6. We Take a Beating Every Day
Snitches Get Stitches (6 of 10)
(“Snitches Get Stitches” is a novella following Billy, Jack, and Tommy. It is the third segment of a larger collection/novel called Milestone Road. If you interested in more of Henry Coffin’s Nantucket, the stories begin with The Boat at the End of Lover’s Lane. Maria DeSalvo, the woman who was assaulted, gets her own novella)
Hey, If you are just catching up with Henry Coffin’s Nantucket, I am re-recording the first book inhale hour chunks. The Boat at the End of Lover’s Lane. )
Rosie hadn’t slept. Rick had taken Maria off-island. The two of them had sailed into the center of her mother’s rage.
He sent a text. “She is okay.”
Bullshit, she is.
Then Rick turned his phone off.
He was right. He did the right thing. It didn’t matter.
She knew that her daughter’s ass and her tits were on everyone’s phone right now. Along with at least one video of Maria pounding that little fuck’s head into the floor.
She watched that video one hundred times.
Then the police parked outside.
Rosie put her sweatshirt on, left her bra in the bathroom, and slipped her feet into some sneakers.
She carried her phone.
Outside, the chill of the winter had slipped into the air. The moon had not risen, so a spray of stars left the Milky Way. She eased the back door open and walked to the patrol car.
Henry Coffin opened the door and stood. He would have invited Pip to come out with him, but Rosie arrived before he could get the door open.
“You can leave the dog in the car, Henry.”
“Really?”
“He’s not that desperate.”
Danny heard enough in her tone to also get out of the car. The Quaker was a pacifist, but his partner wasn’t.
“Evening, Rosie.”
“Maria’s not here.”
“Okay.”
“She’s off-island with her father. I don’t know when she will return.”
“We’re not here to arrest her.”
“No shit. You don’t arrest anyone.”
“I just wanted to talk to her.”
“You can talk to me.”
“Not really.”
Rosie locked him in her eyes.
“You know who you are talking to? You know that I am one pissed-off Momma Bear.”
“Yes.”
“You have seen the pictures?”
“Yes. We wanted to ask her about them.”
“No shit.”
Danny looked over the hood of the car. “Jack Mitchell won’t be pressing charges.”
“Fuck him.”
Coffin crossed his arms.
Rosie realized.
“You fucking knew, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” he said. “We found her.”
She moved in inches and made decisions. Opening her hand.
Henry saw what was coming.
She slapped him from the right, then, with the back of her hand, she slapped him from the left. Again, left then right. And again.
“Rosie, stop.”
Sergeant Abraham stood on the other side of the car.
“You knew, didn’t you?”
“Yes. Don’t try to hit me, I am no pacifist. I will wallop you.” Danny barked.
Rosie shoved the Inspector. He sank to his knees and checked for injuries.
“You know we couldn’t tell you.” Danny answered her.
“You could have.”
“Not legally.”
“Since when do you two clowns do anything legally?”
She was eyeing the Inspector.
Danny had come around the car and was standing next to his partner. “Rosie…”
“Fuck,” she barked. Then, looking across Dead Horse Valley, she let loose from the depth of her stomach. “FUCK!”
Coffin felt his right eye swelling. She had hit him with her rings. His teeth were still sound, as was the rest of his face. His cheeks stung. He would live.
“Rosie,” Coffin whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For not telling you.”
“I should have fucking known.”
Coffin shook his head. He noticed that she did not accept the apology. So it goes.
“Do you know who did this?”
“We think so.”
“Tell me.”
“Are you going to press charges?”
“No, I am going to kill them.”
“Well, no. I won’t tell you.”
He slowly rose.
“Rosie, we have a good case. We have a rape kit, we have evidence, we have a witness.”
“You have a rape kit?”
He nodded.
She slapped him again. This one caught more of his swollen eye.
“I am going to cuff you if you do that again,” Danny intoned.
She eyed him.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Danny repeated. “Let’s hit the right people from now on.”
“Who?”
Coffin felt the swelling continue.
“We have a good case,” Henry said. “We have evidence.”
“I know.”
“We have other evidence.”
“What?”
“Can’t say right now. If you press charges, we can show you everything.”
“As if I want to see.”
Henry realized the totality of the pain he was causing.
“Rosie, I’m sorry.”
“Me, too.”
“When she comes back, let me know.”
Milestone 3: Snitches Get Stitches
Chapter One: The Monster is in the Building
Chapter Two: We are in the Elvis business
Chapter Three: The Man He Would Become
Chapter Four: One Red Hair
Chapter Five: A Knock at the Door
Chapter Six: We Take A Beating Everyday
Chapter Seven: Snitches Get Stitches
Chapter Eight: Swinging on a String
Chapter Nine: Outbound
Chapter Ten: Shall We Come to a Conclusion?
Some of my writing…
Barr’s For Life: A substack of essays and claptrap
The Boat at the End of Lover’s Lane
(NEW) The Girl Who Ran the Polpis Road
The Inn on Brant Point (Novella)
Her Lover on Monomoy Road. (Novella)
Her Father Came Home to Deacon’s Way (Novella)
Winter: A Collection of Island Living Essays set between January and April 1.
Autumn: Essays about Nantucket in Autumn.
Holidays: Essays about the holidays in November and September
The Boys: A collection of essays about my two sons, written as they grew.
Rolling in the Surf: Essays on Teaching.
Barr’d for Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
At the same time I am publishing this, I am writing Maria's story. One of the freedoms of writing novellas is that I can include stuff that I couldn't include in the novel. in the novel, I would need to streamline the plot and leave it on Nantucket. Maria, as victim, would be pushed aside so that Coffin could meet Lollipop and Rick could get more involved. But, without the ceiling of 75,000 words and the need to move at speed, Maria gets her due.
Now, this scene is relatively new to the story, but I like the idea of Rosie kicking the shit out of Henry. She deserves it. and he does too, even if he was correct to hold out the information. Billy and Jack create firestorms of rage. They did back in the Inn own Brant Point, and they do it now. Because they are idiots, they feel insulated from it.
Either way, it is interesting for me to have these two sections paired. If it was in a novel, think I would have to go chapter Billy and chapter Maria. this way, as novellas, both stories cohere.