Justin Delacroix stood on the apartment threshold, one ear turned towards the front door to pick up any sound from the inside. One second ago, he thought he’d heard something crash, and so he concentrated his hearing.
Coming to the Condo, Justin had spotted Mr. Bagley’s car out front in the courtyard and felt like paying him a surprise visit. Just to give him a buzz, like he always said whenever he’d drop in on the old man. The truth was, Justin liked him a bunch, and felt sad to know that he was going to move out of the Condo.
Justin raised his hand and knocked again on the door. Maybe the old man wasn’t home after all, even though his car was there. Justin could have left it at that, however, after his heart-aching failure at his date with Solene Greaves, he could really use some friendly company. And the old man had always been just that. Friendly company who actually made you rethink with high esteem the companionship value of elderly people.
The door finally half opened and Mr. Bagley half emerged.
“Hi, mister,” Justin quickly said looking up at him with a grin. “How do you do? I thought there was no-one in.”
“Lad? What –– how are you doing? I mean, I’m okay… I’m perfectly fine.”
The old man seemed a little out of his usual character, Justin reckoned.
“Is this a bad time? I mean, I saw your car and I just thought I’d swing by to say hello. Is this a bad time, mister?”
“Oh – no, lad” he said after rubbing his temples. “I’m just in the middle of something.”
“Are you packing up?”
“Well, more like a last check around the place. I’ve got to make sure I don’t leave anything behind.”
“Oh, I thought you were staying a couple more days with us?”
“Sorry, I should’ve let you know it was today.”
Justin waited a few seconds for the old man to invite him in, but he didn’t. He looked sort of messy, like he’d been struggling. Probably the plumbing, Justin thought. He knew Mr. Bagley’s plumbing installation played up every now and then, and when that happened, the old man always got all hands-on.
“Do you have a minute?” Justin asked. You could tell he was rather depressed.
“Oh ––” Mr. Bagley cleared the doorway. “Yes, of course lad.”
Justin stepped onto the landing and noticed straight-up big shards of glass scattered on the floor on the other end of the room. A puddle of water had formed beneath the shards. They looked like the broken pieces of a large flower vase. Justin could tell because some flower rods lay wet over the mess.
“Had a little accident,” Mr. Bagley explained. “A crazy cramp in my calf.”
“I can help you clean up.”
“Thanks lad, but those shards are pretty sharp; I wouldn’t want you to cut yourself. Here –– have a seat.”
He indicated a chair and Justin sat down.
The old man studied his ill-timed guest from the corner of his eye. He had to make sure the boy didn’t suspect any kind of foul play here, or else… No, it couldn’t come to that. But what if he had to? He dispelled the unthinkable scenario from his mind. Besides, the broken vase was covering what he’d done a moment ago.
This is what I get for letting loose, Mr. Bagley thought. And the thought of Zoe’s body, unsafely tucked away in the adjoining corridor that opened out on the landing, rushed at him to mock the jeopardy his uncontrolled compulsion had gotten him into.
“It really sucks if this is your last day in the Condo.” Justin said, his hands coming together.
“Yeah, it’s my last day here. It sure doesn’t look like it because they didn’t throw me a parade or anything.” Mr. Bagley chuckled a little, more so to relax the taut line of his jaw. Then he got all serious. “So tell me what’s up with you? You don’t look your best, lad. ”
“Well, I don’t quite know how to put this, mister.”
Shy in the eyes, Justin started blushing.
“Is this about a girl?” The old man asked.
“Yeah, it is.” Justin then shifted around in his chair, in a way that showed his embarrassment to broach the subject. “I mean, it’s silly really. It’s not a big enough deal for me to come bug you with this stuff when you probably have tons on your mind.”
“You’re right, I have tons on my mind, lad. And to be honest with you, women –– or young girls aren’t really my department.”
The old man pinched his nose and Justin finally said, “See, there’s this girl I was crazy about, you know? Like real crazy.”
“Was?”
“In a sense I still am, but she just wants us to be friends.”
“I see…” The old man took a seat. “And you thought you had a shot until she told you that.”
“She didn’t exactly say it that way. But –– It doesn’t even matter anymore.”
“Why not?”
“She’s with this other guy now,” Justin said with temper. “And I thought –– I thought I could get her off my mind if I just hated her, you know. But I can’t. I don’t want to hate her.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. What should I do, mister?”
Though the timing was bad, the old man took kindly to the fact that Justin was seeking his counsel on matters of the heart. And he wished he could live up to the boy’s expectations. However, romance was something he just didn’t dig anymore.
“I’m afraid this time you knocked on the wrong door, lad,” he said. “And shouldn’t you be discussing these things with your folks?”
“My dad and I don’t talk about this kind of stuff,” Justin said. “And my mother – Jeez, it’d be too embarrassing. Besides, what does she know?”
“She knows more than I do.”
“Come on, mister… You must know something!”
Mr. Bagley stifled a smile. The hopelessness of the boy was rather touching, and amusing too. He got up from the chair, paced around for a moment, then paused.
“Do you really like that girl, lad?” Justin nodded quietly. “Listen –– I don’t know much about relationships. But what I know about love is that it’s always up to you to grab it, you understand?” Justin’s eyes narrowed quizzically. “Look lad, if you want that girl to be with you, if that’s what you truly want, then you’ve got to become a man. You’ve got to go out there and make it happen for yourself.”
“How?” White hope suddenly showed in his expression.
“That’s for a man to figure out, isn’t it?” The old man waited for Justin to process his input. Then he added, “Do you understand now?”
“I think I do.” Justin thought about it some more. He suddenly stood up. “Jeez,” he said almost in a shout, “I think I really do!”
Solene sees a boy when she looks at me, Justin thought to himself. And she’s right. I’m a frigging damn boy…
“Just don’t wait too long, lad,” Mr. Bagley said again. “Don’t wait too long.”
“Thanks, mister…” Justin hesitated. Then he approached the old man and wrapped his arms around him. “You’re really nice.”
Moved by the sudden show of affection, Mr. Bagley patted the boy’s back with a delicate touch. Justin noticed a red spot tainting the cuff of the old man’s sleeve.
“You hurt yourself?”
Mr. Bagley checked the bloodstain out.
“Those damn shards,” he said lightly.
“Sure you don’t want me to help you clean up?”
“No worries –– I’ll be alright…”
Justin went to the door. After he opened it, he turned around and said, “I’m really going to miss you, mister.”
“I’ll miss you too, lad.” The old man’s features had become soft and kind throughout the short exchange. So you could tell he really meant it. “You be good now.”
After Justin shut the door behind him, it took about a minute for the old man to swerve his attention back to Zoe’s pending situation. And so he went to attend to it.
In the small corridor,
the sight of her body sprawled out without a single breath in it filled his heart with something close to regret. Of all people, Zoe Greaves was never meant to be his victim. He really felt sorry for taking her life…
Then her cell phone began to ring. It was in her handbag, which the old man had kept near Zoe after dragging her body out of the drawing room. Mr. Bagley picked it up, rummaged through it, and found the ringing cell phone. The caller ID read Jeffrey…
Jeffrey Greaves, the old man surmised. Zoe’s husband. Eventually the ringing stopped. Mr. Bagley silenced the cell phone and put it in his pocket. Last thing he needed was some unwanted attention drawn by a prolonged ringtone. He took a deep breath. He had a few hours before someone would start worrying about her silence. And that’s all the time he needed to disappear and make the body disappear.
With unfeeling calm, the old man’s eyes went to Zoe’s bludgeoned face. And his mind to the width of plastic film he’d need to cover it up…
Chapter XVIII
THE DOUBTS AND INTENTIONS
OF GRECO BARNET