Chapter
1 – Repairing Our Love Psalm
“Yes, I’m completely serious about doing this
with you, and I’m not going to take no for an answer,” I say, calm and composed,
to my wife, Kathleen.
Kathleen doesn’t seem as upset as I thought
she would, and looks rather content with a simple smile. “Zeke. I appreciate
your concern for me, but trust me when I say that this phase of mine will soon
pass.”
“You said that last year, and nothing’s
changed since then. In fact, I think your nerves have gotten worse, so we have
to fix it. We have to find out what happened to your husband and child.”
“I’ve told you that there isn’t a point to
it. They’re gone, I forgot how they disappeared, and there’s no point to
looking into it, so please, forget about it, once and for all.”
Composing myself again, I sigh and say, “When
I first met you while I was hunting with my friends, you were out in a place
where you could’ve easily been mistaken for an animal and shot. You even told
me you wanted to be.”
“That’s because something happened to me, and
I didn’t know what I was talking about. It has nothing to do with my missing
husband and child.”
“If you don’t know what happened to them, why
did you marry me? You’re a devout Catholic who goes to Church every day, and in
the classes we took before we got married, they say you can’t marry unless your
spouse dies or the Church approves of the divorce, so the fact that you wanted
to marry me and the Church approved of our marriage means you know that your
husband is dead. I know you didn’t get a divorce because I asked them. Did you
not think I would catch on to that?”
“If you knew that, why do you want to dig up
more of the past?”
“Because I love you, Kathleen! Do I need to
spell it out?! I’m tired of your short fuse and always thinking of your husband
and child. I know it still bothers you because you speak their names in your
sleep, talk about them to your coworkers at the garden, and always ask to pray
for them. I don’t want to hate you or see you upset most of the time! I want
you to be happy with me!”
“Zeke…”
Calming down again, I wait for Kathleen to
say something else. Seeing that she isn’t, I say, “Believe it or not, you came
into my life when I was at my lowest too. Having casual sex and hunting day in
and out was a torturous existence that was fun at first, but then got old,
tiresome, and depressing after a while. When I took you into my home and got to
know you better, you filled a hole in my life that I didn’t know was there and
showed me how truly empty my life was. I don’t want to continue like this until
our marriage breaks. I want to live with you in peace, so please, let’s figure
out what happened to your husband and child, so we can finally put it behind
you.”
“Zeke!” Kathleen says as she hugs me. “I’m
sorry that I didn’t see how much I was hurting you and our relationship.
We’ll…we’ll do what you said. We’ll find out what happened to my husband and
child.”
“Thank you, Kathleen. I promise that even if
what we find is ugly, I’ll never leave you,” I say as I return Kathleen’s hug.
I kiss her on the cheek, make sure I have everything I usually carry on the way
out, like my wallet, car keys, pistol, and ammo, before heading out.
It’s such a relief that she finally went with
my suggestion to find out what happened to her husband and child after months
of asking and fighting with her. If we figure this out, she should no longer be
concerned about it and be happier like she was when we first met.
We get into my four-door black and white
pickup truck and head out to the first place I know where we can find the most
information: a bar club I used to frequent all the time after work.
“Ugh. Do we have to go here first?”
“You know Catalina knows everything that
happens in this middle-of-nowhere rural town. She’s our best bet in finding
somewhere to start.”
“Fine! But we’re not staying for longer than
we have to.”
Inside the bar club, there are already a lot
of people partying and talking, even though it’s the middle of the day, and at
the front desk near the door is a woman I try not to associate with anymore.
“Catalina,” I say to her.
“Zeke. It’s good to see you again, babe. It’s
also nice to see you, Kathleen,” Catalina says with her usual sly smile as if
always thinking of something flirty to say.
“I can’t say the same to you. Do you always
have to dress so lewd and have one of your breasts barely shown?”
“People come here to see attractive people,
so I give them what they want. Before you married Zeke, he came to me for
comfort and got it better from me. The first time that he came here and I asked
him which guy or girl he wanted to sleep or dance with, he asked for me,
despite me being the head mistress?”
“Yes, you did, and you can stop reminding
me.”
“Catalina, please, stop messing around. I’m
here for information, not pleasure or small talk.”
“That’s what most people here are for, but go
ahead and ask away.”
“We’re looking for information on Kathleen’s
missing husband and child.”
“Really? Why would I know something like
that, and why do you need to know?”
“Please, you know everything that happens
around these parts. I think it’ll help my marriage with Kathleen and help her
find peace with something that’s been bothering her.”
Catalina looks over to Kathleen, who tries
not to make eye contact with her or look at anything in the bar club other than
the floor, and then back to me. “Did you know that Kathleen’s husband was an
investigator? He was investigating rumors of a hidden human trafficking ring in
these parts. Can you believe it? All the perverts in this town are right here
in this building, and everything else is just trees, farms, and mountains.
Asher or my sister, Blythe, might be able to tell you more, but they’ll tell
you the same thing they told him: there is no human trafficking ring in this area.
Nothing exciting like that happens in these parts. As far as we know and it’s
been reported, he disappeared and is considered dead, just another victim of
middle-of-nowhere places like this.”
“So, you do know about what happened to him?
Tch. Alright. Well, if that’s all you know, we’ll ask Asher and Blythe. Thank
you.”
“Anything for a loyal customer. Also, if your
marriage does break up or you’re looking for something more exciting, you can
always come back to me. I’ll be waiting. Have you two had sex yet? I thought
Catholics were supposed to have lots of kids.”
“We’re leaving now, Zeke.” I agree with
Kathleen, and we walk out of the bar club. On our way back to my truck, I see a
regular customer and old friend who I’m just realizing may know something, so I
approach him.
His name is Ike, and he’s always looking for party
opportunities, especially when those parties involve sex. He’s walking to the
club with a group of his girls, guys, and guys dressed like girls. I can
already smell him from here, and he looks as messy and ready to party as
always. “Hey, Zeke and Kathleen! I haven’t seen either of you in a while. Are
you finally ready to party with us?”
“No, Ike, I wanted to ask-”
“Well, you should. Lovely, Kathleen, you
should know that Zeke was quite the party animal back in his high school years.
He used to out-party even me, and boy, the girls that he got. Since Catalina still
wants him back, you know he was a smooth talker and lover, but I’m sure you
know that.”
“Ike, I need to ask you something important.
It has to do with Kathleen’s missing husband and child.”
“Of course! Anything for an old friend. I remember
Kathleen’s husband. We were partners in trying to find out who was kidnapping
people and burying other missing people out here in these woods and mountains.”
“You two…worked together?”
“I guess he didn’t mention it because we were
top secret agents. Yes, ma’am, you are talking to an authentic secret agent man.
I helped him find a lot of evidence, but I assume it all disappeared along with
him, and I’m afraid I don’t remember much of anything given all the hard partying
I’ve done since then. I thought you would know more, Kathleen?”
“I…don’t. My husband kept everything to
himself and didn’t want me involved just in case I’d be in danger.”
“I’m sorry to say, but you are in danger if
someone in the human trafficking network takes a liking to you. They send out
someone to get you, and you’re never heard from again. That’s what your husband
told me. Let me tell you, I don’t get mad often, but real loving can only happen
when the feeling is mutual, not when one is having all the fun, and the thought
of it gets me all hot and bothered in the wrong way.”
Ike takes out two white and pink pistols from
his pants, where I have no idea how he fits them in. “Thinking about them gets
me so mad that if I were to ever see someone associated with them, I’ll give
them each a kiss from my pistol. Ain’t that right, boys and girls?” The men and
women cheer with Ike. He then wishes me good luck and to ask him for help if we
need it as he goes to party in the bar club.
In my truck, Kathleen says, “We’ll have kids
after this is over. Actually, I’m not sure if we should keep going with this.”
“We’ll be fine. Don’t let what Ike said scare
you. This is only the start of our first day of investigating, and if we run
into trouble, we’re friends with Asher and Blythe, who are two officials who I’m
sure will have our back.”
“I’m not scared. It’s just…I don’t know if we’re
even doing the right thing. Look, I appreciate what you’re doing for me, and-”
“No, Kathleen. We’re sticking this out until
the end, whatever that may be.”
I hold Kathleen’s hand and say, “I promise
you, we’ll find out what happened to your husband and child, and that our
marriage will be better after. I don’t want this mystery to bother you until you
die or break up our marriage. I love you.”
Kathleen’s face seems to finally not look as
stressed as before as she finally starts to smile. “Okay…okay, Zeke. I trust you,
and I love you too.”
Kathleen and I kiss before we drive off to
see two of our friends for more information. I didn’t think this day would
happen, but I guess prayers really are answered in due time, and if God is
still in the mood of answering them, I pray that we find the answers we’re
searching for, no matter what they may be.
