But before he had made the third floor he was struck hard on the back of the head. A stair tread rose up and struck his face. By the time he got up, there were one-eyed men all around him, and his own blood was getting into his eyes. Then they were hitting him so hard and so often that he could no longer hear, or rather what sound there was was coming in waves, and it seemed that he was falling down more stairs than there were stairs to fall down, and then, after that, he had a hard time even remembering that he was human.
When his eyes focused again, there was Borchert, above him. He realized he was on the floor of Borchert"s room, blood coming in phlegm-streaked ribbons from his nose. He pulled himself up to sitting, wiped his arm across his face.
"Well, Mr. Kline," said Borchert. "It seems you wanted to see me quite badly."
Kline said nothing.
"What is this all about?"
He tried to speak but before he could get anything out had to swallow back blood.
"Was it worth it, Mr. Kline?" asked Borchert. "It was once such a lovely face, too. Are you willing to trade your face for a little face to face conversation?"
"I need to see them," said Kline.
"Them?" asked Borchert. "My dear Kline, who?"
"The people on the tape."
"Mr. Kline," said Borchert. "You"re a one. You can hardly expect someone in the double digits "
" I need to see them," said Kline.
"But Mr. Kline "
" something"s wrong with the tape," said Kline. "With the questions. It doesn"t all mesh."
Borchert looked at him, cooly. "I don"t think that you should let the tape trouble you, Mr. Kline. Why don"t you simply accept it for what it purports to be?"
"Because it"s not what it is," said Kline.
Borchert nodded slowly. "Very well, Mr. Kline," he said. "What do you propose?"
"I need to see them," Kline said. "Rules or no."
"And you want me to make the necessary arrangements. You"re certain of it?"
"Yes," said Kline.
Borchert sighed. "So be it," he said. "I"ll make the necessary arrangements, Mr. Kline. You"ll see them tomorrow."
"I want to see them today."
"Not today, tomorrow. Don"t push your luck."
Kline nodded, stood to go. His body was sore, bruised.
"Would you mind wiping your blood off the floor before you go, Mr. Kline?" asked Borchert, rising from the chair to stand perfectly balanced on his remaining leg. "And Mr. Kline," he said, "Now you have a history of violence. I advise you to be careful."
Late evening, Gous arrived with a half-empty bottle of Scotch cradled in the crook of his elbow, Scotch which was, according to him, compliments of Borchert.
"How kind of him," said Kline, flatly.
"Why he should care after your escapade this afternoon is beyond me," said Gous.
"Maybe that"s why I only get half a bottle."
Gous nodded. "Do you have gla.s.ses?" he asked.
"No."
"I guess Borchert didn"t think you rated gla.s.ses," said Gous. He fumbled awkwardly at the lid with his bandaged hand. "I"m going to have to ask you to open it," he said.
"How"s your hand?" asked Kline.
"Nice of you to ask," said Gous. "Recovering nicely, thank you," he said, lifting the bandaged lump in the air. "I"m supposed to keep it elevated. And I shouldn"t drink too much," he said. "Alcohol thins the blood and all that."
Kline screwed the cap off the bottle and drank. It was good Scotch, or at least good enough. He took another mouthful then pushed the bottle over to Gous, who, using his forearms like chopsticks, managed to get it to his mouth. He almost upset the bottle putting it back on the table.
"What made you change your mind?" he asked.
"My mind?" asked Kline.
"About amputation." "Who said I changed my mind?" Lifting the bottle, he took another drink.
"Why would Borchert have sent over a bottle otherwise? Did you get a call?"
"I don"t know what you"re talking about."
Gous nodded. "It"s n.o.body"s business but your own," he said.
Kline reached for the bottle, watched the stump at the end of his arm knock against it, nearly knock it over. "n.o.body"s business but my own," he said, aloud, his voice sounding quite distant.
"That"s right," Gous said. "That"s what I said."
Kline could see on the end of his arm, the ghost of his hand, pale and transparent, sprouting oddly from the stump. "That"s right," he heard himself say. He flexed his missing fingers, saw them move. They had cut off his hand but the ghost of his hand was still there. Perhaps this was what was meant by a call? Perhaps Borchert, shorn of most of his limbs, saw the ghosts of what was missing: vanished limbs grown uncarnate, pure.
He looked up. There was Gous, across the table from him, his eyes drooping, half-closed, his face mostly gone in shadow. Kline tried to reach for the bottle but couldn"t find it.
"Where was I?" he asked.
He saw Gous" eyelids wince, come all the way open. "We should get you into bed," Gous said. "While I still can."
"It isn"t Scotch," said Kline, to where Gous had been, but Gous wasn"t there anymore. It took him some time to realize that Gous was there beside him, looming above him, trying to get him out of the chair. And then, without knowing how, he was standing, Gous beside him, and they were gliding slowly through the room.
"No," said Gous, slowly. "It is Scotch. But that"s not all it is."
f.u.c.k, thought Kline. "I thought you were my friend," he said, and felt himself falling. And then he was on the bed, sprawled, Gous sitting beside him looking down at him.
"I am your friend," Gous said. "I drank with you, didn"t I?"
Kline tried to nod but nothing happened. He could see the wrappings around Gous" hand staining with blood.
"Besides," said Gous, "friendship is one thing, G.o.d another."
"Scoot over," Gous said. Kline was not sure how much time had pa.s.sed. "There"s enough room on that bed for two."
Gous" cheek on the pillow, just next to his own eye, was the last thing he would remember until, hours later, he awoke, alone, to the sight of his bandaged foot, the bandages already steeped with blood. Even then it was not until he felt the dressings with his remaining hand that he realized that three of his toes had been removed.
VII.
"This is what you wanted," said Borchert after Kline had forced his shoe over his bandaged foot and limped over to his room. It had been difficult to walk without the toes, hard to keep his balance and very painful. By the time he had reached the building his shoe was saturated with blood. The guard, perhaps the same guard as the day before, had regarded him with one eye and said What is wanted? In answer he had merely lifted his b.l.o.o.d.y shoe slightly. The guard, without another word, let him pa.s.s, as did the guard behind the door. And now here he was, upstairs, across from Borchert, in Borchert"s room, being told that he had gotten what he wanted.
"You should be careful about what you ask for," said Borchert.
"I didn"t ask for anything."
"You asked," said Borchert, "to interview certain people in person. I told you I would make arrangements. I have made them. I took the fewest number of toes possible," he said. "Even now, for them to see you is to stretch the rules a little. A four, normally...but it isn"t unheard of."
"I want to leave," said Kline.
"Of course you do," said Borchert cheerily. "But I believed we"ve already discussed that. It"s not possible."
"Why are you doing this?"
"What am I doing exactly?" asked Borchert. "I"ve made you a four. I"ve done you a favor."
"I don"t see it that way."
"Perhaps someday you will."
"I doubt it."
Borchert looked at him seriously. "I doubt it too," he said. "Look," he said, "at your missing hand."
"When can I leave?" asked Kline.
"When all this is done."
"When will that be?"
Borchert shrugged. "That depends on you," he said. He lifted his remaining hand, pointed his crippled middle digit at Kline. "Now, if I"m not mistaken, you have interviews to conduct."
He was taken down a floor and then down the hall to another door, behind which was one of the interviewees, an eleven, his legs hacked off at the knees, his fingers and one thumb all shaved down nearly to knuckle. He recognized his voice as the third on the tape: Andreissen. Before he would speak with Kline Andreissen demanded to see the missing toes, suggesting that Kline should not hide his light under a bushel.
Kline sat and loosened his shoe and slowly worked it off, blood dripping from it to puddle on the floor. He dropped the shoe onto the floor and began unwrapping the sodden dressing. Andreissen came nimbly out of his chair and, like an ape, propelled himself across the floor on his knuckles and the stumps of his knees. His eyes were lucid and shining, and when Kline got the wrapping off to reveal his mangled foot Andreissen came very close indeed. Kline could hardly bear to look at the foot, the place where the toes had been cauterized but now cracked and seeping a flux of blood and pus.
"I thought you self-cauterized," said Andreissen. "Part of the reason I agreed to this was because I wanted to see what self-cauterization looked like."
"I didn"t do this," said Kline.
"You shouldn"t be walking on it," he said. "Doesn"t it hurt?"
"Of course it hurts."
Andreissen nodded. He knuckled his way back across the floor, clambered back into the chair. "As I told Borchert," he said, once properly situated, "I"m here to help. I"m all for law and order."
"Good for you," said Kline.
"But, honestly, I said all there was to say on the tape."
Kline nodded. He dragged his foot along the floor, watching the thin lines of blood run. "It"s about the tape," he said. "That"s what I came about."
"Oh?"
"There"s something wrong with the tape," said Kline. "I need to figure out what."
"The tape didn"t work?"
"Something like that," said Kline. "So I"m just going to ask the questions again, all right?"
"Why don"t you talk to Borchert?" he asked. "Why don"t you ask him?"
"First question," said Kline. "State your name and your relation to the deceased."
"Technically that"s not a question."
"Please answer," said Kline.
"I believe you already know my name," he said. "It"s Andreissen."
"Thank you," said Kline. "What was your relation to the deceased?"
"The deceased?" said Andreissen. "I thought you were sticking to the original questions."
"That is one of the original questions."
"No it isn"t."
"It"s not?" said Kline.
"What"s this talk of the deceased? There is no deceased."
"Aline."
"What about Aline?"
"He"s the deceased."