No Wonder People Start Smoking Again.
A short story about murder.
“I don’t believe in collective guilt, but I do believe in collective responsibility.” Audrey Hepburn
Stu and Faron were outside smoking. Neither of them smoked. “Thirty years without a fag,” Faron said. He blew the smoke upwards without inhaling. Stu did the same. They’d just gotten home from the police station. A girl was dead, their sons were being accused — or at least questioned. So were Charlie and Artie’s boys. Who wouldn’t smoke given the circumstances?
The previous week, their sons had been riding their bikes out by the spit. They saw a girl on the rocks. They claimed they didn’t talk to her, even signing a statement to that effect.
Stu took a cigarette and then handed the pack to Faron.
After the interview with the police, Stu and Faron brought their son’s home. They fed them, put them to bed, then met in their shared driveway. Lynn’s cigarettes were on the window ledge. Lynn was Stu’s wife. Stu took a cigarette and then handed the pack to Faron. It was a clear summer’s night.
“Terry’s never even kissed a girl,” Faron said.
“I doubt Donny has, either,” Stu replied.
They’d known each other all their lives, all four men, their wives, their kids. The men worked at the Spalding Electrical Plant. It was the only going concern in town. They went to the same little league games, church socials, Christmas recitals.
Now they were smoking cigarettes between their houses.
“What are we going to do?” Faron asked Stu.
“We should have a meeting or something,” Stu said. “I can have a word with Charlie tomorrow. You talk to Artie.”
The next day, they all agreed to get together. When their shift ended, they went home, showered, and gathered over at Faron’s place. The wives had made iced tea and put out donuts. Charlie was doing most of the talking at first. He was a big man, his son, Flip, was big, too. As far as Charlie was concerned, Maynard, the chief of police, seemed to focus on Flip.
“Focus on what?” Artie said. “They didn’t do anything.”
Artie was an accountant. Everything with him had to be logical, had to add up. What was happening with his son didn’t make sense. A thirteen year old boy? What the hell was Maynard insinuating? The boys weren’t even interested in girls.
“He’s just doing his job,” Stu said. “It wasn’t him, anyway.”
“You’re right, it was Hickey,” Charlie said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. Hickey was the deputy chief. “See the way he kept hooking his thumbs in his belt? If he thinks this is gonna make him the next police chief, he’s got another thing coming.”
“A kid, for cryin’ out loud. Sure, he was nervous. Wouldn’t you be? Making out like he was a rapist or something.”
“You should’ve heard the way he was grilling my Stephen,” Artie said. “A kid, for cryin’ out loud. Sure, he was nervous. Wouldn’t you be? Making out like he was a rapist or something.”
“I don’t think he was saying that,” Stu said. “He just thought the bruises and contusions on the girl were unusual.”
“She probably slipped and fell,” Charlie said. “Remember the Nickelson’s kid? She drowned out there. Who said anything about rape or murder then? She drowned. Case closed.”
“What do you expect in that water?” Faron said. “Currents, rocks — tides, for chrissake. How does murder enter into it?”
“Is that what Hickey was inferring?” Lynn asked.
“Seemed like that to me,” Charlie said.
“Damn right,” Artie said. “Just the implication — ”
“To hell with Hickey,” Charlie said. “Maynard too. The body’s been in the water too long. It’s accidental drowning at best.”
On the way out the door, Charlie said it was good they got together. You learned who your friends were, he said.
Funny thing, though. There was no missing person’s report at first. Then something came in about a missing girl. Her parents had been away, the grandparents were taking care of her. They were old, forgetful, possibly drinkers. They thought she was staying with friends. The parents called as soon as they got back.
She’d just turned fourteen, and was always wandering off. She’d also been in numerous fights.
Being summer, the school administration wasn’t around to check class lists. Hickey had to call the principal back from his vacation. After talking with him, he learned the girl was from the next town over, but had gone to his school the previous summer for remedial learning. She’d just turned fourteen, and was always wandering off. She’d also been in numerous fights.
The boys were brought in again, each interviewed separately with their fathers present. Donny said she was way out by the lighthouse. Terry said he was too busy trying to get the chain back on his bike to notice. The other boys talked the same way.
Then Charlie’s boy, Flip, said they might’ve talked to her.
“Where?” Hickey asked.
“On the spit,” Flip replied.
“Why didn’t you tell us this before?” Charlie said to his son.
“Let me ask the questions,” Hickey said to him.
Hickey sat on the table next to Flip.
“So you talked to her,” Hickey said.
“Donny called her a name,” Flip said. “She got mad.”
“What do you mean she got mad?” Hickey asked.
“She slapped him and ran towards the lighthouse.”
“You boys chased her?”
“Donny did more than us,” Flip said. “She was climbing over the rocks and kinda disappeared.”
“What do you mean, kinda disappeared?”
“Donny said she was hiding.”
“How did she go from hiding to being in the water?”
“I don’t know,” Flip said.
“You sure Donny didn’t push her?”
“Stop hounding the boy, Hickey,” Charlie said. “Go talk to Donny, for crying out loud. He was the one chasing her.”
“I’m asking your son,” Hickey said. “What happened, Flip?”
“We left,” Flip shrugged. “Terry wanted to go home.”
Maynard had been sitting there the whole time. He took his coffee cup out in the hall. When he came back, he told Charlie and Flip they could leave. He called Stu and Donny in next. He said he’d take it from there. Hickey wasn’t happy about that. On his way out, he murmured, “They’re hiding something, boss.”
He closed his eyes and opened them again. “What name did you call that girl exactly, Donny?”
Maynard eased himself down across from Stu and Donny. He was a year away from retirement. He closed his eyes and opened them again. “What name did you call that girl exactly, Donny?”
“Just something stupid,” Donny said.
“Something that made her pretty mad, according to Flip,” Maynard said. “She slapped you, you chased her. Correct?”
“I guess,” Donny said, looking at his hands.
“You told the other boys she was hiding. Usually when someone hides, you want to find out where. Especially if they just slapped you. Are you sure you didn’t push her?”
“She could’ve slipped on her own,” Stu said.
“Is that what happened, Donny?” Maynard asked.
“I heard a splash, I think.”
“Why didn’t you go see? If she fell in the water, you could’ve gotten the life preserver from the lighthouse.”
“Terry wanted to leave.”
“They didn’t know for sure she’d fallen,” Stu said.
“Maybe,” Maynard said. “Thing is, I don’t think so. Do you, Donny? Give it some thought. I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”
“That’s it?” Stu said. “We can go?”
“For now,” Maynard said.
Hell, he’d known those boys all their lives, coached them, drove them home from games sometimes.
He got up and hiked his pants. He put his empty coffee cup in the garbage. He felt light-headed. Ever since the girl washed up on the beach, he’d felt lousy as hell. He hadn’t slept. Hell, he’d known those boys all their lives, coached them, drove them home from games sometimes. Now this had to happen.
That night, Maynard was still in his office. Hickey was out in the other room doing the paperwork. He came to Maynard’s door. “I told you something wasn’t right,” he said.
“You did at that,” Maynard said.
Across town, Stu was standing in the driveway, smoking another of Lynn’s cigarettes. He had a bad headache. Faron came outside and stood next to him. He took a cigarette as well. They blew smoke upwards, not inhaling, looking at the moon.
“Helluva thing,” Faron said. “No wonder people start smoking again. What’s gonna happen?”
“No idea,” Stu said. “Maynard’s a sneaky bugger when he wants to be. He’s sure they’re involved somehow.”
“I just can’t believe it,” Faron said. “They’re just boys.”
They finished their cigarettes and went back in their respective houses. Stu brushed his teeth and got into bed next to his wife. She didn’t say anything at first. Then she rolled over and looked at him. “Did Donny do it?” she asked.
“Maynard seems to think so,” he said.
“Can he be charged?”
“Damn right he can be charged. They all can for lying.”
This time he inhaled, taking the smoke deep in his lungs.
He rolled on his side, pulling the pillow over his head. Twenty minutes later, he got up again. He went downstairs, put the kettle on, then looked out the window. No lights were on at Faron’s place. That was good, he didn’t want to talk to him again. Going outside, he took a cigarette from Lynn’s pack. This time he inhaled, taking the smoke deep in his lungs. He did that again and again until the cigarette was finished. When he reached for another one, the pack was empty. That made him feel even worse.
