Casey and Me

Tying up the loose ends.

Two months later, at the end of September, Sally dropped by. "Hey, I know this is really awkward, but you needed to know this," she said, once the fluster of greetings was over. "Dad and I have decided we're moving to the mainland. There's just been too much nonsense going on, and we need a fresh start. Can I count on you not to tell Ellis?"

"Done deal," I said, giving her a hug. "He's been trying to bug the life out of me, but we finally got an intervention order against him so he can't come pestering me anymore."

Sally let out a sigh of relief. "Good," she said. "I know he's my brother and all, but when I found out the truth about what he'd done to Casey, I really saw red. I mean, he almost beat the crap out of my uncle when he busted him going at me. You'd think my own brother would know not to make the same mistake, for crying out loud!"

"You'd think indeed," I said, sighing. "Oh well. It's his loss. God knows what he's going to do with himself, but I'm finished with him. He could've kept his end to himself, but he didn't, and now he's got to lie in the bed he's made through his own stupidity."

"That's it," Sally agreed.

In the middle of October, the loose end of Ellis was tragically tied up; he was caught up in a drug deal gone wrong, no doubt acting as a catspaw for Jane and Kenneth, who were still in jail. Two gunshots to the chest, and that was the sad finale to his story. I admitted to crying a bit when I heard the news, but I was grieving the person he'd been on the surface, and when I confessed my silliness to Casey - who'd moved in with her parents the week prior - she told me I had every right to grieve. 

"He was a good sort, right enough," she told me, "so don't go feelin' bad for mournin' him. He did screw up a bit, but deep down, I don't think he was truly bad. He just got in with the wrong crowd, and that was that."

As for Jane and Kenneth, they got their comeuppance at the start of November, when even more shady misdeeds came to light. By the time the new evidence was compiled, they were looking at life behind bars, with no chance at parole, being simply too dangerous to be released back into the public. Kenneth in particular had already had the chance of parole nixed from his options; a fellow inmate had heard some chilling plans concerning Casey and Oscar, and had reported those plans to his superiors. Kenneth was promptly moved from that prison to a much more secure facility, and the prisoners there wouldn't prove too friendly, if rumor was to be believed. I certainly didn't feel sorry for him when I got that little tidbit of information, and I hoped to Christ he finally got all the bad karma owing him. 

Jane was not pleased at being separated from her husband, and when word got out that she was pregnant - conjugal visits between inmates were not discouraged, per se, but certainly not welcomed - she was immediately relocated to an all female prison. Once her baby was born, she'd lose custody immediately, with the newborn being handed over into foster care. I wondered if perhaps Miss Ainsworth be considered a candidate for foster parentage; it would certainly be the most delicious type of karma for Jane to face after she'd stolen Casey from her sister some seventeen years ago. 

Either way, those were the last of the loose ends to be tied up, and as December approached, I found myself looking forward more and more to the Christmas party Marcia and I had planned. We'd be having it on our property, since it was a lot nicer, according to the joking opinion of Marcia's mum, and Mum, Miss Ainsworth and I had worked our fingers to the bone to get things ready. David - who'd been away for the last few months to pursue his studies - would not be able to attend, but we'd promised to Skype each other on Christmas morning. But Casey and her parents would be there, as well as Marcia and her parents, Oswald, Rocky, Sophia, Olivia, and the rest of the octopush team, including those who'd joined after we'd left. It was going to be one hell of a good time, and I really, really couldn't wait. After the last two years, I felt that we all had earned a break, and since Christmas was supposed to be about peace on earth and goodwill to all men, it seemed as good a time as any to clear out the last of the bad mojo and give some good mojo a chance to finally manifest.