My Butterfly

Boni Police Department for fifteen years,” she said. “He quit the force when Julia was eight.”
    I was speechless for a second.
    “What?” I eventually asked.
    She sighed and met my eyes again.
    “Evidently one night, he didn’t come home, and Julia’s mom went crazy trying to find him,” she said. “Eventually, she found out that he had been shot by some guy he had pulled over that night. The guy had a warrant and thought shooting her dad was the only way to get out of going back to jail. Her dad was in the hospital for a week, until he recovered and went back to work. Julia’s mom, on the other hand, never really recovered. Julia told me that she remembered waking up to her mom screaming the nights following the accident. He retired soon after that.”
    I sat back in my chair and stared up at the wall.
    “Why didn’t she ever tell me this?” I asked.
    Rachel softly smiled.
    “Because she doesn’t talk about it—no one in her family talks about it,” she said. “I just so happened to stumble across a photo with him in a uniform one day, and I forced her to explain. It wasn’t a very happy time for Julia, and her dad must have loved the force, but he must have loved her mom more.”
    She met my eyes again. I knew my face was some kind of blank, and my lips were stuck on a word my mind couldn’t seem to think to form.
    “I’m only telling you because I think the eight-year-old girl inside of her is running from you,” she said.
    She took in a big breath and let out a sigh.
    “But you can’t ever tell her I told you,” she said, in a pleading voice.
    I shook my head.
    “I won’t,” I softly said.
    I slid farther back into my chair and let its back catch me.
    “Rachel, what guy do I know that knows Janette’s boyfriend?” Ben interrupted, as he pulled a chair to our table.
    Rachel flashed me a sly half-smile before she turned her attention to Ben.
    “I just needed a break,” Rachel said to him. “Wait, how did you get over here so fast?”
    Ben chuckled.
    “I just told her Jeff’s the one who knew him,” he said.
    Rachel and Ben laughed. I was too preoccupied.
    “How’s Jon?” Ben asked Rachel, after their laughter had faded.
    I pushed my chair back and stood up.
    “Well, I think I’m going to take off,” I said.
    I didn’t even try to make up an excuse.
    “Oh, okay,” Rachel said.
    The pause in her voice told me that she understood.
    “You leaving already, buddy?” Ben asked.
    “Yeah, I think so,” I said.
    “Okay, well, have a good night,” he said. “I’ll be taking off here soon anyway. I swear I’m having déjà vu. I mean, didn’t we just see all these people Friday night?”
    Rachel dramatically nodded her head and found my eyes.
    “See!” she exclaimed.
    I forced a smile and tipped my cap to Rachel, and her proud smile turned soft again. Then, I walked to the door, pushed it open and hastily made my way to Lou in the gravel parking lot. My pace picked up with each step, but it was still as if I couldn’t get behind the wheel and out of there fast enough.
    Within a few minutes, I pulled in front of the high school and turned off my truck. I could see through the windows that the lights were off and that no one was inside. I got out, closed the door behind me and made my way around the building and to the back. When I came to a couple of metal doors, I reached above them and found a key under a layer of dust on the ledge. I slid the key into the door and pushed it open. Once inside, I closed the door behind me, shoved the key into my jeans pocket and took in a deep breath. It smelled like a mixture of unwashed basketball jerseys, old books and that wax they used on the gym floor every year. I waited for my eyes to readjust to the darkness inside. Then, I shuffled to the gym and switched on a light that illuminated the path in front of me. Four concrete steps later, I was on the stage. It was empty except for a couple of stray balls, a questionable ladder and an abandoned sweatshirt. I walked over to the far side and pulled on a narrow rope, which forced the heavy stage curtains to part. When the rope wouldn’t move anymore, I hurried over to the edge of the stage and looked out onto the court. The light from behind me was just bright enough that I could see what I needed to see. My eyes immediately fell onto a rafter in the corner of the gym near the stage. And in the rafter, I spotted two balls.
    A disbelieving laugh fell off my lips next.
    “She