Come morning, I was praying they’d be gone. But judging by the amount of snow that had spilled through the broken window, it wasn’t likely. The storm wasn’t close to letting up. Tomorrow there could easily be half again as much as the amount already on the ground, which must have half-buried my pickup by now. There was no way this Jo would be able to drive in to get them, unless she knew enough to bring a snowmobile.
But let’s get realistic. Why was I so anxious for them to leave? When they finally did go, Jid and I would likely be dead. They weren’t about to leave witnesses behind.
But why not? It wasn’t as if we could tell the cops anything that they didn’t already know. I doubt these thugs would broadcast their next destination, and I wasn’t about to ask.
Escaping was our best option. But with Professor putting the lid on drinking, it was pretty well ruled out. And if they carried out their threat to tie me up, that was the end of it entirely. Still, if by some miracle an opportunity presented itself, we’d be gone in a flash. But miracles were scarce at the moment.
That left some other way to deal with Slobo and Professor. I didn’t view Larry as a threat. Stabbing them with scissors or the glass shard wasn’t going to do it. I supposed I could take one of the carving knives from the kitchen, but I wasn’t certain if I had it in me to actually stab someone, no matter how threatening. The same went for trying to slit one of their throats with the razor blade. I had to face it — I was the one most likely to be killed.
On the other hand, I wouldn’t hesitate to have them ingest something that would incapacitate or kill them. I had some noxious gardening pesticides, but they were out of reach in the garden shed. The only item of that nature in the house was mouse poison, and I wasn’t certain it had the strength to kill a man. Besides, how would I get them to eat it?
All of which didn’t leave me much choice other than to do what they asked of us in the hope that when they finally departed, they would feel agreeable enough to leave us unharmed.
Very disheartened, I threw a couple of logs onto the fire and increased the flame of the oil lamp before sinking into an armchair. I noticed that more fuel had been added, likely by Professor. It wasn’t something the Serbian would do.
The tinsel sparkled in the renewed light, reminding me that it was the Christmas season. Christmas. Peace and joy on earth. It seemed as if it belonged to another world.
Larry appeared to be asleep, although his body twitched under the blanket. I wondered how much worse his withdrawal would get. From the little I’d read about heroin withdrawal, I gathered an addict could become quite agitated. I hoped Professor would be able to control him and keep him from making the bullet wound worse.
I must’ve been sighing, for Larry suddenly spoke up. “You okay, lady? Tiger didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“No, Professor came to my aid.”
“Yeah, Professor’s a good guy. He’ll protect you the same way he protects me.” He raised himself carefully into an upright position. The sweat on his face gleamed in the light.
“It must be hard living in a prison,” I said.
“Yah, when you’re a little guy, the big guys won’t leave you alone, eh? But once you have a protector, no one comes near you.”
“Other than your protector.”
He raised his eyes to mine in alarm.
“Don’t worry, I don’t care if you’re gay.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t always this way. Before I got sent up, I had a girlfriend, eh? Just inside, you gotta do it, eh? Guys get killed when they don’t. Besides, Professor treats me real good.”
“What did you do to end up in there?” Though Slobodan had told me, I wanted to hear it from Larry.
“Fuckin’ cops said I killed a man, but I didn’t. Just ’cause my fingerprints were on the gun, they said I did it. I kept telling ’em I found it, but they called me a liar. Didn’t like the colour of my skin, eh? And that Judge Meilleur screwed me royally, all because I was an Indian. So Professor says. He’s gonna get me a good lawyer. He says it was harsement or some word like that.”
“Harassment.”
“Yup, that’s it. Says it’s against the law for the cops and a judge to do that. Says a good lawyer will get them to open up the case and get me off.”
I supposed he could be innocent, but he was hardly the first convict to insist he was, nor would he be the last. “How long have you been in prison?”
“Thirteen years. Twelve more to go before I get parole, eh? You see, I got the max. First degree murder, all on account I was an Indian.”
“You know, if you get caught now, you’ll go back to jail for even longer.”
“Professor’ll make sure I don’t get caught. We’re going some place nice, where the cops can’t catch us. You see, this is Professor’s last job. He promised.” A shiver ran through him, more like a convulsion. “I feel like shit. You sure you don’t got any pills?”
“Only Tylenol.” And the ibuprofen Eric used when he had too many aches and pains from trying to pretend he was twenty years younger. But neither would solve Larry’s problem. However, they could solve mine. I wondered if a liberal dose of either would put the two men to sleep.
Jid came running into the room with the puppy scampering after him. “You should see the cool trick Professor taught Shoni.”
He careened to a stop when he saw Larry sitting up.
“It’s okay, kid. I’m not gonna hurt you or your auntie.”
“You feeling okay?” Jid asked. “What’s it feel like to have a bullet go through you?”
“Now, Jid, it’s not polite to ask such questions,” I said.
“It’s okay. He’s just a boy with a boy’s curiosity. All I can say is it hurts like shit.”
“Do you have the bullet? You know, like you see on TV.”
Larry glanced over at me for the answer.
“It went right through him. So it’s likely lying where he was shot.”
“Do you know who shot you?” the boy asked.
Again Larry looked at me.
But before I could say I didn’t know, Slobodan limped into the room. “A hack shot him.”
“You mean one of the guards in the van?” the injured man asked.
“Yeah, before Jo shoot him dead. They kill other hack and driver too.”
Shit. Triple shit.
I supposed if there were a positive side to this horrific act, it would be that the hunt for these escaped convicts would have gone up many notches with the killing of the guards. The police wouldn’t stop until they’d captured all three of them. But would they know to look in the middle of nowhere?
“Jo good woman. Like I tell you, I love woman with balls.” The leer that crept across the man’s face made me shudder.
I’d been hoping that the arrival of this girlfriend would neutralize the killing instinct in these men. Instead, she was as cold-blooded a killer as her boyfriend.
TWENTY-EIGHT
I’d barely absorbed the implication of the guards’ murders when the biker hauled me from the armchair and dragged me across the carpet to the dining room chair, kicking the boxes of ornaments aside. I was too stunned to resist.
“Sit,” he ordered.
I sat.
I gritted my teeth to keep from crying out as my arms were wrenched almost out of their sockets when he pulled them around the back of the chair. Gripping my wrists together, he ordered Jid to tie them.
“Rope no good,” he muttered. “You got zip ties?”
I held my breath, worried the boy would mention the ones lying in a pantry drawer. We’d used them yesterday to attach the Christmas lights to the verandah railing. But thankfully the boy remained mute while he finished tying my hands. He left the rope slightly loose so I might be able to work my hands free, something I couldn’t have done with zip ties. Thank you, Jid.
But my hopes were short-lived when the Serb started wrapping the rope around my upper body, melding me to the back of the chair. Every time he ran the rope over
my chest, he made a point of running his hand over my breasts. I tried my hardest not to flinch. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was unnerving me.
I strained to hear Professor’s footsteps coming down the hall. I’d expected to see the man coming through the door behind the Serbian. But so far there was no sign of him.
“Jid, could you go find Professor?” I asked.
“Stay here, kid,” Slobodan ordered. “Hold her feet.”
I had a moment’s panic when he whipped out Eric’s knife and pointed it straight at me. But he was only interested in cutting the rope behind my back. He started wrapping the remaining length around my ankles, cinching it very tightly, so tightly I could feel it biting through my scratchy wool socks.
“Ouch, that hurts. Could you loosen it, please?”
“Shut up.” He tugged it tighter.
“Professor!” Larry’s voice rang out with more strength than I thought he had in him. “Could you come here a minute?”
“What’s up, little buddy?” came the answer from the direction of the living room.
“I need you.” Larry flashed a smug smile at the Serbian, who merely grunted.
The biker was just finishing cutting the rope around my feet when the tattooed man stepped into the room.
“Professor, she’s good people,” Larry said. “She doesn’t need to be tied up.” He turned imploring eyes in my direction. “Promise them you won’t run away.”
But before I could answer, Professor said, “Nope. She can’t be trusted. Slobo, tie the kid up too.”
It was the Serbian’s turn to gloat.
Within minutes, Jid was trussed up as securely as I was on another chair brought in from the dining room. They’d placed us side by side about a foot apart and within the circle of the fire’s warmth, which I thought was considerate of them. Except they forgot to add more logs before the two of them left us alone once again with Larry.
I tried wriggling my hands, but I couldn’t get much movement with the ropes tied around my arms. I thought if I managed to loosen them even a smidgen, my fingers might be able to make their way through the opening at the back of the chair to reach the razor blades in my back jean pocket, so I kept working them.
“You okay, Jid?”
“Yup.”
“The ropes aren’t too tight?”
“Kinda. I can’t feel my hands.”
“That’s not good.” But when I looked over to check on his hands, I saw faint arm movement going on behind his back. He waved his head in the direction of Larry to tell me this was his way of putting the man off.
“Good luck,” I mouthed, then turned to see Larry watching both of us.
“They shouldna oughta done that,” he said. “It ain’t no way to treat a lady.”
“Why don’t you untie us?” I whispered.
“Can’t.” He turned his face away and closed his eyes.
“When’s Shome coming?” Jid asked, lowering his voice so only I could hear him.
“Not for another two days,” I whispered back. If he comes at all, I thought to myself, not wanting to let Jid know that all was not well between his hero and me. “When’s your aunt coming home for Christmas?”
“I think it’s Thursday, too. I guess Juicy won’t come looking for me if I miss tomorrow night’s game, eh?”
I didn’t think his cousin would come either. He’d be happy to have another night free from babysitting.
“We’re going to get you to that game, you hear,” I persisted. “They have someone coming to get them tomorrow.”
“Yah, I know.” He paused and focused his brown eyes wide with trust at me. “They’re gonna kill us, aren’t they?”
For a second it took me aback that he, a child, should come to the same conclusion. Children shouldn’t have to worry about death. But he could read their intent as well as I. “I don’t know. If there is a way we can get out of here alive, we’re going to find it, okay?”
“Okay,” he answered but with little optimism.
“Don’t worry,” Larry piped up. “I’ll make sure Professor don’t hurt you. And he’ll make sure Tiger don’t either.”
“Thanks, Larry. But are you sure you can do that? They won’t want any witnesses.”
“But you don’t know where we’re going after. So you can’t rat on us. Besides, Professor owes me.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I saved his bacon once.”
“What did you do?”
“It happened shortly after Professor got sent up.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Two years. He’s up for parole next year.”
“It doesn’t make sense risking a longer sentence by escaping. So why did he do it?”
“They want him — no, I better say nothing. Better you don’t know.” He clamped his mouth shut and turned his face away from me.
I waited for him to continue and when he didn’t, I asked, “Why do you say Professor owes you?”
“He got into a fight with a guy. And, well, the guy died.”
“You mean another prisoner.”
“Yah, a booty bandit. He was trying to make the moves on me, and well, Professor protected me. So I lied to the hacks and said it was self-defence. I told them it was the dead guy who attacked Professor with the shank, but Professor was lucky and got it away from him.”
“Shank?”
“That’s a knife, Auntie. Everyone knows that,” Jid answered.
“How do you know?”
“TV.”
“Right, all those cop shows you watch.”
“Did he make it from a fork?”
“No, used his usual, a razor blade stuck into the end of a toothbrush,” Larry replied.
“Cool.”
“Professor’s a knife man. That’s his trade.”
“He makes knives?” I asked, which earned me a groan from Jid.
“Okay, wrong question.” Deciding I didn’t want to know more, I continued, “So as a result nothing bad happened to Professor?”
“They coulda extended his sentence or sent him to maximum, but they didn’t. Though they put him in the hole for a week.”
“Hole?”
“Solitary. After that, me and Professor were buddies.”
TWENTY-NINE
The murmur of voices drifted down the hall from the living room. I wondered what Professor and the Serb were up to. Despite Professor’s protestations, they were likely doing an inventory of all the items they planned to steal. I doubted they’d left jail with any money, so they’d need something to pay their way. The Serb might not recognize the value of the small cigar box painting hanging next to the fireplace, but Professor would know it was a Tom Thomson worth enough to get them well beyond the reach of the cops. But as long as Jid and I got out of this alive, I didn’t care what they took. Maybe I could use these treasures, even my great-grandmother’s silver tea service, to guarantee our safety.
“Ending up in prison for tax evasion is a long way from teaching at McGill,” I said to Larry. “His taxes would have been deducted from his paycheque, so where does the tax evasion come in?” I watched embers fly up the chimney from a sudden gust. “He must’ve had another source of income. Do you know?”
“You’d better ask him. He don’t like people talking about him, eh?” The injured man didn’t seem to be trembling as much as earlier, but his nose continued to flow. Occasionally he’d brush it away with his fingers or Eric’s sweater, but mostly he ignored it.
“What about the snake tattoos? Hardly the kind I’d imagine a university would want for one of its professors.”
“He weren’t working there anymore. But I think he got the tattoos before he left. He’s got this thing for snakes, eh?”
“All over his body?”
“Good a place as any, I guess. Some guys call him the Viper. He likes that. But me, I like Professor. It’s more like who he is. I’ve learned a lot from him, eh?”
“Like what?” I
asked.
“I don’t got much of an education. Never went to high school, but Professor, he been teaching me. Says I’ll soon know enough to get my diploma, eh?” He eased himself into a sitting position. “Jid, you better be going to school. Indian kids like you need an education, else you end up like me.”
“Yeah, I go to school.”
“Smart kid like you, I bet you’re in grade six.”
“Nope, grade eight. I skipped.”
“Wow, that’s terrific. I never made it past grade six.”
“Why not?”
“My dad made me go trapping with him. Didn’t want me moving to Somerset.”
“Why would you have to go to Somerset?”
“You’re from Migiskan, eh? Ain’t that where you have to go to school after grade six?”
“Nope, I go to school on the rez.”
“You gonna do high school there too?”
“Yup, all the way to grade eleven.”
“So they built a school on the rez. Ain’t you the lucky one.”
“I guess.”
“Take it from me, you are. They didn’t treat us Indians too good in that white school in Somerset. Most of my buddies left after only a couple of years.”
“This new one is a very good school,” I said. “My husband was instrumental in getting it built. About ten years ago I think.”
“Who’s your husband?”
“Eric Odjik. He was Migiskan band chief for almost twelve years.”
“Yeah, I remember the guy. He didn’t think much of me. Chased me off the rez.”
Just what we needed. Would Larry protect us now?
He chuckled. I looked up to see him grinning. “Yeah. I deserved it. I was a real scumbag. My girlfriend kicked me out too.”
“What did you do?”
“I hung around with some pretty bad apples. They were into all sorts of shit. ’Cause of my size, they’d get me to go into houses through windows and stuff like that. I’d open the door so they could get inside and take stuff, mostly booze, but they also took TVs, microwaves, shit like that. One of the guys knew a fence in Ottawa.”
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