The Face in the Water by Gregory Ashe

Author:Gregory Ashe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hodgkin and Blount
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

12

Tean couldn’t go far; he knew that. He had left Jem, left him with strangers, with men who didn’t trust him. Who had no reason to trust him. The opposite, in fact, since the proof of Jem’s lie was right in front of them. A distant part of Tean’s brain registered the reality that Jem might even be in danger; how well, after all, did Tean really know those men? What might they want from Jem, and what might they do if Jem resisted, fought back, did something reckless?

He had barely made it to the water cooler at the next intersection when he realized he had to go back. He turned around as John-Henry emerged into the hallway.

The blond man was still dressed in the linen suit he’d worn to the cat sanctuary, and he gave Tean a tired smile as he moved to join him. A nice smile, Tean decided. It might have been fake; people said Ted Bundy had been quite charming. But in that moment, when the hurt and disappointment and, beneath them, the fear were so great, Tean latched on to that smile.

“That was a lot,” John-Henry said. “I want to apologize. I’m sorry it happened that way.”

Tean shook his head.

“I didn’t want to do that, if it makes any difference.”

Tean thought about shaking his head again to that, but the effort seemed too great. He heard himself say, “You’re separating us.”

John-Henry cocked his head. The smile dimmed. But all he said was, “Nobody’s going to do anything to Jem, but he did seem pretty upset. Of course, you seem pretty upset as well. I thought maybe you’d like to call him, and then he can go back to your room, and you can get some air.”

“And someone will watch the room. And you’ll watch me.”

“Help me understand what’s going on here,” John-Henry said. “Why don’t we start there?”

So, Tean called Jem. The breathing on the other end of the call was agitated, and Jem blurted, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok,” Tean said, and that was his first lie of the evening. “Are you ok?”

“Fine. They’re all giving me dirty looks, but nobody tried anything.” He gathered himself like he was getting ready for a jump. “Are you ok?”

“Yes.” And that was the second lie.

“Tean.” The despair in that syllable said Jem, as usual, had heard the truth. “I fucked up. I’m sorry. I can explain it. Do I really have to tell you I didn’t kill Yesenia?”

“What? No, no. Of course not. It was just…Jem, why did you lie?”

Over the call, Jem’s breathing softened, and it felt like a long time before he answered. “Will you come back? This feels silly, talking on the phone like this.”

“John-Henry wants to talk to me. And they want you to go back to our room.”

“Fuck what they want. I want to see you. I want to make sure you’re ok. They can’t make us do anything.”

“I told him I’d talk to him,” Tean said, which was another lie. “Will you please go to our room? I’ll be back in an hour.

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