First Born(27)

‘Contemporary civilisation. World authority on Hobbes. You know, Leviathan, the social contract, nominalism.’

‘And you think he was having an affair with my sister? How serious was it?’

‘Don’t think, Molly. Know. There were a couple of months back in the spring when she talked of nothing else. Infatuated. Every time we met for a slice of pizza it was Eugene this and Eugene that. She started going away with him upstate, think they went to Albany one weekend, just to be more safe, walk around like a real couple for a few days instead of always hiding.’

‘You think Groot hurt KT?’

‘I don’t know what to think, honey. But I do know things were heating up between those two.’

‘Heating up?’

A squirrel runs across the ball field.

‘After summer Katie was talking about giving Groot an ultimatum because he had discussed leaving his wife and kids, usual douchebag bullshit. Predictably, he decides not to go through with it, for the sake of the family and all that, even talked about doing the decent thing instead of the enjoyable thing, what the fuck, you believe that?’

‘I wish she’d talked to me about all this.’

‘She would have done if you’d been here in the States, I’m sure. I wasn’t a replacement, Molly I was just a stand-in, you know, short-term.’

‘Maybe I could have helped her through it.’

‘She also told me your dad was acting kind of peculiar on the trip here. Not being himself. She tell you that?’

‘Dad?’

‘Yeah.’

‘He’s under a lot of pressure. Finance stuff.’

‘Yeah, Maybe that was it, then.’

Sirens erupt all around us and a police car swerves up on to the grass. I drag Violet into the bushes for cover and then an ambulance stops by the police car. Someone in the park was taken sick. Some kind of manic episode. We watch as they get helped into the ambulance. No cuffs or guns drawn.

‘The hell you pull me into a shrub for? It’s just a fucking ambulance.’

‘Sorry.’

‘Come on, my shift starts soon. What are you doing now? I know I said the city’s safe but you can’t stay in the park at night, you know, not even with a slungshot, it’s not OK for you here in the night-time. I’m dead serious about that, Molly.’

‘I’m heading back to my hostel to read emails.’

‘You’re staying on West 44th, right? I’ll walk you to your door?’

A shiver runs down my neck. ‘How did you know I was on West 44th?’

‘I don’t know, maybe your mom told me or something? I thought to myself, fuck, why would you stay in fucking Midtown of all places?’

‘Where would you have stayed?’

‘Pretty much anyplace that’s not Midtown, but whatever.’

We walk along a street by the park, backtracking towards the YMCA, and in the shade of the trees is a line of horse-drawn wagons.

‘Can we take another route?’

‘Terrorists here too?’

‘Horses.’

‘Horses? Come on, we’ll take Billionaires’ Row.’

‘Huh?’

‘West 57th. Rich freaks who pay to live well above the likes of you and me, Molly Raven.’

I walk past a grille down in the road, and steam billows out of it and gets pushed away by the breeze. I hold my breath to avoid any potential Legionnaires’ disease particles.

‘Why all the steam?’ I say when I’m safely past it.

‘This city’s powered by steam, some of it anyhow. Laundries, parts of NYU, heating systems, the lot. Not just Marilyn Monroe getting her panties damp, you know.’

‘I thought that was breeze from the subway.’

‘Same difference.’

‘Did you visit KT much in her apartment?’

‘Yeah, now and then. We studied there together a few times when Butler was too busy, you know.’

‘The Butler Library?’

She nods. ‘Katie tried to cook for me one time but that didn’t turn out so good so we ended up in the Village after midnight eating tacos with two Korean guys. But yeah, we hung out in her place on and off. I helped her install the AC unit on her back window.’

‘Did you see her downstairs neighbour?’

‘Skinny kid who won’t look at you? Yeah. I’ve seen him there, and he even came to school one time.’ She frowns. ‘Maybe I should’ve told the cops about him, come to think about it.’

‘He came to Columbia?’

‘We found him on the steps, the famous ones. If you’ve ever seen a New York movie, trust me, you’d recognise the steps. Said he was filming some YouTube video or something, had permission, but it was pretty damn clear he was there for your sister. Practically stalked her the first month she moved in. Of course, back then he was a skinny dude with acne scars and no eye-contact. Now he’s a muscly dude with lasered cheeks and no eye-contact. Spent all that money on himself and still can’t look you straight in the eye. You think he’s a suspect?’

‘I get a strange vibe from him.’

‘The cops tell you how Katie actually died? I apologise if that’s an insensitive question, only they don’t say much on the news.’