Ravens. Part 34

MacKenzie said, "He spoke to me me! He asked me who was winning. We were playing badminton. I was winning. Now Mom won't let us play."

Miriam said, "What's he doing talking to my children? He doesn't know my children. I don't like it. I was about to call the police. What does he want here?"

"I wish I could say," Shaw murmured. "I'm afraid he's kind of gone off the deep end."

Romeo turned off Altama onto Poinsettia Circle, and parked in front of Vanessa and Henry's little house. If I go quick I can do this. The secret is going quick. turned off Altama onto Poinsettia Circle, and parked in front of Vanessa and Henry's little house. If I go quick I can do this. The secret is going quick.

He stepped out of the car, the Phoenix .22 at his side, and crossed the street. He went to the side door, the kitchen door. Vanessa was standing there, at the island, turning a crank. Grinding something. Was she making fresh pasta? Yes she was. There were sliced tomatoes, eggs and onions and cloves of garlic on her cutting board. And of course Romeo thought of his mother, and felt that somebody or something was trying to make his job as difficult as possible.

Strike. Go. Can't kill children, OK. But this sour ba.n.a.l b.i.t.c.h? You'll be done in twenty seconds and you'll feel a million times better.

His hand was on the k.n.o.b, the old-fas.h.i.+oned mother-of-pearl k.n.o.b. He couldn't turn it.

For s.h.i.+t's sake. This b.i.t.c.h is one of them! She's one of the soulless b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who suffocated the life out of Shaw, with their fear and their dullness, and she's complicit in his death, so kill her. kill her.

But this line of thinking didn't work.

After half a minute, he gave up. He went back to the car and sat there, and had a memory of Shaw telling him, But it all comes down to you. To you suffering in that darkness. To my knowing that you won't let me down. But it all comes down to you. To you suffering in that darkness. To my knowing that you won't let me down. Romeo put the muzzle of the gun into his mouth. That cutting blood-metal taste. OK, Romeo put the muzzle of the gun into his mouth. That cutting blood-metal taste. OK, this this you can do. For G.o.d's sake. Get out of this world now, while you still can. you can do. For G.o.d's sake. Get out of this world now, while you still can.

But he couldn't. He tossed the gun on the seat beside him and turned the key and drove away.

Soon Shaw would know. How Romeo had driven around Brunswick killing no one not even himself. Effecting no revenge. Wreaking nothing. Making a mockery of Shaw's vision. How Romeo had stained with his cowardice all of Shaw's dreams.

Back at Altama Avenue he turned south. He clenched the steering wheel and threw his head forward, slamming his brow as hard as he could into the winds.h.i.+eld. But the winds.h.i.+eld didn't break, and he was dizzy but still conscious, and his shame was not a.s.suaged. He saw a convenience store and pulled in. He drove up to the pumps. He got out of the car and took the fuel nozzle and aimed it at himself, and squeezed the trigger. Since he hadn't paid, though, nothing happened.

He hit the HELP b.u.t.ton.

"Yes?"

"I need gas," he said. "Turn the gas on."

"Sir, if you're not using a credit card, you'll have to prepay."

He fished his wallet out, found his credit card, and shoved it into the slot. RECEIPT? YES/NO. He pressed NO, and then START. He held the nozzle over his head and this time gouts of golden gasoline came pouring out, and for one instant this was refres.h.i.+ng. But then he started breathing in the fumes and they made him so sick that he had to fling the hose down. Also he got some in his eyes which stung like a b.i.t.c.h.

He wiped his face with a T-s.h.i.+rt from the backseat. Then he ran up to the store.

But the clerk had locked the door.

Romeo pounded on it. "I need your help, man! I'm not gonna hurt you or anything. I just need you to light me up!"

But the clerk didn't respond. He was probably cowering behind his counter.

"Come on man! You just have to toss a match! I'll give you five hundred dollars for one f.u.c.king match! I'll take out five hundred dollars from the ATM, right now, and it'll be yours! Please! Please!"

No reply.

Romeo kicked at the door. "I'LL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING I HAVE! I'LL GIVE YOU LIKE THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS! JUST LIGHT ME UP, MOTHERf.u.c.kER!"

But the clerk didn't come out.

Romeo limped back to the car and got in.

He had no idea where he was going but it didn't matter. He only needed to find someone who would do him this favor. He drove down Altama heading south, and saw some black kids on bikes. Ask them? No, I doubt they've got matches and anyway they'll take off the moment they get a whiff of the gas. He pa.s.sed the Cypress Mill intersection. Suddenly there were sirens, sirens everywhere. Wailing-ghost sirens, machine-gun-electronica sirens, barking air horns. Everything became unstable. Even the daylight flickered. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw the pork blasting toward him. Three cruisers. And they weren't coming to put him out of his misery; they were coming to get get him. They'd have a big show trial of all his failures. If Shaw was still alive he'd hear of Romeo's every f.u.c.kup and cowardice in vivid detail. They'd put Shaw in a cell no bigger than a crypt, and for sixty or eighty years he could stew over Romeo's failure, over the courage that Romeo hadn't shown when the barnyard-f.u.c.kjuice came raining down. Romeo himself would be in the next cell, and every night Shaw would shout out COWARD and TRAITOR all over the cellblock, and tell them all how Romeo had f.u.c.ked up the whole world. him. They'd have a big show trial of all his failures. If Shaw was still alive he'd hear of Romeo's every f.u.c.kup and cowardice in vivid detail. They'd put Shaw in a cell no bigger than a crypt, and for sixty or eighty years he could stew over Romeo's failure, over the courage that Romeo hadn't shown when the barnyard-f.u.c.kjuice came raining down. Romeo himself would be in the next cell, and every night Shaw would shout out COWARD and TRAITOR all over the cellblock, and tell them all how Romeo had f.u.c.ked up the whole world.

For the next sixty years.

He jammed his foot into the accelerator. The Bel Air coughed and stalled out, and sat in the middle of the road with the three squad cars bearing down.

They sailed right past.

Howling, lit up like shooting stars, one, two, three they blew past him and left him sitting there. They had some other mission in mind.

A stillness settled around the car. A dragonfly came buzzing up to his window. He thought, OK. There is is something I can do about this suffering. Give it to her. something I can do about this suffering. Give it to her.

Burris was on Newcastle Street, just a few blocks from the station, when the call came that the Tercel had been pulled over outside Spanky's restaurant off Altama Avenue. was on Newcastle Street, just a few blocks from the station, when the call came that the Tercel had been pulled over outside Spanky's restaurant off Altama Avenue.

He hit the siren and spun around, and came roaring up MLK Boulevard, making Spanky's inside of three minutes. And there, in the parking lot, it was: that boxy, zero-colored, '91 Toyota Tercel. Police lights flying all around it. Already there were five or six units, and more sirens homing in from all compa.s.s points.

The Lieutenant had gone all out for him.

Burris emerged from his cruiser. A moment later, the Lieutenant himself arrived, and then the Chief. Though the Chief seemed appalled by all the hubbub. He said, "This is not the way I like to see my city run." He also declared, "I was eatin my d.a.m.n lunch. Three o'clock, I can't eat my lunch? Would you tell me what is so important I can't eat my lunch?"

A sergeant barked into a megaphone: "STEP OUT OF THE VEHICLE! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEAD."

The door of the Tercel opened. A lanky man with a goatee and a pompadour of white hair emerged.

The megaphone told him: "LIE DOWN! LIE DOWN! LIE DOWN ON THE GROUND RIGHT NOW!"

As Goatee was splaying his limbs on the pavement, Burris decided to come right out with it. Don't try to preamble or anything, because it won't do any good. Just say it.

"That's not him."

"What?" said the Chief.

"That's not Zderko."

"That's not the car you wanted?"

"No, that is is the car. It's not the guy though. It's some other guy. Maybe it's a friend of his, or something." the car. It's not the guy though. It's some other guy. Maybe it's a friend of his, or something."

The Chief fixed him in his gaze.

"Corporal. Didn't I tell you to get off this case?"

"Yes sir."

"Did I slur my words?"

"No sir."

"I spoke clearly?"

"Yes sir."

"Then you're fired. Now can I eat my d.a.m.n lunch?"

Patsy and Mitch and Jase got a ride back to the fairgrounds from Henry Lonsdale's driver, who let them off in the big field. and Mitch and Jase got a ride back to the fairgrounds from Henry Lonsdale's driver, who let them off in the big field.

Twice as many pilgrims as there had been in the morning.

Trevor said, "Where's Shaw?"

Mitch shrugged. "Off with Tara somewhere."

"There's a cop here to see him," said Trevor.

"You know what he wants?" Trevor asked. "Is everything OK?"

Mitch said, "Everything's fine. But pray for us." He walked over to the cop, and Patsy stood there thinking, Please G.o.d, protect my daughter. Please G.o.d that she's safe and she comes back to me. And Lord, please please take care of Shaw. Don't let anything happen to Shaw. take care of Shaw. Don't let anything happen to Shaw.

She was vaguely aware that cameras were clacking away at her.

Someone in the crowd yelled, "We love you, Patsy!"

Others echoing: "We love you!" "Praise the Lord!" "Praise G.o.d!"

She looked out and smiled at them, these simple folks. It was Shaw who had taught her to love them back. She felt as though she were looking back at this scene from some future vantage, and she thought, "That was the moment, Diane. That's when first I truly felt the power of Shaw's love." Diane listening with all her quiet intensity, and perhaps grasping her hands. It brought tears to Patsy's eyes to foresee this moment.

And the pilgrims' cameras saw her tears, and feasted on them.

Shaw and Tara slowed beside Vanessa and Henry's house. and Tara slowed beside Vanessa and Henry's house.

There was Vanessa, working obliviously and happily in her kitchen.

So where was Romeo? Oh, gone, Shaw knew. He'd flown. He'd be hiding somewhere, in some dark corner, trembling, getting drunk.

Shaw had always known this would happen.

Now he was alone. And Tara must have seen this. She must have been thinking of how she'd destroy him now. No matter what feelings she might have for him, she'd murder him the moment he let his guard down.

I've got to get her to Nell's. In the presence of Nell I can still control her.

And after that?

He didn't know after that. Somehow he had to make her think he had others working for him. Trevor, for a start. And maybe he should call in his friends from Ohio: Chris and p.i.s.s-boy. Fly them down here. Tell Tara this was his gang; she'd be terrified.

That's the key. The key is to keep her scared. Fear, discipline.

He told her, "All right, let's go to Nell's now. We better go fast though."

She cast him a look of deep alarm. She crushed down on the gas and went whipping down MLK Boulevard.

He smiled. "You still need my mercy, don't you?"

"Yes."

"You can't kill this dream. It's too powerful. So make your choice. You want to see realms of great love, they'll be shown to you. You want pain, I'll show you that. What do you want, Tara?"

Romeo turned off of Egmont Street well before he got to Nell's house. He eased down the alleyway and parked, and limped up to Nell's wooden fence. A TV game show clanged somewhere in the neighborhood. He studied the bungalow. Nothing stirring. He leaped the fence into her garden. Fat gourds, tomatoes, chili peppers. Two gray sparrows on the rim of the clawfoot tub. And right beside the house was an ancient potting shed. He opened the door and looked in. It was so hot that it hurt to breathe. The closeness, the smell of loam, the pitch dark: it all put him in mind of a coffin, and this seemed inviting. Wasps were tap-tapping in a loose rhythm, and there was an old canopy-green lawn chair, and he hadn't slept in days. turned off of Egmont Street well before he got to Nell's house. He eased down the alleyway and parked, and limped up to Nell's wooden fence. A TV game show clanged somewhere in the neighborhood. He studied the bungalow. Nothing stirring. He leaped the fence into her garden. Fat gourds, tomatoes, chili peppers. Two gray sparrows on the rim of the clawfoot tub. And right beside the house was an ancient potting shed. He opened the door and looked in. It was so hot that it hurt to breathe. The closeness, the smell of loam, the pitch dark: it all put him in mind of a coffin, and this seemed inviting. Wasps were tap-tapping in a loose rhythm, and there was an old canopy-green lawn chair, and he hadn't slept in days.

I could just steal five minutes.

But he knew if he shut his eyes he'd wake up on the way to prison.

Work first. Then sleep.

As he was stepping from the shed to the house, he heard the sound of a car on Egmont Street.

Tara and Shaw pulled up in front of Nell's. She had to wait for him to put his jacket on over his gun; then they got out of the Liberty and ran to the portico. and Shaw pulled up in front of Nell's. She had to wait for him to put his jacket on over his gun; then they got out of the Liberty and ran to the portico.

They found Nell at the kitchen table. She was safe and sound, and b.u.t.tering raisin toast. She cried, "Well, h.e.l.lo, ba ba-by!"

Tara said, "Nell, are you OK?"

"I'm fine, honey. What's the matter?"

Said Shaw, "Has anyone been here?"

"Like who? Y'all ready for seven stud?"

"Nell, we have a problem. Could we sit down?"

They did, arranging themselves at the kitchen table.

Then Shaw said, "Listen, this is going to seem strange to you. There's a guy, a friend of mine, he wants to hurt me. Well, he was was my friend. Since the jackpot, he's gone, well, kind of nuts. He thinks he should get a share of the money. He says he's going to hurt Tara, as a way to get to me. He's going around spreading lies about me. But the lies aren't working! They're not working, are they, Tara? It's just, he's dangerous now. You know? He's like a my friend. Since the jackpot, he's gone, well, kind of nuts. He thinks he should get a share of the money. He says he's going to hurt Tara, as a way to get to me. He's going around spreading lies about me. But the lies aren't working! They're not working, are they, Tara? It's just, he's dangerous now. You know? He's like a cyclone cyclone. He's out of his mind."

Nell said, "You told the police?"

"I don't want the police! You don't understand! This man is my best friend. I love this man! I just need to talk to him."

Nell said, "But if he's that insane -"

"I know! I'm packing a gun, Nell. I know I may have to kill him. But I want to try to save him if I can."

Then there was a movement at the edge of Tara's vision. She felt it before she saw it - she cried out. Romeo. Stepping out of the hallway. He stank of gasoline. He had a gun, and his gaze was fixed on Shaw.

Shaw spoke with his most lulling voice. "Romeo, oh my G.o.d, what happened? What happened to you? We've got to talk. Things you might not understand. Things I was saying to other people, but you've got to see them in another light. Oh, G.o.d. If you knew! If you knew how good we are now, buddy, how set set we are -" we are -"