Things We Do in the Dark(83)

* * *



The room had a rainbow bedspread with matching rainbow curtains, and was gaudy as hell. But the sheets smelled like detergent, the bathroom smelled like bleach, and the TV worked just fine.

Joey made a phone call, figuring there was a fifty-fifty chance he was still awake at four a.m. He was, and while he was surprised to hear from her, he agreed to come to the motel. She was just coming out of the shower when she heard a soft knock. She checked the peephole, then opened the door.

The room felt smaller the instant the big man stepped inside.

“Why are you here?” Chaz asked, looking around. “Is that guy sleeping at your house or something?”

He meant Drew, of course.

“No,” Joey said. “He’s gone. I won’t ever see him again.”

As soon as she spoke the words, she felt an imaginary hand wrap around her heart, and squeeze.

She took a seat on the bed. Chaz sat beside her, and leaned in to kiss her. She put a hand on his chest. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“I thought I was here to—”

“I’m leaving Toronto,” she said. “And I need your help. I need a new ID, and I need your help unloading this.”

She reached for her knapsack, opened it, and showed him what was inside.

“Jesus Christ,” Chaz said. “Where the fuck did you get that?”

“It’s better you don’t know.” She pulled out the brick of white powder and placed it on the bed between them. “I don’t know what this is worth, but I’m sure it’s a lot. And I’ll give it to you, in exchange for a driver’s license, a birth certificate, and, if possible, a passport.”

Chaz looked down at the drugs, and then at her. “Joey, what did you do?” he asked softly.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” she said. “But you’re the only person I can trust. I can’t stay here, Chaz. I know you have that cousin who’s into some.… off-the-grid stuff. If you can get him to unload this, then you guys can split the money. All I need is an ID. I need to leave the country.”

“Are you for real?” Chaz was looking at her like she’d lost her damn mind. “You want me to call Reggie?”

“You’re right, I’m asking you to do too much. This was stupid. I’ll just flush it down the toilet.”

She took the brick and stood up, but before she could get to the bathroom, Chaz said, “Wait. Give it to me. I’ll see what I can do.”

Then he sighed and rubbed his face.

“Fuck, Joey. I would only ever do this for you.”



* * *



Three days later, Chaz was back at the motel, having procured what she asked for. He didn’t look happy.

“Everybody at the Cherry is mourning you. They’re having a little memorial service this weekend.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I really am.” She hesitated. “Aren’t you going to ask me who it was? In the fire?”

He shook his head and sat on the bed. The mattress sank under his weight. “The less I know, the better.”

“You’re not going to ask if I killed her?”

“If you did, you had your reasons, and it wouldn’t change how I feel about you,” he said quietly. “But I know you didn’t.”

She sat beside him and took his hand.

“I could go with you, you know,” Chaz said. “You don’t have to do this alone.”

“You can’t come where I’m going.” Joey leaned her head against his arm. “But I can’t tell you how glad I am that we met.”

He wouldn’t look at her as he handed over her new ID. The name on both the driver’s license and birth certificate was Paris Aquino.

Joey frowned. Paris? Aquino was fine, but she’d been hoping for a more mundane first name. “She doesn’t look anything like me.”

“She looks like you enough.” Chaz shrugged. “You’ll have to work with it. You know how hard it was to find a license and birth certificate for a Filipino girl close to your age and height?”

She scanned the stats on the license. The age was close enough; their birthdays were the same year and only two months apart. “Nobody will believe this is me. You can tell from her face that she’s heavier than I am.”

“That’s why it will work,” Chaz said. “Look at the date—the driver’s license expired a month ago. When you go to renew it, bring your birth certificate. If they question you, just tell them you lost weight. You can get a new photo taken. And then, after you get the new license, you can apply for a passport.”

Joey remembered when Tita Flora had to get a new passport. Her aunt needed to have two pictures taken, and have the backs of both photos signed by her family doctor to confirm her identity. “But won’t I need someone to verify that it’s me? And how do I know that this Paris didn’t already have a passport?”

“This isn’t without risk, Joey.” Chaz put a piece of paper in her hand with a name and phone number on it. “This guy is a friend of Reggie’s, and he works in the passport office. He’s expecting a call from you, but he knows your name is Paris. Let him know what day and time you’re coming in, and he’ll make sure he’s the one who helps you.”