CHAPTER FIFTY - The Fabulous Mc Inerney Boys
EDDIE - Holy shock and awe! I was kidnapped as a two year-old and I was Skip's missing younger brother. Mike gave me the word, readin' from reports of a DNA match. I sat and stared for what felt like an eternity. All he could do was look at me and grin, waitin' for me to answer somehow, I didn't know what to say. Was I happy? Was I angry? I didn't know. All these years I thought I knew who I was. I just looked up at Mike and said, "What now, Boss-Man?"
MIKE - I sat down next to him, put one hand on his leg and another on his shoulder and laid out the facts.
"Well, now we take this report to the Mc Inerneys, Skip included, and just tell 'em. We don't pussyfoot, we just lay it all out there. Mrs. M. woulda been okay no matter what. Mr. M. will just have to guts it out. Skip...."
"Gosh! Skip! What's he gonna think? I think he's the one I feel bad for the worst! With comin' on to me and ev'rything, ya know, people sometimes transfer feelin's and stuff, and he probably transferred for his brother and thought he was in love with me, and I could be the brother he was transferrin'! Man, aw, man, what's he gonna do, I wonder!"
"There's only one way to find out. No matter what, we'll be at his side, we'll be his friends through this whole thing. He may be happy, he may get mad at us, but it's important for me-n-you to be at his side, tell 'im he's not alone in this. We also gotta get this done right away, a.s.a.p. But one thing - I wanted to tell you first 'cuz you're not only a subject of this report, but you're my partner and I need you strong with me when we go to these people."
"Holy insider information"
"Kinda, yeah. So, how are ya? Just like Skip will have us no matter what, you do know ya got me no matter what. Think ya need some time?"
"Huh?"
"Time, to decide what ya wanna do next."
"Ya think my life can go on the way it's been? I mean, nothin' against the Mc Inerneys, I'm sure they're good people, but I always felt I had my home, my family and ev'rything, with you. You're like a dad, a brother, a best friend, a hero, all rolled into one. Even though I may be somebody else, I'm still ev'rything to you that I was, ain't I?"
I smiled and kissed him, "You were, are, and always will be my Eddie. Like I told ya, you always got me no matter what."
We drive out to the Mc Inerney place. Skip met us there. I assembled all of us in the livin' room and I presented the whole thing. Skip and his mom were shocked at first, but happy. Happy that years of wonderin' were finally put to rest. They both embraced Eddie and he them. Mrs. M. kisssed him on the cheek and said, "welcome home....son." Dad, on the other hand, stood in the back, glarin' at the whole scene. I was disturbed by the look on his face, not that he was angry, but he wasn't into this at all, and he remained remote, not sayin' anything. He caught a glimpse of me catchin' a glimpse of him and he looked away, arms folded tightly across his chest. "Maybe he'll come around", I thought to myself, but whatever the result, my job here was done.
EDDIE - I was formally introduced as the Mc Inerney's missin' son, and Skip's missin' brother. Both sides had 21 years of stuff to catch up on with each other. I turned to say somethin' to the man who was my real father, puttin' my hand out to shake his, but he wanted no part of me, backin' away and sayin', "you're not my son and you never will be." Mike interjected, but the old man shouted "NO!" and sat and sulked silently, castin' a pall over the day, me-n-Mike looked at each other, we couldn't figure it out. We both knew somethin' was up, and we needed to find that out, but the joy of havin' Skip and mom there made it easier to deal with.
No matter what the outcome of this whole thing, I knew I still wanted my place with Mike. I didn't wanna hurt anyone and spoil the reunion, but the truth had to come out. After I told them both about the life I had out there, me-n-Skip talked about how the two of us met, how we got trapped inside the warehouse and how we rescued ourselves.
"Oh, yes, I always knew my two sons were brave boys, that they can handle themselves."
She was real proud of my detective work and now we have another one of us goin' on the force. She was real proud she had two sons in law enforcement. She invited me-n-Mike to stay the weekend. I knew I could always have my life with Mike as if nothin' happened, and I knew I had a mother and a brother who'd love me no matter what, again, as if nothin' happened. I did feel guilty, though. I thought about my so-called mom, the woman who raised me. She was always good to me throughout my life and when she fell ill, I was right by her side, lookin' after her. Her death made my life real empty, but God made sure I knew Mike was just around the corner. That's somethin' I came to believe over time, that no matter how bad somethin' is that you're facin', somethin' real good is just waitin' around the corner, ya just gotta hang in there and keep goin'. Guys like me-n-Skip sometimes kill themselves, and later on, with mom out of earshot, we both admitted to each other there were times when we thought about cashin' in our chips before the game was over. Ya can't do that. Ya may have two outs against ya in the bottom of the 9th, and it's temptin' to drop your bat and walk out, sayin' ya had enough, but if ya don't stick around and keep that bat in your hands, you'll miss that game-winnin' homer, the teammates runnin' toward ya, big smiles, arms outstretched, doused with bubbly, the deafenin' roar of the crowd screamin', jumpin' up and down. You'd miss all that and more if ya cashed it all in.
Boy, what a great day this was turnin' out to be, huggin', laughin', at least two really wonderful people in my life. I realize now Eddie Robinson is not my legal name, but Eddie Robinson is who I am. No matter what label ya slap on me, I'm still the kid who adored Batman, modeled myself after Robin, stayed on the straight and narrow, fell in love with Mike Batz, was lucky enough to be able to live out my dream of fightin' crime, especially by his side. Funny, life changed, yet stayed the same. But, in any case, there was a real nice weekend comin' up -
UNTIL.......
MIKE - I get a call on my cell, "Mike Batz. Yeah. What?" I feel a look of anguish come over my face, I rub my head and lick my lips, somethin' I do when I'm upset. "Uh-huh. Could ya check it out again, just to be sure? Oh, ya did, huh? Yeah. Well, thanks for ownin' up. Yeah, I'll, uh, I'll see to it. Yeah, hey, thanks, guy. Yeah. See ya."
I inhale and exhale deeply, my eyes cast downward, once again rubbin' my head and lickin' my lips. My eyes dart back and forth between the four of 'em. Eddie gets a look of worry - - worry for me.
"Mike, what's goin' on?"
"That was the lab. One of the guys there, he, uh, did some more checkin'. The lab report was botched. Turns out Eddie and me both bled on that shirt I got the sample from. It was tainted. The report was inaccurate. Mr. and Mrs. Mc Inerney, Eddie is not your long-lost son, after all". I turn to Skip, tears wellin' in his eyes, "I'm so sorry, kid."
Mrs. M. had a look of pained resignation and looked up at her husband. "Well, I guess we'll never know what's become of Kevin, jr."
I noticed somethin' funny about the dad's reaction. I expected he wouldn't be happy about this, but he had a look of panic in his eyes, his chest was pumpin' a bit, microscopic beads of sweat formed in one of the frown lines on his forehead, he suddenly seemed out of breath, and in a really big hurry to get outta the room.
I remembered the angry shout of "you're not my son and you never will be". Somehow that made sense, but I wasn't sure why.
Skip on the other hand, was also breathin' heavy. His face got redder, his eyes, wetter. He pounded the back of the couch he was standin' behind and started runnin' out, sayin', "aw, this rips it - this really RIPS IT!" and ran out the front door, followed slowly and carefully by Eddie, who stood at the doorway lookin' back and forth between us and the outside, his arms kinda formin' a shrug. I knew he was caught and didn't know whether to go after 'im or not, so I motioned with my head that he should go out there. He snapped his finger and pointed at me, the wordless gesture he means for "sure thing", and ran after Skip.
EDDIE - Skip ran outta the house and I wasn't sure whether I should follow him, but the Boss-Man sensed it and said I should go ahead. As I ran, I called out to 'im, "Skip! Hey, wait up!"
He stopped and turned around, but started walkin' backwards. He pointed at me, "you get the hell away from me".
I wouldn't. I just kept walkin' forward, him backward. "Skip, ya gotta talk to me!"
"Why the hell should I? You ain't nothin' to me anymore! I only talk to people who count!"
Still with the walkin', "I'm your friend, Skip, we've been through too much together!"
Then he stumbles onto a rock, thinks for a second, then picks it up and aims it at me, "get BACK! I mean it, take one more step and I'll brain ya with this!"
Now, I've heard and seen this kinda thing before, ya think that's gonna stop me?
"Skip, are you nuts? You're gonna be a cop - ya gonna risk gettin' locked up before your first day on the beat?"
He throws the rock at me, hits me in the shoulder, I go down, but then get right back up and run after 'im. Me-n-him run out to what looks like an old toolshed a few yards away from the Mc Inerney place. It's padlocked. I watch him pick up another rock and smash one of the windows with it, thinkin' to myself, "what the heck's with him and this place?" I follow him in, he comes at me, pushin' me, I push back, he shouts, "Great fuckin' day in the mornin', ain't it, HUH? I lose a brother, can't keep any friends throughout my life, my dad hates, me, I take a shit job, then I finally meet someone who's like a brother, only to fall in love with 'im, only to be rejected, THEN to hear we really are brothers, and now this with the, uh, botched blood bullshit!"
Then he starts punchin' my chest, "Jesus Murphy what the fuck's goin' on, huh? What! This whole thing is your fault, you realize that, right!"
"No, wait, it was your mom..."
"Don't you say a fuckin' WORD about my mom, you asshole" - more punchin'. I know I got a ripped chest of steel, but COME ON, now, enough's enough! I try grabbin' his hands so he won't hit me anymore and try to shout above his voice, but he breaks loose and runs back to the window. "Get me the fuck outta here!" then stops cold, starin' out.
"Skip - Skip, what's the matter? What're ya lookin' at out there?"
A MEMORY HITS OUR JUMPIN' JANITOR - HE HAS A FLASHBACK OF HIMSELF AS A 4 YEAR-OLD LOOKING INTO THE SAME WINDOW WHICH HIS ADULT SELF IS LOOKING OUT OF. HE TURNS AROUND, AS IF DIRECTED, AND LOOKS STRAIGHT AHEAD, SAYING NOTHING. EDDIE PUTS HIS HANDS UP TO HIS CHEST AS IF DEFENDING HIMSELF, BUT SOON REALIZES HE'S NOT GOING TO BE STRICKEN ANYMORE.
SKIP STARTS SCREAMING, "DAD, DON'T DO IT! STOP IT! LEAVE HIM ALONE! DAD, PUT YOUR CLOTHES BACK ON, THE NEIGHBORS WILL SEE! DAD PUT THE ROCK DOWN, STOP HITTING HIM DAD! STOP HITTING HIM!"
EDDIE - He runs outside and toward a tree with a kind of a molehill.
"I remember now! I can see ev'rything! Gotta get a shovel!"
He ran back in, got a shovel, ran back to the molehill, and started diggin'. I looked around for another one and started diggin' with 'im. I heard a noise.
"Ya hit somethin', Eddie, let's see it."
We brush some dirt aside and it looks like some kinda box. I pull at the sides, wonderin' how it opens up, but we do get it open and we almost pass out from the pungent punch in the puss. The smell was indescribable. Me-n-Skip held our noses and gagged, but sure enough, there was a skeleton, probably of a little kid, it didn't look like it was 3 feet long. Skip started hyperventilatin'.
"Aw, Jesus. Aw, aw Jesus, Kevin. Why'd he do this to ya? That old man of ours is gonna pay for what he done, he is. I'm gonna take this pile and shove it right in his face."
I got in there and stopped him right then, "NO WAY! This is a crime scene! You'll taint the evidence!"
He paused for a sec and said, "you're right. I forgot myself. First rule on patrol is if ya see a crime scene, report it and gaurd it. Ya can look but don't touch."
I snap my finger and point to him, "you got it". Then I whip out a pair of plastic gloves from my tool belt and examine somethin' I noticed on the skull. I saw a crack. I'm liable to think it was evidence of the fracture Skip remembered, when his old man bashed Kevin with a rock.
"Yeah, Skip, it looks like you just described."
"So what do we do now?"
"We get Mike out here." I call him up and say, "hey, Mike, it's Eddie. Listen, go to the front window and look out." I start wavin' my arm, "can ya see this? Okay, good. Ya gotta get out here, man, this is bad. Oh, and bring Skip's folks with ya." I hang up and say to Skip, "ya wanted in on the bad-guy bustin business, buddy, this is your chance."
Mike came out to the scene of the crime. Skip's folks were kinda fallin' behind, which gave us enough time to let Mike in on what Skip remembered. He also looked at the skull. The Mc Inerneys arrived a couple of minutes later and Mike asked, "can anyone here tell me why there's a child's skeleton buried in this yard, huh, Mr. Mc Inerney?"
"I don't know to what you refer, Detective."
"I'm referrin' to how nervous ya got when I found out these fine boys over here weren't brothers, after all. Hey, Skip, how old are ya?"
"27"
"I refer to how you ruined this fine young man's childhood 21 years ago with the disappearance of his little brother, whom we find here has had his skull bashed in and buried in a shallow grave on your property."
"Well, I...I don't know..."
"Oh, yes you do know. We all do. We all know you took a defenseless 2 year-old and beat 'im to death, but we wanna know why, Kevin, why ya did it. Was it because he sneaked a smoke behind the tool shed? Played hooky from day care? Was it that he wouldn't stop cryin' 'cuz he was thirsty or had a dirty diaper? Was he a bad boy in that he wouldn't do somethin' ya told 'im to?"
"All right. Yes, Detective, it was because he wouldn't....he wouldn't hold still."
"He wouldn't hold still for, what, a family snapshot, a haircut? Ya promised him a lolly, didn't ya?"
"I know why the dirtbag did it."
"That's fine, Skip, but I think we oughta let the old man own up here. Let him tell the story."
"He wouldn't hold still...long enough...for me to...ejaculate into his rectum."
The Mrs. almost fainted. Eddie and Skip nodded to each other to say, "we got 'im."
I went on. "You had sex with your son, Mr. Mc Inerney. No, not had sex...fucked! You butt-fucked your son, Mr. Mc Inerney. He struggled, he tried to get away. You were hurtin' him and he wanted his mommy. He cried out for her, but you kept hittin' 'im, tryin' to get 'im to shut up, that you'd be done in a few minutes and he'd be okay if he only cooperated, but he didn't, he broke away, ran away, you caught up with him, you were so furious that you picked up the first thing ya saw - a rock - and ya belted 'im, causin' 'im to scream,and ya kept hittin' 'im til he stopped screamin' - all in front of this fine young man over here, soon to be one of the finest in whatever town he's assigned. You did this in front of 'im, ignorin' his pleas to stop. Kevin finally stopped screamin' because he was DEAD,Mr. Mc Inerney. He was DEAD! You picked him up, shoved him into some box, dug a hole in the ground, stuck 'im in there, and then you grabbed your oldest son and threatened him in the same way if he ever said anything. You forced this boy to block out this memory for 21 years, Mr. Mc Inerney, causin' him so much pain, he couldn't have much in the way of friends, couldn't hold down a job, he made a lot of poor choices in his life, even endin' up gettin' tossed outta the police academy for the first time, then havin' to take some shit janitor job. One of the happiest days in his life was when he met my boy over here, then he got back into the academy, is gonna be a cop and is gonna make a real life for himself, with which you had absolutely nothing to do! This boy drifted for 21 years because he couldn't say a goddamned thing about what he witnessed in the tool shed on a beautiful day when two innocent children were at play. They were friends as well as brothers and you couldn't stand that, could ya, Mr. Mc Inerney. You hated your first-born son for whatever reason and you couldn't stand to see him happy. You DIDN'T GIVE A DAMN that he would witness and be scarred for life by such an unholy act. You took one life and ruined another. Ha! Ya talk about your family heirlooms, well, I'm gonna tell you somethin', Kevin Mc Inerney, you're goin' down for this. I see ya gettin' the needle for this, and ya deserve to have it slammed in your veins with a rock, you disgustin' dirtbag. Kevin Mc Inerney, you are under arrest for the kidnappin, sexual assault, and murder of Kevin Mc Inerney, jr., in addition to obstruction of justice and failure to report a death to the proper authorities. Eddie - cuffs!"
I put the cuffs on this dirty son-of-a-bitch. "Call the cops, Ed! We're gonna close the books on this one. The mystery of the disappearance of Kevin Mc Inerney, jr. has been solved."
Eddie calls the police and reports ev'rything. He gets off the phone, I say to him, puttin' my hand out to shake his. "Good work on this, Eddie. Our job here is done."
EPILOGUE:
MIKE - Mc Inerney's taken into custody. Skip and his mom remain shaken. She goes back into the house and Skip stays sittin' on the ground at the burial site. Me-n-Eddie decide we can't leave these people alone just yet. I say to him, "I think Skip needs his brother right now."
"Absolutely".
I go into the house to console Mrs. M., while Eddie stays with Skip.
EDDIE - I go up to Skip, who's sittin' on the ground next to the hole which formerly contained his brother's remains. He says, "what're ya still doin' here?"
"I don't getcha"
"Well, the case is solved, you're not my brother, you don't care about me. I just don't know what you're doin' here, that's all."
"Skip, look at me"
He looks up. Poor guy is still broken up, tears still runnin' down his face. I wipe some of 'em away.
"That's not true. I do care about you. I love you."
"Aw, don't bring that up again."
"I can't love you like you want me to, but I still do, and we've been through a lot together in the last few weeks, and we may not be biological brothers, but in my heart of hearts, you'll always have a brother in me, and you'll always have my love. Okay?"
He started shakin'. His shoulders heavin' up and down. I held him as he shook and sobbed. He put his head on my shoulder. I stroked his hair, I kissed the top of his head. He held onto my arms as they were holdin' his body. The boy's been cryin' inside for 21 years, he has a lot of pain to get outta his system and I used my soft kisses, the warmth and strength of my flesh and the softness in my voice as I whispered phrases of consolation into his ear, to bring his pain to the surface so it can finally leave him, so he can do more than just dust himself off and put on a false front. Skip found his heart buried under years of repression. He found his natural brother in the memories he was ordered to suppress and, in each other, we each found the brother we never had. Skip's a much happier man these days. He's a State Trooper and I know he's doin' a bang-up job out there on the highways.
Mike Batz brought me the happiness I never thought I'd feel, and I always wished there was somethin' I could do in return for the life he gave me. I was glad I could do the same for Skip. He cried in my arms just as I'd cried in Mike's back at the old hotel.
Good work on this one, Eddie, your job here is done.