Page 27 of Tear Me Apart

She stares, and I mentally give myself a point. She’s afraid of what I might think.

The painting is done. There’s nothing more I can do with it. I step back and admire the newdepth.

“I killed someone,” she says, softly, her voice barely a whisper.

I don’t look away from the painting, but a chill crawls down my spine. “How?”

“With a knife.”

“Why?”

“Because she didn’t clean her brushes right.” She grins and rushes out of the room.

I do a good job on my brushes, just in case. The last name on our door now readsThompson, L.

Inside, I lean against the wall.Thompson, Lis fussily making her bed.

“What’s theLstand for?”

“Liesel.”

“What kind of a name is Liesel?”

“German.”

“You’re American. Thompson isn’t a German name.”

“So?”

“Who did you kill?”

“No one of consequence.”

“Then why are you here?”

She stares at me for a brief moment, then she leaves the room.

I don’t doubt she’s telling me the truth about what she’s done.

Who is my new roommate?

* * *

Now that I know I’m sleeping next to a murderer, I am desperate to find out what’s happening. I ask at the desk for the newspaper and am rewarded, but can’t find anything about someone named Liesel Thompson. I ask for the past week and am denied. Perhaps there is something in them they don’t want me to see.

I wait until shift change, when Ratchet heads home. Roger is on tonight, and he likes me. He gives me Marlboros and lets me smoke in their lounge instead of out in the hutch.

Once the first bed check is done, and Liesel is snoring, I head down the dark hallway to the nurses’ station. I jerk my head toward the lounge. Roger, thin, blond, wispy mustache and ropy arms, unlocks the staff lounge and hands me a smoke. Once we’re lit, I say, “Can I have last week’s newspapers?”

“Why?”

“So I can see why my roommate is in here. She scares me. She said she...”

“Yes?” He leans forward, interested now. I take a drag, breathe in the smoke, down deep in my lungs, hold it there until I start to cough and Roger whispers, “Be quiet. You’re going to get me in trouble.”

I swallow the cough, choking, my eyes watering. I suddenly don’t want to share my strange roommate’s words.

“So? What did she say?”