Archer Mayor - Chat

Copyright 2007 by Archer Mayor

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Grand Central Publishing

Hachette Book Group

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New York, NY 10017

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The Grand Central Publishing Books name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

First eBook Edition: October 2007

ISBN: 978-0-446-40975-9

Other books by Archer Mayor

THE SECOND MOUSE

ST. ALBANS FIRE

THE SURROGATE THIEF

GATEKEEPER

THE SNIPERS WIFE

TUCKER PEAK

THE MARBLE MASK

OCCAMS RAZOR

THE DISPOSABLE MAN

BELLOWS FALLS

THE RAGMANS MEMORY

THE DARK ROOT

FRUITS OF THE POISONOUS TREE

THE SKELETONS KNEE

SCENT OF EVIL

BORDERLINES

OPEN SEASON

As always, I found myself happily dependent on the knowledge and expertise of others in the preparation, writing, and editing of this book. Also, as always, Id like to thank them while taking full responsibility for any stumbles that I may have committed in applying their wisdom to the following tale.

My gratitude, therefore, to the following:

John Martin

Erik Johnson

Kathryn Tolbert

Michael Mayor

Elaine Sopchak

Andrea Moriarty

The Weathervane Music Hall

Eric Buel

Julie Lavorgna

Scott Passino

Jesse Bristol

JB Auto

Rick Bates

Jennifer Morrison

Scout Mayor

Brattleboro Police Dept.

Castle Freeman Jr.

And, of course, Kate and Melanie

M ade it, Ma. Top o the world, Leo quoted theatrically, his words shrouding his head in the cold night air. What would you think if I went out like that?

His mother twisted around in her wheelchair to look at him balefully. I dont understand why such a wonderful dancer would do a movie like that.

Leo smiled down at her as he pushed her gently along a shoveled path, across the broad courtyard before Dartmouths Hopkins Center for the Arts, universally nicknamed The Hop. I warned you, Ma. I told you it wasnt Yankee Doodle Dandy.

You said it was a gangster movie, she persisted, not an ode to a psychopath.

Leo burst out laughing. Wow. You make it sound pretty deep. I just liked it when he shot the car trunk full of holes to let the guy inside breathe, or when he went nutso in the prison dining hall after finding out his mother died.

She faced forward again as they neared the curb. How did I end up with such a disturbed child? she asked meditatively.

Hey, he told her. You got one son whos a cop. Stands to reason the other should go to the dark side. Its natures balance.

He went to pass by her on his way to unlock the car, when she grabbed his wrist in a quick-moving, wiry hand.

This time, her expression was soft and appreciative. Ive been doubly blessed, Leo, she told him. Both my boys are just right.

He leaned over and kissed her wrinkled cheek, warm in the evenings chill. I love you, too, Ma. I hear theyre playing Polanskis Repulsion next week.

She tapped the side of his head playfully as he moved away. Oh, now, that sounds like a comedy.

You have no idea, he admitted.

She watched him bustling about, unlocking doors, starting the engine to get the heater going. It wasnt all that cold, even though it had been dark for several hours. Dartmouths trademark Green was coated with a new layer of snow, which shimmered under the glow of dozens of traditionally designed streetlamps. These, along with the formal brick buildings looming darkly beyond them, and the enormous librarys beautifully lighted clock tower at the far end, lent the entire scene a timelessness, as if she might have been waiting for her son to hook up a horse and sleigh instead of a Subaru.

All set, he said, stepping behind her once more and easing her chair off the sidewalk to where it nestled beside the cars open door.

She reached out and took hold of the two handles Leo had attached just inside the opening, one high and one low, and nimbly used them to assist herself inside. Her legs were too weak to support her, but they did move, which was a godsend in situations like this. She was already attaching her seat belt by the time Leo opened the cars rear door to slip in the folded wheelchair.

He joined her moments later, making the car rock as he virtually fell into his seat. An enthusiast by nature, he never did anything by half measures, including the most mundane of actions.

You want to stop somewhere for ice cream or cocoa or something? he asked.

Now she was looking at the facade of The Hop, from which theyd just come on their weekly Friday night outing. Designed by the same architect who later did Lincoln Center in New York, it looked like the kind of place that would offer a broad sampling of the artsmodern by one light, slightly worn by another. She and Leo came here frequently, local beneficiaries of the colleges mission to be a generous cultural neighbor.

No, she answered him. Not tonight. Drive me around the Green, though, will you? I love the buildings.

Leo backed out of their parking space and slipped into the thin traffic, taking his first left to engage the long eastern reach of the Green.

Feeling touristy? he asked.

She was watching the buildings go by, but also the students, huddled in their winter clothing, marching determinedly in small groups or singly, intent on their mysterious goals, which could as easily have been the next beer or a rendezvous as some scholarly pursuit. Although shed been a local her entire life, even if from Vermont, just across the river, shed never had the envious, resentful view of the college so many other townies harbored, nor had she delighted in the supposed depiction made of the place in the movie Animal House. She worshipped education, and while her sons had become a police officer and a butcher and hadnt benefited from Dartmouths offerings, she had made sure they developed an appreciation of music and literature and art, and shed trained them to be analytical, appreciative, mindful, and kind.

She knew that college students could be self-indulgent, narcissistic, and careless with the gift theyd been offered. Those were the clichs. But as Leo slowly circled the Green, quietly allowing for her meditation, she relished the fantasy shed held forever, of places like this being the incubators of the mind, where kids learned to think, sometimes despite their best resistance.

You shouldve gone here, Ma, Leo finally said.

She turned away from the buildings to look at him. I came close enough, she said after a thoughtful pause. I got access to that library and passed along what you and Joe could bear. It would have been fun to actually sit in class, but I cant complainIve read what a lot of their professors wrote.

Leo laughed again. And you got to fall asleep in class. We were always taking books off your lap after you dozed off.

She whacked his shoulder. Once in a blue moon, after spending all day chasing you two around.

You did good, Ma, he said after a pause.

It was a gentle taunt. He delighted in mangling English around her, since she worked so hard not to do so herself. But this time, instead of correcting him, she chuckled and admitted, I think I done good, too.

He smiled and hit his right turn indicator at the stoplight, preparing to go down North Wheelock and across the bridge into Vermont, at the bottom of the hill. Of course, much of what theyd just been talking about dated back a few years. His mother had slowed down recently, reading less and watching more television. And since landing in the wheelchair, shed retired the use of that library card.