“You have any way to get a hold of him?” Veronica’s heart leapt in her chest as the situation became startlingly more real.
Eddie made a so-so gesture. “He used to use me for emergency cleanups, but not much lately.”
“They sell drugs, these Dark Lords?” Jenny asked. “Like meth?”
“No. Don’t even think about it. I promised Carl to watch over you and I’m not going to let you buy drugs from a bunch of psychos.”
Eddie waved off the idea. “She wouldn’t be buying from him, anyway. Unless she’s got a million lying around and wants to go into business.”
“All I’ve got is a debit card.” Jenny returned to her phone.
“Well, then where do I find him? Do you know where he hangs out? Where he lives? Do you know any of that?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t. He called me when he needed my services and never with the same number. Seamus might know.”
That wasn’t what Veronica wanted to hear. “Seamus isn’t very happy with me right now.”
“Did you tell him about Mary?” Jenny asked.
Eddie got deadly serious at the mention of her name. “What about Mary?”
“He called me from Mary’s phone. Says I’m on his naughty list because I wouldn’t take his deal. Did you?”
“I never turned anyone, but I did a few questionable things for Seamus’s spooks locally. That’s how I found you. He promised that if I did exactly what I was told to do, I could become mortal again. And that’s exactly what happened. I just didn’t expect it to be quite that easy.”
“Why did you agree to it?”
Eddie had the good grace to look slightly guilty at that. “He kept me well supplied with food. I trusted him. I had no reason not to. He seemed to know what was what and he had blood. Lots of it. I don’t know about you, Veronica, but I was hungry.” He coughed.
“I know.” She bent forward and clasped her head between her hands. Tears welled in her eyes. “He has my daughter.” Her voice cracked and she reached for her trusty towel.
“Oh, god. Listen. He needs us. I take that back. He needs you, just as much as you need him.”
“Seamus seems to know Kevin. Says I won’t be able to get near him without his help.”
Eddie sat back with a thoughtful expression. “You won’t. But maybe we can get Kevin to come to you.”
48
Veronica approached the counter of Sun City Tan, while Jenny thumbed through a dog-eared magazine at the front bench. A leather-faced blonde stubbed out her cigarette and flung open the front door, sounding a buzzer throughout the tiny reception area.
“Smoke break. Sorry to keep you gals waiting. Is this your first time with us?” A plume of smoke rose from her lined lips.
“No, ma’am,” Veronica said. “She won’t be tanning, but I will. I prefer the sunless tanning. You do that here?”
“Yes, ma’am. Did you shave and exfoliate this morning?” The woman eyed Veronica’s face skeptically as if hoping to dissuade her.
“Nope. I can’t manage to do either of those things.” Veronica set her purse on the counter. “Here’s the deal. I want to be as unrecognizable as you can make me. I want to leave here looking like I’ve been dumped in the dirt.”
The woman shuffled behind the counter, chuckling softly to herself. “Dirt, huh?”
“Or Cheetos dust. I really don’t mind if I end up looking smeary and uneven. In fact, I prefer it if I look that way.” She pulled out her wallet and laid a twenty on the counter.
“It’s thirty-five.” The woman rubbed her dark, freckled arm, tapping her acrylic nails on the counter. “Is this some sort of joke or something?”
“Put it on this.” Jenny placed her debit card on the counter.
“No, this is absolutely not a joke. I take my spray tanning very seriously.”
The woman slid Jenny’s Visa through the card machine. “Sign here.” She sighed and squinted up at Veronica.
Jenny leaned forward and scribbled her name on the slip. “She’ll tip you with cash if you do what she wants.” Jenny leaned in and whispered in Veronica’s ear. “Whatever you do, don’t kill her.”
“Okay, let’s do this.” The woman ambled from behind the counter with a heavy sigh. “But don’t bite my head off if you don’t like how it looks.”
Veronica smiled. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
49
“You’re not convincing anybody, dude. Your skin looks way more dirty than your clothes.” Jenny squatted in a patch of dried mud masquerading as a lawn. “That’s why everyone thinks we’re full of shit and won’t let us hang.” She rubbed her jeans with handfuls of the parched earth, then rolled around in it for good measure.
“We are full of shit. Why are you doing that?” Veronica stared down at Jenny over the newly acquired contents of her shopping cart.
“This is what my theater teacher would call method acting. If we want people to believe we’re homeless, we need to get dirty. We need to smell!”
“No one is ever going to believe that we’re homeless. I should have never listened to Eddie’s crazy idea. If Kevin likes to hunt, he’ll have to hunt me in my hotel room.” Veronica looked towards the overpass. A small group of people gathered in front of three makeshift tents. Near them, a man holding a cardboard sign peered passively at the drivers held captive by the red light on the service road.
“I’m ready whenever you are.” Jenny rose from the dirt and stretched her arms to the sky.
“I’ve done some ridiculous things in my life, but pretending to be homeless to attract an ex-boyfriend is a new low for me.” Veronica kneeled into the dirt, then laid on her back. She tentatively moved her arms and legs back and forth, making a dirt angel. “I will be so glad when all of this is over.” Her cheap, mismatched thrift store clothing now looked as mottled as the complexion of her spray-tanned face.
“Me too, because honestly, all this wandering around without a bed or a shower kind of sucks. The only thing sustaining my interest is the fact that I don’t have to go to rehab.” Jenny ran her fingers through her unkempt hair. “I take that back. Watching you get your first taste of bacon is going to be totally worth it.” Jenny climbed up on the cart and posed for takeoff. “Time’s ticking, woman. Let’s roll.”
Veronica stared up into the darkening, cloudless sky. “It doesn’t even seem like bacon is a possibility. And Ingrid. What have I…”
“You are one apology away from bacon and your daughter, bitch. Let’s do this before I book a room at the no-tell motel down the block.” Jenny pushed the cart forward and drifted slowly down the sidewalk.
Veronica maneuvered herself into a standing position and walked slowly behind the rickety cart. Even though Jenny was raised in a McMansion with a full-time soccer mom, she would have a much easier time fitting in on the street with the many addicts rooted in its cracks and crevices.
A chopper rumbled by and stopped at the light. Veronica turned to look at the leather-clad rider. His salt-and-pepper hair was tightly cropped, but his neatly trimmed goatee was pure white. There was no way it could be Kevin, but there was a strange familiarity about him. He handed something small to the man holding the sign. It was more than likely drugs, as he quickly deposited it in the front pocket of his tattered, drooping denims. As soon as the light turned green, the bike peeled out like a fire had been lit under it.
“Why do men do that? Do they think they’re impressing us with their ability to make noise?” Jenny pushed the cart into the street.
Veronica checked for oncoming traffic. “They do it because they do it. The rest is just a story.” She followed Jenny into the litter-strewn street. “You can’t judge a person by what they look like or the dumb shit they do. Maybe he’s late for his colonoscopy. We’ll never know.”
Jenny cleared the street and pushed forward to the tents. Veronica allowed several feet between them, but Jenny’s voice rang among the ruins. “What’s up?” she said with the nonchalance of youth and inexperi
ence. “Would it be cool if we hung here tonight?”
“Suit yourself.” A young woman picked at her acne-covered chin, then pointed behind her. “The tents are off limits, unless you brought party favors.”
“And when you say party favors, what do you mean by that?” Veronica sauntered behind Jenny and placed her arm protectively around her shoulder.
“Balloons and streamers. Gah, mom.” Jenny rolled her eyes at the strawberry blonde. “I’m Jenny and she’s just bitter.”
Two men laughed. “She’s funny,” one said and guzzled from his sweating can of Colt 45.
The man with the sign ambled over. “If you want to stay under this pass, you have to earn your keep. It’s a good spot and we don’t let just anybody stay here.” He held out the greasy, well-worn sign.
Veronica didn’t trust Jenny alone with these strangers. “Why don’t you do it for a while and I’ll do it after.”
Jenny grabbed the dirty sign and read the message scrawled in black marker. “Homeless and Hungry. Anything Helps. Bless you.”
“Is this your first time?”
Jenny nodded.
“Just stand there and look sad. You look just homeless enough that you’ll probably make bank. I’m Jess, that’s Peaches, and those two clowns are BJ and PJ. They’re brothers.”
Jenny waved meekly at them. “Jenny.”
Jess smiled with expectation as Jenny trotted across the street and stood at the end of the median. A black SUV pulled up to the light. The tinted driver’s window rolled down and a white braceleted arm handed over a bottle of water and a crisp bill. As the vehicle drove off Jenny waved the twenty in the air. “Can you believe it? She gave me a twenty!”
Jess reached into his pocket and handed a tiny baggie to Peaches. She jumped to her feet and ducked into the largest tent.
Veronica watched another driver extend their arm towards Jenny. She eyed the patch of concrete next to Jess and gingerly set herself down. The whole area stunk of urine and desperation.
“You two together?” Jess asked.
“Yes. She’s my daughter.” Veronica flashed him a look.
“Have you tried the shelter over on Third Avenue? It might be more up your alley.” He wiped his nose on the back of his hand.
“We might go there later tonight, but…”
“Their beds fill up pretty fast. If you want to eat or shower, you gotta get there early. They’ve got a pretty good setup.” Jess looked at the tent and licked his gums.
“Yeah, but then they want to preach at you for an hour. If I want to go to church, I’ll go to a goddamn church.” BJ crushed his beer can and popped open another. “You want one?” He held out a beer to Veronica. His red filmy eyes made her sick to her stomach.
“Thank you, but I’m good. So, Jess. That guy on the bike…”
“What about him? You need something?” Jess scratched at his poorly-tattooed arm. “They deliver.”
“I saw that. Is he in some kind of motorcycle gang?”
“Yeah. A lot of them are. But it depends.” His voice trailed off as he looked towards the tent.
“On what?” Veronica watched Jenny cupping her hands to take change from a guy in a blue pickup.
“On how you want to pay for whatever it is you want. What’s your poison?” He leaned in closer. His body reeked of the unmistakable stench of meth.
Veronica lowered her voice. “Heroin, Oxy, whatever.”
“Oh, I see, you like to chill.” He looked her in the eye. “Heroin? That shit’s expensive. You got money for that?” He eyed her up and down as if trying to figure out where it was hidden.
“Looks like my daughter’s making out pretty well over there. What are my payment options?”
Peaches skipped out of the tent and handed the baggie back to Jess. “I’m going to the store. Any of you assholes want anything?”
Jess eyed the baggie. “You are such a fucking hog.” He shoved the nearly empty bag in his jeans pocket.
She placed her hands defensively on her hips and flipped her greasy hair. “I earned it. That freak took two pints.”
“Hey, it’s better than having to touch his ancient dick. Am I right?” Jess handed Peaches a wad of crumpled ones. “Get me a Hot Pocket and a Coke.”
Veronica listened in disbelief. Pints. After only two days of wandering the streets, they would have a way in.
50
Paranoid, Veronica watched Jenny as she slept, anxious to make sure she didn’t disappear into one of the tents or onto the back of someone’s bike. She didn’t trust the night, nor did she trust the people within their camp.
As the sky darkened and the traffic slowed, Jess animatedly crept out of his tent like a mustachioed burglar in a vaudeville play. His exaggerated attempt at silence made Veronica feel even more on guard than usual. She acknowledged his odorous presence with a quiet, “hey.”
“Can’t sleep?” he replied.
“Nope. You?” She rubbed at her eyes.
“I don’t think I’ve slept more than a few hours in over a year.” He patted at his pockets, searching for something.
“Meth will do that to you.”
“It doesn’t do it to her. That woman could sleep through a tornado. I don’t understand how she does it.” Pulling out a crumpled pack of Winstons from his shirt pocket, he tapped out a cigarette and held out the pack towards Veronica.
“I don’t smoke.” She rubbed her chin, feeling suddenly emboldened. “Maybe it’s the fact that she’s donating her blood. That could tire a person out real fast.”
“You’re probably right. Hell, we can’t even sell our blood as often as those assholes take it from her.” He took another drag and ashed into the wind.
“Why do you think they want her blood? That seems sort of weird, don’t you think?”
Jess sat down, eyeing the street. “I think it’s some sort of biker initiation or something.” He lit another cigarette. “Hell, I don’t know. Can’t say that I even care what they do. All I know is that they’ve got the best shit, and blood’s a lot easier to come by than cash.”
Jenny sat up, clutching a cheap fleece blanket around her shoulders. “I’ll totally make a donation for some crystal. Tell them I have hemochromatosis. Apparently, they love that shit.”
Veronica flashed Jenny a “shut it” look.
“I’d give you a bump, but Peaches is a greedy little bitch.” He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. “It’s three, but they’ll probably come pick you up if you’re cool with that.”
“She may be cool with that, but I’m not. I’ve got blood.” Veronica stammered.
“Chill, lady.” Jess squinted at his phone and dialed the number. “Just so you know, I get a cut for arranging this deal. That’s how it works.” He looked at Jenny, who nodded in agreement.
They both leaned in as Jess waited for someone to pick up. “It’s Jess. I’ve got two.” He lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. “Yeah, they’re chicks. One’s older, not bad looking. Could use a shower. The younger one’s…”
“Wait a second, what exactly are you arranging?” Veronica interrupted.
“Hold on.” Jess muted the phone. “They ain’t gonna fuck you or anything, they just don’t want me sending any disgusting skanks. Pipe down.” He returned to the phone. “Okay. Yeah, thanks man.” He shoved the phone in his jeans pocket and turned to Jenny. “Dude’s about three miles away. You ready?”
“What about me?” Veronica stood. “She’s not going anywhere without me.”
“You both can’t fit on one bike. There’s another dude coming for you and he’ll be here in twenty. Chill. Seriously. She’ll be fine. They’re pretty fucking clinical about it. Way better than those stupid bitches down at the blood bank.” He crushed the cigarette and threw it in the gutter.
Veronica felt powerless, as if she were rapidly ascending that first hill on a rickety wooden coaster and there was nothing she could do but clutch the lap bar and surrender to the drop.
“Will you
excuse us?” Veronica grabbed Jenny by the arm and led her across the street.
“What is the matter with you? This is what you want, right? They’re taking us right to Kevin Black.” Jenny’s eyes were wild, almost ravenous.
“These men are dangerous.” Veronica lowered her voice. “Even before they were vampires, and I don’t feel comfortable letting you go in there alone.”
“Listen, as soon as I get there, I’ll text you the location. You got a new phone, right?”
“Yeah, but…”
“Plus, I’ve got the gun in my backpack.” Jenny whispered.
“That gun won’t save you. It’ll just piss them off. But it’s not going to come to that.”
“It will be fine. Where’s your faith?”
Veronica forced a smile. Jenny was right. Steps one, two and three. I can’t, you can, and I’m going to let you. She shivered at the loud thunder of a chopper in the distance. “You’ll be fine,” she decided out loud. “Just keep your mouth shut. And please, whatever you do, don’t snort any of that shit.” Veronica embraced Jenny in an awkward hug. Under the dirt, the girl reeked of iron rich blood and fear. Her scent would be intoxicating to Kevin and his crew.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll be fine, alright? Take it.” She handed Veronica the backpack and looked towards the approaching bike. “He’s here.” She flashed her phone and quickly pocketed it. “I’ll text you.”
Veronica paced the underpass as the glowing screen of her phone faded to black. “What’s taking so long?”
Jess dug into the baggie that the driver handed him. “Fuck if I know. They probably sent Randy. Dude drives like an eighty-five-year-old woman.”
The skin on the back of her neck prickled at the sound of that name. “What does this Randy look like?”
“Like one of those ZZ Top dudes. Old, long hair, beard.”
“Any tattoos?”
“Yeah, he’s got this stupid swastika on his wrist.”
Veronica gasped. “Oh, well, I’m Jewish. That won’t work. There’s no way. In fact…” She swung the backpack over her shoulder and crossed the street. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to the shelter to get clean. Tell Jenny where I went when she gets back.” She darted across the darkened street to the Kwiki Mart.
Forever 51 Page 26
