Dance for the Dead Read Free

translated.
No wonder Nina Coffey was all over Ambrose. This kid had looked in
his own window and seen his parents – or the ones he knew as
parents – lying on the floor butchered, and Ambrose was asking
him about spankings and dental hygiene. The man was a dangerous
idiot.
    “What did he say?”
    “He said she did the right
thing to call the police, and the wrong thing to leave. Then she said
a lot of things. She said it looked as though whoever came in wasn’t
even looking for them. They were looking for me.”
    “What made her say that?”
    “They broke into my room
at a time when I was usually home and my parents weren’t. She
said it looked like they tried to make my parents tell them
something. And then the only things they took were my stuff, and all
the pictures.”
    “What pictures were
those?”
    “My father used to take a
lot of pictures. Like when we were at the beach…” Here
it comes, thought the judge. The sob forced its way out, and there
was a squealing sound, and then the tears came in volume.
    “Come on, Timmy,”
said Nina Coffey. “Let’s go take a break.”
    Amid the sounds of chairs
scraping and feet hitting the floor, Ambrose said redundantly, “Let
the record show that we recessed at this point.”
    There was another click, and the
recording began again. “We will continue now. It is six minutes
after eleven,” said the stenographer.
    Ambrose said, “Timmy, I’m
sorry to ask so many sad questions.”
    “It’s okay,”
said the little voice. There was no conviction behind it.
    “You were at the lawyer’s
house. They didn’t agree, right?”
    “He told her to go to the
police. Mona said they would just make me stay in a place where I
wouldn’t be safe. They talked for a long time, and I fell
asleep.”
    “What happened when you
woke up?”
    “The lawyer – Dennis
– he was talking on the telephone. I couldn’t hear what
he was saying. When he hung up, he and Mona talked some more. He gave
her some money. He had a lot of money inside of books on the
bookshelf, and some in his pocket. He gave her that too.”
    “Then what?”
    “The phone rang and Dennis
answered it, and talked to somebody else. Then we all got in the car
and Dennis drove. This time we drove all night and all the next day,
almost. Then we got to Jane’s house.”
    “What is Jane’s full
name?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Where does she live?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Tell me about her.”
    “We went to her house. She
put us in a room upstairs, and we went to sleep. When I woke up, she
made us breakfast. Mona was already awake.”
    “I mean about Jane. What
was she like?”
    “I was afraid of her at
first.”
    “Why?”
    “She was tall and skinny
and had long black hair, and she seemed to listen to people with her
eyes.”
    Ambrose paused. “I see.
What did she do?”
    “She and Mona talked for a
long time. Then I heard her say she would make us disappear.”
    “Is that why you thought
she was scary?”
    “No… maybe.”
    “How long did you stay
with Jane?”
    “A long time. I think Mona
said it was three weeks, but it seemed like a year. Then we all got
in Jane’s car and she drove us to Chicago.”
    “What did she do then?”
    “She stayed for a day or
two, and then one morning I woke up and she was gone.”
    “Was Mona surprised?”
    “No. Mona acted like it
was normal, and didn’t talk about her again. Mona and I lived
in Chicago after that. Mona was Diana Johnson, and I was her son. She
wanted me to be Andrew, but I didn’t like it, so I got to stay
Tim.”
    “How did you live?”
    “Like people do.”
    “I mean, did Mona have a
job – did she go to work?”
    “Yes. While I was in
school.”
    “They called you Tim
Johnson at school?”
    “Yes.”
    “When did you start –
what grade?”
    “Kindergarten. I had
already been in kindergarten, so it was the second time.”
    “And you’re in the
second grade now?”
    “Yes.”
    “Were you afraid in
Chicago?”
    “At