sleep in the front room of her two-bedroom apartment. That first night, Vladdy waited until Eddie was snoring and then he padded across the linoleum floor in his bare feet and opened Cherryâs bedroom door. She was pretending she was asleep, and he said nothing, just stood there in his underwear.
âWhat do you want?â Cherry asked him sleepily.
âI want to pleasure you,â he whispered.
âDonât turn on the light,â she said. âI donât want you to look at me.â
Afterward, in the dark, Vladdy could hear the furious river below them in the canyon. It sounded so raw, like an angry young river trying to figure out what it wanted to be when it grew up.
â¢Â   â¢Â   â¢
W HILE E DDIE AND V LADDY checked back with the non-hiring man every morning, Vladdy tried to help out around the housesince he had no money for rent. He tried to fix the dripping faucet, but couldnât find any tools in the apartment besides an old pair of pliers and something cheap designed to slice potatoes. He mopped the floors, though, and washed her windows. He fixed her leaking toilet with the pliers. While he did this, Eddie sat on the couch and watched television, MTV mostly. Cherryâs kid, Tony, sat with Eddie and watched and wouldnât even change out of his pajamas and get dressed unless Vladdy told him to do so.
â¢Â   â¢Â   â¢
V LADDY WAS TAKING THE GARBAGE out to the dumpster when he first saw Cherryâs neighbor, a man whose name he later learned was Bob. Vladdy thought it was funny, and very American, to have a one-syllable name like âBob.â It made him laugh inside.
Bob pulled up to the building in a dark, massive four-wheel-drive car. The car was mud-splashed, scratched, and dented, even though it didnât look very old. It was a huge car, and Vladdy recognized it as a Suburban. Vladdy watched as Bob came out of the car. Bob had a hard, impatient look on his face. He wore dirty blue jeans, a sweatshirt, a fleece vest, and a baseball cap, like everyone else in Gardiner.
Bob stepped away from the back of the Suburban, slammed both doors, and locked it with a remote. Thatâs when Vladdy first saw the metal briefcase. It was the briefcase Bob was retrieving from the back of the Suburban.
And with that, Bob went into the building.
â¢Â   â¢Â   â¢
T HAT NIGHT, after Eddie and Tony had gone out to bring back fried chicken from the deli at the grocery store for dinner, Vladdy asked Cherry about her neighbor Bob. He described the metal briefcase.
âIâd stay away from him, if I was you,â Cherry said. âIâve got my suspicions about that Bob.â
Vladdy was confused.
âI hear things at the K-Bar,â Cherry said. âI seen him in there a couple of times by himself. Heâs not the friendliest guy Iâve ever met.â
âHeâs not like me,â Vladdy said, reaching across the table and brushing a strand of her hair out of her eyes.
Cherry sat back in the chair and studied Vladdy. âNo, heâs not like you,â she said.
â¢Â   â¢Â   â¢
A FTER PLEASURING C HERRY, Vladdy waited until she was asleep before he crept through the dark front room where Eddie was sleeping. Vladdy found a flashlight in a drawer in the kitchen and slipped outside into the hallway. He went down the stairs in his underwear, went outside, and approached the back of the Suburban.
Turning on the flashlight, he saw rumpled clothing, rolls of maps, hiking boots, and electrical equipment with dials andgauges. He noticed a square of open carpet where the metal briefcase sat when Bob wasnât carrying it around. He wondered if Bob wasnât an engineer, or a scientist of some kind. He wondered where it was that Bob went every day to do his work, and what he kept in the metal briefcase that couldnât be left with the rest of his
âWhat do you want?â Cherry asked him sleepily.
âI want to pleasure you,â he whispered.
âDonât turn on the light,â she said. âI donât want you to look at me.â
Afterward, in the dark, Vladdy could hear the furious river below them in the canyon. It sounded so raw, like an angry young river trying to figure out what it wanted to be when it grew up.
â¢Â   â¢Â   â¢
W HILE E DDIE AND V LADDY checked back with the non-hiring man every morning, Vladdy tried to help out around the housesince he had no money for rent. He tried to fix the dripping faucet, but couldnât find any tools in the apartment besides an old pair of pliers and something cheap designed to slice potatoes. He mopped the floors, though, and washed her windows. He fixed her leaking toilet with the pliers. While he did this, Eddie sat on the couch and watched television, MTV mostly. Cherryâs kid, Tony, sat with Eddie and watched and wouldnât even change out of his pajamas and get dressed unless Vladdy told him to do so.
â¢Â   â¢Â   â¢
V LADDY WAS TAKING THE GARBAGE out to the dumpster when he first saw Cherryâs neighbor, a man whose name he later learned was Bob. Vladdy thought it was funny, and very American, to have a one-syllable name like âBob.â It made him laugh inside.
Bob pulled up to the building in a dark, massive four-wheel-drive car. The car was mud-splashed, scratched, and dented, even though it didnât look very old. It was a huge car, and Vladdy recognized it as a Suburban. Vladdy watched as Bob came out of the car. Bob had a hard, impatient look on his face. He wore dirty blue jeans, a sweatshirt, a fleece vest, and a baseball cap, like everyone else in Gardiner.
Bob stepped away from the back of the Suburban, slammed both doors, and locked it with a remote. Thatâs when Vladdy first saw the metal briefcase. It was the briefcase Bob was retrieving from the back of the Suburban.
And with that, Bob went into the building.
â¢Â   â¢Â   â¢
T HAT NIGHT, after Eddie and Tony had gone out to bring back fried chicken from the deli at the grocery store for dinner, Vladdy asked Cherry about her neighbor Bob. He described the metal briefcase.
âIâd stay away from him, if I was you,â Cherry said. âIâve got my suspicions about that Bob.â
Vladdy was confused.
âI hear things at the K-Bar,â Cherry said. âI seen him in there a couple of times by himself. Heâs not the friendliest guy Iâve ever met.â
âHeâs not like me,â Vladdy said, reaching across the table and brushing a strand of her hair out of her eyes.
Cherry sat back in the chair and studied Vladdy. âNo, heâs not like you,â she said.
â¢Â   â¢Â   â¢
A FTER PLEASURING C HERRY, Vladdy waited until she was asleep before he crept through the dark front room where Eddie was sleeping. Vladdy found a flashlight in a drawer in the kitchen and slipped outside into the hallway. He went down the stairs in his underwear, went outside, and approached the back of the Suburban.
Turning on the flashlight, he saw rumpled clothing, rolls of maps, hiking boots, and electrical equipment with dials andgauges. He noticed a square of open carpet where the metal briefcase sat when Bob wasnât carrying it around. He wondered if Bob wasnât an engineer, or a scientist of some kind. He wondered where it was that Bob went every day to do his work, and what he kept in the metal briefcase that couldnât be left with the rest of his
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