Chapter 13

"Remember Me?"

Debra answers the door. The fedex guy hands her a letter. She signs the electronic tablet for the letter. She closes the door.

She says, "That's funny. This letter is from Mexico. It's from a woman named Dora Romanez."

Dexter looks worried and says, "That is funny. You know we're gonna be late. Why don't you leave the letter here and read it later."

She says, "You're driving anyway. I'll read it in the car."

Dexter takes out his iphone and looks at it. He says, "Okay, I guess we got a few minutes. Go ahead and read it here."

Debra opens the letter. She starts reading. She reads, "Dear Debra. This is Debra from a few months earlier... "

Debra stops reading for a second and laughs. She says, "Isn't this funny? Is it like a practical joke or something?"

Dexter nervously laughs and says, "Ya must be."

Debra continues reading, "You're currently strapped to a gurney awaiting electroshock therapy. Your memory is being erased against your will.

I have to tell you something. Dexter is not who you think he is. He's the Bay Harbor Butcher. He framed Doakes. He had a girlfriend at the time named Lilla. Lilla killed Doakes. She was a serial killer like Dexter. Dexter's killed over a hundred people. He's been killing more and more innocent people. He's flying out of control and needs to be stopped. You found out his secret. He's now getting you electroshock therapy so he can drill his secret out of your head. You have got to stop him. But don't turn him in. If you turned him in he'll just escape like Hannah. Hannah was yet another girlfriend of his that was a serial killer. You have got to kill Dexter to end the murders once and for all. To prove this is you, I'll write something that only you know about. It's a secret you've never told a soul about. When you were fifteen you lost your virginity to your ninth grade science teacher, Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith walked in on you in the janitor's closet... "

Debra stops reading the letter and looks up at Dexter.

Dexter has a worried look on his face but doesn't say anything.

Debra says, "I know that last part is true. I did lose my virginity to the science teacher in the janitors closet. I remember, the buff and shine in there gave me rugburn."

Dexter again says nothing. He shrugs and shakes his head.

Debra continues reading, "Also I must tell you, you may think you're in love with Dexter... "

Debra stands up and tosses the letter on the ground. She exclaims, "Eww! Gross!"

With a queasy look Dexter says, "You know Deb, I hate to tell you this. But you really went off the deep end when you had your nervous breakdown. I didn't wanna tell you all the crazy things you were saying."

In shock and disgust, Debra looks at the letter on the floor.

Dexter continues, "You didn't like my girlfriend Lilla. Rita and I broke up for a time years ago. Lilla and I got together. You hated that. You wanted me to stay with Rita and the kids. You said, like me, Lilla must of been a killer too. You were delusional. You seemed to think I could magically kill over a hundred killers, that I could emerge from all that, somehow, unscaved. You thought I had superpowers with a blade. You said I could dodge bullets." He mimes dodging bullets by ducking side to side. He continues, "You thought I had astonishing powers of manipulation. You said I could talk gun totters into lower their guns." He wiggles his fingers in the air at Debra. As if he were projecting his magical powers at her.

Debra has an incredulous look on her face. She says, "What? That all sounds nuts."

Dexter shrugs and says, "I know. You must of told all your delusions to this, Dora Romanez, person. Dora must of believed all the crazy things you were saying. I'm sure she just wanted to help you. She must be a very gullible person." He gestures to the letter on the floor. He says, "You probably dictated this letter to Dora. The two of you must of this done right before your treatment. You know, at the mental institution, back in Mexico. "

Debra raises her eyebrows and says, "Golly, I guess that must be the case."

Debra takes out her iphone and looks at the time. She exclaims, "Gee whiz, work. I forgot."

Dexter looks at his iphone too. He says, "Ya, we're definitely late now. Oh well."

Dexter drives Debra to work. They show up late.

Jacob did propose to Debra that night in the restaurant. Debra said yes. Debra asked Dexter to be her Maid of Honor. Dexter said he prefered to be called her Best Man. But then, they realized, he couldn't be either. Dexter had to give away the bride because Harry is dead. After that matter was straightened out, they had the wedding just a month later. It was held in a small ceremony at Debra's beach house. Harry made a ghostly appearance at the nuptials. Of course Dexter was the only one who could see him.

With a new family in tow, Jacob and Debra had to settle on where to live. The couple decided to stay where they were but to make the move from renters to owners. They got a good deal on Debra's beach house. The place wasn't quite big enough for the girls but they planned on building an addition onto the home. Jacob's daughters, Bridget and Sarah, were looking forward to getting their own rooms.

It's now a couple of weeks after the wedding. The newlyweds were fresh back from their honeymoon in Alaska. One day Debra's alone at the beach house after work. Jacob's still at his job. The girls are at soccer practice with their mother, Tammy. The doorbell rings. Debra goes to answer the door. It's Dora Romanez.

Dora smiles and greets Debra, "Hi, Debra. I'm Dora Romanez. Do you remember me?"

Debra knits her eyebrows together and stammers, "Aaah... " The name rings a bell, but her face doesn't look familiar. Since the therapy Dexter had to reducate Debra on who, exactly, her friends and acquaintances were. As far as Debra knew, Dora could be one of her closest friends.

Dora explains, "I'm not surprised you don't remember. I was at the mental institution in Mexico. I'm an orderly there. You got electroshock therapy there. It erased your memory."

Debra smiles and says, "Oh, I see. Why don't you come in?" Debra steps aside, out of the doorway. She waves for Dora to come in.

Dora walks into the house.

Debra gestures to a table and chairs. She says, "Please Dora take a seat."

Dora says, "Thanks."

They both sit down at the table.

Debra says, "I wanna thank you Dora for taking care of me there. My brother Dexter tells me I was in a really bad way. But I'm much better now." Debra nods at Dora.

Dora gives a pensive look and says, "Is that right?"

Debra explains, "Yah. You see I had a nervous breakdown. I became suicidal." She gestures to herself and says, "And I'm lieutenant of homicide at Miami Metro. My brother Dexter didn't want my career jeopardized, so he got my electroshock therapy in Mexico. He bribed a doctor there to give me the treatment."

Dora says, "Right before you got your treatment you dictated a letter to me. I sent it to you almost six months ago. I was worried about you. I thought about calling or writing you again. But I feared communication with you would be monitored or filtered. You never responded to the letter... " Dora looks away.

Dora's hands are on the table. Debra gives a sympathetic look to Dora. She puts her hand on hers and says, "Dora, I got the letter. I'm sorry I worried you. But I had a nervous breakdown. I was delusional. I was hallucinating the craziest things. But none of it was true."

Dora shakes head and says, "Back in Mexico, back at the mental institution, you were strapped to a gurney awaiting your treatment. Dexter was alone in the room with you. I was about to come in the room to clean. I heard the two of you talking in the room. So I waited outside the door. I eavesdropped in on the conversation the two of you had. I heard Dexter say he would kill, perhaps, an infinite number of people, if need be, to serve his own ends."

Debra's confused. She shakes her head and says, "No. I can't believe all those crazy things I wrote. Maybe Dexter was just agreeing with me. Like he was trying to make me feel vindicated before my treatment or something."

Dora says, "Dexter did bribe the doctor to get you illegal electroshock therapy. It's something the institution specializes in. It's actually not an usual request. Someone with money will approach the institution asking for a memory wipe. We have a lot mob activity in Mexico. There are a lot of family disputes. Sometimes mobsters do it to their wives just so they'll forget about mistresses. The staff knows about it. In return for more money we turn a blind eye to it. If we refuse to play along we're fired. If we tell the authorities we're killed. But you and Dexter were both returning to America. I thought perhaps, in this country, you could stop Dexter, stop him from killing more innocent people."

Debra sits back in her chair and mulls everything over. She says, "That's a lot to take in. I'll have to think about this."

Dora says, "If you need proof, maybe you could keep tabs on Dexter. But don't let him catch you doing this. You could end up back at the institution. If I get caught trying to help you I could get fired or worse."

Just then the doorbell rings.

Worried, Dora jumps to her feet.

Debra walks over to the door.

Dora says briskly, "I'll get going." She abruptly turns around and starts to head to the back door.

Debra turns around and says, "Oh please don't leave. I have more questions for you."

Dora waves her hands in front of her, gesturing "No." In a rushed voice she quickly says, "I have to leave immediately. What if it's Dexter?"

Debra quietly says, "Don't worry. It's probably just my friend Bastista. I asked him to come by later for drink. I'm sure he's just early and that's him at the door."

Dora shakes her head and whispers, "I must leave right now. I can't take that chance."

Debra waves her hand dismissively. She whispers, "Whoever it is, I'll get rid of them at the door. I'll just tell them to come back later."

Just then the door opens.

Debra turns around. She stops smiling.

Dora sees a man standing at the door. She stops breathing.

Its Dexter.

Debra rushes up to door and closes it part way. She acts annoyed and tells Dexter, "Dexter, can't you call first, or something. Don't just drop by like this. I'm busy right now. Come back later."

Dexter looks surprised. Debra didn't normally object to him dropping by. He looks over Debra's shoulder and sees Dora.

Dora stares at Dexter bug eyed with fear.

Dexter gets a suspicious look on his face. Dora looks familiar to him somehow.

Dexter tries to nonchalantly push past Debra. He says, "Deb, can I come for a second? I really got to go to the bathroom."

Debra stammers, "Uhh... Well... " She hesitates and looks around. She tries to think of an excuse for him not to come in.

Dexter says, "Oh thanks. I'll be quick." He pushes past Debra and makes his way into the house.

Debra glances nervously at Dora. She bites her lip.

Dexter says to Debra, "Sorry I just opened the door like that. You didn't answer the doorbell." He holds up an envelope to show Debra. He continues, "I just got this great new breakthrough on a case. I thought I'd share it with you." He then turns his attention to Dora. He smiles at her.

Dexter walks up to Dora. He sticks out his arm to shake hands with her. He says, "Hi. I'm Dexter. I'm Debra's brother. I didn't mean to intrude on the two of you like this."

Dora gives Dexter a fretful smile. She reluctantly shakes his hand.

Dexter looks at Dora expectantly and asks, "And you are... ?"

Dora opens her mouth to speak but then hesitates. She's reluctant to say anything.

Debra quickly steps over to the two of them. She interrupts the awkward conversation or lack thereof. She says, "Her name is D-Diane. She's a friend of mine. She's gotta get going."

Dora gives Debra an awkward half smile and nods in agreement with her. Dora quickly walks around the two of them. She hurries to the front door.

Dexter smiles and waves at Dora. He calls out after her, "Nice meeting you Diane."

Dora half turns to Dexter and weakly waves goodbye at him. She leaves without saying a word in Dexter's presence.

After Dora is gone, Dexter just stands there a minute thinking. He has a contemplative look on his face.

Debra acts annoyed at Dexter. She says sarcastically to him, "Oh Dexter, I thought you had to go to bathroom sooo baaad."

Absent mindedly, Dexter says, "Oh right." He hands Debra the file that's in his hands. He says, "Why don't you take a looks at this while I'm in the bathroom." He starts heading to the bathroom.

Debra scoffs at the file in her hands. She throws it at Dexter's back. When the file hits him, the papers fall out of the manilla envelope and scatter on the floor.

Dexter turns around and says, "Hey. I need that stuff." He kneels down and starts to pick up the papers. He stuffs them back in the envelope.

Debra puts her hands on her hips and glares down at Dexter, shaking her head at him.

Dexter finishes going to the bathroom. When he gets out Debra tells him to leave and to take his precious file with him. Later that evening, Bastista stops by for that drink. Bastista and Debra sit on the couch, sipping well aged scotch.

Bastista tells Debra, "You know, a funny thing happened. It happened right before I came here. I just got this phone call from a friend of mine. He works for I.N.S. Well an hour ago he got an anonymous tip. An anonymous person said that an illegal alien was conducting suspicious activity around your neighborhood. They gave a general description of this illegal. They said she was an older, heavier woman, grey hair, mole on her cheek. They picked this lady up at a coffee house a block from here. She wasn't doing anything wrong but she was here illegally so they had to book her to deport."

Debra asks, "What was her name?"

Bastista says, "Dora Romanez. Do you know her?"

Debra sits back in her chair. She says, "Yes I know her. The person who gave the anonymous tip. Was it a man? Did they have a local accent? Did they sound middle age, about?"

Bastista says, "I don't know. I could ask my friend in I.N.S."

Debra says, "If the anonymous tip was recorded I'd love to hear it."

Basitisat says, "If it was recorded I'll get you a copy. Did you know Dora well? Did she work as a housekeeper for a neighbor of yours, or something?"

Debra says, "Something like that. But Bastista, I need you to promise me something. Whatever we do about this, or find out about this, please don't breath a word about it to Dexter."

Bastista looks confused and says, "Don't tell Dexter? What does he have to do with Dora Romanez?"

Debra says, "I can't say anything about it right now. But as a special favor to me, keep this under your hat."

Bastista says, "Alright. I won't say a word to Dexter. But later you gotta tell me why you're acting so secretive about all this."

Debra says, "I promise. I'll tell you everything later. But for now just talk to your friend in I.N.S. And get me that recording if it exists."

Bastista says, "You got it."

Here Debra puts the pieces together once again. I love the dark humor involving the letter. About how the absurdity of it is just too much for Debra to swallow.