Sunday, March 14th
Rosary, park on the sea promenade, 4 p.m.
Neil, Billy and Bob had decided to meet in the little park on the sea promenade. It was a pleasant place, and the day was perfect, even if it was still cold in the early morning and in the evening. The sun was shining and, in the afternoon, it was pleasant to take a walk or to sit on a bench. The park was not big, but there was a playground for children, paths among the trees, and a large circular fountain with benches all around. There were a few families enjoying the sunny day, some couples walking hand in hand, and some young people jogging or walking their dogs.
The three friends and colleagues didn’t have a badge and a gun, but they attracted the attention and the curiosity of many people, especially Neil, who was strikingly handsome. Many women turned to look at him, but, even if he noticed, he didn’t seem to care. Bob was a tall and pleasant young man, and Billy maybe didn’t have a handsome face because of the scar on his right cheek, but he was slim and muscular.
After walking for a while, they sat on a bench and started to chat pleasantly. It was evident that they enjoyed spending time together. They had shared so many dangerous experiences. They had been part of the Emergency Response Team.
“Neil,” Bob said, after they had been silently sitting for a while. “Do you think you will be able to go back to the ERT? I think your leg has improved in the past few months.”
Neil looked at his friend and answered: “I am better, it is true, but I think I will have to find a physiotherapist here, because, when I am tired in the evening, I sometimes have to lie down because it hurts. So, I am sorry, but I don’t think I will be able to be reinstated. And you, Bob, do you regret coming here? I mean, when I asked you, I didn’t want to force you to follow me.”
Bob smiled and said: “I was proud when you chose me, Neil. You know how much I owe you. You have taught me everything I know.” He looked around and said: “It’s a small town but I like it and,” he paused for a minute and added: “The ERT is exciting, but I missed human interactions. Here, after we went to the Trattoria last Tuesday, the people started to recognize us and say hello in the street.”
Neil commented: “Yes, it’s true. And yesterday, at the evening mass, some people approached us to say hello and introduce themselves. And I like the idea of being able to help in the orphanage, as I did in Vancouver. When I was in the response team, I wasn’t always available.”
Billy intervened: “What is the orphanage like here? Is it different from the one where we grew up, Neil?”
Neil smiled musingly and answered: “It is much smaller, little more than a private home, Billy. There are just fifteen children. The positive thing is that the orphans go to school or to church with the other boys and girls. It is not as it was for us.” He turned to Bob, who was listening with interest: “In our orphanage we had a school, a church, and we seldom went out, at least until we went to high school or college. Sometimes the volunteers took us on a trip or just to eat an ice cream, but we spent most of the time in that enormous structure.”
Billy thought for a moment and said: “I think you are right. It would have been better if we could have gone to school with other children, but maybe in Vancouver it was more difficult, because it is a metropolis. Here it is easy for the volunteers to keep an eye on the children…”
Bob knew that his two friends were orphans and that Billy, in particular, had had a tough childhood before entering the orphanage. Billy didn’t like to talk about it. The only thing he often said was that Neil had saved his life, that he would have become a criminal if Neil, almost eight years older, hadn’t helped him and straightened him out. Bob had never had the courage to ask for more details. The only thing he remembered was that, when Neil had been brought to the hospital after the shooting, Billy seemed mad. He was restless. He couldn’t stand still. There was no way of comforting him. He recalled Father Thomas, the orphanage director, waiting anxiously outside the operating room, clutching a rosary with a worried expression. When the doctors, after the first operation, had said that maybe Neil would have to use crutches for the rest of his life, Billy had said that he would help Neil, that he would leave the police and devote his life to the assistance of his friend. It was obvious that Neil was more than a friend to him, that he was like an older brother, that they loved each other.
Then he had shared with Billy and Neil the sense of relief, when, after the long physiotherapy sessions, McKinley had started to walk and even to run. He still had a slight limp, but, thank God, he was able to go back to his job as a policeman, even if he had to leave the ERT.
While they were chatting and drinking beer, the only alcoholic drink they sometimes enjoyed, they heard a familiar voice: “The policemen, Sheila! I poliziotti.”
They turned to see the smiling face of Bruno, walking hand in hand with a pleasant woman in her late twenties or early thirties. She had straight shoulder length auburn hair and big brown eyes. She was as tall as her husband, and they looked like a happy couple.
Neil and his friends stood up, and Bruno said: “This is Sheila, my wife… This is the new Inspector, Neil McKinley. These are the new policemen in town.”
It was clear he didn’t remember their names, and Bob said kindly: “Hello, Sheila, I am Bob, and this is Billy.”
Sheila smiled pleasantly and shook hands with the three officers. She turned to Neil and said jokingly: “Oh, Mr. McKinley, since I work in a hairdresser salon, you can imagine how much the ladies are talking about you. Next Tuesday, I will make everyone green with envy when I tell them I was introduced to you and your colleagues.”
Neil started to laugh and said: “Are they already talking about me? Oh no. But please, Sheila, call me Neil.”
Bob commented: “Oh, Sheila, you don’t know how difficult it is to go around with Prince Charming here. Every woman looks at him. We have seen women do anything to attract his attention and… He doesn’t even seem to notice.”
They all started to laugh, and Bruno said: “I hope you will eat frequently at Anna’s. Her Trattoria is the best place in town, and I am not saying this because I am the chef.” He winked at them. Neil reassured him they would certainly go to the Trattoria soon, and the lovely couple took their leave.
Neil was really starting to like the familiar atmosphere of this town.
***
Rosary Parish Orphanage, 11:30 p.m.
Amy woke up suddenly. She sat up in bed, sweating and trembling. She looked around, but she just saw her friend Lily in the other bed, peacefully sleeping. She curled up in a corner of her bed, and she kept on trembling. She looked frightened towards the closed door, as if she was sure that someone was coming to take her back to her terrible life, a life of beating and abuse, a life she had been able to escape from more or less six months before.
In her frequent nightmares, she saw a man, a frightening man she used to call ‘dad’. In her vision, he came towards her bed and ordered her to stand up and go with him, otherwise ... He had a belt in his hand, the belt he had often used to beat her. Behind him, still in her nightmares, there was a woman, but she couldn’t focus on her face. She was only a blur in her mind… The only thing she remembered was that the woman was always sick, always discussing money with the man. What was the name of that woman? She couldn’t remember it. She never called her by name, but that man often called out the name ... In her nightmares, the man and the woman talked about a policeman… She had seen a photo one day…. Yes, he was the policeman she had seen on TV when she was at the other orphanage … She remembered that the man wanted to kill that policeman… And now …. Had she really met him, or was it one more dream? No, he was at the orphanage to train the children… He was so kind. Why did her dad want to kill him? She had to warn him, she had to prevent her father from harming him… He had already harmed many children… Yes, she could see other children in that house with her, who asked him to let them go home to their families… He got so angry when he saw one of them crying…
Still trembling, she lay down on the bed, and she pulled up the blanket… Her memories got more and more confused until she fell asleep, not a peaceful relaxing sleep, but a feverish one, full of blurred images of menacing, demanding, frightening people… And the figure of that policeman smiling at her kindly, unaware of the danger …
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and then Add to home screen.