Мэри Эндрюс - The Newcomer

Had she remembered to lock the slider? She took two steps forward and stopped in her tracks when she saw something move on the patio. She leaned forward again and peeked outside.

Someone was there! A dark figure, barely moving, reclining on one of the metal patio chairs, his long legs resting on the seat of the other chair. In the moonlight she saw that he had a baseball cap tipped forward, nearly covering his face. But she recognized the jeans-clad legs and the silhouette.

Damn Joe DeCurtis. He was determined to save her, one way or another. She exhaled slowly and felt her pulse drop back down to normal. Her fingers found the latch for the door. She fastened it, then walked briskly back to the bedroom.

Maya mumbled something inaudible, then turned and drifted back to sleep. Letty hesitated, then climbed in beside the child, spooning close to her comforting warmth. She closed her eyes, felt her shoulders relax, and then her neck, and then her legs. She grudgingly admitted that for the first time that day, she felt safe.

35

FRIDAY MORNING, LETTY SET THE mug of coffee on a table, unlatched the sliding glass door, and pushed it aside. She poked her head outside. The patio was empty. He was gone. The two chairs were pushed back into their original position. An empty can of Red Bull rested in a nearby flowerpot.

Maya was sitting at her red table behind the reception desk, quietly placing stickers in the new sticker book Isabelle had given her. Letty was on the phone with the pest-control company when the office door chimed and Oscar Jensen raced inside, followed by Merwin Maples. “Where’s Ava?” Merwin demanded.

“Right here. What’s the problem?” Ava emerged from the store-room where she’d been spring cleaning. She had a bundle of threadbare beach towels under her arm and was holding a plastic bucket full of half-used bottles of sunscreen.

“There’s your problem,” Oscar said, pointing at Merwin. “He thinks he owns the place just because his wife uses a walker.”

Merwin’s voice shook with anger. “He parked in the handicapped space in front of our unit. That’s where we always park. I came back from the store with a trunkload of groceries—and he was parked in my space!”

“It’s not your space. Does it have your name on it? No, it doesn’t. It’s a handicapped space, and as of yesterday, I am handicapped.” Oscar held out a square white decal with a blue wheelchair stenciled on it.

“Your only handicap is that you’re out of your damned mind!” Merwin yelled. He snatched the decal out of his former pal’s hand and examined it. “This thing isn’t even real.” He waved it at Ava. “Tell him he’s got to move his damned car. Trudi’s out there in the van right now, baking in that hot sun.”

Maya looked up at the adults, her face puckered with concern.

Ava studied the decal, then looked up at Jensen, her expression dubious. “Oscar? Since when are you handicapped?”

“I told you, since yesterday. I have a very painful bunion situation and my doctor says I should try to stay off that foot if at all possible,” Oscar said.

“What doctor? Dr. Scholl’s? Dr Pepper?” Merwin grabbed the decal, ripped it in half, and threw the pieces onto the floor. “That handicapped sticker is as phony as your doctor.”

“Did you really just do that?” Oscar poked him in the chest, and Merwin slapped his hand aside.

“No fighting!” Maya whimpered. “I don’t like fighting.”

“Hey!” Ava said sharply, stepping between the two men. She patted the little girl on the shoulder. “She’s right. Cut it out, you two. No fighting in the office.” She picked up the torn sticker pieces and handed them to Jensen.

“Oscar, you and I both know this thing isn’t real.”

“It is real,” the old man insisted. “The guy at the flea market said it’s totally legit. He’s a doctor, and he should know.”

“The flea market?” Merwin cried. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You think a licensed physician sets up a booth at a flea market? What? Between the tube socks and eight-track tapes? Or is he over on the aisle with the discontinued Avon products and the voodoo candles?”

“Dr. Jerry happens to see patients in his space by the Asian produce,” Oscar said. “He’s a very gifted healer. He gave me some ointment and my foot already feels a lot better.”

Merwin stuck his face in Oscar’s. “Quack!” he quacked.

“Merwin…” Ava sounded a warning.

Oscar took a step backward, but Merwin kept advancing, flapping his arms like a deranged duck. “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

The shorter man made a fist and reared back, ready to land a punch.

“Nooo!” Maya screamed. “No hitting!” She clamped her hands over her ears and buried her face between Letty’s knees.

Ava sprang into action. She spritzed Oscar in the face with a stream of sunscreen, then turned and aimed a spray at Merwin.

“Owww!” Oscar howled, clutching his hands to his eyes.

“I’m blind!” Merwin cried, staggering backward.

“You’ll both live,” Ava said, handing them each a tissue. “Now let’s settle this once and for all. Oscar, that alleged bunion of yours didn’t keep you from playing shuffleboard for two hours yesterday. And anyway, you don’t buy a handicapped sticker at the flea market. Merwin, that handicapped space is reserved for loading and unloading only. Says so right on the sign. It’s not your personal space. So after Oscar moves his car, you can pull up in your van and unload Trudi and your groceries. And then you move your car into the space in the parking lot that’s marked with your unit number. Understand?”

Oscar mopped at his face with the tissue and blinked rapidly. “My eyes! I think you burned my corneas.”

“Tell it to Dr. Jerry,” Ava snapped. She pointed at Maya, who was sobbing in Letty’s arms. “Look how you’ve upset this little girl. Now both of you need to quit your bickering and get out of my office before I evict your bony old asses. We’re trying to run a motel in here.”

“Oh,” Merwin said, properly chastised. “Well, I didn’t mean to upset the kid. It’s just that…”

“Out!” Ava bellowed.

“Shhh, ladybug,” Letty said softly, rubbing Maya’s back. “They weren’t really fighting. They were just mad and talking too loud.”

Maya lifted her tear-streaked face. “I don’t like fighting and hitting. It’s not nice. Mommy and Daddy had a big fight.”

Letty and Ava exchanged shocked glances. Had Maya actually witnessed a physical altercation between Tanya and Evan? She’d been plagued by that question since the day she’d discovered her sister’s body and looked up to find Maya crying at the top of the staircase. Her fears had only grown since watching the painfully hostile handoff captured on the nanny-cam video she’d watched just the night before. Up until now, she hadn’t had the heart to question the traumatized child about what she had or hadn’t seen.

“Mommy and Daddy weren’t mad at you, sweetie. They were probably just upset,” Letty said. “Whatever they said, I’m sure they didn’t mean it.”

“That’s right, Maya,” Ava said, her voice low and soothing. “Sometimes grown-ups say things they don’t mean. Like Mr. Oscar and Mr. Merwin. They’re really friends, but they both got upset today and said things they shouldn’t have. But they’re sorry now. And I promise, I won’t let them fight again.”

“No hitting,” Maya said, rubbing her face against Letty’s shoulder. “I don’t like hitting.”

Letty took a deep breath. “Maya, did you ever see Daddy hit Mommy?”

The child lifted her face, still damp with tears and snot. She nodded. “Hitting is not nice. It’s very, very bad.”