Read Online Dead Weight by Susan Rogers Cooper - Free Book Online Page A

Simms told her she needed to stay at least one more night, possibly two.
    After he left, she (known to us as ‘Berta’) got gingerly out of bed and headed to the closet, only to discover there were no clothes hanging here. Nothing, not even dirty underwear. All she had was the hospital gown, opened to the back, with only her butt to show the world. It was at this point, Berta said, that she fell to the floor and began to bawl. She was discovered only moments later by a hospital volunteer. You guessed it, Kerry ‘I’ll Volunteer for Anything’ Killian.
    As Kerry got Berta back in bed, Berta tearfully told her the truth as she then knew it. That is: she’d woken up with no knowledge of herself or her surroundings, only knowing that she was in trouble. Berta said Kerry believed her right off the bat, and helped her leave the hospital by smuggling in some scrubs and a pair of slippers, then sticking Berta in her car until her shift was over, then driving her back to Black Cat Ridge.
    As a realtor, Kerry had access to houses before they went on the market, and she had actually bought one to flip. It was to this house that she took Berta – the house we had been in earlier. The two decided the first thing to do was to hide Berta for a month or so, during which time she should change her appearance: dye her hair, get contacts in another color, and gain weight. (Which answered another question.)
    Meanwhile, Berta read up on amnesia, and discovered that it was often caused by the combination of a bump on the head and a severe emotional trauma. The stitches proved the bump on the head, and she started hitting twelve-step programs like AA and Gamblers Anonymous, and other groups like MADD and Weigh In, to discover her emotional trauma.
    ‘So far, I haven’t come up with it,’ Berta said. ‘And then, there I was, just soaking in the tub, and that electric space heater came flying through the window.’ She hiccupped a sob. ‘They found me.’
    ‘Who found you?’ Luna demanded.
    Berta’s tears dried up immediately. ‘Haven’t you been listening?’ she demanded rather loudly.
    ‘Hey!’ Willis said, just as loudly. ‘The kids are asleep!’
    ‘Great!’ Berta blasted back. ‘At least you know you have kids! I could have some out there some place starving because Mama forgot to bring home the bacon!’ Then she burst into serious tears.
    I put my arm around her shoulders and muttered variations of ‘There, there’ in her ear, while simultaneously shooting daggers with my eyes at both Willis and Luna.
    ‘So the boy who died by a drunk driver—’ I whispered in Berta’s ear.
    ‘Made him up,’ she whispered back.
    Willis sighed heavily. ‘Well, at least we got some rain,’ he said lamely.
    ‘Oh, that’s your big concern!’ I hissed at him. ‘A friend murdered, another friend in serious trouble here, and you’re still going on about the stupid drought?’
    ‘Stupid? Do you have any idea of the repercussions of a twenty-year drought?’ he yelled at me.
    ‘It’s been less than a year!’ I yelled back.
    ‘It’s just the beginning! They’re predicting a possible twenty-year drought!’
    ‘Who’s predicting?’
    ‘I don’t know!’ he yelled. ‘Somebody!’
    ‘Somebody?’ I yelled back. ‘OK, well I’m predicting a possibility of snow by morning!’
    ‘E.J.—’ he started.
    ‘Jesus, will the two of you put a sock in it?’ Luna said. ‘Ms Harris.’
    Berta wiped her face with her hands while I went in search of a box of Kleenex. Finding one on the kitchen counter, I brought it back and sat down. Berta wiped her face, blew her nose, and then looked up at Luna. ‘Yes?’ she said.
    ‘I think you need to come with me to the station—’
    Berta jumped up and headed for the back door, yelling ‘Nooooooooooo—’ as she went.
    I caught her with the door knob in her hand. ‘Berta, wait,’ I said.
    Luna was already standing. She came around to where Berta and I stood by the door. ‘OK,’