Charlotte Boyd lived in the Maple Farms apartment complex off of Route Two. The apartment complex was built in the early sixties and was an eyesore. A four-story concrete structure housing close to eighty apartments. Each unit had its own balcony where the outer wall was made up of colored sheet metal, the colors ranging from purple to lime green to a dull yellow. I don’t know what the architect could possibly have been thinking.
I found Charlotte’s apartment number and dialed it up on the intercom system. After about a minute I heard some static and then what I thought was her voice, but I wasn’t sure. I pressed the talk button and announced who I was. Another thirty seconds and I was buzzed in.
When I got to her door I knocked. I heard some movement from behind it and could tell she was using her peephole. The door opened a few inches and I heard her soft voice asking me to come in.
‘I have several cats,’ she explained in what was barely over a whisper. ‘I don’t want to leave the door open because they might run out.’
I squeezed through the opening and shut the door behind me. Charlotte was standing in front of me, her large hazel eyes holding steady on mine. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was dressed in jeans and a University of Toronto sweatshirt. She looked younger than when I saw her the day before. She also looked prettier. Her nurse’s uniform had hung on her like a curtain. With her jeans on, I could tell her body had more of a definition to it than I would’ve thought. Also, her eyes didn’t seem all that nervous anymore.
‘Hi, Charlotte. I was hoping to find you at home.’
‘Would you like to sit down?’
Off to the side of the entranceway was a small living room. There wasn’t much furniture in it; a small antique-looking chair and a matching loveseat, a coffee table, and a stereo bench with a TV. A neatly arranged stack of magazines lay on the coffee table, and there were books and small knick-knacks on a few built-in shelves. While there wasn’t much to the room, it had a nice feel. Charlotte took the antique chair and I sat on the loveseat. On the coffee table was a photograph of three very odd-looking cats, all with pushed-in faces and dour expressions.
‘Are these yours?’ I asked.
‘Yes. That’s Lady Margarite in the middle. Next to her on the right is Princess Anne, and on the left is Simone.’
For the life of me, I wouldn’t have been able to tell one from the other. All three of them looked like carbon copies of each other.
‘Three ladies, huh?’ I said. I looked around to see whether I could spot any of them.
‘They’re skittish with strangers,’ Charlotte said. ‘Could I get you something to drink?’
‘No thanks.’ I showed her an apologetic smile. ‘I’ve been thinking a lot about you since yesterday. I was hoping I could talk you into taking a ride with me to Burlington and joining me for a late brunch. I know I’m putting you on the spot by showing up like this.’
From the way she hesitated I knew she had already eaten lunch. But she nodded. ‘I’d like that, Joe. Let me change clothes and I’ll be right with you.’
She disappeared into her bedroom. As I waited I flipped through the magazines on her coffee table and found a couple on cats, one on antiques, another on knitting, and a final one on travel. I thumbed through the travel magazine until I came across an article about Italy. I wasn’t entirely kidding Scott Ferguson about wanting to see the world. I was forty years old and had so far seen almost none of it. It struck me that I had never even been in an airplane. As I looked at pictures of the Colosseum in Rome and the canals of Venice, I started daydreaming. With some effort I shook myself out of it and put the magazine down.
I got up and took a look at what she had on her shelves. There were a number of porcelain figurines; mostly either ballerinas or cats, with a couple of birds mixed in. As far as her books went, there were half a dozen on Victorian England, a handful of what looked like medieval romance novels, and a couple on the Diana and Prince Charles wedding. There were a few other miscellaneous books that you’d probably classify as literary. Out of boredom I had actually read most of them while in jail.
I noticed one of my eyes had started itching like crazy, and as I rubbed it, I saw one of her cats peeking at me from around the corner. I guess it was trying to decide whether I was worth the trouble. Its expression looked even more dour in person. It must’ve made up its mind that I wasn’t, because it darted back around the corner and out of sight.
By this time both my eyes were tearing and my nose had started running. Then I started sneezing. It came out almost like machine-gun fire. Charlotte came running into the room. She had changed into a sweater and a skirt and had pulled her hair out of its ponytail, but with the sneezing and the way my eyes were swelling up I couldn’t pay much attention to her. I could tell, though, that she had a worried look on her face.
Between sneezes I told her that I thought I was allergic to her cats.
‘I’m so sorry.’
‘There’s nothing for you to be sorry about.’ I stopped to fire off a couple more sneezes. ‘I was the one who dropped by out of the blue.’ I had to stop again. When I could continue, I told her I was going to buy some allergy medication and that I’d meet her out front in fifteen minutes.
‘If we go to the hospital, I can pick you up a sample of a prescription allergy medication that will be more effective than what you can buy over the counter.’
‘Okay, sure.’
I was anxious to get out of there. She still needed a few minutes so I told her I’d meet her in the lobby. I just couldn’t catch a break. I actually found myself feeling comfortable in her apartment, but it couldn’t be that simple – I couldn’t be given a few minutes of peace. Something had to screw it up, so of course I had to find myself allergic to her cats. And of course she couldn’t just have one. She had to have three of them spreading dander throughout her apartment.
I found a rest room in the lobby and splashed cold water on my face and in my eyes, but it didn’t help much. My eyes still felt itchy as hell and my nose was running like a faucet. I went through a dozen paper towels before my nose started to dry out. I forced myself to look in the mirror and couldn’t help laughing at what I saw. I looked pathetic. My eyes were almost swollen shut. As it was, I could only keep them open to narrow slits. My nose looked raw from blowing it out with all those paper towels. Here I needed to win Charlotte over in a quick whirlwind romance, and I looked like this? As I said before, I couldn’t catch a break.
I found Charlotte waiting for me in the lobby. The concern in her face seemed to have deepened and there was some nervousness back in her eyes.
‘I didn’t know where you were,’ she said.
‘I was trying to wash out my eyes.’ I forced a laugh. ‘I’ll tell you, that hit me pretty hard. I never knew I was allergic to cats before.’
She seemed deep in thought as we walked to my car. When we got there she asked whether she should drive.
‘Do you know how to handle a stick shift?’
She shook her head.
‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘I’ll be okay driving.’
I put the top down and we headed off towards Bradley Memorial. With the way my eyes had swollen up, it was a struggle keeping them open against the sunlight. They just kept trying to force themselves shut. The fresh air, though, felt good against my face. Somehow, even though I could barely keep my eyes open, I got us to the hospital in one piece. Charlotte got out of the car and told me she’d be right back.
While I waited for her, I spotted Junior leaving the hospital with his two pint-sized miniature versions of himself. He saw me sitting in my car, and as he did, an ugly grin spread across his face. He changed direction and started walking towards me, ignoring his two boys as they punched at each other’s arms.
‘Well, look who’s here,’ he said. ‘Whatsa matta, Joe, you been crying or something? Big bad world getting you down?’
‘Junior, you better look after your two kids before they kill each other.’
He turned sideways to see his two boys smacking each other. He raised his hand as if he were going to slap both of them, and barked at them to stop it. They obeyed his order, both staring back with sullen, dull expressions.
‘They’re chips off the old block, huh, Junior?’ I said.
He turned back towards me, his grin stretched tighter across his face. ‘What I tell you before about calling me Junior,’ he said.
‘Sorry, old habits die hard.’
‘You think you’re so fucking smart. You’re a fucking moron, that’s what you are. What I tell you before about bothering my pop?’
‘He told me why he’s working out a deal with Phil.’
‘You’re fucking delusional.’
‘You want to know why he’s going to be spilling his guts? It’s partly because of you, Junior. Woops, there I go, calling you that again.’
He didn’t say anything, he just stared at me with his dark black eyes, his grin all but disappearing as it stretched even farther across his face. I noticed I even had his two boys’ attention.
‘He wants to save your soul. He thinks if he can force you out of your life of crime he can convert you into a devout, God-fearing member of society.’
‘You’ve gone completely nutso, pal.’
‘You think so, huh? Why don’t you go back in there and talk to your dad about it. See what he has to say.’
‘I don’t have to go bothering Pop because of your bullshit delusions. But I tell you, Joe, there’s going to be a price you’re gonna pay for disturbing Pop. Beyond and above the thirty grand you owe me.’
‘You got me shaking here, Junior.’
He took a step towards my car, his face flushed with violence. ‘If you had any brains you would be shaking. You and me will settle this later, Joe. I promise you that.’
‘If you have any issues with me,’ I said, ‘we can settle them now.’
‘Nah, later, when we have some privacy.’
‘We don’t have to wait. If you want I can get out of the car now and kick the crap out of you in front of your two kids. Would you like me to do that?’
He started walking away from my car, his ugly grin back in place. ‘That’s okay, Joe. We’ll settle things later. I guarantee it.’
I watched as Junior and his two kids walked across the parking lot and got into his Range Rover. I was so caught up watching them that I wasn’t aware that Charlotte had gotten into my passenger seat until she closed the door shut. It damn near gave me a heart attack.
‘Here you go,’ she said as she handed me a bottle of water and a pill. As I swallowed the pill, I noticed Junior’s Range Rover slow down and could see him getting a good long look at Charlotte. Both his boys were also staring at her, both with their pug noses pressed hard against the same back passenger window. Junior lowered his window and waved at the two of us.
‘See you around, Joe,’ he yelled out before speeding off.
‘I think that was Mr Vassey’s son,’ Charlotte said.
I nodded. I didn’t like the fact that Junior saw the two of us together, but there was nothing I could do about it and it probably didn’t matter.
‘He doesn’t seem like a very nice man,’ she remarked quietly.
‘I’d have to agree with that.’
She peered at me for a moment before turning away with a slight blush. ‘Your swelling has gone down. Are you feeling any better?’
‘I think so.’
I gave a quick look in the rearview mirror and could see she was right about the swelling. It was easier to keep my eyes open against the sunlight. As I pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards Burlington, Charlotte seemed lost in her own thoughts. She sat quietly, her brow furrowed, her small hands clasped tightly together.
At one point I thought I saw her shivering. I asked whether she was cold. She hesitated for a moment before telling me that she was fine. I pulled the car over and put the top back up.
‘If the wind’s bothering you, it’s okay to tell me,’ I said.
‘It really wasn’t bothering me,’ she said. I could tell from how withdrawn she had gotten that something was on her mind, but I didn’t push it. After several minutes she interrupted our silence to ask me why I came to see her today.
‘Why?’ I laughed. ‘I wanted to take you out on a date.’
‘Why, though?’
‘Because it was nice having coffee with you the other day. Because I find you attractive. And I guess because I wanted to get to know you better.’
She sat quietly after that, seeming to sink deeper into her private thoughts.
When we got to downtown Burlington, I parked in a garage and we set off on foot. It was one of those perfect fall days that send couples flocking to the stores and restaurants in the downtown area. It felt good just strolling about outside. As we were checking out the different restaurants around town, Charlotte’s mood perked up. Whatever funk she had been slipping into was gone. She became more talkative and it took only a small effort on my part to squeeze a smile out of her.
We found a small French bistro that we decided to settle on. It was two thirty in the afternoon and the place was still crowded. A little after three we were seated. Charlotte ordered an apple crêpe and a glass of white wine. I ordered beef bourguignon. I tried asking for a bottle of beer to go with my meal, but Charlotte became concerned about my mixing alcohol with the allergy medication she had given me, so I ended up sticking with coffee. While I wanted the beer, it was kind of sweet that she showed the concern that she did.
Charlotte started to fidget as we waited for our food. The nervousness had come back to her large hazel eyes. I could tell she wanted to ask me something. She looked away from me and stared down at her small clasped hands. I couldn’t help noticing how tiny and white her knuckles were.
‘Joe,’ she asked, ‘you’re not married, are you?’
I couldn’t keep from smiling. So that was what had put her in a funk earlier. ‘No,’ I said. ‘I was married once, but we divorced over seven years ago. And I don’t have a girlfriend. To be honest, you’re only the second woman I’ve ever dated.’
She looked back up at me. I could almost see the thoughts running through her head.
‘It’s true,’ I said. ‘I knew my wife when we were kids. We were together through high school and got married right afterwards. I’ve never dated anyone else, and you’re the first person I’ve gone out with since my divorce.’
‘Joe, the only thing I’ll ask of you is that you don’t lie to me.’
‘Everything I’ve told you is the truth.’
Her eyes held steady on mine again. We sat like that for a while, just kind of looking at each other. I was actually beginning to feel pretty good, almost forgetting what I needed from her. A small, easy smile had made its way onto her face. We sat like that, not really aware of anything else, until our waiter broke the spell by bringing us our food.
I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I smelled the food. The only thing I had eaten that day was the powdered doughnuts, and my stomach was now rumbling. Still, though, I forced myself to eat at a leisurely pace. I watched as Charlotte cut her crêpe into tiny pieces. After every few bites, she would stop to dab her mouth with her napkin. It was kind of cute, I guess. I never saw anyone eat that way before.
She coughed lightly to get my attention. ‘Joe, do you have any children?’ she asked.
‘Two girls. Melissa’s fourteen and Courtney’s twelve.’
‘Do you see them much?’
From her expression, I could tell what she really wanted to know was whether I still saw my ex-wife much. I shook my head. ‘They’re out of my life now,’ I said. ‘I won’t be seeing them in the future.’
She tried to give me a sympathetic look, but I could tell there was some relief mixed in. To be polite, because it wasn’t really any surprise to me, I made a comment about how I was surprised that she wasn’t already married or involved in a relationship.
‘I’ve
never been married,’ she said. She seemed to shrink inwards as a darkness passed over her face. ‘I haven’t dated much.’
After that I kept the conversation light, asking her about what she liked to do and stuff like that. When she wasn’t working, she was usually at home reading a book or watching TV. I had a feeling that since she’d moved to Vermont her company had been almost exclusively her three cats. I could tell that I impressed her when I was able to discuss several of the books that were on her shelves. I didn’t tell her that during the last seven years I probably emptied out the Bradley library – or to be more specific, Morris had emptied it out for me. Every week he’d check out between five and ten books for me. It got to the point where during the last year he’d almost always brought me several books each week that I’d already read.
I could see that there was another question dying to bust loose from her. I sat back and smiled and waited for it.
‘Joe,’ she said, ‘you mentioned yesterday that you used to be a police officer?’
‘Yeah.’ I took a deep breath and made a decision. ‘I did something pretty bad and was kicked off the force.’
An odd look flashed on her face. It wasn’t surprise or shock or anything like that. I wasn’t quite sure what it was. In any case, she didn’t seem taken aback by my answer. She seemed almost satisfied with it, her eyes calm and holding steady on mine.
‘What do you do now?’
‘I’m in transition.’ I let loose a short laugh. I couldn’t help myself. ‘My dad wants me to go to college. Who knows, maybe I could major in history or literature and become a professor someday. I don’t know, I still haven’t figured out yet what I’m going to do with my life.’
Small Crimes Page 13