Black Fly Season (18 page)

Snap, snap, snap. One after another the cards Went down. As he slotted each one into place, Red Bear made cheerful comments about Terri’s future. Then the jack of clubs slapped down across the king of hearts and Red Bear’s manner Ranged.

All right. A cloud on the horizon. A setback, Maybe something worse.’

His eyes had some kind of genetic defect, with almost pigmentless irises.

‘Tell me,‘Terri said when he hesitated. Not that she believed in cards, or reading palms or any of that New Age stuff, but she read her horoscope in the paper now and again just to see how far off they were. ‘Tell me,’ she said again. ‘I can take it.’

‘All right, Terri,’ Red Bear said. He sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. Biceps shifted under white sleeves. He spoke matter of factly, a doctor conveying bad news. ‘Everything I told you just now? Good health, good money, no problems, etcetera? All of that is true. All of that is yours …’

‘But?’

He tapped the jack of clubs with a manicured finger. ‘This is a death card.’

‘Hey, take it easy.’ Kevin had been leaning on the table, chin on fist, almost asleep, but now he sat up. ‘You’re not supposed to tell people stuff like that.’

‘Kevin,’ Red Bear said quietly. ‘You’re overreacting.’

‘You can’t just go round telling people they’re going to die. What are you trying to do? Freak her out? She’s my sister, man.’

‘Will you listen to me?’

‘It’s okay,’ Terri said. ‘Relax, Kevin.’

Red Bear pointed again at the card. ‘It’s true. This is indeed a death card. But death in the cards does not necessarily mean death. It’s like death in a dream. It could just mean great

change.’ Red Bear gathered up the cards. ‘Please, let’s not be so solemn. I didn’t mean to upset you. I only tell you what I see - the possibilities. We’re all in control of our own lives.’

‘I don’t like this card business,’ Kevin said.

‘That’s like not liking the weather,’ Red Bear said. ‘Not liking it won’t improve it. Now, please let’s cheer up. Your sister is here, it’s a sunny day, it’s no time to be gloomy.’

The cabin, the camp, and Kevin dissolved, and Terri was back in the present, back in the patient lounge.

The girls on the other side of the room were collapsing in laughter. Their voices echoed off the tile walls and the plastic furnishings and hurt Terri’s ears. She gave them a dirty look, but then another memory flashed before her, obliterating the girls, the lounge, the hospital.

Waking up to sunlight sparkling in cascading water, miniature rainbows arcing in the spray. Waking up to the sound of falling water merging with the buzz of insects. The flies. There weren’t even that many of them. Just a handful buzzing around the hideous shape on the floor of the cave. And the smell. That evil smell. Where was that place? How had she got there? The memory was over, but even that split second was enough to send waves of fear and nausea coursing through her body.

‘Are you all right?’

Terri looked up into the concerned face of a

‘I need the washroom,’ she said. ‘I think I’m going to be sick.’

‘Why don’t you drive,’ Leon said. ‘I’m

gonna stretch out in the back. My knee’s killing me.’

Kevin got behind the wheel, and Toof sat in the passenger seat beside him. His clothes reeked of weed.

‘I can’t believe it,’ Toof said. ‘You’re letting someone else drive your TransAm?’

‘My knee’s acting up,’ Leon said. He was lying down in the back. ‘It’s not a big deal.’

But it was weird, Kevin knew. Leon was obsessive about his TransAm. Took it to the car wash every week.

‘So, what’s Red Bear want to see me about?’ Toof said, when they were moving. ‘Am I in trouble again?’

‘Naw,’ Leon said. ‘At least, I don’t think so.’

Kevin didn’t say anything. Leon had told him to keep his mouth shut and drive out toward West Rock. Leon would give him more directions once they got off the highway.

‘Are you sure?’ Toof turned around to face Leon. ‘Why’s he yank me out of a pool game

and drag me back to camp if he’s not pissed off?’

‘I don’t know, Toofie-Doof. Have you got something on your conscience?’

‘Like what? What are you talking about?’

‘I don’t know, Toofie-Doof.’

‘Don’t call me that. I hate that. Toof’s okay, but Toofie-Doof is stupid.’

‘Unlike Toof. Fine. I repeat: Have you got something on your conscience? Have you been stealing from the supply, for example? You know Red Bear is going to take a seriously dim view of that.’

‘I don’t use it. You know that. I just smoke dope.’

This was true, Kevin knew. And so did Leon, so he wasn’t sure why he was playing this game with their less-than-genius-level colleague.

‘Well, if you haven’t been dipping into the supply, then maybe you did something else.’

Kevin made a left off the bypass on to West Rock road. It took only a couple of hundred yards and you were into pretty thick bush on either side of the road. There were some nice houses out here, though.

‘Something else like what?’

‘Well something that doesn’t involve the death penalty. I don’t know,Toof. Have you been talking to the wrong people?’

‘I don’t talk to anybody. Not about our business.’ Toof turned around again and stared out at the emerald green of passing trees. ‘Except maybe to my family.’

‘We are your family, Toof. That’s a quote from the man himself, remember?’

‘I remember. I didn’t tell nobody nothing.’

‘Then what are you worrying for? Relax and enjoy the scenery.’

They drove a couple of miles in silence. Kevin switched on the radio and they listened to Alanis Morissette yodeling about her mistreatment at the hands of some mysterious man. Kevin still didn’t know why they were driving out to West Rock.

‘Hey, where are we going?’ Toof said.

‘Shortcut. You’ve seen it before.’

‘I have? It doesn’t look familiar.’

‘Well, maybe that’s why you’re always getting lost.’

‘Could be, I guess …’

Kevin remembered one time he had arranged to meet Toof at the Bull & Bear pub. He’d even drawn him a little map, and Toof had still gotten lost.

‘I know why Red Bear wants me,‘Toof said, slapping his knee. ‘I’m so dumb sometimes.’

‘What is it?’ Leon said and sat forward, leaning on the back of the front seat like a friendly dog. ‘Why’s he want you?’

‘You know,‘Toof said. ‘You’re just playing dumb to keep me guessing.’

‘No, I don’t know, Toof. Honest.’

‘Get outa town, man. You know what this is about.’

‘But I don’t, Toof. Kevin, do you know why Red Bear wants to see him?’

‘Uh, no. I don’t,’ Kevin said.

‘See, neither of us knows, Toof. So if you’ve seen the light, you’re just going to have to let us in on it.’

‘See, it’s ‘cause I gave Red Bear my birthday and that, eh? So he could do my chart for me? He knows it’s my birthday tomorrow. That’s what this is about, I bet. It’s like a surprise party, remember, like he threw for you that time?’

It was true Red Bear had thrown a party on Leon’s birthday. He had taken them all out to dinner at the Bangkok Gardens. He had tried to order Dom Perignon but the restaurant didn’t have anything that good, so they’d had to settle for a Chablis. It had been a good evening; Red Bear had been in an excellent mood.

‘It’s your birthday tomorrow?’

‘Yup. I’ll be twenty-seven. No, twenty-eight. No, wait. I’m not sure. Twenty-eight, I think.’

‘Gee, that’s great, Toof. That must be what this is about.’ Leon touched Kevin’s shoulder. ‘Take the next left.’

Kevin made the turn on to a dirt road. It rapidly brought them to the construction site of a new subdivision. None of the houses was finished yet. The road became really rough, then, and they passed bulldozers and backhoes. The construction crews had left for the day.

‘Take a right at the end of the road.’

The car dipped and swung over deep ruts in the mud. Then Kevin made the turn, and the road

got even worse until it wasn’t a road at all. They passed a fenced-off equipment yard and then there was nothing but trees.

‘I’ll tell ya what I’d really like for my birthday,’ Toof said. ‘What I’d really like is a trip to Tahiti. Or like maybe Hawaii. Anywhere the girls walk around in grass skirts and no tops.’

‘I don’t think Red Bear would give you anything like that, Toof.’

‘Oh, no. I know that. Hey, I’d be happy with a new CD or something. A movie and some popcorn. In fact, yeah. That’s exactly what I’d like to do. Let’s all go to the movies. There’s that new thing with the Rock just opened.’

‘Well, sure. It’s your birthday; you can do what you want. Stop anywhere up here, Kevin.’

‘I’m gonna order us a big cake for tomorrow. Dutch chocolate. Three storeys high, man. And maybe after the movies tonight we could go out to the Chinook. I don’t need no place fancy. Fact, I like the Chinook better than that Bangkok joint any day. Yeah, let’s go there.’

Kevin stopped the car. Toof was still going on about the Chinook tavern when there was a loud bang. He pitched forward so hard he bashed his head on the dashboard. ‘What the hell was that?’ he said. He sat back again, eyes rolling. He shook his head. ‘Did you guys hear something?’

The smell of gunpowder was overwhelming. Leon was sitting forward, the gun resting on the back of the front seat.

Kevin tried to speak but nothing came out.

Leon fired again.

Toof tipped forward, slower this time. He pressed against the dashboard to raise himself. ‘Man, my eyes aren’t working right,’ he said. His voice sounded as if he had just woken up from a long nap. ‘I’m not seeing so good.’

Toof got out of the car and stumbled, grabbing on to the fender for support. The back of his head was soaking wet, and blood was running down his jacket.

‘Fucking gun,’ Leon said, and got out of the car.

Kevin wanted to run, he wanted to cry, but found he couldn’t do either. It was as if his legs were full of novocaine.

The trunk opened and slammed shut. Then Leon came round the front behind Toof with a baseball bat. He smashed him across the head, and Toof went down.

‘Happy Birthday,’ Leon said.

John Cardinal was a decent cook when he put his mind to it. He was not a man to rely on frozen dinners and pizza deliveries the moment his wife was out of town. Catherine’s many hospitalizations had forced him long ago to learn his way around the kitchen. In fact, some of his favourite memories were of Kelly as a little girl ‘helping’ him, chopping apples into uncookable chunks, her hair matted with pie dough.

He made himself a chicken curry and ate it in front of the television, watching the news and then flipping channels for a while. There was nothing on so he went down to the basement and did some woodworking. He was building a set of wide shelves for Catherine’s darkroom, nothing difficult, but he had to be careful with the router when he was cutting the grooves. Catherine’s darkroom was one of the first things he had built in the house, a long time ago, now; he was running out of projects.

Woodworking was Cardinal’s only hobby. He liked the smell of sawdust, the feel of wood in his hands, and he enjoyed the satisfaction that came

from completing a project, even a small one like shelves. In law enforcement, satisfaction was an elusive commodity.

Cardinal and Catherine often worked down in the basement at the same time, Catherine in her darkroom, Cardinal at his worktable. They kept a dusty boom box down there and took turns choosing the music. Other times, Cardinal would be building something and he would hear her footsteps overhead in the kitchen. Alone together. That was how he thought of those times. We’re alone together, and sometimes it seemed more intimate than sex.

There were no footsteps overhead, now, and Cardinal hadn’t bothered to put any music on. He wasn’t really enjoying the carpentry, either. With Catherine gone it wasn’t the same.

The phone rang. Cardinal switched off the router, turned off his work light, and went upstairs to the kitchen.

‘What took you so long?’ Catherine said when he picked up. ‘You had to hustle her out the back door?’

‘Hey, sweetheart. I was hoping you’d call me back last night.’

‘Sorry,’ Catherine said. ‘We were out photographing these old grain silos on the waterfront. They look fabulous in the moonlight. And the old Canada Malting factory. It was fun, and I think the class learned a lot. How’s work?’

‘One murder, one attempted murder.’

I

‘Goodness. They must have you working late.’

‘Pretty late. Kelly called you last night. She said it was just to chat, but I think she needs money. Naturally she couldn’t accept any from me. Couldn’t get off the phone fast enough.’

‘Oh, John, don’t let it get to you. She’ll come round. You know she will. Anyway, I can’t be thinking about that right now, I’ve got too much on my mind.’

That was not like Catherine. Normally, she was never more concerned and attentive than when they were discussing their daughter.

‘I wish you were home,’ Cardinal said. ‘Or I wish I was there. It’s too quiet here.’ At least he could say that without being accused of undermining her.

‘Well, I can’t come home, John. I’m in the middle of some really important stuff here.’

‘I know that, honey. I’m glad it’s going well.’

‘The thing about these waterfront pictures, we’re getting a lot of stars in them, a lot of moon. It’s made me reconsider a lot of things. I mean, unless you’re an astronomer or something, you pretty much take them for granted, but I’m really thinking about them now. I think I may be beginning to understand them. For the first time.’

He could hear the clink and clatter of mania in her tone. A train of thought jumping the tracks of reason.

He said something soothing, like, ‘That’s good, sweetheart.’ But in his mind he was praying: Please

just let her make it through the next couple of days. Please let her make it home.

‘When you photograph stars in relation to the buildings, you can feel their motion. You can sense an intention, almost. You remember that time we saw the northern lights?’