IS HANK GUILTY?

When Reva was five and attending a private kindergarten in a luxury building in the hills overlooking the Conononka River, she had a run-in with another little girl that she never forgot.

The other little girl, Reva remembered, was a troublesome, willful blond girl named Sara. One day Reva and Sara were painting on easels, using large sheets of white paper and wide brushes that they dipped into open cans of paint.

An argument developed between Reva and Sara, a territorial dispute of some kind. Reva couldn’t remember which of them started it.

But it ended with Sara hoisting up the big can filled with red paint and pouring it over Reva’s head.

The thick red paint ran down Reva’s face, oozed down her sweater and white jeans. And somehow in her mind the paint, as it oozed and soaked into her clothing, became blood.

She was only five, after all, and had never been the victim of any kind of violent attack.

And standing helplessly, in a kind of shock, seeing—and feeling—the paint roll down her body, cover her skin and her clothes, Reva began to scream.

And scream.

And according to what her mother later told her, it took hours to get her to stop. Long after her clothes had been changed and the paint had been scrubbed away, Reva still begged her mother to “wash away the blood.”

Twelve years later, standing behind the perfume counter as the blood splashed up onto her sweater, the violent scene in the kindergarten flashed vividly into Reva’s mind.

But this time, after uttering a silent cry of surprise, of disgust, she didn’t scream.

Other people were screaming.

Reva clamped her teeth shut as if trapping in all emotions, shutting away all feeling. She held her arms straight out, away from her sides, not wanting to touch her sweater, not wanting to touch the blood.

No, she thought.

No screams this time.

She clenched her teeth so hard it hurt and silently stared down at the oozing red mess.

No screams.

I don’t feel it, she told herself, concentrating with all her strength.

I don’t feel anything.

“I’m okay,” she assured the horrified customers clustered at the counter. “Please—I’m okay.”

She was still trying to reassure them, to quiet them, wondering how to get the mess cleaned up, wondering what to do about her ruined sweater, when she saw the small envelope, half covered in blood on the floor at her feet.

She bent over quickly and picked it up, surprised to realize that she was out of breath, gasping for air, her heart pounding in her chest.

It was a gift card. It must have fallen out of the package.

Reva ripped open the envelope with trembling, bloody fingers. A small white card tucked inside had a message printed on it in red ink: HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM A FRIEND.

Some friend, Reva thought bitterly.

The same friend who hid the needle in my lipstick.

Some friend with a very sick sense of humor.

Hank.

Yeah. Probably Hank.

This is the kind of dumb juvenile thing that would really appeal to him.

His stupid way of paying me back.

What a dork! Reva thought, feeling the anger rise up from the pit of her stomach. What a total creep. Does he really think I’ll be terrified because he pulls a couple of dumb jokes like this?

Does he think I’ll go screaming hysterically out of the store and never return?

Does he think I’ll be frightened out of my wits or something?

This just proves I was right about him, Reva decided. This just proves that he doesn’t know me very well.

In fact, he doesn’t know me at all.

Because I’m not going to scream and cry. No way.

What I’m going to do is go right upstairs and get him fired.

You’re out of here, Hank, Reva thought, allowing a smile to cross her face. No more idiotically cruel jokes. You’re out of here.

Ignoring the cries and worried conversations of the alarmed customers, Reva hurried from the booth, jogging quickly down the aisle, past staring, startled onlookers, to the employees’ elevator.

She rode up to the sixth floor and stepped out into the reception area. “Hey, Reva—” the receptionist behind the wide oak desk called to her. But Reva was already halfway down the hall to her father’s office in the corner.

She came to an abrupt halt in front of the tall bank of security monitors, surprised to see several blue-uniformed workers there. Somewhat to her relief, Hank wasn’t at his post. The tall stool in front of the monitors was empty.

He’s probably goofing off somewhere, Reva thought. Or maybe cooking up another joke to ruin more of my clothes.

But then she saw him, on his back on the floor behind the bank of monitors, attentively attaching several cable wires. The other workers were fitting what appeared to be VCRs into new shelves beside the monitors.

Hank looked up as she started to pass. “Reva?”

She glared angrily at him, her blue eyes clear and cold as ice, her teeth clenched. She wanted to accuse him. She wanted to scream at him. She wanted to let him know why she was on her way into her father’s office.

She wanted to hit him and tear at his blond, spiky hair and make him hurt, make him hurt bad, for embarrassing her, for frightening her—for tricking her.

But she didn’t want to make a scene in front of all of these workers.

Instead, she leaned over Hank, who was still on his back hooking up cables, and in a low voice said, “I know it was you.”

He sat up with a start, his dark eyes wide with surprise. “Huh?”

“Don’t act dumb,” she said, forcing herself to keep her voice low and calm.

“What happened to you? You’re a mess,” he said innocently, his eyes narrowing with concern. “Are you okay?”

“You never were a very good actor,” Reva insisted. “I know it was you, Hank. And it’s going to cost you.”

“Listen, Reva—I’m kind of busy here,” Hank said impatiently, ignoring her threat, gesturing to the swarm of workers in the area. “We’re installing a VCR for each monitor. We’ll have everything the security cameras pick up on tape every day.”

“Thrills and chills,” Reva said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. The blood had soaked through her sweater to her skin. It felt wet and sticky and uncomfortable.

She studied his face, trying to decide if he was putting on the innocent act or if he really didn’t know what she was talking about. Staring at him, she began to feel less certain.

“You’re saying you didn’t leave a package for me at my perfume counter?” Reva asked.

He shook his head. “I’ve been here since morning. Haven’t even had lunch yet. Ask these guys.” He gestured to the workers, who were fitting the last of the VCRs onto the shelves.

“You’re lying!” she shouted.

Several of the workers turned to gape at her, startled by her bloody appearance and loud outburst.

“You’re lying,” she repeated, this time in a whisper.

“I heard you the first time,” Hank said dryly.

“Look at my sweater!” she cried, feeling her anger rise again, feeling herself slipping out of control despite all of her attempts to hold herself together.

“Is that blood?” he asked, sliding out from under the console. “Or is it paint?”

“You know what it is!” she cried and, unwilling to let him see her out of control, fled. Past the other executive offices. Past the wide balcony that looked over the five floors below. Without stopping to see how bad the stain was, without stopping to try to wash it off, she ran to the end of the hall and her father’s office.

You’re out of here, Hank.

I don’t care if you play dumb or not.

You’re out of here. One word to my dad, and you’re out of here.

And happy holidays to you too.

She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror on the wall outside her father’s office and gasped, seeing all of the blood-smeared sweater for the first time.

How could he do this to me? she wondered.

Mr. Dalby’s office door was closed. Reva raised her hand to knock just as Josie, her father’s secretary, came out. “Is my dad in there?” Reva asked breathlessly.

“Yes, but he’s in a very important meeting,” Josie told her. “I’m not allowed to interrupt him for anything.”

“Oh.” Reva sighed. She could feel her energy begin to drain. Her conversation with her father would have to wait. She knew better than to interrupt him while he was in an important meeting. “Guess I’ll go home and change,” she said.

Josie stared back at her, her eyes on the huge, dark stain. “You might be able to bleach that out. Is it paint?”

“No, it’s blood, and it’s ruined,” Reva muttered.

She headed back to the elevator, walking slowly, dispiritedly now. She had just passed the balcony when a terrifying sound—a deafening pop-pop-pop —shattered the air.

“Oh!” Reva cried out and froze in fear.

She knew that sound from TV.

The sound of machine guns.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20