Part 20 (1/2)
”Hiding in plain sight,” Jimmy whispers.
”That's the best way to hide something. That's what my dad says. C'mon, we gotta get it out of there.”
”Darn straight we do,” Jimmy agrees.
”Natalie!” I shout. ”Let's go!”
THE BAD GUYS ARE LOCKED UP.
Sat.u.r.day, September 7, and Sunday, September 8, 1935
Natalie shuffles along faster than usual. Just watching her come down the switchback, doing her best to keep up, fills me with a rush of grat.i.tude. She is trying in her own weird way. She really is.
I wonder what she'll make of the kiss. Of course, the one moment I wish she'd been lost in her own world, she wasn't. But it wasn't like she stood there and stared or anything. Piper didn't even mention her and she would have if Natalie had been staring.
All of this is rus.h.i.+ng through my mind as we head for the Trixles'. It's not until we have arrived pell-mell at the door of the largest apartment in 64 building that it occurs to me we need some reason to be here.
”You're visiting Janet,” I tell Theresa as I knock on the door.
”Me? Why me?” Theresa scowls.
”C'mon, Theresa,” Jimmy wheedles. ”You can be nice to her for five minutes. We have to get the bar spreader back.”
”How am I supposed to do that?” Theresa's hands are on her hips. ”She's not going to just hand it over to me, you know.”
I knock again. Still no answer.
Theresa looks at me, her lips pressed so hard together her chin wrinkles. ”You can't take Natalie inside,” she whispers.
”Why not?”
”Because,” Theresa mutters. She looks to Jimmy for help.
”They're not home anyway,” Jimmy declares.
”Shall we go in?” Theresa asks, frowning.
Jimmy and I look at each other.
”We can't just take it. Wouldn't that be stealing?” Theresa wants to know.
I wiggle the k.n.o.b. ”It's locked anyway.”
Doors are never locked on Alcatraz. Our parents say it's safer here than in San Francis...o...b..cause all our bad guys are locked up. We are used to running in and out of each other's houses.
Of course, we don't run in and out of Darby Trixle's house, so we never noticed his door is locked. Maybe it's just locked because they're gone for the day.
”What do we do now?” Jimmy asks.
”Wait for them to get home,” I reply.
”She found it on the beach, though,” Jimmy reasons. ”Why is that our fault? No one has to know how it got there.”
”Yeah, but it's dangerous. If Seven Fingers were to get his hands on it . . .” I explain.
”Go ahead and say it,” Jimmy growls. ”It's because I throw like c.r.a.p. This would never have happened if Scout had thrown it.”
”Scout would have wanted to keep it as a souvenir or else he'd trade it,” I tell him as we walk back down the stairs to our apartments.
”That's not what you really think,” Jimmy grumbles.
”Am I mad about this, Jimmy? Do I look mad?” I ask, though I can feel as I say this that I'm beginning to get angry.
”You are, though.”
”What do you want me to say here? Just tell me so I'll know,” I ask him.
”Why don't you just tell the truth for a change?”
”What are you talking about? I always tell you the truth.”
”No, you don't. You tell me what you think I want to hear, same as you tell everyone else.”
I open my hands as if to show him I'm not holding anything inside. ”I'm not mad, okay, Jim?”
”You are, though. You're mad because I messed up and you're embarra.s.sed that I can't play ball.”
”Look, I'm not embarra.s.sed. But yeah, I do wish you liked baseball. What's the matter with that?”
Jimmy whistles long and low. ”I thought you were different. You're just like everyone else.” He turns on his heel and walks back to his apartment.
Theresa is silent. Her mouth hangs open. Her dark eyes are big as goggles. ”Jimmy doesn't get mad at anyone but me, not ever,” she says.
All through the evening, I check on the Trixles, but they don't come home. By nightfall, I know I'll have to wait until tomorrow. I can't think of a reason to pretend I need to see them this late at night. Not one that wouldn't make Trixle suspicious anyway. First thing tomorrow I'll deal with it. I'll go in and talk to Janet. Tell her Jimmy is going to make her a much better carousel. He wants to take hers and use it as a model. Then when we get it to the Mattamans' we'll switch out the bar spreader and get rid of it for good.
In the morning when I get up, the trim on 64 building is being painted, the extra dock equipment is being hauled out of sight, the steps to 64 are swept, the windows washed, the roof of the dock tower is being scrubbed, the bird t.u.r.d removed. The c.o.xe c.o.xe has a new coat of paint, the bra.s.s fixtures s.h.i.+ned bright as Natalie's favorite b.u.t.tons, and there are convicts was.h.i.+ng the road. has a new coat of paint, the bra.s.s fixtures s.h.i.+ned bright as Natalie's favorite b.u.t.tons, and there are convicts was.h.i.+ng the road.
I find Bea at the canteen stacking cans of tomato sauce in a perfect pyramid. ”Where's Janet?” I ask.