Read Online Keller 05 - Hit Me by Lawrence Block - Free Book Online
Authors: Lawrence Block
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couple of years.”
“And your life is different from what it was, so maybe you’re different, too.”
“I thought of that.”
“And?”
He thought it over for a moment. “It felt the same as always,” he said. “I had a job to do and I had to figure out how.”
“And then you had to do it.”
“That’s right.”
“And you felt the satisfaction of having solved a problem.”
“Uh-huh.”
“At which point you could buy that stamp without dipping into capital.”
“We only collected the first payment,” he said, “but even so it more than covered the cost of the stamps I bought.”
“Well, that’s a plus, isn’t it? And you didn’t have any trouble living with what you’d done?”
“I had trouble living with the secret.”
“Not being able to mention it to me, you mean.”
“That’s right.”
She nodded. “Having to keep a secret. That must have been difficult. There are things I don’t bother to tell you, but nothing I couldn’t tell you, if I wanted to. How do you feel now?”
“Better.”
“I can tell that. Your whole energy is different. Do you want to know how I feel?”
“Yes.”
“Relieved, obviously. But also a little troubled, because now I seem to be the one with a secret.”
“Oh?”
“Shall I tell you my secret? See, the danger is that you might think less of me if you knew.” Before he could respond, she heaved a theatrical sigh. “Oh, I can’t keep secrets. When you told me what happened in Dallas? What you did?”
“Yes?”
“It got me hot.”
“Oh?”
“Is that weird? Of course it is, it’s deeply weird. Here’s something I’m positive I never told you. It got me hot when you killed the rapist in the park. What it mostly did was it made me feel all safe and secure and protected, but it also got me hot. I’m hot right now and I don’t know what to do about it.”
“If we put our heads together,” he said, “maybe we can come up with something.”
Back in his room at the Savoyard, Keller figured it out. Asperger’s syndrome—that’s what Feldspar had, or what his wife said he had.
Though Ass-Backward syndrome wasn’t a bad fit.
“If I’d known what it would lead to,” he said, “I’d have told you right away.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No. I was afraid, I guess. That it would ruin things between us.”
“So you didn’t say anything.”
“No.”
“And then you did.”
“Right.”
She didn’t say anything, but he felt besieged by her thoughts, bombarded with them. He said, “I figured I was done with it, I’d never do it again, so why bother mentioning it? I could just keep my mouth shut and seal off the episode and let it fade out into the past.”
“Like the faces you picture in your mind.”
“Something like that, yes.”
“I guess you got another phone call.”
“This afternoon.”
“I noticed something was different,” she said, “when Jenny and I got home from Advanced Sandbox. How’s Dot these days?”
“She’s good.” He cleared his throat. “I reminded her what I’d told her right after Dallas. That I didn’t want to do this sort of thing anymore.”
“But she called you anyway.”
“Well,” he said, “it’s complicated.”
Twelve
K eller, who’d found it hard to leave his hotel room earlier, now found it impossible to spend any time in it. He showered, got dressed, turned the TV on and then off again, and went out.
In New Orleans, Keller drove his pickup truck for business and Julia’s car on other occasions. If he walked north for a couple of blocks, he could hop on the St. Charles Avenue streetcar. And there was a fair network of buses, and it was never hard to get a cab.
For all the choices available to him, Keller did a lot of walking. New Orleans was one of a relatively small number of pedestrian-friendly American cities. Not only could you get around on foot and find interesting things to look at while you did so, but New Orleanians—total
“And your life is different from what it was, so maybe you’re different, too.”
“I thought of that.”
“And?”
He thought it over for a moment. “It felt the same as always,” he said. “I had a job to do and I had to figure out how.”
“And then you had to do it.”
“That’s right.”
“And you felt the satisfaction of having solved a problem.”
“Uh-huh.”
“At which point you could buy that stamp without dipping into capital.”
“We only collected the first payment,” he said, “but even so it more than covered the cost of the stamps I bought.”
“Well, that’s a plus, isn’t it? And you didn’t have any trouble living with what you’d done?”
“I had trouble living with the secret.”
“Not being able to mention it to me, you mean.”
“That’s right.”
She nodded. “Having to keep a secret. That must have been difficult. There are things I don’t bother to tell you, but nothing I couldn’t tell you, if I wanted to. How do you feel now?”
“Better.”
“I can tell that. Your whole energy is different. Do you want to know how I feel?”
“Yes.”
“Relieved, obviously. But also a little troubled, because now I seem to be the one with a secret.”
“Oh?”
“Shall I tell you my secret? See, the danger is that you might think less of me if you knew.” Before he could respond, she heaved a theatrical sigh. “Oh, I can’t keep secrets. When you told me what happened in Dallas? What you did?”
“Yes?”
“It got me hot.”
“Oh?”
“Is that weird? Of course it is, it’s deeply weird. Here’s something I’m positive I never told you. It got me hot when you killed the rapist in the park. What it mostly did was it made me feel all safe and secure and protected, but it also got me hot. I’m hot right now and I don’t know what to do about it.”
“If we put our heads together,” he said, “maybe we can come up with something.”
Back in his room at the Savoyard, Keller figured it out. Asperger’s syndrome—that’s what Feldspar had, or what his wife said he had.
Though Ass-Backward syndrome wasn’t a bad fit.
“If I’d known what it would lead to,” he said, “I’d have told you right away.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No. I was afraid, I guess. That it would ruin things between us.”
“So you didn’t say anything.”
“No.”
“And then you did.”
“Right.”
She didn’t say anything, but he felt besieged by her thoughts, bombarded with them. He said, “I figured I was done with it, I’d never do it again, so why bother mentioning it? I could just keep my mouth shut and seal off the episode and let it fade out into the past.”
“Like the faces you picture in your mind.”
“Something like that, yes.”
“I guess you got another phone call.”
“This afternoon.”
“I noticed something was different,” she said, “when Jenny and I got home from Advanced Sandbox. How’s Dot these days?”
“She’s good.” He cleared his throat. “I reminded her what I’d told her right after Dallas. That I didn’t want to do this sort of thing anymore.”
“But she called you anyway.”
“Well,” he said, “it’s complicated.”
Twelve
K eller, who’d found it hard to leave his hotel room earlier, now found it impossible to spend any time in it. He showered, got dressed, turned the TV on and then off again, and went out.
In New Orleans, Keller drove his pickup truck for business and Julia’s car on other occasions. If he walked north for a couple of blocks, he could hop on the St. Charles Avenue streetcar. And there was a fair network of buses, and it was never hard to get a cab.
For all the choices available to him, Keller did a lot of walking. New Orleans was one of a relatively small number of pedestrian-friendly American cities. Not only could you get around on foot and find interesting things to look at while you did so, but New Orleanians—total
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