Sons of Dust

by P. Dalton Updyke

  The first floor window was boarded, but the nails along the bottom edge had been pulled away from the frame. The effect was like a swinging door, hinged at the top. Teddy lifted the plank of wood, looked around one last time, and then climbed over the sill and dropped to the floor.

  The smell was musty and thick and for a second, Teddy heard James’ voice, “they used to drag cows in here and whack them in the head with shovels. Blood squirted everywhere and there was brains and junk--”

  Teddy forced the voice out of his head.

  It wasn’t true, anyway. Frankie said so.

  It was dark inside and it took Teddy’s eyes a few minutes to adjust to the lack of light. The comic books were stacked in the corner and Teddy walked across the room, feeling the chill in the air for the first time. He wondered how long they’d be able to use the playhouse, because once it started to snow, it would be too cold to play.

  But maybe not, he thought, maybe we can build a fire, like the homeless people under the Tobin, make a fire in a barrel and we can play army or cowboys and maybe we can cook hot dogs over the fire.

  At least it would keep them away from the big boys, the ones with shaved heads and pock marked faces, the ones with zits and tattoos, the boys who liked to hurt little kids and make them cry, or try to talk them into buying drugs and if the little kid wouldn’t, the big kid would slug him for sure.

  Teddy hunkered down behind a stack of comic books. He reached for the top one and then saw the tube of Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip cookies. The tube was almost full and Teddy grinned as he reached for it instead of a comic book. Lately his mother had been on a health kick. She was buying granola bars instead of cookies and yogurt instead of ice cream. “I’m starving Mom!” he complained to her all the time, “That stuff isn’t food! It’s garbage!”

  “What’s garbage,” she’d say, her eyes narrowed into the I-mean-it-line, “is that junk food I used to let you eat. Well, no more, my friend.”

  “Cookies,” Teddy said out loud as he opened the wrapper. “Real ones.”

  The cookie was almost to his mouth when he heard the sound. At first, he thought James had finally shown up, but the sound wasn’t coming from the window, it was coming from behind Teddy, from the room beyond where he sat. His hand froze halfway to his mouth and his stomach climbed up high in his chest. He could hear his heartbeat and it was fast because the sound behind him was

  scary

  “Don’t be a baby,” he whispered to himself. “There’s nothing here except comic books and cookies.”

  And the smell.

  He hadn’t noticed it at first but now as his eyes adjusted to the light, his nose became aware of the scent. Garbage and poop, it smelled like, but it also smelled like something rotting and it made him gag. Teddy dropped the cookie and swallowed, but the smell was everywhere now, it was in the air around him, it was in his clothes, he could even smell it on his skin and Teddy gagged again and then he heard the sound.

  Teddy scrambled to his feet and there was no hesitation, no real thought to what he should do.

  Run.

  Teddy shot toward the window, his feet tangling over each other, heart trip-hammering in his chest and he had almost reached the window when he saw it.

  A pile of rags heaped in the corner.

  Bums, Teddy thought. The bums have found the playhouse and they’ve left their dirty clothes here and that’s what stinks. Just as Teddy was beginning to relax, the clothes moved and Teddy stared, his eyes eating half his face, his mouth dropping open.

  It wasn’t a heap of rags.

  It was a man.

  He rose to his feet and Teddy had time to take in the man’s long black hair, the torn white shirt (fairy shirt, Frankie would have called it), pants that buttoned funny in the front and then Teddy saw the length of chain dangling from the man’s wrist. The man smiled and his teeth were white and even.

  “Hello.” His voice was musical. He had an accent, one Teddy had never heard before. He took a step forward and Teddy took a step backward. “Please do not be frightened. I did not mean to scare you. I was simply taking a rest.”

  Bum, Teddy thought again.

  The man glanced around. “Is this your home?”

  Teddy shook his head. Jeez. Where did this guy come from that he thought a fish factory was a house? He tried to talk but his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth and it took two tries before he was able to get the words out. “We just play here.”

  The man cocked his head to one side. His eyebrows lifted. “Play here?” he repeated.

  “It’s our playhouse.”

  “And a fine one it is.” He smiled again, his teeth flashing. “My name is Lucien.”

  It sounded like a sissy name to Teddy, but he didn’t call attention to it. “Teddy August,” he offered, his heart still banging, but not quite so hard now.

  “Teddy August?”The man repeated his name like it was a question, so Teddy shrugged and said, “Really, it’s Theodore Frances Augustafson, but everybody calls me Teddy August.”

  The man grinned. “Teddy August is a wonderful name.”

  Teddy tried to smile back. This guy wasn’t too bad, really. He’d scared Teddy at first, but now that Teddy could see him, he could tell the man wasn’t scary at all. In fact, he looked like a nice guy. He even looked a little like his neighbor, Marcus.

  Marcus had known Frankie’s aunt. In fact, Frankie said that his Auntie Bo and Marcus were boffing each other. Teddy had wanted to ask Marcus, but couldn’t think of a nice way to say it so he’d kept his mouth shut. Good thing, too, because now Bo was dead. The man took another step forward and something rattled. Teddy’s eyes slid to the chain around the man’s wrist and he blurted, “Are you an escaped prisoner?”

  The man stopped walking and stood so still Teddy was beginning to worry again, but the man threw his head back and laughed so loud the sound echoed off the stone walls and thick brick. When he got a hold of himself, he said, “I suppose that is exactly what I am, Teddy August. And you are quite intelligent to come to that so quickly. Very astute.”

  Teddy didn’t know what astute was and he filed the word away in his mind to ask Frankie later. Frankie knew the meaning to almost every word. Frankie wasn’t just huge, he was smart. Marcus said that maybe Frankie would go to college on a scholarship someday. “His choice,” Marcus had said, “football or scholastic.”

  Teddy didn’t care much about college yet. He was just trying to get through third grade.

  “You know Marcus well, then?” the man asked and he took another step.

  Teddy shrugged. “Sure. He lives next door to me. Sometimes he takes me to the Sox games at Fenway. Sometimes he takes me--” Teddy stopped, his eyes grew huge. “Hey! How did you know about Marcus?”

  The man took another step forward, the chain rattled. It was a dry sound, a nasty sound, and all of Teddy’s fear returned. He looked up at the window, but it was too far away to make a run for it. The man would catch him for sure and as Teddy realized that, the smell overpowered him again and he understood that the smell was the man—

  “Astute,” the man said and when Teddy turned his head, he saw that the man was just an arm’s length away.

  He forgot how to breathe.

  “Slowly,” the man said.

  Teddy bolted.

  The man was faster.

  Chapter 23

  Gina

  “I need a break,” Vinny muttered as he got up from the couch and crossed the room. He picked up the remote and flicked the television on. “I could use another sandwich. Don’t know why I’m so hungry.”

  “This just in. The body of a ninety-one year old woman has been found in her Chelsea apartment. According to a source close to the investigation, the victim was found mutilated in her own home. This marks the fifth victim found within a week in Chelsea, all of whom suffered multiple--”

  “Your turn, Vinny,” Marcus’ voice came from the farthest corner of the room. Gina glanced his way, but she couldn
’t make out his expression in the shadows. The room was dim, the curtains still pulled tight against the world outside. Gina glanced at the television and saw that a section of the victim’s house was just over the reporter’s left shoulder. Gina knew the house. She’d walked past it every of her life. It stood on the corner of Shurtliff; Vinny’s neighborhood.

  “—ritualistic aspects--”

  “Shut it off,” Alex said hoarsely.

  “It’s Mrs. Dobens.”

  Vinny had turned a sickly shade of white. There were two red spots on his jawbone like he’d taken a punch to both sides of his face.

  “Who?” Kate asked.

  “Mrs. Dobens.” His voice was thick, clogged. “She lives across the street from me. She’s a great lady, one of the best.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Kate said. She went to Vinny, knelt in front of him. She took one of his hands and Gina thought his hands are cold, they’re always so cold they almost hurt to touch. Vinny bent his head and Gina thought, He’s going to try not to cry, but he won’t be able to hold it in and the sob will come hard.

  But Vinny didn’t sob. He took a few deep breaths and from where she sat, Gina could see that he had broken out in a sweat. Beads of perspiration dotted his neck, shined on his forehead. He swallowed, hard, and when he lifted his head again, his eyes were blazing.

  “Cocksucker,” he said. “Goddamn motherfucking cocksucker.”

  Vinny’s eyes were burning with hatred, his face white as a ghost except ghosts aren’t white. They aren’t transparent and they don’t float in the air. Gina closed her eyes.

  “—door to door questioning neighbors for any information--”

  Alex got up swiftly, crossing the room in two strides. He grabbed the remote, shut the TV off and the room was blanketed in silence. “We don’t need to hear anymore.”

  “It’s just a matter of time,” Marcus said. Gina shivered. “The police will be back here soon. We should--”

  “It happened last night.”

  Vinny’s voice, softer than Marcus’s stapled over the rest of his words. Marcus shifted in his chair. Gina knew that however impatient Marcus might be, and however right about the police coming soon, he would wait until Vinny said all he needed to say.

  “He got her last night. I know it. When I got home, I wondered where she was because she’s always waiting up. She comes out onto the porch when she hears my car to say hello and shoot the breeze. She’s got insomnia, you know? She doesn’t sleep well because she was in a camp in the war.”

  “Vinny,” Gina said as gently as she could. He twisted in his chair to see her. “There’s no need to go into all that.”

  “There is a need!” he said. “There is! The son of a bitch killed her last night, before I got home. I know he did, because if I had been there, I would have--”

  “You would have what?” Alex said.

  “I’d have saved her!” Vinny’s eyes blazed so much Gina half expected to feel the burn. “I would have done whatever I could to save her, because she was a sweet old lady who never hurt anybody. And I wouldn’t have had to face the monster inside of me, either--”

  “The monster inside of you?” Alex repeated. “You aren’t making any sense, Vin. The shock--”

  “A couple of months back, me and Mrs. Dobens had a long talk. It was after Cath walked out and I was a mess. I couldn’t understand why Cath would leave like that.”

  “Cath?” Kate interrupted. “Who’s that?”

  “She was my wife.” Vinny rubbed his face and Gina heard the faint rasp of stubble. “We were married for four years. I met her when I got out of prison. She wasn’t stuck up, like some women, you know? When she heard I did time, she just said, ‘everybody makes mistakes’ and said I just got caught on mine. When I told her I didn’t do it, she didn’t laugh or look at me with that ‘yeah, sure, buddy’ look some people have. She believed me.”

  His voice dwindled into silence. Kate was looking off into space, like she was lost, and her expression struck a chord in Gina. She is lost. She’s lost in time because she left when we were still kids. She doesn’t know what we’ve done with our lives and she’s feeling that empty space, that void, now. We’re together again, but only because Bo is dead. And that’s the biggest void of all. Kate’s eyes met Gina’s, and Gina knew she was right.

  “So we got married and then a few months ago, I came home from work and the apartment was empty. Cleaned out. I knew as soon as I walked in, because there was no smell.” His eyes darted from Gina to Kate and then back to Gina again. “I could tell the second I walked in she was gone, because there was nothing cooking, and the radio wasn’t on, but even more than that, I couldn’t smell her perfume. I went through the whole house and she was gone. The closet was empty, the bureau drawers cleaned out, and so help me God, I didn’t know why.” Vinny stopped talking and his eyes glistened. “I went off the deep end and Mrs. Dobens pulled me back in. One night I went over there to apologize for being such a shithead and she sits me down and tells me, ‘don’ say such tings Vincent. You are a good man.’”

  Vinny’s voice changed, grew higher pitched, thick accent and Gina broke out in gooseflesh. He sounded just like Mrs. Dobens.

  “And then she told me about being in Auschwitz and how people changed just to survive. How they’d do anything just to stay alive. She called it the monster in every man. She said few people looked the monster in the face and were able to turn it away, but she knew I could.” Vinny covered his face with his hands and his shoulders shook. Gina put an arm around him, meaning to offer whatever comfort she could, but he pushed her away and straightened up. Hs eyes were dry, his face set and determined. “That son of bitch killed her like he killed Bo. What are we going to do about it?”

  “Do?” Alex asked and Gina realized it was the first time he’d spoken since he’d turned the television off. “What do you expect us to do, Vinny?”

  Instead of answering, Vinny stood up and walked to the window. He pulled the curtain aside and looked out. The others sat where they were, waiting. A muscle in Alex’s face was twitching.

  “Well, I’ll tell you, Alex,” Vinny said, “I don’t expect much from you, but I expect a lot from me. I expect I’ll try to stop Lucien before some other poor soul suffers like Bo and Mrs. Dobens did.”

  “But how…”

  “I don’t know how!” Vinny yelled. He turned from the window, his eyes burning again with a fire even Gina shrank from. “If I knew how, I’d be doing it already! You think I’d be sitting here on my ass waiting for the other fucking shoe to drop if I knew how to stop the son of a bitch? Do you think I’d be eating sandwiches and drinking coffee if I had a clue how to end it? Christ on a pony, Alex! What the fuck do you want from me? Since when did I become the frigging answer man?” Vinny looked at each of them. His expression softened, some of the heat faded and he said, “How should I know what to do? I’m not the one who’s studied up on God and the devil.”

  The words were like a stone dropped into the room. Gina stole a glance at Alex; his face was so still it was like he wasn’t breathing. Vinny chuckled, but it was a harsh sound and Alex flinched. Vinny’s eyes flashed and he took a step toward Alex and Gina saw that his hands were balled into fists. Please God, don’t let them fight, not now. Don’t let Vinny’s anger get the best of him, because if it does, it will get the best of us.

  “Damn, it Alex!” Vinny’s voice was tight with rage. “You’re the one who should have the answers! You’re the one who should know what to do! For God’s sake, for Bo’s sake, stand up and act like a man!”

  Without a word, Alex rose to his fee and left the room.

  Chapter 24

  Alex

  Alex knew he should say something, but he couldn’t. They were waiting for him to take charge, they were waiting for words of wisdom from a priest, but he didn’t have it in him.

  “I’m not the one who knows about God and the devil…”

  I don’t know about them, either, Alex thought. If
you want to know about God, Vinny, you should have talked to my mother. I never believed in any of it. He stopped in the hallway and leaned against the wall, resting his forehead on the faded paper. Except…

  Now there was Lucien. Was it true? Was he a demon from hell? If there was a hell, Alex had no doubt he was on a fast track, headed for it. For God’s sake, for Bo’s sake, stand up and act like a man.

  The others hadn’t known what Vinny was talking about, but Alex knew. His eyes had locked with Vinny’s and for the first time, Alex had seen hatred there. Vinny had every right to hate Alex. After all, it had been—

  --Alex’s idea to steal the car. “C’mon,” he urged Vinny, “I know just how to do it. Chris Shaw showed me. It’s a cinch.”

  Vinny stood on the street corner, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. There were cigarettes in his tee shirt pocket, Alex could see the box through the thin fabric. The streets were empty. Quigley Park, behind them, was deserted. The chains on the swings creaked as the wind moved them around. The sprinklers had been turned off an hour before. The concrete basin that formed the sprinkler pool was damp, steam rose from the surface.

  “Why?” Vinny asked.

  Alex looked away from the empty swings. He grinned, “Why not?”

  Vinny didn’t answer right away. He looked across the street at the cars parked along the curb. A bus drove past, exhaust billowing from the tailpipe. From a distance, Alex could hear a woman yell, “Walter James! You better get your butt over here right now!”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Vinny said.

  Alex’s gut twisted. Disappointment filled him like liquid lead. “Come on, Vin. It’ll be wild.”

  “I don’t get you. Why do you want to steal a car, for Christ sakes? It’s not like you, Alex.”

  Alex looked back at Quigley Park. The street lights came on overhead, lighting the concrete slab in strips of gray. It’s not like you, Alex. The words worked through him, sinking through lead to pierce his heart. Everyone thought they knew him. His mother, his teachers, his friends. Krisandra.