by Karen Carr
When we arrived at the pizza parlor, something was different. Someone had been there and rearranged things. It didn’t look like they took anything until we went into the back. The cubbies that contained the keys were in disarray. The bags containing the contents of the pockets of the dead were out of order. I could tell someone looked through them and then put them back where they thought they were supposed to be. Lily and I had a particular filing system, and this person obviously did not know it. By the expression on Lily’s face, she saw something was wrong too.
I placed the ID of the airman on the table in front of the cubbies and picked out one of the bags.
“Who do you think did this?” Lily asked. She ran her fingers along the cubbies containing the bags, counting them in a low voice.
I opened the bag. It had no key. It definitely had a key in it before, but I did not see one in it now. “Someone who doesn’t like their apartment,” I guessed. We searched through several more bags in the same section, and none of them had keys in them anymore.
“Why would someone do this to all of our work?” I asked. My research was gone. It took hours to catalogue these things, and now the keys were missing. It made me furious.
“Or someone wanted to go on a trip through other people’s lives,” Lily said with a sting to her words. She started pulling the bags from the shelf, sorting them into piles, mumbling, “Keys, no keys, should have had keys,” as she did so.
“You think there’s a snoop or a thief?” I asked. I followed her lead and began sorting the bags in her order.
“We’re going to have to move the site, all of it,” Lily said, gesturing at the cubbies, the keys, and all of our tools in one grand sweep.
“What about the missing keys?” I asked. “We have got to get those back.”
Lily paused her sorting and titled her head. “We know which apartments they are, maybe we can ask the Professor if he saw anyone entering or leaving, especially if they had extra luggage on the way out. He has video cameras trained everywhere.” Lily began her task again.
“Yea, but then what? We go and confront them? What do we do with them, lock them up in the substation in the movie theater? Nobody gets it. They all think we’re stupid for doing this stuff. They don’t care about the dead, about the ones left behind. They are all so ready to take over their lives. No respect, Lily. It’s driving me nuts.”
Lily stopped what she was doing again, and came over by my side. “I know, these people value different things. I’m trying really hard not to hold it against them, but today I don’t know if I can be that generous. You should see what Archie and Easter did to my garden on top of all of this.” She gave me a hug. “For now why don’t we take the bags back to your apartment?”
“All of this?” I asked. “They still stink like the dead.”
“We’ll take the ones they didn’t find with keys.”
“We can put them in the storage under the building,” I said.
“We’ll hide the rest in the locker.” She gestured to the rear of Pizza Adamo’s.
We catalogued the airman’s wallet, zipped it up in a bag, and then put the sorted bags into two big sacks. We shoved most of the backs in the locker room, and then took the alleyway back to my apartment to avoid the others who were just getting out of church.
As we reached the rear of my building, we saw Trevan and Huck pull up in the pickup. Lily said goodbye, gave me another hug, and went to meet Trevan. I didn’t look at Huck, instead I went through the underground parking lot to the storage area. By the time I finished packing away the keys, and went to the front, Huck was gone. I heard music coming from the green, but didn’t feel like being social, so I went up to my apartment.
I stayed inside the rest of the day, not daring to confront anyone. I was scared that Huck told the others my secret. I was scared the person who stole the keys would notice the bags were gone. I felt like the thief. I felt like the one who betrayed everyone. Without me, these people would be lost, but I still felt guilty for hiding from them. I felt even worse for putting their lives in danger. How would I ever be able to help Saudah and Stan now?
Later in the day, when the sun was setting across the green, Huck appeared in the doorway to my apartment. I had been reviewing my notes, the cross-referenced spreadsheets, the pie charts of statistics on ages, and the bar charts of deads per day. I especially enjoyed reviewing my maps and had dug out the one I made of downtown.
“Hi,” I said, looking up from my pile of paper.
“I want to talk to you,” Huck said.
By the expression on his face, I knew what he wanted to talk about and it wasn’t anything pleasant. I rose from my desk and rushed toward him. “What would you have done if the same thing happened to you? Would you have told everyone about it? Mr. Freedom? You’re the one who told me you like to move all over. You couldn’t stay in one place for long. How do you think I feel? Would you become a caged animal?”
He paused before he spoke. No doubt he was surprised by my offense. “No, probably not,” he said through gritted teeth. “But I wouldn’t have put my friend’s life in danger, telling them they were safe. I just can’t deal with this now. I thought I could talk to you reasonably. I won’t tell your secret, but I don’t want you to leave the village ever again. Got it?”
“Is that fair?” I asked as he stormed to the door. I followed closely behind him. He was already on the stairs. “Is this what it’s been about all along?” I yelled at him down the stairs. “You don’t care about me. You just care about protecting your stupid friends. What about me?”
“This isn’t about you anymore,” he said from the lowest step. He then turned and disappeared out of sight. I listened to his footsteps pound down the remaining stairs and then heard the entryway door open and shut. He was gone. I wished it was for good.
Chapter 23: The Never Boutique
April 10th
200 Oval Park Place
The Art Space
Haverlyn Village
When I woke up in the morning, I was cold and warm at the same time. The window had been left open and a breeze was blowing across my body. The sheet covered my torso, but my legs, arms and head felt the morning chill. The mornings were still cool and prickly, but it wasn’t just the breeze that left me cold. What chilled me was remembering all that transpired over the last few weeks.
Huck had the Walkie-talkie—my only connection to Saudah. He wouldn’t let me have it, said it was too dangerous. He didn’t want me making contact with those people again, in case they brought something bad to the village. But, Saudah and Stan were still alive, and it was my duty to help them. I felt like I had taken two steps forward and five hundred steps backward.
Sure, I still had Lily, Trevan and the Professor, but the others were forming clans. Reverend and Shelly Mac spent most of their time with Archie and Easter and all of the children. Zeke, Eliza, Huck and Zora spent most of their time together as well. We had formed three distinct groups. Because of me we were able to survive, but I felt like an outcast.
I moved to the window seat and looked through the telescope to see if anyone was awake. The first thing I noticed was that there were sheets hung up on the inside of one of the storefronts, sheets that weren’t there before. I had been in that store, cleared it of bodies months ago, but not of the content. It had been a shop where local artists sold their work, paintings, jewelry, and other knickknacks and keepsakes. I loved the way it was frozen it time and it riled me that anyone would think of doing anything to it.
I moved the telescope slowly around Oval Park Place, and focused on Pizza Adamo. Suddenly, Zora and Boa rushed out of the parlor. They sprinted over to the green and swiftly crossed it, going toward the store with the sheets. Zeke had been jogging down Oval Park Place and he stopped them in their path.
Zeke and Zora started arguing about something, Zora pointing to Boa in a meaningful way. Then, Zeke looked directly at me. Even though he was far away, I felt his eyes bore through the telescope
and into mine. He had seen me. I decided there was nothing better to do than to go down, confront them. I was sure that Zora and Boa were the key thieves and had been waiting for weeks to catch them. I dressed and went down to the green to find out what was going on.
April 10th
Green, Oval Park Place
Haverlyn Village
When I arrived at the green, Easter and Shelly Mac were there. Behind them were Maxwell, Mikey and Harper, but there was no sign of Zora, Boa or Zeke. The old ladies wore wide-brimmed hats and carried garden supplies. The kids were in shorts and tee shirts. I hadn’t realized the weather had warmed up so much, and I felt awkward in my long sleeves and jacket. I loosened the scarf I had wrapped around my neck as Easter and Shelly approached.
“How’s the garden coming?” I asked. They had something else on their mind so they didn’t seem to hear me.
“Oh Hella, we were hoping you’d come down.” Easter glanced sideways at Shelly Mac, who nodded for her to go on. “We could use your help.”
“Sure,” I said when she paused. I looked over to where the sheet hid the storefront and saw shadows behind it. I knew Zora and Boa were in there and didn’t want to waste time with the ladies. They usually needed me to settle a squabble.
Easter cleared her throat. “Lily and I were talking yesterday and she doesn’t seem to remember that we had already planted some of our seeds in her garden before we divided them up and now they are growing in her patch. She won’t let me move them, or water them or anything. I think she’s being completely uncooperative.” Easter put down her gardening tools and regarded Shelly Mac. Shelly gestured for her to continue. “And Shelly, here, had lent her a special spade which she would like returned.”
“Lily gave me the spade,” I said, remembering that Lily had said she didn’t want to return it and get into another argument with the ladies. “I put it in the shed with the other tools.” I pointed to the stone stage where the guys had placed a small plastic storage shed that they had found on one of their outings. Next to the shed stood a huge stainless steel grill, which was new. The looting of the neighborhood continued.
Maxwell stepped in front of Shelly Mac. “Why did you do that? You should have returned it to us.” I was surprised that Maxwell was several inches shorter than me. I thought he was bigger and stronger, but he was just a boy. “That spade is ours.” He thumped his puffed-out chest.
“Oh, go and get it then. It’s right up there.” I pointed to the shed again.
Maxwell looked like he was going to say some more defiant words, but Shelly Mac pulled his arm. He twisted out of her grip and knocked her hat off in the process.
“Go get the spade, son,” Shelly Mac said. Maxwell mumbled something and headed up to the stage.
“Sorry, Mrs. Mac.” I picked up her hat and handed it back to her. “I didn’t think it was important. It’s a bit rusty and the handle is about to fall off.”
“Yes, dear. I know.” Shelly Mac put her hat on and tucked her hair under it. “It might not look much to you, but it is my favorite. Now that we are out here, gardening every day, I’m rather fond of using it.” She smiled and patted my arm.
I turned to Easter, who was sorting through her own tools as if to check to see if they were all still there. “Easter, I’m sure Lily wouldn’t mind if you moved your plants. You can do it now and I’ll watch. If she comes, I’ll tell her it was my idea.”
“She’s a bit hard to talk to, that one,” Shelly Mac said, still touching my arm. Her silver curls framed her face like a halo. “She’s not a sweetheart like you are.”
“Thank you, Hella,” Easter said.
Easter went over to Lily’s garden and proceeded to dig up several seedlings, bringing them over to her section. By the plants she was taking, I saw why Lily wouldn’t let her move them. They were ones that we had planted, and not the sprouts from the precious organic seeds Easter had. I would have to convince Lily that it was better to keep the peace some other time. I said goodbye, promised I would tell Lily what Easter did and how it was my idea, and went over to the store to settle my next dispute. This one was personal.
The door to the store was unlocked, so I went in without knocking. What I saw shocked and surprised me and made me so angry, that I had to clench my jaw to stop from screaming.
Zora and Boa were surrounded by heaps of clothing, some on racks, some hanging from doorways, some draped over counters. The clothes had been arranged in sections of men’s, women’s, and children’s. Shoes and purses were lined up in one corner and piles of jewelry and other shiny objects were in rattan baskets in another. They had been raiding the apartments and taking everything here.
The part that made me angriest was not that they were stealing, which made me plenty mad. What made me really upset was that I wanted to catalogue everything in the apartments. I wanted to know who had a slightly wrinkled yellow suit, or who had size ten oxfords, or which child had a doll in a frilly pink dress. I wanted to attach all of their belongings to them, to honor them, to keep their history, to make it seem as though they never left, like they were still living, breathing human beings.
Zora and Boa ruined all of that for me in one sneaky, underhanded move. I knew Lily felt the same way. She would be furious.
“You like it?” Zora asked with no remorse in her tone what-so-ever. She handed Boa two dresses. Boa, in turn, hung them on a rack, her eyes cast down on the ground. “I mean we’re not done yet. You weren’t supposed to come in until we had everything fixed up. We wanted it to be a surprise.” She rummaged through another pile of woman’s clothes and brought a dress to me. “This one looks like it is your size and style. Would you like to try it on?”
My gaze lingered on the dress. It was a mixed-print sweater dress, with black stripes, white stripes, polka dots and flowers. I had never owned a dress like it in my life, and I found myself wanting to try it on. Before I became coerced into doing something that I considered immoral, the glint of a pile of keys hit my eyes. I walked over to the counter and scooped them up.
“You stole from me.” I put the keys into a large handbag that was also lying on the counter and turned to face the two women. Boa looked like she was totally surprised by my reaction. Zora was fuming with my words. They both put down the items they were holding.
“We thought you would like this,” Boa said, coming forward with opened palms. “It’s our shop. I always wanted a dress shop. We thought we could sell things just like in the old days. Don’t you miss browsing around in shops looking for things to buy?”
“You are going to sell these things? They aren’t yours and this isn’t your shop.” I felt my blood boil as my eyes caught the little red purse from the girl in the daisy dress that had been so symbolic for me months ago. I touched her charm bracelet, which I still wore on my wrist.
Zora stepped between me and Boa in a protective way. “They’re not yours either. We weren't going to sell them for money. We were just trying to be nice. We did it to bring you joy, to bring us joy. Maybe you don’t miss seeing lots of things for sale, seeing shopkeepers behind counters, but we do. Our next step was to open the coffee shop again.”
I wasn’t going to buy into her frivolous consumption argument. “You need to put everything back where you found it. Back in their apartments.” My voice was louder than I wanted it to be. “You had no right to do this.” I gestured wildly around the store just as Zeke walked in the door.
For a second, I thought Zeke registered anger toward Zora, but then he turned to me with an expression of contempt. “What now?” Zeke said like I was the one who caused the trouble.
“Nothing, except your friends have been raiding the apartments.” I shook the bag of keys for emphasis.
Zeke’s glare flitted to Zora and Boa again, before coming back to rest on my eyes. His penetrating gaze was chilling. “So what?” Zeke said. He stood like a solid block of ice and I had no ice pick.
“Zeke you told us you wouldn’t like this,” Boa said, and then
turned to me. “He told us to put everything back.”
“Shut up,” Zeke said, sounding furious that Boa would reveal his words. He gritted his teeth and turned back to me. “They were trying to do something nice for you, for all of us. They were trying to make things normal again, isn’t that what you want?” He folded his arms across his chest.
“Not like this.” I waved my hand around the store. “Not without asking me.”
“Why should we have to ask you?” Zeke seized on my words, emphasizing you like he was doing battle against me.
“It’s the civilized thing to do,” I snarled back. “If we all go around doing what we want, without regard for anyone, then we are all going to end up hating each other. What if I came in this shop and took everything back to my house? Why don’t I do that? Wouldn’t you be upset Zora?”
Zora glanced at Boa. “Well, yea, we worked hard.”
“Exactly,” I said before Zeke could open his mouth with more of his aggressive baloney. “And I worked hard here too. I spent months cleaning this place of zeroes. I cleaned up hundreds of bodies. This store, and those restaurants, and these apartments. . .” I shook the bag of keys again. “I cleared all of them of bodies so that people like you would be able to live here. Lily, Trevan and I worked a lot harder to make this place livable than you have or will ever have to do. And you come and ruin it. You ruined all of our work. I want to start over, but not this way. This is massive consumer baloney bullshit.”
They looked at me like I was crazy, but it felt great to get everything off of my chest. My eyes locked with Zeke’s. I detected an almost imperceptible flash of admiration before his expression zapped back into the big, bad bully.