Will to try it in. Food eventually got involved again, because Benny had heard that Marian made a potato casserole, and would Will mind if he had a few bites? Ten minutes later Benny was sitting in Donny’s brown recliner with a plate of cheesy bacon potatoes and then the husband of Mrs. Salas arrived, and wouldn’t you know he’d like a few of those mantecaditos? But he also had something to drop off, a handheld vacuum cleaner of Donny’s that he’d repaired, and sorry for Will’s loss, a real shame for everyone, but this handheld was now as good as new, and he’d leave it right there on the coffee table if that was all right.
Will thought he caught a break in the late afternoon, a lull that lasted almost a whole hour, but when there was another soft tap on the door he had to bite his cheek so he wouldn’t shout in frustration. For once, there was no one on the threshold, but there were three houseplants, one with a note tucked between its fat, bright green leaves. Dear Dr. Sterling, it read, in a tiny, neat cursive. I took these from your uncle’s apartment after he passed and have looked after them since. I have written instruction cards for each one, and taped them to the pots. I hope they will thrive in your care. In sympathy, Emily Goodnight.
A third-string player, obviously, since she could’ve taken up a ton of his time delivering those instructions with the same kind of robust, detail-driven attack all the other residents had arrived with. He’d never had a houseplant in his life, and also took ludicrous offense at the fact that Donny had. He was already thinking about people at work he could hand them off to, but before he’d gotten the last one inside he heard the sound of footsteps in the stairwell.
He felt like he was on the longest shift of his life.
It was the man who’d scolded him in the basement the other day, short and surprisingly fast-moving for his age as he descended the final steps carrying a cardboard box that looked a little unsteady in his wiry arms.
“Can I help you with that?” Will said, stepping forward, already frustrated with himself. Damn his instincts. What good did it do him to make their sabotage plans easier? To let them stay, to indulge all their chatter, to walk each of them to the door like they’d been invited?
The man squinted at him over the top of his box. “I don’t need your help,” he said, overloud, his voice echoing off the hallway walls, probably scaring the decorative cherubs. “I could bench-press you, Beanpole.”
Jeez, all right. No one had ever called Will a beanpole. But also no one had ever accused him of killing someone for a rental permit, or given him three houseplants, so. It was a day for firsts. He sighed as the man moved past him, walking into Donny’s place like he owned it.
The box went onto the seat of the recliner, and the old man stuck out his hand for Will to shake. “I’m Jonah Hajduk. I’m eighty years old, and I’ve lived here longer than anyone, which means I like you and what you’re doing the least, I suspect.”
“Okay,” Will said, returning Jonah’s strong grip. At this point, the honesty was refreshing. At least he wouldn’t have to feed this guy cheesy potatoes and make conversation.
When they dropped hands, Jonah gestured toward the box. “These are a few of your uncle’s things, mostly tools he lent me, but also a couple of books I never got around to reading.”
“Sure. Thanks for bringing them by.” Now please go, he thought, but he couldn’t bring himself to match Jonah’s frankness.
“You don’t look anything like him.”
Will shrugged. “I wouldn’t really know.” He hadn’t gotten a good look, that day.
“And he never mentioned you. Not once.”
Will ignored the pang he felt at that. He moved toward the recliner, pretending to look at the contents of the box. But really, he saw nothing.
“That’s not a surprise to me, if that’s what you’re aiming for. He fell out with my mother a long time ago.”
As near as he could tell from the few bits of information he’d been able to pry out of his mom in the weeks after their ill-fated trip here, the feud between her and Donny had mostly been about the trouble she’d caused when she’d gotten involved with Will’s father—sneaking out, lying, big fights