Nadirah left the hospital the following afternoon, went home and threw herself on the bed to cry for hours.
Guilty of an affair or not, how could she even think of hurting the woman she had so unexpectedly come to love so much? It had nearly killed her to see Joni lying in her hospital bed so lifeless. Her special little lady, who was ordinarily as spunky and as playful as a puppy, was now barely alive, all thanks to her. And no one knew if she would come out of the coma she was in or not. Or what she may or may not remember.
Nadirah sure hoped to hell Joni wouldn’t remember the attack.
She knew she belonged in jail for what she’d done to Joni, and she had no problem paying for nearly killing her beloved wife, but first, she was bound and determined to do whatever she could possibly do to make up for the nightmare she’d put her through. If she survived, she would need someone to take care of her.
Once Joni had hit her head on the dresser and passed out, the realization of what she’d done had punched her in the gut harder than she’d punched Joni with her fists. She screamed in anguish and guilt. She’d felt Joni’s pulse, and having felt nothing at first, had been convinced that Joni was dead.
For Joni’s sake, and not for the sake of keeping her own ass out of jail even if it belonged there, she had scrambled to think of a believable story to tell the police in the midst of her panic. She knew she couldn’t say that the “attacker” had drunk any of the beers, as any traces of saliva would’ve been tested for DNA evidence. And she knew she couldn’t say that something had been thrown through the front window since there was no object outside on the ground in front of it to back it up. She’d run out to the little shed in back to gather the rope she was supposed to have been bound with.
She thought of all the good times she and Joni had shared together over the years, despite the arguments they’d had along the way. Joni had turned out to be a fine person and she had made a fine wife as well. Even if Joni was truly guilty of stepping out on her with Irene, it was no excuse to have done what she’d done to her. She could have and should have dealt with it some other way. She should have handcuffed her to the door to keep her from seeing Irene again before she ever laid a hand on her.
She’d been attracted to Joni as soon as she’d seen her that first time at work. She hadn’t fallen in love with her right away, but she definitely loved some things about her from the get-go. Joni was quick to complain about life’s simple things being a challenge for her, while Nadirah was amazed at just how well she did the things that most people could only dream of doing. Sure, she may’ve been shortchanged in some areas of life, but she’d certainly been compensated for those shortcomings along the way.
“Come on, Joni,” she’d told her one day, “cheer up. You can sing beautifully, you can write stories where most people can’t even spell their own damn names, and you can learn languages to the point of fluency where most can only learn a few words and phrases.”
“But do you know how bad I sometimes wish I had the guts to get up and drive? Do you know how much I wish sleeping at night every night and being able to get up at the same time wasn’t such a hardship for me? But I’ll never have two normal ears or be able to do the easy things in life that even a six-year-old could do.”
“I know, but you’ve been made up for it in other ways.”
“True,” Joni said, and then she smiled. “Just having someone like you love and accept me as I am is compensation enough. I doubt many people would be able to deal with someone as different as I am. I’m a real fluke of nature of sorts.”
It had really touched Nadirah when Joni said this to her. She could see where most people would indeed run from someone like Joni until they got to know her. But it was their loss just like it was her own loss twenty years ago.
And maybe now as well.
She continued to cry, the remorse and sorrow almost too much to bear as the pain in her chest seemed to consume the very core of her soul.
Finally, she sat up in bed and looked at the clock. There was still time.
She splashed cold water on her face to freshen up and wiped the tears from her eyes. Then she looked up delis online in Niantic until she spotted a name she was pretty sure Joni had mentioned. It was in the right location, too.
Grabbing her keys, Nadirah took off for the deli. Parking the car nearly a half hour later, she entered the deli which was very small and only had one customer in it at the time. They were eating at a table in the front corner.
Nadirah turned her attention to the young woman behind the counter. She had dull gray eyes, sandy-colored hair that seemed to lack any sort of style or order, and a face full of acne.
The woman smiled a yellow smile at her. “Can I help you?”
“Yes. I’m looking for Irene,” Nadirah told her.
The woman frowned. “Irene?”
“Yes. Isn’t she the owner?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
Confusion and frustration began to seep through Nadirah’s veins until another young lady, this one much more pleasant to look at, stepped out from a room in the back and said, “Irene works here. But April only knows her as Trisha, which is her nickname. But yes, Irene is the owner.”
“Is she in today?” asked Nadirah, relieved.
“She stepped out a few minutes ago, but she should be back any second. Feel free to hang out and wait for her if you’d like.”
Nadirah looked toward the store’s entrance as if looking for her could make her return any faster.
“Would you like something while you wait?”
Nadirah turned back to the woman, expression haggard, body feeling old and rundown, and thought about whether or not to order anything. After a moment, she decided against it. If Irene had in fact been involved with Joni, the last thing she wanted to do was put money in the woman’s pocket, even if she got something out of it in return. “No thanks,” she said. “I’ll just sit around and wait.”
She took a seat by the door, aware out of the corner of her eye that the two ladies behind the counter were eyeing her curiously. She didn’t care, though. She had more pressing issues to deal with than a couple of young women who might think she was a bit strange.
She tried not to think of Joni so she wouldn’t start crying again, but that was easier said than done. Images of her lovely lady forced their way into her mind. Her bubbly laughter would no doubt be contagious to even the meanest of people. Her sense of humor and the way she had a smart answer for everything had always amused he,r whereas she’d probably want to slap most people for saying similar things.
She remembered leaving her mother’s house one time after they’d been visiting. Joni had been insulted and offended by her mother yet again and swore she’d never visit her again. “No wonder you’re such a bitch yourself!” Joni had screamed at her. “She’s your mother, so you do what you want. But I’m not going to see her ever again!”
Nadirah had given her mother an ultimatum that day. Either treat her wife with respect or she would see neither of them. Begrudgingly, the woman became not so much as friendly toward Joni, but polite nonetheless.
Joni.
Her beautiful Joni.
Possibly gone forever.
She squeezed back the tears which threatened to spill from her eyes and caught her reflection in the window; much plainer in comparison to that of her sweet Joni, even though Joni always insisted she was “hot as hell.” Well, she didn’t feel so hot now. That was for sure.
After ten minutes or so, a very short and elderly Asian woman slowly shuffled up to the store with a large handbag slung over her shoulder. Nadirah was surprised that such a frail old lady could carry such a large bag. At her age, she knew her shiny jet-black hair was certainly dyed. Nadirah watched her. It was almost a struggle for the woman to open the door. She was just about to get up and help her but then she got the door open on her own.
“Here she is,” said one of the counter ladies.
What? thought Nadirah. She’s got to be kidding!
“You’re Irene?” Nadirah asked, trying to keep the shock out of her voice.
The woman looked at her and nodded. “Yes, that’s me, Irene Ikira. Can I help you?”
Nadirah felt like she was going to be sick.
Irene Ikira had to be at least ninety years old!
“Howdy there, Will. Where ya off to?”
Detective Clark, long dreadlocks bound in a ponytail, turned to face the person speaking to him. “Oh, hi Tom. Tory’s got a doctor’s appointment, so I’m heading out to interview some folks myself.”
“Oh, okay. Catch ya later, man.”
“Yeah, later,” Will said with a wink, heading out of the police station.
His first stop of the day would be the Haddads’ immediate neighbors, even if at a distance of three or four hundred feet, they weren’t very immediate. He parked in front of the Haddads’ house, and based on the car he saw in the gravel driveway, Nadirah was currently at home. He knew Joni didn’t drive, so she didn’t have a car of her own.
As of yet, no one in the area had reported being attacked or seeing anything suspicious by any strangers insisting they were the devil’s spawn, and his gut instinct continued to tell him to concentrate closer to home, for most cases usually ended up being solved right where they began.
He decided to interview the people in the houses that were closest to either side of the Haddad’s place, as well as the one that was sort of across the street. No one was home to the left of the Haddads, but an elderly lady answered on the right. Will introduced himself, showed his badge, and was invited inside.
The woman’s two sons were visiting.
“Can I get you any coffee or anything, Detective?”
“No, thank you, ma’am,” Will said with a smile.
“Did they catch the bastard that hurt that poor little lady next door?” asked the woman.
“No, I’m afraid not, Mrs. Mahoney. But I would like to ask you some questions about the Haddads themselves.”
“Well, okay,” Mrs. Mahoney said reluctantly. “Only there’s not much I can tell you. They mostly kept to themselves.”
“Have you ever spoken to either of them?”
“Very briefly. Nadina was here once looking for her cat, but that’s about it.”
“You mean Nadirah?”
“Yes, Nadirah. That’s it.”
“Ever meet Joni, the woman who was attacked?”
“No, never. But I did see her at times at the mailboxes. We’d just nod and smile politely at each other, but that was it.”
“Did you ever hear anything, in particular, coming from their place?”
“Very seldom. The only time I can hear anything is if I’m outside when they’re outside. Occasionally, their voices would drift over here, but I’ve never been able to make out anything that was said. Just some music playing and a few shouts and some laughter as well.”
“Did you ever suspect they may have been fighting when you heard shouting?”
“I’m not really sure,” said Mrs. Mahoney, and Will began to sense she may be afraid to say anything bad about her neighbors.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Mahoney. Everything you tell me is strictly confidential.”
“Well, they could’ve been arguing about something, yes. Can’t say for sure, though, and I would hate to make any accusations that may be false. Some people just talk loud, you know? And both of them seemed to talk kind of loud and fast, especially Joni.”
“I understand,” Will said with a smile. “Anything else you can tell me?”
“No, I’m afraid not.”
Will thanked the woman for her time and then proceeded to the house across the street.
He thought to himself how quiet and peaceful the setting was. Sometimes he considered getting the hell out of the city himself, but he knew he’d hate the long commute to and from work if he did.
He quickly glanced over his shoulder and back at the Haddad’s house. He saw movement within the curtain in the front window, which had been repaired. And then he saw a big black cat jump up onto the sill.
He knocked on the door of the house across the street and this time he was greeted by a man who was perhaps in his late thirties. He introduced himself once again, and once again he was invited inside where the man introduced him to his wife.
“Is this about the woman who was attacked?” asked the man.
“Yes, sir, it is.”
“Any news on who may’ve done it?”
“No, not yet. We’re working on it, though.
“I hope you catch the son of a bitch soon,” said the wife. “I’ve been terrified ever since. The whole reason we bought a place out here was to leave that sort of thing behind in the city where it belongs.”
“Ah, but unfortunately, violence can find anyone, anytime, anyplace. Even out here amongst these serene and lovely evergreens.”
“So, how can we help you, Detective?”
“Well, for starters, I’d like to know anything you may’ve seen or heard coming from the Haddads’ place.”
“As we told the other officers, we didn’t hear a thing. We only saw the ambulance taking the woman away, but that’s it.”
“Did you ever speak to either one of them personally?”
“The last time was last summer,” the guy admitted.
“And?”
“And they were having a barbecue out back.”
“Did they seem to get along?”
“Not that day.”
Will’s eyebrows shot up. “No?”
The man and woman looked at each other hesitantly, and Will reminded them that he never divulged his sources and promised to keep their words confidential. “Even the most trivial of things can sometimes lead to a perpetrator being apprehended. So even if you don’t think it’ll be helpful, or you feel like you’re just being a gossip monger, you never do know what may help catch a perp.”
“Well,” the guy began, still with reluctance, “before this day last summer Nadirah always seemed so happy about having met and married Joni. She seemed to really love taking care of her, and like she was very proud of her, too. I guess Joni had had a rough life and had survived a lot of heavy-duty stuff. She’d brag about how smart she was, too. I don’t remember what the argument was about, but Nadirah got so pissed that she pretty much knocked Joni out of the chair she was sitting in.”
“Knocked her out how?”
“By kicking at the chair.”
“Yes,” said the woman. “I remember that much clearly. She didn’t hit or kick Joni, but she kicked her chair over. Joni fell out of it, and then she ran off into the woods.”
“Where’d she run to? Any place in particular that you know of?”
“I asked Nadirah that at the time, and she said there was a place nearby Joni would sometimes run to in order to cool off after they’d had an argument. I asked if she was worried about her. I mean, this is the woods, and when you’re out in the middle of nowhere, you never know what animals you may run into. But Nadirah said, ‘she just goes and sits behind those trees over there,’ and she pointed about a hundred and fifty feet away from the house.”
“How did she know where Joni’s hideaway was?”
“She said she followed her one time out of curiosity just to see where she went. I guess she too, didn’t want to worry that she was wandering off too far or that she might get lost.”
“But you don’t remember what they were arguing about?” Will asked.
“No. We’d run into each other the day before at the mailboxes and were invited over the next day. They’d already started arguing by the time we rounded the corner to the back of the house. Just a minute or two after that, Nadirah kicked Joni out of the chair,” said the woman.
“One last question. Did you ever get the impression Nadirah might be abusing Joni?”
“Yes,” they both said in unison.
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