Epilogue

Six Months Later in late July

It was late morning when Lyle stood with his right boot propped up on the horizontal rail of the galvanized pipe corral fence watching Amanda and Benny riding a pair of Mr. Stockett's quarter-horse mares.  Lyle was so proud of Benny, sitting confidently in the saddle atop a sorrel shaded mount named Ginger.  Benny had come a long way in just a few months and loved wearing the palm leaf cowboy hat that Mr. Stockett had given to him to match the one Lyle was wearing at that moment.  Strangely enough, Benny had grown even closer to Lyle since Maricruz told Benny that Rick was his father.  Maricruz and Lyle had expected tears and doors slamming, but pretty much all he said about it was, "Okay.  I like Rick alright, but Lyle's really my dad."  Lyle did not take that job lightly, but took it as a privilege, a calling even.  It had made it much easier on Benny that Rick acknowledged his biological contribution to Benny's existence and his emotional care for him, but that Rick didn't expect anything from Benny in return.  

Lyle could tell that Amanda was still a little unsure of herself in the saddle but she too was growing in her riding skill and ease, mostly thanks to the horse she was riding, the soft and sweet buckskin tinted horse named Shasta.  Shasta always took it easy on Amanda, trotting gently in wide circles around the ring. Just a few months earlier, no matter what he said, Lyle couldn't convince Amanda to go anywhere near a horse. But then her therapist over in Pueblo, the one Jacqueline Wallace had recommended, encouraged Amanda to take the risk.  Now Lyle and Maricruz had to argue with her to get her back in the house, but Lyle could understand this better than Maricruz.  Lyle was the same way.  He loved his family and life in general these days but there's still no place he'd rather be than on a horse, working cattle or riding fence. Amanda had opened up so much and that was thanks to Shasta more than to anyone else.  Although she may have still been a little uneasy in the mount, Lyle could see it on her face that when she was in the saddle she was happy for once in her life, especially now that she had her own pair of Justin boots that Fernando and Veronica had bought her for her seventeenth birthday the month before.  

Thanks to the help of Father Carl, Chief Schmidt, and even Albert Singleton, the courts allowed for Lyle and Maricruz, once they were married, to serve as Amanda's foster parents until her eighteenth birthday when she could decide for herself where she would live.  Lyle and Maricruz, of course, hoped she would choose to stay with them for several more years, knowing that she never had an actual childhood.  It took them quite a while to figure out what to do about the fact that Amanda hadn't been to school since the eighth grade. There wasn't anything they could do for her through the schools in Rocky Ford, so they had enrolled her in a night school through the community college in Pueblo, driving her over three evenings every week.

As Lyle watched the kids ride, he fiddled with his purple "9 Months Sober" coin Rick had presented to him at the AA meeting a few nights before.  Those months without Rick at the meetings as he was healing up and without Rick being able to fulfill his role as a sponsor had been tough for Lyle, but he'd made it through one day at a time with the help of an old cowboy named Monty who filled in during Rick's absence.  Lyle thought less about drinking each day but inevitably he still thought about it at least a few times a day.  Instead of going out to the bars with the other ranch hands he'd come home and spend the evening either helping Benny with his homework or taking his turn driving Amanda over to Pueblo.  No matter where he was, though, each evening he'd make sure to drink a few cups of decaf coffee just to give him something to sip on and to have in his hand. Although it was never easy, staying sober was more possible with the joy and structure of family life.

It was amazing to everyone, Lyle and Maricruz included, how quickly they'd gelled together as a family, especially with all the trauma and change that had happened in the past six months.  Father Carl told them it was probably not in spite of but because of all the stress that they grew so close so quickly.  Not only was there all the abuse in Amanda's past and all that they went through that snowy night and the next day, but there was also Benny finding out about Rick and the fact that they all moved out to a brand new double-wide that Mr. Stockett gave to Lyle when he promoted him to ranch boss after he proved he was staying sober. 

Their new house was a great place to be their first house together after getting married.  Knowing how important family was to Maricruz, Lyle had decided to propose to her at a big family dinner one Sunday after Mass, which Lyle had started to attend some of the time because Maricruz told him that if he was going to be a father he needed to set the right example for Benny and Amanda not just the other six days of the week but on Sundays too.  Although much of it was still foreign to Lyle and probably always would be, he was so thankful to Father Carl for all he'd done for them that he didn't mind sitting through the homilies. Not only had Father Carl called in every favor he had saved up with Chief Schmidt to keep Lyle, Maricruz, and Amanda out of jail, but he even went to the bishop to get permission to do the wedding for Maricruz and Lyle even though Lyle wasn't a Catholic and wasn't interested in becoming one.  It did help their case that Lyle was a baptized and confirmed Methodist, although he hadn't spent much time in the pew for close to twenty years. It's not that Lyle had no spiritual side, though.  A man doesn't spend that much time with horses and seeing as many sunrises and sunsets as he had over the years without knowing intuitively that there was someone or something bigger behind all that beauty.  Plus, AA had genuinely come to serve as his spiritual community and the twelve steps had become his rule of life.

Lyle and Maricruz's wedding was bigger than Lyle thought it would be.  Maricruz's family could practically fill the church by themselves, but Lyle even had some folks show up.  The Stockett family came, as did most of the ranch hands from the Crazy Snake and a handful of people from the AA community in Pueblo.  Rick was the best man and Jacqueline was one of the bridesmaids, which brought tears to Father Carl's eyes. "Sometimes I feel like I'm just preaching impossible pie in the sky ideas," he admitted during the wedding homily, "but you all prove that living out the gospel is possible." During premarital counseling, after Father Carl heard the full story involving Maricruz, Benny, Lyle, Rick, and Jacqueline, Father Carl called it the single most powerful example of forgiveness and reconciliation he'd ever heard.

That late morning out at their new place, while Lyle watched Amanda and Benny riding horses, Maricruz was still in town, tying up some loose ends at the restaurant before they could leave on their trip that evening. Ever since they moved the restaurant into a newer, larger building after the shooting, Maricruz had been spending more and more time in the office instead of waiting tables.  Before she would come home to help pack the car she also planned to stop off for a quick workout at Frontier Justice Fitness, Umberto's gym that he'd opened where the restaurant had been. Although people aren't too keen on eating lunch and dinner in the room where a child rapist was shot to death, nobody seemed to have the same problem when it came to doing bench presses or pull ups in the same space.  Also, once Maricruz and Benny moved out of the apartment upstairs, Umberto talked Fernando into letting him covert the living room into an aerobics room and putting tanning beds in the bedrooms.  Three months in, Umberto was losing quite a bit of money each month but Maricruz was confident that with her help he could make it work.

Lyle climbed into the corral to help the kids dismount.  As he was helping Benny down, he heard the sound of tires on gravel and turned to see Rick driving up the lane toward the house in the Wallaces' burgundy Dodge Caravan with Jacqueline following him in their white Honda Accord.  Lyle unbuckled Ginger's saddle, sliding it off and then balancing it on the top rail of the fence, and then did the same for Shasta after he'd helped Amanda down. He and the kids walked over to greet Rick and Jacqueline, shaking hands and hugging.  Jacqueline asked the kids to take her over to see the horses.

Lyle looked the minivan over, shook his head, and sighed.  "Quite a machine you've got here," he joked with Rick.

"Hey," Rick joked back, "it sure beats driving to Oklahoma in Maricruz's little clown car or that feed truck you've been driving around."

"Seriously, though, Rick, although I'm going to lose any credibility I ever had as a cowboy for driving this thing, I can't tell you how much we appreciate it.  You really sure it's okay?  I mean, Pawhuska is a long way from here."

"We're happy to do it, Lyle," Rick said, patting Lyle on the back.  "I'm so happy for you and all the great things that have happened in your life this year, that I'm just thankful to be a part of it.  As soon as you told me you were taking the whole family to visit your little girl I knew I had to loan you the van.  Driving this you'll have room for Savannah to ride with you when you take her places."

"That'll be great," Lyle said.  "I just hope everything goes good.  Clarissa is being really cool giving me this week with Savannah.  Hopefully after this she'll be able to come see us here."

"I'd love to meet her someday.  In the meantime, we've go you gassed up and ready to go tomorrow."

"Actually," Lyle said, "this damn heat made us decide to go ahead and take off tonight so it'll be cooler and the kids can sleep through most of the drive.  I'll catch a nap here in a little while after Maricruz gets back from work and the gym.  Then we'll load up after supper and hit the road."

Lyle and Rick talked more about the trip and Rick showed him where the insurance verification was and how to work the windshield wipers and headlights.  Then they went over strategies for Lyle to stay sober while he was on the trip.  Rick even handed him a sheet from a small yellow notepad that had a list of AA meetings in Pawhuska each day that Lyle would be there just in case.  Jacqueline and the kids came back over from the horse corral, and after they all talked for a few more minutes Rick and Jacqueline drove off in her Honda.  

Lyle released the horses back out into the pasture, and then after a while Maricruz came home, they had their lunch, packed their bags, and Lyle took a nap so he could drive through the night.  After an easy supper of fish sticks, macaroni and cheese, and green beans, they loaded the minivan, and began the eight and a half hour drive, starting out on the gravel and dirt roads for several miles before they made it to Highway 50. Lyle was behind the wheel, Maricruz in the passenger seat, and Benny and Amanda in the captain’s chairs in the middle row.  As they headed east on Highway 50, Lyle glanced over at Maricruz, who had won the fight over which radio station they would listen to—he wanted the country station out of Trinidad but she wanted Top 40.  She was now singing along with Paula Abdul on “Opposites Attract,” and Lyle thought about how thankful he was that this was really true, even though he couldn't stand the song.  After the song was finally over he turned the dial over to a country song, smiling at Maricruz when she groaned as Charlie Rich's "The Most Beautiful Girl" played through the minivan speakers.

"This one goes out as a long distance dedication to the lady in the passenger seat," Lyle said in a terrible Casey Kasem voice.

Maricruz just shook her head and laughed as "ughs" echoed from the backseat.  

"Are you serious, Lyle?" Amanda asked, exasperated.  "There's got to be some Def Leppard or Warrant or something better on the radio.  Anything's better than this! Back me up on this, Benny."

Benny just laughed as he went back to playing the new Gameboy his grandparents had bought him for the trip with the understanding that it was an early birthday present.

As the song played on, as any husband and father would, Lyle enjoyed making his wife and the kids suffer through the sappy classic country song.  He looked ahead toward the endless miles of blacktop highway bordered by the seemingly infinite high plains on each side and the vast and gradually darkening sky above.  He couldn't help but think about how much his life had changed and be thankful for it. He glanced into the rearview mirror at the descending sun behind them and checked it again every few minutes, tracking it's downward progress, knowing they'd meet it again in the morning.  Finally, he was lucky enough to check the mirror at the moment when it dipped completely beneath the horizon far behind them, finally resting somewhere west of Rocky Ford.  

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Before telling her story, Maricruz waited until the nurse came in and pushed the button to quiet the beeping and then attached a new bag to the IV. 

Maricruz began, “Well, I know you’ve never been very religious, Lyle, but I have to tell you that we all owe Father Carl big time.  He should be nominated for sainthood after all the miracles he worked today.”

“Miracles, huh?” Lyle asked, skeptically.

“He went with me and Amanda to the police station," Maricruz said.  "And they had me and Amanda sit in a waiting room with the hardest plastic chairs ever while Father Carl went in and met with Chief Schmidt.  I think I told you once that the chief is a member of our parish.  I think he was even baptized there when he was a baby.  He always runs the Lenten Friday fish fries and I’m pretty sure he’s still the chair of the Parish Council.”  Maricruz began folding the pink blanket as she continued.  “They were in there for like an hour and then the chief came out and asked Amanda to join them.  Amanda was about to freak out but I convinced her it would all be okay.  Then she was in there for like an hour too.  I ended up falling asleep out there.  My back is going to be killing me for days.”

“So what ended up happening?” Lyle asked, bringing Maricruz back on track.

“I guess the chief made a few phone calls and verified what Amanda had said about her father dying in prison and her mom OD’ing.  He also verified that she’d been picked up a couple times around the country for prostitution but that someone had always paid the fine for her.  I guess the chief bitched her out pretty hard for not calling the police, especially in Pueblo.  He said he’d do what he could to help her out with the Pueblo PD and the Pueblo County Sheriff.”

Lyle groaned.  “I’ll never forgive myself for picking up that damn gun out of the snow.  I should have just left it out there, or better yet I should have wiped it down and put it back in the glove box.  And I sure as hell never should have pulled it down from on top of your fridge and carried it down to the restaurant.  What the hell was I thinking?”

“You were thinking about keeping your promise to Amanda."  Maricruz patted his hand.  "Was it the best thing to do?  I’m not going to lie, Babe, it was pretty stupid, but you just wanted to protect her.  Even though you’ve only known her for less than two days you’re probably the closest thing to a father she’s ever had.  Don’t beat yourself up about it.  Besides, you'll hear more about the gun here in a minute”

“I know,” he said, “But—”

“Just listen to the rest of the story, Lyle.”

Lyle closed his mouth and let Maricruz continue.

“Finally, they sent Amanda back out and called me in.  The chief asked me what happened and I told him the truth.  I told him about what I did to the truck and that I kicked DB three times for grabbing my ass and calling me a wetback.”  She smiled.  “And I told the chief I’d do it again, which didn’t make Father Carl all that happy, but it was the truth.  The chief said DB’s truck was being impounded anyway and that because of all the evidence they found in it that matched up with Amanda’s story, that it would probably end up being sold at auction.  He said he wouldn’t file any charges against me for the vandalism but that he was putting me on unofficial probation, that he’d be checking up on me.  He also said that if DB had been anyone else I’d probably be brought up on assault charges but that dead pedophile pimps don’t tend to bring charges against people so he’d pretend it never happened, although he then joked that they should start bringing me in on interrogations.”

“So you’re off the hook?” Lyle asked in disbelief.

Maricruz nodded.  “Thanks to Father Carl and Chief Schmidt—and the fact that DB was the scum of the earth—yes, I’m off the hook.”

“But what about Amanda?  I mean, she stole a car, and we had the gun from the stolen car.”

“Okay, Lyle, I don’t want you to be mad about what I’m about to say, because it ended up saving both Amanda and you from going to jail.”

Lyle pursed his lips.  He hated when people started a sentence by saying, “I don’t want you to be mad about this.”

“Promise me you won’t be mad,” Maricruz said.

Lyle reluctantly agreed.

“It turns out, Lyle, that Amanda wasn’t completely truthful about everything.  She told you one lie.  That gun she pointed at you from the window of the car, that shot out the windows, and that you ended up carrying into the restaurant—she didn’t find that gun in the stolen car.  She had it with her already when she was hiding in the bushes in front of the hotel.  She’d taken that gun from DB’s truck before she ran, but when she first met you out in the car she made up the story about finding it in the Crown Victoria’s glove box because she didn’t know you well enough to trust you yet.  She’d already admitted to you that she’d stolen a car from one person.  She didn’t want to tell you she’d stolen a gun from someone else too.  By the time she came to trust you, so much had happened she’d forgotten she even told you the lie about the gun being in the glove box.”

Lyle sighed loudly.  “So now she’s going to have to face charges for stealing the car and stealing the gun?”

“No, Lyle,” Maricruz said.  “Think about it.  It turns out that DB had the gun legally registered and everything.  So as far as the records show, you and Amanda never had that gun.  I mean, there was no way DB was going to call the police and report it stolen.  So DB registered that gun, kept that gun in his truck, and then DB shot Rick with that gun, and then that’s the gun he was holding when he pointed it at the police when they killed him.  The Chief said as far as he’s concerned your fingerprints and Amanda’s fingerprints on it could have just as easily come as a part of the struggle in the restaurant.”

“Oh my God,” Lyle said, letting his head drop back onto the pillow.  “Whew.  That’s the best lie anybody’s ever told.  I thought I was going to end up serving some time.  What about the car though?  There’s no way Amanda can get out of that one.”

“Don’t be so sure, Lyle.  I’m starting to think there might be something bigger at work here, like somebody was looking out for us.”

“What do you mean?” Lyle asked.

“Well, Amanda had to be taken over to the Pueblo Police Department to be questioned about the Crown Victoria.  Chief Schmidt took Father Carl and me with them.  He said since she was a minor he could probably convince the chief in Pueblo to allow us to be with her as child advocates.  He warned us that we were living on the edge by not having an attorney with us, but Father Carl assured him that if it went too far he’d call the attorney for the diocese. 

Chief Schmidt had called ahead and filled them in on Amanda’s situation.  They, like all of us, had never heard anything that terrible.  So when we got there, they told us that Mr. Singleton, the owner of the car, was there and that he wanted to talk to us. 

They took us into the interview room where Mr. Singleton was sitting.  He was an older man, probably in his early seventies.  He looked really nice, like a genuinely kind person.”  She continued on describing him as thin and wearing a sweater and jeans, as well as wire-rimmed glasses.  She said that, because there was a ring of silver stubble on his scalp that surrounded the bald skin in the middle, Mr. Singleton kind of reminded her of her Uncle Diego who had died a few years earlier of a heart attack.  She continued, “Mr. Singleton sat across from Amanda, Father Carl, and me, and the two police chiefs stood together against the wall.” 

  

As a nurse came in to check Lyle’s vitals, Maricruz kept telling her story.  “He told us about how he was a retired social worker from up in the Cheyenne area in Wyoming.  His job was to work with some of the Indian tribes up there to try to stop teen pregnancy, drugs and drinking, runaways, and suicides.  He said that Amanda’s story reminded him of a lot of the young women he’d worked with that he couldn’t help but that ended up in prison or dead.  He said he carried all of those girls with him. 

“After Mr. Singleton was done talking, the chief from Pueblo stepped up and said, ‘Mr. Singleton has decided, against my advice, not to press any charges.’

“Then Mr. Singleton looked up at the chief and said, ‘Press charges?  Why would I press charges against someone who borrowed my car?’  Everybody knew, of course, that Mr. Singleton was lying, but there’s nothing they could do about it, and if there was I don’t think they would have done it.  He said, ‘She can’t be charged with stealing a car if she didn’t steal it.  When I called the police last night I was just a confused old man, who forgot that I had loaned it to her.’  

"Father Carl promised Mr. Singleton that some of the church’s charity money would pay for new windows for the car.  It was really pretty funny.  I mean, Mr. Singleton’s story was so ridiculous but nobody wanted Amanda arrested and after what they found in DB’s truck, nobody blamed her for running from him or for ‘borrowing’ Mr. Singleton’s car.  And nobody shed a tear that DB ended up in the morgue rather than in a jail cell, although Father Carl did pray over him while he was lying there on the restaurant floor while you were passed out.”

“So you’re telling me we’re all off the hook, then?”  Lyle couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“It sure looks like it, Babe.”  Maricruz smiled at him before reaching out and holding his hand.  “Father Carl says we have guardian angels.”

Lyle laughed.  “I’m starting to think Father Carl might be right.” 

“After they let us go," Maricruz said, "the chief dropped me off here at the hospital and then took Father Carl and Amanda back to Rocky Ford.  My parents already had Benny so Amanda went there and Father Carl went back to the rectory.  My parents are supposed to bring the kids over later to see you.”

“You mean your dad’s coming here?” Lyle asked nervously.

Maricruz nodded.  “We have to deal with him eventually, you know.  In the mean time, you think there’s room for two of us up there on the bed?  I can’t stand another minute in this stupid chair.”

“There’s always room for two,” Lyle answered with a smile as he scooted over, careful not to pull his IV tubes.  Maricruz squeezed herself in beside him and fell back to sleep within just a few minutes.

***

Maricruz spent most of her time over the next twenty-four hours at the hospital with Lyle, as did Benny and Amanda.  After Lyle was discharged from the hospital, she and Lyle still spent many hours there, taking turns with Jacqueline and their two boys, Kyle and Steven, holding vigil with Rick, whose vitals were slowly beginning to stabilize.  Over those days Maricruz and Lyle got to know Rick’s family quite well, sharing stories and meals in the hospital cafeteria.  Benny even spent a few afternoons there unknowingly having checkers tournaments with his older half-brothers. 

One night on their drive home to Rocky Ford, Maricruz admitted to Lyle, “I really can’t believe how much I like her.  I just wish there was a way we could tell her about Benny without it ripping her apart.”

“It’s not our place, Mari.  You know that,” Lyle said as he drove her gold four-door Chevy Celebrity, holding onto the steering wheel with two hands and not taking his eyes off the road.  He couldn’t wait until he could afford a new truck.

“I just kind of feel like we’re becoming friends, Lyle, but I can’t really be her friend if I keep this secret from her.”

“And you think if you tell her you had an affair with her husband ten years ago she’ll still want to be your friend?” 

“At least she’d know the truth,” Maricruz said.  The rest of the drive was in silence, a silence that resulted in her deciding that she couldn’t keep the secret anymore.  Jacqueline deserved to know.

The next day Maricruz couldn’t think about anything else.  Several times she started to say something, but couldn’t make herself do it.  Finally, not long before she and Lyle were planning to head back to Rocky Ford, Lyle took Benny, Amanda, Kyle, and Steven down to the cafeteria as an excuse to get himself some ice cream.  Maricruz knew it was now or never.  Rick was in a deep sleep and only Jacqueline and Maricruz were in the room.

Finally Maricruz opened her mouth.  “Jacqueline, there’s something that’s tearing me up inside, something I need to tell you.  This is going to be very hard for you to hear, but I feel like you and I have become friends, and Rick means so much to Lyle that we’re going to be a part of each other’s lives for a long time, at least I hope we are.  If it wasn’t for Rick, Lyle would still be a drunk, and if it wasn’t for Rick Amanda would probably be dead.  Rick is a good, good man who loves you so much but—”

Jacqueline, who was looking intently in Maricruz’s eyes, interrupted her.  “Maricruz, you don’t have to say anything.”

“Yes, Jacqueline, I do.  It was about—”

“I know, Maricruz.  I know about you and Rick, and I even know about Benny.  I’ve known for years, but I’ve never told anybody.  Rick doesn’t even know that I know.”

Maricruz waited for some kind of wrath to erupt from Jacqueline the way she knew it would explode from her.  But when it didn’t Maricruz asked, “How?  How did you know?”

Jacqueline glanced down at Rick and then back at Maricruz.  “I found a letter he wrote to you about five years ago.  I was in his briefcase looking for a receipt he kept forgetting to give me when I found it.  He was at the gym so I had time to sit down and read it there at the kitchen table.  He hadn’t quite finished writing it yet, but what he’d written so far said he wished he could send more money to help with Benny and that he could never thank you enough for keeping your past relationship a secret.”

Maricruz was both in shock and relieved to hear this.

Jacqueline continued, “At first I was livid and heartbroken, wanting to confront him and take the boys and go back to Dayton again, but as I kept reading he said the reason he was so thankful to you is that he loved me so much and didn’t want to lose me and the boys, and had he known I was going to end our separation that he never would have done it.  I cried and cried but then I realized if I confronted him I’d be casting a stone I had no right to throw.  You see, Rick doesn’t know this, but when the boys and I were in Dayton during our separation, I ended up spending some time with an old friend from my college days, and even though I never meant for it to happen, we slept together a couple of times.  Ironically, that’s what made me realize how much I loved Rick.  It sounded like that was his experience with you.  I don’t mean that to hurt you in any way.”

“No,” Maricruz assured her.  “You’re exactly right.  Rick never loved me and I never loved him.  We were both just, you know, there.” 

“That’s what I came to understand,” Jacqueline said.  “But just like I wanted to protect the boys from my affair, I decided to protect them from his affair with you.  It was so hard to do, but I put the letter back in his briefcase, washed my face off and never said anything.  My therapist says it’s terribly unhealthy what I’ve been doing, keeping my own secret and acting like I don’t know Rick’s.  She keeps telling me that I have to sit down and talk with Rick about it all, get it all out in the open.  I kept telling myself I’d do it in a couple of years after the boys are out of the house, but now that I almost lost Rick I just want to get it all out in the open after he’s better.”

“I’ve never told Benny,” Maricruz confessed.  “He doesn’t know who his own father is.  I couldn’t tell him, though, until you knew.  You have to understand that there have been so many times over these years I’ve wanted to call you, but life was finally so good for the two of you I just couldn’t bring myself to ruin that.  I’m so sorry.  I won’t say anything to Benny until Rick is well enough for you to talk to him first.”

“I’ve wanted to call you too," Jacqueline said.  "And, you know, at first I was a little hurt when Rick decided to be Lyle’s sponsor.  I was afraid that he was doing it so he could be close to you.  Then I realized he was doing the opposite.  He was doing it to help you be happy and to give Benny the father he’d never had.  Seeing you and Lyle together I know there’s nothing left between you and Rick.  I can see why Rick decided to help Lyle, although I’m sure it wasn’t easy for Rick.  You and Lyle are so darn smitten with each other."  She smiled at Maricruz and then asked, "Are you going to marry him?”

Maricruz thought for a moment.  “You know, I always said I wouldn’t marry a man until I found one that would keep his promise to me no matter what.”

Before Maricruz could finish Kyle and Steven walked back in, complaining that the cafeteria had been closed.  Benny stood in the doorway, wearing a Denver Broncos sweat-suit and Lyle’s gray Stetson on his head.  Amanda had on a pair of jeans Maricruz’s cousin Tina had given here and the oversized Wyoming Cowboys sweatshirt Mr. Singleton had let her keep.  Lyle stood behind them in the doorway, wearing a black and gray flannel shirt, faded Wranglers, and black boots. 

“Come on, Mari,” Lyle said.  “We probably ought to get home so I can hit the hay.  I promised Mr. Stockett I’d start back to work tomorrow.”

Maricruz smiled as she stood and then turned to Jacqueline and said, “Yes, I am, as soon as possible, because, you know what, if the past few weeks have shown me anything, they’ve shown me that if what I need is someone who will keep his promises, then, well, that’s exactly who I’ve found."  

Maricruz and Jacqueline hugged and everyone said goodbye.  Maricruz, Lyle, Benny, and Amanda walked down the hallway to the elevator.  As they waited for it to come, Lyle put his arm around Maricruz and they stood silently, not needing to say anything, just enjoying the closeness.  When the elevator finally arrived, the doors opened and the four of them walked in… together. 

Chapter Twenty-Six

The heaviness of Lyle’s eyes finally gave way and he opened them slowly, revealing the room as a blur, making him feel almost like he was underwater.  His pounding head still rested on the terra cotta floor tiles, and the pain in his right shoulder screamed to his jarred brain that it was dislocated, which was a message he recognized because he’d heard it a few times before.  One of those times was when he was charged by a bitchy red angus cow that bounced him off the corral fence and onto the ground.  Another was when he ran a four-wheeler into a black walnut tree after downing a case of cheap beer and challenging one of his buddies to a race. 

Within the blur he could see the pulsing strobe of red and blue through the front door and plate glass windows of the restaurant and what looked to be a crowd of people who had gathered out on the sidewalk.  He rubbed his eyes and forehead with the palm of his hand, finally struggling his way into a sitting position.  As his vision came into focus he made out Maricruz holding Rick’s hand, but Rick wasn’t moving and he was being loaded onto a gurney by a couple of EMT’s in navy blue uniforms.  It looked like Maricruz was sobbing as she talked to Rick, who did not respond.  Father Carl stood with his arm around Maricruz.

Lyle wanted to yell out to Maricruz to ask if Rick was okay, but he couldn’t quite get the words out.  He tried to push himself up off the floor and then to pull himself up using a chair, but he couldn’t manage it.  Although he couldn’t remember it hitting, he must have really bounced his head off the floor.  He looked over in the other direction to see DB lying in a puddle of his own blood with someone taking pictures of the body.

On the other side of the dining room a female police officer questioned Amanda, who was sitting in a booth across from the officer.  The officer wrote down notes on a spiral notepad as Amanda talked.  When Amanda looked over at Lyle and their eyes met, Amanda ran over from the booth to Lyle, where she dropped down on her knees next to him.  The cop started to get up to follow after Amanda but when she realized she wasn’t going any farther than to check on Lyle, she stayed where she was and started writing again.

“I thought you were dead when that gun went off, Lyle,” Amanda said as she hugged him awkwardly.  “That asshole DB finally got what was coming to him, didn’t he?  But your professor friend didn’t deserve to get shot like he did.  If it wasn’t for him I’d be dead for sure.”

“Is Rick going to be okay?” Lyle asked watching through the windows as the ambulance carrying Rick sped off in the direction of Pueblo.  Father Carl stayed outside to talk to the crowd of people as Maricruz, wiping tears from her eyes, walked back through the door toward Lyle and Amanda.  Lyle turned to look at Maricruz.  “Is he going to make it?” 

“I don’t know, Lyle.  I don’t know,” Maricruz answered, shaking her head, her eyes welling with tears again.  “He’s in really bad shape.  He’s lost a lot of blood.  Once they checked your pulse and felt it was fine and felt DB’s and there was nothing, they had to spend all their time on Rick trying to save him.”

“Did they say he’d survive?” Lyle asked, afraid of the answer.

“It’s going to be touch and go, Baby.  I really don’t know.  It looked like the bullet got him in the stomach.  It’s not good.”

“Oh God, Mari.  Did somebody call Jacqueline?” Lyle asked.

“Yeah, the police called her,” Maricruz answered.  “They said she was hysterical.  I would be too.   I mean, I was hysterical too.  I’ve never seen anything like that.  Rick didn’t deserve that.  He got caught up in our business.  The cop said Jacqueline and the boys are going to meet the ambulance at the hospital.” 

“What about your dad?” Lyle wondered.

Maricruz pointed toward the back of the restaurant.  “He showed up a few minutes after it all went down.  He started crying when he saw what happened in his restaurant.  He wouldn’t even look at me.  He’s back in his office on the phone right now with his insurance company, trying to find out what he needs to do now.”  Maricruz breathed deeply.  “I’m afraid we’re going to have to move the restaurant.  Who’s going to want to eat supper in a place where somebody got killed, even if he did deserve it?”

Lyle put his head in his hands.  “Oh shit, Mari.  What have we done?”

Before Maricruz could answer, their attention was diverted to the front door where the coroner was finally showing up to do whatever he needed to do to declare DB officially dead as the result of two gunshot wounds, thankfully from the barrels of two police handguns instead of as a result of a bullet from a gun Lyle never should have had in the first place or from a meat tenderizing hammer.  Lyle would have pulled the trigger if he had to in order to keep his promise to Amanda or to protect Maricruz, but he was more thankful that he hadn’t been the one to kill DB than he’d been for anything in his entire life.  Life in prison was one way to stay sober, but Lyle preferred taking it one day at a time on the outside. 

Lyle finally started to get up with Maricruz and Amanda’s help.  “We need to get over there to see Rick,” he said.

As soon as Lyle said this, the chubby young police officer, who turned out to be Officer Patterson according to his name badge, hurried over to the three of them and informed them, “There’s another ambulance of volunteer EMT’s on their way to take you to the hospital to get that shoulder looked at and to get checked for a concussion.  As for you two ladies, you’re going to the police department to answer some questions.  Young Amanda here has been very forthcoming about the gun and the stolen car, and Miss Rodriguez has admitted to vandalizing the deceased’s truck.  That’s a good start, but we need to get all this sorted out.”

Lyle tried to convince the police officer and Maricruz that he didn’t need to go to the hospital, that he should go to the station with them, but neither one paid him much attention, surely knowing he was just being a cowboy by pretending not to be in pain although it was getting harder and harder to hide just how badly his shoulder was throbbing.  When the volunteer EMT’s arrived, they tried to relocate his shoulder, and when they did this Lyle’s jig was up.  He howled when they worked on it until they finally decided he needed to just wait until he got to the ER so they could give him some pain meds or anesthesia before they did it.  They walked him to the ambulance and sped off toward the west, covering the same distance in forty minutes that it had taken him all night to cover on foot. 

The next few hours were a haze to Lyle.  Although he was in excruciating pain during the ambulance ride, he was finally lying down on a bed of sorts.  After nearly two full days without sleep he dozed off into an uncomfortable slumber.  In the Emergency Room they gave him a shot of morphine and everything was blank from then until he woke up in a hospital room six hours later.  He pushed the button on the side of his bed, summoning a nurse who informed him that his shoulder was now back in place. 

“You gave us quite a scare,” she said.  “When you wouldn’t wake up we thought the brain injury might be worse than we originally thought, but when they were finally able to talk to your emergency contact,”—she looked down at his chart—“a Maricruz Rodriguez, she told us about what you’d been through.  Thankfully the scan didn’t show any sign of a concussion.  You must have passed out from a combination of pain from your shoulder and just sheer exhaustion.  Because you were so exhausted, not to mention extremely dehydrated, the ER docs thought it was a good idea for you to stay for a day or two so we can have you hooked up to the monitors for observation, to fill you up with fluids, and so you can sleep.” 

“How did you talk to Maricruz?” he asked.  “Where did you get in touch with her?”

“The charge nurse called the police station over in Rocky Ford and the chief let Ms. Rodriquez talk to her.  Sounds like you’ve had quite a day.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Lyle responded.

“Maybe you could tell me about it while you’re in here.  I love a good story.  Not now, though.”  She motioned toward the door where there was a rail-thin Hispanic man in scrubs holding a tray of food.  “It’s time for you to eat some supper and then probably get some more sleep.”

“Wait a second,” Lyle said as the nurse headed for the door.  “My friend, Rick Wallace, was brought in here in an ambulance thirty minutes or so before I came in.  He’d been shot in the stomach.  Do you know anything about him?  Is he okay?  Is he alive?”

The nurse shrugged her shoulders.  “If he did survive he’d either be in surgery, surgery recovery, or ICU.  I’ll see what I can find out for you, but I have to finish my rounds first.  Now, you try to eat something, okay?”

After she left, Lyle choked down the Salisbury steak, peas and carrots, and instant mashed potatoes, washing it down with a cup of apple juice.  He thought about trying to call Maricruz’s parents to see what was going on but he chickened out because he didn’t want to talk to Fernando if he answered the phone.  After flipping through TV channels and watching a few minutes of an old episode of M.A.S.H., Lyle dozed off again, sleeping so deeply he did not remember dreaming, which was okay with him since he seemed to work out a lot of his guilt for his past life in is dreams.

Lyle awoke the next morning surprised at the sights of the sun shining through the window and Maricruz curled up in the stiff recliner covered with mauve toned vinyl.  He looked up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was already 8:00 am.  He couldn’t help but watch Maricruz sleep for a few minutes, both amazed and relieved that she’d stuck with him when no one would have blamed her for bailing.  Seeing her lying there, curled up like a baby under a pink felt blanket, someone who didn’t know her would have no idea how strong she was, how determined and steadfast was, not to mention how dedicated to her family, how fierce in her love for Benny, how powerful in protecting herself, and how forgiving and tender and patient with Lyle.  If it wouldn’t have been for Rick, though, he very well may have never seen her again. 

“Mari,” Lyle said softly, hesitant to wake her up, but needing to know what had come of Rick.  “Mari.”  Her eyes started to flutter.  “Baby I need you to wake up for me for just a minute.”

She wiped the sleep from her eyes and sat up.  “Hey, Babe,” she said groggily, yawning.

“When did you get here?” Lyle asked.

“About 4 am.  I didn’t want to wake you.”

Lyle was afraid to ask about Rick but he did anyway.  “Any news on Rick?  Did he make it?”

In between yawns, Maricruz answered, “I found Jacqueline and the boys sleeping in the ICU waiting room last night when I got here.  I wasn’t going to wake them up either but Jacqueline heard me open the door and she insisted I sit down with her.  She said she’d come in to check on you while you were sleeping.”

“So if he was in ICU, that means he’s alive!” Lyle said, filled with hope.

“Yes, Lyle… for now.  He was in surgery for several hours yesterday.  He’d lost a ton of blood.  But, yeah Baby, he survived.  They’re keeping him sedated for now, though, so his body can try to mend itself.  She said the doctors said if he survives the next couple of days he has a decent chance to make it, but that he’s going to be in the hospital for a long time.”

“Did you tell her how it happened?” Lyle wondered.

“Yeah.  I told her that DB had the gun pointed at Amanda and that Rick saved her life, that he risked his own life for somebody he didn’t even know.  Then I told her a little of Amanda’s story and she was even more proud of him.  When I got up to leave she actually gave me a hug.  I felt so horrible standing there hugging her, knowing that she has no idea about me and Rick, about Benny.”

“Maybe it’s better that way,” Lyle assured her.  “At least for now.”

Maricruz stayed silent.

"I kind of scared to ask," Lyle said.  "But where's Amanda?"

"She's with my parents for now," Maricruz answered.

"Really?  Wow, that's not what I expected you to say."  The IV monitor beside Lyle's bed began to beep, alerting a nurse that the bag of potassium solution that had been rehydrating Lyle was now empty.  Over the annoying beep, Lyle asked Maricruz, "So what happened at the police station?  Or I guess I should just ask it this way: just how much trouble are we in?"

Chapter Twenty-Five

Maricruz wasn’t sure which one it was, but one of the bodybuilders yelled out, “Umberto, we’re gonna bail, bro!”  Another of them said, “Yeah, we’re not down for going to jail, man.”  Still another said, “We didn’t come here to kill nobody.”  Umberto told them he understood and patted them each on the back before they ran through the kitchen and out the back door, leaving Maricruz with her two brothers, as well as with Lyle, Rick, and Amanda, who had stopped a few steps away from DB, still gripping tightly to the meat tenderizing hammer with her eyes transfixed on her tormentor who lay bleeding on the floor, but still conscious, even if just barely so. 

Maricruz told Umberto and Miguel they should go too and after a moment’s protest they decided to head in the same direction as the bulky foursome.  Maricruz wished she would have listened to Lyle earlier when he’d told her to leave.  She also wished that she could run out the back door with her brothers, but she couldn’t leave because it was actually her mess, to a certain extent, that needed to be cleaned up.  After all, she was the one who’d done all the damage to DB with her right fist and foot, so she couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else, especially Lyle, having to pay for what she’d done, which had happened pretty much instinctually and felt good at the time, but had caused the pulsing pain in her hand.  Her knuckles ached like maybe DB’s face had done as much damage to her as she had done to him. 

Maricruz had always used her brain and her words to defend herself.  In fact, she had never hit—and certainly never kicked—anyone in her life before that day, except, of course, for her brothers, who always had it coming.  However, she had also never been treated the way DB had treated her by putting his hand where it had no business being and then by saying the awful things he’d said about her.  Why she cared what that scumbag said about her she didn’t know; she just knew that she wouldn’t stand for it.  Even if she didn’t already want to kill him for what he’d done to Amanda, Maricruz probably still would have punched him and then kicked him twice if she had to do it all over again.  She did have to admit to herself, though, that she hated the sound her fist made when it broke his nose, as well as the dull thuds she heard when his head hit the floor followed by the snap of the toe of her black tennis shoe cracking at least one of his ribs, and then the groan he let out when she busted his chin open.  It made her stomach sick each time she heard it, and she couldn’t believe she’d done it, not just once or even twice, but three times.  Even with all she’d been through in her life, though, she had never felt the volcanic eruption of rage and pure hatred she experienced in those moments in the presence of DB.  He deserved everything he was getting, and would someday burn in hell, but there was something in her, maybe her conscience, maybe the voice of Abuelita, maybe all of Father Carl’s homilies about “Blessed are the peacemakers,” that caused her to feel just a little sorry for the worthless jerk bleeding and cursing on the floor.  She decided that she wouldn’t strike him again for anything he said, but only if she somehow had to fight him off.  Then, she just might send him to meet his maker.

Maricruz also felt ashamed that Father Carl had seen what was happening out in the dining room, but she was also thankful, because his declaration that what they were about to do was “madness” had served as a beacon of sanity in the blood red storm that had swirled around them all.  She was filled with fear, however, at the fact that Father Carl was back in her dad’s office calling the police at that very moment.  How were they going to explain the shape that DB was in to the police in a way that would keep her out of jail?  How could they explain what she’d done to his truck, not to mention whatever Amanda was going to do to him if somebody didn’t stop her?  Every single one of them was going to end up in jail for this, and not one thing that had happened to Amanda would be undone.  They had to do something to clean this up a bit, to somehow make it look less sinister and vengeful than it had quickly become, and they had to do this before the police showed up in a matter of minutes.

Rick must have been thinking the same thing because he yelled out to Lyle, “You’ve got to do something to stop this, Lyle!”  Lyle ran his hands through his hair as he paced out the same manic course again and again, starting to say something a couple of times but stopping when no words came from his mouth.  Maricruz knew he wanted to stop the whole thing but that he wasn’t sure how to pull the brakes on this train that was barreling out of control toward the precipice.  Maricruz knew he wanted to keep his promise to Amanda as well, but that he must have longed that he could have just wished this all away.

When Lyle didn’t say anything, Rick began slowly to approach Amanda, trying to convince her, “Young lady—I’m sorry but I don’t know your name—I know that you’ve been hurt, though, and mistreated and used by this man and by others.  It is not okay what he did to you.  It is not your fault and it is not okay.  He should spend the rest of his life in prison for it and probably the rest of eternity in hell, but if you beat that horrible man with that hammer, it’s not going to make him any less horrible, but it will cause you to be horrible along with him.”

Amanda refused to look up at Rick; she just kept staring at DB, who was again trying to sit up on the floor just a few feet away from her, which he finally did successfully now that Umberto and his friends had fled.  He coughed and spit more blood onto the tile floor.

“He’s right,” Maricruz agreed, now beginning to approach Amanda as well.  “Believe me, I wish we could rid the world of that worthless sack of crap on the ground right there, but he’s not worth ruining the rest of our lives over.”  Amanda looked up at Maricruz, who continued, “You finally have a chance at life, Sweetie, a chance at freedom.  I know you’re scared that the police won’t lock him away, but they will if you just tell them what he did to you.”  Amanda began to cry again.  “No matter what happens, Amanda, you can know that you’re safe now.  Lyle and I won’t let anything happen to you.  You’re with us now, and we’ll take care of you from here on out.  We promise.  Isn’t that right, Lyle?”  Maricruz turned to Lyle who seemed to be calming down now that the situation was defusing a little.  “I said, isn’t that right, Lyle?”

Lyle, who was farther away from Amanda than Maricruz and Rick, finally responded, “Yeah, I told you that Amanda.  I’m not going to let anything happen to you.  This asshole will never harm you again.”

“So why don’t you just give one of us the hammer,” Rick added.

“Yeah, Sweetie,” Maricruz joined in.  “Either drop the hammer or give it to one of us.  The police—”

“Are on the way,” Father Carl, who had just walked back in through the kitchen door, finished the sentence for her.  “They’ll be here in a matter of minutes.”  He also moved toward Amanda with one quiet, deliberate step after another.  “You don’t want to be holding that hammer when the police get here.  Just give it to one of us and we’ll put it back in the kitchen and the police will never need to know anything about it.”  Father Carl then motioned to Maricruz saying, “I suggest you raise the blinds in here quickly, Maricruz, and unlock that door so it doesn’t look to the police like you were actually going to do what you all came dangerously close to doing.  I will vouch for you all if you stop now.  We aren’t punished for the sins we almost commit.”

Maricruz walked over and raised the blinds, then came back over to continue to try to get Amanda to let loose of that hammer before she could tenderize DB’s temple or chest or crotch with it, although she might let Amanda get a few hits in on the crotch before she tried to stop her.  In looking at Amanda, Maricruz could tell that Amanda’s mind was working hard, trying to figure out what was the best way to survive: to kill DB or to leave him to the cops?  She knew that Amanda wasn’t willing to look over her shoulder for the rest of her life, so she must have been seriously considering ending it then.

Father Carl, Rick, and Maricruz, all tried to convince Amanda to relent, but right when it looked like she was going to give up the hammer, DB, who was sitting up and leaning against a chair, spat out, “You little skank!  You wouldn’t dare touch me.  You know you loved all the attention all those pricks gave you.  You loved it that they’d pay good money for you.  You should be thanking me.  You weren’t nothing before I found you.  You know you liked—”  DB stopped midsentence and turned his head to look toward the door when he and the others heard the police sirens growing closer. 

In that moment, with DB’s head turned, Amanda had finally made her decision and she ran toward DB, raising the hammer up like she was about to pound a spike into a railroad tie and screaming, “I hate you!”  But before she could bring the hammer down on his skull, Lyle leapt over DB and knocked the hammer out of Amanda’s hand, which caused Amanda to stumble back, tripping over a chair and falling down onto the blood splattered floor as Lyle’s feet also got tangled up with DB’s and Lyle bounced his shoulder off a table.  When he finally hit the floor, the gun that had been stuffed in the back of his pants fell loose and clanked off of the tile floor, sliding within inches of DB, who immediately snatched it up and pointed it at Lyle as DB, himself, struggled to stand, supporting himself against a table.

“Well looky here, now!” DB said through his macabre red tinted smile.  “It looks like somebody’s still going to die but it ain’t going to be me now is it?.”  He turned to point the gun at Maricruz, while keeping an eye on Lyle.  “Maybe it should be this little brown skinned beauty over here who thought she was going to get away with taking cheap shots on me.”  Lyle started to rise from the floor slowly, prompting DB to turn the gun back on him. 

“Get your ass back on the floor, Cowboy, or I’ll shoot your girlfriend first and then that little whore over there.”  Amanda now held her knees up to her chest, trembling and rocking gently. 

“If you’re going to shoot anybody, shoot me,” Lyle pleaded as the sirens grew louder and louder outside.

“No, I think I’ll reverse that order,” DB reasoned.  “I’ll shoot the little cooze first.  She’s the one that can do the most damage to me, that’s if the cops will trust a runaway drug addict whore.”  DB pointed the gun down at Amanda and pulled back the gun’s hammer, but when he heard the police cars screeching to a stop outside the front door he looked up for just a brief second and the moment he did Rick barreled into DB from the side, tackling him hard to the floor where they rolled around and around in the puddle of blood and spit, fighting over possession of the .38 revolver.  Father Carl ran over and pulled Amanda away from the two men as they wrestled.  DB landed some ferocious blows to Rick’s body and head.  Father Carl helped Amanda up off the floor and pulled her behind the bar where she’d be safe.

Maricruz backed up against the front window, her heart pounding and eyes welling up as she watched Lyle leap into the fray bashing his fist into whatever parts of DB he could hit, first the side of his neck, then his shoulder, and then his chin, busting it open again covering Lyle’s fist with blood.  Surely, Maricruz thought, between Lyle and Rick, they could get the gun away from DB, but somehow as all the chairs and tables tipped over around them and on top of them DB held on to it. 

Father Carl motioned for Maricruz to walk out the front door.  “Go out and warn the police what’s going on in here!” he yelled to her from over by the bar where he was staying close to Amanda.  Maricruz turned to open the door, feeling the cold air rush in on her as she pushed it open just as two police cars squealed to a stop, but she stopped dead in her tracks, her body going rigid, when from behind her the deafening crack of a gunshot filled her ears. 

Maricruz jerked around to see Rick and DB both lying still on the floor, tangled up with one another, but with Rick on top.  Lyle lay off to the side, partially under a table, not moving and with his eyes closed.  Maricruz ran over to Lyle and fell to her knees beside him, searching his body for a gunshot wound.  Unable to find one, she put her ear to his chest.  Oh, thank God.  Still beating. 

Finally there was movement from the direction of Rick and DB, which filled Maricruz with hope, but then she noticed it was DB who was moving, grunting as he rolled Rick off of him, allowing Maricruz to see the blood pouring from Rick’s abdomen, and leaking from his mouth and down his chin.  It is then that she heard DB’s blood soaked words, hissing out, “Where the hell are you, Amanda?  You’re next you little whore!” as he began to try to stand up, falling down several times.  Finally he kept his feet under him and stumbled toward the bar area, searching for Amanda.  Father Carl stood up from behind the bar with his hands up.

“You don’t have to do that, Son,” he said to DB, who was pointing his gun toward the priest.  “Haven’t you hurt enough people in your life?”

“There’s always room for one more,” DB answered in a blood curdling and snarky tone, as he pulled the hammer back again.  “Or two.  I’m not afraid to kill a priest if that is what I have to do to get to her.”

Father’s Carl’s hands were shaking as he continued to hold them in the air and took a brave step forward toward the gun.  “That’s what you’ll have to do then, Son, because you’re going to have to kill me if you want to touch that little girl.”

“My pleasure—”

At that moment the front door flew open and two police officers, one of them a middle aged cop with a salt and pepper mustache and the other was the chunky young cop that had been sitting in the car when Maricruz and Umberto were on the snowmobiles.  Both of them had their guns drawn, yelling out, “Drop that gun!  Now!  Everybody on the floor!  Hurry up!”  Maricruz and Father Carl both hit the floor, but DB turned and faced the cops instead and pointed the gun at the young cop. 

“Drop the gun now, asshole!” the middle aged cop yelled.

“All this over some used up piece of—” DB began to put pressure on the trigger, but before he could pull it both officers opened fire on DB, each hitting him in the chest, dropping him to the ground.  They ran over, kicked the gun away and radioed for both ambulances in town to come to the scene. 

“We have one unconscious,” the young cop communicated to the dispatcher, “and one”—he looked from DB over at Rick and then added—“probably two fatalities.”