Waiting and Watching Read Free

inside. He had a big ugly bird that he took up there. Remember? I spied on him a lot. He was always scoping out your room through a big telescope.”
    â€œNo, he wasn’t. I can’t believe that.”
    â€œBelieve it. I saw him.”
    â€œWell, now that you mention it, he was a bit of a loner. I never gave much thought about Martin not having a father. I don’t remember him hanging out with friends or dating anyone, either. Anyway, he’s not married and he’s back in Tilden Park and temporarily staying in the apartment above Nola’s garage. Nola mumbled some double talk about a career change, but she was vague and I couldn’t pin her down on it, although I honestly didn’t try.”
    â€œLucky him. He was in your class, so he’s at least thirty-eight and living with his mother. That must help him get the babes.”
    The waitress delivered their piping hot, spicy order. As they stuffed themselves, Connie glanced at her brother and shrugged. “We’ve never discussed Mom and Dad, y’know. Their murders and all. It never seemed like the right time to bring it up, but I’ve always wondered what you remember of that awful day.”
    â€œI remember you and a woman from child services I guess, coming into my classroom, and then my whole life changed in a flash. I remember my body felt numb and tingly, and I couldn’t believe that Mom wouldn’t be there to tuck me into bed and say my prayers that night or any other night ever again. Who would fix my lunch for school? I remember hanging onto you so you wouldn’t go away and die, too. I couldn’t stop crying when they separated us. I never saw my old room again. Who packed my stuff, Connie? You?”
    She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, too moved to speak.
    â€œI think I cried for weeks in Miami. I didn’t understand why we couldn’t live together in our old house. I felt so alone, like there was a big hole in my heart. My cousin was sweet, but she wasn’t my family. What about you, Con? It must have been terrible for you, especially when Andrew was arrested for the murders.”
    â€œIt was totally numbing. I don’t think I began to feel again for years. Aunt Viv was great, but as you said, she wasn’t Mom. It seemed like I cried forever. I hated my new school. I was the only one there without parents, and it felt like everyone was talking about me behind my back. I missed Mom and Dad, you and my friends, especially Andrew. I tried joining some clubs and going to school functions, but it was so hard trying to act happy and carefree like all the other kids.
    â€œSome of my friends from Tilden wrote to me saying that Andrew had been arrested for the murders. He was my boyfriend, Julio! I would have known if he was capable of hurting anyone. He was such a gentle person. I tried to keep up with the events of the case by reading the Cincinnati Enquirer at the library, but once it became old news, there wasn’t much about it anymore in the papers.”
    â€œHave you heard anything more about him?”
    â€œWhen I spoke to Nola, she told me Andrew’s folks were devastated and insisted their son would never hurt anyone. They felt the only reason the police and neighbors even looked at him was because he was black, or as Nola says, colored. The fact that he spent so much time at our house compounded the theory. They never had any proof, but they charged him anyway. Nola said his parents moved away from Tilden Park when Andrew was released. It’s a miracle he was exonerated. I guess his father hired the most expensive defense attorney in the country and he proved Andrew’s alibi.”
    â€œDo you know where Andrew is now?”
    â€œI have no idea,” Connie said.
    â€œWhat about his parents?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œYou have to wonder why Andrew’s parents moved to Tilden Park in the first place. Weren’t they the only black