I lived on the south edge of SoMa, or South of Market, close to Giants Stadium (which my dad loved), with a view of the bay. Yes, you could turn a corner and see the random blighted, burned-out factory or deserted housing project, but that was true of most neighborhoods in the country these days. I tended to avoid those dodgy blocks and stuck close to the fun parts. Overall, this was a lively, happening area. And it was freewayclose to everything else in the Bay Area.
“Maybe I should think about moving over here,” Robin said.
“That would be great,” I said, excited at the thought of her living even closer to me. “We could have so much fun. But, Robin, that’s not something you need to think about right now.”
“I know.” She shivered from the breeze that seemed to be blowing straight off the bay and right up Brannan. “Especially if this street is always a wind tunnel like it is today.”
“Not always, but it’s definitely cold today. Let’s run.”
We scurried up the block, wrapping our arms around ourselves to keep warm.
“Hey,” I said as we slowed down, passing one of my favorite neighborhood Thai restaurants. “We should take you shopping later.”
She eyed me. “You hate shopping.”
“But you need clothes to wear.”
“True. We’ll go someplace cheap and get some sweats. It’s not like I have anything to dress up for.”
“That works for me.”
She made a face. “I guess I should try to find out when I can move back to my place.” She didn’t sound happy at the idea, and who could blame her? On the other hand, she did have to reclaim her home or she’d never feel safe anywhere again. Not that I would ever push her to leave.
“We can call the police when we get home,” I said. “But you know you can stay with me as long as you want.”
“Thanks, but I’m starting to feel like a third wheel.”
“No, you’re not.”
She smiled. “It would be different if you and Derek were an old married couple, but you’ve just begun a new relationship. My being there has got to be cutting into your personal romance time.”
“Not so much,” I said, grinning. “You don’t need to worry about us. We’re doing just fine.”
She glanced at me sideways and wiggled her eyebrows. “Really? Care to share the details?”
I refused to blush. “No. But much to my surprise, everything’s going really well with us.”
“Good. You deserve a wonderful man in your life.”
“Yes, I do,” I said, laughing.
“But still, I shouldn’t stay there much longer.”
“You’re going to make me mad if you keep saying that.”
“Okay, I’ll shut up.”
“If you really don’t want to stay with me, we could drive you up to Dharma for a few days.”
She looked puzzled at the suggestion. “If I want to go to Dharma, I can jump in my car and go.”
“Yeah, but this way, we could keep you company. It might be hard to drive all that way alone.” Truthfully, I was afraid a long drive like that would give Robin too much time to focus on the nightmare of what had happened and to start punishing herself again. “We can drive you up, stay for dinner, then drive back. You can give us a call anytime and we’ll come pick you up.”
“Listen to you, saying ‘us’ and ‘we.’ It’s very cute.”
Now I was blushing, but I ignored the sensation. “So, what do you say?”
“I wouldn’t have my car,” she argued. “It would be weird.”
“You know you can borrow anyone’s car up there.” I waved the thought away, realizing that Robin would never go for it. She liked to be in charge of her comings and goings, hated borrowing anything. It was a matter of control, and I could totally relate. Being stranded in Dharma at the whim of whoever was in charge of picking her up would make her nuts.
“Never mind,” I said. “It was a silly idea. You’re too independent to want to be anywhere without your own car. I’d feel the same way.”
“Thanks for the offer, though.”
“You’re welcome.” We stopped at the light at Third Street and an idea occurred to me. “But if you did go up there for a few days, I could take care of getting your apartment cleaned up for you. You could relax, get a massage, hang out with friends, then come back to a sparkling clean apartment. What do you think?”
She didn’t say anything, but her lips were twisted in thought. Finally she looked at me. “I would hate to leave that up to you.”
“You’d really hate it, or you’d just feel bad about it?”
“I’d feel really bad about it.”
“Okay, then it’s settled.” I nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”
“That’s crazy. You don’t have time to do that for me.”
I met her gaze. “Do you trust me?”
Scowling, she muttered, “I guess.”
I laughed. “And would you do it for me?”
“Of course.” She didn’t have to think about it.
“There you go.”
The light changed and we crossed Third just as a woman on the other side of the street began screaming in some foreign language I couldn’t name. I didn’t think much of it, as I’d become inured to the occasional deranged rantings of homeless people as they walked down the street. But curiosity won out, and Robin and I turned to see what the problem was.
The dark-haired woman was young and fairly attractive in jeans and a camel jacket. She didn’t appear to be hurt, just livid. She pointed with urgency in our direction as she continued screeching. Looking both ways up and down Brannan, she caught a break in traffic and started running across the street.
“Jeez,” Robin muttered, glancing around. “She’s ready to kill someone.”
I looked around for the target of her wrath and noticed a heavyset woman dressed in black pants, black trench coat, head scarf, and dark glasses, standing in front of my building. Was the other woman yelling at her?
As the screaming woman from across the street got closer, the trench-coated woman took off running up the block and disappeared around the corner.
What was that all about? She looked vaguely familiar, but I didn’t have time to worry, because at that moment, the screaming woman rushed onto the sidewalk, stormed right up to Robin, and punched her in the face.
I gasped and tried to grab hold of the woman, but she knocked Robin down to the sidewalk, then jumped on top of her. It was surreal. She was pummeling Robin, slapping and beating her in the head and face as she babbled and cried in some foreign language.
Robin yelled back as she swatted at her attacker, trying to push her away while also trying to protect her face. I managed to grab the woman by one shoulder and arm and yank her back, so she turned and slapped me. Robin got to her knees and grabbed hold of the crazed woman by both arms so she couldn’t swing out and hit either of us. Robin struggled to a standing position, yanking the woman up with her and away from striking distance.
“You keel him, you beech!” the woman screamed in English as she wiggled and squirmed to get away. “You keeller! You keel Alexei!”
“What the hell?” Robin cried, struggling to keep a grip on both her arms. “I didn’t kill him!”
The woman slammed her foot down on Robin’s, causing Robin to release the wildcat and swear loudly as she hopped around.
Crazy Lady was stretching her arm back to slug Robin again when I grabbed hold of that arm and clutched it tightly in mine. Robin snatched her other arm, and between the two of us we got her under control for the moment.
She kept repeating something in her language. It sounded like, “
“Can you hold her?” I yelled, and reached onehanded into my purse for my phone. “I’m calling the police.”
“Hurry.”
