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the
room, he told himself, it’s
the
room, not
my
room), looked
around, and realized a dismaying thing. No books. Not a single one. That was as bad as no
computer. Maybe worse. He went to the dresser and opened the drawers one by one, thinking
he might at least find a Bible or a Book of Mormon, like they sometimes had in hotel rooms. He
discovered only neat stacks of underwear and socks.
What did that leave? Steve Harvey interviewing David Hasselhoff? Reruns of
America’s
Funniest Home Videos
?
No. No way.
He left the room, thinking Kalisha or one of the other kids might be around. He found
Maureen Alvorson instead, trundling her Dandux laundry basket slowly down the corridor. It
was heaped with folded sheets and towels. She looked more tired than ever and sounded out of
breath.
“Hello, Ms. Alvorson. Can I push that for you?”
“That would be kind,” she said with a smile. “We’ve got five newbies coming in, two tonight
and three tomorrow, and I’ve got to get the rooms ready. They’re down thataway.” She pointed
in the opposite direction from the lounge and the playground.
He pushed the basket slowly, because she was walking slowly. “I don’t suppose you know
how I could earn a token, do you, Ms. Alvorson? I need one to unlock the computer in my
room.”
“Can you make a bed, if I stand by and give you instructions?”
“Sure. I make my bed at home.”
“With hospital corners?”
“Well . . . no.”
“Never mind, I’ll show you. Make five beds for me, and I’ll give you three tokes. It’s all I’ve
got in my pocket. They keep me short.”
“Three would be great.”
“All right, but enough with the Miz Alvorson. You call me Maureen, or just Mo. Same as the
other kids.”
“I can do that,” Luke said.
They went past the elevator annex and into the hallway beyond. It was lined with more
inspirational posters. There was also an ice machine, like in a motel hallway, and it didn’t appear
to take tokens. Just past it, Maureen put a hand on Luke’s arm. He stopped pushing the basket
and looked at her enquiringly.
When she spoke, it was just above a whisper. “You got chipped, I see, but you didn’t get any
tokens.”
“Well . . .”
“You can talk, as long as you keep your voice down. There’s half a dozen places in Front
Half where their damn microphones don’t reach, dead zones, and I know all of them. This is
one, right by this ice machine.”
“Okay . . .”
“Who did your chip and put that mark on your face? Was it Tony?”
Luke’s eyes began to burn, and he didn’t quite trust himself to speak, whether it was safe or
not. He just nodded.
“He’s one of the mean ones,” Maureen said. “Zeke is another. So is Gladys, even though she
smiles a lot. There are plenty of people working here who like pushing kids around, but those
are three of the worst.”
“Tony slapped me,” Luke whispered. “Hard.”
She ruffled his hair. It was the kind of thing ladies did to babies and little kids, but Luke
didn’t mind. It was being touched with kindness, and right now that meant a lot. Right now
that meant everything.
“Do what he says,” Maureen said. “Don’t argue with him, that’s my best advice. There’s
people you can argue with here, you can even argue with Mrs. Sigsby, much good it will do you,
but Tony and Zeke are two bad bumblebees. Gladys, too. They
sting
.”
She started down the corridor again, but Luke caught her by the sleeve of her brown
uniform and tugged her back to the safe area. “I think Nicky hit Tony,” he whispered. “He had
a cut and a mousy eye.”
Maureen smiled, showing teeth that looked long overdue for dental work. “Good for Nick,”
she said. “Tony probably paid him back double, but still . . . good. Now come on. With you to
help me, we can get these rooms ready in a jiff.”
The first one they visited had posters of Tommy Pickles and Zuko—Nickelodeon characters
—on the walls, and a platoon of G.I. Joe action figures on the bureau. Luke recognized several
of them right off the bat, having gone through his own G.I. Joe phase not all that long ago. The
wallpaper featured happy clowns with balloons.
“Holy crap,” Luke said. “This is a little kid’s room.”
She gave Luke an amused glance, as if to say
You’re not exactly Methuselah
. “That’s right. His
name is Avery Dixon, and ’cording to my sheet, he’s just ten. Let’s get to work. I bet I only have
to show you how to do a hospital corner once. You look like a kid who catches on quick.”
10
Back in his room, Luke held one of his tokens up to the laptop’s camera. He felt a little stupid
doing it, but the computer opened at once, first showing a blue screen with a message on it
reading
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