Should Have Looked Away (2 page)

TWO

Two days later
, and the unseasonably hot weather had subsided to a more pleasant, less humid upper sixties/lower seventies. Not that Will would have noticed: that day he was experiencing the icy blasts from the air conditioning of a shopping mall. Most Sundays his wife Chrissy liked to hit the malls. Sometimes she would go alone, sometimes with a girlfriend, sometimes just with Louise; Will was expected to accompany them at least once a month. It took too much effort to persuade  Jake to go with them, even with the promise of new clothes or the latest electronic gadget: this afternoon he was visiting a school friend and would spend hours in his friend’s bedroom playing some bizarre computer game. Will and Chrissy knew they should perhaps show more interest in what he was doing on his computer: they had asked, but just didn’t understand his response. Apparently it was possible to defend the world against shape shifting alien marauders in competition with kids in Beijing, or Moscow, or Buenos Aires. Will felt totally out of his depth.

All this meant that Jake had gotten out of going to the mall that afternoon, so Will found himself wandering around at the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle. On occasion, Chrissy would want to visit Short Hills in New Jersey, a drive which Will hated; at least here was only a brief subway ride away.

On their visits here, the routine would be the same: Chrissy would want to go straight to the 3rd floor, browsing through H&M, J Crew, only allowing Will five minutes to look around Bose. Then down to the 2
nd
and BOSS, Lucky Brand and Sephora.  While she was browsing, Will would just aimlessly follow her around with Louise in tow. He would frequently suggest he and Louise went across the road to Central Park and meet Chrissy there, but she would have none of that; it was the routine, she said, that they would all go over there later to get ice cream or cotton candy. ‘Why mess with tradition?’ Will would mutter as he wandered after his wife.

Today was a slight exception: Chrissy had actually bought something. As she walked past the escalators where Will and Louise were waiting, she was carrying a brown paper Solstice Sunglass Boutique bag.

‘Well, that makes this trip worthwhile,’ said Will. He pointed over to Bouchon Bakery. ‘Shall we get something to eat?’ Chrissy agreed, and followed.

As they sat at a small table outside the bakery, Will watched his wife as she showed Louise her new pair of sunglasses. He had ordered three doughnuts, coffees for him and Chrissy, and a banana milkshake for Louise. They were both completely oblivious of his gaze as they excitedly checked out the sunglasses. He and Chrissy had been together almost twenty years now; they met at High School about the same time he and Dan became friends. As soon  as he set eyes on her, Will knew he wanted  her, and spent the next semester seeking to achieve that aim. Not that it was a two-way street: at first, Chrissy showed no interest in Will whatsoever, had a couple of brief relationships, including one with Dan, but eventually saw the attraction in Will. Once they all left High School, the boys started work in their respective offices, and she took a job working for the City. They soon moved in together, and before long Chrissy got pregnant with Jake. They finally married when their son was three years old.

In the early years, Will had always been a tad uneasy when Dan was around Chrissy, always having that niggling feeling that, although the two of them broke up long ago after only a couple of dates, as far as Dan was concerned, the pilot light was still burning, as his father used to say. But even if he was right, he was sure the attraction was not mutual.

One hundred percent sure.

Ninety-nine point nine percent sure.

His mind was put at rest when Dan met and moved in with Jia. They had met in a bar Downtown; Jia’s family had moved to the United States from Taiwan after the Second World War, and still lived in Chinatown, a few blocks away from Dan and Jia. Their son Clyde was born a few weeks after Jake. According to Dan, Jia means ‘beautiful’.

As he studied his wife and daughter, he was always struck by how similar they were, both physically and in personality. They both had the same skin tone, same hair colour, same complexion, even the same kind of laugh.  Will had been told Jake favoured him, although he could see no similarity. Chrissy would say she could see similarities now and again.

His gaze shifted over to his wife. In his mind’s eye, she looked exactly the same as  she did when they first met, even though she was many years older. He guessed it was because it was of her hair: she had had no cause to colour it yet, and had always kept the same style: straight, and a few inches below her shoulders. Sitting here now, he could see why he had fallen in love with her all those years ago.

‘What’s the matter?’ Chrissy asked, noticing he was staring at her. She checked her top in case some jam had fallen from her doughnut.

Will shook his head and smiled. ‘Nothing.’

Chrissy gave him a look. ‘Hm.’ She put the sunglasses away. ‘Come on, guys. Let’s go down to the 2
nd
.’

As they took the escalator down to the floor below, she stood in front holding Louise’s hand. Will let a couple of teenage girls go in front and followed them down. He followed as his wife and daughter headed straight for True Religion.

Perhaps it was because she had actually bought something, albeit only a pair of sunglasses, that Chrissy’s enthusiasm for browsing was not as fervent here as on the floor above. ‘Nothing much here,’ she said over her shoulder to Will. ‘Let’s try downstairs.’

On the ground floor, in spite of wandering through places such as Swarovski, TUMI, and La Maison du Chocolat, Chrissy had bought nothing.

‘Can we go over to the park for ice cream now?’ Louise asked excitedly.

‘Soon, honey,’ her mother replied. ‘I just need to get a few things in Whole Foods.’

Will sighed resignedly, took his daughter’s hand and headed for the escalator.

Then Louise began to jump up and down. ‘Daddy, I need to go pee pee!’

‘Now?’ Will asked.

‘Yes,’ Louise squeaked, a strained look on her face.

Chrissy said, ‘Why don’t you take her to the restroom? There’s one up there on second. I’ll pick up a few things down there and meet you back here.’

Will nodded. ‘Okay.’  He took his daughter’s hand and led her up the escalator, while Chrissy took the down escalator to the Whole Foods basement store.

Will didn’t really like taking his daughter to the bathroom when they were out: obviously he couldn’t use the women’s, so had to take her into the men’s room. He often saw other fathers with their daughters, but somehow it was different to when he would take Jake into the men’s.

The 2
nd
floor restrooms were just at the top of the escalators, next to New York Running Company. Will led her into the men’s, hoping that it would not be full of men standing at the urinals. He seemed to be in luck: just one was in use. Will quickly ushered his daughter into one of the stalls, pushing the door behind him. As he helped Louise with her clothes and sat her on the seat, he heard the man outside flush and leave.

‘Is it just a pee pee?’ he asked quietly, much relieved when she nodded.

As he stood there while she peed, Will heard somebody come in, clearly in a hurry. From the sound of the footsteps, the figure ran over to the urinals, checked a couple of stall doors and ran towards the exit. Will frowned: what the…?

Then he heard the restroom door burst open and two more men came in. ‘Got you now,’ a voice snarled. Quietly, Will pushed the door closed and slid the bolt across.

‘Where is it?’ the voice said again.

‘I don’t… I don’t…’ another voice said, pleadingly.

‘That’s bullshit, man,’ Then Will started to hear the sounds of a struggle. Somebody had fallen on the floor: through the gap under the stall door, Will could make out the shadow of somebody lying down.

Then what sounded like somebody being kicked. ‘You pathetic…’ came the voice again, at the same time as cries of pain. Will grabbed his daughter, picked her up off the seat and, putting her hand over her mouth, sat down on the seat himself, her on his lap and his feet up against the door, off the floor.

The kicking stopped, and Will could hear some movement. The shadows under the door flickered.

‘Hurry, man,’ said a third voice.

‘I’m not done with this motherfucker yet.’

Will could hear more scuffling, some sliding on the floor, then a crash from the next stall. It sounded as if something had been thrown in. The next sound Will recognised: years ago he had witnessed a vagrant being beaten up by a two youths high on crack. These sounds were the same.

‘No, man; you’re killing him!’ the third voice cried out.

‘I… don’t… give… a… shit.’

‘Somebody’s gonna come in any minute now!’

One more blow.

‘Does he have it?’

‘Give me a second, will you?’

‘Well?’

‘Can’t find…’

‘C’mon. Now.’

Then Will heard the footsteps of two men running out. He sat on the seat for two full minutes, his heart pounding. He was shaking, still with his hand over Louise’s mouth. He could feel she had dribbled slightly over his leg.

He waited another minute, closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. Stood his daughter on the floor and sorted her clothing.

Still shaking, he slowly opened the stall door and looked out.

THREE

The restroom was
empty.  On the linoleum floor, near the row of wash basins, Will could see black scuff marks, and red smears. The smears led from the basins to the next stall to Will’s.

‘Daddy, what -’ Louise started to say.

Will reached back and put his hand on her forehead. ‘Shush. Just stay there for Daddy, baby.’

With his arm still outstretched to his daughter, Will leaned round to the next stall. The door was ajar, so he gently pushed it open. He gasped as he looked inside. Sitting on the toilet, leaning back against the wall, was a man. Of swarthy appearance, and looking middle aged, the man’s legs were spread wide and his arms hung down loosely. Will could see his right hand was clutching at something. He was wearing a light brown suit with a matching tie over a white shirt. The tie was hanging loose, the knot around the third shirt button, or rather where the third button should be, as the top three buttons were missing.

There were patches of blood on the shirt, and on the left arm and shoulder of the jacket. The man’s face was staring up at the corner of the stall, mouth slightly open. Both lips were swollen, and where the mouth was open, Will could see the teeth covered in blood. The man had bruising to one side of his face and over the eye, and two cuts that side of his face.

At first Will thought the man was dead, and so jumped slightly when the man groaned and moved slightly on the seat.

‘Hold on, guy,’ Will said, not without panic in his voice.

‘Daddy…’ came Louise’s voice.

‘Okay,’ Will said softly. ‘Come with Daddy. Quickly, now.’

He led Louise out of her stall, and ushered her past the man, shielding the view with his body.  As he took her through the two restroom doors, and back into the mall, an elderly man tried to enter.

‘Best to use the other one,’ Will said. ‘Something’s happened in there.’

Ignoring him, the elderly man pushed past Will. ‘Let me through, I’m not… Jesus, what’s been going on here?’

Resting his hands on Louise’s shoulders, Will looked around, in case Chrissy had come up from the floor below. There was no sign of her. Will quickly thought through what to do next, and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Then he felt the elderly man’s hand on his arm. ‘Just a minute, fella. You’re not going anywhere.’

Irritated, Will looked down at him. ‘What? I didn’t do that.’

‘How do I know that, hm?

Will thrust his hands into the old man’s face. ‘Does it look as if I did that to him?  With my five year old daughter watching?’

The old man looked down at Louise. ‘Um… er, I… I’m going to call Security.’

‘You go do that,’ Will said. ‘I’m calling 911.’

The old man muttered something under his breath, and began to wander off. He was holding a plastic shopping bag. He stopped at a couple of around the same age and was obviously telling them what he had seen. Will could see the woman putting her hand to her mouth, before they both hurried away. As Will dialled 911 and waited for the call to be answered, the man turned to him and called out, ‘I still need the bathroom!’

Will shrugged and pointed in the direction of the restrooms the other side of the mall. ‘Ambulance,’ he said to the operator. As he told the operator what had happened, he saw Chrissy arrive at the top of the escalator. He gently nudged Louise, who saw her mother and ran up to her. Will could see her tell her mother what had happened, and the shocked look on Chrissy’s face.

Carrying two large Whole Foods bags, Chrissy walked over to Will as he ended his call.

‘Is this true?’ she asked him.

Will nodded. ‘He’s in there.’

‘Dead?’ she mouthed.

He shook his head. ‘I thought so at first, but he moved. He’s in a bad way, though.’

‘Who is he?’

‘No idea. Some guy, around forty, I guess.’

‘Did she...? Chrissy’s eyes flashed down to Louise.

‘No. She was in the stall with me, peeing. She heard, though.’

‘Oh, my God. Were you calling the police?’

‘I dialled 911 for an ambulance, but they said that a patrol car would come also.’  He glanced around. ‘There was this other guy - an old guy; said he was going to call Security.’

‘What did the police say?’

‘The operator said it’ll be around ten minutes. Asked me to wait at the scene.’

‘Did she take your name and address?’

‘
He
did, yes.’

Chrissy looked down at Louise and smiled. ‘Right.’

‘I’m just going to check on him,’ Will said. ‘Make sure he’s...’

‘How many were there?’ Chrissy asked.

‘I think I heard two.’

‘Did you see them?’

‘No way. I was in the stall with Lou, door shut fast.’

Chrissy took a deep breath and leaned down to kiss the top of her daughter’s head. ‘I’ll take her over to get some ice cream or something,’ she said quietly.

‘Take her over to the park. Or home. I don’t know how long I’ll be.’

Chrissy thought a moment. ‘I might take her home.’

Will looked over to her. ‘He was clutching something.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘In his hand. His right hand. He was clutching something.’

‘Clutching what?’

‘Don’t know. It looked like a card or something. Maybe that was what…’

Chrissy shrugged.

‘I’m just going to take another look.’

‘What?’

‘I’m going to see what he was holding.’

‘Will, you can’t.’

‘I won’t touch anything. I’m just curious, that’s all.’

Chrissy put her arm around Louise. ‘Will, don’t get involved. You need to look away.’

‘I need to make sure he’s still… alive.’ Will mouthed the last word.

Chrissy shook her head. ‘Well, we’re going to take the subway home. Call or text me when you’re done.’

‘Sure.’ Will kissed his wife and daughter, and walked back to the restroom. As he got to the door, Chrissy called out his name. He turned round.

‘Be careful,’ she mouthed. Will nodded and went inside.

He peered inside the stall. He put his hand in front of the man’s mouth; he was still breathing. Will crouched down to check the man’s hand. Being careful not to touch anything, Will squinted as he tried to make out what he was clutching.

At first sight, it seemed like a credit card, but Will could see it had none of the embossed detail bank cards have. It was white, with a thin light green border around it. Something was printed on the front of the card. Most of the script was obscured by the man’s index finger and thumb, but Will could make out the letters ONE in a serif font, in black.

He heard voices outside, and took three steps back, out of the stall.

The doors opened, and three figures entered. First was a large - well over six feet – black man in a blue shirt and a gold badge. He was obviously the security guard. He was followed by a shorter man and woman, both wearing a green uniform and holding a large plastic case. Clearly paramedics.

‘Step away from the scene, please, sir,’ the security guard said in a deep, rich voice. He ushered Will away from the stall, allowing one of the paramedics access. ‘Are you the man who found him?’ he asked.

Will nodded. ‘I’ve called 911.’

‘So did I,’ the guard said. ‘The cops’ll be here soon.’

‘I was in one of the stalls with my daughter,’ Will said. ‘I heard it. It sounded like two other guys beating up on him. They left.’ He looked around. ‘Obviously,’ he added. ‘He was barely alive when they’d gone.’

‘You just stay here and tell the cops everything,’ responded the guard.

The paramedic had stood up and backed out of the stall. He looked at his colleague and then at Will and the guard.

‘This man is dead.’