And the people of Sarasota would probably give...
And the
people of Sarasota would probably give you your
own float in the Memorial Day parade Jack
stuffed his hands in his pockets"But if you told
me last fall that stuff like this could happen
outside of MNight Shyamalan movies, I would have
laughed
"What about last week?" I asked
787
Jack thought about itOn the other side of Big
Pink, the waves came steadily inUnder my living
room and bedroom, the shells would be talking"Probably wouldn't've laughed then
I knew from the first there was something about
you, Edgar He ran the
fingers of gucci bags from china his two hands together, lacing them
And I thought that was rightThat was how it had
beenLike the fingers of two hands lacing
togetherAnd the fact that I only had one hand
had never mattered
"What are you saying, hermano?" Wireman askedIt
was like they were waiting for each other He
looked embarrassed, but not unsure
I cocked a thumb at my house
"Tell him about finding the basket first," Wireman
said to Jack"Wasn't no thing; didn't take
twenty minutesIt was sitting up on top of some
old bureau at the far end of the atticLight from
one of the knock off rolex watch vents to the outside was shining in on
itLike it wanted to be found He glanced at
788
Wireman, who nodded agreement"Anyway, we took it
down to the kitchen and looked insideIt was
heavier than hell
Jack talking about the heaviness of the basket
made me think of how Melda, the housekeeper, had
been holding it in the family portrait: with her
arms bunchedApparently it had been heavy back
then, too
"Wireman told me to bring the basket down here and
leave it for you, since I had a keyonly I
didn't need a key
"Was the door actually chanel classic purse open?"
"NopeWhat I did first was turn my key and
actually lock it againGave me a hell of a
surprise
"Come on," Wireman said, leading the way
There was a fair amount of Florida Gulf Coast
scattered on the hardwood floor of the entry: sand,
small shells, a couple of sophora husks, and a few
bits of dried sawgrassThere were also tracks
The sneaker-prints were Jack'sIt was the others
that made my skin freckle with goosebumpsI made
out three sets, one large and two smallThe small
789
ones were the tracks of childrenAll of those
feet had been bare
"Do you chanel tote see how they go up the stairs, fading as
they go?" Jack saidMy voice sounded faint and faraway
to my own ears
"I walked beside them, because I didn't want to
mess them up," Jack said"If I'd known then what
Wireman told me while we were waiting for you, I
don't think I could have gone up at all
"I don't blame you," I said
"But there was no one there," Jack said He led me to the side
of the stairsThe ninth riser was on our eyelevel,
and with the light striking across it, I
could see, very faintly, the tracks of small bare
feet pointing the other fendi b belt black leather