that Julian had given Isla the shirt off his back to staunch the bleeding. Black nail polish covered his fingernails. What was that about? He recalled watching an interview with the rock star Steven Tyler and seeing that he, too, wore black nail polish. Maybe it was a musician thing.
“How you doing, Julian?”
“Been better, dude.”
“That was quite a heroic thing you did, helping Isla Eaves like that.”
“I didn’t do nothin’ except drive her to the ER.”
“I think it was pretty brave of you.”
“Whatever.” Julian laughed.
Karl leaned over and examined the boy’s eyes. “Are you high?”
“I smoked a little weed to take the edge off. You gonna bust me for that?”
“No, I’m not going to bust you.”
“Everything’s so messed up in this town. Makes New York City seem tame in comparison.”
“What were you doing out there? Where were you going?”
“I like to get away from my crazy parents and clear my head. Driving around tends to chill me out.”
“Your parents are crazy?”
“They’re always at each other’s throats. Why are they still together if they like to argue so much?”
“I don’t know. What were they fighting about?”
“How much time you got?” He laughed. “One day I overheard my mother saying that I’m the cause of all their problems and the reason we moved out of New York City. But that’s bullshit, because it was my dad who wanted to move up here. Said when the shit hits the fan, we’ll be safer here in Maine. You know, zombie invasion and aliens coming down to earth.”
“Sounds like he’s been watching too many episodes of The Walking Dead.”
Julian held his arms out and started to moan like a zombie. Then he laughed. “I like how they call them walkers on that show instead of zombies. It’s as if by calling them that, it’ll make the situation less dire.”
“You a fan of the show?”
“Big-time. You?”
“Don’t watch much TV. One of my coworkers is always going on about it.”
“You should check it out. It’s a cool show.”
“Did you know that your next-door neighbor was once on a TV show?”
“Willow?” He turned to face Karl. “Dude, I thought her father was shooting some reality pilot or some shit.”
“He is, I guess. But I’m not talking about Willow. I’m talking about her mother.”
“Mrs. Briggs? For real?”
“Yeah, before you were born. The show lasted one year and then got canceled.”
“Wow! That’s one totally messed-up lady. I try to stay away from her whenever possible.”
“Messed up in what way?”
“I don’t know. She kinda creeps me out.” He made claws out of his hands and pretended to attack Karl. “Cougar, you know. Sometimes I thought she wanted to get it on with some of us younger dudes.”
“She came on to you?”
“Not exactly. I don’t know. I’d get a vibe from her at times. Like the way she looked at us when we were chilling on the beach. Very weird.”
“So it was just a vibe?”
“Yeah, I guess you could call it that. I remember Dakota was drunk one night and being obnoxious, as usual. Started bragging about all the bitches he’d nailed and how he’d seduced them with his poems, although he didn’t really write them. Got them out of some book and memorized them. Then he mentioned something about how he could have both Willow and her mother if he wanted.”
“He said that?”
“I thought he was just being a dick, but then he started going on about how he dug older women. Bragged about how Willow’s mom wanted to get it on with him. I thought he was just smack-talking.”
“And you never thought to tell anyone about this?”
“Why would I? That’s just Dakota being Dakota, is all. Still, I got a vibe from Willow’s mom, so it didn’t really surprise me.” Julian stood. “I gotta get the car back before the dragon lady freaks. We good, yo?”
“Yeah, we’re good.” For a kid who attended pricey prep schools, he talked like a gangster wannabe.
“Tell Katie’s mom I hope she feels better.”
“Will do.”
“She seems like a nice lady.”
Karl watched Julian swagger out the ER’s doors, hoping that the kid arrived home safely. As Julian exited, Ray walked through the sliding glass doors and looked around the ER. Karl caught his eye and pointed in the direction of the room where Ray’s wife lay recuperating.
“What the hell happened, Bjorny?”
“Someone tried to run her off the road.”
“How’s the van?”
Karl wanted to flatten the bastard for asking about the van before his wife’s health. “Totaled, from what I hear.”