This Girl Who Was A Ghost, page 32
part #2 of Near Future Series
“You’re inviting us to the new place?” Sammy asked.
“We are like family, yes?”
Sammy could just hug Mama. “I think you should talk to Igor. He doesn’t share your feelings.”
“With him everything is about money. No amount of money buys friend.”
Cindy nodded. “If I had all the money in the world, I could never buy a friend as good as Sam.”
Mama held a hand on her chest. “When she went back into building, I prayed she would be okay. Prayers were answered when she save Rudy.”
Distant sirens wailed.
“Cops. It is good not to be around when they come.”
“We’ll call you, Mama,” Sammy said, looking to Cindy. “You have her number?”
Cindy nodded.
“You have place to stay?”
“I think we can scrounge up a place until the new one is ready.”
The sirens grew louder. Igor jogged over. “We have to go, Mama.”
Mama dug into her pocket. “I have pills for pain and swelling.”
Igor grabbed Mama’s arm. “Give pills and go.”
Mama handed Cindy two pills. “Take one now and one when going to bed. Put ice on but mostly off. Plenty of rest.”
Igor tugged her arm. “Come on, Mama.”
Mama pulled her arm free and spat out something in Russian.
Igor spoke softly in Russian, looking as though he was trying to convince her of something.
“I will call when new place is ready.”
“What? No, she is nothing but trouble,” Igor said. “There were no problems until she came.”
“She get pills that help many people. She is brave and strong.” Mama rested her hand on his shoulder. “We keep friends who make us better. They are like gold.”
“Her?”
Mama nodded, smiling at Sammy. “She is also good thief. I will need pills.” Mama turned toward the sound of the sirens. “Let us go before next words are with cops.”
“If you need help cleaning out the new place, give me a call,” Sammy shouted to them.
Igor turned back with a sneer. He and Mama turned the corner and disappeared.
Cindy hopped on the good leg and rolled the bag on its side. She sat on the ground, leaning back against the bag, and propped her foot on the bricks. “I think this is better.”
Sammy sat down beside Cindy, putting her arm around her shoulder. “You know if I can learn how to computer hack, getting those pills will be easy.”
Cindy rested her head on Sammy’s shoulder. “Mama’s right about good friends being like gold.”
“Yeah, with all that gold between us we’ll be pooping bars.”
Cindy crinkled her nose. “Sam.”
Sammy figured she’d be looking for a bed to sleep on by now, but the idea of swinging through a few trees with her extended fingers got her excited.
“Where are we going to stay?”
She could go to midtown and swipe some tacos or sausage buns. “I’m hungry, you?”
“Don’t think there are any places open now.”
Sammy turned back to the building. “I bet there are more than a few hard-boiled eggs in there.”
“We could go to the place that Mama set up for us.”
“A crowded place with a new baby? No thanks.”
“Where are we going to stay?”
“Jack owes me money. He can get a place for us for a few days.”
A couple of cop cars pulled in front. Russo got out of the second car and surveyed the jumble of bricks that was their apartment. “Jesus!”
“That’s Russo,” Sammy said. “He’s very religious.”
Cindy nodded. “He questioned me at the club.”
“He’s all right for a cop.”
Russo marched over. “You okay?”
“I’m kind of hungry. You know a place that’s open now?”
Russo’s worry lines softened into a small grin. “I know a twenty-four-hour place that a lot of cops go to.”
Sammy sat up. “It’s not one of those donut places, is it?”
Russo’s expression was more deadpan now. “It’s a diner. Does that meet your approval?”
“Diners are okay.”
“Get in,” he said, hitching his thumb to the car behind him. “We can talk about what happened.”
Sammy stood, offering her hand to Cindy.
Cindy swung her foot off the bricks. “You want me to come?”
“I’m not going to leave you here by yourself.”
“What about my bag?”
Sammy pulled Cindy up. “Russo can throw it in the trunk.”
Russo trudged over and picked up the bag. “Anything else I can do for you?”
Sammy held Cindy’s arm as she shimmied along the back seat.
Russo dropped the bag into the trunk and slammed it closed. “Is she okay?”
Sammy stepped back to close the door. “It’s just a sprain.”
“Is that blood on your leg?”
Sammy closed the door, casting herself into darkness. “I’m fine. Must be cursed by bleeding easily.”
“I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“If you’re not going to that diner, I’m not getting in the car.”
“Do I have to remind you that there’s an arrest warrant out for you?”
“You arresting me?”
“If it means keeping you alive.”
“I said I’m fine.”
Russo pulled out his phone. “Then you won’t mind having a doctor look at you.”
“Yeah, I do mind.”
Russo shone the camera’s light on her legs. “Were you shot?”
Sammy sighed, shaking her head.
Russo focused the light on the hole. “I know what a bullet hole looks like. Get in.”
Sammy turned back. Down the block and left would take her deeper into the zone.
“It’s either a hospital doctor or a prison doctor. Which is it going to be?”
Sammy couldn’t let a doctor look at her. One scan and the hospital would be crawling with feds all vying to put her in one of those secret hangars in the desert. Sammy opened the door as if she were getting in, then turned and bolted down the block.
Russo yelled after her.
Sammy turned the corner and raced down the dark street. Russo had the sirens going at the top of the block. She was moving fast, but she couldn’t outrun a car. A crumbled building lay ahead. She veered off the street and headed for it. Red-and-white lights flashed toward her. She scaled a mound of loose bricks and hid behind a wall.
The siren screamed as it passed, red and white lights spinning as the car headed down the block. Sammy waited for the siren to fade, but it held at a constant drone. She peeked around the wall. Russo was at the end of the block, a searchlight scanning up and down the rubble buildings.
The car turned left and rolled out of view.
Sammy leaned back, wishing she’d taken Mama’s offer. Her phone rang. It was Russo. She laid the phone down and smashed it with a brick, sending bits and pieces flying. She closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. She’d fall asleep if she weren’t so hungry. She scaled down the piled bricks and walked up the block.
Jack was standing by Maria’s car, looking up and down the block. Russo came around and stopped. The overhead flashing lights were still spinning.
Sammy turned her back to them and walked the other way. “I bet there’s a place open in midtown.”
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Robert E Cummings, This Girl Who Was A Ghost
