Flamethrower

by Maggie Estep

  Ruby couldn’t feel her extremities.

  ‘Are you all right?”

  Ruby realized Violet was talking to her.

  “Who was third?”

  “I don’t know.” Violet shrugged. “But Half Mad was second.”

  “Yes.” Ruby stared at the tote board, waiting for the order of finish to be posted. “I may have hit the trifecta,” she said quietly.

  “Oh?” Violet looked pleased. Then her face changed when she realized it was going to be a very substantial trifecta.

  Ruby held her breath until Loudermilk’s number flashed in the show spot. Ruby screamed. And screamed again when, after two interminable minutes, the payout was posted: $2,935.00. Definitely better than an empty stall.

  “Well, dear girl, you’d better head to the IRS window. And I’d better go see about our filly.”

  “Did you bet her?” Ruby asked.

  “No. I didn’t realize she was going to run second until right before the race.”

  Violet didn’t seem particularly upset over missing a twenty-six-dollar place payout on her own horse.

  “I’ll give you some of it,” Ruby said, carefully extracting her betting slip from her wallet.

  “You certainly will not,” Violet said. “I assume full responsibility for not having faith in my own horse. And now, my dear, I must go.” Violet pecked Ruby on the cheek.

  Ruby went to the nearest IRS window to cash her bets. The teller, a middle-aged man with a wild waft of gray hair, inserted her ticket into his machine.

  “Nice going,” he told Ruby.

  She filled out the paperwork, posed for the IRS photo, thanked the teller, and darted into the ladies’ room to stuff her enormous wad of cash all the way down into her panties. Ruby didn’t exactly look like a high roller, but she’d had a lucrative trifecta ticket pickpocketed from her back pocket at Saratoga years earlier. It hadn’t been this kind of lucrative, but still. She’d been hypervigilant with tickets and money ever since.

  Ruby walked out to the parking lot, got into the car, popped another Fireball, then headed home. She was still morbidly alone, but at least she was rich.

  14. TRIP

  As Ruby stood in the hall unlocking her apartment, Elsie opened her own door and peered out. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her face was puffy.

  “You okay?” Ruby asked.

  “Sick,” Elsie said minimally, as if speaking might make it worse.

  “Do you need something?” Ruby asked.

  “I’m out of my special tea,” Elsie said, uncharacteristically forlorn.

  “Where can I go to buy you some?” Ruby asked dutifully.

  Elsie didn’t say anything, but her eyes filled and enormous tears slid down her cheeks.

  “What?” Ruby asked. “What is it? I’ll go get your tea—it’s no bother.”

  “It’s not that,” Elsie said between sobs. “It’s the baby.”

  “What?” Ruby’s stomach tightened. “What’s wrong?”

  “The baby’s fine as far as I know. It’s that I’ll be a bad mother.”

  “Oh.” Ruby released the breath she’d been holding. This she could deal with. “Come on in. I have to feed the cats.” She ushered Elsie inside her own apartment and offered her a seat in the kitchen. As Ruby prepared meat for the cats and then brewed some cheap black tea, Elsie vented about impending motherhood, and Ruby made soothing noises.

  After twenty minutes, without any input from Ruby, Elsie came around to realizing she probably would do fine once the little tyke came into the world.

  “But this tea is disgusting.” Elsie made a face. “Where’d you get that crap?”

  “Key Food.”

  Elsie rolled her eyes.

  “I have a favor to ask,” Ruby said.

  “Anything, baby,” Elsie said.

  “Can you feed my cats tomorrow and maybe the next day?”

  “Where you going?” Elsie frowned.

  Ruby told her about the road trip to Pennsylvania. “You’ve still got a copy of my key, right?”

  “Yeah, but you know Pietro’s gonna get all wound up if he hears you’re out doing crazy shit again,” Elsie said.

  “I’m not doing crazy shit,” Ruby said, exasperated.

  “I know.” Elsie reached over to pat Ruby’s hand. “But that’s not how Pietro sees it. He’s very protective of you.”

  “Just tell him I’ve gone to my mom’s or something. Don’t tell him I’m up to no good,” Ruby said.

  “So you admit it!” Elsie was triumphant. “You are up to no good!”

  “Elsie.” Ruby sighed. “I am not up to no good. I lost my job for reasons I don’t yet understand, and now I’m being paid to go find my missing psychiatrist. It’s not no good. It’s just what it is.”

  “Ah,” Elsie said.

  They heard footsteps in the hall, and Elsie cocked her head. “Pietro’s home,” she said. She slowly rose from her chair, kissed Ruby’s cheek, then waddled out onto the landing to greet her husband.

  Ruby shut her door. She turned the overhead light on in the living room, but it still seemed dark in the apartment. She went through the entire place turning on all the lights. Once it was as bright as it could be, Ruby went to sit in front of her laptop. She went online and MapQuested Jody’s address in Trout Falls, Pennsylvania. Ruby loved maps. She preferred hard-copy maps, but MapQuest and Google Maps had their own bonuses in being able to zoom in or out in any direction. The road Jody lived on was five miles from the actual town of Trout Falls, and Trout Falls itself was already in the middle of nowhere. Ruby noodled around online a while longer, making sure there were motels in the area. It would be easier to drive down tonight with no traffic on the highways. She’d get a motel room then go find Jody in the morning.

  Ruby had just closed the computer when the phone rang. She lunged for it, thrilled that someone was calling, not caring in the slightest who it might be.

  “Hello. Tobias here.”

  “Oh. Hi.”

  “Not who you were hoping for?”

  “I visited The Crone.” Ruby cut to the chase.

  “See what I mean?” Tobias said.

  “See what you mean what?”

  “She is a crone, isn’t she?”

  “Sort of. But she was nice.”

  Tobias grunted.

  “She gave me keys to the brownstone, but I didn’t find anything there. I talked to the tenant upstairs.”

  “And?”

  Ruby didn’t know if she should tell Tobias that Jody had been seen with a guy, very possibly Violet’s groom. She decided not to.

  “He hadn’t seen her in a while.”

  “That’s it?”

  “The Crone thinks Jody’s in Pennsylvania.”

  “Pennsylvania?”

  Ruby told Tobias about Jody’s cabin. She felt sorry for Tobias when she heard the surprise in his voice. She asked how he was feeling.

  “I won’t be able to water-ski,” Tobias said.

  “Water-ski?”

  “Not that I ever have water-skied, but that’s precisely my point. I’m a cripple now. So many doors have been shut.”

  Ruby made sympathetic noises even though she wasn’t feeling entirely sympathetic.

  “I’m going to go down there tonight,” she said once she’d expressed enough empathy.

  “Down where?”

  “Pennsylvania. I don’t like driving on highways. It’s better at night when they’re not crowded. So I’m going tonight. I’ll find a motel once I get close, then go look for Jody’s cabin in the morning.”

  “I’ll cover your expenses of course.”

  “Good.”

  “I’m very appreciative of the efforts you’re making.”

  “You’re welcome,” Ruby said.

  “So.” Tobias paused. “I’ll call you tomorrow?”

  “Fine,” Ruby said, “but there’s a chance my phone won’t work down there.”

  “Oh, right.”

  “You sure
you don’t want to give me a number where I can reach you?”

  “I’m sure. I’ll just try you.”

  “As you like it,” Ruby said.

  Tobias thanked her then hung up.

  Ruby went into the bedroom to organize some things for her trip. She had just unearthed a little-used overnight bag when she thought she heard a key in her front door.

  She stopped moving and listened. She heard it again. Ruby tiptoed over to the door. Someone was in the hall with a hand over the peephole. Ruby frantically looked around for something she could use as a weapon. Ed’s overflowing toolbox was pushed up against the far living-room wall, and Ruby was about to scramble for a hammer or screwdriver when she heard Ramirez shouting in the hall. Something clanged to the floor. Ruby looked through the peephole again. The hand was gone. Ruby opened the door in time to see Ramirez running down the stairs clad only in boxer shorts and an undershirt.

  “Come here, motherfucker!” Ramirez was shouting. Ruby ran down the stairs after him. She reached the street in time to see a black-haired man get into a blue Honda. The car flew forward into traffic.

  Ramirez ran out into the street then stood flapping his arms helplessly when he realized he couldn’t catch the car.

  “Let’s go find a cop.” Ramirez seemed to have forgotten he was wearing only boxers and his undershirt.

  “What good will that do?” Ruby asked.

  Ramirez frowned. He had no love for governing bodies and no reason to think what had happened was anything other than a random break-in attempt.

  “Yeah,” he shrugged, “I guess. How’d that asshole get in the building though?”

  “I don’t know,” Ruby said. “But we have to go back in. You’re not dressed.”

  Two young girls were walking by and illustrated Ruby’s point by erupting in giggles at the sight of Ramirez.

  “Oh.” Ramirez looked down at himself. “Right.”

  “Come on.” Ruby motioned for him to follow her back inside their building.

  “Thanks for looking out for me.” She touched Ramirez on the arm as they reached the top of the stairs.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Maybe you should file a report with the cops.”

  “I might,” Ruby lied. “I gotta go though. I’m taking a trip tomorrow, and I have to get ready.”

  “Where to?” Ramirez asked.

  “Going to see my mom,” Ruby said. She guessed that once Ramirez told Elsie about what had happened, Elsie would spill out everything Ruby had told her. Elsie, thankfully, seemed to have gone to bed early.

  Ruby wished Ramirez a good night then went into her apartment and collapsed onto the couch. As the adrenaline left her body, she felt the deepest exhaustion she’d ever felt. Her eyes got heavy.

  Ruby came to an hour later. She had fallen asleep curled into a tight ball, and now she had a crick in her neck. She stumbled into the bathroom to pee, then looked at her watch. It was only 10:30 P.M.

  She brought the phone with her into the bedroom while she finished packing. She called Triple and got him to agree to do her barn work at The Hole for the next two days. She promised him cash. He said he’d accept it.

  When Ruby put her overnight bag next to the front door, Stinky meandered over and looked from Ruby to the bag. In a moment, Lulu joined him and pretty soon Ed’s cats appeared too. All four glaring at her accusatorily, like she was some sort of cat-abandoning slut from hell. Ruby had read in one of her animal books that if you made a mental picture of yourself coming home, the cats could see it and would be reassured that you were eventually coming back to feed and admire them. Ruby dutifully took a moment to picture herself coming back home. This didn’t seem to convince the cats. They kept on glaring.

  Ruby had left the Mustang on Surf Avenue, and two teenage girls were sitting on the hood. They gave Ruby the evil eye as she came close. She smiled, reached for her car keys, and unlocked the driver’s-side door. The girls reluctantly slid off the hood.

  Ruby got in and pulled ahead into traffic. She was waiting for the light to change at the corner of West Seventeenth and Stillwell when she saw her boss, Bob, standing at the corner. Ruby pulled over and rolled her window down.

  “Hi, Bob,” she said.

  Bob, who had evidently been daydreaming, looked startled.

  “Hi,” he said, friendly at first, then remembering.

  “You still think I stole money?” Ruby asked.

  Bob wouldn’t look her in the eye. She was getting used to that these days.

  “Bob, look me in the eye.”

  “Murphy, you’ve fucked me. I don’t want to look at you,” Bob said, though he did actually look at her.

  “You are looking at me.”

  “Don’t remind me,” he said, a hint of teasing in his tone.

  The tone gave Ruby hope. “I would never steal from you. I wouldn’t steal from anybody. I don’t do that shit.”

  “Yeah.” Bob was looking away again. “Maybe so. I need a break though, Ruby.”

  “A break?”

  “I’ve got some stuff going on,” he said, uncharacteristically vague. “I just need a break from strife.”

  “Oh,” she said.

  “Sorry,” said Bob.

  Ruby shrugged, wished Bob a good night, rolled up her window, and pulled back into traffic. She felt like shit.

  15. SPIKE

  Going close to 70 miles per hour on the New Jersey Turnpike was a rush for a while. Then the whole thing got creepy. There weren’t any blue Hondas in sight, but it was after midnight and Ruby felt alone and defenseless. She drove a little faster.

  From the New Jersey Turnpike, Ruby took the Pennsylvania Turnpike to 202 South. By the time she got onto 30 West, the road that would lead her into Trout Falls, Ruby started having trouble keeping her eyes open.

  She had just decided to look for a motel when she saw a neon motel sign on her right and pulled in. The place was called, comfortingly enough, Comfort Pines Motor Lodge. It was a one-story horseshoe-shaped structure built around a small swimming pool that hadn’t seen anything but dirty rainwater in a few years. Ruby pulled up near the office. A thin old man was asleep behind a pressed-wood desk. There were papers and fast-food containers everywhere, and the old guy was slumped over to one side, his head lolling at what looked like a painful angle. Ruby cleared her throat. The sound didn’t wake him.

  “Hi,” Ruby said loudly.

  The man nearly fell out of his chair. He scrambled to his feet and stared at Ruby with his mouth half open.

  “What is it?” he asked as if expecting incredibly bad news.

  “Could I get a room?” Ruby ventured.

  “A room?” The man seemed incredulous.

  “Yes. For one night.”

  “That’s forty-nine ninety-nine,” the man threatened.

  “Do you take Visa?” Ruby asked, pulling out her credit card.

  “Yeah,” the man said, eyeing the card as if he expected it to be declined.

  Ruby wondered if she looked that disreputable. More likely she had the aura of a city dweller, and in a lot of people’s minds, living in cities indicated criminal inclinations.

  After running Ruby’s card through the machine, the old man turned around to gaze at the room keys dangling from hooks on the peeling green wall. He eyeballed Ruby once more before settling on the key to room number seven.

  “You’re not Joe Murphy’s wife are you?” the man asked.

  “Not that I know of, no.” Ruby couldn’t resist having a little fun.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” the old guy barked.

  “I don’t know any Joe Murphy, and I’m not married,” Ruby said.

  This seemed to placate the old geezer.

  “Checkout’s at eleven,” he told her.

  “I’ll be out long before then,” Ruby promised, noticing flecks of spittle near the man’s thin, bluish lips. “Have a lovely night,” she added.

  Ruby drove over to the parking spot in front of room seven, locked the
car, and walked the few steps to her room. She was about to fit her key in the door when she saw a caramel-colored dog lying in the grass a few feet from her room door. When Ruby looked at him, the dog looked her right in the eye and started thumping his tail. He was a puppy with feet nearly as big as the rest of him. Ruby squatted down and extended one hand, palm up. The puppy ran over, licked her hand, and started wiggling so violently Ruby thought he might break. It was a he. No more than a few months old, maybe thirty pounds, with a black muzzle and a flashy splash of white on his chest.

  “Hello,” Ruby said, smiling at the dog. She remembered reading that dogs had been domesticated so long they understood human body language better than humans did. The puppy interpreted Ruby’s smile as a good thing and tried to lick her face.

  Ruby looked around, expecting to see the puppy’s people somewhere, but there wasn’t a soul in sight, nor were any lights showing in the windows of the other rooms. Ruby didn’t know what to do, so she opened the door to her room. The puppy rushed in and jumped onto the bed. She sat down next to him and let him lick her cheek. She realized that she was one step away from taking the puppy home with her to Brooklyn and that she should make sure the dog didn’t belong to some forlorn child who was home weeping her eyes out.

  “Make yourself at home. I’m going to make inquiries,” Ruby told the young dog. He tilted his head and wrinkled his brow.

  As Ruby walked to the door, the puppy jumped off the bed and followed her.

  “Stay here. I’ll be right back,” she said. The puppy had glued himself to her though, and when she opened the door, he went out. Ruby scooped him into her arms and held him as she walked to the motel office.

  The old man was asleep again. Feet propped up on the desk. Ruby stood there, with the puppy in her arms, staring down at the old geezer. She was tempted to play some sort of prank on him. Tie his shoelaces together, put his hand in a bucket of hot water, something. The old guy must have felt her mischief. He opened his eyes and sat up.

  “Huh?” He started blinking wildly.

  “Whose puppy is this?” Ruby asked.

  She watched the old guy fumble for a pair of bifocals.