Authors: Clea Simon
‘I believe it. Do you remember talking to me after? You said you were pushed?’
‘I did?’ She put a hand up as if she were going to touch the bandage and pushed her hair back instead. ‘I was pretty loopy back then, for a while.’
‘You did. You said somebody grabbed Tim’s laptop and pushed you.’ Luisa shook her head slowly and shrugged. Dulcie went to sit in the one chair by the bed, but as she did, she saw Luisa look up.
‘Thanks, sweetie.’
It was Bruce, who came into the room holding a white paper bag. ‘Veggie Reuben with cheese. Just what the doctor ordered.’
Dulcie stood aside as he pulled a styrofoam take-out container and a pile of napkins from the bag.
‘Hi, Dulcie. You’re here to see our girl?’
She smiled and nodded.
‘I figured hospital food wasn’t doing her any good.’
‘That’s awfully sweet,’ Dulcie said. ‘I actually wanted to ask Luisa about what happened. I mean, right after they took her here she said something about someone pushing her.’
‘She hit her head pretty hard.’ Bruce took the seat and slid it closer to the bed. Was he intentionally putting himself between Dulcie and Luisa? Or merely being affectionate? ‘I think the whole thing was fairly traumatic for her.’
‘That’s OK, baby.’ Luisa put a hand on his arm. ‘I already told her I was pretty looped there for a while after. I don’t know what I was saying. And I don’t remember what happened to the laptop.’ She smiled. ‘Sorry.’
There wasn’t much more to say after that, and nothing to take to the police. So Dulcie stayed long enough to be polite and left when the two began to baby talk. Maybe Luisa truly didn’t remember anything, but Dulcie couldn’t help wondering. The wounded girl had a ditzy side, for sure, but she also had secrets she kept from her boyfriend. Maybe she knew more than she was letting on. Maybe he did, too.
What those other secrets could be occupied Dulcie’s mind as she walked home, skipping the T to stretch her legs – and her mind. There was a lot to process, even without
The
Ravages
. She wasn’t so preoccupied, however, that she didn’t notice the two kittens playing outside as she rounded the corner on to her own block. Both orange, one with a white chest, they were lolling about the top of the steps that led down to Helene’s apartment, toying with a rather slow beetle. Dulcie looked around; her neighbor didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby. She couldn’t have been so foolish as to let two small kittens out alone on a city street, could she? They were still so tiny and uncoordinated. As she watched, one little orange bundle overreached and flopped down a step. Had Helene’s new pets gotten out without her noticing?
‘Hey, little guys.’ She stepped down into the entranceway and knelt by one of the kittens. ‘Julius, right? Or are you Murray?’ In response the orange fur ball reared up and boxed at her outstretched finger. He was all orange: Murray. Dulcie extended her other hand to the slightly lighter tiger-striped kitten by his side. ‘And this must be your brother, Julius?’ The other kitten flopped on its side, revealing a snow-white tum. ‘Now, what are you youngsters doing out at this hour?’ Murray began to wash.
Don’t worry, Dulcie, I’m here
. At the sound of the voice, Dulcie’s head jerked up. ‘Mr Grey? Where are you?’ Ignoring the kittens, she stood and turned around.
I’m keeping watch.
The long-haired grey was nowhere to be seen. And yet, she’d heard that voice, so close. She turned. And saw the bulky figure of Duane, Helene’s ex, lumbering up the street. Hadn’t Helene said that he was seeing someone else on their block? Whatever his romantic complications, he looked angry, his thick arms pumping up his sides as he came up the middle of the empty roadway.
The kittens, Dulcie
. She didn’t need a spectral voice to remind her: Duane was a cat hater. With one hand, she scooped up the protesting babies and ran down the remaining steps to pound on Helene’s door.
‘Helene! Helene! It’s Dulcie! Let me in!’
A moment later, she heard her neighbor’s heavy footsteps and the door swung open. ‘Oh, my goodness, how did they get out?’ Before Dulcie could answer, Helene looked past her and saw her ex. He’d reached the sidewalk in front of the apartment. ‘Duane Rigardi! Don’t even
think
about coming down these steps!’
Dulcie thought of Duane as a big, scary guy, but Helene was no lightweight either. In her nurse’s uniform, she cut an imposing figure.
‘You threw out my Pats mugs! You—’ Duane’s shouted protest was cut short as he gasped for breath. ‘Marcella said—’
‘I put all that
junk
out on the sidewalk. I told you, Duane, that you could pick it up. And you didn’t!’ With her hands on her hips, the big woman nearly filled the door.
‘Oh, honey, I just thought that maybe if you and I—’
Dulcie, still holding the kittens, peeked out from behind her neighbor. Duane was having trouble catching his breath. But even bent over, big mitts on his knees, he made a threatening presence.
‘Forget it, asshole. Tell it to your new girlfriend! We’re through.’ Duane was audibly wheezing as Helene delivered the decisive blow. ‘I’ve got
cats
!’
With that declaration, she slammed the door.
Dulcie could feel the frame of the house shake. Not wanting things to get any worse, she snuck a glimpse out of the side window. Duane was slowly walking back down the block, the way he had come. One hand was on his chest, but Dulcie figured if he was walking, he was breathing.
‘You OK, child?’ A small but firm push made Dulcie realize she was still holding the squirming kittens.
‘Yeah, sorry. That was something.’ She put the kittens down and Helene knelt to check them out, her former ferocity gone. ‘I know how Duane feels about cats, so when I saw him charging up the block—’
‘You did right, Dulcie. Thanks.’ She picked up Julius, and Murray scampered off to the back of the apartment. ‘End of the week, he has the bad habit of drinking his pay check. But how did these little guys get out? I’ve been home for an hour now, and I swear I just fed them.’
Dulcie shrugged. In a way it didn’t matter; Mr Grey had said he was looking out for them. ‘Has anyone been by?’
Helene shook her head, and suddenly Dulcie’s brain started working again. ‘I’m sorry, I’ve got to run. I’m meeting someone at my place.’ She turned to let herself out. ‘Pet the kittens for me,’ she called as she bolted up the stairs. But as she looked up and turned toward her own stoop, she saw that her front door was ajar.
‘Not again.’ There was nobody in there anymore. No pet, no room-mate. Nobody who could be lost or hurt, but the memory still started Dulcie’s heart beating like mad. Her throat tightening up, she ascended the first step. ‘Hello?’ Her voice came out in a croak. ‘Chris?’ No answer. ‘Anybody there?’ She should go back to Helene’s. She should call the cops. But the open door drew her up the remaining stairs of the stoop. ‘Hello?’
There was no sound as she swung the front door open. Memories flooded back as she climbed the stairs. ‘Is anyone there?’
Nobody was. But somebody had been. Her chair lay on its side. Somebody had used it to smash the back window. Shattered glass sparkled like glitter on the green rug and the fire escape outside. The TV, old as it was, was still on the table; the little stereo, too. The noise out front must have startled whoever it was, caused the intruder to flee before Dulcie came in. Dulcie remembered those words:
I’m here, I’m keeping watch.
Had Mr Grey been guarding the kittens – or her? Had he arranged to distract her, to keep her from walking in during a burglary? Had he chased the intruders off before they could steal—? Ignoring the glass shards that seemed to have flown everywhere, Dulcie raced upstairs to her bedroom – to her desk. Her laptop was gone.
This wasn’t like the other time. There was no body. No blood. Everybody was OK. Dulcie kept repeating these facts to herself as she stepped carefully back down the stairs. ‘I’m breathing. I’m OK.’ Saying it out loud made it real, and slowly the panic ebbed, until she was down her own front stairs, out the door, and back out on the street.
Then she lost it. ‘No!’ Her scream had the frustrating breathiness of a nightmare, all gasp and little volume. But it was loud enough to cause Helene to wrench open her front door again – and to alert Chris, who had just turned the corner, and who now started running up the street.
‘Dulcie! Dulcie! What is it?’ Chris got to her first and reached for her, but she shook off his grip.
‘Where were you just now? Why couldn’t you look at me?’ She whirled to face her pale classmate, who blinked behind his glasses, mouth gaping open. ‘Have you been calling me?’
‘What’s up, honey? What’s wrong?’ Helene had the sense not to touch Dulcie, but she inserted her considerable bulk between the girl and the speechless Chris. ‘What’s happened?’
Dulcie took a breath, and realized that she had been holding it. She put her hands up to her face. ‘Somebody broke in.’
‘Again? Come with me.’ Helene put her arm around Dulcie and pulled her back toward the sidewalk. ‘You, too.’ Chris followed dutifully behind.
Soon Dulcie was holding yet another mug of tea laced with rum, while the police went through her apartment once again. ‘And you are?’ Helene was predisposed to suspect any man these days, and Dulcie’s attack on Chris hadn’t made her trust the lanky computer whiz any more.
‘I’m Dulcie’s friend. I mean, I’m a classmate. I was going to help her with her computer,’ he stammered, his lean cheeks turning pink. His fluster must have looked authentic, because Helene nodded, and fixed him a mug of her special brew, too.
‘Dulcie? What was all that about between you two earlier?’ Helene asked the question that must have been on Chris’s mind. Clearly, he was too afraid. ‘Why did you yell at this boy?’
‘I’m sorry.’ Sitting on Helene’s sofa, inhaling the warm, sweet drink, Dulcie had begun to relax. ‘I just thought, I don’t know, that maybe he’d been in my house.’
‘Me?’ His voice almost squeaked as he jerked to his feet. ‘But I just got to your place. You saw me in the Square like a half-hour ago!’
‘I know.’ Dulcie looked up at the lanky young man. ‘I’m sorry.’ He relaxed again enough to sit. ‘But I thought you were acting weird, you know? At the health services.’
‘Yeah, well.’ It was his turn to look away. ‘I didn’t expect to see anyone just then.’
Dulcie sipped and waited. Helene hovered. The kittens wrestled on the floor.
‘I’m in counseling. I see a shrink. Ever since my mom got sick again, I’ve been . . . I don’t know. It’s been hard.’ Chris’s dark bangs still hid his face, but his voice was clear.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know.’ Dulcie felt like a heel.
‘Well, you haven’t been around much, you know?’ His voice had gone soft, but Dulcie heard the rebuke in it and grimaced. That was what Trista had been telling her. What else had she missed?
‘I guess I’ve been stuck in my own head these last few months.’
He reached out his hand and one of the kittens – Murray – began batting at his finger. ‘You’re not the only one.’ He looked up. ‘In fact, that’s what my shrink has been talking to me about. She’s been pushing me to go out, be with my friends. Be with—’ His face fell, but he finished the sentence. ‘Healthy people.’
‘Oh, Chris, I’m so sorry.’ She reached over but he’d withdrawn again, face down, long hands back in his lap, clamped around his mug. She found herself holding on to his forearm. ‘And here I was, wondering if you were, I don’t know, using my laptop as part of the Harvard hacking.’
He looked up again, this time with a weak smile. ‘Actually, the virus has been a great thing for me. A bunch of us in apple math are helping track it, break it down. I like the distraction!’
‘Well, if my laptop shows up, I’ll have more distraction for you.’ She smiled back and leaned forward. Just in time for Helene to clear her throat.
‘’Scuse me, folks, but, Dulcie? The officer would like to speak with you again.’
Forty minutes later, Dulcie felt more drained than her empty mug. The officer had asked a lot of questions, but hadn’t provided any information in return. Was this random? Was it related to Tim’s murder? Dulcie had told the cop one more time about all the calls with nobody on the line, but whenever she tried to ask a question, the young officer steered her back to his own.
‘He kept asking me if I could’ve left the door unlocked, and he wouldn’t say anything about all the hang-ups. He wouldn’t even tell me if there were similar robberies in the area.’ Dulcie was back on Helene’s sofa. At least the police had allowed the landlord’s handyman to come in, and she could hear the hammering as he nailed a board over the broken window.
‘You should get caller ID, child, and a police lock. That damn latch is just too easy to jimmy. I’m just hoping that this time, they got what they wanted.’ Helene was walking back into the kitchen, and Dulcie wasn’t sure she’d heard her.
‘What?’ Chris, sitting beside her, shook his head. He didn’t know what she was talking about, either.
‘I mean, maybe this will be it.’ Helene came back out with the tea kettle and the bottle of rum. Dulcie shook off the rum, but accepted more hot water. ‘Whatever they were looking for when Tim got in the way, maybe now they have it and they won’t bother you anymore.’
‘You think Tim interrupted a robbery, and that’s what got him killed?’ Dulcie, warmed by the previous servings of rum, mulled the idea over. ‘You think he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?’
Helene shrugged. ‘Makes sense to me.’
‘But I’d been thinking it was personal, with all his girlfriends and everything.’ Helene and Chris both turned to stare, and Dulcie realized that only Suze had heard all her theorizing. ‘He was kind of a dog. He had a girlfriend and at least one other on the side. I’m pretty sure one of his women was in a relationship, so I thought, maybe it was a jealous boyfriend.’ Chris seemed to consider this, but Helene only shook her head.
‘If that was the case, why did they come back?’
‘So you don’t think this – today – was random?’
Helene shot her a look.
‘But all they took was my laptop.’ Dulcie’s head was spinning.
‘That laptop might mean something.’ Chris spoke up. ‘We’re looking at Harvard-connected laptops as the path through which the hackers are attacking the firewall.’ Dulcie thought of Mona, dashing off to get her own machine, as Chris explained the situation to Helene. ‘The head of my department is leading the task force. He thinks the virus was probably inserted into the system through a student computer, maybe even camouflaged in an anti-virus or anti-spyware program. That might be it, Dulcie. Your laptop might be evidence.’