Page 45 of Except Emerson (Detroit ABCs #7)

“Where do you need to go?” she asked, and I opened the map to a route that led to a beautiful park in Detroit, one with either a natural spring or a broken water pipe that no one had bothered to fix.

Levi had left the house that August bought for his mom and traversed the city streets until he’d arrived there.

“Thanks,” I told Pandora when she stopped the car. “Good luck with your dissertation.” It was the second time I’d said that but now, I meant it. I hoped that she’d be able to untangle some of the mysteries of my mother for herself.

“Thank you, Emerson. Thank you so much!”

I watched her drive away and then I walked through the park.

It was full of families today, with kids running and playing together.

I headed to the spot that Levi had shown me months ago, except back then, I’d had a lot of trouble walking there.

Now I strode across the grass and I didn’t even think about my hip, except to be glad that it felt so much better.

Mostly, though, I was thinking about Levi and why he might have come here, and if August had accompanied him like when they’d been in high school.

If he had, then I decided that I would give the guy a piece of my mind.

But when I came through a small group of trees, I saw Levi sitting by himself on the rock next to the biting ants. I slowed but he saw me, too, and he waved.

“I think I have some Hernán in me,” I said as I approached further. “I was tracking you because I was worried.”

“I watched you track me,” he told me, and held up his own phone. “I saw you go to the coffee shop and then make your way here.”

“Do you mind?”

In answer, he patted the rock. “The ants are gone. I already checked.”

I tried, very hard, not to start demanding information, because I knew how Grant…but Levi wasn’t anything like Grant. “What happened with August?” I asked him.

“He’s gone.”

“Oh,” I breathed. “What—did you find him? Levi, I’m so sorry.”

“No, it’s not that. He’s alive, but he left town.”

“Oh,” I repeated, and now it was in relief. “Where did he go? For how long?”

“Forever,” Levi answered. “I don’t know where.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He asked me to come say goodbye because he’s turning over evidence to the government.

There was a hell of a lot more going on in his club than some backroom gambling.

He was involved in the organized crime that’s under investigation, and he saw the way things were going to go.

He would have ended up in prison, probably for decades. ”

“So he’s becoming a stool pigeon?” I asked.

“In non-movie terminology, August is cooperating and made a deal. Yes, part of it will be testifying against them, and word is already getting out that he’s talking,” Levi said. “He’s entering the Witness Security Program and by now, he’s on a plane.”

“Oh,” I said again. This wasn’t a death, but if August stayed in that program, then he was gone forever.

Levi had just lost his best friend. “I’m really sorry.

Really, really sorry.” I hugged him, too, which ended up with me on his lap, his face pressed against my hair.

We stayed that way for a long time in the soft sunshine with the happy yells from the kids in the background.

“I have napkins in my bag,” I said finally. Following Ava’s example, I had started to carry them with me.

“That’s ok.” He used his shirt to wipe his eyes. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

I nodded, because I couldn’t, either.

“But the longer I’ve been thinking about it, the more I’m glad,” he continued.

“I don’t want him to be gone, but I didn’t know how he was going to get out of the trouble he was in.

I was sure he would be killed, either on the street or once he was in prison, and now he has the chance to start fresh.

I told him he better make the most of it.

I said I don’t want to see him or hear from him, not ever again, because he has to start a new life and leave the old one behind.

Not too many people get a do-over like this, and not too many people get the opportunity to fix the messes that they helped to create. ”

Now I used my own shirt to carefully wipe his cheeks. “What did he answer?”

“He just kept telling me that he’s sorry and he never deserved to have a friend like me, which I said was bullshit. Then he asked me to look out for his mom. He gave me the house.”

“What? You mean, you’re taking care of the house he bought for her until she reappears?”

“No,” Levi said, shaking his head. “He had asked the marshals to look for her, and they found her. She’s not interested in cleaning up. He isn’t sure if she ever will be, but if she needs help in the future, I promised to be there for her.”

“And then you’ll hand over the house you’ve been taking care of,” I concluded, nodding.

“No, August gave me the house, just me. It’s all legal and I own it now. It’s mine.”

My mind went immediately to tax liabilities. In this time of extreme emotions, it might not have been the best idea to bring that up, but I had a responsibility as his bookkeeper. I broached it carefully. “Uh, you might want to check in with the IRS…”

“August is working with the government,” he reminded me. “They’re giving him a totally new identity, creating another person from nothing, and sending him off reborn. So they can fix taxes, too.”

I wasn’t totally easy with that, but I nodded. “Ok.”

“I’d rather have my friend than a house.”

“I know,” I said, and I hugged him.

“Wow, what is that?”

We broke apart and looked at a group of boys who had joined us in the little clearing.

“Is it a river coming up from the ground?” another of the group asked.

Levi stood, bringing me to my feet as well. “This is a cool place,” he told them. “It’s a secret fort.”

“Is it yours?” a third kid asked.

“It used to be, but I’m not going to use it anymore. You guys can have it,” he told them, and I looked back once as we walked away. They were already jumping off the rocks and laughing, like they’d made themselves at home.

We didn’t say anything else as we left the park, or on our way to the apartment building where, probably, Levi would break his lease because now he had his own home.

I was still concerned about tax and other legal implications, and my mind reeled with questions about what August had been involved in, and with whom.

But we could talk later, not right at the moment when he was looking like he’d lost his best friend. He had.

“I’m sorry,” I told him again as we walked up the steps. “I don’t know what to say to you about it, but I have a present. Maybe that would make you feel a tiny bit of happiness? It can wait,” I quickly added.

“You got a present for me today?”

“I ordered it before but it wasn’t ready until this morning,” I explained, and opened my apartment door. Coral streaked over and attacked him—with love. She gave a little to me, too.

“Did you get yourself a new desk?” Levi asked as the cat tried to settle around his neck, like a lion-sized boa. He pointed at the new piece of furniture jammed into the room. “Good, you needed one.”

“No, that’s the surprise,” I stated. “That’s the present for you.”

He glanced at me. “A desk? Thank you.”

“There’s meaning behind it, too,” I explained.

“I had an idea. If you gave up your apartment, you could live here and work on your novel full-time. I would pay the rent and all other related costs, which would be ok now that my business is picking back up.” The bills were still omnipresent, but I could have dealt with it all if I was very, very careful.

“Me, move in here, with you?” he asked slowly.

“It was just an idea that I had,” I reiterated. “I know that you don’t like your job and I want you to be able to write more, but you’re not quite in the position to quit without some assistance. I would also benefit so much and so would Coral. We would love to have you.”

“The three of us, in your little apartment?”

“I have furniture now,” I added. “And look. The window works!” Then I pulled him into the bedroom where I opened the closet. “I plan to sell most of my fancy dresses, because I don’t need to hang onto them. It doesn’t matter what I wear.”

“That’s true,” he said, his words still slow.

“The box is gone.” I pointed to the empty space on the floor, where my mother’s stuff had sat for so long and taken up space. “We don’t have to talk about it now, but I think that I made a good decision about that.”

He sat on my bed, and Coral joined him. It did look small with both of them there. “I can get a new bed,” I remarked. I realized that the situation still wouldn’t have been ideal, but it was moot, anyway. “Now you don’t need to live with me, because you have a house of your own.”

“Come here for a minute.” He patted the mattress, signaling to me again. There was a lot less space than on the rock. “Coral, you need to get down.”

She didn’t care for that but accepted her fate, and I took her place. I filled some of the area she’d occupied and Levi pulled me close, hugging me.

“You built me that beautiful desk,” he said.

“It’s not so great. I think I forgot one of the supports for the top because there was an extra metal piece under the couch and that would explain why I had so many extra screws and round things. I mean, extra bolts.”

“I love it and I’m going to use it every day. Thank you.”

Those words felt like another hug. “You’re welcome.”

“I’m going to use it after I work at my other job, though, because I can’t quit.

No, I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it, either, and it’s necessary,” he continued.

“I’m lucky to have something that pays well and I’m not going to be an immature idiot again and sponge off you.

Although, I also really appreciate your offer, and thank you for that, too. ”

So he didn’t need me. “You’re welcome,” I repeated glumly.