Stretched out beneath the covers of her hospital bed, Treen spoke on the phone with Samantha, who assured her that everything was fine at the Smile Center. However, there had been an unexpected visit from Gail Blue, who demanded to speak with Treen until informed of her whereabouts. Samantha cringed when Treen asked her to call Gail and send her over to the hospital.
Later that afternoon, Treen sat up in her bed and hardly recognized Gail when she entered the room sporting a conservative ponytail and a clear, cheerful face. “Glad I brought chocolates,” said Gail, surveying the mounds of flowers on the table and floor near Treen’s bed.
However, after Gail had handed over the pink box of candy, she suddenly frowned. “I have some bad news. I was called to the police station, and they had questions about Russell concerning the attack on your family last night.”
“What does he have to do with it?” Treen asked, sitting up even more.
“They found Russell’s fingerprints inside the Newberrys’ home.”
Treen eased off the bed and walked over to the window. “None of this is making any sense,” she whispered, glaring out into the rain.
After a few minutes, Treen approached Gail to ask about Russell’s personality — about anything he might’ve withheld during their session. Gail explained that he was smarter and kinder than most people knew. She also said he’d given her two paintings that he’d made. “He’s incredibly gifted,” she said, before admitting that she’d left the paintings at the Smile Center. “My dad wanted them out of the house.”
“Treen, I really do love Russell — no matter what he did. I wanted him to be my first... I was sure he would be,” said Gail, picking up a lone flower and twirling it.
“Do you know the girl Russell is seeing in Grevelton?” asked Treen.
“Yes, unfortunately. Her name is Tsara Orez. She’s a server at club called Ding Palace. My father told me all about her.”
Treen scrunched her brow. “Your father sure keeps a good track of what’s going on around you — especially in Grevelton, a city you’ve never been to.”
“All of that started after he saw Russell in Grevelton with Tsara. Russell and I had been sneaking around Mallyview, unaware that my dad knew about us the whole time. He didn’t say anything because I kept Russell out of trouble — which kept Mr. Wellbay at work. My dad’s a control nut — but he wasn’t always that way.”
“What changed him?”
“My mother had a nervous breakdown. I came home from school one day and there she was, surrounded by white uniforms, and screaming from a straight jacket right outside the house. When I tried to touch her, she started screaming for me to prove I was her daughter.”
“How did she want you to do that?”
“I don’t know, but she probably said it because she couldn’t see me clearly; she had this gross looking white stuff running out of her eyes.”
Treens own eyes expanded. “Just like the Newberry’s,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Ah, nothing. Where’s your mother now?”
My father had her taken to a psychiatric ward outside Mallyview.
I haven’t seen her since she got sick.”
“Don’t you want to visit her?”
“My father won’t allow — ”
Suddenly Dr. Moresky walked into the room. “Time for some medication and rest.”
“I’ll call you if I hear from Russell,” said Gail, standing. Do you think maybe you and I could stay friends?”
“I don’t know,” said Treen smiling, “I’ll tell you after I’ve tasted those chocolates...”
The bus rolled out of Grevelton Station then cruised through the city on the way to Mallyview. Of the twelve passengers, eleven sat towards the front. Russell Wellbay, wearing the curly black wig, red baseball cap, and sunglasses, sat clear in the back staring out the window.
Grevelton was even darker in the daytime when the street people and decaying buildings could clearly be seen struggling to exist. Judging by the way the other passengers glared out to the streets, the rain-streaked windows might as well have been their tears.
Thirty minutes later, the bus splashed past the Welcome to Mallyview sign. After seeing the sad sights of Grevelton, Russell appreciated the beauty of his hometown — even with the dark clouds smothering the area.
Russell stood and moved to the front as the bus pulled into Mallyview Station. The other passengers, who’d lined up behind him, probably wondered why he didn’t move down the steps when the doors hissed open. Instead, he slowly poked his head out and looked both ways. “Let’s move it, son!” said the bus driver.
Russell cleared the bus and continued to scan the area. He remembered the twenty in his pocket and stared at the Taxis lined across from him. A ride seemed like a good idea, until he noticed his picture plastered inside each of the Taxi windows. He’d walk. Besides, the hospital was less than a mile away.
The disguise didn’t alter Russell’s mannerisms; he strutted down Mallyview Main, hands in his back pockets, whistling. He smiled when he passed Bookvilla and other stores that had his photo posted near their entryways. He never imagined seeing his face in so many places!
Russell walked a shortcut through a misty Mally Park. As he crossed a wooden footbridge over a narrow creek, he noticed someone slumped over on the bench ahead of him. The person was cocooned in a shabby wet trench coat that the red leaves had floated down and stuck on to.
“Hey, mister you okay?” asked Russell rocking him slightly. The man cleared his throat. Haven’t eaten in days,” he whispered through his matted beard. “Need food.”
Russell pulled him up. He then took the twenty from his pocket and placed it in the man’s hand. “Maybe that’ll help you. I really gotta go now.”
A short time later, Russell reached the hospital entrance. He held the door open for an elderly woman who struggled to push out an even older man in a wheelchair. When she finally cleared the doorway, she stopped to stare at Russell. Her head wobbled slightly. Her hands trembled as she put on the glasses attached to a string around her neck.
“Nice of you to hold that door,” she said, with a sharp, sunny voice that made her seem much younger.
“No problem,” Russell said, looking down at her. He pushed the sunglasses up on his nose. The old woman tilted her head sideto-side, gazing into his dark lenses.
“Yep. You’re the boy in them pictures hangin’ all over town,” she said nodding. She glanced down at the old man’s head. “We had a son once. Dead now. Look after yourself, sonny,” she added, pushing the squeaky wheelchair down the ramp towards the parking area.
The old woman probably didn’t mean any harm, but she’d made Russell nervous enough to hurry through the doorway and jog right past the information desk. To calm his nerves he slowed down and began whistling Casey Junior, from the Dumbo film.
While Russell roamed the hallways listening for information about Treen’s room, he noticed a portly man in white who licked his lips while pushing a cart full of food. He jogged down the hall to catch up to him.
“Hey dude, you work here right?” asked Russell, slowing down beside him.
“Well, sort of. I’m a trainee.”
Russell grinned. “Me too. I’m supposed to be cleaning rooms but can you believe it, nobody told me where to get my uniform,” he said, flinging his hands up.
“I can show you.”
Russell grinned again. “Cool — but do you mind keepin’ this quiet? I don’t want my boss callin’ me stupid on my first day...”
“Don’t you worry,” he said, patting Russell’s back, “My lips are sealed. So what’s you’re name...?”
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, was all Russell could hear as he rolled his eyes and hoped that the trainee would shut up. To make matters worse, the jabber was doubled from the echo in the empty hallway. Russell had considered tossing a pie slice from the cart into the trainee’s mouth but changed his mind when they’d finally reached the elevator. “The uniform closet is on the third floor,” said the trainee, walking through the sliding doors after two nurses had stepped out.
The trainee continued to chatter over the elevator drone. Like most people, Russell glared up at the digital numbers and waited for his floor. However, even after the elevator bumped and the doors slid apart, he had to tell the blabbering man to turn and step out.
Near the end of the hallway, the trainee unlocked the uniform closet and let Russell go in first. The trainee had to squeeze his huge frame inside — which also meant he’d shut up for a minute. Now, Russell could unload the question that he’d chosen the blabbermouth for in the first place.