LeOmi's Solitude by Gene Curtis Page A

that?”
    “He was out of town on business and there was
a car accident. That is, I assumed it was a car accident, but no
one ever said. The only reason I know about that was when I was
enrolled in school they asked if there were any diseases in the
family and they asked my mom what her father had died of.”
    “I’ve got another question for you and don’t
start jumping around and acting all crazy, just keep talking
normally. While we have been talking, there has been a guy that
keeps peeking around the building. Is he with you?”
    “Is he an old guy wearing a filthy SAINTS cap
and missing his front teeth?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Yes, that is one of Grand-Mère’s tattlers.
My grandmother always has me followed.”
    “Followed?”
    “There are different ones. Sometimes I give
them the slip. She is not the kind of person to leave things to
chance. She makes a point to know everything that goes on in the
city.”
    “Do you think she knew your mom had returned
to New Orleans?”
    LeOmi paused, “I had thought about that. I
can almost guarantee that she knew.”
    The squirrels were circling again. LeOmi
threw some nuts on the ground and three were brave enough to come
down and hurry away.
    “What did you do up north?”
    “Who is the detective here?”
    “If I am going to be honest with you, don’t
you need to be honest with me?”
    “As you probably know, from your research on
the internet in there, I am a detective from Philadelphia. We had a
rash of killings that we couldn’t solve. With money being tight
they shelved the case. I fought with them to reopen it and then
finally I took a leave of absence to come here.”
    “You must have had some reason for leaving
your home and coming here other that what you are telling me.”
    “I had my reasons.”
    “Hey. If I have to be honest with you …?”
    “I had my reasons.”
    “So I am working on a need to know
basis.”
    “We all are working on a need to know
basis.”
    “You told me that I only had more questions
for your questions, so let’s just think of what the true questions
are that we need to answer.”
    “Well I think that your grandmother has some
knowledge on the signet. I believe that your father truly doesn’t
know anything about it.”
    “My father could never kill anyone.”
    “Well you can’t convince me of that. It seems
to me that the people that spend all their time in church do that
for a reason. Guilt from deeds so bad that they do not trust
themselves outside in the real world. It has been my experience
that these congregations, these flocks are there because they are
capable of so much more than we could ever guess. I was a choir boy
once.”
    She looked at him in disbelief.
    “Yeah I was, and I was involved in a big
church. Then one day, one of the deacons announced he was divorcing
his wife. Then about a month later, he was arrested for abusing his
wife and children. Then by the time all the gossip had reached
every last cubbyhole in the church, it was known that he was a
member of a cult that had been sent to infiltrate our church and to
input mistrust and all sorts of things to pull people from the
paths that they should be taking. This is when I knew that I could
love God and not attend a church. Any church.”
    She took a deep breath in protest.
    “Yeah, it’s true that I am not perfect—I
never said I was. But do you know the heart of the person sitting
beside you on that pew?” He shook his head back and forth to make
his point, “No more so than you know the heart of the person who is
your usual cashier at the Quick Mart, or the produce stand.” He
stopped and stepped back as if she had used a can opener to pull
those things from him. “I can’t believe I have told you this. I
haven’t spoken of this in a few decades.”
    “Well Sergeant, I don’t know what to
say.”
    His cigar had an extension of ash almost up
to where his fingers held it. He flicked them towards the
squirrels.
    “As long as I can remember,