Cornerstone (25 page)

She sits at the head of the table, pushing my bowl of granola squarely in front of me. Garrett puts another spoonful of cereal in his mouth like he’s watching a game show.

“That was before I knew about Roger.” I tell her.

“He’ll leave us alone if you stay out of the community.”

“And what if he doesn’t?” I ask. “What about the others?”

“What others?”

“She means The Fury, Alo Evangeline.” Garrett says.

“What about them? The Fury can’t organize enough to agree on which liquor to get drunk on, let alone create a significant problem for the Ianua. ” my mother tells him. She turns to me, her eyes pleading. “Roger’s the only one we have to worry about, Nalena, and if you’re not part of the Ianua, he’s got no reason to bother us.”

“He bothered to break her arm, Alo Evangeline.” Garrett corrects her quietly. “Before he even knew for sure that she had the sign. Just like we were discussing the other night...”

“What we were discussing the other night is an old wives tale, Garrett.” My mother cuts him off.

“What are you talking about?” I ask. My voice is suddenly a wild thing, beating in my throat. “What were you discussing?”

“An outdated conspiracy theory.” my mom says. She purses her lips at Garrett and crosses her arms over her chest. “Just a theory, nothing more.”

“It’s not just a theory anymore. We can’t ignore the fact things are happening.” Garrett says. “If I hadn’t the emergency call to watch over the Addo, Nalena would never have been jumped in the bathroom at school.”

“You were called in as a precaution!
Nothing
happened.” my mother argues. “This is not a reason for her to base a decision on.”

“She wants to protect you.” Garrett’s voice drops an octave.

“She is my daughter, Garrett!” She stabs her chest with her finger. “And it is my job to protect her. Not the other way around.”

“She should have the right to choose. She was given the warrior sign for a reason. Their numbers have been growing and look at how close they’ve gotten. Roger never should have been able to lay a finger on Nalena. He said himself that he’s got inside contacts. I don’t think you can argue that the conspiracy theory we’ve suspected might not be a theory anymore.”

“You give me the name of someone in our community that they’ve killed.” My mom taps a finger on the table. She said
killed
. I can’t even catch my breath to ask if I heard it right before Garrett answers her.

“Chloe Henderson.” he says.

“That was a car accident. They...”

“Nicholas Gershund.”

“You think The Fury orchestrated an entire plane crash, just to get rid of Nick? There were thirty-three other passengers killed...”

“Patty Rickenback, electrocuted in her bathtub.”

“Patty was ancient and she probably wasn’t thinking straight. She took a bath and the radio was too close to the tub.”

“Debbie Harris, poisoned.”

“She used to be an alcoholic. She relapsed and drank the wrong concoction.”

“Everyone says the deaths are part of a plan, just like the one with Elaina and Steven Mulshevitz, but on a much bigger scale.” Garrett says. “Prey on the weak, make it all look like accidents and slowly whittle down the opposition.”

“Who? Who’s saying?” my mom snaps. “Because it was
not
The Fury that killed the Mulshevitz’s, Garrett.” Her laugh is hacked flat at the end. “That was almost eighteen years ago and even though you’re too young to have known Elaina and Steven, I did. They weren’t murdered and there wasn’t any plan. I knew them for goodness sake! They had a terrible marriage and Elaina was cheating on Steven. When he found out that his son wasn’t his, he shot her and then he shot himself. The Fury had nothing to do with it.”

“I thought you said The Fury wasn’t really a threat.” I say to Garrett. Or maybe I just squeak. That’s what it feels like.

“In the distant past they weren’t, but in the past eighteen years, the rate of ‘accidental’ deaths has climbed and the accidents keep getting more and more bizarre. There have been five ‘accidental’ Ianua deaths in the last five months, the highest number yet.” Garrett says. “They’re preying on the Alo.”

“It’s coincidence, Nalena, that’s all.” My mother takes a seat beside me, curling her fingers around my chin so I will look at her. “When people die unexpectedly, sometimes it is easier to explain the senselessness if there is a scandal. These deaths are tragedies, not conspiracies. Don’t make your choice based on this. I don’t need protecting.”

I drop against the back of the chair. “It’s a lot of people to die tragically within five months. It could be some huge coincidence, but what if it’s not? How many Alo are there?” I ask.

“Only the Addos know for sure.” Garrett says.

“There are hundreds of Alo.” my mom says. “Maybe thousands.”

“There’s more than one Addo?” I ask. Garrett nods.

“There were thirteen.” he says. “Until one passed away last month.”

“Addo Chad.” my mother says. “God bless him, he passed in his sleep.”

“At the ripe age of forty-one.” Garrett adds. “Without any prior health issues. The autopsy pointed to a suspicious cause of death.”

“The autopsy was
inconclusive
.” my mom says, smoothing down her shirt. The way she does it, I know she feels she’s lost the battle. She glances up at the clock. “You should get going, the Addo will be waiting for you. Just remember, Nalena, you’ve got nothing to worry about, besides making the right choice.

I guess she’s right.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, but I thought you should know everything before you make your decision.” Garrett says when we’re in the car and on the way to the Addo’s.

“You’re not scaring me.” I lie. After listening to he and my mom go at it in the kitchen, I’m not sure either one of them knows what the truth really is. It seems like they both have suspicions but neither of them can prove any of it. All I know is that my mom wants me to have a Simple Life and that having it still seems the best option to keep us both safe.

“Do you know what are you going to do?” Garrett asks.

“Yeah.” I tell him. “I’m going to do what my mom wants and keep my father away from us.”

Garrett runs the car off on the gravel shoulder and turns to me. “Are you serious?”

“You said you’re going to keep my mom safe.” I tell him even though I don’t even feel right about saying it out loud. “And I’ll be able to protect myself. Roger won’t bother us as long as I stay out of the community.”

“Did you get that in writing?” He is so sarcastic that suddenly, no matter how beautiful Garrett Reese is, it’s still not worth taking this from him.

“Look,” I say, mirroring his sarcasm. “What do you care anyway? Your job is to take care of my mom. I appreciate that you’ve been nice to me because you feel like you have to, but I’m just going to put it out there: you’re off the hook. I’m going to be out of your hair after I talk to the Addo. Okay? So, you can go back to doing your job and I’ll get on with my life.”

“My job?” Garrett’s whole face puckers up as he says it. “You think I’m nice to you because I
...
”

I don’t let him finish. I stick my Ipod buds in my ears and crank up my volume until it drowns him out and makes my ears thump with bass. We don’t speak another word on the way to the Addo’s house. It’s not like Garrett doesn’t try, but I keep the buds in my ears. Garrett grabs the cords and pops them out once, but I just stuff them right back in. After that, he leaves me alone.

When we pull up in front of the Addo’s trailer, Garrett waves two fingers at woman in a silver car who pulls out of the space that we pull into. I wonder briefly how many new Contego and Alo show up in a day. My mom is probably right about there being thousands.

I hop out of the car and walk up the twitchy front steps without bothering to wait for Garrett. It doesn’t matter. He hasn’t even gotten out of the car.

I knock three times before the Addo finally comes to open the door. He’s wearing navy blue sweats today, the pants pulled up over the white knee socks again and the same sandals.

“It’s always open, you know.” he says. “I’ll have to start wearing my pedometer if you’re going to make me walk to the door every time you show up. I suppose my doctor will be thrilled.”

I step into the artificial sun of his enormous kitchen-house. “Shouldn’t you keep it locked?”

“For what purpose? To keep the world out? Fah on that, Nalena. The world gets in whenever it wants to anyway, doesn’t it? What’s the point to wearing out a perfectly useless lock?” He works his way around his gigantic table to a cupboard and takes out two cups. He pours hot water from a kettle on the stove and drops in tea balls.

“You can close that door, my dear.” he says. “Garrett’s not coming in. He’s going to sit out there and sulk. He could do his surveillance in here just as well, but he’d rather sit out there and pout about something that isn’t even going to happen. Oh well. Too bad for him. And now he’s going to miss out on the cookies too.”

“Surveillance?” I ask. “For what? The Fury?”

“Probably.” Addo says. “Maybe. Definitely. I say, let everyone feel as though they’re doing something useful if that’s what puts them at ease. At the very least, it keeps them out of my hair.”

The Addo takes a plate down from on top of the fridge. There are only three cookies on it.

“There would be more, but I was terribly hungry.” he apologizes as he lays the plate in front of me, along with the mug of tea. The smell of the tea, as pungent as a forest, catches in my nose and relaxes me a little. “Cookies are my weakness.”

“Addo, ” I begin carefully because I’m not sure what question I need to ask in order to get the answer I want. “Is someone trying to...”

“Snuff me?” he giggles, taking the seat beside me. “Oh yes. Probably. Actually, probably most certainly. But maybe not who you think.”

“Who
I
think?”

“Oops. Did I get it wrong?” Addo raises an eyebrow and suddenly, in the back of my head, I hear the Addo’s voice, small but clear as he says:
Roger, right-o?

“Holy crap.” I gasp. I put my hands over my ears.

“The holiest kind.” Addo laughs.

“How did you do that?”

“It’s amazing what we can do when we recognize our connection to one another.”

“You mean you can read my mind?”

“Wouldn’t that be a hoot?” Addo slaps his knee. “No, my dear, your thoughts are your own unless you choose to share them. And sharing takes some projecting on your part. Thank goodness for that, right? However, common sense and body language are terrible little traitors.”

“Is my father one of them?” I ask.

“
The Furis
?” Addo chuckles. “That was the name they were originally given, you know. Did anyone tell you what it means?”

I shake my head as Addo pulls the sugar bowl over. He spoons heaps into his mug.

“It means thieves, among other things. And yes, Roger has always dabbled among them. He resisted longer than most, but I’m afraid his instincts have finally been dulled. He doesn’t seem to have any more ‘go’ left in him.”

“He’s insane?” I ask.

“I’m afraid he may be.” The Addo’s eyes drop mournfully.

“I don’t really want to talk about him.”

“Then let’s not.” Addo says, tinking his tea spoon on the side of his mug. “Do you know that when the Furis figured out their name, they actually rallied themselves enough to agree on calling themselves The Fury?” He throws down his spoon and wiggles his fingers in the air. “
Wooo
...
The Fury!”

He swats the sound away and drops his hands in his lap with a laugh.

“Bah.” he says. “Somebody thought that sounded scarier, I bet. You see what happens when a community is shaped in the hands of morons?” He picks up his spoon again, chuckling to himself as he dumps the fifth spoonful of sugar into his cup. He leans back in his chair, stirring lazily.

“Are they all evil?” I ask. Addo grunts a laugh.

“Nah. They haven’t got the focus it takes to be evil.” he says. “I think they’d love to be considered the bad guys, the lowbrows...even the people who graffiti on old ladies’ cars. But they haven’t got that kind of determination. The Fury are more like fish riding a Ferris wheel. They go round and round, suffocating, without a clue that they don’t belong there. And no matter how uncomfortable they get, they still want another ride. All they do is want, want, want, want, want.” He motions to the plate of cookies. “Are you going to eat those? Mmm, mmm. Just the right amount of chocolate chips. They’re awfully good.”

He looks at my hand gripping my tea cup, then at the plate and then my face, as if there is something wrong with me for not scooping up a cookie. After he just referred to the people that want to kill him as
fish on Ferris wheels.
However, Addo seems completely at ease, aside from only having eyes for the plate of cookies in front of me.