'She's going to see her, okay? If you'd let me finish. They're planning to get together before Karen leaves town. Did you know she was a model? Oh yeah, and she's moving to Europe-has a big contract.'
Bobby was giving Megan his full attention now. 'She say when?'
'You sure you want me to tell you? You might get bored again, and I'd hate to see that.'
They made up after dinner, Bobby apologized and they had dessert, homemade key lime pie, on Megan's bed, watching a movie. Bobby couldn't think of a more uncomfortable way to eat, lying down with a plate on his chest, but she wanted to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. She'd seen it eight times and Bobby said, 'Why do you want to watch it again?'
'It's my favorite movie of all time.'
Bobby had watched part of it and thought it was about a girl who dated a guy and they had a big fight so she went to a special doctor, and had the memory of their relationship erased from her mind. That's what Bobby wanted to do, have his memory erased so he'd stop thinking about his apartment getting trashed, and losing the money, and Karen making a fool of him. He felt one of the cats rubbing against him.
Megan sat up and said, 'Snickers likes you, I can tell.'
She picked up the plates and said, 'Pause it, will you? I'll be right back,' and walked out of the room.
Bobby punched the remote, turned off the DVD and put on the TV- Wheel of Fortune, watching Vanna reveal a letter. Snickers moved along the bottom of the bed, glancing at him with an expression that said, What do you think you're doing? This is my bed, asshole. Bobby sat up, reached out and grabbed the cat. He held the little guy up at arm's length, staring into his whiskered cat face. 'Hey, Snickers, fuck you.' Bobby threw the cat across the room, and watched him bend and twist in midair, somehow landing on his feet on top of an end table, sending picture frames and a terra-cotta planter crashing to the floor.
Megan yelled from the kitchen. 'What was that?' He could hear her coming back to the bedroom, shoes clicking on the hardwood floor. He was still watching Snickers, amazed by his moves. Bobby would've given him an 8.5 if he were judging a cat-throwing contest.
Megan came in the room looking pissed off. 'What happened?'
'Your cat jumped on the table and knocked all that shit off,' Bobby said.
Megan went to Snickers, picked him up and stroked his back. 'He's shaking. What did you do to him?'
Bobby got up and went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He wondered if maybe he'd done something in a previous life-thinking about his luck again-how everything had gone from bad to worse.
Chapter Twenty-five
Karen woke up in Schreiner's maize and blue University of Michigan themed extra bedroom, staring at a Lloyd Carr bobble head figure on the bedside table. The room had a dark blue Michigan Wolverine curtain valance, a maize and blue bedspread and pillows and a Michigan wallpaper border.
Karen got dressed, put on her own clothes and brushed her teeth and went downstairs. Schreiner was sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in front of him, reading the Free Press. He looked up when she came in the room. He was wearing the same outfit he had on the night before.
'There's coffee,' Schreiner said. 'Cups in cupboard in front of you, second shelf.'
Karen opened the cupboard door, reached up and took out a cup and filled it from the glass Krups pitcher that was in the coffeemaker on the counter. She took her cup and went over and sat across from him at the table.
Schreiner said, 'How'd you sleep?'
'Not bad, considering,' Karen said. 'I woke up thinking I'd turned into a University of Michigan booster. The excessive use of maize and blue distracted me and took my mind off my problems. If you ever sell this place, it better be to a U of M fan.'
Schreiner laid the newspaper on the breakfast room table. He stretched and yawned. Karen picked up the pint container of half amp; half and poured some in her coffee, stirred it with her finger and licked it.
Schreiner looked up from the newspaper and said, 'In case you're wondering, I do have spoons.'
'That's good to know,' Karen said, and grinned. 'What are you doing today?'
'Working,' Schreiner said.
'It's the weekend,' Karen said.
'Look outside,' Schreiner said. 'Can you tell what day it is?'
That surprised her. She thought of him as more of a slacker than a worker, and wondered if he smoked weed at the office.
'How about you?' Schreiner said.
Karen said, 'I've got to run some errands.'
'Are you crazy? I wouldn't go anywhere till it gets dark,' Schreiner said.
'There are some things I have to do,' Karen said.
'I'll go with you.'
This was her deal. She wasn't going to involve Schreiner or anyone else. 'I'll be fine, but I need a place to hang out till this evening, if you don't mind. I'm meeting my sister to say goodbye.'
'Be careful,' Schreiner said. 'You see anyone following you, I want you to call me.'
'Peace in the valley,' Karen said and Schreiner grinned.
Karen decided to pick the money up first. She borrowed one of Schreiner's dark blue University of Michigan caps with a maize-colored M on the front and a blue windbreaker that was too big. She had to roll the sleeves up. She put the cap on and pulled it down so the brim was just over her eyes. She went in the kitchen where Schreiner was still sitting and said, 'How do I look?'
'Unbelievable. You're one of us, a member of the U of M nation. I wouldn't have recognized you in a million years.'
She drove to Target on Coolidge and bought an Eddie Bauer Northlake duffel bag in a dark color called volcanic gray that looked almost black. The description on the tag said it was made out of lightweight, water- resistant, tear-resistant polyester, and it had a shoulder strap, which was perfect for carrying heavy loads.
Karen paid for the bag and drove back to Birmingham. She parked in a small lot on Hamilton Street. She looked around before she got out of the car, and went in the rear entrance door of Comerica Bank with the Eddie Bauer duffel bag over her shoulder. A young stylish Comerica customer service representative named Pam Glefke escorted Karen downstairs to a private room with a desk and chair and a Picasso print, Three Musicians, framed on the wall. Pam disappeared for a couple of minutes and came back with two long narrow safe deposit boxes.
'Take all the time you want,' Pam said. 'When you're finished, or if you need anything just call me.'
There was a phone on the desk. Pam Glefke left the room and Karen got up and locked the door. She unlocked the first box and lifted the top off and stared at the rows of bills in banded packs. She couldn't believe what she was doing or what she'd done. Yeah, Karen had gotten her money back, but at what cost? It seemed unimportant now weighed against all that had happened. She kept picturing Johnny dead on the bed, and Yalda in the kitchen, blood all over the walls and floor. She couldn't get those images out of her head, but it was too late for that now.
She started filling the Eddie Bauer duffel, emptied the first safe deposit box and locked the top back on it. She opened the second box and did the same. The duffel held all the money. She zipped it closed and called Pam Glefke and said she was finished.
Ricky went to the hospital for a meeting with Samir's sisters, Noor and Huda, who Ricky thought looked like men in drag because of their big hands and receding hair. The sisters decided, after an emotional tug-of-war, to take Samir off life support. The doctor had told them that Samir might have brain damage as a result of the beating he received. He could be a vegetable. Ricky wondered what kind? He pictured a head of wet cauliflower from the produce aisle at one of the stores.
The sisters stood over Samir, crying and dabbing their eyes with tissues. They loved their younger brother. They said he was a great man. Ricky was thinking, you ought to work for him, see how great he is. He embraced his aunts and pretended to be sad, but the truth was he'd never been happier in his life. With Samir out of the way, he
