Chapter Twenty One
It was after five in the morning before they were done. The detective had taken corroborating statements from Karim and Julien about the bar incident, collected the ID from Karim, and had Luis look over photographs to ID anyone else at the church.
When finished, Detective Sarris pulled out a business card and set it down on the table.
“If you remember any more details, big or small, feel free to give me a call,” he said.
“We’re going to send officers to the New Hope Church to collect evidence, and I may have you come down to the station in a few days for another interview. ”
Luis nodded.
The detective turned to leave, and Luis wanted to call him back, to ask him not to arrest his mother.
He kept the words in.
He’d provided her name and address during the interview. When asked if Luis wanted to press charges, he’d forced himself to say yes. Julien and Karim seated on either side of him gave him the strength to do it, even as it made his whole chest ache.
“I’ll be in touch,” Detective Sarris said as Julien stood to show him out. They both left.
“I’m glad you’re pressing charges,” Karim said in the silence.
Luis stared at the window leading out to the backyard. The sky was just beginning to lighten with dawn. He was exhausted, numb. He wanted to lie down, but didn’t know if he could even get up off the kitchen stool.
“It’s late. Early,” Luis said. He sounded flat.
Karim shifted in the seat beside him. “Yeah. We should get you to bed.”
That was so much effort. Luis was already leaning into Karim just to stay upright.
“C’mon,” Karim urged.
Luis didn’t move. He shut his eyes. “Just a sec,” he mumbled.
“Alright,” Karim said softly.
Luis hummed and further tilted his head onto Karim’s shoulder. At some point footsteps came back.
“He okay?”
“Yeah. Asleep I think,” the voice under his head rumbled.
Luis didn’t remember anything after that. He came back briefly as someone laid him in a soft bed and tucked blankets up around him.
A hand pet over his hair.
“Sleep, Luis. Everything’s okay.”
When Luis woke later, it was daytime. He rose slowly, groggy and disoriented as to why he was in Karim and Julien’s spare bedroom. His hands ached and when he looked, one was covered in bandages.
The night came back to him.
Luis went to reach for his phone, but realized he didn’t have it.
Instead, on the bedside table was a note, a tablet, and wad of cash with a black credit card in a money clip. The note was in Julien’s neat, scrawling hand.
We both think it would be a good idea for you to not go outside the wards of this house alone for the next few days. Please use the card and the tablet to order a new phone and any personal items you need.
Beneath that, in a less fancy scrawl was written:
You can argue about paying us back later, but you better buy stuff you need!!
Clearly Karim.
Luis took a shaky breath. Before any of that though, he was in desperate need of a shower and fresh clothes. He could smell himself and his clothing was stiff and scratchy. He’d definitely ruined their sheets, because he’d all but passed out last night before he could clean himself.
Great.
Luis got up and went to the bathroom. On the counter was a stack of clothing–clearly Karim’s–and a sealed, brand-new toothbrush and toothpaste. Stupidly, his eyes welled up with tears. He turned away from it and the mirror, and started the shower.
Thirty minutes later, scrubbed and rebandaged and dressed, Luis returned to the tablet on the bedside table.
His thoughts went to Cassie first. They’d last talked before he’d gone out Friday, and now it was Sunday.
Luis picked up the tablet and navigated to sign himself into his most used social media account. He clicked on Cassie’s name to send her a message.
Luis: I don’t have my phone. Shit happened with mom, and I’m staying at Karim and Julien’s. I’m safe.
Cassie should’ve been in the lab, but immediately the typing bubbles appeared.
Cassie: WHAT HAPPENED!
Luis decided to get straight to the point.
Luis: I was locked in a church basement so my mom’s religious cult could ship me off to an adult conversion camp
Cassie: WHAT???
Cassie: hold on, let me finish this real quick, then can I call you? what are you on?
Luis: I think only voice memos, I don’t know if Julien’s tablet can take calls.
While Cassie wrapped up whatever she was doing in the lab, Luis recorded a long voice message summarizing what had happened.
“Your mom’s in a religious terrorist group?” Her reply was pitchy with surprise. “Holy fuck, Luis. Holy fuck. Shit, I don’t even know what to say.” There was a pause, then, “I’m going to shift my schedule around and come get you, okay?”
“Don’t,” Luis was quick to start recording a reply. “I’m supposed to stay put in case the investigator has more questions. And anyway, the house is warded so no one can get me here, and I don’t want you to become a target if they’re still around.”
Cassie’s reply came with a sigh. “Okay, okay yeah, I don’t need to get kidnapped by psychos that are trying to get to you. Okay. So, maybe after we get some information on arrests.”
“Thank you,” Luis replied. “I miss you and I want to see you, but maybe–maybe not right now. I just need everything to… chill.”
“Yeah, I get that. Fuck,” Cassie blew out an audible breath. “This is batshit stuff. I knew your mom had issues, but I never would have imagined… I mean I’m looking up All Pure right now, a lot of rumors about the stuff that goes on there. Oh, two attempted lawsuits that fell through.”
Luis opened a browser to type it in and then stopped. Couldn’t. It was too raw.
Another voice message came through.
“I’m glad you’re safe,” Cassie said, “And I’m glad you had somewhere to go. Can you send me their address? Maybe their phone numbers, just so I know where you are?”
Luis typed her their address with a promise to get their phone numbers. “I’m ordering a new phone right now,” Luis said in a voice memo, “I’ll text you when I get it all set up.”
Then, he flipped over to the browser and did just that. With Julien’s card he paid for next day shipping and tucked the final total into the back of his head for later.
He would be paying them back.
After that, in between voice memos with Cassie, Luis went about handling the other things that needed tending to.
He signed into his work email and drafted a message to his manager to explain in the vaguest way possible that, due to criminal circumstances, he didn’t have access to his computer or apartment, and needed time off.
He needed to use all his saved vacation time, and could provide a police case number if there were any issues.
He got a reply as he was setting his out of office from his manager, wishing him well and approving his time off.
Second thing done.
It was nice to have tasks. It kept him focused, kept him from ruminating on how he’d ended up here.
His stomach rumbled as he signed out of his work email. Food, he needed to eat. Yesterday he’d only eaten the cookie and some of the cheese Karim had pushed on him.
Downstairs, in the refrigerator, Luis found a covered casserole dish with his literal name on it in Karim’s messier handwriting.
As if that didn’t make his heart feel like it was being compressed in his chest. Luis blinked away the burn in his eyes and took it out to serve himself a heaping portion.
##
That evening was a sedate affair. Luis plowed through the chicken biryani that Karim made him, and started yawning even before it was midnight.
He’d only been awake half the day, but he was exhausted.
He’d spent hours cancelling and reordering credit cards, talking to Cassie about anything that wasn’t his current situation, and trying not to spiral every time the cuts on his hands ached.
At Julien and Karim’s gentle prodding, Luis changed into another borrowed set of Karim’s clothing, cleaned and changed the bandages on his hand, and went to bed early.
The sheets had been changed at some point, fresh and clean again, and Luis tried not to feel bad.
Tried not to feel undeserving of all this care.
The next afternoon, before Julien and Karim woke up, an officer came by the house.
The knock at the door startled Luis where he’d been watching a movie on Julien’s tablet.
It took entirely too long to inch close enough to the door to look out the peephole, terrified it would be someone from the church.
But the woman on the other side flashed a badge, identifying herself as an officer, working in cooperation with the VPD. Luis cracked the door nervously, and she offered him a sealed bag that contained his wallet and keys. Both had been recovered from the church and cleared from evidence.
He thanked her, signed for them, and all but slammed the door to relock it.
Two hours later at dinner with Julien and Karim, Luis told them about the visit.
“Oh good. I also received a text from Detective Sarris a few minutes ago that they have an officer posted at your apartment tonight,” Julien said. “If you want to go there tonight and get some of your things, I think it would be safe for us to do so.”
“Oh.” Luis hadn’t considered he’d get access to his apartment so soon. “Uh, yeah. I’d like some things,” he said, even if the idea of going there made his nerves rise up.
An hour later they were in the car and heading toward his apartment.
Karim had insisted on taking a back seat, so Luis for the first time was sitting in the passenger’s seat. His hands fiddled with his new phone. He’d spent a good chunk of the day downloading all of his data and signing into all of his accounts, and it was a huge relief to have a phone again.
“Where should I park?” Julien pulled him back to the present as he turned into Luis’s apartment complex.
“Oh, right, yeah any of these,” Luis gestured. Julien parked and they got out.