Lean on Me (6 page)

“
Would you like to question
our other medic?” Joseph asked.

“
I would,” the MP Captain
said.

Alex turned around and gestured Colin out of
the helicopter. The MP Captain went through the same questions.
Colin gave the answers he and MJ had practiced. When he finished,
Alex snapped her fingers. As they had practiced, MJ and Colin
snapped to attention, saluted the MP Captain, and returned to the
helicopter.

“
Sir, I understand your
priorities,” Alex said. “But you have no authority over us. We are
here as a courtesy. We are leaving now to attend to our priorities.
Unless you’d prefer that I explain to command why one unconscious
soldier is more important than our primary mission.”

She raised her eyebrows and the MP Captain
saluted her.

“
Captain Olivas will be
available tomorrow or the next day,” Joseph said. “We will let you
know when he’s available.”

“
We will be in touch,” Alex
said.

She gestured to Steve Pershing. They turned
in place and returned to the helicopter. Steve hopped in and Vince
closed the door.

“
What did your men find at
the scene?” Alex asked.

“
The fire was out by the
time they got there,” Steve said. “There are two bodies. One body
appears to have been protected by an emergency blanket or
something. Most of the blast missed it. The other body appears to
have had explosives attached to it and was blown apart.”

“
Which body was protected?”
Alex asked.

“
Female,” Steve
said.

Alex gave a slight nod. Jesse had covered
Dahlia with a space blanket so that Troy would have her to
bury.

“
Anything else?” Alex
asked.

“
Not that we’ve found so
far,” Steve said. “We could use Captain Hutchins’s
experience.”

“
You’ve got it,” Alex said.
She nodded to Vince, their munitions and explosives expert. He got
up from his seat. “Any trouble?”

“
The locals seem relieved
that we’re available to assist,” Steve said. “We’re shipping the
bodies to Quantico for forensics. The FBI CSI arrived to go through
the scene. The ATF was on their way. We found at least one illegal
firearm.”

“
I’d like Trece and White
Boy to stay with the children,” Alex said. “These boys have been
through hell. I’ve spoken with their Social Services case worker.
She agreed to allow us to keep the boys. We’ve arranged a meeting
with Social Services tomorrow morning. I want the boys protected
every step of the way. We don’t know what shit storm is going to
come of this. Troy’s father lost his favorite prize.”

“
It’s been less than an
hour and he’s already started,” Steve spoke in Alex’s ear. “I’ll
tell you this, Alex: the boys and Olivas were not supposed to
survive this. Old man Jasper has been talking about how his
PTSD-crazed soldier-son killed his girlfriend and her kids. He does
not expect Hector to be dead.”

“
Murder – suicide,” Alex
said.

“
Wrong son,” Steve leaned
back.

“
Anything else?” Alex
asked.

“
I’ll let you know,” Steve
got up from his seat. Vince opened the helicopter door to leave
with him. He turned and asked, “Have you spoken with
Ben?”

“
We’ve been out of pocket,”
Alex said. “We got back early this morning. Why?”

“
I can’t find him,” Steve
said. “Claire doesn’t know where he is. No one seems all that
worried because they’re used to him disappearing. It’s just
that…”

“
He’s never disappeared
from you,” Alex said.

“
Right,” Steve gave her a
big smile. “Afghanistan was brilliantly played.”

“
Thank you, sir,” Alex
said.

He raised a hand and got out of the
helicopter.

“
I’ll keep you informed,”
Vince said.

Alex smiled her thanks. He followed Steve
out of the helicopter.

“
They’re waiting for you,”
Zack said over the intercom. “Give them a show.”

Alex, Trece and White Boy sat down in the
doorway of the helicopter. Zack made a slow ascent over the crowd
of soldiers. Alex pretended she was watching something on the
horizon. The soldiers cheered. She didn’t like the fame, but part
of her job as the Fey was to provide soldiers with hope. No matter
what happened to them, no matter where they were, the Fey Team
would come for them. She waved to the crowd.

“
Ok, that’s enough,” Joseph
said.

He helped her into the helicopter. Trece and
White Boy followed her. Joseph closed the door and the team
laughed. Alex took her seat and grabbed her headphones.

“
Take us to Sheridan
Circle, Zack,” Alex said.

“
With pleasure, my Fey,”
Zack said.

The helicopter took off toward the Sheridan
Circle mansion.

“
Did you set up surgery for
Troy’s feet?” Alex asked Joseph.

“
Emily is getting ready at
the Mansion,” Joseph said. “MJ will assist. John called a
pediatrician for the boys; someone he knows from medical school.
They are expecting us. John should be there when we
arrive.”

“
And lawyers?” Alex
asked.

“
I spoke with Emily’s
father,” Raz said. “He’s arranging for a civilian defense lawyer
for Troy. Insisted on paying for it. I guess he and old man Jasper
have some history.”

“
Very bad blood,” Alex
said. “I’m glad he’s going to help.”

“
But?” Joseph
asked.

“
I need to make some
calls,” Alex said.

“
You’ll be there when he
wakes up, right?” Matthew asked. “You know he’s going to need you
when he wakes up. You’ll be there. Right?”

“
I’ll be there when he
wakes up,” Alex said.

F

CHAPTER FOUR

Saturday evening

October 24 – 6:15 p.m. EDT

Sheridan Circle Mansion, Washington DC

“
Then we met a nice
older
boy named Jesse
Jr.” Hector James flopped his hands in the warm bubble bath water.
Bubbles flew up and Hermes laughed. “He’s named after his dad too.
He said his dad was a great man.”

“
His dad was a great man,”
Troy said. “He was my friend for a long time, a better friend than
I deserved.”

After sobbing into Alex’s lap for at least
an hour, she got him showered, dressed, and mentally ready to be a
dad. Emily had cleaned up and stitched his feet and legs. He was in
pain, but he could walk with heavy boots on. The boys aced their
medical review and then spent the day playing with Trece and White
Boy. Maria arrived around three with her children, and his boys
made their first friend.

Troy soaped up a washcloth to scrub off
Hermes’s boy muck, including dirt, sweat and more grease than
should be produced by a boy. He was working on Hermes’s forearm
when he saw berry stains between the boy’s fingers.

“
Are these from this
morning?” Troy asked.

“
They have berries
inside
the refrigerator
here,” Hermes beamed. “We can have as many as we want and we didn’t
even have to pick them!”

He laughed as if he had cheated the system
in some way.

“
Jesse Jr. goes by JJ most
of the time. You know
J
from Jesse and
J
from Jr.,” Hector James said. “He’s going to high
school next year, so he’s thinking about going by Jesse. What do
you think?”

“
I think Jesse Jr. can go
by whatever name he wants to,” Troy smiled.

“
Could I go by whatever
name I want to?” Hector James asked.

Hector James had been talking about people’s
names for the last fifteen minutes. Trece was named Andy or Andrew
but also Trece, which meant thirteen. Troy went by Daddy or Troy
but was once called Homer. The Jakker was actually named Zack or
Mr. Zack. Auntie Alex was sometimes called the Fey or Alexandra. MJ
was Michael Junior, but never Mike. White Boy was called White Boy
because he was really, really, really white but his name was Chris.
Troy had wondered what Hector James was working up to.

“
Just ask,” Hermes
said.

“
I just did!” Hector James
said.

“
What name would you like
to go by?” Troy asked.

“
Oh, I don’t know,” Hector
James said.

“
He doesn’t want to be
Hector anymore,” Hermes said.

“
Ah,” Troy scrubbed
Hermes’s ears and gave him the washcloth. Like they had practiced,
Hermes cleaned his own private parts. Hermes gave the washcloth
back to Troy. Troy rinsed the cloth in the warm water and soaped it
up again.

“
You could go by Bubba,”
Hermes said. “That’s brother in Texan.”

“
Who told you that?” Troy
laughed.

“
I don’t remember her
name,” Hermes said.

“
She said she was an
Ind’n,” Hector James said. “What’s an Ind’n?”

“
Ms. Margaret,” Troy said.
“She is a Native American of the Diné.”

“
That’s what she said,”
Hermes said.

“
Diné is a name for
Navajo,” Hector James said.

“
Sounds like you had a fun
day,” Troy said.

“
I miss Mommy,” Hermes
said.

“
Me too,” Hector James
said. “You’re sure she’s not going to meet us here? She was really,
really excited to come to town and meet everybody. She bought a
fancy dress and some pretty shoes and…”

Hector James began to weep. Hermes sniffled.
Troy made quick work of the remainder of Hector James’s bath and
gave him the washcloth. Even crying, the boy did what was asked of
him. When he was done, Troy plucked the boys out of the bath.
Wrapping them like sausages in the fluffy towels, he carried his
boys to his bed. He rocked them on his lap while they cried.

“
Hector killed my mommy,”
Hector James said. “I hate having his name. I hate him, hate him,
hate him, hate him, hate him, hate him, hate him, hate
him…”

Hermes joined the “hate him.” The boys
sobbed and repeated “hate him” over and over again. Troy rocked
them.

“
He is
not
a good man,” Hector James said.
“He hurt me really bad.”

“
Me too,” Hermes said.
“Trece said no one should ever hurt any boy like that. Never ever
ever ever. That’s what he said. He was really mad.”

“
White Boy too,” Hector
James said. “He’s a
liar
too! Jesse Jr. told me that I didn’t have to touch
boys’ penises for them to like me.”

“
Some boys touch other
boys’ penises,” Hermes said.

“
Because they
want
to,” Hector James
said. “Not because they
have
to.”

“
I don’t want to,” Hermes
said.

Troy held his boys close while they cried
into his chest. He said a silent prayer of gratitude for Jesse Jr.
Before getting the boys, Maria told Troy that Luis, Jesse Sr.’s
four-year-old brother, had been sexually abused in foster care
before coming to live with them. Jesse Jr. had made it a mission to
help boys like Luis. He had been just what Hector James and Hermes
needed. Jesse Jr. had answered every question and even taught them
their first boy game – Battleships.

Troy continued rocking until the storm
passed. The boys stared straight ahead in the numb, shocked way of
deep loss.

“
Let’s get dressed in our
PJs,” Troy said. “Everyone wants to say goodnight.”

“
I don’t want everyone in
our room!” Hermes said.

“
We’ll go to them,” Troy
smiled. “Come on. Auntie Alex’s mom bought you some super snuggly
pajamas.”

“
What about you?” Hector
James asked.

“
I’ll shower when we get
back,” Troy said.

“
We’re big boys, Daddy,”
Hermes said. “We can put on our pajamas while you
shower.”

“
We’ll be right here,”
Hector James said.

Troy knew the best thing for the boys was to
let them dress themselves. He knew his doting would destroy their
new and growing sense of independence. They both looked so much
like Dahlia that he hated to have them out of his sight. He gave
the boys a nod.

“
I’ll be right in there,”
Troy said.

He made sure their door was locked,
undressed, slipped his gauze-wrapped feet into plastic bags, and
took a fast shower. His boys were waiting for him in the bedroom
when he got out. He went around the twin cots to grab a pair of
pajamas and underwear.

Rebecca Hargreaves had purchased these
pajamas. Hermes’s pajamas were covered in Winnie-the-Pooh bears.
Hector James’s pajamas had Tigger on them, and Troy’s pajamas had
Owl. Because his boys had never heard the stories, she’d also
bought the books. He pulled boots on over his gauze wrapped
feet.

“
Are we ready to say
good-night to everyone?” Troy asked.

“
Ready!” Hermes held up his
arms and Troy picked him up.

“
Ready!” Hector James
picked him up.