Lost Echoes

45

Lying on his couch in his undershorts, Harry listened to the afternoon wind wrap itself around the apartment. He wondered why wind didn’t carry all manner of messages. Seemed as if all the horrors and terrors and bad things of the world would be on the wind. Was it just too flexible to hold it all?

He wondered why the big, bad sounds hid in rocks and wood and plastic and stone. He wondered why people his age liked rap music. He wondered why cats were popular pets. He wondered why in the middle of the day, even when he felt tired, like now, he couldn’t go to sleep. He wondered if Jimmy was beating someone up right now, or if McGuire might be in on some kind of kill. He thought about all manner of shit to keep from wondering about Kayla.

She didn’t know what she was asking. Not really.

If she did, she wouldn’t ask.

Or maybe she would.

If it were his dad died that way, would he put himself through this business? Would he?

Course he would.

Harry sat up in bed and looked around his room. His prison cell.

Shit. I’m gonna be sick and scared and miserable and keep telling myself how goddamn good I’m doing, I might as well turn it all into something positive.

He got up and found his pants and pulled his wallet out and got Kayla’s number out of it. He called. She answered right away.

“One condition.”

“Name it.”

“I might ask for your body.”

“I might give it to you.”

“What I want is to bring a friend along. Someone I trust and who can sort of help you watch after me, because I may need it.”

“That’s not saying much for my body.”

“Your body is just fine, and, frankly, I wouldn’t mind having designs on it. But not for a favor.”

“Not really offering, Harry.”

“Got to understand, this is some scary shit to me, Kayla, and I don’t want to do it, but I think maybe I should. Think it’s the way I can find my way out of all this, or at least find some kind of goddamn point to it all. Understand?”

“Mostly.”

“About the friend?”

“Bring him.”

Harry called Tad and drove over to Kayla’s place.

When Tad arrived, Kayla opened the door. Tad said, “There’s a goddamn dog standing on my car. That your dog?”

“Nope. That’s Winston. He belongs next door.”

“He’s on my Mercedes.”

“He doesn’t stay long.”

“Damn well better not. Sorry. You must be Kayla.”

“Yep.”

“Nice perfume. Plenty of it, but nice.”

Tad looked back over his shoulder. “Now he’s on the roof,” he said.

“He’ll do that,” Kayla said.

“He’s lucky I like dogs.”

Tad came inside and shook Kayla’s hand. “You are just as pretty as Harry said you were.”

“He said that?”

“If he didn’t, he should have. He also said you smell nice.”

Kayla closed the door and looked at Harry, who stood embarrassed nearby. After more formal introductions were made and more coffee was prepared, Tad wandered nervously about, said, “I see you play darts. Mostly you miss. Your door looks like Swiss cheese.”

“Do you play?”

“With others not so well, but darts, some. My guess is, though, you didn’t bring me here to play darts. Am I right?”

“No,” Harry said. “We didn’t.”

Tad strolled over to the bear with the block of darts between its ears. He pulled the darts out, swiftly tossed them at the target. He rapidly shifted the darts from his left hand to his right. He seemed to merely flex his wrist. The darts crowded the bull’s-eye.

“Good grief,” Kayla said.

“Martial arts,” Harry said. “This guy is good.”

“Thank you,” Tad said.

“He doesn’t just know how to whip your ass, he knows how to throw things at you. Incidental weapons, he calls it. Isn’t that right, Tad? Darts. Rings. Blades.”

“That’s right. And I do a pretty good Jimmy Durante impression.”

“Who?” Kayla asked.

“Well, one thing,” Tad said, “I don’t do a good one, you wouldn’t know…. Before your time, gal. Almost before mine. Forget it.”

“You can have the darts and the board, you want them,” Kayla said. “Me, I’m just sticking them in the door. I’m serious, you leave, take them with you. They just tempt me.”

“Thanks,” Tad said, and dropped the darts into his coat pocket. “So now do we discuss dominoes or tiddlywinks?”

Harry shook his head. “What I need, Tad, is a little favor.”

“Name it, kid.”