Corduroy’s eye looked hazy somehow, as if an invisible fog were churning within the bloodshot orb. The pupil dilated rapidly, adjusting to a change in light that only he could see. He blinked several times.
Then something changed. A long wheeze strained his vocal chords, and Corduroy’s back arched as some sort of current seemed to jolt through his body. At first, Ocean thought he was having another one of his fits, his final fit, perhaps. But as the air whooshed out of his lungs, his muscles relaxed and he struggled to raise his head and hands so he could look at them. They shook so badly, however, that he simply didn’t seem to have the strength to hold them up. His arms slumped to his sides and he swallowed once as he laid his head back into the puddle of his own blood.
“What the fuck, man? I’m fuckin’ dying? Aw, shit… shit, man, it fuckin’ hurts.”
Ocean gasped when she heard the voice coming out of the burned man’s mouth. It still had the same raspy gurgle, but the cadence and word choice… the tone… it was the same as the voice she used to hear in the back of her own mind. The voice that she hadn’t heard since the night Gauge had hit her.
Ocean’s sharp intake of air caused Corduroy’s eye to look directly at her. The haze which had seemed to obscure it earlier was gone now and, somehow, it almost looked younger.
“Ocean! Ocean, honey…”
He raised his arm again and extended his trembling hand toward her.
“I found you… finally found you. I remember! Gauge. Levi. I knew… knew they’d lead me to you. And I was gonna take you away. Where you’d be safe. So safe. Fuck, man. The babies… the poor, poor babies.”
A tear slid from the corner of Corduroy’s eye and he bit his bottom lip. His voice quivered with emotion and his gaze dropped, almost as if he couldn’t bring himself to meet her eyes.
“Never ate them. Never. Fuck, Ocean. Life’s… life’s always tryin’ to make me buy those fuckin’ brownies, man. Mother-fuckin’ brownies. But you. You’re all that matters. All that ever mattered.”
Corduroy’s words degraded into a series of coughs that sprayed a mist of blood, but within moments he’d regained his compsure.
“Eye’s callin’ me back, baby girl. I don’t regret… I don’t regret a…”
The clouds seem to roll back into his good eye, obscuring the clarity that had graced it momentarily, and then he laid perfectly still. She watched him for a moment, realizing that the questions that haunted her would go unanswered forever.
She would give him the death rite, of course, even if he had been insane. For whatever reason he’d had in his deformed head, he’d tried to help her. Had helped her, in fact. For that, at least, he deserved a true and lasting death.
There would be time for that. For now, there were more immediate concerns to attend to. Pebble, for one. Had Corduroy killed him as well as Levi? If not, would he have fled? Would he attack her? She hoped he wouldn’t… she really didn’t want to kill the little boy, but, at the same time, she knew she could if she were forced to.
Gauge mumbled thickly like a man in the throes of a bad dream. He, of course, was the most pressing matter.
Ocean walked across the hall to where Vessel’s body was still splayed out and grabbed her by the ankles. The woman was heavy and Ocean could only pull her in short bursts; but eventually she was able to maneuver the corpse into the cell which the woman had known so intimately. She placed the body on the bed of paper and took a moment to catch her breath.
When Gauge came to, it was to the sound of Ocean’s voice. She spoke softly from the other side of the door, her voice the same gentle lull with which she’d used to sing Baby to sleep.
“Hey, sleepyhead. How’s it feel to be on the other side? You like it in there? Kind of smells funny doesn’t it?”
“You cut off my hands, you little bitch.”
Gauge spoke between clenched teeth and his face contorted with pain. Ocean giggled behind her hand; she wiggled the tips of her fingers at him as she stuck out her tongue.
“Oh hey,” she said brightly. “Looks like someone else is waking up, too.”
Behind him, Vessel’s body had begun to twitch. Spasms wracked her muscles and her eyelids flew open.
“Now this,” Ocean continued. “I gotta see.”
The thing that had once been Vessel staggered to its feet while Gauge scuttled into the furthest corner of the cell. It’s head snapped in the direction of his movement and his shrill cry of terror echoed through the undergrounds tunnels.
It wouldn’t take long. Once it was over, Ocean thought, she’d go to the kitchen and see if she could rustle up something to eat. With Heaven at her disposal, she would never be hungry again, never have to worry about where her next meal was coming from.
She was pretty sure that Corduroy hadn’t killed Baby. In fact, she’d thought she heard his cries a little earlier and it had brought a smile to her face. She would make sure her little boy grew up loved and protected… she would make sure he never went without. And she would have someone who would love her, without motives or conditions, for the rest of her life.
No one would ever hurt her again.
EPILOUGE
Alfonso Davis swiped his plastic badge through the reader and the door responded with a click. In the fluorescent light, his uniform looked crisp and white, only the sweat stains blossoming from the armpits discoloring the fabric. He wasn’t exactly fat, but he was what his mother had always called big boned. His cocoa colored brow glistened beneath an ever-present sheen of perspiration. He let go of the badge and the string pulled it back to the clip on his pocket with a quick zip.
“I stuck my neck out to get you this job. Don’t you go fuckin’ me over, Donny. You hear?”
The man at his side was much smaller, with skin almost as pale as the scrubs they both wore. His hair was a shock of white and he looked up at his friend with red eyes.
“You can count on me, ‘Fonso. I appreciate it too, dude. That nursing home was getting to be a real buzz kill.”
The pair walked down a hallway that had been polished to the point streaks of light seemed to race ahead of them with every step.
“I’ll piss your asshole if do.”
Donny laughed and slapped his hand against his friend’s meaty shoulder.
“What the hell, man? What the fuck does that even mean? I’ll piss your asshole? Who says that?”
Alfonso stiffened for a moment and shot Donny one of the looks that had always preceded some geek getting an ass-beating when the two were in high school. Then his expression softened as he smiled.
“Didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Yeah, where were you, man? Thought you were coming over to catch the game.”
“Nah, went to Vibrations instead. After the day I had yesterday, I just wanted to get my drunk on. Never goin’ back there again, though. Place waters down their liquor, man. I’ve pissed higher alcohol content than that shit.”
Alfonso glanced around to make sure no one was within ear shot, and leaned in close as he lowered his voice to a whisper.
“Ended up hookin’ up with this cute little Asian number. Bitch was all into me, man. Took her back to the crib and got my freak on’.”
“You dog.” Donny was grinning so widely it looked like his face would collapse into his own mouth. His eyes twinkled as he nudged Alfonso in the ribs with his elbow. “You get breakfast out of it, too?”
“Hell no, playa. Sent that bitch packin’ and headed back out for more pimpin’.”
“Oh, man… you’re too much.”