The Murder Gene by Karen Spears Zacharias

Author:Karen Spears Zacharias
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Koehler Books
Published: 2022-04-18T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

On April 11, 2011, Desiree put up a new post on Facebook: “The person who knows the most about you is the most dangerous person you know.” Shortly afterward, she and Megan flew back to Alabama to collect all of Desiree’s belongings and a car so that she could make her move to California more permanent. It was somewhat of a surprising decision considering that Desiree still didn’t have a job, and during those few months she’d been in California, Megan had thrown her out of the apartment on several different occasions.

“Megan would kick me out at any time for any reason,” Desiree said. “We would always make up, though. She was my best friend, and I understood why she was the way she was. I understood her, but things eventually got so bad in California, I couldn’t handle her anymore. It got scary,” Desiree said. By “it,” she means the instability of all four relationships: Desiree fought with Casey; Casey fought with Megan; Megan fought with Desiree and Casey. Really, the only seemingly stable person in the entire circle of people that they all ran around was Luke. He lived at the barracks during the week and hung around the apartment on the weekends.

The good Christian boy from rural North Carolina underwent a personality change in California. The Marines talk a lot about protecting freedoms. It seemed Luke was finally indulging in some previously denied freedoms. In California, Luke pretty much abandoned most of the good-kid rules he’d grown up with. His mother, Heidi, had it right—bad company does corrupt good character. Luke took up many of the vices Casey espoused. Amused by the transformation in his friend, and perhaps a bit proud of his part in that transformation, Casey once snapped a photo of a very pale Luke sitting on the edge of the bathtub, leaning over the toilet, sick from a night of partying. Casey was apparently pleased about persuading Luke to indulge in drinking and drugging. Did he like that he had brought Luke down to his level? Did it make Casey feel like his addictions weren’t all that dangerous if a good kid like Luke was enjoying them, too? There’s no way Casey could foretell the lasting effects of his influence over Luke, who had never before had a friend like Casey.

The closer he grew to Casey, the more drinking and drugging he was doing, the more Luke hated living in the barracks. When you live where you work, you begin to feel like the company owns you. You are more slave than freeman. Luke envied Casey’s married life, the chance to live off base, and his relationship with Megan. Luke wanted a girlfriend in the worst way. Desiree was an obvious choice. And, although Desiree did not find Luke attractive or desirable, he did possess the one thing she wanted and needed in the worst way: health insurance.

Once Desiree and Megan returned from Alabama, a plan was hatched to address all their needs. Luke and Desiree would marry.

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