No way could she tell him that she had a mother, a husband, a radio talk show partner, and a former cop who were probably crazy to find her by now.
‘What if we headed somewhere far away from here?’ Kit asked. Like Sacramento, where she could jump out of the truck and find her way home.
He tapped the gas gauge. ‘Ain’t gonna happen. At least not tonight.’
She sank back against the seat. ‘So you’re telling me I have no choice.’
‘I’m telling you neither one of us does. Not right now.’
‘Will you at least go by the restaurant?’
‘I can’t, Katherine.’
Once they neared the compound, Ike replaced his blindfold.
‘This is tough,’ he said. ‘I never lied to Lucas before.’
‘You aren’t lying now,’ she said. ‘You just aren’t telling everything.’
‘That’s still a lie.’
Lucas’s test had almost killed them in the fog, but Ike couldn’t tell a lie. Yet they hadn’t died. Kit’s breath began to even out. ‘How do you know these things?’ she asked. ‘Right and wrong, I mean.’
‘My dad’s a cop. My granny’s a lay minister. That means—’
‘I know what that means. How did you ever make friends with Lucas?’
‘Long story,’ he said. ‘Another time. Hey, I have a riddle for you. This dude lives on the tenth floor of a New York apartment building, see?’
‘I don’t see, and I don’t want to hear this,’ she said, ‘especially after almost getting killed out here.’
‘Too bad. You have to. I’ve been listening to you. Now you listen to me. The dude takes the elevator every morning to the first floor. When he comes back on a rainy day or with other people in the elevator, he goes to his floor. If not, he goes to the seventh floor and walks up to his apartment. Tell me why?’
Ike’s maniacal voice matched his grin.
‘I’ve heard that one,’ she said. ‘I just can’t remember it right now. Not to insult you or anything, but I have more important things on my mind.’
He chuckled as if he hadn’t heard her.
‘It’s a classic,’ he said. ‘Turns out the guy is even shorter than Lucas. Only way he can push the elevator button is with his umbrella or if someone else pushes it for him.’
‘So why would he carry his umbrella only in the rain? Or if he’s self-conscious about that, why wouldn’t he bring something else to push the elevator button?’
He scrunched up his face as if sorting out her words from his story. ‘You can be a real ass, you know that?’
‘I’m sorry,’ she told him. ‘But I don’t want to stay here one more minute, OK?’
‘You have to. I want to talk to you more, though. Some of the stuff you’re saying – well, I don’t like it. If Lucas knew you were talking that way, you’d be in trouble, maybe even—’
‘A time out? That’s why you need to help me get out of this place, Ike.’
‘You can do that yourself, once your ankle is better,’ he said. ‘Another day, I’ll bet.’
‘Do you really think Lucas will help me do that?’
He sighed. ‘I don’t know. I’m not going to lie to you.’
It’s what she had suspected from the start. At least now, she could trust Ike to tell her the truth. ‘Oh, that’s encouraging. Can you see why I need to leave?’
‘Can you see why I can help you only so much?’ He gestured toward the house. ‘He’ll be standing out there waiting for us, probably figuring out how many miles we drove and if we stopped anywhere.’
‘He can’t wait that long,’ she said. ‘He and Sissy are the next ones to drive blindfolded. I’ll bet they cheat too.’
‘What about Jessica and Wyatt?’ He grinned.
‘They’ll probably follow next,’ she said.
‘Fuck them.’ He paused, seemed to swallow his words, and said, ‘I don’t care what they do.’
‘You like her, don’t you?’ Kit reached over and pulled down his mask.
‘Who?’ he asked. ‘Jessica? She’s the most arrogant bitch – I mean, girl – I’ve ever known.’
His face blazed.
Kit nodded. ‘I’m guessing she likes you too, Ike, and she probably knows she can trust you. Jessica and you are two of the most decent people here.’
TWENTY
Jessica liked him? That was nuts. Him liking her was crazy too. In spite of her smart mouth, Jessica had never been like the rest of them. Her nasty attitude had put a distance between her and them, but only because she was so scared. Ike knew that because, to tell the truth, he had been scared too.
If Ike allowed himself to think about what Katherine had said, it might lead him right off the nearest cliff without the truck. He kind of trusted Katherine, even though he knew Lucas would say he shouldn’t. She had tried to tell him things that stirred around in his own head. When she left, he would lose maybe his only truth-telling friend in this place. For one crazy moment, Ike wondered if he could leave with her. No, he needed to stay here so he could take care of Jessica if she needed him. That settled it, then. Katherine would have to stay longer.
His eyes were used to the fog now, and he could make out the shapes of the broken fences leading to the compound. He looked at Katherine the same way he looked at the weather, not just the way he would check out a cute girl. Something about her was different from Sissy and the others. He wondered if she really had a home she could go back to. That would explain why she didn’t care about the rules of the compound.
‘What are you thinking?’ she asked.
‘That you aren’t like Sissy.’
‘Not crazy, you mean?’
‘Watch that word,’ he said.
‘You’re right. I apologize.’ She glanced away from him, even though he knew she couldn’t see any better than he could.
‘Why’d you run away?’
She looked down at her hands in her laps. ‘Everyone has a reason. I knew mine was going to get worse and not better.’ She glanced up at him. ‘What about you? Family problems?’
‘Too many rules, I guess.’ He pulled into the drive. ‘We’re here.’
She didn’t move. ‘Rules aren’t always bad.’
‘When your dad’s a cop, they are. He and my granny raised me – she mostly.’
‘And your mother?’
‘She took off.’ His head felt as if it would explode. ‘But please don’t play shrink, Katherine. I’ve already been through that shit.’
‘I thought you didn’t swear. Anyway, I didn’t mean to play shrink, as you call it.’ She reached for the door handle. ‘Why did they put you in that place where you met the others?’
‘That’s none of your business, friend.’ He tried to sound the way Lucas would. He couldn’t tell her that it was because of the night his mom came home drunk and beat him awake. Yes, he had hit his own mother, and when they asked him why, he couldn’t say that it was because she had beaten him. It would have been worse for her, so he had taken the charges, protected her from the law, and done time in the Weasel’s camp.
‘Don’t call me friend if you’re not going to trust me,’ Katherine said.
‘I just don’t remember it all,’ he said.
‘Try harder.’ He did. ‘What about Lucas?’
‘He was a First Year.’
‘That’s not what I’m asking, Ike.’
‘He came in young. Had some problems adjusting in school.’
‘Why?’ she asked.
‘I don’t remember.’
‘Of course you do.’
‘I don’t, Katherine.’ He gripped the steering wheel until he felt he could rip it out by the roots. ‘I don’t remember any of that.’
‘Why did Lucas come in at such a young age?’
He met her searchlight eyes, looked away, and then back at her.
‘Some issues after his father died.’
The encouraging smile on her face seemed to freeze. ‘How did his father die?’
‘I think you’re sure, Ike.’
She climbed out of the truck before he could stop her.
‘I don’t know much about any of this. You have to realize that.’
‘Oh, you know, all right.’ She glanced at him over the shoulder of her blue down jacket. ‘You just don’t want me to know.’
Now he had done it. Lucas had his demons like the rest of them, and they never let those demons loose in front of strangers. Besides, the Weasel had said one thing that did make sense. No one could blame Lucas. No one could blame a child. He was so young when it happened that it must have been an accident. But Ike had let a demon out, one that wasn’t his, and Katherine knew more than she should.
They walked inside, and Jessica grabbed Wyatt’s hand. Then she leaned up to whisper something in his ear. Her hair had seemed to grow overnight, almost black to her ears, the red streaks like wine-colored spikes highlighting her head.
‘What’s going on?’ Ike asked her.
‘Come on, Jess.’ Wyatt attempted to ease her out the door. ‘It’s our turn.’
‘No, it’s not,’ Ike said. He always remembered the order of things. ‘It’s Sissy’s turn. Sissy and Lucas.’
‘Not tonight.’ Jessica pressed her finger to her lips and hurried out behind Wyatt.
Ike started to follow. The two of them didn’t look matched. Jessica was too tall, slender, and frightened, Wyatt too angry.
‘No.’ A hand touched his arm, and then he remembered Katherine. But Katherine wasn’t Jessica, and Jessica was about to drive with a blindfolded Wyatt through the fog Ike had just barely survived.
‘I’ve got to help her,’ Ike told Katherine.
‘She has Wyatt,’ Katherine said.
‘He can’t drive worth a shit without a blindfold. What do you think he’s going to do with one?’ Ike looked down at the planks of the floor and felt shame. His granny always said when you say one bad thing, you have to say three good ones you really mean. But he couldn’t do that right now. He was too worried about Jessica. ‘You’re the one who said Lucas wanted us to die out there. What if that really is what he wants for them?’
‘You’re right.’ Katherine turned around. ‘We have to stop them.’
They ran back outside, but the truck was gone.
‘What about the golf cart?’ Katherine seemed to be in panic mode. Ike didn’t want Jessica hurt either, but the golf cart was as old as this place was.
‘Not in this weather. Besides, I owe it to Lucas to stay here.’
‘Why do you owe that little creep anything?’
‘I told you before. You don’t get it.’
‘I get that we’re finally not being watched. Let’s go while we can, Ike. I’ll help you, I promise.’
Something in his head didn’t feel right all of a sudden. ‘Where is everyone?’ he asked her.
‘Who cares?’ Katherine started for the door. ‘We’ve got to find Jessica.’
‘There’s something wrong, and it’s my job to care. A couple more minutes isn’t going to change anything.’
A burst of laugher came from the back end of the house.
‘Are they outside?’ she asked.
More laughter, a loud excitement that was more roar than words. ‘Come on.’ Ike said it politely enough but took her arm so firmly that she must have known she had no choice. Together, they made their way through the living room to the kitchen, and then to the hall that led to the back door.
The door stood open, and several kids crowded the hall the way they did when they watched Wyatt and his fucking knives, except Wyatt and his fucking knives weren’t here. At least Wyatt wasn’t.
The door at the end of the hall stood open, and Ike started to shut it. Then he saw what was going on in the open shower outside.
‘What are they doing?’ Katherine asked.
‘Go back inside.’
‘My god.’ Katherine gasped. ‘They’re naked.’
‘Showering.’ That’s the best reply he could offer, for there, in front of the spray of shower, stood a shining wet Sissy. She giggled and dug her fingers into the long, dark hair of the guy beside her. Theo. Still wearing his thick glasses, he smeared chocolate cake over her shoulders, her breasts. Even with the others crowded around, the two of them seemed not to care or even remember why they were there. Ike knew why.
He grabbed Katherine’s hand and pulled her back inside. She leaned against the narrow plaster of the hall and almost knocked down the mounted sword above her head.
‘What’s wrong with them?’ she demanded.
‘It’s not Sissy’s fault. Not Theo’s either.’ He pulled her down the hall beside him. ‘The Weasel treated us with different shit. I got the good. Sissy got the bad.’
‘Which is?’ Katherine pulled away from him and refused to move. Ike hoped she didn’t look up at that bouquet of dried yellow sunflowers circling the ripped-off porcelain head of an antique doll.
‘Today you’d call it ecstasy. Come on. I don’t want you to see what’s going on out there.’
‘We’ve got to help Sissy,’ Katherine said. ‘Then we need to find Jessica and Wyatt.’
‘We can’t. Sissy won’t listen. She’s done this before.’ He stopped speaking before more words escaped.
‘With you?’ Katherine’s expression begged him to tell her the truth, and Ike could not turn away from it.
‘Almost.’
‘Lucas?’
‘Another attempt, but Lucas would never do anything like that. If he finds her like this, he’ll punish her.’
‘Do excuse me.’ Just then Lucas appeared from the front of the house and blocked their exit from the hall. ‘We’re going to need some assistance here, Ike.’
He wanted to say he couldn’t. He wanted to say he was tired, but he stepped aside and let Lucas pass.
‘I have to help Lucas,’ he told Katherine. ‘You do whatever you want.’ He knew she wouldn’t get far, and right now he needed to follow Lucas to whatever had gone wrong outside. And something had gone wrong. Ike could tell that by the mounting energy of the voices out there.
On his way to settle the problem, Lucas plucked a blue towel from the pile on the laundry table. Then the others parted, and he and Ike stepped into the overhead light of the patio. Ike felt Katherine beside him and was glad she hadn’t tried to run off.
‘Sissy,’ Lucas said. ‘We’ve discussed this before. You must stop it now.’
She moaned and ran her fingers over her cake-covered body. It looked disgusting even to Ike.
‘Sissy,’ Lucas said again. ‘This is unattractive behavior.’
Still she didn’t respond. Theo seemed to blank out, as if not remembering why he stood there or what he was supposed to be doing with this naked girl.
‘Ike.’ Lucas motioned to him. ‘Take care of this.’
‘I don’t know what to do, man.’
‘She needs to learn her lesson.’ He moved closer to her. ‘Sissy, you’re getting a time out. Don’t worry. We’re going to offer you some help.’
Ike glanced at Katherine. She shook her head quickly. For that moment, as short as a breath, he glanced between Lucas and her. He had a choice. He could grab Sissy out of the shower and give her a time out, or he needed to leave with Katherine, to find Jessica and maybe plan an escape away from here.
‘Ike?’ Lucas softened his voice. ‘Perhaps you didn’t hear me.’
‘I did.’ Ike felt clumsy and stupid.
‘Our Sissy needs your help.’ Lucas reached for her naked arm as if handing her to Ike. ‘You’re out of control, Sissy. You’re going to have a Bleeds.’
She screamed, and Ike wished Lucas hadn’t called it that. When the Weasel gave them a Bleeds, it meant the worst punishment for the smallest infraction.
‘That’s not helping your case,’ Lucas said.
‘No,’ she shrieked back at him. ‘No
more Bleeds.’
Theo scrambled out of the shower, shook his head as if waking up, and stumbled out toward the planted-over swimming pool, where he appeared to pass out.
Ike tossed Sissy a towel.
‘Leave me alone.’ She rubbed the towel along the contours of her body as if getting off on the smell, taste, and texture of it. ‘Go away, asshat.’
Where was Jessica now that he needed her? Oh, that’s right. With Wyatt, driving through the fog or doing whatever they did when no one was looking.
‘Come on, Sissy.’ He put out his hands.
‘No, you creep. Don’t touch me.’
Lucas stepped forward.
‘Would the rest of you please leave the area?’ he asked. ‘Ike and I need to help this poor girl.’
‘No,’ Sissy shouted.
The others left. Ike nodded. ‘I’ll take care of them,’ Lucas said. ‘You take care of her.’
For the first time, Ike realized Katherine had disappeared as well. Only naked Sissy, defiant now, stared back at him.
‘How would you like me?’ She licked her lips.
‘Come on, Sissy.’
He reached in, lifted her, and placed her towel-wrapped body over his shoulder.
‘Put me down.’ She beat on his back. ‘You ugly son of a bitch. Let go of me.’
‘I wish you wouldn’t swear,’ he said. One way or the other, Sissy needed that time out tonight.
‘The basement?’ he asked Lucas.
He shook his head, and Sissy sobbed louder.
‘Where?’ Then he realized that Lucas was walking through the back, past the pool, to the cooler. ‘You can’t,’ he said. ‘She’ll die in there.’
‘Not if we use a chain lock on it.’ Lucas seemed sad and concerned, and Ike felt Sissy’s body grow heavier in his arms.
‘No,’ she moaned. ‘Bastard, fucking bastard. He’s going to kill me.’
After Ike got her in there and locked the door, he felt a tightness in his chest. This reminded him of the Bleeds the Weasel used to give them, when he punished the whole camp for something one person did.
‘I don’t know,’ he told Lucas.
‘I have an idea,’ Lucas said. ‘Everybody is pretty hungry, and we haven’t even had dinner. What if you go pick up pizza? Bring extras too. Everyone can eat as much as they want tonight.’
Goodbye Forever Page 16