Crying Wolf

30

Freshmen couldn’t have cars. Following Ronnie Medeiros’s directions, Nat and Izzie walked the mile to the house where Freedy lived. A plow passed them, spraying sand out the sides, sand covered almost at once by blowing snow; the streetlights came on, triggered by the growing darkness although it was still long before night. Nat thought of a poem, not a poem he had read, but for the first time a poem he might write. Why now? Almost shameful, when all his resources should have been devoted to getting Grace back, to undoing what they’d done, but there it was, a poem about clocks, all the clocks in life, everything a clock, measuring time in different ways: the stars moving across the sky, the spinning earth, the tilting earth, light and dark, snakes shedding their skin, Izzie’s heart beating beside him, his own heart.

Izzie took his arm. “I’m changing my mind about you,” she said.

“In what way?”

“A good way. You were great back there, with that sleazeball. I never knew you were so strong inside.” He felt her gaze. “We’re a good match, don’t you think?” she said.

Nat, who’d thought she already liked him, didn’t understand in what way she’d changed her mind. He looked at her in confusion. She misinterpreted the expression on his face.

“Is everything going to be all right?” she said.

“We’ll find her.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Nat didn’t understand that either, but there was no time to go into it. They were at the house where Freedy lived. A woman answered their knock.

Nat recognized her at once: the woman he’d seen through the grate in the lobby of Goodrich Hall, taking a hundred-dollar bill from Professor Uzig. She wasn’t wearing her Birkenstocks now: her feet were bare and she had on a striped Moroccan robe. There were a few drops of what looked like blood, not quite dried, on the front, although she didn’t seem to be bleeding. Her eyes were open much too wide.

“We’re looking for Freedy,” Nat said.

“He’s not here.”

Over her shoulder, Nat could see the kitchen. Another wrecked room: even the fridge was tipped over, spilling food over the floor, and smashed pottery lay everywhere. A ceramic shard that might have been a cup handle was lodged in her frizzy graying hair. Nat thought: Grace is here. He even felt her presence, the kind of paranormal thing that wasn’t him at all. He pushed his way past the woman, inside.

“Grace?” he called. “Grace?”

He went through the kitchen, jerked open a closet door, then into a hall, another bedroom, wrecked, and another one, also wrecked. This last bedroom had strange wall paintings of mushrooms, elves, rainbows; a deformed lion held up a poem on a scroll, an inept, unpleasant poem called “Little Boy.”

“Grace? Grace?”

Not under the beds, not in the closets, not behind the upside-down chairs and couches; but still he felt her presence. He strode back into the kitchen.

“You’re Freedy’s mother,” he said to the woman.

“Yes.”

“Where is Grace?”

“Grace?”

Maybe there was no reaction because Freedy’s mother hadn’t heard the name. “Her twin,” he said, indicating Izzie, “but with lighter hair. Where is she?”

Freedy’s mother looked at Izzie. Nat saw no sign of recognition, and knew in that moment that Grace wasn’t there, that this woman had never seen her. He knew that, but the paranormal feeling lingered.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Freedy’s mother said.

“He may have given you some other name for her,” Izzie said.

“Who?” said Freedy’s mother. “I’m not getting any of this.”

Izzie grabbed her robe, right at the throat. “Where is she, you stupid cow?”

Nat reached out to pull Izzie’s hand away, but before he could, Freedy’s mother started crying, a horrible cawing cry with tears and snot, her face all cubist. Izzie let go, backed away. Freedy’s mother’s legs folded under her; she sat on the floor, hard. “Are you going to rape me too?” she said.

“Someone raped you?” Nat said.

She covered her face with her hands, red hands with cracked knuckles and bitten nails.

“Did this just happen?” Nat said.

Freedy’s mother nodded, face still hidden.

“Who did it?”

She made another cawing sound. “They came looking for Freedy.” And another. “Just like you.”

“Who did?”

“I’m so afraid.”

“Of what?”

“That Freedy’s done something terrible.”

Izzie stood over her. “To my sister?”

Freedy’s mother shook her head. “I don’t know anything about anyone’s sister.”

“Then what terrible thing did he do?” Nat said.

She lowered her hands. “What if he hurt one of them, very badly?”

“One of who?”

“S-S-”

“Who?”

“S-Saul M-M-Medeiros’s people.”

“That’s who came here?”

She nodded.

“And they raped you?”

She shook her head.

“What’s going on?” Izzie said. “Does this have anything do with us?”

“One of them raped you, is that it?” Nat said.

She nodded. “S-Saul Medeiros raped me. His-his nose was all squashed up. He bled all over my face.” She cried out again, and covered it, covered where Saul Medeiros had bled, with her hands. Her bare feet were turned inward and the toes curled under, like twins, Nat thought, in the fetal position. His mind paused right there, on the verge of something. Was it the answer to whatever was bothering him about the first line of the ransom note, or something else? Whatever it was didn’t come.

A photograph lay on the floor, a framed picture, the glass cracked, of a kid in a muddy football uniform, posing unsmilingly after a game, helmet in hand. He picked it up. “Freedy?” he said.

Freedy’s mother peered through her fingers, nodded.

“The ponytail came later?”

“Yes.” She reached out for the picture. Nat handed it to her. She gazed at it, composed herself a little. “I used to love this town.”

Silence. It went on until Nat said, “But?”

She shook her head. Nat went to the sink, full of smashed things, found an unbroken glass with the stub of a joint in it. He washed the glass, poured water, brought it to Freedy’s mom, helped her to her feet. She took the glass in both hands-still it shook-and drank a mouthful. Not drank, exactly; but filled her mouth, went to the sink, and spat it all out, with force. Then she swallowed the rest of the water. Izzie glanced at her watch.

“Thank you,” said Freedy’s mother. She must have felt the cup handle in her hair at that moment. She plucked it out, regarded it uncomprehendingly.

“You used to love the town,” Nat prompted her.

“A long time ago,” she said. “Back when the Glass Onion was still open.”

“The boarded-up place at the bottom of the Hill?”

“Everyone met there-townies, college kids, even some professors. It was a very positive space. Positive things happened to me there. I thought they were positive.”

“Like what?”

“Personal growth experiences.”

“This is getting us nowhere,” Izzie said. “What about Freedy?”

“He should never have come back from California,” Freedy’s mother said.

“Why not?”

“Why not? Look what’s happening. But I suppose there was no choice. Something bad happened out there, too.”

“What?” Nat said.

“I don’t know what. No one actually died. And the truth is it’s not the whole reason he came back. I see that now.”

“What’s the rest of it?”

“Do we have time for this?” Izzie said.

Freedy’s mother looked at Izzie. “I’m still not sure who you people are, or what you want.”

“We told you already,” Izzie said, her voice rising. “My-”

Nat cut her off. “If your son is a kidnapper-”

“He couldn’t be.”

“You’re wrong,” Nat said. “Shouldn’t you help us stop it now, before anyone else gets hurt? Before the police are involved?”

“I guess so,” said Freedy’s mother; her eyes, still open much too wide, looked confused. “But I’ve never heard of any kidnapping.”

“Just tell us where he is,” said Izzie.

“I don’t know.”

“You’re lying,” Izzie said. “You’ll end up in jail with him.”

“Could that happen?” Freedy’s mother’s voice had gone soft and high-pitched, like a little girl’s. “I’m a good person. Freedy’s basically a good person, too. He went out to California to make something of himself.”

“And did he?”

“I think so.”

“In what way?”

“He’s ambitious now.”

“What does he do?”

She thought. “Did he tell me the details?”

“We’re getting nowhere,” Izzie said.

“What did he do when he was here?”

“Went to the high school. Played on the football team. I didn’t watch-too violent.”

“What else did he do?”

“Hung out, I guess. Like a teenager.”

“Did he have a job?”

“Oh, yes.” She brightened. “He was always very hardworking. He worked for the college every summer.”

“Doing what?”

“In the maintenance department.”

Nat glanced at Izzie. She was quiet now, watching him.

“And the other reason he came home, the reason you see now?” Nat said.

“That would be a private thing,” said Freedy’s mother. “More of a personal quest.”

“Look around you,” Nat said. Freedy’s mother obeyed. “This has gone beyond a private thing.”

She nodded. He took her glass, refilled it, handed it back. “He got interested in his father,” she said; water trembled in the glass. “Why did I think that wouldn’t happen?”

“Who’s his father?” Nat said.

“That’s just the point,” said Freedy’s mother. “It was only a one-night… experience. I shouldn’t say only, because it had its own validity. But it was part of another world that had nothing to do with Freedy. That explanation used to satisfy him.”

“But not anymore.”

“No.”

“Did you tell him?”

“No. But he might have found out anyway, I don’t know how.”

“Who is he?” Nat said.

“I can’t tell you,” said Freedy’s mother. “It’s a private-” She stopped herself. “I’m sworn to secrecy.”

“Or is it that you’re being paid?” Nat said.

She stared at him. “Who are you, again?”

“Who’s paying her?” said Izzie.

“The father,” Nat said, watching Freedy’s mother. “Someone she met a long time ago, down at the Glass Onion.”

Freedy’s mother didn’t deny it; her lips parted slightly, gripped by the narrative, as though hearing her life turned into a story by someone who knew how.

“So he’s hiding her at his father’s,” said Izzie. “Is that what you think?”

“Yes,” said Nat.

“Then we have to know who he is, and that’s that,” said Izzie. Freedy’s mother backed up against the counter. “Who’s the father?”

She looked up at Izzie, started crying again. Was there something false in her crying now? Nat thought it was possible.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said.

“What do you mean?” said Izzie.

“We already know.”

They left Freedy’s mother like that, crying in her blood-spotted Moroccan robe. There was no time to do anything about her; and not much desire, either.

The nurse answered the Uzigs’ door. “The professor’s not in,” she told them.

“Where is he?”

“You’ll have to speak to Mrs. Uzig about that. Right now she’s sleeping.”

“We have to talk to her,” Nat said.

“I’m sorry,” the nurse said, closing the door; but they were already inside.

Helen Uzig wasn’t sleeping; she was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, watching the snow fall. She smiled at them.

“Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” she said. “Welcome.”

“Where’s Leo?” said Izzie.

“You missed him, I’m afraid. He was called to a sudden conference. Some Nietzschean emergency-perhaps they’ve discovered a long-lost retraction of the whole thing.”

“Where is the conference?” Nat said.

Helen noticed the nurse. “Stop hovering.” The nurse left the room. “Milan, I believe. Leo is probably on the connecting flight out of Albany at this moment, unless the airport is closed.”

“Did he go alone?”

“Alone? What is the implication of that, floozy-wise?”

“Was he with a big, ponytailed man?”

“Do you mean Freedy?”

“Yes.”

“How interesting you should know him. No, he wasn’t with Freedy. Why would he be?”

“Is Freedy here now?”

“Here?”

“In the house.”

“Of course not. I don’t expect him till spring.”

“Why?”

“He can’t very well do his excavating in frozen ground, can he?”

“Excavating?” Nat, in his winter clothes, felt cold.

“For the new pool. Malibu, Mediterranean, and the other one escapes me. An enterprising man-just think of that crow-although I wouldn’t describe him as bushy-tailed.” She lowered her voice. “And between you and me, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a serious drug problem.”

“Why do you say that?”

“His perceptions get a bit wobbly. At one point he thought I was his grandmother. Although it could have been because I fixed him a slap-up breakfast, just like the nicest granny in the world. You young people aren’t hungry too, by any chance?”

“We have to search your house,” Nat said.

“How exciting,” said Helen. “But you won’t find Leo.”

“We’re looking for Freedy,” Nat said.

“You won’t find him either.”

“What about Grace?”

“Grace?”

“My sister,” said Izzie.

“Ah,” said Helen, turning to her, “the beautiful twins. How Leo does go on and on. Which beautiful twin are you?”

“Izzie,” said Izzie.

“So many z ’s in my life. Well, Izzie, your beautiful twin isn’t here either, except in the sense that you are.”

“I don’t follow you,” Izzie said.

“What’s so hard? Being identical, of course, you’re always in both places. But no one’s here today, not even the birds.”

Nat and Izzie searched the house. No sign of Grace, no sign of Freedy, no sign of Leo, except three plastic wrappers on his bed, the kind dry cleaners use for shirts.

They tried the garage last. It contained gardening supplies and an old Mercedes convertible under a drop cloth. The keys were in the ignition.

“We may need this,” Izzie said, getting behind the wheel. Nat opened the garage door. She drove out. Nat closed the door, hopped in the rolling car. Helen Uzig watched them from a front window.

They couldn’t figure out how to put the top up. Snow had been falling when Grace and Izzie drove Nat to New York for Christmas in the Rolls-Royce and the top had been down then, too. But it hadn’t been snowing hard like this, and the feeling he’d had then, of being inside a protective bubble, was gone.

There were two banks on campus. They identified the one where Grace and Izzie had their account, entered just before closing, withdrew all the money in cash-$13,362. More money than Nat had ever had in his hands, ever seen, but still almost useless. They went back to Grace and Izzie’s room to find some clever way of making it look like a million; their only idea. The message light was blinking. Izzie hit the button.

An intake of breath; Nat knew who it had to be before the voice spoke. “Little change of… can’t think of it, starts with v. Call it a change of plan. What with the snow and all. Know the Glass Onion? Bring the package to the back door. Six o’clock. Sharp. Any questions?”

“Thank God,” Izzie said.

“What do you mean?” said Nat. It was 4:45.

“Because this will change everything, of course.” She was already calling her father to play him the message. Nat watched her face, said nothing.

An operator at some Zorn number said he would call back. Izzie tried again, every fifteen minutes, every ten, every five, using expressions like life and death. She tried her stepmother, Andy Ling, Albert, even Anton. She reached none of them. No one called back. The bone structure of her face grew more and more apparent.

At 5:50, Nat got to his feet. His heart started racing, lightly at first, then harder and harder but just as fast. Izzie raised her eyebrow, her left eyebrow. “Is it going to be all right?” she said. Or something like that; Nat was aware of little more than his heartbeat. She took his hand as they went out the door. Hers felt like ice.

Peter Abrahams

Crying Wolf