My White Hero (5 page)

“
I have to go down at the station. They want to take my statement,” she said. Rochelle frowned.

“
You have to go to the emergency room first, or don’t you feel the blood oozing from your head wound?” she asked. Desiree suddenly became aware of her headache. “You wouldn’t let the paramedics touch you,” Rochelle added. Desiree had no idea what she was talking about. She could not recall a time when she refused medical attention. She looked into Rochelle’s eyes.

“
Bring them now. I am headed straight to the precinct after this,” Desiree said. Rochelle nodded and signaled one of the guys from the ambulance.

“
Finally the hothead is calm,” Rochelle said as the young man approached them. He smiled.

“
It was probably the aftermath of the trauma,” the man said. “Okay, miss, my name is Patrick and I will examine your wound now,” he said with a smile. She looked at him and nodded. She closed her eyes as she felt him slowly touching her, gently wiping off the blood. “Seems like a minor blunt force trauma but I would still want you to go to the emergency room before anything else,” he said.

“
Told you so,” Rochelle said.

“
But you said it’s mild,” Desiree said wincing a little when she felt Patrick place an antiseptic soaked cotton ball on her wound.

“
Yes but we have to be sure. Sometimes something small may be something so big that we overlooked it,” he said. “Just go in and have a CT scan, to be on the safe side,” he added with a smile. Desiree groaned and closed her eyes again.

“
Fine,” she said stubbornly. She knew when and how to pick her battles and this was one of those she was sure she would not win. She felt Rochelle put her hand in hers as Patrick bandaged her up.

“
There, all set,” he said before he packed up his first aid box. He smiled and then stood up. “You will be fine,” he said before he walked away to the ambulance. Desiree looked at him and then at Rochelle. A tear rolled down her cheek. If Larry Davenport was who Tony made him out to be then Taylor probably had no chance. She knew that the rich man had everything in his pocket: the police department, the legal system and there was Taylor who had nothing at all in this world. The only thing that stood out for him was the fact that he once fought for his country and she was sure that would not go very far in his defense. She was between a rock and a hard place as she was sure he was. Her statement would be a far cry from exonerating Taylor but she would play her part.

“
Come on, Tony will drive us to the station,” Rochelle said as she helped her sister to her feet. Desiree smiled in appreciation and began walking towards the car where Cynthia and Tony were waiting. The ride to the station was short and quiet. No one had anything to say. As soon as they got to the station, Tony and Desiree were led inside while Rochelle and Cynthia were told to wait.

“
Why don’t we get to go in with them?” Rochelle wondered out loud.

“
Because they were in closest proximity to the incident. We were just mere spectators from a distance,” Cynthia said as they looked at their loved ones disappear in the distance.

In the interrogation rooms, Desiree, Tony and Taylor were separated, none of them knowing what the other was doing. All the three of them knew was that Larry Davenport had decided to press charges against Taylor for assault and if he had his way, Taylor was looking at serving time.

Desiree looked up when the door to her interrogation room opened. She saw a woman walk in and take a seat in front of her.

“
Miss Young, I’m detective Jones. I’m here to take your statement,” she said. Desiree could not help but notice just how lovely the woman was. She looked young enough to pass off as a woman in her late teens or early twenties. Her flawless skin and long luxurious red hair made Desiree think that she could probably do a great job at vice or undercover police work. “Miss Young?” the detective said snapping Desiree back to reality.

“
I’m sorry. It’s been a long night,” Desiree said. The detective smiled.

“
I understand,” she said. “As we said before, you are not under arrest but if you need your lawyer here, then I would not object,” she said. Desiree shook her head.

“
I’m okay, just get one for Ericson,” she said. The detective looked at her.

“
Taylor Ericson?” she asked. Desiree nodded. “I think that has already been done,” she added.

“
Thank you,” Desiree said as her gaze fell.

“
Well, Miss Young…” Desiree shook her head cutting her short.

“
Desiree. No one ever calls me Miss Young,” she said. The detective smiled.

“
Very well, Desiree. This interview is going to be recorded so anything you say will go a long way in helping this case,” she said. Desiree nodded. “Okay, tell me what happened, from your point of view,” the detective said. Desiree took a long deep breath.

“
We were going out to celebrate my cousin’s homecoming, she has been in a sort of a dark place lately,” she started.

‘
What do you mean dark place?” the detective asked.

“
Her fiancé was…is…in the marines and he has been MIA for the longest time. There has been no news of his whereabouts or at least a body. Every day for her is a struggle, a prayer that she will hear something from him or about him. Three weeks ago, we found out that he served with Ericson and that even his battalion had no idea of what had become of him. This was too much for her. All she had was hope but when that was stripped away, she was just…” a tear rolled down her cheek as she looked for the right words. “Anyway, she was gone for three weeks and she just came back two days ago. We wanted to make this a big deal so we went to the Crooked Bar,” she continued.

“
What happened next?” Detective Jones asked.

“
When we got there, there was a long queue and Larry Davenport was at the front of the line but he was not going in. He was pretty loud and was calling a lot of attention to himself. Tony wanted to just go straight to one of the club bouncers but he thought it would be better to stand in line,” Desiree said.

“
Tony? Anthony DeLuca?” Detective Jones asked. Desiree nodded. She found it weird calling him Anthony. They had never called him that, let alone Anthony DeLuca. His full names were much too formal. “How do you know Mr. DeLuca?” the detective asked.

“
He is my sister Rochelle’s boyfriend,” Desiree said quickly.

“
Go on.”

“
So, as it turned out, Tony and Larry knew each other from the past and by the way Tony was talking, Larry was nothing but bad news. So, as we walked past him, Larry started talking, yelling actually,” Desiree said and then looked up. The detective looked back at her.

“
What was he saying?” she asked.

“
Disrespectful, profane things. Calling us hot pieces of ass and how he would like to be a part of the threesome,” Desiree said as she felt her cheeks flush.

“
Threesome?” Detective Jones asked looking at Desiree.

“
Well, Ericson was holding me and Cynthia as we walked past him and Rochelle was right behind us, just in front of Tony. So, Tony decided to talk to him as Ericson took us to a safe distance but from where we stood we could see Larry intimidating Tony, standing close to him and occasionally pushing him. Tony remained still but Rochelle, she is a hotheaded young girl, always has been. She started talking about going over and giving Larry quote unquote what he really deserved and she would have. Rochelle did four years of judo in high school so I knew she could have if I had let her but that would also mean legal fees. So I did what any big sister would have done. I pulled her away and told her I would talk some sense into Larry and come back later,” she explained.

“
So what did you do? Did you fling yourself at Larry?” the detective asked. Desiree shook her head.

“
No! I only wanted to talk to him, make sure we all left that place or at least go to another club altogether. But I think Larry was startled or something because when I touched him he just freaked out and the next thing I knew my ears were ringing and I was on the floor. Ericson was merely acting out of anger, seeing me hurt and everything…” her voice trailed off again as a tear rolled down her cheek. “He would never hurt anyone,” she added as she looked at the detective.

“
You do know your boyfriend served as a sergeant, right? Hurting people is what he does for a living,” the detective said. Desiree felt a surge of anger go through her.

“
Well, Larry Davenport is not one of those people his country ordered him to strike,” she said surprising herself at her tone. Her voice was no longer shaking like it was a few moments earlier. The detective switched off the recorder and looked at Desiree.

“
Well, give me all that in writing,” she said giving her a pen and a notepad. Desiree never really understood why they would want an oral and written statement while one of them would suffice. She nodded, took the pen and started writing. When she was done, she handed he detective the paper and then leaned back. “Thank you very much Desiree. If we have any more questions we will be sure to call,” the detective said as she stood up.

“
I can go now?” Desiree asked. The detective nodded. “What about Ericson? What is going to happen to him?” she asked. The detective looked at her sadly.

“
Unfortunately Larry Davenport was taken to hospital. His injuries were a bit severe and Ernest Davenport, his father has decided to press charges,” she said. Desiree felt herself panic.

“
Why? Davenport was  the one at fault. Ericson was merely defending me,” she said as she stood up.

“
I’m sorry, Desiree but I can’t tell you anything more. All I can promise is that I will do everything I can,” the detective said as she stood at the door.

Desiree fell back in her chair and cried. This was what she had been afraid of all along. For Taylor to pay for something she did. “You can wait at the reception desk,” the detective said. Desiree stood up and walked out of the interrogation room. She had only spent a couple of hours in the interrogation room but it seemed longer than that. She was still crying when she got to where Rochelle and Cynthia were. They both stood up and walked towards her.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong? What did they tell you?” Cynthia asked. Rochelle looked  at her.

“
Dee, talk to us,” she said.

“
Larry’s father is pressing charges against Ericson. I don’t know what is going to happen,” Desiree said.

“
It’s going to be okay. Taylor has nothing to worry about. He was only trying to protect you,” Cynthia said.

“
I know but it is Davenport he is up against and I have watched enough movies to know that he who has the money has the judge and the cops on his side,” Desiree said. “I’m scared,” she said in a whisper. Rochelle held her close and ran her hand up and down her back.

“
We’ll find a way to help him,” she said just as Ernest Davenport began walking towards them.

“
Heads up guys. I think that’s Larry’s dad,” Cynthia said as they looked at a tall man in an expensive suit walking towards them. Desiree could not help but notice his shiny Rolex.

“
So you are the people responsible for putting my son in hospital?” he asked as he approached them. Desiree pulled away from Rochelle and looked at him. “Do you know the trouble you have caused?” he asked. Rochelle rolled her eyes.

“
Maybe if you had raised him better, this would not have happened, Rochelle said. Ernest looked at her in disbelief.

“
What did you just tell me? Do you know who you are talking to?” he asked.

“
Yes, Ernest Davenport,” she said looking at him. Desiree tugged at her hand in an attempt to make her shut up. “Apart from that you are just a man like any other,” she said.

“
Rochelle, watch your tongue,” Cynthia said.

“
You should listen to your friend. She seems wiser,” Ernest said.

“
Well, one she is my cousin and two, anyone seems wiser to you. After all you have that bonehead son,” Rochelle said.

“
Rochelle, that’s enough,” Desiree said angrily. She could not handle another person she loved getting in trouble. She already had her plate full.

“
I think everyone in your family is wiser than you are because if you knew just how unbearable I can make your life, you would be bending over backwards asking me to drop the charges,” he said. Rochelle rolled her eyes again.

“
Yeah whatever. The likes of you always resort to your money in situations like this while the truth is that without that money you are nothing,” she said just as Detective Jones walked into the reception, Tony and Taylor following close behind. Rochelle’s look softened when she saw Tony. She pushed past Ernest and threw her arms around Tony as Taylor did the same to Desiree.