Flamethrower - Maggie Estep [53]
Two young girls were walking by and illustrated Ruby’s point by erupting in giggles at the sight of Ramirez.
“Oh.” Ramirez looked down at himself. “Right.”
“Come on.” Ruby motioned for him to follow her back inside their building.
“Thanks for looking out for me.” She touched Ramirez on the arm as they reached the top of the stairs.
“Yeah,” he said. “Maybe you should file a report with the cops.”
“I might,” Ruby lied. “I gotta go though. I’m taking a trip tomorrow, and I have to get ready.”
“Where to?” Ramirez asked.
“Going to see my mom,” Ruby said. She guessed that once Ramirez told Elsie about what had happened, Elsie would spill out everything Ruby had told her. Elsie, thankfully, seemed to have gone to bed early.
Ruby wished Ramirez a good night then went into her apartment and collapsed onto the couch. As the adrenaline left her body, she felt the deepest exhaustion she’d ever felt. Her eyes got heavy.
Ruby came to an hour later. She had fallen asleep curled into a tight ball, and now she had a crick in her neck. She stumbled into the bathroom to pee, then looked at her watch. It was only 10:30 P.M.
She brought the phone with her into the bedroom while she finished packing. She called Triple and got him to agree to do her barn work at The Hole for the next two days. She promised him cash. He said he’d accept it.
When Ruby put her overnight bag next to the front door, Stinky meandered over and looked from Ruby to the bag. In a moment, Lulu joined him and pretty soon Ed’s cats appeared too. All four glaring at her accusatorily, like she was some sort of cat-abandoning slut from hell. Ruby had read in one of her animal books that if you made a mental picture of yourself coming home, the cats could see it and would be reassured that you were eventually coming back to feed and admire them. Ruby dutifully took a moment to picture herself coming back home. This didn’t seem to convince the cats. They kept on glaring.
Ruby had left the Mustang on Surf Avenue, and two teenage girls were sitting on the hood. They gave Ruby the evil eye as she came close. She smiled, reached for her car keys, and unlocked the driver’s-side door. The girls reluctantly slid off the hood.
Ruby got in and pulled ahead into traffic. She was waiting for the light to change at the corner of West Seventeenth and Stillwell when she saw her boss, Bob, standing at the corner. Ruby pulled over and rolled her window down.
“Hi, Bob,” she said.
Bob, who had evidently been daydreaming, looked startled.
“Hi,” he said, friendly at first, then remembering.
“You still think I stole money?” Ruby asked.
Bob wouldn’t look her in the eye. She was getting used to that these days.
“Bob, look me in the eye.”
“Murphy, you’ve fucked me. I don’t want to look at you,” Bob said, though he did actually look at her.
“You are looking at me.”
“Don’t remind me,” he said, a hint of teasing in his tone.
The tone gave Ruby hope. “I would never steal from you. I wouldn’t steal from anybody. I don’t do that shit.”
“Yeah.” Bob was looking away again. “Maybe so. I need a break though, Ruby.”
“A break?”
“I’ve got some stuff going on,” he said, uncharacteristically vague. “I just need a break from strife.”
“Oh,” she said.
“Sorry,” said Bob.
Ruby shrugged, wished Bob a good night, rolled up her window, and pulled back into traffic. She felt like shit.
15. SPIKE
Going close to 70 miles per hour on the New Jersey Turnpike was a rush for a while. Then the whole thing got creepy. There weren’t any blue Hondas in sight, but it was after midnight and Ruby felt alone and defenseless. She drove a little faster.
From the New Jersey Turnpike, Ruby took the Pennsylvania Turnpike to 202 South. By the time she got onto 30 West, the road that would lead her into Trout Falls, Ruby started having trouble keeping her eyes open.
She had just decided to look for a motel when she saw a neon motel sign on her right and pulled in. The place was called, comfortingly enough, Comfort Pines Motor Lodge. It was a one-story horseshoe-shaped structure