Death on Duval Street (Chapter-22)

INSIDE THE TENT, the people filled the seats to near overflowing. John Santos was all smiles as he moved among the people while they entered for worship. It was as if he knew that attendance would be over-flowing tonight. The sounds of “Onward Christian Soldiers” could be heard coming from the sound system as the band at the front played a rather upbeat version of the hymn.

Outside the tent, the parking lot was filling fast. Instead of a few volunteers directing the traffic, uniformed police officers were working alongside the volunteers, showing people where to park. The excitement seemed to permeate the air as people exited their cars with smiles carrying their Bibles with them. The atmosphere was almost carnival-like.

Fatima guided her police cruiser into the parking lot with lights flashing and stopped at the main entrance. She parked just to the side of the large doorway into the tabernacle tent. Fatima, Lolita, and Theo slipped from the car and opened the trunk from which they pulled Perry’s wheelchair.

Theo opened the back door and helped a weak but smiling Perry Savant from the car’s backseat with great care. He slipped him carefully into the chair as Fatima shut the door. Lolita, Theo and Perry entered the tent as Fatima got back into the cruiser and moved it out of the way of the pedestrian traffic.

Maria and I pulled into the parking lot, parked the scooter in a spot next to Fatima’s cruiser, dismounted, and joined the others as we entered the tent.

Theo wheeled Perry down to the front row where he sat with Perry in the aisle beside him.

Before she sat, Lolita looked over at the other side of the tent and said, “Will you guys please excuse me. Hold a chair for me. I’ll be right back.”

She walked away toward the back and across to the other side. A few moments later, Fatima, Maria and I sat on the row behind Perry and Theo.

Fatima leaned forward. “Where’s Lolita?”

“She’ll be back in a minute, so hold that chair for her,” Theo whispered.

We all sat there almost unnoticed for several minutes when John Santos walked up to Perry and reached out his hand.

“John Santos is my name. I assume that you are the detective I can thank for catching Brian’s murderer.”

Perry reluctantly took John’s hand and shook it.

“News travels fast in this town. But first I must say I didn’t catch Brian’s killer, he caught me. The honor of stopping that man from killing more people goes to my best friend and the love of my life, Theodore Prejean.”

Without batting an eyelash, John turned to Theo and extended his hand to shake. Theo sat for a moment then stood and took John’s hand with a firm grip.

John smiled and said, “I am deeply grateful for your help in this matter. Brian was a member, uh, Brian was my son.”

Theo looked at him a bit puzzled; then he smiled and said, “I didn’t want to hurt Harvey, but he was trying to kill Jay and my dear Perry. I had to stop him.”

“I don’t presume to speak for God in such matters; but I think He understands more than we do. You were protecting your friend. Anyone would have done the same thing.”

Blushing, Theo released John’s hand and said, “Do you think that maybe God will forgive me for what I did? I mean, I took a human life. That’s a mortal sin.”

“Are you a man of God?”

“I believe that God exists. I was raised Catholic in South Louisiana.”

“My friend, God sees the heart and knows yours. I’m sure He has already forgiven you because of your willingness to sacrifice your belief and yourself in order to save the life of one you love so much. I mean, isn’t that what Jesus did?”

At this, Perry pushed himself up and stood on his own.

He looked eye to eye with John and said, “Reverend Santos, you’re a bigger man than I had thought. I was never fully convinced that you had anything to do with Brian’s death, but I had to investigate. That’s why I sent Jay to talk to you. I had to be sure. I hope you understand.”

At that John opened his arms and said, “May I?”

Perry stepped forward a bit shaky and the two men hugged. Theo stood there as he reached up and brushed away a tear.

Fatima leaned over to me and said, “If I never did before, I think this moment would convince me that God really does exist.”

“Me, too, Fatima; me, too,” I whispered.

As Perry sat carefully back into the wheelchair, Marcus stepped up and shook everyone’s hand.

He reached for my hand and said, “Thank you for all you’ve done.”

I looked at him for a moment, stood up, reached out and shook his hand.

After taking my hand back, I handed Marcus a folded couple of sheets of paper and said, “I thought you might like this as a souvenir of my investigation.”

Marcus looked puzzled at first. He stared at me. He lowered his head and opened the two sheets of paper. His shock was apparent on his face as he saw a copy of a newspaper article about the Mays-Anderson wedding. As he looked at the other sheet he saw another article about the CEO of a local savings and loan who was arrested for embezzlement. At the top of the page was a picture of a man being led out of the bank in handcuffs.

Marcus’ went totally void of color as he looked at his own face in the picture. The face of the groom in the one article was the same as the man who was being arrested.

He raised his head and stared with a hard look at me as I continued, “I was doing a little research on the hunch that you might have had a past or maybe had met Harvey somewhere. But both?”

Marcus tried desperately, but was unable to keep his face from betraying the deep concern welling up inside his belly. But he held his composure and said, “I honestly had not remembered that Harvey had played in the band for the reception. Plus, I was exonerated of that--”

“Marcus,” I said interrupting with a gentleness that bespoke of the kindness I felt in my heart. “Your secret is safe with me.”

Marcus’ face turned from an embarrassment to a look of anger as I continued to speak.

“John Santos is a good man. Perhaps even a man of God. He deserves much better than you as his personal assistant. So, if you ever cause any problems with my friends here in Key West, or if you bring any disgrace or cheat on Reverend Santos; well, I think you get my point.”

A smile crept onto Marcus’ face as he reached his hand to Fatima.

Still looking back at me, he gradually turned to the chief of police, and said, “Chief, you have gone beyond the bounds of normal duty in making all this possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Fatima stood and grabbed Marcus’ shoulders and gave him a huge bear hug.

“You’re welcome, friend.”

At that moment, Marcus realized that she was unaware of the past that I had discovered.

Just then, a young woman approached us and whispered something to John. After a moment, he turned to us and said, “It’s time. We need to begin.”

Pastor Santos walked up to the front of the audience and the worship service began with everyone standing and singing the opening hymn in loud and exuberant sounds of joy.

Marcus looked back over to me and whispered, “You have nothing to worry about. I believe God has used you to remind me of what is truly important in life. Thank you.”

I looked into his eyes and smiled as he nodded his head. At this point, I reached over and gave Marcus a strong hug around the neck.

A moment later Lolita walked up and pushed her way to her seat next to Fatima who turned and said, “Where were you?”

Lolita put her finger over her lips and pointed to the other side of the tent. Fatima turned to see what she was pointing at and there, sitting together near the back, sat thirty of their friends from the gay community.

“They all showed up to show support for you and the spirit of goodwill and cooperation.”

Lolita indicated to Jay and Marcus to look their way.

Fatima bent down and whispered something in Perry’s ear. He turned and looked at her with a huge shocked look on his face. He pushed hard and stood with everyone else in order to look over to the other side of the tent.

At this moment, the song had ended and everyone started sitting down.

John Santos walked to the lectern at the front and said, “Ladies and gentlemen. The past several days have seen an incredible series of events for which I feel we need to stop and give thanks. First, if you have not already heard, the person who committed two heinous murders and the attempted murder of another here in Key West has been caught. And justice has already been carried out.

“This man also was responsible for the damage to the tent and our equipment here. But thanks to the gracious help of such people as our chief of police, we have this beautiful new tent and all these chairs and other equipment, which I believe belongs to the city of Key West. I cannot express just how deep my gratitude is for such kindness. But I can recognize those who helped. Would everyone who helped in putting up the tent and moving everything in and setting it all up please stand and allow us to thank you?”

At this, ten men near the front dressed in city maintenance suits stood. Fatima and Lolita stood followed by thirty variously clad gays on the other side of the audience. More than eight hundred people began applauding with great enthusiasm. For a few minutes in Key West, peace reigned at the most unusual meeting ever held in the history of the city.

Reverend Santos stood quietly for a moment as the applause died down.

He said, “My friends, I want to tell you a brief story. It’s all about a man who loved God very deeply, yet had a talent that no one within his group of friends understood or recognized. So he fled his home in order to pursue his dream related to his talent. Within a year he had become one of the great performers in his field.

“Despite his extraordinary success, many of his friends could not understand or accept just what had happened. Then in a fit of rage, a very jealous person ended his life tragically and senselessly. And still, people could not accept who or what he had been.

“Then God did something He had not done in a long time. He sent a messenger of peace and love to the friends this young man had known years before. And just like John the Baptist, the people who needed to hear the message got distracted by what the messenger appeared like. And just as the people around John the Baptist, they were ready to hurt the messenger rather than heed the message.

“I’m proud to say that this congregation has received that message loud and clear this evening. As one who needed to hear this message, I want to share with you what I have learned. I may not agree with a person’s actions, lifestyle, or preferences in life, but as a representative of Jesus Christ, it is my duty to show everyone around me the love that Jesus showed me. It is my duty to my God to look beyond the exteriors and see the heart in need of God’s love. It is my duty to speak less to the areas of disagreement and emphasize the areas of need.

“Jesus never told us to clean up the sinner before bringing him to God; he said we must bring that person to God first then let God clean up the person as He sees fit.”

Reverend Santos walked down the ramp to the floor and over to where Fatima Sax was sitting and indicated with his arm for her to stand. She did with reluctance as her face seemed to turn a bright shade of red.

He turned to the audience and said, “All of you know our chief of police. She was a highly decorated police officer in Miami. She made public her sexual orientation when the Dade County Sheriff announced that she would become the new chief of police in Key West. I was outspoken in my opposition to her because she was gay. My opposition to her lifestyle is a stand for which I am not ashamed because I am not ashamed of my personal beliefs about homosexuality. But today I stand before you with a new understanding of just how God’s love manifests itself in our lives.

“I am still opposed to Fatima’s sexual orientation because it is my belief her lifestyle is not what God intended. But I also recognize that God showed His love for us in that while we were all sinners and disagreed with everything we were doing and living, Christ died for us. If God can love someone like me, as sinful as I am, then, I have a responsibility to show others that same love no matter who or what they are.”

Reverend Santos reached over and put his arms around Fatima and hugged her. The place was filled with stunned silence. Tears flowed from the eyes of people all across the sea of humanity that filled the tent.

Marcus stood up from his seat on the front row and walked over to Theo and stuck out his hand. Theo hesitated for a moment with a look of wonderment. He stood to his full height and grabbed Marcus with a huge bear hug. At that the entire place broke out in applause.

Everywhere people shed tears of joy and others turned and hugged one another in pew after pew. Then a couple of people near the back of the room walked over and started to hug several of the gays seated nearby. After that people all over began to sing the first stanza of the old hymn, “Just as I am without one plea.”

The noise of people talking and crying subsided as the singing spread from person to person with the choir finally joining in the chorus, “Oh, Lamb of God, I come; I come.”

I sat for several minutes looking around me. Then as if a light of understanding came on inside, I turned to Maria with a twinkle in my eye said, “Did we just witness a miracle?”

Later that evening, Theo, Maria, Perry, and I were sitting in Perry’s backyard enjoying the cool evening atmosphere of the patio. The wind chimes sang together in a cacophony of differing tones and timbres.

Perry seemed more alert than he had been in weeks. He expressed himself with, “Wow! This whole evening was invigorating. I haven’t had a good tussle like that since I left the force. If I had had my strength, I’d have whipped that young man’s ass.”

Theo chuckled out loud.

Perry looked over at him with, “Oh, you think that’s funny?”

“Perry, darling, you’re a pansy and you know it. So just admit it.”

“Well, I guess Key West has made me pretty soft in my old age.”

“Well I think you did a great job,” I added. “You obviously scared the hell out of Harvey. Otherwise, he would never have taken the chance to try and kill you.”

“I know,” Perry responded, “In a sense, it scared me more than I’ve been scared in my life, especially when I realize that there was no way I was going to be able to fight that guy off. I’ve never felt so weak and helpless.”

Maria chimed in, “Perry, if it weren’t for that disease, you really would have given Harvey the fight of his life.”

“That’s sweet, dear.”

“I believe in you, that’s all.”

“Now, Theo. Did you hear that? You should be jealous of this girl. She’s sure throwing the compliments around.”

Theo smiled and winked at Maria said, “Yeah. I guess I should be. But then, I know you, Perry, and I’m not afraid of her; Jay, maybe, but not her.”

“Hey,” I said, “don’t drag me into this triangle.”

At that we all laughed and had another drink.