Chapter Sixteen
From The Blue and White blog:
WIPER’S HOME!!!
Here at The Blue and White, we’re always grateful to our sources(who don’t have to worry about getting blown up at a funeral home) for bringing us the hottest, most current, craptastic events going on at East Marine High School. The Blue and White is back in business (a bullet couldn’t keep us down), so let’s start with Wiper Bones and her buddies, including Detective Woodpecker and Bobbyholdsherpurse.
Come to find out, the trio behind the reveal of the Marine Sniper, alias Timothy Union, the former Prince of The Church of Mankind (see previous post about The Wacky Cult That Came To Marine). All three were digging into the story, including Wiper from her cruise ship (rich bitch). Actually, Winter Storm Chuck provided help, but Union’s killer is still a mystery, the Marine PD and the FBI not taking any credit. A masked avenger? More like an avenging Diamond, if you ask me. But I’m sure the families of Waylon Johnson, Danny Brooks, Brad and Tyler Jensen, and Brian Dodd, the victim at the gas station, are somewhat satisfied to see Union shot like a rabid dog in the street. Five lives taken because some guy couldn’t handle his wife leaving him. Was that the reason? Would she have been his last victim? She’s left town, as did the boy who lived with Union at Lakeshore Apartments. The police have talked to his parents in Oregon and all roads lead to The Church of Mankind. The cops looked through Union’s belongings, but found very little, except a photo of him and his father, the prophet.
The explosion at Fletcher Brothers Funeral Home is another mystery. A vendetta between The Diamonds and Saxons? But Roy Beauchamp, a Saxon, was among the victims. But the cops are almost convinced that the sniper had nothing to do with it. The investigation continues, while the surrounding neighbors are still picking motorcycle parts out of their yards. Of course, The Diamonds aren’t talking.
Things at school have calmed down, but security is still tight. Nobody knows what to do or say. We just do what we’re told, feeling numb and stupid, sort of like Jessica Holden. Poor Jess. Whatever her cocktail is, it’s got her passing out in the supply closet in the gym with the soccer balls and volleyball nets. Since Jabba the Dealer doesn’t sell on campus, and no one will narc on him, he stays in business. Some say he deals to the school staff, too.
Anyway, good riddance to the sniper and hello to the return of the gay kids, the drug addicts, and the low standard of life. Some things never change, like waiting another six weeks for spring. Somebody needs to shoot that groundhog.
“Good skiing weather,” Piper said.
“I’ve never skied a day in my life,” Sonya said.
Piper, Sonya, and Bobby were walking through Four Winds Mall, an Orange Julius in each hand.
Sonya and Bobby were grateful for a Saturday out. The mall was busy, the food court full, kids playing in the Jungle Gym.
“I went skiing with Piper once,” Bobby said. “I twisted my ankle and spent the rest of the weekend by the fireplace. Hey, Piper, weren’t there any girls on that cruise?”
“The gays were all over eighteen, I think. Mostly couples, some with kids. I fell in love with St. Croix. Here, let me show you pictures.”
Piper pulled out her phone. The three friends sat at a bench while Piper showed the photos she took of the beautiful beaches and sites at St. Croix and the other Virgin Islands.
Sonya looked away for a moment, at people shopping and eating. Talking and laughing. She wondered if any of them thought about someone like Timothy Union walking in and opening fire.
Are they afraid, but pretending not to be? she thought. How do you keep it out of your mind?
“Sonya?” Bobby asked. “You want to walk over the big Goodwill Store?”
Sonya didn’t answer, still looking out. Bobby put his arm around her. She turned her gaze back to her friends.
“We can’t let guys like Timothy Union or Kyle Stone get to us,” Bobby said. “I mean, Toon was pointing a gun at me, but I don’t want to be scared all the time.”
“Right,” Piper said. “Why should they take away our fun? Forget ‘em for a while.”
“All right,” Sonya said. “But first, Dad wants me to price the mailboxes at Target. And shovels. And salt.”
Bobby tried to talk about Archie to his mother and, although Delia agreed with Archie’s details about her ex-husband’s relationship with a woman named Marie, she didn’t have much to say, not wanting to talk about the past. However, Piper had been fascinated by Bobby having another half-brother. He told her everything he knew, but Bobby would learn more when he received a letter from Archie weeks later, postmarked Nashville, Tennessee:
Dear Bobby
I knew I could send an e-mail, but I like writing on paper, and there were a few more things I wanted to tell you.
First, I want to thank you for helping me. I made the decision to leave before that Toon guy even showed up. I had a feeling Tim was going to get caught, but didn’t know he would die.
I wanted to meet you ever since our dad had told me about you. I had always felt lonely, but I sort of had a feeling I had a brother out there. In The Church of Mankind, past-life regression is part of fulfilling The Mission. I had been taken back many times since the age of ten. In one of these memories, I had a brother, but he became very sick and died. The lamps were gaslights, the house was big, paintings on the walls. Another life, and we were soldiers, wearing dark blue uniforms and caps. The Civil War? Another life, and we spoke a different language, like Spanish, maybe Portuguese. A ship on the ocean. Maybe we were sailors. The ship went down and we died. Another ship, and we were very hungry and sick. We died out there. Sometimes we were together, sometimes apart. But we always knew the other existed.
I’m very sorry about the things Tim has done. I didn’t know he would go so far. He was always kind to me, if remote. He never told me stories about Kuwait, when he was a Marine. I bumped into Annie at the Greyhound station in Detroit. She told me she was going to Canada. She gave me some money. By then, she knew Tim was dead. She could have gone home, but I think she’s too scared.
I’m staying at a shelter for runaways in Nashville. No one knows my real name here. I walk around. Nashville is also known as Music City. Everyone carries a guitar and writes songs. It’s lonely, but I don’t want to go home. When I turn eighteen, maybe I can visit you in Marine. I can meet your friends. Another life as brothers. Around and around, like a circle. If The Church taught me anything, it is patience. In the meantime, I’ll pray for us both because I think God hears all prayers. That’s what I would like to think, so I know I’ll survive.
Love, Archie.
THE END
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About the author:
Laura A. Ellison was born and raised in Muskegon, Michigan. She is a graduate of Grand Valley University, where she majored in English, her emphasis in creative writing. She is also the author of The Last Girl (also featuring Sonya Neslund and friends), Karma House, Consumed, Blood In Trust, Time Immortal, Blood Bonds, A Foreign Body, and The Witch Box.
Connect with Laura on-line:
website: https://spiritimmortal.weebly.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EllisonLaura
Facebook: https://facebook.com/laura.ellison.90
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