Vic sat down on the edge of the table and pursed his lips in thought. He leaned down close to Pete’s ear and said, “I’ve got to be honest with you, Uncle Petey. You aren’t getting out. You aren’t ever getting out. You’re going to die in prison, after the inmates all take turns with you.”
Pete looked at him and laughed slightly, “Don’t say that. Of course I’m not. This is all a misunderstanding.”
“It’s true,” Vic said. “And unfortunately, your wife is going to have a stroke, because the only people you could have asked to help her won’t do it now. They hate you, because you raped their daughter, Pete. You raped their little girl, and now you are going to die in prison, and your wife is going to walk with a limp and talk funny forever. She’s going to say, ‘Muh muh muh hubbin is in pwison an ah’m a cwipple now’ because of you.”
Pete looked down at his handcuffs and muttered something.
“What’s that, Uncle Petey?” Vic said. “Speak up.”
“I said you are an evil person and God will deal with you someday soon.”
“Yeah,” Vic said. “That’s what I thought you said. You’re probably right.”
12
They handed Pete Lamia over to the corrections officers at the prison and walked out of the secured gate toward their car. Headlights appeared on the access road, coming their way. Both men squinted to see as the driver of the car pulled up to the visitor’s parking lot and parked. Two people got out.
“Unbelievable,” Vic said.
Beth’s father came out of the vehicle and went around the passenger side. He opened the door and helped Eris Lamia out of the car. Her glare pierced Vic even from across the dark distance of the parking lot. He could see she was cursing him.
“How did she know he was coming to the prison?” Vic said.
Frank scraped the cement step with the sole of his shoe, “She was sitting in the lobby and I told her if he didn’t come home, this is where he would be. I felt bad for her. She didn’t ask for any of this.”
“Neither did Beth.” Vic walked down the steps toward the car, staring at the two of them as they approached. The old woman’s eyes glittered in defiance, but Mr. Lamia only looked at the ground.
Vic turned down the car’s stereo and pulled out his cellphone. He dialed his wife’s phone and it rang once before going straight to voicemail. “It’s me again. I’ve been trying to call the kids all night. Please stop dumping my calls. I just want to talk to them.”
Frank looked out the window at the passing cars, trying to not intrude. He waited for Vic to close his phone and put it in his pocket before he said, “Maybe they’re out?”
“Not this late at night. She’s doing this to me to pay me back for missing my night with them. God knows what she’s telling them.” He looked at the car’s clock and grunted, then made a left hand turn into a shopping center. “Give me a minute, I’ll be right back.”
Vic parked the car in the fire lane outside of a liquor store and got out. He jogged into the store and went toward the far wall, out of sight. He returned to the counter with a bottle of whiskey and a smile for the annoyed-looking cashier. Frank lowered himself in the seat to keep from being seen and pulled out his phone. He pressed one button and waited for it to ring. “Hey, hon,” he said. “Yeah, we’re on our way back to the station now. I’ll be home soon. How are the girls?”
Frank picked up his car keys from his desk as Vic sat down. His eyes were red and half-lidded and his skin two shades too pale. “You staying late again?”
“Somebody’s got to get the reports on this done,” Vic said. “Anyway, I need all the overtime I can get this month. I’m going broke paying a mortgage and a rent.”
“Yeah, but you worked all night last night and haven’t been to bed yet. You need to get some sleep. It isn’t healthy.”
Vic tapped the bottle of whiskey and said, “I’ll sleep just fine, don’t you worry about it.” He turned to face the computer and started typing.
“Hey,” Frank said. “Are you okay?”
Vic did not stop typing. “I’m fine. Go home.”
“Why don’t you take the day off tomorrow and relax?”
“Why don’t you get the hell out of here and stop distracting me?”
Frank said okay, and got up to leave. He stopped at the door and turned back to say something, decided against it, and kept walking.
Dawn was waiting for him at the dinner table. A pair of soft pajamas and slippers were sitting on one of the chairs. A plate of spaghetti with thick meatballs sat on the placemat. Red wine filled the glass next to the plate. “What’s all this?” he said.
“Dinner. I figured you’d be hungry. Take off your clothes and get comfy.”
Frank smiled and thanked her. He kissed her on the cheek and unbuttoned his shirt. “Are the girls asleep?”
Dawn nodded, then produced two pages of scribbled crayon drawings. “They made these for you for when you got home.”
Frank took the pages and looked at them, feeling something hard in his throat. Dawn asked him what was wrong, but he shook his head and undid his tie.
The car tires slammed against the curb as he slid sideways into a spot and threw it into park. He staggered out of the car and looked down at the fresh white scraps along the tire’s black finish and said, “Fuck it.”
The lights were off inside the house.
Vic walked up to the front door and jammed the doorbell. No answer. He banged on the aluminum screen door until a light turned on upstairs. Danni moved the window shades to peek down. He waved for her to come on.
She pounded down the steps and threw the locks open but did not open the screen door. “What the hell are you doing? It’s two o’clock in the morning.”
“You didn’t answer the phone. I thought something was wrong.”
She glared at him through the glass, “You’re drunk!”
Vic smiled stupidly and said, “So what? I wanted to check on my children before I went home. That’s how much I love them, Danni. No matter what you fucking say, I love them that much.”
“Get the hell away from my house,” Danni said. She moved to shut the interior door when Vic grabbed the screen door’s handle and shook it violently. Danni smiled viciously and said, “I got a new lock for it.”
“Open the fucking door,” Vic snarled.
“I will call the police if you don’t leave.”
Vic kicked the aluminum frame so hard it dented. “I will break this fucking thing to pieces if you don’t open it, God damn it. I want to see my fucking children.”
A second light came on downstairs and Vic heard his son say, “Mom? Are you okay?”
“Call 911 and tell them your father is trying to break in and kill me!”
“No, I’m not!” Vic shouted. He pressed flat against the door to look in, “Jason! Jason! Don’t listen to her! Let me see them, Danni!”
“You will never see them again, you son of a bitch.” Danni slammed the door shut and locked it as Vic went wild trying to tear the screen door’s handle off.
He kicked the glass and it shattered around his boot. “You fucking bitch, give me my kids!”
Porch lights appeared from the houses surrounding them. Vic turned to face the neighbors as they came to their front doors, looking out at him. There were sirens in the distance.
Vic dug his hand into his coat pocket for his wallet and held it up in the air, his badge reflecting in the blue and red lights heading toward him. There was movement in the window above and Vic glanced up, seeing two small silhouettes pressed against the glass looking down at him.