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.""False imprisonment? Isn't that like when a store security cop holds some guy for stealing clothes he didn't steal? We were tied up, dragged out of our room, transported.They threatened to kill us!""The transportation clause isn't valid on the reservation either, and they say nobody threatened your life."I was holding the phone, feeling a deep sense of frustration.Westfall heaved a deep sigh."The Indian prosecutor has already accepted the false-imprisonment charges.It's a misdemeanor, so the fine will be around ten grand.If I'm ever arrested for killing my wife, hire Gerry Spence to represent me," he groaned.After I hung up, I went to our bedroom and sat down heavily on the bed.I told Alexa what had just happened, and she came over to sit beside me.She took me into her arms and held me close.But there was very little she could do to comfort me.An hour later, I was in bed, but couldn't sleep.I was looking at the ceiling, thinking about Eugene C.Mesa and how much alike we were.Neither of us knew who our parents were.I'd found out that Mesa wasn't his real name either.He'd picked it because he needed an identity and was a Mesa Indian.A nurse at the hospital where I was left as an infant had picked my name for me.She chose it because she was a Dodger fan and loved Vin Scully.Mesa and I had walked the same hallways at Huntington House as nine-year-olds.We'd both kneeled in the sand with Pop waiting for the sun to rise so we could "go catch some, bruddah."Half my life, like E.C.Mesa, I'd also been feeding the wrong wolf, and that wolf had almost beaten me.But then Alexa and Chooch had entered my life and everything changed.As I lay there, I remembered that I'd seen Walt at our wedding and spoken to him briefly that day.Something quick and meaningless."How you doing, man? I'm stoked you came." I'd not bothered to thank him for keeping me alive so I could make it from Huntington House to my wedding dav.Walt had never known Alexa.Not really.But he could see how-she had made the difference for me and it made him happy.He had been there for me when it counted, but I had failed to repay the favor.I had left all of this unfinished.I looked at the ceiling and waited for him to whisper down that it was okay.That I had at least made the effort.That I had done my best.He didn't speak.He didn't relieve my burden, but I could feel him up there.Watching.Waiting.PART 2TomorrowChapter 62It was two hours before dawn.I was out behind the house at 4:00 A.M., wiping down my old short board.I'd painted Walt S crest logo on the nose twenty years earlier when I'd first bought it.The board was yellow and red, but over the years had become badly scratched.One of the three fins had a small piece missing.I didn't have any surf wax, but I was sure one of the group would bring some this morning.My broken arm was fortified by ibuprofen but ached slightly as I loaded the bat tail into the back of the MDX and then stuck my head inside the house."Come on, Alexa.We gotta go."She hurried out carrying a cooler and put it in the back of the SUV.We pulled out and headed toward Seal Beach.I had envisioned this day very differently.I'd never considered that we would fail.Alexa sat quietly beside me.She knew I was churning inside.We pulled into the lot at 9th Street, a block down from the Seal Beach pier.I parked beside Vicki s blue Toyota Camry.Sabass yellow pickup with the flame job was already there, and Seriana s green van was two spaces away.We got out and unloaded the car.I handed Alexa the cooler, then pulled my board out of the back.We walked through the predawn mist to the sand about forty yards away.I could see the three of them gathered in the dark, kneeling in the sand, each holding a surfboard, waiting for the sun to appear.Next to Sabas was a decorative urn that held Walt's ashes.Someone had brought flowers.Rose petals in four glassine bags.Hang Six sat in a portable cage in the sand at Vicki's side."Hey hapa haole, guy.Whatta matta you?" the parrot screeched loudly at me as I kneeled beside them."Where'd you find him?" I asked."Animal control.I'm taking him home with me," Vicki said.I set down mv board with the others.Alexa set down the cooler and joined us."How come you're late?" Sabas said.He seemed disappointed with me or even angry."I'm not late.You guys are just early," I replied.Sunrise was still a half an hour away, and while we waited, I told them what had happened to the kidnapping charges against E.C.Mesa.No one knew what to say."The sets are stacking up," Vicki finally observed.She was looking at her surf watch, timing the sound of the breakers."Ten and a half seconds.""You feel him here?" Seriana asked a minute later.She was wearing a black wet suit with her hair slicked back.She sat with her muscular legs gathered underneath her."I'd kind of like to feel he was here watching us when we give his ashes to the sea.""I don't feel him at all," Vicki said sadly."Me neither," I said.Sabas just grunted, but said nothing.This whole thing felt so unfinished, but there was nothing we could do about it.This was just the way it had turned out.Walt's murder was still an open L.A [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]