Zera and the Green Man

by Sandra Knauf

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Ted. It’s your mother.”

  The glowing phone monitor showed Guinevere, squinting at her son in the darkness. Theodore sat up. Grabbing the collar of his T-shirt, he pulled it up to wipe his damp face. He groped for the switch on the nightstand’s lamp, picked up his glasses and put them on.

  “Mom?”

  “Sorry to wake you.”

  Theodore made an effort to look and sound calm. “It’s okay.” He tried to smile. “Mom, I’ve made a terrible mistake. I understand now.” The screen went black.

  He pressed the button on the monitor but it stayed dark. “Mom?” No dial tone, nothing.

  Staring into the dead phone monitor, Theodore didn’t see the two men wearing business suits enter the bedroom. He looked up when he felt their presence and saw Cooper Davies, the helicopter pilot, and a second, very large African American man who wore his hair in chest-long dreadlocks.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Theodore said as they approached the bed. “Is Langston here?”

  “Hey, Theo,” said the dreadlocked man.

  “Do I know you?” before the words were out of his mouth, Theodore saw the frightening smile on Coop’s face, and the rag in his hand.

  Theodore jumped up, tried to maneuver past them, but the two men grabbed him. Cooper placed the sweet-scented rag over his face , and for a moment Theodore felt an odd excitement from the drug, right before he went to sleep for the third time that day.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  “We were cut off,” Nonny told Zera.

  “Did you see him?” Zera was getting clean water for the dogs’ bowl in the kitchen. She glanced at Nonny, sitting at the kitchen table, v-phone in her hand.

  “For a second,” Nonny said. “It was dark when he picked up the phone. He turned on the light, put on his glasses . . .”

  Nonny dialed Theodore’s v-phone number.

  Zera set the bowl on the floor, thinking about the train ride back down the mountain. No one explained much to Dan, and he’d seemed fine with that. Then, on the ride down, traveling through the storm with its booming thunder and blazing lightning, talking became impossible. Zera knew they were all working on the puzzle of what had happened. She wondered what the future held for her uncle, for herself, for them all.

  When they arrived in Ute Springs, the world had calmed again; everything was wet and shining under a bright moon. Hope seemed to fill the rain-cleaned air, and Zera, too, at least for a while. Maybe everything would work out. Ben was waiting for them at the station, soaked from having ridden his skateboard there in the rain, and Zera’s heart had leapt at the sight of him. They’d all gone to Nonny’s and had a cup of cocoa on the porch before Hattie said they had to leave. Like Cosmic Dan, Ben hadn’t asked many questions, and they hadn’t offered information. They’d all agreed to get together again first thing the next morning.

  Zera sat beside Nonny at the table, watching the blank screen of the phone and the words: “Ringing. . . . Ringing. . . .”

  An attractive woman’s face appeared. “I’m sorry,” she said. “The number you have just reached has been disconnected or is no longer in service.”

  “Now that was his cell phone. I don’t know what’s going on! I’m going to check directory assistance.” Shaking her head, Nonny pressed a button to redial the hotel. Zera saw that her expression had gone from confusion to worry. “What’s wrong?”

  “I finally got through by calling the hotel. He looked happy to see me,” Nonny said. “He told me he had made a terrible mistake. He said that he understood. Then . . . we were cut off.”

  “He said he’d made a terrible mistake?” repeated Zera.

  An Indian woman wearing a yellow sari showed up on the monitor. “What city, please?” she asked with a British accent.

  “I would like to find out the address for the number 310-555-1293.” Nonny watched as the woman typed into a computer. “It’s The Grand Hotel in Los Angeles? May I have the lobby number? Thank you.”

  Anger flared in Zera. This is weird. Could he be playing some kind of a game? Why would he say he made a terrible mistake, and then not try to call back? It didn’t add up.

  Nonny spoke to the hotel operator. “My name is Guinevere Green. My son, Theodore Green, is staying at your hotel.” Nonny frowned at the woman on the screen. “Our phone conversation was cut off a little while ago and the operator says the line is disconnected. You can check? Yes, I’ll hold. Thank you.”

  She drummed her fingers on the table.

  “The line seems fine, Mrs. Green. We could find no problem.”

  “Is my son there?”

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Green, he seems to be out for the evening. I’ll tell him you called.”

  “I see . . . I’ll try again later.” The screen went blue again, then black. Nonny sighed deeply, rose from her chair, and repeated what Zera had overheard. “‘Ted’s left for the evening.’ This is so odd.”

  Zera stood and pushed her chair under the table. “What are you going to do?”

  “The room’s registered to Void Chemical Corporation. Well, at least we know that — it’s something to go on.” Nonny ran her fingers through her white hair. “It’s been a long day. Oh, I wish I weren’t so old.”

  “Nonny, you’re not old,” Zera said. “I know people younger than you who seem ages older.”

  “Thanks, darling,” Nonny tried to smile. “Well, that’s just like him, to give me a glimmer of hope.” The half-hearted attempt at a smile disappeared and Zera couldn’t help thinking that Nonny did look old then. “I doubt I’m even thinking rationally. I’ll call Hattie in the morning. But right now we need to get some sleep. What do you think?”

  Zera’s irritation toward her uncle melted into tenderness for her grandmother, but one thing, something that she still hadn’t addressed, was bothering her. “I think you’re right, Nonny,” said Zera. “A good night’s sleep will do wonders. I have to ask you something, though.”

  “What’s that, sweetie?”

  “Are you still going to South America in two weeks?”

  Nonny turned away from Zera, to grab her cane next to the chair. “I haven’t given it any thought, with all this happening all at once. I don’t see how I could, but, well, I’ve had this date set for ages.” When Nonny turned toward her again, Zera thought she looked pale. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow, okay?”

  “Sure.” Zera hoped the disappointment didn’t show. She gave Nonny a hug and went upstairs.

  * * *

  Zera kicked off her shoes and had just sat down on her bed when she heard a tap-tap-tap at the windowpane.

  “It’s me, Ben.”

  She went to the open window and pushed aside the curtain, to find Ben on a ladder. “What are you doing?”

  “I had to talk to you.”

  The window was at her knee level, so Zera knelt down. They were face-to-face.

  “What about?”

  “I just wanted to say, I’m glad you’re home.” He looked down at the floor. “I don’t understand what’s going on but I hope everything works out and you’ll be here all summer.” He brought his eyes up to look into hers. “At least.”

  At least. In spite of it all, all the freaky stuff that had been going on all day long — he wanted her to stay! Zera’s heart leapt.

  “I like you, Zera. A lot.”

  A rush of happiness made her forget everything. She couldn’t help herself, she leaned over, touched his dark hair. He leaned towards her. She pressed her lips into his. The kiss was everything she always knew it would be. It was warm and sweet and made her light-headed. Everything seemed intensified, the colors in the room, the cool air, the smell of his hair.

  Ben looked into her eyes. “Let’s go out for awhile.”

  This brought Zera back to reality. “Ben, I can’t sneak out. We’re trying to get in touch with Uncle Theodore. We need to find out what all of this is about.”

  Ben looked shocked. “Okay, I ge
t it. It’s fine.”

  “It’s just that this is more . . .”

  “Important?”

  Ben didn’t wait for a response. He disappeared down the ladder.

  “Ben!”

  Anger coursed through Zera. He’s not getting by with leaving like that. She crawled out the window after him.

  * * *

  A half hour later, sitting on the grass near the barn, Zera had told Ben about everything that happened on the mountain.

  “I know this sounds crazy . . . but I’m not crazy,” said Zera. “It really happened.”

  “Zera, I saw those snakes too. Yeah, it sounds crazy, but I believe you. Heck, I’ve known you all my life. But you don’t have to go through with it — with whatever’s happening.”

  “That’s just it. I’m getting the feeling that I do. That there’s no choice. Like I’m going down this path I have no control over.”

  “Zera, Grandma Wren’s the one who’s crazy. You’ve seen her house. My mom’s a little off too. I know that. I love her and all, but . . . but sometimes I wish she was more like everyone else’s parents. I know you’ve had those feelings too; remember how we used to talk about it when we were kids? How we wanted to move out of Ute Springs one day, see the world?”

  Those memories came back to Zera. How she’d been a little embarrassed a few times by her parents, their artist ways, which always focused on feelings and imagination instead of the solid ground of reality, and how she’d found Ben a good person to complain to. She’d forgotten that she’d said she wanted to move away from Ute Springs. She’d probably been about twelve years old. For the last three years all I’ve thought about is coming back. “Things change, Ben. I’m older. I’ve been away. And when you . . . when you lose your parents you realize you loved every single thing that was different about them. Especially all those things that drove you nuts. It leaves a great big hole in your heart.”

  Ben took her hand.

  Ben’s hand was warm and a little rough. It felt good. She met his eyes and a thrill went through her. The moment didn’t last; she had to tell him something, something that she did not want to say. “Ben, I have to find out what’s going on with my uncle.”

  Ben dropped her hand. “Come on. It was hard on me when you left; things changed a lot. Maybe you just thought you saw something. Who knows, maybe Grandma Wren’s smoke-thing that she took for chanting and waved around the air was filled with some drug or something.” .

  Zera jumped up. “You just said you believed me. Ben, things changed a hell of a lot more for me when I left! You have no idea. And you really think your grandma drugged me?”

  She took off into the darkness and Ben didn’t follow her.

  * * *

  Zera had a hard time falling asleep. Thoughts about Ben, how they’d kissed a few more times outside, how he’d held her, and then, how he’d made her so angry, traded places with worry about Uncle Theodore. After tossing and turning and getting up three times, she took out her v-phone, did her own search for the number of The Grand Hotel in Los Angeles.

  The woman on the phone said that Theodore Green had checked out. .

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Saturday, June 7

  Theodore came to on tangerine shag carpet in the back of a 1970s-era Volkswagen van. He lay on his side, his wrists bound together tightly with multiple plastic zip ties. Daybreak shone through the dirt-streaked windows, illuminating everything in a grimy pink glow. The scent of a biofuel, one he wasn’t familiar with, hung in the air. Tilting his head all the way back, he could see the front of the van. Coop, recognizable by his blond crew cut, drove.

  The other man, the dark-skinned giant with dreadlocks trailing halfway down his chest, sat cross-legged on the opposite side of the floor. Absorbed in smoking a cigarette and blowing the smoke out of a partially-opened window, he didn’t notice Theodore had awakened.

  Peering down the other way, toward the back, Theodore saw a few cardboard boxes scattered near the door. The shag carpet underneath him smelled like a mixture of dirt, peat, and manure. After Theodore nervously calculated the number of germs that thrived there, he more nervously calculated that the man sitting near him looked to be about six-foot-six and more than two-hundred-fifty pounds. The big guy was not wearing a business suit like the night before. He had on jeans and a black T-shirt with an outer space shot of planet Earth. Theodore couldn’t hear any traffic and guessed they were outside the city.

  He felt a sharp digging in his back accompanied by a muffled grunting. Slowly, as not to attract attention from his closest captor, Theodore maneuvered his body to see behind him. It was Tiffany, wild-eyed and wilder-haired. She looked terrified, but also angry, and a large piece of silver tape covered her mouth. Noticing Theodore’s untaped mouth, her expression changed to fury. “Mmmph! Mummmph!”

  Theodore’s initial feeling of sympathy for Tiffany vanished. She’s angry? At me? He turned back over on his side.

  “Hey, look who’s up,” came a deep, mellow voice from the dreadlocked man. “It’s the royal couple! How’s it going, Theo?” The man laughed, a heavy, menacing laugh that turned Theodore’s skin to goose flesh.

  “Who are you?” Theodore demanded feebly. “You’re not with Void, are you?”

  “Man, you brainy types, so many of you so lacking in common sense. Look at this shirt, Theo,” he said, tossing back his dreadlocks, and stretching out his thick-as-tree-trunks arms. “Does it look like I’m with Void?”

  Theodore squinted at the words above the blue and white globe. Without his glasses, he could barely make them out. Save Mother Earth.

  From the front of the van, Coop chuckled. “Bear, Void has an Earth logo too.”

  Theodore stammered, “I just thought, seeing Coop . . . no . . . I guess not.”

  “Don’t worry, Theodore,” Coop said. He flashed Theodore a look of contempt from his deep-set icy blue eyes. “You’ll find out soon enough what it’s all about. We’re almost there.”

  Bear shook his head, and then blew a thick cloud of smoke in Theodore’s direction. When Theodore predictably coughed, Bear’s massive body shook with laughter. Theodore watched as Bear retrieved a coffee cup from the front seat and put out his cigarette.

  Coop swerved to make a right turn onto a bumpy dirt road. Theodore and Tiffany rolled into each other and Bear laughed again.

  “You two can sit up,” he said, and Theodore and Tiffany struggled to pull themselves up.

  They traveled for what seemed like forever. Theodore’s body hurt. His wrists were sore. He had to pee. Tiffany glared at all of them. She wore pink silk pajamas and white bunny slippers. A gold sleeping mask dangled around her neck. Theodore thought for a few seconds about asking to stop to go to the bathroom but decided against it, especially when Bear continued to stare at him, chuckling richly each time Theodore winced.

  They turned onto a second dirt road. Theodore glimpsed flashes of green fields through the windows. Where can we be? Nowhere near the beach or the desert. Somewhere in farm country. Maybe we’re not even in California.

  At the next turn, they pulled into the driveway of a ramshackle two-story farmhouse. Only ghosts of white paint remained on the house’s silver-gray wood exterior. Boards covered all the windows and the porch leaned inward. A tire hung by a thread of frayed rope from a giant oak tree, a sad relic of carefree summer days. The tree had a big hollow space on one side and only a few leaves on its mostly-dead branches. A chill ran through Theodore. The tree reminded him of his nightmare, the one he’d been having when his mother called. A tree even bigger than this one, and voices — voices of anger and accusation. The thought of that tree brought regret. He wished he could have told his mother more. What if he never saw her again? These people are kidnappers; they might be murderers too.

  Coop drove the van around to the back. There was an outbuilding of the same silver-gray, a few gnarled fruit trees, two old, rusty posts with an old clothesline drooping nearly to the ground between them, and a bent and
rusted iron fence standing sentry around a weed patch that looked as if it might have once been a vegetable garden.

  Bear opened the van door and grabbed Theodore by the shirt, hauling him out. Theodore trembled.

  “Please don’t kill us,” he begged.

  Bear’s face contorted. “We’re not killers. You guys are the killers. You’re killing everything that’s good, man.”

  Coop came around from the other side of the van. “Now it’s time for you to meet the brains of our operation.”

  “What about Tiffany?” Theodore asked nervously.

  “She can stay here for a few,” he said, slamming the van’s door shut. “She’ll be fine.”

  A muffled yell came from Tiffany’s taped mouth.

  Theodore’s heart pounded but he had to say it. “Why don’t you at least take the tape off her mouth? No one can hear her out here.”

  Bear and Coop looked at each other and laughed. “No way,” said Coop. “We’d be able to hear her. She’d be yelling her head off, like she did before we put the tape on.”

  They shoved Theodore through the back door, back porch, then kitchen, and into a dirty, cobwebby living room. The only furnishings were a ratty, burgundy velvet sofa, two beaten-up wooden chairs, and two crates, used as tables, which held ashtrays and reading materials.

  A woman with short, honey-colored hair stood at the window looking out. Her frame was small, but far from boyish. When she turned around Theodore’s heart leapt. He instantly recognized the pixie-ish face, the broad forehead, large, lovely dark brown eyes, and small, nicely curved mouth. She wore old jeans tucked into a pair of black cowboy boots, and a close-fitting yellow shirt. He was face-to-face with Lily Gibbons, his high-school sweetheart.

  Panic over his situation was replaced by an avalanche of thoughts. Her hair isn’t long any more was the first muddled one. Followed by, twelve years, and she’s even more beautiful. How can she be involved in this? The Green Guerrillas?