Light from a Distant Star (35 page)

Nellie knew the feeling well, cheekbone hard against the door frame.

“Where is he now?”

“Asleep, thank goodness. But not for long. He never is.”

“Are you afraid, Louisa? Afraid he’ll hurt you?”

“Me? No! Oh no! It’s your family, the children. When they’re in the tree house. I’m afraid one of these times Tenley’s going to … to startle. That’s why, that’s why I’m here. To ask you to get rid of it. Please. Ever since it’s gone up, it’s just been one thing after another.”

“But it’s just a tree house,” her mother said in a faltering voice. “The children … they play there … Henry built it … he’s worked so hard on it … I can’t imagine making him take it down. And I know that was a terrible thing, the night when that boy, the things he said, and then throwing all those candy bars at your brother … of course he was upset, but the children, Henry and Nellie, they didn’t do it. They—”

“It’s the tree house. The fact of it. And I don’t think we should have to be subjected to it anymore.” Miss Humboldt’s tone grew shrill. “Especially Tenley, not right now, not when he’s so fragile. And as much as I hate saying it, Sandy, it is an eyesore.”

There was a moment’s silence. “I don’t know what to say.” Her mother sounded hurt.

Say you’re as nutty as your brother, and that’s your problem, not ours
, Nellie telepathically urged.

“He says if you don’t take it down, then he’s calling the building inspector.”

“Louisa!”

“I’m sorry, but I have to be loyal.”

“Well, here then,” her mother said, handing back the produce-laden baskets. “I don’t want them.”

I
N A WAY
, Max had written back. He wasn’t allowed to send her a letter, but in his to Charlie, he said how much he’d enjoyed hearing all about Nellie and her family. He told Charlie that he appreciated the time she was spending with Boone. He really missed Boone and even dreamed of him. Sometimes the dreams seemed so real he’d try not to wake up from them. It almost felt like being with him again, the two of them tramping through the woods or out in the boat, floating down the river, even watching the doodlebugs make circles on the water. He said to thank Nellie for the picture of Boone. He’d hung it up.

“Just that. The last line,” Charlie said, when she asked if Max had said anything about the trial.

The last line read, “Can you please get my money in the box? I need some for a shirt and tie for court. Can you give it to my lawyer? Thanks.”

“Did you? Did you give it to him?” she asked.

Charlie shrugged. “Don’t know what he’s talking about.”

“In that trunk, the metal box, you told me there was money. You said you took it so the cops wouldn’t.”

Charlie grunted in his struggle to get comfortable in his recliner. His chest was bare and surprisingly bony. The mere touch of cloth against the shingles was unbearable. “I told you the cops took it, that’s what they do.”

“No. You said you did so they wouldn’t take—”

“Go on, get outta here. I don’t wanna hear anymore!”

“That’s not right, and you know it’s not. What’s he gonna wear, his jail stuff?”

He sat up and pointed his taloned, yellow finger at her. “I don’t give a—” He caught himself. “It’s not my problem, okay? He did what he did and now he can damn well pay for it, goddammit, bringing all this shit down on me. I got enough problems. And tell your mother, next time, send some other kid. I’ve had it with you and your mouth.”

“But he didn’t do it. I know he didn’t!”

“Oh, you do, huh?”

“Yes. I do.”

“How?”

“Because. I do.”

They stared at each other. A grin twitched at the damp corners of his mouth.

“I know some things.” Maybe Charlie did, too, she thought. Between them maybe they could help Max. She spoke slowly. “Things nobody else does.”

“Yeah? Like what?” His shrewd eyes narrowed as if to haggle over the price of some scrap metal she’d brought him.

She folded her arms. She had to be sure she could trust him. An entire family’s fate was at stake. Her father’s admonition had taken deep root in her conscience, its burden heavier with each new day. But what about Max? nagged the constant voice in her head. Wasn’t his future just as important? Last week the district attorney’s office had called her father. They wanted to talk to her. It was becoming harder and harder to pretend none of this was happening. Or that it didn’t involve her.

“Like, about her,” she said. “Dolly Bedelia.”

“What?” He snickered. “What d’ya know, little miss smart-ass, that nobody else does?”

If he hadn’t looked at her like that, leering almost, if he hadn’t called her that name, she would’ve told him, right then and there. And it would’ve been over. For once and for all.

“Never mind,” she said.

I
N ORDER TO
avoid Jessica, Nellie’d been taking a completely different route home from school, even though it meant walking alone. As much as she missed Krissie, who lived near Jessica, at least she wouldn’t
be constantly reminded of the pain she was about to cause, not just to Jessica but her entire family. She tried to tell herself that in some ways Jessica deserved whatever the fallout would be. She’d always been mean, but usually to others, though Nellie’d long ago given up making excuses for her. She was probably the most selfish person she knew, though again, not with Nellie. And as she guiltily realized, Jessica’s generosity had been their surest bond since they’d been little, sharing her toys, her television, and for a time, buying Nellie whatever she wanted—candy; magazines; water balloons; magic tricks; once, even a new backpack instead of Ruth’s shabby hand-me-down—until Nellie’s mother put a stop to it. As much as Nellie wanted to be strong, Jessica had always cultivated her weaknesses. And she’d resented her for it. Until the day last spring when she discovered Major Fairbairn’s manual.

She’d read it so often that now whenever she summoned the major’s words, the voice in her head was clipped and British:

As she marched along, she wasn’t sure who her enemy was, but she couldn’t let it be herself.

Bucky had just caught up. He was smoking. She walked faster.

“Hey, what’s the big rush?” he said, easily keeping pace. She was weighed down by a backpack sagging with books while his hung flat and empty on his back.

“Your smoke—it’s corroding my lungs.”

“Jesus,” he said, taking a last drag before flicking the butt into the gutter.

He was complaining about his gym teacher. Mr. Feldman had caught him sneaking out of class, so he told Bucky to run five laps around the track. Bucky had refused. He said he had a heart murmur.

“So he goes, ‘Well if you do, nobody told me!’ The asshole. ‘Well,’ I go, ‘I just did, didn’t I?’ So he goes, ‘Sorry, Bucko, that’s just not good enough.’ ‘Jesus Christ,’ I go. ‘What d’ya want, a fucking X-ray?’ which totally pisses him off, so he gives me a week of fucking dentention. Jesus Christ!”

“Watch your mouth, okay, Bucky?”

His hand flew to his mouth. “Are you fucking serious?” he laughed.

With that, she turned and stepped off the curb, right into the passing traffic. Horns blared and brakes screeched, but she didn’t care. Courage. As long as she was the master of any dangerous situation, no harm could come to her.

“What’re you tryna do?” bellowed the driver of a red plumbing van.

The right thing
, she knew as she reached the other side.

Blinders, that was the trick. Ignore all threats. Forge ahead. Sweat poured down her sides and her heart was pounding, but with elation, not fear.

“That was smart.” Bucky had crossed and was walking beside her.

“Shut up.”

“How come you hate me so much?”

“I don’t hate you. I hate the stuff you do, that’s all.”

“Kinda the same thing, don’t you think?”

She didn’t answer. Their sneakers made sticky
plat-plat
sounds over the recently hot-topped sidewalk.

“I do have a heart murmur, you know.” He coughed and patted his chest.

“So does 10 percent of the population.”

“Who told you that?”

“I read. You should try it sometime.”

“Yeah, you don’t have TV, right? That’s what Jessica said. Your family, they’re like—” He wiggled his fingers. “—out there.”

Her first impulse was to shove him off the sidewalk.

“But that’s okay. Hey!
I’m
a freak. I like freaks. Long as they don’t think they’re better than me.”

“See ya,” she said stopping in front of her father’s store.

“I’ll come with you. I need some nails.” He held out his arms. “For the crucifixion.”

“It’s not open.” She stood in the doorway, blocking him.

“Yeah, what’s that all about? Jessica said your father’s stalking them. They see his name and they won’t answer the phone.” His grin was like Charlie’s, hungry and snide.

“Jessica ever tell you about
her
father?”

“No, what?”

“He’s … an asshole!” she blurted, shaken by how close she’d come.

“Hey, watch your pretty mouth,” Bucky whispered, holding her arm and pulling her against him. Just as his mouth touched hers, she drove her
“knee quickly upwards into
[her]
opponent’s testicles.”

“Fuck!” he moaned, doubled over as she ran up the street, best she could, under her shifting burden of books, praying her father hadn’t seen anything, or worse, that Bucky wasn’t staggering into the store begging for help.

N
ELLIE’S FATHER HAD TAKEN
H
ENRY’S SIDE
. H
ER MOTHER
wanted the tree house torn down immediately. Calling it an eyesore had been Miss Humboldt’s master stroke. It had become another reminder of Sandy Peck’s connection not just to the junkyard but to all things unseemly. She now despised it as much as the Humboldts did. The tree house would stay, Benjamin declared. It in no way endangered the Humboldts or impinged on their property. Henry’s hard work was not going to be in vain just because they found it aesthetically displeasing. Part of her father’s stubborn stand came from his own frustration. Everything had stalled, not just selling the store but getting his life’s work published. Luminosity Press had finally written back. They would publish the history, but in three volumes because of its length, at a cost to her father that was three times higher than their initial “guesstimate.”

It was early evening and her father was out in the yard with Lazlo. They were sitting in the pale blue Adirondack chairs Lazlo had brought with him. He had moved in last week after painting the apartment in parrot greens and mango tones. At that point, her mother would have agreed to fuchsia, black—any color—as long as there was rent money coming in. Lazlo had refinished the hardwood floors himself. His plan had been to retile the bathroom, but two days after his move, the new manager at the restaurant fired him. Her mother was shaken, but Lazlo was philosophical, even buoyed by his misfortune. It was karma. Now he could devote himself to his art. Not to worry, he assured her mother, he could live on his savings, for a year anyway. And even better, he could help with the jewelry parties. In fact, they could be partners. She wanted a partner about as much as she wanted an
unemployed tenant but couldn’t tell him that, so, for now, the jewelry business would be on hold.

Both men were sipping white wine. Nellie sprawled on the back steps, eating a pear. Henry sat in his tree house for no other reason than to justify its existence. Ruth was in her room doing homework. She was starting off this school year the way she always did. Determined to be an excellent student, reading every assignment, copying over her notes. Nellie gave her until Halloween, if that, before she fell by her well-rutted wayside. Nellie was the student in the family. No one ever had to check her homework or call school asking to speak to her teachers. And, but for his daydreaming, Henry would have been right up there with her. Her mother was still at work. Frederic’s was doing all the models’ hair for the Springvale Hospital Ladies Auxiliary Fashion Show that night. Her mother had agreed to work, only to find out later it was for charity. She wouldn’t be paid. Not one penny, she’d grumbled on her way out the door. But it’s for such a good cause, Nellie’s father called after her. She hadn’t answered.

Lazlo’s easel stood by his chair. Until the sun began to set, he’d been sketching the tree house. Now, with nightfall crouched in the cooling shadows and a few crickets chirping weakly, Nellie was remembering how serene she always found the company of these two peaceful men.