Page 89 of Witness 8

Do it NOW!

She leaned forward, the rope taut, and for some reason she could not understand tears formed in her eyes.

She would make it quick. It would not be painless, but it could be quick. She could get the rope round his neck now, then kneel on his back and pull. With any luck, his neck would break before he suffocated.

Ruby got onto her knees, her heart hammering.

Lips dry.

Cheeks wet.

Rope taut.

And she hesitated.

For Tomas’s little hand reached out for the cookie. He lifted it from his nightstand, and took a bite.

Ruby let the rope fall from her hands and tucked it into the bottom of the bed between the mattress and the foot stand.

‘I’m sorry too, Ruby,’ said Tomas.

‘That’s okay, sweetie. That’s just fine. Have some juice.’

Tomas did as he was told, the fury of the very young who had felt their first taste of injustice, subsiding. He took a sip, made a face.

‘Drink it all down,’ said Ruby.

He did. The whole glass. Even the thicker juice, which was mostly medication, that had congealed at the bottom of the glass. His mouth twisted and his tongue poked out from between his lips, seemingly trying to absorb the air, or anything for that matter, to get rid of the taste.

‘Eat your cookie,’ said Ruby, and stroked his hair.

‘Is your mom going to be alright?’ asked Tomas.

‘Yeah, I think she is. She needs people to be around her all the time. To give her the care that she needs. She deserves it.’

‘Good,’ said Tomas, and took a big bite out of the cookie and crunched it around his mouth.

They sat together, quietly, on the bed. Sometimes talking. Sometimes not. But within half an hour Tomas’s eyelids began to look heavy.

‘Why don’t you have a nap? I’ll be downstairs if you need me.’

Without another word, Tomas rolled over and let his eyes close. He would sleep, heavily, for five or more hours. Ruby would tell Alison that Tomas was in a foul mood, maybe running a fever, and that at one point she had to raise her voice, because he was screaming, but she hated doing that. Tomas had a lot of sedatives in his system. He would be groggy for many hours after he woke. His brain just as clouded. That’s the way he was last time Ruby had given him some special juice when she’d wanted him to fall into a deep sleep.

Ruby felt things would be alright now.

It was nearly over.

She had one more shopping trip tonight. To a hardware store in the Bronx. One she had not been to before. She needed heavy-duty plastic garbage bags. Thick. Black. The kind used for industrial waste.

The kind you could put a body in.

39

Eddie

Artie Chase butted in before I could ask a formal question.

‘This was a good investigation. My team and I were thorough, meticulous and professional.’