Crown's Law (30 page)

Sam called the guy who maintained his dad’s
boat and told him to fix the bullet damage on the boat as soon as
the FBI released it. At 3:00 o’clock, Bo told Sam and Becky that
she had cleared things so they could leave.

“Good,” said Sam. “It helps to have your own
personal FBI agent. Sorry we missed our picnic lunch. I’m famished.
I’ll spring for lunch at a local watering hole.”

Bo responded, “I could eat a horse! I’m for
it. How about you, Becky?”

Becky sidled over to Bo and whispered in her
ear, “Bo, I’m braless under this tank top! The men staring makes me
uncomfortable. I think I’ll go on home. Make a sandwich. OK?”

“Sure, sweetie, you go on. I understand.
They’re ogling me, too, but I’m used to it. I’ll be there for you.
No later than 4:30. OK?”

“Thanks, Bo. By the way, you were awesome out
there today!”

“So were you, Beck! Grandpa taught you
well!”

Saturday, June 2, 2001

Capistrano Beach, CA

It was after 4 o’clock when Bo and Sam
finally got back to the beach house. Any romantic interlude that
might have happened on the boat had been obliterated by the attack
on the high seas. But Sam’s main concern now was for Becky. He
hoped this traumatic experience hadn’t upset her too much to keep
her from enjoying her prom. He had mentioned this to Bo on the
drive from the harbor to Beach Road. Bo had said that she would
help Becky calm down, and help her get ready for the prom. Sam told
her that he appreciated her help.

They found Becky out on the deck sprawled on
a lounge with a can of Sprite in her hand. She was looking
wistfully out to sea.

“How are you, Beck?” asked Sam.

“I’m OK, Sam. I guess. You know, I’ve looked
out there at the ocean so many times, and not once have I ever had
thoughts of violence. Not even during storms. It’s always been a
soothing feeling before.”

“Want to skip the prom? Maybe I can track
down Dr. Sue if you’d like to talk with her,” offered Sam.

“No way! I’m not going to let those
assholes—whoever they were—ruin my day! Sorry. There goes my foul
mouth again!” exclaimed Becky. “You must think badly of me,
Bo!”

Bo went to her, sat down on the lounge next
to her, and put her arm around her. “Don’t keep worrying about
offending me, Becky. I can swear up a storm myself when I get
upset. Now . . . what’s the schedule for the prom. We need to get
you primped and ready!”

Sam answered, “The prom is at nine, but I
have a limo coming at seven. Billy should be here at seven because
I told the limo driver to pick him up on the way down the road. The
kids are going to dinner, then to the prom.”

“So we have only two and a half hours to get
ready! Let’s get moving! You run jump in the shower and I’ll be
right up to help you,” exclaimed Bo, showing her excitement.

Sam said, “You have over two hours. What’s
the rush?”

Bo and Becky glared at him, looked at each
other, then said in unison, “Men!”

Becky rushed inside and up the stairs to her
room.

Bo said to Sam, “Keeping her busy is the
thing to do now. Keep her mind off it. Mine, too. I’m gonna have a
smoke while she showers. I wonder if I could have a drink? I know
it’s a little early, but my nerves are a little shattered, too.
It’s not everyday that I shoot someone.”

“At least you didn’t kill him. The red tape
would have been horrendous. That I know. I’ll join you in that
drink. I hope I’m not screwing up by not having Dr. Sue come over
and talk to her.”

“Dr. Sue?”

“Becky’s shrink. She meets twice a month with
her. Has been seeing her ever since she came here. She has a lot of
issues to deal with,” explained Sam. “What do you want to
drink?”

“A white wine will do nicely. I have to stay
sober till I get Becky out the door,” she smiled.

As Sam walked to the wet bar, he said over
his shoulder, “And after she’s gone, you’re gonna get sloshed,
eh?”

Bo sat on a stool at the bar.

“I didn’t say that! You’re twisting my
words!” she laughed as she lit a cigarette, exhaled. “But I’ve been
known to with less provocation.”

Sam handed her a glass of Chardonnay. He
popped the top on a can of Bud for himself.

“What would you like for dinner tonight?
After the kids leave, I can whip us up whatever pleases you. Or if
you prefer, we could go out—in case you’re wary of being alone with
me. After all, I promised you a chaperon and she’ll be gone for
awhile.”

Bo sat down at a table and looked at him
closely. “You said that with a straight face. I think you’re really
serious.”

“I didn’t want you to think I was throwing
you a curve ball. And there are some nice restaurants in the
area.”

“I’m really not afraid of being alone with
you, Sam. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself. And I’m armed
and dangerous—as you know,” she smiled.

“Yes. I saw that up close and personal today.
So . . . what’s your preference?”

“I think it’s lovely right here, and I won’t
have to get dressed up. Whatever you’d like to cook is fine with
me. I’m not particular. I’ll even help you,” she said as she
stubbed out her cigarette in the abalone shell ashtray. “Now I’m
going up to help Becky. Any instructions?”

“From me? Just make her beautiful!”

“You got it! That should be easy!”

She took her glass of wine and went up to
Becky’s room, leaving Sam alone with his thoughts. They slipped
easily into angry thoughts. Those pirates had put Becky in danger
and that really pissed him off. He probably should have killed
them!

***

Becky came out of her bathroom wearing a
terrycloth robe and was drying her hair with a fluffy towel.

Bo asked, “Did you use a good conditioner on
your hair?”

“Yes, ma’am. I always do.”

“Do you have a curling iron and some
hairpins?”

“No, but Nana has some. In the master bath.
But we shouldn’t need those. I was just gonna pull my hair into a
ponytail with a fancy barrette.”

“No way, young lady! You’re going to be the
most gorgeous girl at the ball! I’m going to sweep your hair up in
back, up on top, then a waterfall of curls! You’re going to be
smashing! First though, I’m going to manicure your nails. Sit over
here. Let’s get this show on the road!”

Later, as Bo worked on Becky’s hair with the
curling iron, they chatted about various girl things, hairstyles,
and Becky’s dress and shoes.

At one point, Bo said, “I can’t even imagine
what it would be like to be blessed with a mind like yours, Becky.
What’s it like?”

“I suppose it’s a blessing, if you can call a
freak of nature a blessing. Sometimes, I think I’m cursed!”

“Cursed? I wouldn’t think so!”

“How would you like it if you couldn’t forget
anything? Everything I read, hear, or see is in my memory banks
forever. At least, that’s been the case so far. Sometimes, there
are things I’d like to forget, but I can’t.”

“Hmm. That could be bothersome,” mused Bo as
she put aside the curling iron and started arranging Becky’s hair.
“And acceptance by your peers must be quite a daily struggle.”

“Now there’s a mouthful! Peers. Do you know
what the word ‘peer’ means? To quote the dictionary, ‘A person who
is equal in ability, standing, rank, or value.’ ‘Peer group’ can
mean a group of the same age or with the same interests or
abilities. Now, which ‘peer group’ are we talking about here? If we
choose ‘ability’—as in mental ability—my peer group is a handful of
old men with PhDs in math or the physical sciences. And the more I
learn, and the more I ponder, the smaller that group gets. Then
there’s the age group. I’m supposed to interact socially with kids
my own age, some of them with the IQ of a gnat. Their main goal in
life is to define things as ‘cool’ and ‘uncool.’ How shallow! But
Dr. Sue says that if I’m to grow into a well-adjusted adult, I have
to learn to fit in with that group, too. Like tonight. The
prom.”

Bo stopped working on her hair for a beat as
she peered at Becky, actually feeling a little bit sorry for her.
“I can see that your life is more complex than I had imagined. I
guess I had never thought it through. Are you dreading the prom? I
thought you were excited about it!”

“Oh, I am excited! I’m sorry I made my life
seem so miserable. I mix well with some kids my age. There are kids
my age in charm school. And I like to dance and party. The prom is
sort of like a final exam, though. As you know,
teenagers—especially girls—can be very mean to each other. I won’t
know most of the kids at the prom, but they all know about me. I
expect a lot of snide remarks, but someone with my kind of mind has
to be tolerant of ignorance. It will test my character, as Dr. Sue
would say. I just hope it doesn’t ruin Billy’s night. It’s really
his prom, not mine. He could’ve taken anyone he wanted, but he’s a
good friend . . . to take me.”

“I would say that he’s a very good friend.
And he’ll have the prettiest girl there on his arm! Stand up and
look at yourself in the mirror. Tell me what you think.”

Becky went to her dresser mirror and looked
at her hair. She was flabbergasted!

“Is that me? My God, Bo, my hair has never
looked this good! It’s like . . . professional!”

“Glad you like it. Now, I’m gonna take a cig
break and get another glass of wine, then we’ll get to work on your
makeup. You do wear contact lenses occasionally, don’t you? We
should lose the Harry Potter look for tonight.”

While Bo was putting the finishing touches on
Becky’s makeup, she thought she would try to ferret out more
information about Sam—hopefully without upsetting Becky.

“You really like Sam, don’t you?” she
mused.

“Like? Of course, but more than that! I love
him! I respect him. I wouldn’t be even close to what I am today
without Sam. He teaches me things that aren’t in books. Even things
that Dr. Sue doesn’t know. He and his parents have taught me by
example, too. I know I still have a lot to learn from them, but
I’ll keep trying. When Sam plucked me up off the streets, I was
only 13, and I was, to say the least, confused. Like I said before,
my age group only knew two classifications: cool and uncool. Sam
taught me that ‘cool’ is a moving thing. What’s cool one month
becomes uncool a month later. But kids stake their mental and
physical well-being on such nonsense. He also pointed out that
‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ have that same property. The definition of
what’s legal is different from place to place, and lawmakers can
change the definition any time they want. He says the only
constants are ‘right’ and ‘wrong.’ Those never change. So just
because something is ‘cool,’ or something’s ‘legal,’ doesn’t always
mean it’s ‘right.’ Understand?”

Bo shrugged, then smiled. “I don’t know. It’s
rather complex. I don’t think things are that simplistic. How do
you know what’s right or wrong? Good or evil?”

“As Shakespeare said, ‘That’s the rub.’ I
suppose it’s each person’s innate conscience. That’s why sociopaths
can be so evil. You can’t use religious guidance totally either,
because just look at the differences worldwide in religious
teachings. But some things are obviously evil while others fall
into gray areas,” mused Becky. “Philosophy of this sort isn’t my
bag, but it is good brain food at times.”

Bo had never had a discussion like this with
a teenager before. In fact, she rarely had discussions of any sort
with teens. The last time must have been with her brother’s kids
when she went home to Colorado for Christmas. She couldn’t even
remember what they talked about. She hadn’t pegged Sam as the
philosopher type, but evidently he had deep discussions with Becky.
Quite a man of mystery!

“Not my bag either. Now let’s check you out
in the mirror. I went light on the makeup. We don’t want a garish
look,” said Bo, changing the subject.

Becky was astounded at how beautiful her
image was in the mirror. She had never looked this good in her
entire life! She squealed and gave Bo a big hug.

“Oh, thank you, Bo! You did such a marvelous
job! I hardly recognize myself!”

“You’re welcome, Becky. It was no job at all.
I had a lot of natural beauty to work with. Let’s see, it’s only
5:50. I don’t want you in your dress yet. Let’s get you into your
pantyhose and the Wonderwoman bra, then you can relax for a bit.
I’m assuming the dress fits well—no alterations required?”

“It fits perfectly! Nana had them alter it
before we picked it up. I wish she was here to see me in it!”

“Well, I’m sure Sam will take a lot of
pictures!”

Ten minutes later, they joined Sam
downstairs, Becky wearing her robe. Sam couldn’t believe his
eyes!

“Who is this? What did you do with Becky?” he
gasped.

Bo said, “You haven’t seen nothin’ yet. Wait
till you see her in her gorgeous dress!”

“I sure appreciate this, Bo! She’ll be the
belle of the ball!” exclaimed Sam. “Maybe we should go and be
chaperons so we can watch her dance!”

“Sam!” groaned Becky. “Don’t even think of
it! I’ll have enough trouble without the kids thinking I’m dorky
because I have a chaperon!”

“Just kidding, Beck!” he laughed. “Let’s go
out on the deck and have a drink, Bo. More wine?”

“Sure, and a smoke break.”

***

At 6:30, Bo took Becky back upstairs to
finish dressing her. Sam stayed on the deck and nursed a scotch and
water, listening to the surf. At 6:45, he heard the limo door slam,
then the doorbell chimed. Billy had arrived. Sam let him in. He
looked quite dashing in his white dinner jacket, suntanned face,
and short blond hair. He reminded Sam of when he had been that age.
That thought caused Sam’s stomach to knot up as he remembered his
sexual escapades in those days!

“Hi, Billy,” Sam said. “I see you remembered
the corsage. I really appreciate you taking Becky to your prom. And
you know better than I do that some of the kids might heckle her a
bit.”