Page 59

CHAPTER 59

ARTHUR AND BABY SAT on the low brick wall in front of 101 Waterway Street idly watching different goings-on. At another time, in another place, they might have been a father and daughter observing the roll and tumble of suburban life, watching their neighbors peacefully watering their lawns, enjoying evening drinks on their porches, calling the kids in from play as the streetlights flickered to life. But here, tonight, they were watching something else. Baby’s gaze was on a drug deal happening only twenty yards away, the third she’d witnessed in the past ten minutes. Corner boys loitered on the house’s lawn, hands in their pockets and heads down, talking trash while they waited for customers to roll up. Arthur’s attention was captured by an argument slowly intensifying on the porch three houses down in the other direction. There was a scream, and a woman involved in the argument was thrown down the steps; her tiny denim shorts did nothing to protect her legs from the concrete path. Already bleeding, she was picked up and tossed again through the rusty gate into the street.

The air around Baby and Arthur was vibrating with competing stereo systems and potential violence.

They’d given up letting Mouse roam the property, fearing he’d leap the front fence and attack someone out of sheer confusion. He sat behind the locked front door now, bellow-barking and scratching at the wood. Baby felt the dog’s helpless bewilderment. The world outside was filled with obvious danger, and his new owners were clearly distressed by it, and yet they’d chosen to go out into it. And without him! He had one instinct: Protect Baby and Arthur. And they weren’t letting him do that.

Two Escalades pulled up at the end of the street. Men in leather jackets exited, consulted with their men on the ground. They did a tour of three or four houses, spoke to different crews, then embarked again, rolling by Arthur and Baby slowly. Baby stood up, defiant. She was still standing that way, rigid and hard-eyed, when a group of men strolled along the sidewalk toward them.

“This one looks all right,” one of them said to another, his gaze on Arthur’s house. “Got screens on the windows.”

“This house is occupied,” Baby snapped. “Keep it movin’.”

The man leading the pack, a redhead with sunken, glazed eyes, took her in. “What did you say, bitch?”

“Keep it movin’,” Baby told him. “You deaf?”

The pack of guys snickered and guffawed. Baby kept her gaze locked on the leader as he passed, shouldering her on the way.

A police squad car pulled in at the other end of Waterway Street. Arthur and Baby watched it roll toward them. When it was within a few yards, Baby stepped out into the road. The female officer in the passenger seat buzzed down her window and leaned out.

“I’ve been wondering when you’d show up,” Baby said. “I called this in an hour ago.”

“Called what in?”

“This!” Baby gestured to the street. “These houses are owned by a company called Enorme. All these people are trespassing here. And aside from that, they’re blatantly conducting criminal activity. There’s a drug deal happening right there in front of us.”

“Where?” The officer squinted through the windshield.

“There!” Baby pointed. The dealer, who was maybe thirty feet away, looked over. He tucked a wad of cash into his pocket and snapped a salute. Baby watched the dealer go back to his stash to re-up; he had the kind of detached confidence that made her stomach knot.

“I can’t be sure of what I just saw.” The officer shrugged at her partner. “You?”

“Nah. I left my glasses back at the station.”

“Ma’am,” the officer said, leaning out again. “I’m not seeing anything here that suggests to me that my colleague and I should bother these people, who seem to be going about their business peacefully.”

Baby scoffed. “Look, if you can’t spot a drug deal in progress when it’s happening within throwing distance of your squad car bumper, that’s your problem. But these people are trespassing. Okay? You can at least clear them out if you’re not going to arrest them.”

“Do you know who any of these people are?” the officer asked.

“No.”

“So how do you know the homeowners haven’t permitted them to use the premises?”

Baby gritted her teeth. “I don’t know that.”

“Hmm.” The officer nodded. Baby gave it one last shot.

“I could call the cops again,” she said. “Try to get a different pair of officers out here. Maybe I’ll even get hold of your boss. Your chief might be interested to know how you’ve responded to this scene.”

“Oh, I don’t think he would be,” the officer behind the wheel said. He grinned. Baby eased a breath through her teeth.

“Come on.” Baby felt the desperation rising from her stomach into her chest. She gave a laugh that was almost a sob. “I mean, come on. Don’t you have ... ” She had no words. Let her hands fall by her sides.

The female officer eyed Baby. “Ma’am, you seem edgy to me. Have you consumed any illegal substances?”

“No way, don’t even.” Baby backed away from the car. “Don’t even try to pull that one on me.”

“Is there anything else we can assist you with?”

“No.” Baby winced. The word was like acid in her throat. “We’re good.”

She walked back to Arthur. The old man’s eyes were full of dread.

“This is bad,” she said. “Real bad.”