Resurrection Dreams (15 page)

“Go downstairs.”

“Don’t you like me anymore?”

“I like you to obey me.”

She sobbed. She raised her face. Her eyes shimmered with tears.

Melvin sighed. This possessive business was almost as bad as the biting. In a way, it was nice, but…

“I’ll go,” she said. She turned away. Melvin saw the way the T-shirt curved over her buttocks. He felt a stir.

“Okay,” he said. “Come on back. Get in here, but leave your shirt on.”

She faced him, grinning, and stepped into the tub. Melvin slid the curtain shut. He stepped back and watched. Patricia seemed to know what he wanted. She stood beneath the spray, turning slowly. As the T-shirt became wet, it hugged her skin and became nearly transparent.

He rubbed her through the fabric. She reached up and held onto the shower arm and smiled at him through the spray. He peeled the shirt up above her breasts. The water made her skin shiny and slick. His fingertips traced the face of Ram-Chotep, the stitches cross-hatching the Mouth. She squirmed as he slid a hand between her legs. He kissed her nipples, licked them, sucked.

Before he took her, he stuffed his wash cloth into her mouth.

Shortly before ten, Vicki and Ace entered the Riverfront Bar. It was dimly lighted, hazy with cigarette smoke, noisy. People spoke loudly to be heard over the juke box blaring Waylon Jennings. Glasses and bottles clinked. Pool balls clacked together on the two tables at the far side. Beeps and jingles came from a row of electronic games.

Vicki spotted many familiar faces on her way across the floor: strange grown-up faces that resembled kids she hadn’t seen for nearly a decade, others that looked just the same as she remembered them from all those years ago, several she’d seen during her more recent visits to town, and a few she’d come to recognize during the past week. She didn’t spot Melvin. Nor could she find the man from the playground by the river. Some of the people noticed her, nodded a greeting or simply looked perplexed as if they couldn’t quite place her. Ace said “hi,” to some friends, but didn’t stop to chat.

They found a deserted booth along the wall. Vicki scooted across the seat and motioned for Ace to slide in beside her. That way, Melvin would have to sit across the table.

“Let’s try and get rid of him fast,” Ace said. “Then maybe we can scrounge up a couple of guys, get something going.”

Vicki shrugged. She was in no mood to scrounge up anyone. She didn’t like the smoke or the noise. She would just as soon leave when the meeting with Melvin ended.

A barmaid came. No one Vicki recognized. She wore blue jeans shorts and a pale blue T-shirt printed with, “I’m a Good Sport—I Scored at Ace’s.” Her shirt was the same as the one Ace wore.

“What’ll it be, gal?” she asked.

“Let’s have a pitcher of Blatz and three mugs.”

“Comin’ right up.” She rushed away.

“That’s Lucy. She’s from the Bay. Married Randy Montclair.”

The name seemed vaguely familiar to Vicki. Then she remembered. He used to pal around with Doug. Both of them, royal pains. They’d hoisted Henry into a trash bin after school, one day. And Randy was the one who gave Melvin those whacks, just a week before the Science Fair. Vicki, ticked off, had shoved him or hit him or something to make him stop. She wondered, now, if that little show of gallantry may have been what started Melvin liking her. Maybe she had Randy to thank for her present problems with the guy.

Lucy brought the pitcher and mugs to the table. Vicki paid her.

While Ace was filling the mugs, Melvin appeared.

“Greetings,” he said. He scooted over the seat until he was directly across from Vicki. He brought a sweet, cloying aroma with him as if he’d been drenched in after-shave.

“You’re looking dapper,” Ace said, and poured him a drink.

He wore a shiny Hawaiian shirt and a pink sports jacket. His black hair was slicked straight back. Maybe the smell, Vicki thought, came from hair oil.

Ace slid the mug to him. He winked at her. Then he grinned at Vicki. “You look real nice,” he said. His gaze wandered down. Vicki had worn a dark plaid blouse, longsleeved and too heavy for the weather, chosen solely to prevent Melvin from getting even a hint of what was underneath. But the way he looked at her, it might’ve been transparent. She had an urge to finger the buttons just to make sure they all were fastened. His stare made her feel squirmy. He rubbed his lips with the back of his bandaged hand.

The bandage was fresh and white, as if he’d put on a new one for the occasion as part of dressing up.

“Well,” Vicki said, “I might as well give you the keys.”

“If you’re sure.”

She took them from her purse and pushed them across the table. He put them into a pocket of his jacket.

Vicki lifted her mug. “Well, here’s looking at you.”

They all drank.

“So whatcha been doing with yourself?” Ace asked him. “Resurrected anyone lately?”

Vicki cringed.

Melvin grinned and bobbed his head. “Oh, I gave that up. They taught me better in the funny farm.”

“You sure sparked up that Science Fair,” Ace said.

“That’s what I had in mind.” He hunched over the table, leered at Ace, then at Vicki. “Like I told Vicki, I only just did it to give the finger to all the assholes.”

“Guess you managed that, all right.”

Vicki wished they would change the subject. On the other hand, she was rather glad that Ace was sparing her from having to make conversation.

“So how’d you pull it off, anyway? You sneak into the bone orchard and dig her up?”

“Sure. Took a lot of digging, too.”

“You did it at night, I guess.”

“The Wednesday before the Fair.” He seemed to enjoy talking about it. He kept grinning and nodding. “The graveyard gate was chained. I had to get through that with a hacksaw. Then I just snuck in and started digging.”

“Weren’t you scared?”

“I didn’t wanta get caught, you know. But I weren’t scared of no ghosts or stiffs, if that’s what you mean.”

“How’d you get her out of the coffin?”

Vicki rolled her eyes.

“Had a pry bar along. It was easy. The hard thing was hefting her up.”

“Dead weight,” Ace said.

“Jesus,” Vicki muttered.

Melvin chuckled. “She wasn’t just skin and bones, you know. She had a build on her.”

“Shit, yes,” Ace said. “Her tits alone must’ve weighed in at twenty pounds each.”

“I wouldn’t know about that. All I know, she was tough to lug around.”

“If you’d waited a year or two, she might’ve been easier to carry.”

Melvin laughed with a mouthful of beer and sprayed it back into his mug.

“So, did you carry her all the way home?”

“No, no. Would’ve herniated myself. What I did, I put her in the trunk of my car, then went back and filled in the hole. Didn’t want anyone catching on, you know.”

“Yeah, that would’ve ruined it.”

“Wanta hear a good one? I almost forgot her head. Yeah. See, I left it sitting on this tombstone while I worked on filling up the hole. Then my hands were full, what with the shovel and pry bar and everything. I got back in the car and drove halfway home before I remembered about her head.”

“Dumb you.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, but it was still there when I went back for it. Hadn’t walked off.”

“Or rolled,” Ace added, “as the case may be.”

“This is really revolting,” Vicki muttered.

Melvin grinned at her.

“So then you took her home with you?” Ace asked.

“Kept her in the basement. My folks, they never went down there. Then Friday night, I drove over and broke into the Center. Had my stuff all set up before sunup, and had the door open and everything by the time people started coming along to set up for the Fair.”

“You sure put a lot of effort into your project,” Ace said. “I tell you, me and Vicki didn’t go to half the trouble you did. And I bet they didn’t even give you a blue ribbon.”

“Gave me a straitjacket, that’s what they did.”

“And well-deserved, too.”

Melvin laughed. He shook his head and wiped his mouth and took another drink of beer.

“Lucy didn’t bring us any peanuts,” Ace said. With that, she got up and left.

Oh, great, Vicki thought. She leaves me alone with him. That wasn’t part of the deal. Hell, there was no deal. But she knows how I feel about Melvin.

Maybe that’s why she left. Figured the encounter’ll do me more good if she’s not here like a security blanket.

No, she just wants peanuts.

Vicki managed a smile. “How’s your hand doing?” she asked.

“Oh, it’s getting better. I got a real good doctor.”

“I see you changed your bandage.”

“Took a shower tonight.”

There’s a pretty picture.

“Do you ever think about that movie, Psycho, when you take a shower?”

“I try not to,” Vicki said.

“We had this gal at the funny farm, they couldn’t get her to take a shower. That’s ‘cause she saw Psycho when she was like ten years old. She’d get real ripe after about a week. Then they’d take her into the shower room, a couple of orderlies, and you’d hear her screaming.” With his left hand, Melvin picked up the pitcher. He filled his mug with beer, then poured more into Vicki’s mug. “My mother, she never took showers. She took baths. Do you like baths?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I do both.”

Great. His mind’s on bathing.

“My mother, she used to shave her legs in the tub.”

How does he know that?

He tipped his head to one side and grinned. “Do you shave in the tub?”

“That’s none of your business, Melvin.”

His grin slipped away. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to make you mad.”

“Why don’t we talk about something else?”

Where the hell is Ace?

“What did you do today?” she asked.

“Oh, cleaned house.”

“That’s a huge house. It must be a real chore, having to keep it up.”

“Oh, it’s not so bad.”

“You haven’t been working at the station?”

“Doctor’s orders. I guess I’ll go back next week, maybe. Or maybe not. I kinda like staying home.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Vicki noticed someone approaching the table. She turned her head, expecting to see Ace with a bowl of peanuts.

It was Dexter Pollock with a mug of beer.

“Mind if I sit?”

Before she could respond, Dexter slid in beside her. “That’s Ace’s seat,” she said.

“Ass won’t mind. She’s over gabbing with some folks.” He glanced across the table at Melvin, then looked at Vicki. “You must be hard-up, keeping company like this.”

“Why don’t you get out of here,” Vicki said.

“I didn’t get a chance to tell you goodbye. Guess I was away when you took your stuff out. I would’ve lent you a hand.”

“I didn’t need a hand. We had some local movers take care of it.”

“We? You and Melvin?” He squinted across the table. “She move in with you, lover boy?”

Melvin’s face flooded with scarlet.

“You’re one lucky fella,” Dexter told him. “She’s a nice piece of ass.”

Vicki felt a rage growing inside her.

Melvin glared at Dexter. “You don’t say shit like that.”

“Aw, isn’t that sweet.” He smiled at Vicki. “You got yourself a regular knight in shining armor, that’s what you got. Nutty as a nigger-toe, but he’s sure full of chivalry. You ever notice, girl, you got a regular habit of attracting crazy folks? You got your bosom buddy, Ass, and now you got your lover boy, Melvin. Both of ‘em mad as Hatters. How come you think that is? You got a smell or something, draws lunatics?”

She didn’t trust herself to speak. She just stared at him.

“You better get outa here,” Melvin warned.

Dexter ignored him. “Must be your aroma.” He leaned sideways. His shoulder pressed against her. He lowered his head, sniffing. “Knew it. Seems to come from down farther.” He hunched down, still sniffing. The side of his face brushed against her breast.

Vicki grabbed his hair and jerked his head back and dumped her full mug of beer onto his lap. He gasped and flinched rigid. He stared at her, eyes bulging, mouth open. “Why, you little cunt,” he muttered. Then he snatched up his own mug of beer and swung it at her. For a moment, Vicki thought he intended to smash the glass into her face. But it stopped short. The beer flew out, stinging her eyes, splashing over her face and ears.

As she wiped her eyes, Dexter snapped, “Sit down, you fucking maniac. She had it coming.”

“You’ll get it for this,” Melvin said.

“Oh, I’m trembling. I’m shaking in my boots.”

“What’re you doing, you scum-fucking trash heap!”

Ace’s voice.

Vicki stopped rubbing her eyes and looked. Dexter was on his feet, face to face with Ace. Almost face to face. She was three or four inches taller. “I didn’t do nothing,” he said. His voice sounded just a bit whiny, as if he were a schoolkid caught in a nasty act by his teacher.

“Looks to me like you pissed yourself.”

“Get out of my way.” He tried to step past her, but she blocked his way. “I’ve got no business with you, Alice.”

“I saw what you did. Tell Vicki you’re sorry. In fact, apologize to both of them.”

“You gonna make me?”

“I’m going to count to three, turd-face. One. Two.”

He whirled around. “Okay, I’m sorry.”

“Buy us another pitcher.”

“I didn’t use your beer, goddamn it!”

“That’s not an issue. Just give me five bucks for another pitcher, and we’ll forget this ever happened.”

“You’re gonna push me too far, you overgrown…”

“Overgrown what?” Ace asked.

“Nothing,” he muttered.

Ace snapped her fingers. Dexter took out his wallet, removed a five dollar bill, and handed it to her. “Thanks,” she said. “Now, get out of here.”

Dexter turned away and walked into the noisy, milling crowd.

Ace set the bowl of peanuts on the table. She bent over and used a napkin to wipe a few drops of beer of the red vinyl cushion, then sat down. Smiling from Melvin to Vicki, she cracked open a shell. She tossed a pair of peanuts into her mouth, chewed a few times, and said, “Can’t leave you two alone for a minute.”

“That dirty, toe-sucking pig,” Melvin said.

“Such language,” said Ace.