Unhooking the Moon (19 page)

‘This is very bad, Bob!' said the Rat. ‘What do we do?'

The fear pumped adrenalin into my body and it hit me from the legs upwards. I grabbed her hand. ‘Run!'

We bolted, and I mean bolted, off the path, across the grass, and through the trees. We sprinted across a short bridge, jumped a fence, and headed up a low hill. We ran side by side, our arms tight, our feet thumping into the ground. I was sure we'd left him standing. But when I looked behind me he was still there. And he was gaining! I saw the park wall. ‘This way!' With my lungs screaming for air I grabbed the Rat and we ran towards it. We threw ourselves over the top like two marines and dropped on to Fifth Avenue. Then we jumped up and stood back. ‘Who the hell was that?'

‘What!' said the Rat gasping for air. ‘I'm supposed to know every lunatic in New York!'

Suddenly the guy jumped over the wall! He had a fat face and mean slits for eyes.

I was so scared I couldn't speak.

‘Now I've got you!' he hissed.

‘Hey, you kids find your uncle yet?'

I turned to see Sean and Connor standing outside an apartment block.

‘This guy was chasing us!' shouted the Rat. ‘I think he was going to kidnap us!'

‘What!' Suddenly Connor darted towards him. The guy started running. Then Sean threw his cap to the
ground and joined the chase. ‘Get back here, you son of a bitch!' They chased him down Fifth Avenue and disappeared down a side street, their voices echoing behind them. It was quiet then.

‘Come on, Bob. Let's get back to the den before the cops come.'

I was so frightened I followed her without thinking. But when we reached the gap in the park wall, I stopped. My whole body was trembling. ‘I can't do this no more. We have to give ourselves up!' I walked off to find a cop. She grabbed my arm and I pushed it away. ‘You think everything's an adventure! What if he had got you?' I shouted. ‘What then?' My head fell into my hands.

‘But he didn't, Bob,' she said softly. ‘It'll be OK.'

When I looked at her I could see she felt sorry for me. There's nothing worse than your kid sister feeling sorry for you. She took me by the arm. ‘There'll be no more danger tonight. Besides, no one can find us in the den. We have enough trouble finding it ourselves.'

And so, like the fool in a horror movie who always goes where he'll get killed, I followed her. But when I tell you that New York had just got a whole lot scarier I'm not even joking.

I turned on my flashlight as soon as we were
through and had a good look around. Then I sat on the concrete base with my head in my hands.

‘You OK, Bob?' asked the Rat sliding into her sleeping bag.

‘Yeah, I'm OK,' I said, but I wasn't.

‘Don't worry, Bob, we're safe here.' But she didn't fall asleep the way she normally does. And so we lay there listing to the silence. Then she sat up on her elbows. ‘Do you like Mad Mike?'

I was absolutely goddamn bewildered! In the ten years, and I don't know how many months, since the Rat had been on this earth she must never have learned what fear was! ‘What in God's name has that got to do with anything?'

‘I saw something the other day. But I didn't mention it because I know you don't like me mentioning things. Me and you were at the farm, and it was covered in snow. All our friends were there and hundreds of other people I don't even know. And there were cops all over the place. It was like a demonstration. And you were screaming at them. And Mad Mike was there. And he hugged you and you hugged him.'

‘I don't think I'm ever going to hug Mad Mike! But so what?'

‘Don't you see? It hasn't happened yet, which
means we make it home.' And with that she sank in her sleeping bag and went to sleep.

I was so jittery I couldn't close my eyes. But the thought that we made it home soothed me. After a while my nerves settled and my eyes closed. And then, after a dozen nervous twitches, I slept.

I was woken by the rain tickling my face. I turned over hoping it would stop but it didn't, it got heavier and the wind picked up. The Rat stayed asleep, nothing ever woke her, but the rain splashed on her face and caused her to cough. Lightning cracked and thunder rocked around the sky. I saw puddles forming around our base. We had good sleeping bags, but they weren't waterproof. Then the wind tore at the trees. I heard a cracking sound and somewhere close by a branch fell to the ground.

Then, when the lightning flashed again, I saw a sight that froze my heart! A hooded figure was standing in the bushes. He must have come back! ‘Oh God, no!' I searched for a brick or a branch, or for the small penknife we had brought with us. It went dark. Then there was another loud crack and the sky lit up. He was standing right in front of me. The Rat coughed and he looked her way. I jumped between
him and my sister. My legs were trembling. My fists were clenched. We looked at each other through the pouring rain. Then he pulled the hood from his head.

‘Get your stuff and come with me!' he shouted.

It was Ice. I was so relieved I could have cried! Lifting the Rat from her sleeping bag, he held her in his arms.

‘Come on, son. Let's get you indoors.'

Ice had come for us. Maybe the Rat was right. Maybe he was an angel. Leastways, he was to us that night. And as far as I'm concerned, he always will be.

‘Are you kids up?' shouted Ice.

I opened the bedroom door and saw Ice behind a breakfast bar. I felt shy as I walked out. ‘I'm glad you put us up, Ice. We got chased last night.'

But Ice concentrated on the cooking. He was shuffling the frying pans frantically and there was a lot of sizzling and smoke.

‘You want some help, Ice?' I said. ‘I'm pretty good in the kitchen.'

‘What, you think I can't cook? Take a seat, the Iceman has everything under control.'

Just then he hit his head on the overhead pans and so I looked away like I hadn't noticed. A widescreen TV took up one corner of the room, while a music system, which could have cost as much as a car, took up another. There were chunky brown sofas and Turkish-looking rugs, and there were puffed-up
pillows for sitting on. And there was a glass case containing two silver handguns. They were the Berettas Ice used in his videos.

When I looked back at him he was still struggling. I think cooking was a new experience for Ice and there's nothing worse than having someone watch you when you're starting out. And so I took a seat on one of the sofas and looked at the city walled in glass.

‘Morning, Ice!' The Rat came in wearing her Armani dress. ‘Lucky you come for us, Ice! We got chased by a lunatic!'

‘Well, you shouldn't be getting chased!' said Ice in a grouchy tone.

‘You want some help, Ice?'

‘No, I don't!'

But then he dropped the eggs on the floor and knocked over the orange juice. Then he started swearing like he was on stage. Even the Rat looked shocked.

‘You shouldn't swear, Ice. You should beep like they do on TV.'

But Ice grumbled away like he hadn't heard her.

‘Ice, there's smoke coming out the oven!'

Ice grabbed a dishcloth and opened the oven door.

‘Use mitts, Ice!'

‘AAAAAAH!' He smashed a burning tray of hash
browns on to the breakfast bar. Then he started cursing and swearing like you wouldn't believe.

‘Beep instead, Ice! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!' said the Rat beeping out the bad language.

That blew Ice away and he laughed like a big kid. I laughed as well; it was funny.

‘Come and sit down, Ice,' said the Rat. ‘Bob, you take care of breakfast.' She sat Ice at a dining table by the window and fetched some ice for his hand. ‘That pan must have been really hot!'

‘It was!'

‘But you never dropped it, Ice. You were so brave.'

What a creep. I wouldn't have dropped it either, but I said nothing. Ice had napalmed most of the bacon and so I fried some eggs and salvaged what I could from the hash browns. I served it to them with fresh toast and then, filling up a plate, I joined them.

‘Tastes good, Bob. Where you learn to cook?'

‘The Old Man, I suppose. He liked to cook.'

‘My mom too. I ate everything she gave me. Never did learn myself,' said Ice, drinking his coffee. ‘So you kids sleep well? Sleeping in the goddamn park. What am I going to do with you?'

‘I don't know, Ice,' said the Rat. ‘But thanks for
coming to get us.'

‘Yeah well, don't get too comfortable!'

‘We won't,' said the Rat. ‘We're not the sort of kids to take advantage.'

‘Good. Because I wouldn't let you take advantage of me. And Mia's home tomorrow. I don't need any more problems.'

‘Are you going to marry Mia? Mia Moore the Magnificent. “I don't so much do the catwalk as the black walk,” said Mia when speaking to the Parisian press. Will Mia and Ice become America's hottest black couple? Mia said, and I quote, “My world would fall apart if Ice were not in it. He lights up my life.”'

‘Is that what she said? Sounds like she swallowed a lonely hearts column. And you've been reading too much trash.'

‘Do you love her, Ice?'

‘Stop prying!' I told her.

‘I don't know, I really don't. But I do know the car will be here in five minutes.'

‘We have to be going, anyway,' I said, ‘We have to look for our uncle. His name's Jerome DeBillier. You know him, Ice?'

The Rat showed Ice the photograph.

‘Can't say I do. But he looks like an Italian gangster.'

‘He's a drug dealer, actually,' said the Rat. ‘But we're hoping he's a nice drug dealer.'

‘Sure, I've met some really nice drug dealers, great guys! And killers with character, and thieves who can tell you a great story. They're a barrel of laughs at a party. But they still sell drugs to children, murder people, and steal from the poor! Remember that, Marie Claire!' Ice shook his head. ‘Why would anyone want to bring kids into this world?'

Ice looked sad then, and so I gave the Rat a nod to let her know we should go.

‘Well, Ice. It's been a pleasure,' said the Rat standing up. ‘Let's do lunch sometime.'

‘So, you kids are going back to the park?' Ice had a think. ‘I'm gonna be busy today. But if you wanna tag along I can get someone to look after you.'

The Rat's eyes widened. ‘Can we, Ice? We wouldn't get in the way! We could go for things or fetch you coffee!'

‘I don't want you fetching me anything. I just don't want you roaming around by yourselves. Besides, I don't know who I can trust these days. I need someone to watch my back. Can you do that?'

‘We will, Ice!' said the Rat. ‘We won't let anyone sneak up on you!'

‘Thanks, Ice,' I said.

‘Yeah well,' he said looking kind of bashful. ‘Come on then, let's go.'

We went down in the elevator and walked out towards a waiting limousine. A large white chauffeur with a bald head and a black moustache opened the door for us. He looked like a bad guy from the movies.

‘Morning, Karl.'

‘Morning, Ice. Morning, kids.'

Me and the Rat were buzzing as we lay back in the limo.

‘Where are we going, Ice?' I asked

‘We're going to the Marriott Marquis on Broadway. I have to do at least thirty interviews to promote the new CD.' Then he looked at us, puzzled. ‘Who am I going to say you are?'

‘Tell them we're your godchildren,' said the Rat. ‘Because that's what you're like, Ice. You're like our fairy godfather.'

‘Sounds good, but let's drop the fairy part.'

We drove inside the hotel forecourt and pulled up by a group of people who hovered around the revolving doors. I didn't realize they were media people until Karl opened the door. I stepped out of the limo and,
like a real amateur, walked straight into the hotel lobby. Ice and the Rat were a little more professional. They donned dark sunglasses and, stepping slowly from the limousine, they bathed in the flashing lights.

‘Ice! Look this way!'

‘Ice, over here!'

Ice posed for the paparazzi, signed some autographs, and strolled into the hotel. The Rat followed him, sashaying like she was showing off the latest fashion.

Once inside the hotel Ice introduced us to Barry, his big-bearded manager, a PA named Stephanie, and a couple of reps from his record company. We crowded into a round glass elevator and made small talk while we ascended through several ceilings in succession. We switched to another elevator that took us higher. And then we stepped out into a lot of commotion, camera crews, and guys shouting down cellphones.

‘I'll get someone to take care of you,' said Ice. And then he walked off with his people.

‘We've crossed Canada on a freight train, sneaked across the border, and we've been sleeping rough in Central Park, and now we need looking after.'

‘I want someone to look after me,' said the Rat. ‘To cater to my every whim.'

Then this stylish young guy in a pink shirt shouted at us. ‘Marie Claire! Robert!' He waved as he came towards us. He looked happy and energetic and he had lots of streaks in his spiky blond hair. ‘Hi! I'm Julian and I'm going to be looking after you. I've found you a room, if you'd like to follow me.'

‘We'd love to follow you, Julian,' said the Rat.

We followed him to a room that had no beds, only couches, and there we plonked ourselves down.

‘Can I get you something from room service?'

‘We'd like a mocha,' said the Rat. ‘And we'd like to try some New York cheesecake, if it's no trouble.'

‘No trouble at all, Marie Claire!' Julian left to order room service while the Rat relaxed on the couch.

‘This is beeping brilliant, Bob! And did you see the paparazzi taking my picture? I suppose I'll have to get used to that when I'm an actress. Come on, Bob. Let's be difficult. It's more fun if you're being difficult. If that cheesecake isn't here in ten minutes, I'm taking a tantrum.'