. Maybe he should have told her he would come over. What would it have cost him? An hour of his time? A little discomfort? Why had he said no? Pride? Or was it just not wanting to get into the damn messiness of it all?

The phone rang. Louis ignored it, afraid it was Susan again, or afraid it wasn’t. He wasn’t even sure.

After ten rings, the phone went quiet. He finished the beer. The wind picked up, sending the auger shell wind chime rattling and letting loose a rain of leaves from the sea grapes trees. Louis watched the leaves swirl on the sand. January in South Florida and it felt almost like fall in Michigan.

The phone started ringing again. He counted the rings.
Ten, eleven, twelve. She wasn’t going to give up this time.

He
lowered Issy to the floor and rose, going into the bedroom. He snatched up the receiver.

“Look, Susan
—-”

“Try again, Rocky.”

“Mel?” Louis switched on the lamp and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Hey, when did you get back?”

“This morning.”

“How’d it go?”

“Not great.”

Louis could hear a squeak and he imagined Mel Landeta folding his lanky body into the old Eames chair in his apartment. He waited, knowing it always took Mel a moment or two to get comfortable.

“So what did the doctor say, exactly?” Louis asked.

“He told me to take some vitamin A.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Vitamin A. They think it might slow things down. So I will be seventy when I go blind instead of sixty-five.”

Louis didn’t say anything. Mel
Landeta was his friend, although Louis wasn’t even sure that was the right word for it. How did a man get to be twenty-eight years old and never have a real male friend? He knew the answer. It was the same reason he didn’t want to go over and help Susan tonight. Friendship was messy. It required putting yourself out there.

Mel had retinitis
pigmentosa. He was forty-five with no family, an ex-cop living on disability. He was slowly going blind. Friendship didn’t get much messier than that.

“So
you going to take the vitamins?” Louis asked.

“Why not?
Vitamin A is supposed to help you get woodies. I may not see who I’m screwing but at least she’ll be happy when I’m done.”

Louis laughed. He knew Mel hadn’t had a serious woman in his life for years. Neither had he, for that matter.

“So how’d the big date go?” Mel asked.

“It didn’t”

“What, did she back out on you?”

“Worse, her ex showed up.”

Mel let out a low chuckle. Louis didn’t say anything. He didn’t really want to talk about it, or maybe he did and just didn’t know how. Mel had come over for dinner the night before his appointment with the eye specialist in Miami. Louis had opened up some about Susan, finding comfort in the fact that Mel couldn’t see how his expression changed whenever he mentioned Susan Outlaw. Which was stupid because he knew Mel could hear more in a voice than most people saw in a face.

Louis heard the click of a lighter and the sound of Mel inhaling his cigarette.

“So you gonna tell me what happened?” Mel asked.

“Nothing to tell.
We all had dinner together. It was all very civilized.”

“Until you lunged across the meatloaf and choked the guy.”

“We had steaks.”

Another pause.
The wind was picking up. The screen door squeaked and Issy came running in.

“So what
are you going to do now, Rocky?” Mel asked.

“I don’t know,” Louis said, watching the cat.

“You want me to slip her a note in homeroom for you?”

“Fuck you.”

Mel laughed. “Sorry.”

Louis was quiet, his eyes on
Issy. The cat was stretched out on the terrazzo floor at his feet, meowing and twitching.

“The ex is going back to Australia,” Louis said. “He asked Susan and Ben to go with him.”

“And?”

“She’s going to tell him no.”

“Going to?”

“He’
s leaving tonight.” Louis was watching the cat as it pawed at his feet. “Susan asked me to come over and be there.”

“Just be there?”

“Moral support.”

“What, she afraid of him or something?”

“Not exactly. But he’s...” Louis shifted the phone to his other ear. “He’s her ex. They’ve got a history together.”

It was quiet on the other end of the line.

“Good-looking guy?” Mel asked finally.

“Shit, I don’t know. I guess.”

“Money? Charm? Taller than you?”

“I don’t need this,
Landeta.”

“So
you going over there or not?” Mel asked.

“I told her no.”

“Big mistake, Rocky.”

“Why? Why the hell should I go over there?”

“Defend your turf. Mark your territory. Make your claim. To show her you care, for crissake. Shit, no wonder you never have a date.”

“I have dates.
” Louis stared at Issy. The cat was acting really strange now, writhing on the floor and meowing loudly.

“What the fuck is that noise?” Mel asked.

“My cat.”

“Sounds like you’re strangling it.”

Louis rose off the bed. “She’s in heat. It’s annoying.”

Mel laughed. “Get her a boy cat.”

“Forget that, man. I don’t want kittens.”

“Then you better get her fixed.”

Issy let out a wail like a crying baby.

“The thing’s going nuts. I’ll take her in first thing
tomorrow,” Louis said.

“
What about Susan?” Mel asked.

Louis sat back down on the bed. “So you think I should go over there?”

“Yup. Show her you care. Women like men who do that. You’re already in her head, Rocky. Now you got to get in her heart.”

Louis was quiet
.

“If you don’t go, you’re going to end up in worse shape than that cat
,” Mel said. “I need some sleep. I’ll talk to you later.”

Mel hung up. Louis put the receiver back in the cradle and leaned back against the headboard. The bedroom had turned cold now, the wind whistling between the jalousies. Louis watched
Issy on the floor. She stopped her writhing long enough to look up at him.

“I know how you feel,” he
said.

He rose suddenly and went to the closet
. He grabbed a jacket slipped on some old loafers and snatched up his car keys. With a last look at Issy, he left the bedroom.

Susan was glad to see him. At least it seemed like it from the relieved expression on her face as she opened the door.

“Come in,” she said, holding open the screen door. Louis followed her into the living room. It was warm after
the chill of the outdoors? There was a fire going in the hearth and the TV was on, the volume turned low. The lumpy blue sofa was covered with case files, and Susan’s briefcase was propped open on the coffee table, next to an empty wine glass.

Susan was wearing old jeans with a rip at the knee, a baggy red sweater, and bright pink socks. She started to tidy up the mess on the sofa.

“Sorry, I was working,” she said. “I’ve got a prelim Monday morning. She picked up the wine glass and paused. “I’m drinking pinot. You want some?”

“You got a beer?”

She nodded and went to the kitchen. Louis followed. He noticed the house seemed awfully quiet.

“Where
are Ben and Austin?” he asked.

“They’re not back yet,” Susan said, taking a Heineken from
the refrigerator. “Austin said they were going to lunch at McDonald’s then over to Lakes Park. Ben likes to ride the train there. They probably stopped for ice cream.” She opened the beer and held it out to Louis.

Louis saw her eyes stray to the clock on the wall. She let out a sigh and refilled her wine
glass. When she looked back at Louis, her eyes were dark with worry.

She picked up the wine
glass and left the kitchen. Louis followed her back to the living room. She was sitting on the sofa, staring at the television, elbows on knees, her hands clasping the wine glass. The guy on the TV was talking now about the cold front, standing in front of a big map marked with huge crescents of white moving down from the north toward the Florida peninsula.

“Are they late?” Louis asked.

“Yes...well, no,” Susan said. “Austin told me he has to leave here no later than five-thirty. He has a plane to catch in Miami and it leaves at ten. I saw his ticket. He had tickets for me and Ben, too.”

“He bought tickets before he asked you to go?”

“That’s how he is. He just does things without asking.”

Louis glanced at his watch. It was almost six. He knew it was at least a two-and-a-half hour drive to Miami. He sat down next to Susan, pushing aside a pile of legal briefs.

“He’ll bring him back,” he said.

Susan shook her head slowly. “You don’t know him.”

Louis nodded to the suede coat and hat lying on a chair by the door. “He left his coat and hat.”

“He said it was going to rain and he didn’t want to get it ruined,” she said absently.

“He wouldn’t leave his precious suede coat here, Susan.”

She set the glass down sharply on the coffee table and jumped up, going to the window and pulling back the curtain.

Louis stifled a sigh and turned back toward the television. The type above the talking head said “Body Found in Glades.” With a glance back at Susan, Louis dug the remote out of the cushions and turned up the sound.