Crusader

  Suzie looked at me for sympathy. "Cut it out, Leo." She got off the seat, which started vibrating again. She walked past me and said, "Roberta, do you have any idea what Sam wants to talk to me about?"

  "Sam? No."

  "He's got a bug up his behind about something. He's waiting in the office."

  I said, "No. I don't know."

  Suzie hurried up to the office, so I followed after her. Sam was sitting in the chair across from the desk. Suzie sat in front of him and unfolded her hands as though to say, Okay, what is it?

  Sam spread out a newspaper on her desk, the campus newspaper from the University of South Florida. He said, "I picked this paper up today, after my accounting class."

  Suzie looked at it without much curiosity. Sam pointed to one part of it and asked her, "Have you by any chance read this article?"

  "I don't read campus newspapers, Sam. I'm real busy in here."

  "I'm real busy, too, but I read this. It's an interview with the coach of the golf team."

  "Is that right?"

  "The coach of the golf team pals around with Ray Lyons's son, Richard. They can often be seen playing eighteen holes together on our lush fifty-acre campus."

  "You're losing me here, Sam."

  "The coach told the student reporter the following: 'I expect this area to have a major PGA golf course within two years.'"

  Suzie flopped her hands outward this time, as if to say she had had enough. "Please, Sam, I have a big event to plan."

  "He expects this golf course to be, quote, 'on the site of the old West End Mall,' unquote."

  Suzie's head snapped up. She looked startled. Sam continued, "Now, to my recollection, the West End Mall is still here. In fact, we're sitting in it right now."

  "Yes. Yes, of course."

  "So why would he make such a bizarre statement?"

  She looked at the article. "Well, it's just stupid. It's a stupid thing to say."

  "So he just said it because he's stupid?"

  "Sam, I don't know."

  "Well, I know. He said it because he believes it to be true. He believes it to be true because he heard it directly from his pal Richard Lyons. The Lyons family has plans for this mall, all right. Demolition plans."

  Sam got up dramatically. He told Suzie, "You can keep that and read it when you get a minute. I have my own copy."

  I followed Sam up to the rotunda, hoping to hear more about Richard Lyons and his golf course. But that wasn't to be. He didn't say a word to me.

  When I finally got to Arcane, I was surprised to see Kristin behind the counter. Right away, I noticed the red splotches across her face, those ant bites. I stopped short and sputtered out, "Kristin, I didn't think you were coming in."

  I know my reaction must have hurt, but Kristin didn't flinch. She looked me right in the eye and said, like from a prepared speech, "I realized that I was feeling sorry for myself, and that that was a loser attitude. I decided to do something about the problem instead."

  "That's good. What are you going to do?"

  "Nina is taking me to see her father this afternoon. I want you to come, too."

  "You do? Does Nina want me to?"

  "Probably not. But I want you to. For me." Kristin's emotionless expression stretched into a weird smile. "Roberta, today is the beginning of my life. My real life."

  I nodded like I understood, but I really had no idea what she meant. We hung out at the counter for a while, not talking. The silence didn't seem to bother Kristin in the least, but it made me squirmy. I finally asked, "So where's Karl?"

  "He's still at home. He's not coping well."

  "Is he sick, too?"

  "No. He's totally freaked out, though. You know, like he was when he went to the Positive Place? I think he's afraid they're going to send him back."

  "Who could send him back there but your father?"

  "The juvenile courts can, I think. They act in loco parentis. That's what everybody keeps saying, 'in loco parentis.'"

  "What does that mean?"

  "I don't know. It's Latin. I think it means he's crazy, you know. He's loco, so they can put him away."

  MONDAY AFTERNOON

  At around four o'clock, I looked up and saw Nina standing before the counter. She was staring at Kristin, like at a train wreck. She didn't say hello; she went right into, "How come you're not wearing any makeup?"

  "I have to see the doctor. I can't have makeup on my skin."

  Nina nodded uncertainly. "Oh yeah." She came around and stood with us, as in the past. But now three of us were standing in silence. After about a minute she said, "So are you ready to go?"

  Kristin answered quietly, "We have to wait until Roberta's dad arrives."

  "Why can't Roberta cover?"

  "She's coming with us."

  "What for?"

  "Because she's family. I need her to be there."

  Nina glanced at me disapprovingly. She shook her head. "Girlfriend, let me tell you something, what you need is makeup. At least a little foundation. You can take it off when you get to the office."

  Kristin answered quietly again, "No."

  This plunged us back into silence. Nina finally said, "So are you coming back to Lourdes?"

  "No."

  "No? What are you going to do?"

  "I'm going to work here. I'm going to help my family."

  Nina asked her, "Are you still going to the cotillion?"

  "No. That's a waste. It's a waste of my time and a waste of my father's money. He doesn't have to work himself to death in this place just so that I can parade around like some princess."

  Nina looked at me like, What's wrong with her? She thought for a moment, then asked Kristin, "So what about Greggie?"

  "Oh, I called him today. I told him I wasn't going. I told him I wasn't going anywhere with him. Ever." Kristin paused, then asked, "How about you? Are you going with Carlos?"

  "I might. I gotta weigh my offers."

  "Offers?" Kristin smiled for the first time. "What? Did you go out with that football guy?"

  "Which one?"

  "There's more than one?"

  Nina got offended. "Why do you say it like that? There's two. Okay? I guess that's more than one. It's not like I'm dating ten guys."

  "But are you still dating Carlos?"

  "Yeah. He's still around. He'll always be around." She paused and then added, "He asked me to marry him."

  "Really? He proposed to you?"

  "Oh yeah. Big time. With a big ring."

  We both looked at her finger. Kristin asked, "Where is it?"

  "I'm getting it reset at Mayor's, over at the Gold Coast Mall."

  Kristin seemed puzzled. "So you're going to do it?"

  "Sure. Why not?"

  "When?"

  "He says after he finishes college but before he graduates from medical school. My mother thinks it's a good idea. That gives her five years to plan the wedding."

  We both stared at her in amazement.

  "That sounds like a lotta time, I know. But some of these nice reception places, like the best hotels and the best restaurants, they gotta be booked years in advance. Especially if you want to get married in June. Even the church, you know, for a June wedding, they want two years' notice."

  Kristin looked at me, then back at Nina. She asked her point-blank, "Do you love Carlos?"

  Nina answered, "No. Not really."

  "Then why marry him?"

  Nina explained to us, as if it made perfect sense, "By then, five years from now, I'll feel different about him. We'll both be older. I'll have gotten to do a lot more stuff. You know? Come on, what have I ever done? Gone down to the beach with some football guy? So what? I gotta have some fun. I gotta have some wild times in my life while I can. Someday I'm gonna be driving around a car full of Munchkins, wishing I had done something when I could. I want to, like, get it all out of my system. Then, when I'm twenty-two, I'll be ready to get married."

  Kristin added, "And Carlos will be there."
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  "Without question. I'm the best he's gonna do. Carlos will be there. It'll all be there. The church will be reserved. The reception hall will be booked. Everything. You gotta plan for these things now if you want them to happen."

  Just then Dad walked in with a bag of food from the Taco Stop.

  I asked him, "Can you cover the front, Dad?"

  He answered, "Absolutely." I think he was going to say something else, but the three of us took off too fast.

  Kristin led the way to Dr. Navarro's office. Nina and I had to hustle to keep up with her. The office closed at four on Mondays, but Nina used a key to unlock the sliding-glass door. She called out, in a little-girl voice, "Papi?"

  Dr. Navarro answered through an open office door, "In here, Princesa."

  We followed Nina past the reception area and into an examination room. The first thing I noticed was an antique wooden sign, hung on a wall as a decoration. It said, TATTOOS REMOVED EXPERTLY.

  Dr. Navarro nodded hello to me. He smiled at Kristin and said, "Ah, Kristin. What has that evil pox done to you?"

  She answered, "I guess that's what I'd like you to tell me, Doctor."

  Dr. Navarro has white hair but a very young face. He has a very bright smile, too, like my father's. He indicated that Kristin should sit on the examining table. He put on a strange set of magnifier glasses. They stretched around his head, and they projected an intense light, almost like a laser. He peered intently at Kristin's face and muttered, "Varicella." Then he explained to her, "That's the Latin name for your affliction."

  Dr. Navarro looked carefully behind her ears and along her scalpline. As he worked, he chatted with Nina. "Princesa, where have you been? Have you been out with that rogue Carlos? I'll kill him."

  "No, Papi. Kristin had to wait to get off work."

  "I need you to find some records for me in that infernal database. It won't even let me in."

  "Okay. Let me check it out. I may need to go to my backup files."

  "Yes, my darling. That's what I wanted to hear." He addressed Kristin. "Is this the worst part? Here on your face?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "The pox can be a cruel disease. Fortunately, there is much we can do for you now."

  Kristin answered hopefully, "There is?"

  "Yes. Yes. We live in a time of great advances. Be grateful we do not live in a time of ignorance. Then, a pox was thought to be a sign from God that a person was evil. It was thought to be a mark of the devil, of an inner corruption."

  This obviously intrigued Nina. She stopped working on the computer and asked him, "What would happen to the people who got it?"

  "Do you mean, if they didn't die?"

  "Sí, Papi."

  "Ironically, they might get stoned to death by their neighbors, in the name of God."

  Dr. Navarro indicated that Kristin should roll up her sleeves more. He continued his answer to Nina, "In superstitious times, people who were different, people like your new friend Betty, would wind up getting tied to a stake and burned alive. Murdered."

  Nina seemed disturbed. "Why would people murder someone like Betty?"

  "Because people did not understand microbes, viruses, bacteria. They had to blame someone, so they blamed those who looked different."

  Dr. Navarro indicated that Kristin should pull up the back of her shirt, which she did. As he focused his laser goggles on her back, Nina brought up a new example. "Papi, what about a girl who looked like a boy? Who didn't have a female body? Maybe who didn't menstruate?"

  Kristin immediately knew what she was talking about. She snapped to my defense. "Nina! Cut it out!"

  "What?"

  "Stop putting Roberta down. I mean it."

  But Nina answered her, "I'm not dissin' the girl. This is for me. I really want to know."

  Dr. Navarro kept examining and talking. "It can be dangerous to be different in any way. If you look hard enough, anything can seem like a sign—a sign from God, or a sign from the devil."

  Nina concluded, "So this girl might get stoned to death, too?"

  "That is possible. Just thank God we live in a time of science, when superstition is confined only to the ignorant."

  Dr. Navarro pulled off the goggles, signaling that he was through with the examination. He looked hard at Kristin and asked her, "Tell me this: How has this pox affected you psychologically?"

  Kristin thought about it and said, "It was horrible at first, but now I've accepted it. In a way I've embraced it."

  He said, "Good for you. Do you remember, just a month ago, when you and Nina got dressed up for the modeling? You came to our house, and you did your hair and makeup? I looked at you when you were leaving. Remember? And I said, 'I could not imagine two more beautiful girls.' Kristin, you are still that beautiful girl. But you have been attacked by a virus."

  Kristin continued to stare straight ahead. Dr. Navarro finally prodded her, "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

  "Yes, I understand what you're saying, Doctor. But I disagree. I am no longer that girl."

  Dr. Navarro's brow furrowed. He walked over to a high white cabinet and started fishing around inside. He muttered, "I just got some samples, some new vitamin E ointments. Very effective." He asked Nina, "Princesa, do you know the ones I'm talking about?"

  "No, Papi."

  "Ah, here." He pulled out two tubes, each about the size of a large Tootsie Roll. "Now, Kristin, apply this to every affected area three times a day for ten days, or until it runs out. You'll see a big difference yourself. Then you'll come in and show me. Okay?"

  Kristin took the tubes. "Okay. Thank you. Now, how much do I owe you, Dr. Navarro?"

  Dr. Navarro looked upward, thinking. Then he answered, "Two thousand, three hundred dollars." He cocked his head and said, "I'm joking, Kristin. I'm only joking. Of course there is no charge for you."

  Kristin exhaled. "Thank you, Doctor, but I insist on paying."

  "Nonsense. They're free samples. You don't think I pay for them, do you?"

  "Then I want to pay for your time. And for your ... diagnosis."

  Dr. Navarro pointed at the wall clock. "Sorry. You're too late. The office is closed."

  Kristin slid off the examining table. She tucked in her shirt. Then she walked over and pointed at the antique TATTOOS REMOVED EXPERTLY sign. "Nina said you used to do this for two hundred dollars."

  Dr. Navarro was no longer smiling. He looked at Nina, "Princesa, what is going on here?"

  Nina rolled her eyes from her father to Kristin. "Girlfriend, what's the matter with you? We're not charging you. Now deal with that."

  Kristin looked back. She answered her slowly. "Deal with this: I am not a charity case."

  Nina's jaw fell open. She sputtered, "No, you're not. Who said you were? You're a friend of the family."

  Kristin shook her head. "No, I'm not that, either. Let's be real. I'm a former classmate. And I work with you here at the mall." She reached into her shirt pocket and slid out some money. She unfolded two hundred-dollar bills. Then she laid them down on the examining table. "I hope this covers it."

  Dr. Navarro stared at the bills. He spoke in a low, puzzled voice. "Kristin, do you realize that you are insulting me?"

  "No, sir. I don't see it that way. My father is in business here, just like you are. We do not want charity. We want to pay. You, sir, are insulting us."

  The hundred-dollar bills remained sitting there for several long moments, looking up at us like a pair of unwanted children. Nina finally reached over and scooped them up. She carried them over to the receptionist's desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a pad. She wrote out a receipt and handed it to Kristin. Then she walked to the glass door and unlocked it. Kristin and I followed. As we slipped through the opening, Nina said coldly, "Next time, please come during normal office hours."

  Kristin took off ahead of me down the mallway. I didn't try to catch her. I couldn't see her face, but I could tell by the set of her shoulders that she was crying.

  ***
>
  I stopped at the southern edge of the rotunda and surveyed the scene. It looked like Suzie's Christmas layaway promotion was off to a good start. Mothers with small children had begun to gather, forming a loose line to the Santa chair. Suzie, wearing a red elf hat, was smiling and greeting them. Leo, of all people, had volunteered to take pictures of the kids on Santa's lap. He had brought in his own Polaroid camera and tripod, which he was now fiddling with nervously.

  I looked toward the Chili Dog and saw Gene waiting to make his entrance. He was a very convincing-looking Santa. Then, everyone in the rotunda, including me, turned to watch a great commotion near the entrance. The front end of a big RV appeared in the doorway; it rolled past SunBelt Savings and the mall office. I looked at the driver's seat and saw Bill's grim face. He was hunched over, clutching the wheel like a sea captain in a storm. The RV finally came to a halt just short of the food court.

  A group of people gathered immediately to gawk at it. The RV was about thirty feet long, nearly as long as a county bus. The words ANGELA LIVE and CHANNEL 57 were painted on it in several spots.

  Bill opened the door on the passenger side, the side toward us. He left it open for a couple of minutes, like he was getting some air. I thought about approaching him, maybe even stepping inside since I was an intern, but there was something about Bill's posture in the driver's seat that told me to stay away. Then I heard a murmur from the crowd. People started to point toward the mall office. I turned with them in time to see Angela del Fuego, in a red pantsuit, walk in. She was with Mrs. Knight and a big blond guy with a portable TV camera.

  Betty walked by me, drinking a smoothie from the Garden of Eatin'. She said, "Who's that?"

  I told her, "It's Angela del Fuego."

  Betty scoffed. "Oh. What a joke."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Those phony nails? That phony hair? Come on."

  I couldn't believe she had said that. I asked her, "Well, what about your hair?"

  Betty seemed surprised at the question. She replied, "Black is not phony. Black is not anything. It is absence. Bright red is presence. A phony presence."

  I had no idea what to say to that. I heard the sound of someone clearing his throat loudly and deliberately. I turned toward the sound and met Bill's stare. He was now standing on the tile of the rotunda, holding the remote soundboard in front of him like a basket of eggs.