Are You There and Other Stories Read Online Free PDF Page B

projected, “the way you feel is normal.”
    “True,” his father said. “This is the place that hurts, son. The place where love resumes.”
    A car that looked like a De Soto with great, oval headlights on flexible stalks screeched around the corner and braked sideways in the middle of the street. The doors flung open, and men with guns piled out.
    “Dat’s him,” the biggest one said, pointing at Norman. Norman’s reactions were unconscious and lightning quick. He filled his hands with the twin automatics and brought down two of the armed men before either of them could get a shot off. Unfortunately the third man was fast enough to fire a Tommy gun burst before Norman could drill him.
    The Tommy burst stitched across Bernie Helmcke’s chest.
    The De Soto squealed away, leaving bodies behind like bales of newspapers.
    Norman dropped his guns. He sank to his knees at his father’s side.
    “I’m finished,” Bernie said. “Again.”
    Norman felt it coming—the flood he’d dammed a lifetime ago.
    “In my right pocket,” Bernie said. “Keys for my apartment. Scout knows where it is.” He coughed, misting the air with blood. “You’ll need a place.”
    “Dad—”
    “I’m sorry, son. I love you.”
    A savage coughing fit took him, and when it was over, so was the thief.
    The world contracted into a throbbing locus of pain under Norman’s heart.
    “The apartment,” Scout said. “—it isn’t much. Deli on the ground floor. A noisy Deli. Two flights up to a hot plate and a smelly carpet. Of course, I have a sensitive nose.”
    Norman sat down in the street.
    “At least you don’t have to worry about anybody finding you there,” Scout said. “But you’ll need some kind of disguise when you go out. You could use my scarf, if you want.”
    Norman closed his eyes, the flood all through him now. The terrible thing. The love.
    Scout bit his ear.
    “ Ow! ”
    The dog backed away. “You better get off your dead ass. This is a tough world. And as of today you’re the only lawman in it. Norman, there are innocent people here . You can do something.”
    Norman fingered his lobe, which was not bleeding. “You’re a real son of a bitch, you know that?”
    “You’re half right, sweetheart.”
    Norman found the key in his father’s pocket. He lifted the body in his arms and carried it to the edge of the world and held it a moment longer before letting it roll away into the star twinkle. He waited, but it did not roll back. After a while, compelled, The Avenger of Love turned toward the City of Endless Night.

    For Harlan

Dead Worlds

    A week after my retrieval, I went for a drive in the country. I turned the music up loud, Aaron Copland. The two-lane blacktop wound into late summer woods. Sun and shadow slipped over my Mitsubishi. I felt okay, but how long could it last? The point, I guess, was to find out.
    I was driving too fast, but that’s not why I hit the dog. Even at a reduced speed, I wouldn’t have been able to stop in time. I had shifted into a slightly banked corner overhung with maple—and the dog was just there. A big shepherd, standing in the middle of the road with his tongue hanging out, as if he’d been running. Brakes, clutch, panicked wrenching of the wheel, a tight skid. The heavy thud of impact felt through the car’s frame.
    I turned off the digital music stream and sat a few moments in silence except for the nearly subaudible ripple of the engine. In the rearview mirror, the dog lay in the road.
    I swallowed, took a couple of deep breaths, then let the clutch out, slowly rolled onto the shoulder, and killed the engine.
    The door swung smoothly up and away. A warm breeze scooped into the car, carrying birdsong and the muted purl of running water—a creek or stream.
    I walked back to the dog. He wasn’t dead. At the sound of my footsteps approaching, he twisted his head around and snapped at me. I halted a few yards away. The dog whined. Bloody foam flecked his lips. His hind