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“We found Danny Vera down at the beach.”
“Okay?”
“Someone jogging found him. He’s dead, Ruth.”
“Dead?” I shake my head from side to side, like I can shake off what he has just said. “I don’t understand.”
I say the words. But I do understand, and everything is coming slowly even though all the information is being delivered at once.
“His parents?” Roy asks, glancing up at the ceiling. “They’re here, right?”
“Yes,” I say. “Upstairs.”
He nods knowingly. “You’d better go wake them.”
I feel sick. At any minute I’m going to be sick. “Do I have to?”
“Yes, Ruth. Unfortunately, you do.”
“Can I have coffee first?” I ask the question as though I am not a free woman in my own home. The words coming out of my mouth do not sound like my own. I do not feel like coffee, but I also do not feel like waking anyone and telling them their son is dead.
“Make it quick.”
I grab a mug—my favorite mug—from the cabinet and fill it with coffee I do not intend on drinking. I just need a moment.
“Ruth,” he says, sternly. “This place is about to be swarmed by people. I’m going to need you to get a move on.”
I take one sip of the black coffee, knowing it’s pointless. Even if I managed to force it down, it wouldn’t stay that way. “Okay,” I tell him, willing my pulse to settle down. “Let me get dressed.”
Roy waits while I throw on a pair of jeans and pull a sweater over my pajama top. When I come back into the kitchen, he’s standing in front of the window, looking out. He turns to me and suddenly he’s not the kid I sat next to in kindergarten, or the boy I kissed in the third grade. He’s all business. “Bring them into the living area and have them sit down.”
Danny Vera’s mother’s wails can be heard from several blocks away. When Roy tells the couple their son has been found dead, she first turns to her husband. Her mouth is poised to speak, although words do not come.
She sinks from the couch to her knees. Her expression morphs from shock to despair, and then she screams. It’s guttural and horrific, the kind of sound you know you’re never going to forget. I hadn’t woken her daughter or her son-in-law, or any of the other members of the family. I realize now this was a mistake. There’s no way they’re sleeping through this, and it’s not a very pleasant way for them to find out.
Mr. Vera holds his wife, and as he rocks stoically back and forth, Roy rattles off a series of questions. “Did Danny have any medical issues?”
Mr. Vera shakes his head.
“Did he mention he was going down to the beach? Was he a runner?”
No. And not really.
“How much had he had to drink? Did he have a history of drug use?”
It’s around this time his sister appears, sleepy-eyed and disheveled. She requested a 7:00 a.m. wake-up call so as not to miss their honeymoon flight. This is not the wake-up call she expected, and I feel terrible for her. Memories of her wedding will always be marked by tragedy.
I can’t imagine losing one of my brothers.
Speaking of, Johnny is the first to come to my aid. He’s in his fire department gear. He looks exhausted, but his presence brings a certain sense of calm. I haven’t given any thought about what is to come next, not until Ashley enters the room, with Davis just a few steps behind her. They look at me, their faces full of questions. They don’t know what’s going on, other than it isn’t good and that’s when Mrs. Vera changes, like in the movie The Exorcist. She goes from a grieving mother to looking like that little girl with her head spinning round and round in an instant. It shocks everyone when she points at Davis, even Roy, and nothing surprises him. She extends her arm all the way out.
“You!” she shouts, as spittle flies from her lips and snot bubbles from her nose. “This is all your fault!”
Ashley looks stricken, and Davis’s expression is marred in surprise. “You humiliated my son!”
Her husband tries to calm her. He smooths her hair, whispering vacant words into her ear, but it doesn’t work. She is hell-bent on getting out what she has to say. “You assaulted Danny,” she says, with a level of venom I’m not sure I’ve ever seen. “And now he’s dead.”
“What?” Davis asks, looking at me.
