perfectly understandable, he thought, gulping a glass of water with a twist of lemon floating in it. It’s not every day your only brother vaporizes in a front-page disaster. Part of him was still tugged towards getting obliterated so he wouldn’t have to confront the grim errands awaiting him, but he wrestled that impulse back into the dark recesses of his mind from whence it had come. There was no point delaying the inevitable.
Jeffrey chewed his twenty-five dollar steak sandwich slowly, determined to wring every ounce of pleasure out of it as he mulled over his next move. As unappealing as it was, he’d need to go to his brother’s place and deal with things there. Even as he reconciled himself to doing so, he realized that he wasn’t entirely sure where it was – Keith had bought it since the last time he’d been there, taking advantage of the abrupt drop in values as the economy had nosedived.
He fished his cell out of his pocket, navigated to his address book, and punched in Becky’s number. She had the key and knew the location. Maybe she’d even have a change of heart and want to give him a hand – a long shot, and way above the call of duty, he knew. The phone rang four times before she answered, sounding out of breath.
“Becky?”
“Who is this?” she snapped.
“It’s me. Jeffrey. Keith’s brother?” he responded, wondering if he hadn’t been the only one to hit the bottle after the service.
“Oh…Jeffrey. I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize your voice…”
“Is everything all right? You sound–”
“No, Jeff, it’s not. I…somebody broke in while I was at the funeral home this morning. I’ve been burglarized. The police are here right now, taking a report…”
“Jesus. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sure. I’m fine. It looks like they only got a few things. My laptop, the stereo…it’s not like I stored diamonds here. Still…it’s an invasion.”
“I’m sure. Good Lord, I don’t even know what to say…”
“I don’t think there is anything. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m kind of tied up right now…what did you need?”
“I wanted to see if I could stop by and get the key to my brother’s place, and then I realized that I have no idea where you live, or where he did,” Jeffrey admitted sheepishly.
“Oh, the key. Of course. I’ll give you my address and you can come by. I think it’s safe to say I’ll be here for the duration.”
Becky lived nine blocks north of the hotel, and Jeffrey was able to pull up a map on his phone to see the best way to get there. He debated taking a taxi but decided to walk, hopefully burning off the last of the toxic residue from his brief flirtation with alcohol poisoning. He paid the bill and used the bathroom, then pulled his coat on and exited onto the main street, striding purposefully, the sun’s rays warming him in spite of the frigid air. When he reached the building he saw a squad car parked in the red zone to one side of the doors, and hurried up the four steps to the intercom panel with Becky’s name neatly handwritten in blue ink on a glass-protected tab to the right of a black button. Twenty seconds later the door buzzed in response to his call. He pushed it open and climbed the stairs to the third floor, as instructed.
Becky was standing in the hall by the first door on the left, speaking in a hushed voice to a uniformed officer taking notes, his radio squawking intermittently as he completed a form. His face was slack, his eyes revealing nothing as they shifted to give Jeffrey the once over before returning to his pad and checking off another box. Jeffrey waited until he was done and had handed Becky a pen and the clipboard to sign before he approached.
Becky’s eyes glistened as she looked up at him and smiled wistfully. “You found the place,” she said.
“Yes. Exactly where you said it would be.” Jeffrey returned the smile.
“I guess I should have said to look for the building with the cop
Jeffrey chewed his twenty-five dollar steak sandwich slowly, determined to wring every ounce of pleasure out of it as he mulled over his next move. As unappealing as it was, he’d need to go to his brother’s place and deal with things there. Even as he reconciled himself to doing so, he realized that he wasn’t entirely sure where it was – Keith had bought it since the last time he’d been there, taking advantage of the abrupt drop in values as the economy had nosedived.
He fished his cell out of his pocket, navigated to his address book, and punched in Becky’s number. She had the key and knew the location. Maybe she’d even have a change of heart and want to give him a hand – a long shot, and way above the call of duty, he knew. The phone rang four times before she answered, sounding out of breath.
“Becky?”
“Who is this?” she snapped.
“It’s me. Jeffrey. Keith’s brother?” he responded, wondering if he hadn’t been the only one to hit the bottle after the service.
“Oh…Jeffrey. I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize your voice…”
“Is everything all right? You sound–”
“No, Jeff, it’s not. I…somebody broke in while I was at the funeral home this morning. I’ve been burglarized. The police are here right now, taking a report…”
“Jesus. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sure. I’m fine. It looks like they only got a few things. My laptop, the stereo…it’s not like I stored diamonds here. Still…it’s an invasion.”
“I’m sure. Good Lord, I don’t even know what to say…”
“I don’t think there is anything. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m kind of tied up right now…what did you need?”
“I wanted to see if I could stop by and get the key to my brother’s place, and then I realized that I have no idea where you live, or where he did,” Jeffrey admitted sheepishly.
“Oh, the key. Of course. I’ll give you my address and you can come by. I think it’s safe to say I’ll be here for the duration.”
Becky lived nine blocks north of the hotel, and Jeffrey was able to pull up a map on his phone to see the best way to get there. He debated taking a taxi but decided to walk, hopefully burning off the last of the toxic residue from his brief flirtation with alcohol poisoning. He paid the bill and used the bathroom, then pulled his coat on and exited onto the main street, striding purposefully, the sun’s rays warming him in spite of the frigid air. When he reached the building he saw a squad car parked in the red zone to one side of the doors, and hurried up the four steps to the intercom panel with Becky’s name neatly handwritten in blue ink on a glass-protected tab to the right of a black button. Twenty seconds later the door buzzed in response to his call. He pushed it open and climbed the stairs to the third floor, as instructed.
Becky was standing in the hall by the first door on the left, speaking in a hushed voice to a uniformed officer taking notes, his radio squawking intermittently as he completed a form. His face was slack, his eyes revealing nothing as they shifted to give Jeffrey the once over before returning to his pad and checking off another box. Jeffrey waited until he was done and had handed Becky a pen and the clipboard to sign before he approached.
Becky’s eyes glistened as she looked up at him and smiled wistfully. “You found the place,” she said.
“Yes. Exactly where you said it would be.” Jeffrey returned the smile.
“I guess I should have said to look for the building with the cop
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