Broken Saint, The by Mike Markel Page B

know you’re upset
about Maricel, and so are we. We need you to help us figure out who hurt
Maricel.”
    His face contorted into a scowl. “Fuck you,” he
shouted. He jumped out of his chair, knocking it over. “Fuck you, too,” he screamed
at me. “Fuck you both.” He rushed at Ryan and threw an awkward punch at his
face.
    Ryan was awfully good at Krav Maga. I wasn’t
worried. Ryan ducked the punch, pushing Mark’s right arm away, swiveling him
one-eighty, then came up behind him, pinning his arms to his side. “Calm down,
Mark,” Ryan said.
    I had my cuffs out and looked at Ryan.
    He shook his head and said softly, “I got it,
Karen.”
    I walked back toward the corner of the room, away
from Ryan, Mark, and whatever angels the kid was seeing.
    “Okay, Mark,” Ryan said. “Let’s calm things down
now. We’re going to sit over here, let you take a minute.” Ryan half escorted
him, half pushed him toward his chair in front of the computer.
    Mark settled onto the chair. “Moroni is here
already,” he said and started laughing. Then, the laughing stopped instantly.
Mark turned toward the screen and started tapping the keyboard.
    Ryan pulled me aside and led me over to the other
side of the room, where we sat down on some folding chairs near the wall. “Let
me have another go at him,” Ryan said.
    “What if he’s armed? He’s obviously out of his
mind. We have to get him over to the hospital.”
    “Yeah, I know, he’s having a psychotic episode. He
probably hasn’t taken his meds since he heard about Maricel. Probably hasn’t
slept much. But if I can have five minutes with him before they sedate him we
might be able to figure out how he fits in. Just give me another shot at him.”
    I nodded, and we sat there for five minutes, watching
Mark type on the computer. He paid no attention to us. If Moroni was still in
the room, Mark wasn’t paying any attention to him, either.
    Ryan walked over to within three feet of him. “What’re
you working on?”
    “A game.”
    “Yeah, what’s it about?”
    “Book of Mormon.”
    “You’re telling the story?”
    Mark was looking at the screen. “The new story.
About how I betrayed the Lord with our Heavenly Mother and then killed her.”
    “What happens to you in the story?”
    “The Lord kills me.”
    “The Lord is infinitely merciful, Mark. He
wouldn’t kill you, would He, Mark?”
    “The Lord showed me His mercy after I killed my
brother. But when I killed His wife, He decided to kill me. Moroni told me
that.”
    “Let me talk to Moroni now,” Ryan said.
    “Do you see Moroni?”
    “Yes, I do. Moroni is right over there,” Ryan
said, pointing to the corner of the room where two couches came together. “Don’t
you see him there?”
    Mark started smiling. “Yes, I see him there.
Please talk to Moroni now. Tell him I didn’t mean to kill our Heavenly Mother.”
    Ryan turned to face that corner of the room. “Moroni,
Mark is telling the truth. He didn’t mean to kill Maricel. It was an accident.”
Ryan paused.
    Mark looked confused, then he began to smile. “Heavenly
Father has forgiven me.”
    Ryan smiled, too, and went over to hug Mark. “I
knew our Lord would not punish you.”
    All of a sudden, Mark began to cry,
uncontrollably. “I sinned with Maricel.”
    “Heavenly Father knows what you have done, and He
knows you did not mean to. He recognizes your contrition, Mark, and He forgives
you.” Ryan stroked the boy’s matted hair. “The Lord loves you, Mark. He has
always loved you. And He will always love you.”
    I walked over to the two of them. “Tell us about
Maricel, Mark,” I said. “What was your relationship with Maricel?”
    Mark was still crying, tears all over his face,
snot on his top lip. “I met Maricel on August 13, at 2:35 pm , when she arrived here in Rawlings.”
    “She had just flown in from the Philippines?”
    “Yes, from the Philippines. My father had arranged
it with the Church.”
    “You mean the Catholic