The Many (12 page)

“Is that your hometown?”

“Yeah. It's a dump – that’s why I left. But it seems a waste to work a crappy job here when I could be doing the same thing back home, rent free.”

“So your family is still there?”

“Well, it's just my mom now.... “ Karl lost his train of thought. He suddenly remembered Stacey, and the reason he was still in Portland, and the asshole doctor he was hoping to expose. He stared out into the night, feeling his eyes glaze over.

“Sorry, am I being too intrusive?” Maxine said. “I didn't mean to upset you.”

“I'm not upset,” he said, pulling his eyes back into the room. “I just had a…I don’t know. A flashback.”

Maxine nodded sympathetically, as if she knew exactly what he was talking about. Karl watched her face blur and then come back into focus. Had he mentioned Stacey? No – he was pretty sure he hadn’t. So why was Maxine suddenly acting like a grief counselor?

“You seem tense,” she said. “Finish your beer – it’ll help you relax.”

“I’m not thirsty.”

“C’mon, humor me,” she laughed. “I hate to see good alcohol go to waste.”

“Sorry, it tasted funny.”

Maxine’s laughter died, and she looked at him in silence. Then she drained her wine and placed the glass on the coffee table, sitting up on the sofa. Her legs were crossed so her dress rode even further up her thigh. She traced a finger along the inside of her slender calf muscle, accentuating its perfect shape. “The sooner you drink up, the sooner we can get started.”

Her eyes lowered to Karl’s bulging crotch. He shifted in his seat, feeling the heat come on. He knew he was jumping through hoops but he grabbed the beer anyway, ready to do whatever she asked…. 

Suddenly, there was a loud thud. Karl frowned, looking down at his empty right hand. The bottle had slipped through his fingers and onto the hardwood floor. It hadn’t broken but the contents were leaking out.

“You idiot,” Maxine snapped, jumping off the sofa.

Karl kept staring at the leaking beer. What the hell was wrong with him? His brain was buzzing but his muscles felt heavy and tired. Even wiggling his fingers required effort. A few sips of beer shouldn’t have hit him so hard.

When he looked up, the light in the apartment seemed different. He had to remind himself where he was.

“Stay there,” Maxine said from over his shoulder, her voice insistent. “I’ll get you another.”

“No, don’t bother,” Karl said, deciding it was time to leave. He was slightly alarmed when his legs wouldn’t respond.

“Where are you going, silly?” Maxine said, suddenly right behind him. She put a firm hand on his shoulder, holding him down in his armchair.

“What's happening?” Karl asked.

“Nothing’s happening,” Maxine said softly, running her fingers up through his hair. “You've had a long day, that's all. Maybe you should rest for a while. Recharge your batteries.”

Karl closed his eyes, relaxing under her touch. “Mmm, that feels nice.”

“You should go to sleep now,” she encouraged. “I'll be here when you wake up, and then we’ll have our fun.”

Karl opened his mouth to protest, but Maxine’s magic fingers proved irresistible. He felt so blissful and relaxed. He slowed his breath, allowing the darkness to pull him under.

Just then, his cell phone buzzed in this jeans’ pocket. Karl's eyes popped open, his mind whirling with confusion. It was like being woken from a dream, even though he'd only closed his eyes for a few seconds. He pulled out his cell, reading the text message on screen. It was from Ravi:
u fucking her yet???
The message helped to jolt Karl out of his stupor. He looked around the living room. Maxine was nowhere in sight, although he could hear her voice drifting down the stairs. He strained his ears. There was a second voice – a man’s. That lying bitch….

Karl struggled to his feet, using a standing lamp for balance. His legs felt like they were filled with sand, but he had to make them work. He didn’t want to be in the apartment when Maxine’s mystery guest made an appearance.

He staggered out of the living area and into the kitchen, propping himself up on whatever surface he could lay his hands on. His feet tripped over the steps up to the entrance level, but he went with the momentum, shoulder charging the front door and clutching the handle to stay upright. He knew if he fell over, he’d never get up again. Fumbling with the deadlock, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

Karl stumbled out of the front door and into the red-papered hallway, his numb feet barely recognizing the floor beneath him. His hands slapped the walls as he zig-zagged towards the elevators. It was like trying to walk along the corridor of a heavily tossing ship. Reaching the elevators, he jabbed the down button repeatedly. The number above the door slowly crawled up from 1. At 4, he dared a look over his shoulder.

“Where are you going?” Maxine asked. She was walking down the hallway towards him. The shock almost sent him to the ground. “You don’t look well.”

“Stay back,” he warned. “You fucking bitch – you drugged me.”

She laughed, still approaching. “Don’t be ridiculous – you’ve just had too much to drink. You kids really can’t handle your alcohol.”

“I’ve hardly had anything….” he said, spinning around when the elevator pinged behind him. The door opened, and Karl flinched, thinking a crazed passenger was coming towards him. But he realized it was his own reflection in the elevator’s mirrored wall, his panicked expression almost unrecognizable. He hurried inside and pressed the lobby button.

Maxine was standing motionless in the hallway, no longer trying to stop him. They stared silently at each other as the elevator door stayed stubbornly open. Just then, a man dressed in black emerged from Maxine’s apartment – tall, gray-haired, pale eyes. Not old, yet not so young. His shining gaze fixed on Karl, and he began storming down the hallway towards him.

Karl pressed hard on the close door button, panic surging through him. He knew he was in no position to defend himself. The elevator door finally started to close, sliding shut just as the tall man flung out his arm.

Karl fell back against the elevator wall, his heart in his mouth. He knew who Maxine’s mystery guest was. He’d been standing outside Karl’s hostel two nights ago. The same tall, gray-haired man who’d haunted his sister’s dreams just before she’d killed herself.

Ivan. 

12

Aunt Rosaline had lent her fifteen hundred dollars to tide her over but once that was gone, Dawn didn't know what she was going to do for money. A quick search online told her that as a teenage dropout with no kids, she wasn't eligible for welfare. And while Rosaline had helped freeze the mortgage payments on the house, there was no cash coming in. She needed to make the fifteen hundred bucks last.

It was easier said than done. A trip to the supermarket had set her back over a hundred bucks and she'd just opened up a pile of bills demanding another three-fifty. Isobel had always delayed paying her bills until the last minute and it seemed another month’s delay would get the power and phone cut off. At the rate Dawn was going, she’d be broke by the end of the week.

Dawn stared at the mud-brown car on screen, wondering how she could justify the expense. She wouldn’t have to pay cash, but at $1,600, the 1998 Honda Civic would max out her credit card, giving her no wriggle room if she needed funds at short notice. And judging by the knockdown price, Dawn guessed the “runs like a dream” claim by the dealer was a gross exaggeration.

But she
needed
a car – to get around town, to visit the police, to scour the streets for Isobel. She felt even more helpless without any transport of her own. What if she got a call from Isobel in the middle of the night, saying she needed to be picked up from some dive bar in Boise, Idaho? She’d have to check bus schedules, waste money on taxis – all the while losing precious time. A car was virtually a necessity.

She was about to contact the dealer and arrange for a test drive when her cell phone rang. She answered cautiously, remembering the last time she received a call from an unknown number.

“Hi, is that Dawn Flint?” a woman’s voice replied.

Dawn breathed out. It wasn’t Maxine. “Yes, who’s this?”

“It’s Lila, from Sweet Violets. You didn’t reply to my last message so I thought I’d give you a call. I hope that’s okay.”

Lila,
Dawn scowled
.
The punky graphic designer who’d betrayed her to Maxine. What the hell was she calling for? “Haven’t you done enough damage already?” Dawn said frostily.

“Excuse me?”

“I know you snitched to Maxine. She rang me right after I e-mailed you.”

“Me, snitch to Maxine?” she laughed. “I haven’t spoken to that crazy bitch since our date. And I definitely wouldn’t tip her off. I even complained to the website about her.”

Dawn paused, her thoughts shifting. She’d presumed Lila was the snitch but thinking back, she’d mentioned Maxine’s name to three other woman on Sweet Violets. One of them hadn’t even replied.             

“Oh God, I’m sorry,” Dawn said, realizing she had a potential ally on the line. “I guess Maxine got me rattled and I jumped to the wrong conclusion.”

“That’s all right. I thought maybe I’d offended you or something.”

“No, no. I’m just battle-weary, that’s all. I really need to get out more.”

Lila laughed. “Well, like I said in my message, anytime you want to catch up for a coffee….”

“Yeah sorry, I haven’t logged in for a while. But coffee sounds good.”

“Cool. You’re in the city, right? There’s a coffee shop on Madison, not far from the Historical Society…. ”

“Addict,” Dawn guessed. It had been one of Isobel’s favorite haunts in the Cultural District.

“Addict, yeah. What day is good for you?”

“How about today? This afternoon.”

The line went silent, and Dawn wondered if Lila was having second thoughts. Christ, she was hopeless at flirting, even when it was phony. She shouldn’t have sounded so desperate…

“Okay, sure,” Lila said. “I’ve got a shift starting at four so we could meet at three.”

Giving her an easy out
, Dawn inferred. She could hardly blame her. "Sounds good to me,” she said before Lila could reconsider. “See you there.”

Dawn was the first to arrive, ordering a trim latte and apricot bran muffin at the counter before grabbing a table by the window. She’d always liked Addict, with its jumbled furniture, amateur artwork and warm, slightly chaotic atmosphere. Isobel used to take her there after they’d been to a show or exhibition in the area. Dawn groaned every time – “not Addict
again
!” – but she secretly enjoyed the tradition. And she loved the apricot bran muffins.

It felt weird to be at Addict without Isobel – like she was trespassing on hallowed, lesbian-friendly ground. Dawn distracted herself with an old
Natural Life
magazine, trying to calm her nerves. Soon after the phone call with Lila, she’d realized the major flaw in her plan. Lila was expecting a tall, blue-eyed, redheaded beauty, not a plain Jane brunette with stumpy legs. She'd thought briefly about tarting herself up a bit – wearing vampish makeup, showing off her hereditary assets in a tank top –- but came to the conclusion she’d only wind up looking like an Elvira wannabe. Lila would probably run away in fright.

At three-fifteen, Dawn began to wonder if she’d frightened Lila off already. She’d acted like a nutcase on the phone and maybe Lila decided it was safer to steer clear. Having dated Maxine, she was probably wary of inviting another psycho into her life. But just as Dawn was pinching the last muffin crumb off her plate, her date walked in.

Whip-thin and even prettier than her profile photo, Lila was wearing a motorcycle jacket, tight indigo jeans and what looked like Demonia high-heeled boots. Right away, Dawn felt intimidated.             

Lila ran a hand through her short dark hair, scanning the coffee shop. Her eyes swept over Dawn without pausing, her expression tight and impatient.  

Dawn waved, stupidly, and Lila’s gaze returned to her. She frowned, looking over the customers again. Seeing no one with copper red hair and blue eyes, she eventually approached Dawn’s table. “Do I know you?” she asked.

“Kind of. I’m Dawn Flint.”

Lila stared at her, the cogs slowly turning over. “My God, you used a fake photo,” she said with disgust. “Why would you do that?”

“I didn’t mean to deceive you,” Dawn said, reciting her prepared excuse. “But I thought you wouldn’t speak to me if you knew what I really looked like.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel sorry for you?”

“No, it’s just the truth.”

Lila rolled her eyes and laughed. “God, you’re a little ray of sunshine, aren’t you? How old are you anyway?”

“Eighteen.”

“So, not twenty-one. And who was the redhead in the photo?” 

“A friend.”

“Well, your friend’s hot.” She paused, lifting her chin to evaluate Dawn again. “You’re not bad yourself, actually. But why do I get the impression this isn’t a social call? I mean, do you even like girls?”

“Not the same way you do.”

“Didn’t think so. This is about Maxine, isn’t it?”

Dawn nodded. “She dated my mom just before she disappeared.”

“Your mom’s missing?”

“Yeah, she drove off two weeks ago – left the house, her job,
me.
She’d been acting weird ever since her date with Maxine. I know something bad happened to her that night but she refused to talk about it.”

Lila sighed, looking sideways at the exit. “And where do I come in?” she eventually asked.

“Can you tell me about your date with Maxine? Maybe it could help me understand what’s going on in Mom’s head.”

“I doubt that. I mean, Maxine freaked me out but I forgot about her the next day. I hadn’t thought about her for months until you brought her up.”

“Would you mind telling me anyway?” Dawn asked hopefully. “I need to feel like I’m doing something.”

Lila checked the clock on the wall, weighing her options. “Okay, I guess I’m here now,” she said, removing her jacket and throwing it over the vacant chair. “Let me grab a coffee and I’ll tell you about my date from hell.”

When Lila returned with a steaming black coffee – loading it with three teaspoons of sugar – she gave a complete and candid account of her date with Maxine. Like Isobel, she’d been drawn to Maxine’s ultra-glam looks on the Sweet Violets website, thinking she had that sexy blond newsreader thing going on. They’d met at a bar in Old Town for a few pre-dinner cocktails, shooting the breeze about the usual first date stuff – work, family, favorite bands. Maxine was outrageously flirty – making sexual references whenever possible and giving serious fuck-me eyes – but although she was physically stunning, Lila thought there was something off about her.

“It was like she was auditioning for some B-grade erotic thriller. I’m pretty forward but she was coming on way too strong. It didn’t seem natural.”

By the time they went out for dinner, Lila had already decided against seeing Maxine again. She felt obliged to go through with the meal, but she couldn’t wait for the evening to end. Maxine was an empty vessel – all over-sexed style and no substance. Even her work stories were boring, and she had to have seen some outrageous stuff as a psych nurse. Lila had ordered a salad and began making noises about feeling tired and needing to get up early in the morning. But Maxine didn’t seem to take the hint, ordering a bottle of red wine and filling Lila’s glass to the brim.

“She kept insisting I drink up – saying I was no fun and the night was still young. I had a few sips and when she went to the bathroom, I poured the rest back into the bottle and hid it in my handbag.”

By that stage, Lila really was feeling tired and Maxine offered to drive her home. Lila warned her that nothing was going to happen between them and Maxine seemed philosophical about it – saying she’d had a great time but she respected Lila’s wishes. “I was pretty wiped and couldn’t face the Tri-Met so I accepted the ride. Maxine was probably over the limit but I didn’t care. I just wanted to get home.”

Dawn leaned forward, on the edge of her seat. She was hanging on Lila’s every word, looking for any clues or details to follow up. Impatient to see how the date ended.

“So she takes me in her SUV,” Lila continued, switching to the present tense for the story’s climax. “And I live out in Mill Park so I shut my eyes, thinking it’s the best way to avoid a conversation. But I guess the cocktails took a heavier toll than I thought because I don’t remember anything after we cross the bridge…”

She paused for effect. “Until I feel gravel crunching underneath the tires.”

Lila smiled, enjoying the captivated look on Dawn’s face. “Yeah, she’s taken me into the fucking wilderness somewhere. There are trees and a dirt road and not much else. It takes me a while to work out where I am, because my head’s still woozy from sleep, but then I see Maxine in the driver’s seat and I start to freak out. I ask her what the hell she’s doing and she tells me to go back to sleep, we’re almost there. And I say, almost where? And she says – the log cabin.

“So at that point, I tell her to turn the fuck around and take me back to the city or I’ll scream my head off. But she just keeps her eyes fixed on the road, like I’m not even there. And I realize it doesn’t matter if I scream because we’re in the middle of fucking nowhere. My handbag’s still at my feet so I get out my cell phone and hold it up to her face, warning her that I’ll call the police. Finally she hears me and slows down, pulling the car over.

“She looks at me and says – It could be so good, Lila. Are you sure you want the night to end? And I punch 911 into my phone and tell her if she doesn’t drive me home this second, I’ll hit the dial button. Maxine keeps looking at me a while, like I might change my mind, but then she sighs and says okay, have it your way, and turns the car around.”

Lila punctuated the story by gulping down the last of her coffee. She craned her neck to check the clock on the wall. “Whoops, I’ve been blabbing on too long. I better make tracks.”

“Wait,” Dawn said, reaching for Lila’s wrist. “What happened next?”

Lila glared at Dawn’s hand until she removed it. “Nothing. She drove me straight home. I kept the phone in my hand the whole way but she didn’t try anything else.”

“What do you think would’ve happened if you hadn’t woken up?”

“Use your imagination.”

“But why drive you out to a cabin in the woods? What was wrong with her regular place?”

“Fuck, I don’t know. Maybe she wanted to curl up by a fireplace and toast marshmallows.”

“And whereabouts were you? Did you ever find out?”

“Mount Hood, or somewhere around there. Once we came out of the forest and off the dirt road, we took the I-84 back to the city.”

“Mount Hood,” Dawn repeated. Years ago, she and Isobel had been to Hood River for the Harvest Festival. She remembered fruit orchards, green valleys, and the mountain looming in the background. There was forest in every direction, as far as the eye could see. Maxine’s cabin could’ve been anywhere.

“What did the website say?” she asked, changing tack. “When you told them what had happened.”

“Oh, they took it down, but apparently no one else had complained about her. And she didn’t do anything illegal – she just tried way too hard.” Lila stood up, grabbing her jacket off the chair. “And I’ve really,
really
got to go,” she said.