Unhooking the Moon (21 page)

Ice sat up. ‘What did the grizzly bear say?'

‘“Beep off! Go on, beep off or I'll beat your beeping brains in!” That's what he said, Ice! And do you know what the moral of this story is?' But Ice was laughing too much to listen.

‘What's the point of listening to the legend if you don't hear the moral?' said the Rat.

Ice tried to control his laughter. ‘Sorry, Marie Claire, but I think I already know the moral.'

‘I made you laugh,' said the Rat. ‘Now you have to do something for me.'

‘What?'

‘I want you to sing me a song.'

Ice laughed again. ‘Maybe Mia's right! Maybe we should have kids!'

The Rat gave Ice her scary kid look.

‘What, you're serious? I'm more of a rapper. Would you like me to rap for you?'

‘I'd like a song, please.'

Ice made a grim face. ‘All right, let's do this.' Getting up he attached a laptop to his music system. ‘What would you like me to sing?'

‘Sing something by the one and only Frank Sinatra,' said the Rat.

‘I've got thousands of songs on my karaoke system, but I only have one by Sinatra.' Ice clicked on his laptop and picked up a mike. ‘OK, here we go.'

Me and the Rat sat on the sofa. Music oozed from the quad speakers and the words came up on Ice's laptop. ‘That old black magic has me in its spell …'

It was the funniest thing I'd ever heard! Ice, the new star of rap, couldn't sing a note! I laughed so hard, tears came into my eyes. He even looked serious like he was trying to do his best. I felt sorry for him in a way, but that made it funnier.

The Rat grabbed the other mike and, jumping up on the couch, she sang along. Then I jumped up
and sang next to her. We went right through to the end of the song and then we gave ourselves a round of applause.

‘Oh man, I haven't laughed so hard in years!'

‘Why not, Ice?' asked the Rat.

‘I'm not happy, I guess.'

‘Haven't you ever been happy, Ice?' asked the Rat.

‘I was when my mother was alive. She was a great woman, strong and intelligent. You know she'd never let me hang out on the street. Church on Sunday, football on Saturday, and boxing three times a week. She took care of my education too. Once a fortnight she gave me a book to read. When I'd finished I'd have to write an essay about it with no spelling mistakes. By the time I was fourteen I'd read every book that Maya Angelou had ever written.

‘I can still remember telling her: one day I'll make it. I'll get you out of these projects and I'll buy you a nice apartment. But she got cancer when I was fourteen, died when I was fifteen. And here I am,' said Ice looking around him. ‘I'll be able to pay for this place with the money from the next CD. And I bought that Range Rover I always wanted. And I've got gold chains, diamond rings, and Rolex watches. They mean nothing to me. But to Mia things are everything.
Having things makes you someone. Strange, the happiest time of my life was when my mother was alive and we were living in the projects. I'd go back there tomorrow if I could be as happy.' When Ice had finished speaking his head went down.

‘Don't be sad, Ice.' The Rat got up and gave him a hug. She could be affectionate at times.

Ice smiled. ‘Hey, I'm sorry for wimping out on you kids like that. I don't know what came over me.'

‘It's OK, Ice,' I said.

‘Anyway, it's getting late. Look, why don't you kids go get ready for bed. I'll come and say good night when you're done.'

We wandered into the bedroom and closed the door behind us.

‘Ice is lonely,' said the Rat. ‘But he won't be lonely if we're his friends.'

‘He has friends.'

The Rat went in the bathroom. ‘Not real friends like us.' She came out wearing her soccer kit and dived under the duvet.

‘Everyone decent?' Ice knocked on the door and came in. ‘Listen, I've been thinking. Tomorrow I'm going to see what I can do about finding this uncle of yours. I don't know what I'll do. But I'll hire a private
detective if I have to.'

‘You're too good to us, Ice,' said the Rat.

‘Just doing the right thing, Marie Claire. Can't go wrong doing the right thing. You kids say your prayers?'

‘Sure, Ice,' said the Rat. ‘And I said a prayer for you so you'll be happy again.'

‘Thanks, Marie Claire. One of the nicest things you can do is pray for someone. Right, you kids get a good night's sleep and I'll see you in the morning.'

When the lights went out, we lay there thinking.

‘This is nice,' said the Rat. ‘But it's not quite the den, if you know what I mean.'

‘Don't tell me you miss that damn den!'

The Rat pulled the quilt over her head and laughed. She was just winding me up.

It must have been the early hours of the morning when the living-room light lit up the bedroom. I kept my eyes half closed but standing in the doorway I saw the silhouette of a woman.

‘Are you kidding!'

‘What are you doing, Mia, you'll wake them up!' Ice closed the door and it went dark. I jumped out of bed and woke the Rat.

‘Is it morning already?'

‘No, but Mia's home and she's not happy!'

Sneaking over to the door we opened it an inch. Mia and Ice were sitting on the sofa.

‘Are you insane? You found two white kids sleeping in the park and you brought them home! Do you know what people will say? What they'll think! What if the media gets hold of it?'

‘They were there when I was doing the interviews. I told them they were my godchildren.'

‘What happens when they find out they're not? Ice, you have to get rid of them. This could ruin your career. Everything you've worked for. Everything
I've
worked for.'

‘What a beep!' said the Rat.

‘Shush.'

‘They have an uncle in New York. Tomorrow I'm going to look for him.'

‘Fine, but get rid of them for now. Call the cops, Ice. I'll say I found them sleeping rough and I brought them home. That way it won't look so bad.'

‘I don't care how it looks! I did the right thing!'

‘I can see that, baby. Your heart was in the right place. But you're not thinking, Ice. The press could have a field day with this.'

‘And what are they going to say? That I brought
two kids home because I didn't want them sleeping in the street, the way I did after my mother died!'

Mia took hold of his hand. ‘They don't have to say anything, Ice. All they have to do is tell the facts with a few choice words and you'll spend the rest of your life trying to clear your name. You're a good man, Ice, but you're naïve. I have to protect you now. We have to call the cops. Let the proper authorities take care of them.'

Ice looked sad. ‘Let them sleep now. They're tired. I'll call the cops first thing in the morning.'

‘If you don't call them, Ice, I will.'

‘I will. Come on, let's go to bed.'

I closed the door. The Rat switched on the bedside lamp and sat on the bed. She looked as sad as Ice. ‘We have to leave, Bob. They'll put us in a home. I couldn't handle it.'

The thought of leaving the apartment was scary. But I knew we had to go. Without another word we started to pack. The Rat got our stuff from the bathroom while I collected the cellphones. Then, quietly, we shoved our clothes in our rucksacks.

When we were finished the Rat wrote Ice a note and read it to me. ‘“Dear Ice. Thank you for your hospitality. We were very happy here. We will return when we find our uncle. Love. Bob and Marie Claire
DeBillier” … What do you think?'

‘It's good. Let's go.'

We put on our rucksacks and, opening the bedroom door, we listened. It was quiet.

‘I should have written something bad about that beeping Mia!' whispered the Rat. ‘I've never liked her! And she's nowhere near as good-looking as she thinks she is!'

‘Shush … Come on.'

We crept through the dark living room as quietly as we could, but our clothes swished as we walked. It's amazing how loud things sound when you don't want them to. The Rat unlocked the front door and we crept out into the brightly lit hallway. Closing the door behind us we scurried to the elevator and tapped on the button. I kept looking back at the apartment. I was dreading Ice would come after us, but he didn't. When the elevator came we got in.

‘The doorman!' said the Rat as we descended.

‘Oh no.'

When the elevator doors opened we sneaked a look around the corner. He was sitting in a chair behind his desk.

‘He's asleep,' whispered the Rat. ‘I can hear him snoring.'

We sneaked past the doorman and pulled at the glass door, but it wouldn't open. ‘We're trapped,' I said. Then I saw a button on the wall and pointed at it. The Rat pressed the button and the door unlocked. We ran out and into that dreaded park.

‘Don't go to the den,' I said. ‘Ice might follow us there.'

We ran across one of the roads that ran through the park and, climbing over a small fence, we headed towards a big tree. Once there I slid down the trunk and the Rat slid down next to me. She looked up at Ice's apartment. ‘From the park to the penthouse and back again! Un-beeping-believable!'

There was a loud roll of thunder and it began to rain. I looked up at the sky. ‘Doesn't it ever stop raining in this city?' We pulled our plastic jackets and baseball caps from our rucksacks and put them on. Then wrapping our sleeping bags around us we huddled up. The rain dripped on the branches and tapped on the leaves, but it stayed dry at the base of the tree. That was something to be thankful for. But then a cop car cruised through the park with its spotlight shining. We watched it, ready to run, but it moved away and went out of sight.

‘We'll stay here until it gets light. We can't be seen
from the road and I don't think the weirdest weirdo will come out in this weather.'

‘That beeping bimbo. I hope he dumps her!' The Rat shivered and mumbled miserably in French.

I felt miserable as well. I looked around at the dark and the damp, and at the rain highlighted by the street lights. It was hard being back in the park after living in Ice's apartment. And I felt frightened. I hated being frightened.

‘And I was having such a nice dream,' said the Rat.

‘Why don't you try and sleep? I'll stay awake, just in case that scary guy comes back.'

‘Ah beep him! I bet he's in a nice cosy police cell!' Putting her head on my shoulder, she closed her eyes. And before long she was asleep.

I felt lonely then, and more afraid. Looking into the darkness I said a few silent prayers for our safety. ‘Everything's going to be OK,' I whispered. But the fear took its toll after a while and I began to feel sorry for myself. I was desperate for the sunrise. I checked the time on my cellphone. There was a message from Little Joe. ‘Miss Gabriela Felipe Mendez told me that you and Marie Claire were on TV with the Iceman. All of Winnipeg is talking about it!'

It was going to be a long night. The rain still fell
and I still felt scared. But thinking about Gabriela and all our friends seeing us on the TV gave me such a boost. And then, somehow, I felt like I wasn't alone.

When I woke it was sunny. The Rat was standing with her back to me.

‘What time is it?' I asked. She just stood there. ‘Hey I'm talking to you … Right, that's it. I'm not telling you the news.'

She wobbled and then her legs gave way. She collapsed hitting the back of her head on the ground. I jumped up and grabbed her. She began to shake uncontrollably. ‘Don't worry I'm with you!' Her teeth clamped shut and saliva came out of her mouth. ‘You have to be brave!' Her hands clawed into fists and her feet dug at the dirt. The spasms grew more violent. Her eyes rolled back and she groaned in pain.

‘Help!' I shouted

But there was no one around. Her face turned white and then it turned blue. ‘Breathe! Breathe!' I shouted. But she couldn't, and she wouldn't stop
shaking. I threw my arms around her and held her tight. ‘Come on you have to breathe! Think about the paparazzi and the prairies! Ms Mountshaft and the ballet! Think about Ice and your acting career! Think about Tommy and Harold and Running Elk who you can never get on with! Think about finding our long-lost uncle! Think about the Old Man and how good he was! And how he loved us! And how I wish he was here with us now!' She shook a little less. The groaning sound died away and the bad blue colour left her face. The spasms settled down to a tremor and then they stopped altogether.

I held her until her jaw unlocked and then I held her some more. She was wheezing a little as she breathed but she was coming out of it. I wiped the saliva from her mouth and the tears from my eyes. Then I smoothed my hand over her forehead. When her eyes opened I rested my head against hers. ‘If you want a mocha, my little rodent sister, I'll buy you one. There's no need for all this.' I put my jacket under her head and looked around me. We were alone.

She lay quietly for a few minutes and then she started mumbling. I couldn't understand what she was saying at first, but then the words came out right. ‘Take me home, Bob! Something bad is going to happen!'

‘What?'

‘I don't know but I'm scared!'

‘Come on, I thought you were tough.'

‘You're going to leave me, Bob!'

‘I'll never leave you. Never!'

She tried to sit up. I helped her sit up and then I knelt behind her for support. She looked around, dazed.

‘We're in the park, we left Ice's apartment last night because Mia came home … Look, I'll text Joey and tell him you're not well. He should be back soon anyway. And I'll text Tommy. They're our friends. They'll help us find Uncle Jerome. And if we can't find him in two days we'll go home. How's that?'