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“So, where are Twyla and her mother now?”
“In a place that is nearly impregnable.”
“What can I do to help?”
“That gun was in your drawer, is it loaded?”
“Of course. I wasn’t ever gonna hurt nobody with it. I wanted it to use on myself if the pain got too bad.”
“Keep the door locked. Tell Ilsa not to open it unless she’s sure who’s on the other side.”
“Okay. What are you gonna do?”
“Nothing I can tell you about.”
Arman chuckled and said, “You remind me of me in the old days.”
“I don’t know if that’s much of a compliment.”
“It’s not anything, just is.”
I climbed the stairs to the hallowed hall of residence in Melquarth’s church. I wasn’t sure why until I saw the light coming from under the last door on the left. I knocked, she answered, and then, there we were, sitting across from each other again. For a long time we sat quietly, sipping from our institutional glasses of water.
We were quiet but it felt as if there was a conversation happening. I was sure that she was keeping something from not only me but the rest of humanity too. Like the father of her child, she had sworn to herself to keep quiet and stay safe.
After a long, unhurried while, I said, “You know… I asked Arman a question that he had no answer for.”
“What was that?”
Aurilia was a beautiful woman. Her face was the shape of an elongated heart and there was music in her every movement. She was a half-forgotten goddess who sat above an altar where men and women came to pray and praise.
Instead of answering her question, I said, “I was speaking to Minnie Fulton the other day.”
“Minnie Fulton!” she exclaimed. “How you even know about Minnie Fulton?”
“She was a suspect in your murder.”
“But I’m not dead.”
I nodded and continued. “She traded in her piano for an organ.”
“Minnie,” Aurilia uttered wistfully. “Why were you talking to her if you knew I was alive?”
“I thought she might help me understand.”
“But Minnie wouldn’t have known where I was.”
“No, and not only that. I’d already found you.”
“Then why?” Dalia’s/Aurilia’s eyes grew wide.
“I wanted to understand more about you.”
“And you thought she’d know what? It’s been thirty-five years since we even talked.”
“You right. But I wanted to see how she’d react when I told her that I believed you were still alive.”
“She probably didn’t even remember my name. Back when I knew her she was on smack. Actually, I’m surprised that she’s still alive.”
