After Me (7 page)

Chapter Eleven

W
hen we got off the school bus at Annalee’s stop, she said, “Did you let your foster mom know you were coming to the library with me?”

“Crap, I didn’t even think about it,” I said. “I’m not used to having anybody who cares what I do.”

I knew she thought I was talking about living on the street, but that’s not what I meant. Vanessa had always been too busy scaling the corporate ladder to worry about what her whack-job daughter was doing. And I reminded her too much of my womanizing drunk of a father for her to stomach looking at me for very long.

“You don’t have a cell phone?” Annalee asked as we walked.

I shook my head. “Brad and Karen said they’d get me one after my first report card if I had at least a B average.” I knew better than to ask if she had one after the computer episode. “Maybe they’ll let me use the phone at the library.”

She nodded. “There’s one they let people use to call for a ride at closing time. I’m sure they’ll let you use it.”

As we walked further down the sidewalk, I noticed how rundown the area looked compared to Coconut Grove. Karen and Brad lived in one of the modest sections where the houses were older, but their place still looked like a mansion compared to the low-income housing complexes separated by empty buildings or trashy-looking businesses in this neighborhood. And was that a drug deal going down on the corner across the street? I started to say something about it, then I saw the embarrassed look on Annalee’s face.

“Reminds me of home,” I said instead. “Hope we don’t run into any of my former colleagues.”

Her relief materialized in a smile. “Or any of my relatives.”

“No worries there for me,” I said. “All mine are either dead or doing five-to-ten.”

Two guys leaning against the burglar-barred front of a barbeque joint yelled something filthy at us. I flipped them off and Annalee pulled my arm down.

“It’s better if you just ignore them and keep walking.”

“That’s not how I roll,” I said. “Don’t worry. I got your back.”

She shook her head. “The guys around here are a lot worse than Dougie. And neither of us are bulletproof, you know.”

Speak for yourself, girlfriend.

Since I couldn’t argue with her without revealing my zombie powers, I said, “Yeah, okay. I keep forgetting that I actually want to live through the day now.”

We made it past the store without getting assaulted by anything worse than more obscenities, which made me feel both relieved and a little disappointed. I entertained myself with a mental viewing of what it would be like to teach the scumbags a lesson for disrespecting women. Maybe I’d come back sometime when I didn’t have Annalee as a witness. Midnight shenanigans for Zombie Girl.

The library was only two blocks away, and the neat little building stuck out like a sore thumb in such a crappy area. Annalee pointed it out to me then stopped abruptly.

“What’s wrong?” I followed her gaze and could tell her attention was on a red Corvette parked by the library’s front door.

“That’s Lew’s car,” she said. “What’s he doing here?”

“How do you know for sure it’s his?” I noticed the tag read CHKMATE and said, “Oh, never mind. Okay, let’s go find out why he’s creeping on us.”

I managed to keep from sprinting up to the library entrance, but I still arrived way ahead of Annalee and had to wait for her to catch up. Apparently, she noticed my eagerness.

“Hey, maybe you should go in the front door and I should go in the back,” she said. “You know, just to make sure he doesn’t get away.”

I actually considered it a second before I realized I was being mocked by a library mouse.

“Cute,” I said with a cheesy smile. “But don’t pretend you aren’t excited to see him too. At least I’m honest about it.” I braced myself for the lightning bolt that was sure to strike me for claiming that virtue.

When we went inside, Annalee was greeted by every employee in the library. I was busy looking for Lew, but I couldn’t help noticing how beautiful the place was, especially the murals painted on two of the walls. One looked like a Cuban festival and the other featured famous African-Americans. There was also a display of kids’ artwork in the children’s fiction room.

“Don’t forget to call your foster mom,” Annalee said. “I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me and make them not want us to be friends.”

I had to laugh. “Yeah, I’m sure they don’t want me hanging out with somebody who takes me on unauthorized library visits.”

“Well, you still should call,” she said. “The phone’s over there at the circulation desk.” She indicated a station in the center of the fiction room. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye out for Lew so he doesn’t escape.”

I stuck my tongue out at her before walking over to the desk. Just as I expected, Karen was thrilled to hear I’d made a friend and was at the library with her. I promised to call when we got to Annalee’s house and purposely didn’t mention what part of town we were in.

“Mr. Christopher is upstairs at the reference desk,” Annalee said when I got off the phone. “He’s the one who does the classic book discussion group and gave me the list. We can check the study rooms and the computer lab to see if Lew’s up there.”

I followed her up the stairs, admiring the framed prints on the walls. “They’re really big on art in this place, huh?”

She nodded. “Mr. Christopher says it brings in a lot of patrons who might otherwise never step foot in a library. They support all the fine arts, like movies, concerts and plays.”

When we got to the top of the stairs, I saw a row of chairs facing the large windows, all of them occupied by scraggly-looking people. Most of them were asleep, but one old lady who looked like she was wearing every ratty article of clothing she owned was reading a book with a lighthouse on the cover. She looked up and waved at Annalee.

“That’s Hazel.” Annalee waved back at the woman as I followed her into the big room in the center of the floor. “She’s read just about every book in the library and can remember the characters and plots from most of them.”

“Is she homeless?”

Annalee nodded. “She has paranoid schizophrenia. She used to be a teacher but lost her job, her house and all her money when her medication stopped working after her husband died.”

“How do you know so much about her?”

“Mr. Christopher told me, and I’ve talked to her some too. She’s a nice lady except for thinking the government has assassins looking for her. Mr. Christopher convinced her the killers would never think to look for her in the library. That’s why she spends most of her time here reading.”

I gave her a suspicious look. “You sound kinda sweet on this Mr. Christopher. Is he cute?”

“Yes, but that’s not why I like him.” She blushed one of her medium shades. “He knows more about books than anybody I’ve ever known. Now, shush. There he is.”

The man behind the desk smiled when he saw Annalee, and I was relieved to see it was just a fond smile and not a lecherous one. Not that I really expected the library to be staffed by perverts, but I was glad I wouldn’t have to eliminate Annalee’s hero.

“Hey, Mr. Christopher,” Annalee said. “This is my friend Gwen. Can we get a copy of your list of classics for her?”

“Most certainly.” He took a sheet of paper from one of the drawers to his left. “Glad to meet you, Gwen. Maybe you can help me talk Annalee into coming to our next discussion group. The upcoming dates are printed at the bottom of the list.”

“Yeah, maybe,” I said, still looking around for Lew. “Thanks for the list. Annalee, where are those study rooms and computer lab you were talking about?”

“Right through that door.” Mr. Christopher pointed to the back of the room. “Annalee, did you see the new releases when you came in? There’s a new Dexter book.”

Her eyes lit up. “Really? I didn’t know there was a new one out yet.”

Mr. Christopher typed something into his computer and turned his monitor so Annalee could see it. “Here’s the description. Sounds like another winner.”

My patience whimpered and died a quiet death. I touched Annalee’s shoulder and said, “I’m gonna go see if I can spot Lew. I’ll meet you back here in a few minutes, okay?”

“Okay.” She and Mr. Christopher launched into a lively discussion of the book plots versus the television show, and I wondered if she might have a crush on more than one nerdy guy. To tell the truth, I was relieved to know I didn’t feel the same way about Mr. Dewey Decimal. I didn’t think I could’ve survived the humiliation of that one.

The door at the end of the room led to a long hallway lined with windows. One side was a large room filled with tables and computer terminals. I scanned all the users and didn’t see Lew among them. The other side of the hall was separated into small rooms, each with a window and a door and furnished with a desk and two chairs. In the fourth one, I saw Lew’s blond head beside that of a Hispanic-looking guy, both of them bent over a textbook.

Okay, so it looked like he was tutoring this kid for some reason, but why? It couldn’t be because he needed the money if his family was loaded like Annalee said. And from the looks of the tattoos on the guy’s muscular arms, I didn’t think he was one of Lew’s chess teammates or even went to Bay Harbor at all. I was loving the chance to stare at Lew uninterrupted, but my curiosity got the best of me and made me knock on the window.

He looked up and did a double take when he saw me, shooting down the possibility that he was there hoping to see me. I gave him a little wave that he didn’t return, and when the other guy saw me, I could tell by the look on his face that he’d lost all interest in studying anything but the blonde interruption. I didn’t figure Lew was going to like that and tried to beat it before I made it worse, but I heard the door open behind me a second later.

“Whoa, why you run away,
chica
?” the guy said when he came out into the hall. “You knock on the window, so come on in.”

I stopped and turned around. “I was just saying hi to Lew. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Lew had come out by then, and the guy gave him an impressed look. “Oh, she here to see you. It’s like that,
ese
? You been holding out on me?”

“You’re stalking me now, Gwen?” The corners of Lew’s mouth hinted at a smile.

I was so relieved to see he wasn’t mad that I didn’t mind getting mocked by a nerd for the second time that day.

“Yeah, right,” I said. “If you recall, I told you in class today that I was coming to the library with Annalee after school, so you’re the creeper. Who’s this guy, your bodyguard?”

His companion flexed his impressive biceps and flashed white teeth at me. “
Si
, I have
mi hermano’s
back always.” He put an arm across Lew’s shoulders and cuffed him on the chin with his fist. “But you don’t introduce me to this
mamácita
right now,
I kick your white ass myself.”

“Gwen, this is Javier Estrada,” Lew said with a laugh. “He’s one of my oldest friends. Javi, Gwen is my chemistry partner.”

Jeez, he could’ve at least called me a friend. I tried to hide my disappointment at his bland description of our relationship, but the heat I felt coming from my cheeks told me I didn’t quite succeed.

Javier looked from Lew to me and back again. “Partner like her, maybe I stay in school.” He reached for one of my hands. “
Hola
, Gwen. Me and you make some chemistry,
che
?”

Only because of the way Lew had introduced him, I resisted the urge to burst Javier’s conceited bubble, but I couldn’t help rolling my eyes.

“Sorry, dude. I forgot to wear my fireproof jeans.” With an effort, I withdrew my hand from his and looked at Lew. “What are you studying in there? Don’t tell me Javier is the secret to your mad chess skills.”

Both boys laughed and Lew said, “Guess I’m busted. Javi, give me a minute, okay?”

“I gotta be at work by five,
ese
.”

“I know. I just need to tell Gwen something about our chemistry homework. It won’t take a second.”

Wait, what? We didn’t have any homework. My dead heart did a few cartwheels as I wondered what Lew wanted to talk to me about in private.

Javier gave him a sly look. “Okay, I let you make some chemistry.”

Unfortunately, my heart stopped its acrobatics as soon as Javier shut the study room door and Lew said, “Where’s Annalee?”

“She’s talking to a guy who works here,” I said, trying not to scowl at him. “I don’t remember getting her whereabouts assigned for homework. What’s with all the secrecy?”

He glanced at Javier through the window. “I just wanted to get Javi back to work. We’ve only got a few days before he takes his GED exam.”

“Oh. Sorry I interrupted you.” I couldn’t help feeling a little relieved that he didn’t really want to know where Annalee was. And, of course, that made me feel guilty. Jeez.

“It’s okay,” he said. “Did you get your book list?”

At least he wasn’t trying to get rid of me as fast as possible. I held up the list and nodded. “Maybe I’ll get a couple before we leave.”