The Brave New World - 121 The Lady in the Red Robe

“I don’t like the look of this,” said Jake Donato.

“Of what?” asked Harper.

Jake pointed at a tuft of grass a few steps away without saying anything.

“For Christ’s sake,” said Harper. He walked up to the spot indicated by Jake pushing his bike, stopped, and said:

“What – ”

He fell silent.

“For fuck’s sake,” said Bobby. He climbed off the rickshaw and walked up to Harper and froze.

“What’s happening, Harper?” asked Charlene.

“Have a look for yourself.”

They all did, and they were all struck speechless. There was a grey human finger lying in the grass. It was crawling with ants. Bobby turned it over with a twig and they saw the fingernail had been ripped off.

“I strongly advise everyone to keep their gun handy,” Bobby said. He straightened up and added:

“It’s been here for at least a day, maybe two. Nothing more to see here, folks. Let’s get moving.”

“Who did that?” said Charlene. Bobby gave her a heavy look and said:

“That’s the dumbest question I’ve ever heard. How the fuck am I supposed to know? Hey! The sightseeing’s over. Let’s go. Paradise awaits.”

No one laughed. Li Yang noted that Harper didn’t say a thing. He seemed to accept that Bobby had taken over the leadership of their group. He mounted his bicycle but then just sat there without moving, staring down the road. Li Yang followed his eyes and saw that about a hundred yards ahead, the road curved out of sight behind a thick clump of trees.

Then Li Yang surprised himself totally.

“I’ll lead,” he heard himself say. Someone – for it truly felt as if another entity was in command of his body – someone made him give the bicycle a push, and start pedaling. He didn’t even look back, to see if the others were following him. He was completely focused on the clump of trees hiding the road. He was sure there was more to it than met the eye.

There was. A forest began right after the bend; in places, trees were perilously close to the narrow road, close enough for Li Yang to touch them if he stretched his hand out. He moved to the center of the road and finally glanced over his shoulder and saw Bobby’s rickshaw following him some distance behind.

He rode the bike slowly to let the others catch up, his eyes constantly flicking from one side of the road to the other. But there was no movement of any sort in the deep shadows between the trees, no sound except the rattle of his bicycle’s chain and the swish of its tires on the tarmac. Everything was still and silent under the midday sun.

There was another curve coming up, to the right this time, and Li Yang stopped pedaling and let his right hand drop to his gun pocket. He was sure there would be something waiting for him around that bend, and he was right.

He came around the bend and saw Paradise Villas.

Li Yang stopped where the track met the road and waited for the others. Bobby was the first to join him. He stopped the rickshaw next to Li Yang’s bike and wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

“Fuck, man,” he said, sounding deeply aggrieved.

“Look at all those rose bushes,” Olga said, when she arrived a moment later. “They’ll be beautiful in a couple of months.”

“My Russian rose,” Bobby said. Li Yang noticed Olga smiled to herself when she heard that, and it wasn’t a nice smile.

“I think we should go down that track,” said Li Yang. Bobby nodded, but said:

“Let’s wait for Harper.”

It took a little while. Harper was last, so far behind the others Li Yang briefly suspected there might be something wrong with Harper’s bike. But it wasn’t the bike that was malfunctioning; it was Harper. When he finally joined the others, Li Yang saw that his face was grey and his eyes were wide with fear. He stopped his bike and took in the scene, breathing through his open mouth.

“Welcome to Paradise Villas, Harper,” said Charlene.

“Shut up,” snapped Bobby. “I’ve had enough of your fucking lip, girl. Keep your trap shut or I’ll shut it for you, and I don’t think your brother will interfere.”

Li Yang was shocked by that, but Olga wasn’t.

“Finally,” she said, with deep satisfaction. “All right. What do we do now?”

“We find out what’s down that track,” said Bobby. “You okay with that, Harper?”

Harper didn’t respond.

“Hey, relax, bro,” said Bobby. “That finger didn’t belong to your dude. It was a white boy’s finger.”

Her turned away from Harper and looked at Li Yang and said:

“Lead on.”

Li Yang got on his bike and got going and very nearly got off the bike again: it was difficult to ride on the gravel. He heard Bobby curse and grunt with effort, behind him. Happily, the gravel ended after about hundred yards.

The dirt track that began where the gravel ended ran straight for a short distance, then bent sharply to the left and ran into the forest behind the housing plots. It didn’t look promising, but soon enough the track bent again, and suddenly Li Yang was looking at several trailer homes set in a row, one behind the other, in the middle of a big clearing. A fast-running stream was burbling somewhere nearby.

He stopped immediately. Right away, a couple of black men emerged from behind the nearest trailer. They were dressed in outdoor jackets and jeans and held rifles across their chests.

“Hey!” one of them shouted, just as Bobby stopped beside Li Yang.

“Good morning, mah man,” called out Bobby. “We lookin’ for Jimmy Dow.”

The two men walked a few steps closer and the one that had shouted earlier said:

“I’m Jimmy Dow. Question is, who the fuck are you?”

“Harper,” called out Bobby, keeping his eyes on the two men and their guns. “Harper! Get your ass over here. We’ve found your friend.”

“Harper?” said the man who’d said he was Jimmy Dow.

“That’s me,” said Harper in a strangled voice, moving to the front. “It’s me, Jimmy. Harper Lee.”

Jimmy seemed to literally explode with joy. Li Yang had seriously feared Harper had been exaggerating his deep friendship with Jimmy Dow. But all those fears dissipated as he watched Jimmy throw his arms around Harper, grinning from ear to ear.

It all went smoothly from there. Jimmy invited all of them to stay as long as they liked the moment Harper had finished explaining the purpose of their visit.

“We got a trailer that we’ve been using for storage,” he said. “It’s gonna get a bit cramped, so we’ll have to organize a couple more. But we can deal with all that tomorrow, after you’ve rested a bit. You’ve come all the way from New York, man, that’s fucking unbelievable. And you made it through Baltimore.”

“We didn’t go through Baltimore,” said Harper, and told Jimmy about the ferry. Jimmy laughed.

“Man, you sure made the right choice,” he said.

“Is it that bad? In Baltimore?” asked Harper.

“It’s fucking bad. Washington’s pretty bad, too. It was bad around here too, matter of fact. But it’s over now, things are getting back to normal. Whatever normal is, these days.”

“We saw the houses that burned down,” said Harper. “And earlier on… We found a human finger by the side of the road.”

Jimmy nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “There were a few things going on. But like I said, it’s over. I can tell you about it later, if you like. But now, why don’t you settle in and eat something and rest a little. I’ll show you your trailer and then tell the girls to get some food ready.”

“We’ve brought food,” said Harper.

“That’s good. But it’s my treat today. Hey, I even got a couple of nice bottles knocking around somewhere. Come on, let me show you your new home. Then I’ll introduce you to the others. By the way, this dude here is Bud.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Harper, shaking the hand of the man introduced as Bud.

“Hey Bud,” said Jimmy. “Go get Billy Joe. We need him to help move stuff out of the storage trailer.”

“Billy Joe is consulting with the Poet.”

“Ah, that’s different. We’ll have to manage without him. Come on.”

“Who is that guy you mentioned, the Poet?” Harper asked Jimmy when they were walking to the last trailer in the row.

“He’s our leader, man. A very wise dude. He knows the answers to everything, man. Everything. You got problems of any kind, you go talk to the Poet.”

“What’s his name?”

“I told ya. The Poet.”

“That’s what you call him?”

“He really is a poet. You’ll see.”

The trailer Jimmy had generously given them wasn’t a pretty sight. It was dirty and dusty and half-full of goods of astounding variety. Li Yang began by carrying out the pair of skis that were propped up against the wall next to the entrance. His next load consisted of two garbage bags filled with clothes – he peeked inside one, and saw a female summer dress printed in a flowery pattern. He deposited them on the ground near the trailer, and carried out a brand-new gas grill next, complete with an empty gas bottle.

After they emptied the trailer they had to clean it, bringing water in a bucket from the stream that ran nearby. It was late afternoon before they were done.

By that time, several new people showed up on the scene. Li Yang counted two guys – one white, one black; a middle aged, spindly white woman in jeans and a jean jacket and a wide-brimmed brown leather hat; two friendly young black women, called Linda and Janice; and finally, a very old white lady that stood nearby and stared at them for quite a while without saying a single word. She was dressed in a long red quilted robe without a belt. The wrinkled, spotted hands that held the robe closed in front were decorated by at least half a dozen glittering rings. She had red slippers with white fur trim on her feet and watery blue eyes sunk deep in her face.

Jimmy and his people took absolutely no notice of her, as if she didn’t exist. Harper nodded to her and said hello and got no reaction at all. After a long while, she walked away and disappeared inside one of the trailers.

“Who is that?” Harper asked Jimmy as she was walking away.

“That’s Mrs. Gibson,” Jimmy said. “She used to live in one of the villas. You know, the houses that burned down. Her husband died, and she’s gone crazy. She’s completely nuts. Totally harmless though, no worries there. She’s been refusing to eat. My guess is she’ll be dead soon.”

“That’s terrible,” Harper said.

Jimmy shrugged.

“That’s how it goes, these days,” he said. “Now listen, I’m gonna go help the girls set out the food. It’s ready, judging by the smell. You guys wash up and join us. We got a big table set up in front of the first trailer.”

“It smells real good,” said Harper. “It smells like roast beef.”

“It is roast beef. We got so much beef we can’t eat it all. Shot a couple of cows a few days back.”

“There’s a lot you’ll have to tell me,” Harper said wonderingly.

“I will. See you in what, fifteen-twenty? You’ll get to meet the Poet.”

“I can’t wait,” said Harper. But as he watched Jimmy walk away, he shook his head.

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