Chapter Thirty Four
The days were short, the late-afternoon sun very low on the horizon. Aaron figured it would be ten o’clock when he got home, at least. As he navigated the Tacoma he phoned the first number on the list. The name was Dustin/Mouse.
Dustin had been given a heads-up, as Taylor said he would, and took the call excitedly. He asked if they could get together today or tomorrow. Aaron told him the bad news, that he was heading upstate now. Dustin was dejected, but understood. He wanted to hear the story regardless, even if it meant hearing it over the phone. Aaron said his cell didn’t have great reception up here on the mountain, so he’d call when he got to the bottom. Dustin said if he was still on the mountain, then he should stop by his house on the way upstate, since he lived right off the 210 freeway, which was on the way to interstate 5. Aaron thought he’d regret accepting the invitation, estimated that he wouldn’t get more than a few hours of sleep tonight, but agreed anyway. He took Dustin’s address, said he’d be there within the hour.
When Aaron arrived at the kid’s apartment, he was delighted to find not just one masquerader but two. The girl who was Bunny. Victoria was her name. Aaron recalled speaking to Dustin (Mouse) and Victoria on the patio that fateful night. What he wouldn’t give for ten minutes alone with Catwoman, he had said.
The apartment was a one-bedroom deal and had a permanent smell of cigarette smoke deep in the walls. He was offered drink and food. Aaron was working up an appetite, so he’d take anything easy to make, and whatever to drink.
Victoria sat at the dining table across from Aaron as Dustin put some Pizza Rolls in the oven. He waited for Dustin to join them at the table before getting into the story.
As he retold the story there came a point when he felt the weight of the chain bracelet in his pocket. He fished it out as he spoke of his angelic friend Magdalena. Just as Taylor and company had, these two listened carefully, said not a word.
Aaron set the bracelet on the Formica-topped table as he related in explicit detail the partiers’ brutal murders. Victoria was crying. Dustin was open-mouthed and eyes distant.
He ended the story by saying he’d be there for them if they wanted to talk ever. He thumbed through the jumble of chain and charms, not expecting to find a cross but finding one anyway.
“Well I’ll be…” Aaron breathed.
“What?” Dustin said.
“Do you have any string or thread?”
Dustin had a fishing pole in the closet, and unwound several feet of line, used a Swiss Army knife to sever a piece. Aaron turned the charm into a necklace, handed it to Victoria (a.k.a. Bunny) who accepted it gratefully, put it around her neck.
Aaron was pleased at the sight of Dustin, who wasn’t concealing his eager gaze at the bracelet, looking for another cross.
“You’d like one too?” Aaron asked him.
“Only if you wouldn’t mind,” he replied.
“That was my last cross, sorry.”
“What about that one?” Dustin said and reached across the table and touched at a gilded cross.
Aaron wondered why he should be surprised by it. He was surprised, in spite of himself. He removed the charm and made a necklace for Dustin with another piece of fishing line.
“I used this fishing line to make the whiskers on my mouse mask,” Dustin said as a matter of factly.
“If I could make one suggestion to you two,” Aaron said gingerly. “If you two would go to church next Sunday and give it a try, it would mean the world to me. If you are moved to turn your life over following the sermon, go up to the pastor and accept Christ into your life.”
Aaron expected them to give an excuse and apology, but they didn’t. They nodded.
“Consider the hour spent at church next Sunday as payment for the crosses and my time here tonight.”
Aaron removed the list of names and phone numbers from his pocket and placed it center-table between the three. “If you know anyone who was there that night not on this list, please jot them down with their numbers. I’d like to speak with everyone who was there.”
Dustin pored over the list, said he knew two guys who weren’t on the list who should be, went inside his phone’s Contact List and jotted their info on the paper. Victoria then did the same, added the name and number of Brandy, who was Catwoman.
Aaron left the apartment satisfied with the outcome.
In his truck, still in the parking lot of the apartment complex, he phoned the next person on the list: Andrew (Phantom). Andrew answered, said he’d been looking forward to the phone call for the last few hours, since Taylor had called him with the news. Aaron offered to tell the story over the phone, as he had a long drive ahead of him. Andrew supposed that would be okay, even though he had invited two friends over who were Peacock and Alien. Aaron felt compelled to visit them in person. They lived on campus, which was a ten minute drive from Dustin’s apartment. Fifteen minutes later he was sitting at the edge of a dorm-room bed with three masqueraders standing around him. A fourth masquerader joined their company just after Aaron delved into the story, and that was Butterfly. Butterfly, who had asked Frog to take her upstairs with a cunning grin. She wasn’t that girl tonight. She was reserved, sincere, and full of propriety.
Before leaving he phoned the next name on the list, which had been added by Alien. He stopped reserving hope that he might be able to tell the story over the phone. It was evident these kids wished to be told in person. He’d just miss out on sleep tonight, that’s all. It was a chore well worth the reward.
He took the bracelet from his pocket and unsurprisingly found a cross, a single cross, and asked if anyone had thread. When he left five minutes later, he had made four new cross necklaces and left the dorm room feeling like he was dreaming.
It didn’t occur to Aaron that it wasn’t dark yet outside, though it should have been. He was spending better than an hour at each place, and closer to two hours. At least his next destination wasn’t far. He met with Catwoman in her dorm room, accompanied by Batman and Elephant. He spent only an hour there before heading over to Black Cat’s dorm room, where he spoke to her with her roommate Claire listening in. Halfway through the story Jonathan had showed up and it was slightly awkward for everyone at first, being that Lion and Black Cat hadn’t spoken with one another since that night. But soon all was well, and his message of redemption had taken roots in all three of them. At least he thought it had—they were crying, which is always a good sign.
Aaron had stopped wondering if there would be enough charms to go around. He even offered the gifts before checking the bracelet. He left the room with three less charms on the bracelet.
He made three more stops that evening before having spoken with just about each kid from the party, save for Paul.
The last meeting was done at a fraternity, The Teaks, and done in a room upstairs before three boys. He fashioned three necklaces for them, gave his phone number, and said his goodbyes.
He got in his truck debating whether or not he should call in sick to work tomorrow. That was before he glanced at the digital clock on his dash: 7:10. It was only early evening, an impossibility. Well, an impossibility if you discount the likelihood that God was aiding him. On the yellow piece of paper he made three hash-marks at the top, to go along with the twenty previous hash-marks. Twenty-three hash marks, representing twenty-three necklace charms he had made that day.
As he drove up highway 5 he listened to Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. He had made it over the grapevine and merged onto highway 99, now a good deal away from Los Angeles. He glanced at his clock. 7:16. He laughed aloud, but his eyes weren’t smiling. They were sober and glassy. He was being touched by God.
He wasn’t paying attention to the audio book, so he turned it off and on a whim phoned Brooke Stanwick. He told her everything, left no detail untouched upon. She was thrilled that Pie played a role in all this. She wished she had come down with Aaron, being that everything turned out okay after all.
W
hen Aaron got home he collapsed on his bed, still clothed, fully exhausted and emotionally drained. His alarm clock read 7:35 PM. He set the alarm and fell asleep.