don't think so. I didn't even tell him anything but my first name."
Good. The situation wasn't completely out of control. "So you just left. You and Mary."
"Are you trying to ask if I had sex with this guy?"
"No."
Yes
.
"Well, I didn't. We talked a little bit. And kissed a couple of times. But mostly we danced."
Kissed.
Ed felt like someone had roped a brick to his heart and thrown it in a lake. Gaia had kissed this stranger. Kissing wasn't supposed to be a big deal. People kissed all the time. But Ed had thought Gaia was different. He'd thought that the kiss she had given him was special. Important.
"Ed? You keep going quiet on me. Are you doing something?"
"No." Ed was embarrassed to hear the catch in his voice. "No, just thinking."
"Don't hurt yourself. What's the news? Did you find out anything?"
Ed had almost forgotten the reason for his call. He held the phone away from his face for a second and cleared his throat before speaking. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I found out something."
"So, is Skizz still in the hospital?"
"No." Ed picked up a piece of paper and looked at the notes he had scribbled the night before. "According to the nurse I talked to, his injuries weren't as serious as first believed. Plus the guy had no insurance, so they kicked him out."
"I'm not sure whether I should be happy or upset that he's not that hurt," said Gaia. "If he's out of the hospital, I guess he's in jail."
"That's the really fun part," said Ed. He flipped over his page of notes. "It seems that the drugs found on your boy Skizz were judged to be the product of an illegal search. Inadmissible as evidence."
"So how are they going to keep him in jail?"
"They're not," Ed replied. "Skizz is loose."
MARY BENT DOWN AND PICKED UP A
broken piece of wood. It was no more than a few inches in length, splintered at both ends, and scorched black. It was all that remained of the door to the apartment leased in the name of Tom Chaos.
The Father of Gaia
"So what did he look like?" she asked.
The fruit stand owner scratched at his thinning hair. "I'm not sure I ever met the man," he said.
"Didn't you rent the place to him?"
The man nodded. "I did, but that was over the phone. I never met this Chaos guy in person." The man's face pulled down in a heavy frown. "If I knew what he looked like, I'd be putting up posters. This bastard blew up my stand."
Mary looked across the pile of rubble. "I thought the paper said it was a gas explosion."
The fruit stand owner snorted.
"Oh, yeah, some gas explosion." He waved a thick finger at Mary. "That damn apartment didn't even have gas."
"So what--"
"Who knows." The man kicked at a pile of shattered boards and rotting fruit. "You gonna hang around here, you be careful. I got enough troubles with the insurance guys already." He turned and stomped away.
Mary looked at the ruined fruit stand and the shattered remains of what had once been an apartment. There wasn't much left. The fruit stand had been split down the middle. No one had been killed, but the building was twisted in its frame like a broken toy. Bricks from the back wall had landed as far as two blocks away. Only some of the plumbing still remained where the apartment had been, sticking up into the sky like
the picked-over skeleton of some dead beast.
No one had been killed here, and there had been few witnesses to the actual explosion. It was a small story, buried deep in the pages of the
Times.
Except for the search that Mary's aunt had made, it might have stayed buried.
Mary pulled out her notebook and looked at the few lines she had scribbled. Thomas Chaos had rented the broken apartment. Gaia's father's name was Thomas Moore. There was no real connection. Only two little facts had made Mary come to the site of the ruins.
First, Thomas Chaos didn't exist. All the information he had provided in renting the apartment had turned out to be fake.
Second, in some versions of Greek mythology, Chaos was the father of Gaia.
If those two
Good. The situation wasn't completely out of control. "So you just left. You and Mary."
"Are you trying to ask if I had sex with this guy?"
"No."
Yes
.
"Well, I didn't. We talked a little bit. And kissed a couple of times. But mostly we danced."
Kissed.
Ed felt like someone had roped a brick to his heart and thrown it in a lake. Gaia had kissed this stranger. Kissing wasn't supposed to be a big deal. People kissed all the time. But Ed had thought Gaia was different. He'd thought that the kiss she had given him was special. Important.
"Ed? You keep going quiet on me. Are you doing something?"
"No." Ed was embarrassed to hear the catch in his voice. "No, just thinking."
"Don't hurt yourself. What's the news? Did you find out anything?"
Ed had almost forgotten the reason for his call. He held the phone away from his face for a second and cleared his throat before speaking. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I found out something."
"So, is Skizz still in the hospital?"
"No." Ed picked up a piece of paper and looked at the notes he had scribbled the night before. "According to the nurse I talked to, his injuries weren't as serious as first believed. Plus the guy had no insurance, so they kicked him out."
"I'm not sure whether I should be happy or upset that he's not that hurt," said Gaia. "If he's out of the hospital, I guess he's in jail."
"That's the really fun part," said Ed. He flipped over his page of notes. "It seems that the drugs found on your boy Skizz were judged to be the product of an illegal search. Inadmissible as evidence."
"So how are they going to keep him in jail?"
"They're not," Ed replied. "Skizz is loose."
MARY BENT DOWN AND PICKED UP A
broken piece of wood. It was no more than a few inches in length, splintered at both ends, and scorched black. It was all that remained of the door to the apartment leased in the name of Tom Chaos.
The Father of Gaia
"So what did he look like?" she asked.
The fruit stand owner scratched at his thinning hair. "I'm not sure I ever met the man," he said.
"Didn't you rent the place to him?"
The man nodded. "I did, but that was over the phone. I never met this Chaos guy in person." The man's face pulled down in a heavy frown. "If I knew what he looked like, I'd be putting up posters. This bastard blew up my stand."
Mary looked across the pile of rubble. "I thought the paper said it was a gas explosion."
The fruit stand owner snorted.
"Oh, yeah, some gas explosion." He waved a thick finger at Mary. "That damn apartment didn't even have gas."
"So what--"
"Who knows." The man kicked at a pile of shattered boards and rotting fruit. "You gonna hang around here, you be careful. I got enough troubles with the insurance guys already." He turned and stomped away.
Mary looked at the ruined fruit stand and the shattered remains of what had once been an apartment. There wasn't much left. The fruit stand had been split down the middle. No one had been killed, but the building was twisted in its frame like a broken toy. Bricks from the back wall had landed as far as two blocks away. Only some of the plumbing still remained where the apartment had been, sticking up into the sky like
the picked-over skeleton of some dead beast.
No one had been killed here, and there had been few witnesses to the actual explosion. It was a small story, buried deep in the pages of the
Times.
Except for the search that Mary's aunt had made, it might have stayed buried.
Mary pulled out her notebook and looked at the few lines she had scribbled. Thomas Chaos had rented the broken apartment. Gaia's father's name was Thomas Moore. There was no real connection. Only two little facts had made Mary come to the site of the ruins.
First, Thomas Chaos didn't exist. All the information he had provided in renting the apartment had turned out to be fake.
Second, in some versions of Greek mythology, Chaos was the father of Gaia.
If those two
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