Читать книгу Eve's Daughters - Ellen Saxby - Страница 6

Jeremy watched as the two police officers helped Clarissa into the car.

He startled as one of them re-entered the house. He heard the footfall on the stair and opened his door to face a tall, young policeman.

“Are you Jeremy?” the young office queried.

“Yeah.”

“Are you okay? Did the old lady threaten you or hurt you in any way?”

“No. Of course not. What’s going on?”

“We’re taking her to a hospital for observation. Hey, call your Dad and let him know you’re okay.”

After the officer bounded back down the stairs and slammed the door, the silence rolled up the stairs to the landing where Jeremy stood dumbfounded. Suddenly, everyone was gone and the quiet of the house felt thick and unfriendly.

Jeremy called his mother before dialing his father. He said that Clasrissa was gone and that he was fine and that he was feeling a lot better. The truth was, that he had neglected his homework as Clarissa had surmised and needed the weekend to finish his paper on The Old Man and the Sea. His place on the tennis team was already shaky, thanks to a pop quiz in History, and a drop in grades could be a problem for him. Maybe the end of his scholarship hopes. He wasn’t sure but he wanted to hedge his bets.

He told her that his fever was down and he didn’t mind at all that she wanted stay at the club for dinner. He would find something in the freezer and just chill. He said a polite goodbye, took a breath then called his father.

“Yeah, I’m fine. No, she didn’t do anything. Of course not. She didn’t even come up the stairs. What’s going on?”

His father reassured him that it was all under control and it was in fact a good thing that this happened before anyone really got hurt. He said that he had a huge load of business to catch up on and would be very late.

Jeremy hung up the phone. He didn’t mind being alone. He preferred it to the subtle friction of dinner with his parents. He hated the polite conversation riddled with undercurrents, the nagging about grades, the subtle quizzes about his friends. He was glad to be alone. He turned on a CD and pulled a joint from under the shirts in his dresser and lit it, drawing the sweet smoke deep into his lungs . Three hits later he sat down in the mesh chair that hung from a hook on the beamed ceiling.

“Shit,” was all he could say as he swung in empty, stoned circles. He almost wished he had gone to school and risked the D on his late assigment. He would have missed all this crazy stuff. Clarissa wouldn’t have gotten weird and been taken away by the cops. What a mess. Finally, he clamped the joint and sent a text message to James, his current best friend.

COME OVER WHEN U GET OUT OF CLASS. WE CAN TAKE MY DAD’S SPORTS CAR AND GO 2 THE MALL.

Jeremy showered and dressed. He brought the breakfast tray down to the kitchen and washed the dishes. He looked around almost expecting to see Clarissa laughing and clapping in appreciation. Or in mockery. He wasn’t sure.

He rarely washed his own dishes. He didn’t feel like working on his paper. He hadn’t even finished reading the book, which he regarded as a monumental bore. What the hell was the old man doing in the damn boat anyway? He was pretty sure that he could feign sickness another day and still have the weekend for the Old Man and his stupid dead fish. He didn’t think his parents cared all that much about his day to day life.

He was still a little high when James rang the bell. They smoked together, sitting in Jeremy’s room. James looked up to Jeremy even though he pretended not to. He liked to hang in the mesh chair when he got high and Jeremy was in the mood to oblige him. He tried to tell James what had happened that morning.

“What do you mean some other voice came out of her? Like ‘Redrum’ or something?”

“Yeah, in a way.”

“Was she crazy or possessed?”

“I don’t know. My Mom said she was cutting up stuff with a butcher knife. Mom got pretty freaked out.”

“What happened when she grabbed you?”

“Man, it was so freaky. She grabbed my arm so tight it hurt. I mean she’s a little old lady for craps sake. She doesn’t have the strength to hurt me. And her voice was so deep, like a man. And her eyes. Shit. Her eyes were, like, weird.”

“Ooooh. So weird. Jeremy’s maid is possessed by demons. Ooooh, I’m so scared.”

“Shut up,” said Jeremy and he threw a pillow at James’ head. “Hey, do you have any money?”

“Are you kidding? You’re the rich one, asshole. Remember, I’m your little friend from across the tracks, dude.” James threw the pillow back, knocking a can of soda on the floor.

“Damn. Now you’re pissing me off.” He wiped up the soda with a rumpled tee shirt and tossed it into his laundry basket. “Let’s get the hell out of here. I’ve got some money.”

“Of course you have,” he said as they headed toward the landing. ”Where are we going?”

“Target practice.”

James yelled “Wahoo,” and slid down the banister. “I have two joints. You drive. I’ll get high.”

Jeremy needed the distraction of a night out of the house. He had been unnerved by the incident with Clarissa. He realized with some surprise that he really liked her. Watching her frail form being tucked into a police car had uncovered some very tender feelings for her that were ordinarily quite deeply hidden. He felt some shame that he had often acted pretty badly toward her. But that was his way, he thought. His father’s brusque manner made people respect him. Why shouldn’t it work for himself as well?

As he grabbed the 22 that sat behind the suitcases in his father’s closet he felt a tinge of anxiety. If his father caught him it would not go well. It could mean a two hour tirade at least.

“Who cares,” he thought bravely, and put the bullets in his pocket.

Jeremy had gone hunting with his father many times so he had some experience with a gun. But handling any gun always conjured memories of his father goading him to “man up” when he was too young to know what that meant. Being up at dawn, crouching in the duck blind freezing his ass off, did not make him feel like a man. It just made him hate hunting. He shrugged as if to cast off the memories and followed James down the stairs.

Jeremy liked hanging out with James, even though their families could not be more different. Or maybe, because their families were so different. James was the eldest of five boys. Their father was a fireman who never badgered his sons or nagged them about college. They were not poor, but James rarely had extra money so they had to find things that did not cost much. Driving around in a fancy car with his new rich friend made James high even without the pot.

Within ten minutes they were driving down Highland Park Drive, Jeremy joyfully managing his father’s Porsche. They played the radio and sang off key. James took a few tokes of a joint then clipped it for later. They were both happily stoned. Their last morsel of good sense went up in smoke after the last puff. They were on their way to the ‘dark’ side of town where they could get into some serious mischief and probably get away with it.

MRS DELANO FELT just a tad guilty about leaving Jeremy alone after the strange events of the morning but she really wanted to get her business meeting over with. That’s what she told herself. It had become a practiced conversation that she carried on in her mind. The country club needed a chairperson for the charity ball. John Duerson and she had both volunteered. They were meeting over dinner to fight over who would get the job and who would back out. Or maybe they should co-chair as he had suggested. Their business meetings were completely above board and were completely innocent, she told herself, as she freshened her makeup and fixed her hair. She put the tiniest dab of perfume on her left wrist.

John was a few years younger than Marjorie. He was tall with rugged good looks. He was attentive and complementary, flattering her in quiet ways. She found she could talk to him with great ease, the way she had once been able to talk to Daniel.

John decided it might be better not to meet at the club. They might as well enjoy some quiet and some good food. He suggested Maxine’s on the North Shore by the Bay. Since it was mid week, it was fairly empty and they were seated in the front, overlooking the sun drenched water. Marjorie was surprised that all of a sudden her mood changed and some subtle unease crept in. She looked around the restaurant, wanting to know if she and John might be seen by someone she knew. She kept telling herself that it was a business meeting and it was all above board.

“What’s the big deal?” she asked herself. She just wanted to enjoy this quiet moment. She loved John’s easy way with words. She felt smart when she was with him.

They had just ordered and the waiter had brought the wine. They were wrapped in a warm blanket of conversation when the police called her on her cell.

“Mrs. Delano, your son Jeremy as been arrested. He and his buddy were shooting out streetlights with a rifle down on Forrest Avenue. His buddy got away from us but we grabbed Jeremy. We need you to come down and get him. We’re threatening him with Juvenile Hall but this is his first arrest, so we might just scare the hell out of him and send him home with you.”

Her hand shook as she snapped the phone shut. She looked at John and wished she could tell him all the awful things that had happened to her that day. Maybe even cry on his shoulder a bit. Maybe he would hold her and comfort her, and…..

“I have to go,” she said. “Emergency. I’ll explain another time.” She gathered her bag and her sweater. John looked annoyed and stared out across the bay as he poured himself another glass of the very expensive Chardonnay.

As she drove to the South Jamaica Police station she thumped the steering wheel with her fist.

“Damn, damn, damn. Damn it all. Damn it all to hell.” She needed this quiet evening and the dinner with her friend. Such opportunities did not come readily and she hated being cheated out of a rare chance to feel good about herself. She cried a little but by the time she got to the police station she was calm and almost resigned.

She had never been to a police station. She had never been so close to the awful looking people who were sitting on benches, or being herded into back rooms by police officers. The place smelled of crime and poverty she thought. It was a world she had never entered. How could this have happened, she wondered, and felt humiliated by her total failure as a parent. How could Jeremy have come to this, she wondered. How could he do this to her?

Jeremy looked wonderfully sheepish and she knew that even she could handle him tonight. The police had in fact scared the hell out of him and he was duly cowed. His pathetic demeanor changed her immediately. He didn’t even make eye contact with her. She was relieved that no one was hurt. She would pay the damages and Jeremy would pay her back in blood, she vowed. The Policeman was polite to her, seeming to understand the impossible job of parenting a seventeen year old, handsome, very arrogant, fairly rich young man. They probably had a ball scaring the hell out of him when they brought him in, she thought.

“Please don’t let me see anyone I know,” she prayed as she shepherded Jeremy back along the hall toward the door. The awful, long corridor seemed to stretch on forever as she marched her son to the door. She looked neither to the right nor to the left and tried to pretend that people weren’t staring at her. She still looked perfect in her blue silk suit, her hair perfectly coiffed just touching the collar of her blue silk jacket. So she tried to maintain her sense of dignity and her place in society as she paraded down the steps of the police station carrying Jeremy’s rifle.

As she neared the bottom of the stairs, a booming voice growled at her.

“Hey, Annie Oakley. Move your damn car. It’s blocking the drive.”