cranked it. “You know—I’ve always wondered something.”
“How to get home?” I asked.
“How do you know if it’s for good?”
“What?”
“When someone leaves you.”
He played the song again.
I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life
, Eddie Vedder belted out over the loudspeakers.
“Remember that Pearl Jam concert? With Mike?”
“That was a crazy night,” I said.
“Sometimes I wish it could be so easy—you know? No worries. Like it used to be.”
“College wasn’t easy. That’s the myth we believed.”
“Huh?”
He wouldn’t get it anyway. Bruce was still chasing a myth, an imaginary dream.
A few minutes later, when I began to think he had drifted off, he leaned over and whispered to me with half-closed eyes, “Alec is dead. He’s a ghost. A spirit. A demon.”
Then he passed out until I nudged him awake after we parked outside the apartment complex.
It took a long time just to help him get to his front door. We unlocked it and walked into an apartment that had been turned upside down. At first I thought this was just how he lived, but then I saw the opened drawers and tossed clothes. Papers were strewn all over the floor. Cushions lay on the floor in front of the couch. A television looked tossed aside in the corner. One of the lamps in the main living room area looked cracked in half.
“Bruce—what happened … ?”
Bruce stood for a moment, delirious and confused. He knelt over one lamp and then tried to piece it back together, swaying and scratching a white wall with the base of the lamp.
“Bruce, man, why don’t you sit?”
He went to the couch and sat on it even though the pillows were tossed aside. I tried to clean up a little, but it was pointless.
“What happened here?”
He kept looking around, surprised and even startled.
“I don’t know. But I didn’t do this.”
“Do you know who did?”
Bruce nodded, then looked at me and tightened his face and lips. “It was Early.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Early. My bird. That possessed bird came back with a vengeance.”
Then he leaned over and passed out again on his couch.
For a moment I sat in a chair and just looked around, feeling like a stranger invading someone’s private life.
Someone had been here recently, looking for something.
Either looking for something or trying to get a message to Bruce.
I wondered for a moment if Bruce had done this himself, but I ruled that out. He might be lost and floundering in his life, and he might be under the spell of booze and pot, but he had never been violent.
Someone else had done this.
And I couldn’t help but wonder, and fear, that it had something to do with Alec.
ELEVEN
February 1994
IT HAD BEEN THE COLDEST winter Jake could remember. He chose a table close to the fireplace, a spot where nobody else could see them. Not that anyone they knew would be here. Jake doubted she would even stick around to sit down, much less feel the warmth from the flickers that cast shadows over the back room of The Wild Goose. It was a fancy restaurant Franklin had recommended, one the Gotthards went to on a regular basis. The Thursday night crowd were in their forties and up, scattered around the dimly lit rooms.
Jake faced the opposite way so she wouldn’t see him. Not at first.
This was a blind date for Alyssa; she had no idea it was Jake on the receiving end. He had spent the last month getting her roommate, Renee, to coordinate it. Renee had been Alyssa’s roommate for the last two years; the two were good friends but as opposite as Jake and Carnie. Renee played basketball and softball for Providence, was brash and outgoing and occasionally could be seen at parties having a beer or two. The redhead was one of those tough, just-do-it sort of girls who probably was good for Alyssa.
Jake had concocted this plan months ago, and tonight it was finally happening.
Light music played in the background. Jake made a fist and then breathed in and out,
“How to get home?” I asked.
“How do you know if it’s for good?”
“What?”
“When someone leaves you.”
He played the song again.
I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life
, Eddie Vedder belted out over the loudspeakers.
“Remember that Pearl Jam concert? With Mike?”
“That was a crazy night,” I said.
“Sometimes I wish it could be so easy—you know? No worries. Like it used to be.”
“College wasn’t easy. That’s the myth we believed.”
“Huh?”
He wouldn’t get it anyway. Bruce was still chasing a myth, an imaginary dream.
A few minutes later, when I began to think he had drifted off, he leaned over and whispered to me with half-closed eyes, “Alec is dead. He’s a ghost. A spirit. A demon.”
Then he passed out until I nudged him awake after we parked outside the apartment complex.
It took a long time just to help him get to his front door. We unlocked it and walked into an apartment that had been turned upside down. At first I thought this was just how he lived, but then I saw the opened drawers and tossed clothes. Papers were strewn all over the floor. Cushions lay on the floor in front of the couch. A television looked tossed aside in the corner. One of the lamps in the main living room area looked cracked in half.
“Bruce—what happened … ?”
Bruce stood for a moment, delirious and confused. He knelt over one lamp and then tried to piece it back together, swaying and scratching a white wall with the base of the lamp.
“Bruce, man, why don’t you sit?”
He went to the couch and sat on it even though the pillows were tossed aside. I tried to clean up a little, but it was pointless.
“What happened here?”
He kept looking around, surprised and even startled.
“I don’t know. But I didn’t do this.”
“Do you know who did?”
Bruce nodded, then looked at me and tightened his face and lips. “It was Early.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Early. My bird. That possessed bird came back with a vengeance.”
Then he leaned over and passed out again on his couch.
For a moment I sat in a chair and just looked around, feeling like a stranger invading someone’s private life.
Someone had been here recently, looking for something.
Either looking for something or trying to get a message to Bruce.
I wondered for a moment if Bruce had done this himself, but I ruled that out. He might be lost and floundering in his life, and he might be under the spell of booze and pot, but he had never been violent.
Someone else had done this.
And I couldn’t help but wonder, and fear, that it had something to do with Alec.
ELEVEN
February 1994
IT HAD BEEN THE COLDEST winter Jake could remember. He chose a table close to the fireplace, a spot where nobody else could see them. Not that anyone they knew would be here. Jake doubted she would even stick around to sit down, much less feel the warmth from the flickers that cast shadows over the back room of The Wild Goose. It was a fancy restaurant Franklin had recommended, one the Gotthards went to on a regular basis. The Thursday night crowd were in their forties and up, scattered around the dimly lit rooms.
Jake faced the opposite way so she wouldn’t see him. Not at first.
This was a blind date for Alyssa; she had no idea it was Jake on the receiving end. He had spent the last month getting her roommate, Renee, to coordinate it. Renee had been Alyssa’s roommate for the last two years; the two were good friends but as opposite as Jake and Carnie. Renee played basketball and softball for Providence, was brash and outgoing and occasionally could be seen at parties having a beer or two. The redhead was one of those tough, just-do-it sort of girls who probably was good for Alyssa.
Jake had concocted this plan months ago, and tonight it was finally happening.
Light music played in the background. Jake made a fist and then breathed in and out,
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