Below this, hanging from the big sign on hooks, was a smaller orange sign reading NO VACANCY.
Two stops further down the line, I exited the bus. I thanked the driver, who uttered a surly grunt in return. This, I was discovering, was what pa.s.sed for courteous discourse in Derry, Maine. Unless, of course, you happened to know a few jokes about jigs stuck in an elevator or maybe the Polish navy.
I walked slowly back toward town, jogging two blocks out of my way to keep clear of Edna Price"s establishment, where those in residence gathered on the porch after supper just like folks in one of those Ray Bradbury stories about bucolic Greentown, Illinois. And did not Frank Dunning resemble one of those good folks? He did, he did. But there had been hidden horrors in Bradbury"s Greentown, too.
The nice man doesn"t live at home anymore, Richie-from-the-ditchie had said, and he"d had the straight dope on that one. The nice man lived in a rooming house where everybody seemed to think he was the cat"s a.s.s.
By my estimation, Price"s Rooms was no more than five blocks west of 379 Kossuth Street, and maybe closer. Did Frank Dunning sit in his rented room after the other tenants had gone to bed, facing east like one of the faithful turning toward Qiblah? If so, did he do it with his hey-great-to-see-you smile on his face? I thought no. And were his eyes blue, or did they turn that cold and thoughtful gray? How did he explain leaving his hearth and home to the folks taking the evening air on Edna Price"s porch? Did he have a story, one where his wife was either a little bit cracked or an outright villain? I thought yes. And did people believe it? The answer to that one was easy. It doesn"t matter if you"re talking 1958, 1985, or 2011. In America, where surface has always pa.s.sed for substance, people always believe guys like Frank Dunning.
4.
On the following Tuesday, I rented an apartment advertised in the Derry News as "semi-furnished, in a good neighborhood," and on Wednesday the seventeenth of September, Mr. George Amberson moved in. Goodbye, Derry Town House, h.e.l.lo Harris Avenue. I had been living in 1958 for over a week, and was beginning to feel comfortable there, if not exactly a native.
The semi-furnishings consisted of a bed (which came with a slightly stained mattress but no linen), a sofa, a kitchen table with one leg that needed to be shimmed so it didn"t teeter, and a single chair with a yellow plastic seat that made a weird smook sound as it reluctantly released its grip on the seat of one"s pants. There was a stove and a clattery fridge. In the kitchen pantry, I discovered the apartment"s air-conditioning unit: a GE fan with a frayed plug that looked absolutely lethal.
I felt that the apartment, which was directly beneath the flight path of planes landing at Derry Airport, was a bit overpriced at sixty-five dollars a month, but agreed to it because Mrs. Joplin, the landlady, was willing to overlook Mr. Amberson"s lack of references. It helped that he could offer three months" rent in cash. She nevertheless insisted on copying the information from my driver"s license. If she found it strange that a real estate freelancer from Wisconsin was carrying a Maine license, she didn"t say so.
I was glad Al had given me lots of cash. Cash is so soothing to strangers.
It goes a lot farther in "58, too. For only three hundred dollars, I was able to turn my semi-furnished apartment into one that was fully furnished. Ninety of the three hundred went for a secondhand RCA table-model television. That night I watched The Steve Allen Show in beautiful black-and-white, then turned it off and sat at the kitchen table, listening to a plane settle earthward in a roar of propellers. From my back pocket I took a Blue Horse notebook I"d bought in the Low Town drugstore (the one where shoplifting was not a kick, groove, or ga.s.ser). I turned to the first page and clicked out the tip of my equally new Parker ballpoint. I sat that way for maybe fifteen minutes-long enough for another plane to clatter earthward, seemingly so close that I almost expected to feel a thump as the wheels sc.r.a.ped the roof.
The page remained blank. So did my mind. Every time I tried to throw it into gear, the only coherent thought I could manage was the past doesn"t want to be changed.
Not helpful.
At last I got up, took the fan from its shelf in the pantry, and set it on the counter. I wasn"t sure it would work, but it did, and the hum of the motor was strangely soothing. Also, it masked the fridge"s annoying rumble.
When I sat down again, my mind was clearer, and this time a few words came.
OPTIONS.
1. Tell police 2. Anonymous call to butcher (Say "I"m watching you, mf, if you do something I"ll tell") 3. Frame butcher for something 4. Incapacitate butcher somehow I stopped there. The fridge clicked off. There were no descending planes and no traffic on Harris Avenue. For the time being it was just me and my fan and my incomplete list. At last I wrote the final item: 5. Kill butcher Then I crumpled it, opened the box of kitchen matches that sat beside the stove to light the burners and the oven, and scratched one. The fan promptly whiffed it out and I thought again how hard it was to change some things. I turned the fan off, lit another match, and touched it to the ball of notepaper. When it was blazing, I dropped it into the sink, waited for it to go out, then washed the ashes down the drain.
After that, Mr. George Amberson went to bed.
But he did not sleep for a long time.
5.
When the last plane of the night skimmed over the rooftop at twelve-thirty, I was still awake and thinking of my list. Telling the police was out. It might work with Oswald, who would declare his undying love for Fidel Castro in both Dallas and New Orleans, but Dunning was a different matter. He was a well-liked and well-respected member of the community. Who was I? The new guy in a town that didn"t like outsiders. That afternoon, after coming out of the drugstore, I had once again seen No Suspenders and his crew outside the Sleepy Silver Dollar. I was wearing my workingman clothes, but they had given me that same flat-eyed who the f.u.c.k"re you look.
Even if I"d been living in Derry for eight years instead of eight days, just what would I say to the police, anyway? That I"d had a vision of Frank Dunning killing his family on Halloween night? That would certainly go over well.
I liked the idea of placing an anonymous call to the butcher himself a little better, but it was a scary option. Once I called Frank Dunning-either at work or at Edna Price"s, where he would no doubt be summoned to the communal phone in the parlor-I would have changed events. Such a call might stop him from killing his family, but I thought it just as likely it would have the opposite effect, tipping him over the precarious edge of sanity he must be walking behind the affable George Clooney smile. Instead of preventing the murders, I might only succeed in making them happen sooner. As it was, I knew where and when. If I warned him, all bets were off.
Frame him for something? It might work in a spy novel, but I wasn"t a CIA agent; I was a G.o.ddam English teacher.
Incapacitate butcher was next on the list. Okay, but how? Smack him with the Sunliner, maybe as he walked from Charity Avenue to Kossuth Street with a hammer in his hand and murder on his mind? Unless I had amazing luck, I"d be caught and jailed. There was this, too. Incapacitated people usually get better. He might try again once he did. As I lay there in the dark, I found that scenario all too plausible. Because the past didn"t like to be changed. It was obdurate.
The only sure way was to follow him, wait until he was alone, and then kill him. Keep it simple, stupid.
But there were problems with this, too. The biggest was that I didn"t know if I could go through with it. I thought I could in hot blood-to protect myself or another-but in cold blood? Even if I knew that my potential victim was going to kill his own wife and children if he weren"t stopped?
And . . . what if I did it and then got caught before I could escape to the future where I was Jake Epping instead of George Amberson? I"d be tried, found guilty, sent to Shawshank State Prison. And that was where I"d be on the day John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas.
Even that wasn"t the absolute bottom of the matter. I got up, paced through the kitchen to my phone booth of a bathroom, went to the toilet, then sat on the seat with my forehead propped on the heels of my palms. I had a.s.sumed Harry"s essay was the truth. Al had, too. It probably was, because Harry was two or three degrees on the dim side of normal, and people like that are less liable to try pa.s.sing off fantasies like the murder of an entire family as reality. Still . . .
Ninety-five percent probability isn"t a hundred, Al had said, and that was Oswald himself he"d been talking about. Just about the only person the killer could have been, once you set aside all the conspiracy babble, and yet Al still had those last lingering doubts.
It would have been easy to check out Harry"s story in the computer-friendly world of 2011, but I never had. And even if it was completely true, there might be crucial details he"d gotten wrong or not mentioned at all. Things that could trip me up. What if, instead of riding to the rescue like Sir Galahad, I only managed to get killed along with them? That would change the future in all sorts of interesting ways, but I wouldn"t be around to discover what they were.
A new idea popped into my head, one that was crazily attractive. I could station myself across from 379 Kossuth on Halloween night . . . and just watch. To make sure it really happened, yes, but also to note all the details the only living witness-a traumatized child-might have missed. Then I could drive back to Lisbon Falls, go up through the rabbit-hole, and immediately return to September 9 at 11:58 in the morning. I"d buy the Sunliner again and go to Derry again, this time loaded with information. It was true I"d already spent a fair amount of Al"s currency, but there was enough left to get by on.
The idea ran well out of the gate but stumbled before it even got to the first turn. The whole purpose of this trip had been to find out what effect saving the janitor"s family would have on the future, and if I let Frank Dunning go through with the murders, I wouldn"t know. And I was already faced with having to do this again, because there would be one of those resets when-if-I went back through the rabbit-hole to stop Oswald. Once was bad. Twice would be worse. Three times was unthinkable.
And one other thing. Harry Dunning"s family had already died once. Was I going to condemn them to die a second time? Even if each time was a reset and they didn"t know? And who was to say that on some deep level they didn"t?
The pain. The blood. Li"l Carrot-Top lying on the floor under the rocker. Harry trying to scare the lunatic off with a Daisy air gun: "Leave me alone, Daddy, or I"ll shoot you."
I shuffled back through the kitchen, pausing to look at the chair with the yellow plastic seat. "I hate you, chair," I told it, then went to bed again.
That time I fell asleep almost immediately. When I woke up the next morning, a nine-o"clock sun was shining in my as-yet-curtainless bedroom window, birds were twittering self-importantly, and I thought I knew what I had to do. Keep it simple, stupid.
6.
At noon I put on my tie, set my straw hat at the correct rakish angle, and took myself down to Machen"s Sporting Goods, where THE FALL GUN SALE was still going on. I told the clerk I was interested in buying a handgun, because I was in the real estate business and occasionally I had to carry quite large amounts of cash. He showed me several, including a Colt .38 Police Special revolver. The price was $9.99. That seemed absurdly low until I remembered that, according to Al"s notes, the Italian mail-order rifle Oswald had used to change history had cost less than twenty.
"This is a fine piece of protection," the clerk said, rolling out the barrel and giving it a spin: clickclickclickclick. "Dead accurate up to fifteen yards, guaranteed, and anyone stupid enough to try mugging you out of your cash is going to be a lot closer than that."
"Sold."
I braced for an examination of my scant paperwork, but had once again forgotten to take into account the relaxed and unterrified atmosphere of the America where I was now living. The way the deal worked was this: I paid my money and walked out with the gun. There was no paperwork and no waiting period. I didn"t even have to give my current address.
Oswald had wrapped his gun in a blanket and hidden it in the garage of the house where his wife was staying with a woman named Ruth Paine. But when I walked out of Machen"s with mine in my briefcase, I thought I knew how he must have felt: like a man with a powerful secret. A man who owned his own private tornado.
A guy who should have been at work in one of the mills was standing in the doorway of the Sleepy Silver Dollar, smoking a cigarette and reading the paper. Appearing to read the paper, at least. I couldn"t swear he was watching me, but then again I couldn"t swear he wasn"t.
It was No Suspenders.
7.
That evening, I once more took up a position close to The Strand, where the marquee read OPENS TOMORROW! THUNDER ROAD (MITCHUM) & THE VIKINGS (DOUGLAS)! More BLAZING ACTION in the offing for Derry filmgoers.
Dunning once more crossed to the bus stop and climbed aboard. This time I didn"t follow. There was no need; I knew where he was going. I walked back to my new apartment, looking around every now and then for No Suspenders. There was no sign of him, and I told myself that seeing him across from the sporting goods store had just been a coincidence. Not a big one, either. The Sleepy was his joint of choice, after all. Because the Derry mills ran six days a week, the workers had rotating off-days. Thursday could have been one of this guy"s. Next week he might be hanging at the Sleepy on Friday. Or Tuesday.
The following evening I was once more at The Strand, pretending to study the poster for Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum Roars Down the Hottest Highway on Earth!), mostly because I had nowhere else to go; Halloween was still six weeks away, and I seemed to have entered the time-killing phase of our program. But this time instead of crossing to the bus stop, Frank Dunning walked down to the three-way intersection of Center, Kansas, and Witcham and stood there as if undecided. He was once more looking reet in dark slacks, white shirt, blue tie, and a sport coat in a light gray windowpane check. His hat was c.o.c.ked back on his head. For a moment I thought he was going to head for the movies and check out the hottest highway on earth, in which case I would stroll casually away toward Ca.n.a.l Street. But he turned left, onto Witcham. I could hear him whistling. He was a good whistler.
There was no need to follow him; he wasn"t going to commit any hammer murders on the nineteenth of September. But I was curious, and I had nothing better to do. He went into a bar and grill called The Lamplighter, not as upper-crust as the one at the Town House, but nowhere near as grotty as the ones on Ca.n.a.l. In every small city there are one or two borderland joints where bluecollar and whitecollar workers meet as equals, and this looked like that kind of place. Usually the menu features some local delicacy that makes outsiders scratch their head in puzzlement. The Lamplighter"s specialty seemed to be something called Fried Lobster Pickin"s.
I pa.s.sed the wide front windows, lounging rather than walking, and saw Dunning greet his way across the room. He shook hands; he patted cheeks; he took one man"s hat and scaled it to a guy standing at the Bowl Mor machine, who caught it deftly and to general hilarity. A nice man. Always joking around. Laugh-and-the-whole-world-laughs-with-you type of thing.
I saw him sit down at a table close to the Bowl Mor and almost walked on. But I was thirsty. A beer would go down fine just about now, and The Lamplighter"s bar was all the way across a crowded room from the large table where Dunning was sitting with the all-male group he had joined. He wouldn"t see me, but I could keep an eye on him in the mirror. Not that I was apt to see anything too startling.
Besides, if I was going to be here for another six weeks, it was time to start belonging here. So I turned around and entered the sounds of cheerful voices, slightly inebriated laughter, and Dean Martin singing "That"s Amore." Waitresses circulated with steins of beer and heaped platters of what had to be Fried Lobster Pickin"s. And there were rising rafters of blue smoke, of course.
In 1958, there"s always smoke.
8.
"See you glancin at that table back there," a voice said at my elbow. I had been at The Lamplighter long enough to have ordered my second beer and a "junior platter" of Lobster Pickin"s. I figured if I didn"t at least try them, I"d always wonder.
I looked around and saw a small man with slicked-back hair, a round face, and lively black eyes. He looked like a cheerful chipmunk. He grinned at me and stuck out a child-sized hand. On his forearm, a bare-breasted mermaid flapped her flippy tail and winked one eye. "Charles Frati. But you can call me Chaz. Everyone does."
I shook. "George Amberson, but you can call me George. Everyone does that, too."
He laughed. So did I. It"s considered bad form to laugh at your own jokes (especially when they"re teensy ones), but some people are so engaging they never have to laugh alone. Chaz Frati was one of those. The waitress brought him a beer, and he raised it. "Here"s to you, George."
"I"ll drink to that," I said, and clicked the rim of my gla.s.s against his.
"Anybody you know?" he asked, looking at the big rear table in the backbar mirror.
"Nope." I wiped foam from my upper lip. "They just seem to be having more fun than anybody else in the place, that"s all."
Chaz smiled. "That"s Tony Tracker"s table. Might as well have his name engraved on it. Tony and his brother Phil own a freight-hauling company. They also own more acres in this town-and the towns around it-than Carter has liver pills. Phil don"t show up here much, he"s mostly on the road, but Tony don"t miss many Friday or Sat.u.r.day nights. Has lots of friends, too. They always have a good time, but n.o.body makes a party go like Frankie Dunning. He"s the guy tellin jokes. Everybody likes old Tones, but they love Frankie."
"You sound like you know them all."
"For years. Know most of the people in Derry, but I don"t know you."
"That"s because I just got here. I"m in real estate."
"Business real estate, I take it."
"You take it right." The waitress deposited my Lobster Pickin"s and hustled away. The heap on the platter looked like roadkill, but it smelled terrific and tasted better. Probably a billion grams of cholesterol in every bite, but in 1958, n.o.body worries about that, which is restful. "Help me with this," I said.
"Nope, they"re all yours. You out of Boston? New York?"
I shrugged and he laughed.
"Playin it cagey, huh? Don"t blame you, cuz. Loose lips sink ships. But I have a pretty good idea what you"re up to."
I paused with a forkful of Lobster Pickin"s halfway to my mouth. It was warm in The Lamplighter, but I felt suddenly chilly. "Is that so?"
He leaned close. I could smell Vitalis on his slicked-back hair and Sen-Sen on his breath. "If I said "possible mall site," would that be a bingo?"
I felt a gust of relief. The idea that I was in Derry looking for a place to put a shopping mall had never crossed my mind, but it was a good one. I dropped Chaz Frati a wink. "Can"t say."
"No, no, course you couldn"t. Business is as business does, I always say. We"ll drop the subject. But if you"d ever consider letting one of the local yokels in on a good thing, I"d love to listen. And just to show you that my heart is in the right place, I"ll give you a little tip. If you haven"t checked out the old Kitchener Ironworks yet, you ought to. Perfect spot. And malls? Do you know what malls are, my son?"
"The wave of the future," I said.
He pointed a finger at me like a gun and winked. I laughed again, just couldn"t help it. Part of it was the simple relief of finding out that not every grown-up in Derry had forgotten how to be friendly to a stranger. "Hole in one."
"And who owns the land the old Kitchener Ironworks sits on, Chaz? The Tracker brothers, I suppose?"
"I said they own most of the land around here, not all of it." He looked down at the mermaid. "Milly, should I tell George who owns that prime business-zoned real estate only two miles from the center of this metropolis?"
Milly wagged her scaly tail and jiggled her teacup b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Chaz Frati didn"t clench his hand into a fist to make this happen; the muscles in his forearm seemed to move on their own. It was a good trick. I wondered if he also pulled rabbits out of hats.