After finishing work that evening, Suzie finds herself crossing the packhouse bridge and turning onto Polmen Avenue for the first time in eleven years. She doesn’t quite know what she’s doing there, driving down the street that Cathy and Hazel had grown up on, just that she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about what had happened at the shopping center. Cathy’s puffy, tear-stained face, her empty bank account. It’s stuck with Suzie all day.
She pulls up outside number 21 just as dusk is descending. The sky is an inky violet color, a luminous mist already swallowing the pines along the ridge. Suzie hears raised voices as she opens the car door but doesn’t see the man standing on the curb until she is turned around to face the houses opposite. His face is puce with anger, index finger jabbing in the air as if to punctuate a point. He is old and gray haired, a thick slab of neck bulging from his buttoned shirt. With his slippers and his coat sloppily buttoned, Suzie thinks he must have left his house in a hurry.
“I’m fed up with all this comin’ and goin’. I’m callin’ the police.” He’s loud, his voice a deep rumble. “If you’ve done nuthin’ wrong, you’ve got nuthin’ to worry about!”
Suzie’s head swivels to see who he is talking to, and of course it’s Cathy standing at the top of her parents’ driveway, hands on hips, chin thrust forward aggressively.
“Go on and call them! What they going to do, arrest me for going into my own home?”
“Ain’t your home. Not anymore. It belongs to your parents.”
“Je-sus!” Cathy throws her arms up in the air in frustration. “It’s like talking to a fucking brick wall!” Cathy sees Suzie then, and her mouth widens into a broad grin. “Suzie! Have you met Mr. Jenner, my parents’ neighbor? He likes to threaten people trying to get into their own houses.”
“I’m just keepin’ an eye out for your folks,” he grumbles before adding pointedly, “I’d hate for anything to go missin’ on my watch.”
Cathy draws herself up, eyes narrowed. “What the fuck isthatmeant to mean?”
“Hi, Mr. Jenner!” Suzie steps toward him. “How’s the wife? I haven’t seen her this week.”
“Oh, y’know. She’s been off to see to our youngest.”
“Another grandchild?”
“That’s right.” He puffs his chest out proudly. “A girl.”
“Congratulations.”
Suzie holds her hand out to him and he looks at it slightly stunned before shaking it. She’s disarmed him, she knows, and that’s good. Now she just hopes that Cathy can keep her big mouth shut long enough to calm the situation down.
“I’m not tryin’ to cause no trouble,” Mr. Jenner continues, looking at Suzie earnestly as he shakes her hand. “I’m just lookin’ out for the Maddons while they’re away. I seen Cathy lookin’ in all the windows, and what was I s’posed to think? Especially when you know what’s been said about her. Leopards don’t change their spots.”
Suzie hears Cathy’s intake of breath, can feel her hot, bristling fury against her back. Without thinking twice, Suzie reaches out and grasps Cathy’s hand, squeezing it hard.Shush.
“Ah, Cathy’s not trying to break in, Mr. Jenner, we’re just looking for Hazel. Have you seen her these last couple of days?”
He seems to think about this, tapping his foot. Suzie is acutely aware of Cathy’s ragged breathing and thinks Cathy is holding back her indignation admirably. She squeezes her hand again and this time, Cathy squeezes back.
“Huh. Now I think about it, I haven’t. I’ve got used to her coming and going since she came back home, but if I’m honest I haven’t seen her since yesterday morning.”
Suzie and Cathy exchange a worried glance as Cathy takes a step closer.
“Are you sure? She’s feeding the cats, she should be here every day.”
Jenner switches his gaze to Cathy, frowning. “Oh? I thought the Mitchell kid was doing that. He was here this morning.”
“Laurence Mitchell? It was definitely him?”
Jenner hesitates and Suzie realizes she is leaning forward, hanging on for his answer.
He looks from one woman to the other, unsure of himself. “I mean—it was early, so it were still dark, and he had his hood up so I didn’t see his face, but that’s who they usually use when they go away, isn’t it? The Mitchell boy?”
“Oh, you didn’t challenge him? You didn’t come on out and act the big man like you’re doing right now?” Cathy spits. “Or do you just do that to women alone at night?”
Jenner has the grace to look embarrassed. “What can I tell you? He looked like he was in a hurry. Besides, he had a key.”
13
They sit in Suzie’s car, staring straight ahead. A few seconds pass in thoughtful silence, and although Mr. Jenner has finally given up his sentry position at the curb, he is still visible in the upstairs window of his house, occasionally peering out.