Cross Current

“Damn. Not bad.” He crossed his arms behind his head and, looking up at me, said, “So, what about you? You and B.J. going to be ringing the wedding bells soon?”

I waved my hand in the air as though to dismiss the question. “Let’s not go there. That’s a bit of a sore spot these days.”

He laughed. “Hell, we Sullivans make damn lousy spouses, eh?”

“Just look at Maddy,” I said, and we both giggled.

Pit’s laughter stopped abruptly, and he got to his knees and crawled over to the trunk. “You opened it,” he said, suddenly solemn.

“Yeah. You just left it here and disappeared.”

“I wanted to open it, you know. But something stopped me.”

At that moment, I didn’t want Pit to know about the Cartagena trip and all the questions it had raised. I didn’t want him to feel what I had been feeling, wondering if Red had been involved in drug smuggling. “Yeah, it’s just a bunch of old stuff.” I grabbed the stack of photos off the counter, dropped them into the trunk, and started to close the lid.

“Wait, I’d forgotten all about this old jacket.” He reached in and pulled out Red’s old navy peacoat. The musty smell of the wool filled the room when he stood, shook the coat out, and slid his arm into one of the sleeves. It still didn’t fit him.

“Remember?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said, “that afternoon in the garage.” His eyes seemed to be looking across the living room, but they weren’t really focused on anything in that room. He gri

I touched the sleeve of the coat. In spite of having been closed up in that trunk for years, it still harbored a faint hint of Red’s smell. I stepped toward Pit and pressed my nose into the rough fabric of the coat’s sleeve and tried to remember my father as he was when he was healthy. I put my arms around my brother and inhaled deeply the odor still living in the wool.

“Some days I miss him so much,” I said in a half-whisper.

“I know,” he said. “Me too. Sometimes I wonder if that’s why I keep moving all the time. Keeps me from thinking about what I don’t have.”

I pushed back and took hold of his hands. “Hey, you’ve still got a family. I’m here. Maddy is, too.”

“Do we have to count him?” he asked, and we both laughed again.

“We really lucked out in the father department,” I said, “but how Red could have sired Maddy, I’ll never know.”

Pit started to take off the jacket. “You know, it’s not nearly as much fun making fun of him when he’s not here to turn all red and get pissed off. What do you say we go down to see him and torture him like we used to?” This time when he laughed, it helped make the tightness in my throat ease off. God, I’d missed Pit.

“I’m afraid Maddy wouldn’t exactly be happy to see me.”

 “Why do you say that?”

“It’s a long story, but a few months back he got down several thousand dollars at the track, and some not-so-nice guys I’d been involved with kinda took it out on him. Really did a number on his face. Later, when I bought him out of Gorda and he paid off his bookie, he didn’t cut me any slack. Still maintains the whole thing was my fault.”

“Sounds like my bro.”

When we’d first come in, I had noticed the red light was blinking on my answering machine, but I had wanted to take these few minutes to catch up with Pit first.

“Hope you don’t mind, but I’ve got to check this.” I pushed the button and a female voice, slightly accented, started to speak.

“Allo. This is Martine Gohin.” I sat down on the couch and lowered my head over the machine, anxious to hear every word she would say. “I heard about this Earth Angel child on the television, and I would like to help you very much. I am working on my radio show this morning, but if you could join me at my home for lunch, that would be very nice.” She went on to give her address and cell phone number. I checked my watch. I had about an hour to spare—just enough time to swing by and check on Jea

When the machine clicked off, Pit asked, “Earth Angel? What are you into now?”

I told him the most abbreviated version of the story that I could manage.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Might be. How are your navigation skills?”

“Great. I was the navigator on the last delivery up from St. Maarten.”

“Okay, then, here’s the problem: I want you to find out how this kid and the dead woman ended up in that part of the ocean. If they weren’t on the Miss Agnes, then I’m spi

“Will do.” Pit saluted me, then headed to the kitchen for another beer.

After changing from my work clothes into a clean pair of jeans and a Hawaiian print shirt, I jumped into Lightnin’ and took off.

Jea

At the top of the exterior staircase I called Jea

“Morning!” shouted Jea

“Geez, Jea

“Okay, I guess that’ll work. So how is she?”

“Not much change. Come on and see for yourself.”

She led me back to the apartment’s third bedroom, which she had made into a family entertainment room with a big TV, video games, stereo, and shelves covered with children’s books, toys, and puzzles. Jea