Chapter 21: Chapter 21       José’s cursed bracelet

Chapter 21       José's cursed bracelet

                                                              

 

 

Wally sits in his office watching the tapes. The commotion around him, the phones ringing and the radios and his colleagues interfere with the viewing. He sits in his office and thinks of a solution to the uncomfortable situation.

"I can't work like this! I want to watch the tapes but it's impossible in such a way! I need to return them to their owners". 

He returns all the tapes to the casings and picks up the phone to dial Eve. Without understanding he stops dialing…

"No! I won't return them yet! I know. I'll take them home with me and watch them there..."

At the end of the work day, he parks his car near his apartment and brings the box of tapes along with him to the apartment. He feels an uncertain excitement. It is a regular cold winter afternoon. Through the blowing wind and the rain coming down the sound of silent footsteps moving towards the door can be heard. It is a sound of leaves being crushed. The sound of loud snoring can be heard louder as the footsteps come closer to the door. An anonymous hand reaches out and grabs the old rusty door handle and begins opening it slowly as it makes a creepy squeaking sound. Through the growing gap in the doorway an unrecognizable figure is revealed in the darkness. Another figure lies on the beaten couch covered in old faded blankets with his back to the door. He is sleeping peacefully unaware of the mysterious figure entering and approaching him in silence. The sleeping man starts mumbling in his sleep as the arm of the mysterious stranger wearing a light blue shirt starts moving in a decisive threatening gesture towards the sleeping figure. The whistle of the wind and the rain coming down get stronger and the weather become foggy. The stranger's hand grabs the sleeping man's shoulder and starts shaking it strongly. José, still wearing a fancy suit sits up in fear and worry and pulls out a commando knife from under his pillow waving it at the stranger who stops the knife's movement expertly, landing a blow to José's threatening arm, pulling out the knife from his hand. José who still hasn't woken up yells out

"Please…don’t hurt me…take the money…take the bracelet too…just don’t hurt me…" 

José's mouth drops open as he sees Wally who bursts into laughter.

"I don’t need your money…and I won't hurt you…I came to talk to you…are you OK? Calm down…"

"You asshole…are you crazy? I was sure you were some psycho who wants to kill me…"  

Wally gives him his knife back and he sighs in relief and joins Wally's laughter.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"Come on José …what did you want me to do? Call your cell phone? Maybe send you a fax? Or and email?"

José gets up and walks to the cupboard at the corner of the shack. He returns with two beers as Wally sits down carefully across from him he puts a pack of cigarettes on the table and lights one. José gives him a beer and lights himself a cigarette too.

"Drink up Wally! What brings you to my Villa? You need anything?"

"Nothing serious, José."

He starts sipping from the beer. "You know what we say…I was in the neighborhood"

"But you scared the shit out of me"

"It's OK José…I understand! Just be careful with that knife…its illegal!! You're lucky I didn’t see you with it…."

He starts laughing. "I wanted to talk to you about that other night, when you saw Joshua here…"

"I told you everything… what more can I tell you?"

"forget what you told us…I want you to try and remember if there was anything else you forgot…something small or unusual that doesn’t fit the picture…maybe something strange that's been bothering you…think José…think!"

José takes another sip from the beer and smokes. He closes his eyes and tries to remember in vain. He says in embarrassment and shame

"There's nothing else….only what I told you already"

Wally paces around the shack restlessly. Suddenly he appears behind José's back like a ghost and yells

"You're not trying José…you're not making an effort! I am not leaving here until you give me some answers"

José pales and feels embarrassed and confused…he thinks angrily

"That's all I need now…what does this pain in the ass want from me? Maybe he likes my Villa and wants it for himself? Is this some new police policy?"

Wally sits in front of José and explains in determination

"I don’t think you understand why I'm angry…but it's not personally against you José!! The problem is that something with Joshua's trial doesn’t add up!! I have a feeling something very important we don’t know about is missing…there's something right in front of our eyes but we can't see it…maybe something in Joshua's clothes that you saw that night…maybe something about his behavior…something about his car…maybe the place where you saw him…maybe we didn’t look enough and there's something we don’t know"

"OK Wally…I'll try again"

José sips from his beer again and closes his eyes. A huge kaleidoscope of images passes through his head…the moment he arrived as an immigrant…the difficulties he faced…the language he had to learn…the degrading attitude of the Americans towards him..his unsuccessful attempts at working and belonging…his downward spiral of drinking and pan handling...his life as a homeless person…making the shack in the landfill his home…his life there and the stuff he found in the garbage. José attempts to remember events from his unconscious to lead him to that Saturday night when he saw Joshua. The exhausting effort bears fruit and he starts reliving that experience again. The rain is coming down mercilessly on the shack's roof. He is tired and cannot sleep. He turns under the covers restlessly, nervous and frustrated. He gets up as he wraps himself with the warm blanket and watches with disinterest outside the window. He shivers from the cold and plans on returning to the warm bed. Suddenly his eyes notice an almost imperceptible movement. Adrenaline starts flowing through is body and he strains his eyes to make out that movement. Through the heavy curtain of darkness he manages to see a figure of a man who seems like it is digging in the garbage. The figure stands up and watches the garbage pile next to him and starts again. José feels an unexplained sensation of anxiety and fear. He approaches in the darkness bent down the figure and can clearly see the heavy beard on the figures face. The man who probably heard a noise turns quickly towards José who quickly bends down on his knees hiding behind a garbage pile. José was certain the stranger would rather flee from the spot as soon as he heard the noise but to his surprise it seems the stranger is standing still and slowly looking around as if he doesn’t care if anyone sees his face. The unrecognizable figure is apparently satisfied as he continues on its way in another direction. José follows him with his gaze and notices a long black SUV hidden by the main road. The figure steps into the car, starts it and drives off with his headlights off until he reaches the main road. Then the lights go on and it disappears from José's view. José continues looking curiously at the cars direction and then returns to the spot where he first recognized the figure. He watches the pile curiously but doesn’t see anything unusual. He starts turning around intending to go back to the shack and stops immediately. He notices from the corner of his eye a shiny object thrown in the garbage pile with its end sticking out.

"I have to check it out…I hope it's something expensive…I can dream too, can't I?"

His fingers carefully touch the object…he pulls it out slowly and is amazed at the object which appears to be a type of gold bracelet with an inscription inside. At the sight of the bracelet a smile of joy appears on his face and he's already fantasizing about selling it and getting a lot of money.

"Who would have believed that there's life in garbage?" 

José returns to consciousness with a sweet smile of happiness on his face as his radiant eyes focus on the bracelet on his arm. Wally who's been watching him the whole time realizes the José is done reminiscing and tenses up…he notices José's gaze on the bracelet and watches José's smile with suspicion. José opens his eyes widely and when he sees Wally's look his smile disappears.

"What's up José? Are you OK? I see you've managed to remember that night…well… what did you find out?"

"It's true, Officer Wally…I did manage to return to that night…seeing everything again was frightening…like a horror movie. Everything was the same as I told the police, but there something…how do I say it…something that doesn’t fit. It's like this…when I was hiding and watching Joshua, I made a noise…you would think that Joshua ran off? No! he stood still and looked around trying to find the noise and then walked slowly to his car and left…I think if I was the boy's killer, I would hide the body in the garbage and if I heard a noise I would run as fast as I could because maybe someone was watching me and see my face and car! But…the asshole…that killer…he just acted like he wanted someone to see everything… his face…his car…what do you say Wally? Interesting, right?" 

Wally smiles satisfactorily.

"Yes José, it's very interesting…but tell me…at the end, before you came to…I saw you had a mile on your face and you were looking at the bracelet on your arm…does it have anything to do with the murder? Where did you get it from?"

José is surprised and thinks angrily

"Screw him!!! He wants my bracelet too?? It's like a curse…everyone wants this bracelet!"

He lies to Wally boldly

"No, no! I found the bracelet a month before the murder…it has nothing to do with it"

Suddenly he remembers…

"But you know what? Every one that sees this bracelet wants it! A jeweler tried to con me and I was almost mugged on the street because of it…some thief on the street tried to snatch it and I almost killed him… even the boy's father…the one who died was here about two weeks after the murder… he brought me the reward money and he wanted to buy it from me"

He laughs cynically

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"I think that if the president saw it he would want it too"

Wally laughs

"You see José…anything can happen in life…even when you're homeless people want to mug you…"

He stands up and finishes the beer preparing to leave.

"You talked so much about the bracelet…let me see it"

José holds out his arm to Wally who watches the bracelet curiously from every angle. He pats José's back

"Very nice…I want it…" 

José pulls his arm back fearfully his face paling. Wally laughs out loud.

"What's wrong with you, José? I was joking…I'm leaving now…thanks for the beer…if you remember anything else, call me, OK?"

"OK, Officer Wally...sees you…would you like my driver to drive you?"

They both burst out laughing; shake hands and Wally leaves as José watches him go.

"I almost told him that the bracelet is connected to the murder…that's all I need now, for the police to confiscate it".

A blue sleeved arm shakes the figure lying on the bed sleeping. Joshua wakes up frightfully in his bed at the jail. He is sure he is about to be beaten again and hides his face with his shaking hands.

"Please don’t hurt me…I'll complain about you…"

To his surprise he hears loud laughter. He slowly moves his hands away from his face and looks up to see who's laughing at him. Jimmy the guard, responsible for his isolated cell is standing before him laughing.

"You're a riot, Joshua…you're messed up!! Your lawyer is here to see you…but you have serious paranoia…someone's out to get you…beat you…come on!!!  Stop your snoring and let's go"

"I'm sorry, Jimmy. I didn't mean to offend you…maybe you don’t know but I was nearly killed in my former cell"

Joshua, who feels like a total idiot, stutters an apology and quickly gets up. He would rather not look at Jimmy directly. He washes his face, arranges his clothes and accompanies Jimmy along the corridor towards the visitor's hall. On their way down the corridor, the inmates in their cell quickly press up against the bars of their cells yelling and cursing at Joshua.

"Asshole…stinking pervert…murderer…may you burn in hell…I hope the string you up by your throat and you die slowly…"

Joshua is humiliated and tries to answer but Jimmy grabs him by the throat threateningly and says

"Don’t you dare answer them…you're already in over your head…I don’t need a riot because of you…"

Joshua is livid but he decides to stay silent and doesn’t speak until they reach the room. David Stein is already waiting by the room. He shakes Jimmy's hand and the waits until he opens the room and shakes Joshua's hand that is reluctant to meet him.

"How are you, Joshua? Are you hanging in there?"

Jimmy says "I'm locking the door. If you need me, ring this bell. I'll be right outside". Joshua sits down at the table. His lawyer sits in front of him and Jimmy locks the door.

"What did you want, Stein? Are there new developments? Did the police find the killer?" 

David pulls out a bag from his brief case and places it on the table as Joshua surprised by the gesture peeks into it.

"I've brought you some cigarettes, soaps, a tooth brush and tooth paste. A radio and cookies and some books. OK?"

"Thank you, David…I'll be a little more comfortable now in jail, providing no one kills me" 

David watches Joshua uncomfortably. He regrets agreeing to represent him in this trial.

"Now, I wanted to talk to you about something. I want to talk to the prosecution again and try and get a deal for you".

He sighs in despair.

"You have to understand that you're not doing too well…I don’t want my first client to get a death sentence! We have to get a deal for you to get the noose off your neck. All you have to do is plead guilty, show some remorse and explain that Isaac's death was an accident! Maybe we can change the charges from murder one to a lesser charge of manslaughter".

Joshua watches David with an accusing stare. The look on his face is similar to that of a dog being abused constantly.

"But I didn't kill anyone!!! What do you want from me? Why are the police framing me and making me the scapegoat?" 

David sits up and bangs on the table in rage

"The prosecution is going to bring Abraham to the witness stand and with his testimony they will rip us to shreds!! You can yell until you're blue in the face that you're not guilty but you should know that no lawyer will be able to save you!! Someone saw you burying the boy in the landfill…they found fibers of his clothes in your car…they found your pen in Abraham's yard…Michelle identified you as the person who attacked her and kidnapped Isaac...they found pieces of clothes and Isaac's things in the basement of the house where you live! Don’t you get it? The judge only needs part of that evidence to convict you!!! Oh, and I forgot one small thing…the prosecution will argue that you had a motive…Isaac recognized you…he resisted and threatened to tell and so you killed him in cold blood".

Joshua holds his head in both hands. He watches David angrily and suddenly snaps as he wines inhumanly…

"I know what you're doing..you're trying to give yourself an easy way out by forcing me to confess…you don’t want what's going to happen to me on your conscience"

He stands before David threateningly and whispers in despise

"You don’t want to wake up every night with nightmares because you misrepresented me…because you couldn’t find the killer…but I'm not going to help you…I won't be your savior…whatever happens to me will be your fault and will be on your conscience forever!! I am not guilty and the lord will help me! But you will never forget what you did…you're as guilty as everyone else and the lord won't help you…the lord won't forgive you that you didn’t prevent the death of an innocent man".  

David feels like a dead ma…like a cursed monster! Joshua walks up to the door and rings the bell. Jimmy peeks in curiously.

"Are you done?"

"Take me back to my cell…I want to be by myself…without disturbances…just me and god alone".

Jimmy is certain Joshua is slowly but surely losing him mind. He watched David in wonder and doesn’t understand his gloomy face and silence. They both look like ghosts…like mental patients. He turns to David

"Are you OK, Stein? I'm taking him back to his cell".

David doesn’t answer and continues to stare at the table with disinterest. Jimmy is repulsed by both of them. He would much rather ignore them both and quickly pushes Joshua forward towards his cell.

 

 

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