04-04-2019, 04:15 PM
I was back on the porch. I didn't have a watch on or look at my phone to know how long I was in there, but it never seems to be more than a second or two. It feels like a thing I initiate, rather than something that happens to me on its own. If I knew how to operate heavy machinery, it wouldn't be a problem. (Cars are heavy machinery, right? Ok, I can use one of those.)
I looked back at the Equals' bedroom door, still closed, then across the street, to where hot dogs were now being added to the burgers on the grill. I got up and walked over to the Greens' yard, wearing better shoes for it than the last time.
I'd gotten to know some of the Ultimados during my week in San Finzione. I recognized Sgt. Pappas, pretending he had a groove thing to shake, and asked him where I could find La Contessa. He pointed to the front door of the house. I rewarded him by informing him that nobody real "twirks," and even then, it's women that are supposed to do it. He stopped immediately and started doing the Zorba dance to the classic rock coming from the sound system.
Mander was leaning against the front doorframe when I approached. He jerked a thumb toward the inside of the house.
"Imagine yer lookin' for 'Er Countessness." We were further away from the speakers than Pappas, but he still had to raise his voice. "She's in the dinin' room, tryin' to tell the Elders about that Whyte crafty butcher."
I walked into the house. I'd only been here twice before. Once to accuse them of being spies after Helen was stabbed, and the other a few minutes later, to accept the offer of San Finzione citizenship that she'd left with them as an emergency escape plan in case something really bad happened, and the three of us needed to flee the country and go live with her in San Finzione. (I needed a passport immediately, and it was the only way. The address on my San Finzione passport and license is 1 Strada al Castello. Apparently, I live at Castle Finzione. So, that "live with her" is more literal than I first thought.)
I'd stayed in the living room those times, and hadn't bothered to look around the rest of the house. I heard Helen's raised voice shouting something in Chinese and followed it and the trail of cigarette smoke toward the dining room.
The rest of the house was furnished like the living room; like someone had just opened a catalog to a page, slapped their hand on it, and said "Ok, give me... that. Just, this page. Make it happen." (I had a pretty good idea who that was.) And they set everything to catalog photo specifications. Apart from the fact that someone had been keeping up the dusting, most of it appeared unused.
That wasn't surprising. Part of what had tipped me off to the Greens was the fact that, for two gay men who love each other enough to get married, they showed no romantic affection toward each other. That, by itself, confirmed nothing, of course. Keeping their love secret in public could have just been an old habit. But even if that'd been the case, their façade had shown no cracks at all, now that they were married and had a home. They don't even go jogging together, because someone has to stay home and watch our house at all times. (Helen also personally gives each Ultimado special training via "The Thing." As a result, their loyalty to her and Maria is unquestionable, they don't sleep much, and if an enemy ever caught one, they'd be impossible to torture. Probably some other things that I don't know, as well.)
Helen sat at the head of the otherwise-untouched dining room table. That part of the table had been set up into a makeshift mini-office for her, with a laptop, printer/fax; the usual things you'd expect at a busy person's desk. An ashtray sat next to the laptop, and Helen put her cigarette in it as she calmed down and her tone with the person on the other end became more peaceful. She'd been back here less than twenty minutes, and there were two extinguished butts in it already.
I pulled out the chair next to her, and noticed the indentations in the carpet that told me that this was the first time it had been moved since it was placed here originally. She turned to acknowledge me and continued her call in what I found out later was Mandarin. I waited for her to finish. When she did, she turned to me.
I looked back at the Equals' bedroom door, still closed, then across the street, to where hot dogs were now being added to the burgers on the grill. I got up and walked over to the Greens' yard, wearing better shoes for it than the last time.
I'd gotten to know some of the Ultimados during my week in San Finzione. I recognized Sgt. Pappas, pretending he had a groove thing to shake, and asked him where I could find La Contessa. He pointed to the front door of the house. I rewarded him by informing him that nobody real "twirks," and even then, it's women that are supposed to do it. He stopped immediately and started doing the Zorba dance to the classic rock coming from the sound system.
Mander was leaning against the front doorframe when I approached. He jerked a thumb toward the inside of the house.
"Imagine yer lookin' for 'Er Countessness." We were further away from the speakers than Pappas, but he still had to raise his voice. "She's in the dinin' room, tryin' to tell the Elders about that Whyte crafty butcher."
I walked into the house. I'd only been here twice before. Once to accuse them of being spies after Helen was stabbed, and the other a few minutes later, to accept the offer of San Finzione citizenship that she'd left with them as an emergency escape plan in case something really bad happened, and the three of us needed to flee the country and go live with her in San Finzione. (I needed a passport immediately, and it was the only way. The address on my San Finzione passport and license is 1 Strada al Castello. Apparently, I live at Castle Finzione. So, that "live with her" is more literal than I first thought.)
I'd stayed in the living room those times, and hadn't bothered to look around the rest of the house. I heard Helen's raised voice shouting something in Chinese and followed it and the trail of cigarette smoke toward the dining room.
The rest of the house was furnished like the living room; like someone had just opened a catalog to a page, slapped their hand on it, and said "Ok, give me... that. Just, this page. Make it happen." (I had a pretty good idea who that was.) And they set everything to catalog photo specifications. Apart from the fact that someone had been keeping up the dusting, most of it appeared unused.
That wasn't surprising. Part of what had tipped me off to the Greens was the fact that, for two gay men who love each other enough to get married, they showed no romantic affection toward each other. That, by itself, confirmed nothing, of course. Keeping their love secret in public could have just been an old habit. But even if that'd been the case, their façade had shown no cracks at all, now that they were married and had a home. They don't even go jogging together, because someone has to stay home and watch our house at all times. (Helen also personally gives each Ultimado special training via "The Thing." As a result, their loyalty to her and Maria is unquestionable, they don't sleep much, and if an enemy ever caught one, they'd be impossible to torture. Probably some other things that I don't know, as well.)
Helen sat at the head of the otherwise-untouched dining room table. That part of the table had been set up into a makeshift mini-office for her, with a laptop, printer/fax; the usual things you'd expect at a busy person's desk. An ashtray sat next to the laptop, and Helen put her cigarette in it as she calmed down and her tone with the person on the other end became more peaceful. She'd been back here less than twenty minutes, and there were two extinguished butts in it already.
I pulled out the chair next to her, and noticed the indentations in the carpet that told me that this was the first time it had been moved since it was placed here originally. She turned to acknowledge me and continued her call in what I found out later was Mandarin. I waited for her to finish. When she did, she turned to me.
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