by Rudy Yuly
“No. God, no. I mean, listen, Mrs. Kim. Have you seen Eddie this morning?” Joe words tumbled out less than coherently.
“No, haven’t seen him for a few days. Is everything all right?”
Joe pulled out a card and gave it to her. “Please call me if he shows up.”
“Sure, Joe. You want your cigarettes?” But Joe was out the door before she finished the sentence. She dropped his card into the trash. She knew their number; Joe gave her one nearly every time he came in.
In the van, Joe dialed a number without thinking. He reached into his breast pocket for a smoke. Only a couple left. He was driving badly. Detective Louis answered on the first ring.
“Joe, I was just talking about you. Did you see Eddie on the news last night? Wow. That was one hell of a catch—”
Joe could hear Pinky Bjorgeson saying something in the background.
“Pinky says to tell you Eddie’s in the wrong business, man. You should send him to tryouts next spring. Now that he’s famous—”
Joe cut him off. “I need a favor, Detective. Could you call the Red Lotus and ask if we can reschedule their cleanup for tomorrow?”
A horn honked. Joe flipped off the driver.
“Excuse me? You think I’m your business manager now, huh? So… what kind of a cut do I—”
“It’s not f-f-funny,” Joe stammered.
“What is it, Joe?” Louis was instantly serious. “Is everything—”
Joe cut him off again. “I know it’s not your frigging—” He’d laid himself wide open. “Damn it, Eddie was gone when I got up this morning.”
“Oh,” Louis said. “Shit.”
“That’s what I s-s-said. I have no idea where the hell he is. I’m driving around trying to find him.”
“Is there anything I can do? You want me to put out word to keep an eye out for him? It’s too early to do anything official, but I could—”
“Absolutely n-n-not,” Joe stammered. “No. It’s not like that. It’s just…he’s just been acting kind of weird lately.” He kept his voice as level as humanly possible. “I just don’t feel like… I just don’t think I can call the client. That’s all. Would you call them for me?”
“Okay, Joe. I’ll call them. Will you let me know when you find him?”
“Tell them we’ll be there tomorrow morning at the absolute latest, okay?”
“Okay. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do. Seriously.”
Joe didn’t know what else to do, so he drove home. A hopeful thought crossed his mind: Maybe Eddie was back there, wondering where the hell he was.
Joe hit the curb, jumped out of the van, and jogged all around the house.
Then it came to him.
Eddie had wanted to go to the zoo alone on Saturday. And Eddie had a way of hanging on to things until he got what he wanted.
It wasn’t like him to miss work, though. That was way out of line. It didn’t seem like something Eddie would do. Where are you, Eddie?
Standing in front of the house, Joe dialed Jolie’s number.
She answered immediately. She was sitting at her little desk in the zoo office, a bunch of Mylar birthday balloons tied to her chair.
“Jolie, you haven’t…seen Eddie this morning, have you?” he said.
“No, I haven’t. Why? Is everything okay?”
Joe had to think for a minute about what he wanted to say. The last thing he wanted to do was let an outsider—especially someone with a connection, however tenuous, to the State—know there was a problem.
“No…I mean yes. Everything’s okay. No problem. But he might come to the zoo. He probably won’t. But he might.”
“You think so? Of course I’ll call you immediately if he shows up, Joe. Are you worried?”
“No…not at all.” Joe was working hard to sound casual.
“Okay.” Jolie sounded unsure. “Are you sure? Is there anything else I can do?”
“No, that’s it. Just give me a ring if he shows up. Thanks.” Joe hung up before she could say anything else. “Shit,” he said.
Jolie put down the phone. Mark walked up behind her.
“Hey, birthday girl,” he said. “Happy birthday. I have good news.”
Jolie turned around. She wasn’t smiling.
“What’s up?” Mark said. “Is everything all right?”
“It’s Eddie.” The words came out before she had a chance to think about them.
“What about him?”
“His brother can’t find him.”
“Oh no.” Mark did his best to sound concerned. “I was going to tell you…the state—”
“Can we let everyone know to watch for him in case he comes here?”
Jolie asked.
“What? Why would he come here on a Monday?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You know,” Mark said, seriously, “I hate to bring this up again, but this is exactly the kind of thing I was concerned about.”
“Don’t even go there, Mark. He’s probably not coming here. And he could get hurt.”
Mark turned and walked away. “That’s possible,” he said under his breath.
Joe lit his last cigarette and paced in front of the house, wondering what to do next. He didn’t think Eddie would go to the zoo. But what other explanation could there be? There wasn’t a game today. Ball games, zoo, Mrs. Kim’s store, the supermarket, a couple of restaurants, and work: That pretty much covered Eddie’s bases.
This is bullshit, Joe thought. Total bullshit. But he was afraid to get mad at Eddie because something bad might have happened to him.
He had to do something. Standing around waiting was too frustrating. Maybe he should call Detective Louis back and let him put out the word. Yeah, right. Or maybe I should just poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick.
A thought crossed his mind. Joe ran into the house, dashed upstairs to his room, and fished madly through the pockets of a pair of pants on the floor.
There it was. The card LaVonne had written her number on. She’d said she wanted to be his friend. Right now, he needed one.
LaVonne was drinking coffee and reading the Post-Intelligencer. She’d driven over to Vonelle’s earlier and taken Anton to school to help her out and spend a little time with the boy. Now she was relaxing and enjoying what was basically her one day off. She didn’t like to answer the phone before she finished her morning routine, so she didn’t. But the phone rang again. And again.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” she sighed, after about five minutes of persistent ringing. “This better be good.”
“Hey, LaVonne.”
She was taken aback to hear Joe’s voice on the line. She’d expected him to call her eventually, but not this soon. And not first thing in the morning. She would have pegged him for an 11:00 p.m. c all, after his second or third beer. But she was excited to hear his voice on the other end of the line.
“That was fast,” she said, getting ready to give him a piece of her mind.
“I need a favor, LaVonne.” Joe stumbled through the words. “Eddie’s not here. I woke up and he wasn’t anywhere. I’m slightly c-c-concerned, and I was wondering if you could come over and hang out here in case he comes home. So I can drive around and look for him.”
LaVonne was up and heading to her closet halfway through Joe’s stammering request. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” she said. As she hung up, she noticed herself in a mirror. I sure know how to pick ’em.
Poor kid was probably tired of Joe hovering over his every move. Joe was a bit of a drama queen. She’d have to work on that.
Chapter 25
When LaVonne showed up at the house, Joe was pacing the sidewalk in front, biting his nails.
“The door’s…unlocked,” he said. “I’m just going to go, all right?”
“Get going.”
“Call me if he shows up, okay?”
“You know I will,” LaVonne said.
“You have my number?”
“You gave
it to me when you smashed my car, remember?”
Joe winced. “Well, then…okay. I should go.” He didn’t move. “Thanks. Thank you.”
He looks like a scared kid. “I’m fine, Joe. Just go and find Eddie.”
Joe’s head was swimming. He drove around the block three times before he realized he wasn’t paying attention to what was outside the window. He drove around once more, carefully scanning both sides of the street.
He drove every route he could think of: all over the neighborhood, to Mrs. Kim’s again, to Safeway, around and around, forcing himself to pay attention and stay alert.
After driving for nearly an hour, he started spacing out again. There was something hypnotic about the driving, the fear, and the powerful sense of not being able to do a damn thing about it. Why the hell hadn’t he set Eddie up with his own phone?
Eventually, he stopped to get smokes. They helped some. At least his hands weren’t shaking anymore.
Joe had several unconscious games he played with himself when he was driving. He’d hold his breath until a light changed, or until the odometer switched from one number to another, or until he saw a blue car. Whatever. After a couple of futile hours of smoking, holding his breath, and mumbling senseless notes into his recorder, Joe drove over to the zoo and checked Eddie’s bench. He drove down to Safeco Field and around it a few times.
LaVonne would usually run half a dozen errands on Monday. The Ravenna was closed all day. She loved having Mondays off because it was easy to get a lot done. Everyone else was going to work. Hanging out at Joe and Eddie’s was a sacrifice. Joe definitely owed her a favor after this one.
She couldn’t say no, though. She’d been thinking about Joe nonstop since he’d ushered her out so awkwardly two nights earlier. The whole situation—LaVonne’s entire outlook—had changed drastically in the past few days. She’d declared a complete moratorium on men that had lasted for years. It hadn’t been easy. LaVonne was a passionate woman, and she’d never been shy about her sexuality. But she’d been hurt by her sometimes wild behavior, and she’d decided with characteristic firmness to stay on her own until she was sure she could enter a new relationship on her own terms. She’d watched Joe carefully for months before deciding to give him a chance. Once she’d made her public declaration, there was no turning back. Getting pushed away had added an irresistible element of challenge. Though it was absolutely unconscious on Joe’s part, there was nothing he could have done to make her more determined than to send her on her way. That was how LaVonne was made; she’d spent her entire life fighting for what she wanted, until she was no longer very interested in things that came too easily. If it had been because Joe wasn’t attracted to her, it might have been different. The fact that he had pushed her away because he believed his situation was impossible made her determined to prove him wrong. And once she set her heart on something, LaVonne Wilson was a force to be reckoned with.
She explored the house. She looked in all the rooms and all the closets. She looked through the fridge and in the cupboards. She stopped short of looking in Joe and Eddie’s personal drawers, although she didn’t hesitate to check out the medicine cabinet. An enormous ancient claw-foot tub in the seemingly unused main-floor bathroom intrigued her. She liked baths.
LaVonne was impressed by the overall deep cleanliness of the house, but she wasn’t especially surprised. The funny thing was that although the house was really clean, it wasn’t exactly orderly. Things seemed to be placed a little randomly. The only messy room in the house was Joe’s. It also stank from too many cigarettes.
After an hour, she sat down at the kitchen table and checked out the soaps, talk shows, and court television programs on Joe’s little TV. Problems, problems, problems. The only thing good about it was that, at least on TV, everyone seemed to have more problems than she did. She hoped that getting involved with Joe wasn’t going to create a bunch of new ones.
She finally grew bored and started to get a little more concerned. What would happen if something really was wrong with Eddie? What would happen if Joe didn’t find him?
As the day wore on, Joe lit one cigarette off the other, until the van’s ashtray was so full he couldn’t get another butt in it. Although he’d stopped for smokes, he felt too guilty to stop again for food.
By five-thirty, he was exhausted and starving and working to hold back panic at the thought of having to call Louis again. He drove and drove and drove. He didn’t know what else to do. Once he stopped, he’d really be in the shit.
Chapter 26
At seven-thirty that morning, Jolie had walked briskly out of her small West Seattle rental cottage, climbed into her red, 1997 Honda coupe, and drove off to work.
Two minutes later, a cab drove up in front of her house.
Eddie got out. His canvas Mariners bag was packed full.
He looked at Jolie’s house. Perfect.
It hadn’t been hard. He’d looked up Jolie’s address in the phone book. Knowing her last name had made it easy. Then he’d looked up the number for the cab and called, gave his address, and waited in front of the house. Once Eddie saw a number he never forgot it. When the cab arrived, all he had to do was tell the driver Jolie’s address. He hadn’t had to say another word.
When they arrived, the meter said fifteen dollars, so Eddie gave the driver a twenty and climbed out, carrying his canvas M’s bag and another big bag of stuff. So simple. Not even a little uncomfortable. In fact, it had all sparkled.
And now he was going to make Jolie’s birthday sparkle, make sure she had the best birthday ever.
Eddie walked up, rang the bell, and waited. He knew how to be patient.
But there was no answer.
He knocked. He waited. Still no answer.
He peered through a narrow window with small panes running all down the side of the door. He tried the doorknob. It was locked.
Suddenly, he felt a bit woozy. He tried it again.
“Man-sized mess.” Stupid.
After a full minute, Eddie wheeled and walked slowly, stiffly down the path. He reached the street and stopped. Dead still. “Man-sized mess.”
It was a major complication, and his head was filling with noise. He felt nauseated, and he stood very still to get himself under control.
After another full minute, Eddie put down his M’s bag, unzipped it, and reached inside. He pulled out his game ball, which was wrapped in some Easter paper he had found. It was part of Jolie’s present. He’d made the catch for her. Actually, he’d made the catch for a lot of reasons. But it was dedicated to her. He had to get it to her. The situation had taken a seriously agitating turn. If he thought about it too much, he might really get stuck. He had to use his determination, follow his instincts.
He decided to use one of his oldest tricks. He’d close his eyes and give himself five breaths to empty his mind. When he opened them, he’d know what to do.
Eddie squeezed his eyes shut. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
He opened his eyes, picked up his bag, and walked fast back to Jolie’s door. He used the ball to break through one of the little windows next to the door.
“Uh-huh,” he said. “Okay.”
Eddie reached gingerly through the small square opening. His arm barely fit through. He opened the door from the inside and walked in.
Once inside, he was flooded with a sense of contentment. His breath became slow, deep, and even. He was going to take his time and enjoy himself. He had something to give. Something very special.
Eddie walked into the kitchen and looked around. That was where he wanted to leave the baseball: right in the middle of the kitchen table. Being forced to break the window was a minor glitch, but he had plenty of Joe’s money in his pocket. He’d gladly pay for it. He counted out five twenties and carefully put them underneath the ball, then walked back to the living room, looking at everything.
Jolie’s house wasn’t clean at all—and that was great.
He opened his extra bag and spread o
ut his cleaning supplies. He took off his clothes and carefully folded them. Usually, he didn’t particularly care for cleaning jobs that didn’t involve blood. But Eddie couldn’t remember ever feeling so content.
Just before he started cleaning, he was shocked to feel the painful thumping twist in his heart that made him stand stock still, flooded with a sensation that made him think of his mom. He usually felt it only at crime jobs.
The feeling passed quickly, and Eddie was soon lost in his work. He was going to make every inch of Jolie’s home sparkle.
Jolie’s coworkers gave her a cake for lunch. She didn’t really care for cake, especially grocery-store birthday cake with white sugar icing. The gesture was nice, though, and by cutting and smooshing the huge piece they gave her into her paper plate, she made it look as though she’d eaten quite a bit even though she’d barely taken a bite.
Mark was behind it, of course. He stood by, beaming, as Jolie dutifully blew out her twenty-eight candles, and then sang “Happy Birthday” louder and more off-key than anyone else.
It was Jolie’s day to muck out the stables in the petting zoo. She actually didn’t mind it, but as a “birthday treat,” her friend Tracy offered to help her out. “You don’t look a day older,” Tracy said, as Jolie scooped goat droppings into an oversized bucket. “More glamorous than ever.”
Jolie didn’t laugh.
“Okay—what up, girlfriend?”
Jolie didn’t answer.
“Hey. Earth to Jolie.”
“Huh? I’m sorry Trace. What did you say?”
“Well, you don’t seem too happy. What’s going on?”
“Oh, nothing. You know my client, Eddie?”
“Yeah. He’s cute.”
“I’m a little worried about him. His brother called this morning and said something about him coming to the zoo. Like he’s missing or something. And Mark’s been —I don’t know, he’s been weird, kind of on my case about Eddie. I don’t know what would be worse—Eddie coming here or not coming here.”
“Yeah, Mark told me what happened Saturday.”