Monster (14 page)

Last
night Fred Keith, a junior at Balton High, was
ru
s
hed
to the emergency ward of Balton Memorial
after sustaining a neck injury in the fourth quarter of a football game between Balton High and Point High. Fred was playing right defensive guard and was injured on a play that scored Point's seventh touchdown of the night
.
Initially the injur
y was not thought to be serious.
Fred was helped from the game by the team's trainer and an assistant coach
.
He wasn't even carried off the field on a stretcher
–
ordinary procedure when a cervical injury is suspected. The team's trainer, Steve Sperber, later said
that
he had seen the hit that had caused Fred's injury and hadn
’t
thought it was particularly hard.
“The kid barely banged him,”
Mr
.
Sperber was quoted as saying.

The kid was later identified as Larry Zurer, who said he hoped Fred felt better soon.

At the hospital it quickly became evident that Fred had sustained serious fractures to the third and fourth cervicals. Damage to that part of the neck often results in complete paralysis, and Fred has yet to regain feeling in any of his limbs. He tolerated the surgery on his neck well, however. But Fred is still having trouble breathing properly and has been hooked up to a respirator. The prognosis for complete recovery is considered poor, doctors say.

Fred's parents could not be reached for comment, although
there’s
already talk of a lawsuit over the handling of Fred immediately after the injury was sustained. But it was the opinion of one doctor, who had seen the X-rays of the boy and who asked not to be identified, t
hat Fred would have been paralyz
ed from the neck down no matter how he had been
taken from the playing field. “
That boy's neck looked like it had b
een cracked by a sledge-hammer,”
the doctor remarked.

“J
esus,
”
Angela mumbled as she set down the paper.

“
Too bad h
e's not around to heal the guy,”
Kevin said.
“Did
you read that
last comment from that doctor?”

“I did.”

Kev
in raised a quizzical eyebrow. “I
wonder what Mary
would
have to say about that.”

Angela continued
to
stare at Fred Keith's picture. “I
didn't tell you that Larry Zurer was another one of the people Mar
y suspected might be a monster.”

“
That's an interesting coincidence
.”

“
What are you saying?
” Angela asked.

“Nothing. What are you saying?”

“
I want to talk to Mary again.
”

“
OK,
” Kevin said. “What for?”

“I just do.”
She scanned the kitchen.
“
But I want to stop
and get something to eat first.”

“
Why don't you just eat here?
”
Kevin asked.

Angela looked a
t
the bread and the butler and the fruit bowl and found herself repulsed.
“I
need something
more substantial,”
she said.

On the way to Balton they
stopped at a McDonald's. She ord
ered a Big Mac and fries. Kevin found her appetite
fascinatin
g, since she ordinarily ate like a bird. He would have been even more intrigued had he known that she
felt
like having another hamburger when she was through eating. What a flu, she thought
. It worked in reverse.

Nguyen greeted her in his office. She had called to say
she was
coming in. The lie
utenant asked Kevin to stay in t
he waiting room while he spoke to Angela. When his door
was c
losed he asked her to have a seat
.

“W
hy are you here?
”
he asked.

“I want to talk to Mary again.”

“About?”

Angela shrugged.
“
What we discussed last time. Why she
did it.”

“
I
thought you said Ma
ry refused to discuss anything abou
t the shootings.
”

Angel
a could feel Ng
uyen studying her. He was smart,
and her lies
probably didn't fool him at all. “I
wa
nt
to
try again,”
she said simply.

“
Did you know t
hat Mary might be getting out on bail soon?”

“
No. I
heard the opposite.”

“
Her parents have hired the top lawyer in the
s
tate
,” Nguyen said. “
He's persistent.
It's likely he'll be able to get
her out on a
t
echnicali
t
y
– the only way she'd ever
ge
t out.”

“Will she go home?”

“
I
don't know. I
’
d adv
ise against it, for her safety. I’d
appreciate it if you could convince her to stay here.
”

“I
doubt if
I
can do that
.”

“
You can try
.”

“I’ll try,”
Angela promised.

Angela was brought to the same box-like room as bef
ore.
Only now one of the overhead fluorescent lights had fail
ed,
making the place rather dark. Angela sat in the gl
oom
wondering what
s
he was going to say to Mary, about
her
date with
Jim
, about Fred Keith. She also thought
about food. She was sti
ll starving. A steak for dinner sounded gre
at, if she could last that long.

Nguyen brought Mary in this time. As before,
she
was
handcuffed. When the l
ieutenant started to handcuf
f h
er
to the chair on the other side of the grey table
,
An
gela shook her head no.
Nguyen was amiable. He nodded
and
left the room without a word
.

M
ary didn't lo
ok the better for her jail time.
She
had
lost weight. The bandages she had on her head and h
and
looked like the same ones she'd had on the previ
ous
week. Her expression was guarded, and she appe
ared
much more on edge than before.

“
What have you found out?
”
Mary asked.

“
About what?
”
Angela asked.

Mary snorted. “
You wouldn't be back unless some
thing
out of
the ordinary was bothering you.”

“You don't put
much stock in our friendship, do
you?”

Mary ignored
the comment. “
Have
you
seen
Jim
?”

“Yeah.”

Ma
ry was instantly alert. She had radar like nobody's
business
.
“
When and where did you see him?
”

“Around. At school.”

“Has
he made a point of talking
t
o you?
”
Mary
asked.

“Yes.
He told me you went crazy because he
t
old you he
d
idn
't
want
t
o go out with you anymore.
”

Mary showed a thin smile. “Anything else?”

“
N
o.”

“Come on.”

Angela s
harpened her tone. “
You come on. The last
time
I
was
here you gave me all this crap about you killing those
t
wo
because they were aliens.”

“
I never said t
hey were aliens. You said that.”

“
Monsters
, whatever. Now I'm tired of it.
You tell me the
truth.
Why did you come t
o that party with that shotgun?”

Mary regarded her closely. “What's happened, Angi
e?
What’s got you scared?”

Angela hesitated. “
A boy broke his neck at the game
last ni
gh
t.”

M
ary
was in
ter
ested.
“
Give me all the details
.”

“
Hi
s
name's Fred Keith. He plays for Balton
–
he used
to play
for Balton. Larry Zurer tackled him in the fourth
quarter,
and now Fred will probably be paraly
z
ed from the
ne
ck
down for the rest of his life.
”

Ma
ry sucked in a breath.
“
I
knew Larry was one of those
bastards.”
She drummed her fingers on the table-top.
“
What
else?”

“
When are you getting out?”
Angela asked.

“I don't know. What else?”

“I hear
you might be out tomorrow. You should stay here.
I went
to
the
funerals. Todd and Kathy's families are no
fans of yours.”

“Who cares?”
Mary
got up and began
t
o pace.
“
If Larry's
gone o
ver, Carol's gone as well.
”
She spoke to the wall.
“Ho
w many more are the
re by now?”

“
Are
you figuring out how much ammunition you'll
need?”

“Shut up,”
Mary snapped.

A
ngela jumped out of her chair. “
You don't fool me
one
bit
–
your first hour out of here and you'll be after th
em.”

Mary glared at h
er. “
The minute I'm out of here
they’ll
be
after me. Look at yourself, Angi
e, and tell me
who’s
fooling who. Is
Jim
suddenly head over heels in love
with
you? Did he tell you he had to dump me so that he
could have you?”

Angela froze.
“He did.”

Mary pounded her knee with her good
hand. “I knew i
t! What else? Are you going out with him?
”

Angela's legs felt weak. She had to s
it
back do
wn. “I went out with him last night.”

Mary stared down at her.
“
Are you out of your god
damn mind?”

Angela peered up at her
. “
Most people think you
are, Mary.”

Mary stepped back around the table and plopped d
own
in her chair. She chuckled bitterly.
“
My friend,
Angela
Warner. So hard up for male attention that she ch
ooses
one of the few human animals in the country to
lust after.”

“
He chose me,
”
Angela said.

“
He chose you because he
’
s worried about what I
told
you. Admit it, he asked you, didn't he? Maybe a few ti
mes?”

“
Didn't
you
tal
k to her on Saturday
?” “
Didn
’t s
he tell
you anything?” “L
ike what?
” “
What did she te
ll you?”

“
They were normal questions,
”
Angela said fla
tl
y.

“
What did the happy couple do on their
first date?”

“
W
e ate together. In a restaurant.
We didn't
eat any
body.”

“
Then what did you do?
”
Mary asked.

“
We wen
t back to my place and screwed.”