In the Stillness(101)

Ray met me at the door and I involuntarily sucked in a breath when I saw him. It had only been three weeks or so, but the reality of him hit me all over again as we looked in each other’s eyes and embraced. Then his mouth was on mine and I forgot the time in between, I forgot the distance, I forgot the Army and everything else other than this very moment. I squeezed him tight, trying to do what I’d planned… easing the stress I knew he was under. I could feel it in his shoulder muscles, which were tightly bunched, tense, rock hard. He kissed me, and it felt as passionate, as hungry, as it had the very first time.

“I missed you,” I whispered.

“I missed you,” he replied. “Come on in. They’re still here.”

My arms and shoulders tensed and the muscles in my neck tightened, rigid, and I walked into the apartment. It was only four o’clock in the afternoon, but for some reason, walking in that apartment felt like walking into midnight.

The woman was an attractive, professional looking black woman who stood as I entered. She walked toward me, hand out, and said, “I’m Janice Smalls. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Thompson.”

I took her hand and shook. “Nice to meet you,” I said.

The man, who was lounging in a seat near her, a notebook in his lap, nodded from his seat.

“Jared Coombs,” he said. “Federal Bureau of Investigation.” Then he went back to his notes.

My mother may not have set the best example of sanity in the world, but one thing she gave me was an exquisite sense of manners. I returned his rudeness with icy courtesy.

“It’s a delight to meet you, Mr. Coombs,” I said.

He didn’t look up from his notes. My teeth jammed together, and I felt my muscles tense. For the last ten days, these two had been grilling Ray. Without warning, they just showed up at his place. They pried into parts of his life that had nothing to do with the war. They were treating him like a criminal, and I’d had enough.

“Excuse me, Mr. Coombs. I’ve got a question. For both of you.”

“Um… Carrie…” Ray said, as Major Smalls was returning to her seat.

“Wait a second, Ray. Seriously. Where do you get off? Ray reported the crime here. Why are you treating him like a criminal? Is this your subtle way of punishing him for doing the right thing? What the hell is it you’re trying to accomplish?”

Coombs gave me a cold look, and said, “Number one, it’s none of your business, Miss Thompson. Number two, we haven’t yet established just who the criminal is in this situation.”

Smalls looked down for a second, then up at me and said, “We have to conduct our investigation, Miss Thompson. Your boyfriend here made very serious accusations.”

“Then do it with some professionalism and courtesy. It’s no wonder he was reluctant to report it, if this is the response you get for doing the right thing.”

Ray touched my arm, and said, “Carrie, please….”

I looked him in the eyes. “Fine. I’ll stay out of it. But I want you to know that someone is on your side. Why don’t you show me where the shower is, and I’ll clean up while they finish.”

He smiled, and ignoring the other two, took my face between his hands and mashed a fierce kiss on my lips. “I love you, babe. Come on.”

By the time I got out of the shower, Smalls and Coombs were gone.





Just a guy from Southie (Ray)

“Okay,” I said. “I agree, you were right about the car.”

Carrie smiled, which was something I always like to see. She had a purple cap on, and wore a matching purple coat. Velvet? I don’t know… some kind of fuzzy looking fabric anyway. I’m not really up on that sort of thing. She was driving at the moment, but she glanced over at me with that smile and tapped her cheek with one gloved finger. I snickered a little, then leaned over to the driver’s side and kissed her on the spot she’d indicated.

“You can tell me I’m right any time you want,” she said.

“I’ll let you know when it happens,” I replied, grinning. “So help me out here, I don’t want to embarrass myself, and I still don’t have your family straight. Who exactly are we meeting tonight?”

She grinned, and said, “Well, there’s this guy Dylan. He used to be in the Army….”

“Oh, come on. Seriously, help a guy out here?”

Carrie laughed. “All right. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Okay… Julia is my older sister. Last I saw her she had blonde hair, but that may have changed by now. She wears a stud in her nose, and you’ll know her because of her husband.”

“That’s Crank Wilson. The guy from Morbid Obesity.”

“That’s right. And one of my younger sisters is coming, Sarah. Julia picked her up at the airport today. You’ll know Sarah because she’ll be very conservatively dressed.”

“Okay. And Alex I know.”

“Right.”

“You have … how many more sisters?”

“Two more. Jessica is Sarah’s twin, she stayed in San Francisco, and Andrea is the youngest. She’s in Spain right now.”

“Okay. I think I got it. Sarah… conservative. Julia … won’t be. Crank… I know what he looks like. So I’ve got a semi-serious question for you. How the hell did your sister get involved with a rocker?”