Cookie Cutter Man (6 page)

“Well, earlier when I called, and just now. Again.”

“You called?” She hadn’t called. He had been with Jared for
most of the afternoon, and the phone certainly hadn’t rung since he’d been
home.

Echo laughed. “Maybe you should lay off the meds, babe. See,
it’s still on the answering machine.” She pointed to the machine on the bedside
table, on which a small red light flashed once every second.

What the fuck? He pushed the button. Echo’s voice played
into the room.

“Hey cutie, just calling to see how you are, hope I—”

“Holdupholdup.” Daniel’s slurred voice cut into the
recording.

“Did I wake you up?”

“Kinda. I was dozing.”

“How are—” Her voice was interrupted by a burst of feedback
from the machine and the recording ended.

“What time did you call?” Daniel felt something in his head
splitting down the middle, something in his mind.

“Around three o’clock,” Echo said. “Don’t you remember?”

I wasn’t
home
at three, Daniel thought.

“Uh, I just thought it was a dream, that’s all.” Daniel sat
up and stretched as an excuse not to make eye contact.

“Oh. Well, do you feel any better? You look a bit pale.”
Echo put her wrist against his forehead to check for a fever, and satisfied
there was none, she took his hand.

“I think I need another pill.” No lie there. It seemed
impossible to remember a time when his head
didn’t
hurt.

You remember, sure you do! Back before you lost your
fucking marbles!

“Shut up,” Daniel thought he thought.

“Excuse me?” Echo leaned back and gave him her look.

“What?”

“Did you tell me to shut up?”

“N-no. No angel, I said
get up
.” He stood to
demonstrate and she followed suit.

Covered that up nicely, Dannyboy. But what about next
time you fuck up?
The stranger mocked as they walked into the living room.

Daniel turned on the TV and took a pill. He turned off the
TV and stood back up, hesitated, and sat down again. He turned on the TV.

“What’s your problem?” Echo asked, a little laughter or
allegation on her voice, he couldn’t tell which.

“I’m sick of being cooped up in here, I guess.” He no
longer felt safe in the apartment, knowing that earlier in the day a cleaner
named Copper had swept the place for bugs. What if he hadn’t gotten them all?
Or suppose he did, but they came and re-bugged the house after he left? What if
Copper wasn’t as good as they thought, or was a double agent?

“—cleaner and we can go.” Echo was saying.

“What about the cleaner?” How could she know—

“The clea
ners
. We can take my coat down to the dry
cleaners and maybe go see a movie or something. How’s that sound?” She smiled
up at him with what he thought was genuine concern. His mood lifted a little.

“Yeah. That sounds really good, actually.” Daniel pulled her
closer to him, and she hugged him back. “I’m sorry I’ve been a little ... out
there lately.”

Out there? Try psychotic
.

“Don’t worry about it.” Echo said. “You’ve had a rough
couple days.”

The two left the apartment, Echo thinking everything was
getting better. He knew different, but was determined to have a good time.
There might not be many left.

Everything was going fine. They took her coat to the
cleaners, got some Thai food, and then went to the movies.

Echo hit the bathroom while Daniel stood in line at the
concession stand. The man ahead of him paid for his snacks and stepped to the
side, awaiting his purchase. Daniel placed an order and snuck a look at the
man. He seemed familiar. Had they met before? Did they know each other? The
stooge behind the counter quoted a price and Daniel handed him a bill, then
turned to get another look.

The hard steel of a small-caliber handgun pressed against
his ribs, and he froze.

“Did you get me Goobers?” the gunman asked. Daniel turned
around; Echo stopped poking him with her finger and smiled.

“Y-yeah, I got you Goobers.”

“You OK?”

He mumbled an affirmative and grabbed the junk food off the
counter.

“Come on, we gotta get good seats.” Echo pulled him along as
he searched the sea of empty faces, looking for a man that was no longer there,
a man whose face triggered a vague but unpleasant association.

“Isn’t it nice to be out?” Echo asked, trying to put her arm
around Daniel’s waist. He took her hand in his and held it as his side, for
fear she would feel the pistol in the waistband of his pants. He wasn’t sure
why he brought the gun, but he had been unable to leave the apartment without
it.

They found the theater playing their movie and Daniel
started up the steps toward the top row.

“Where are you going?” Echo asked.

“Let’s sit up here.”

“What? Why? I thought you liked the middle.”

Daniel didn’t want anyone behind him, but she was right,
normally they sat as close to the center as they could get. He glanced again at
the top row and saw it didn’t matter; it was full now, anyway.

“Just fucking with you,” Daniel said and forced a smile.

Echo laughed. “Dork.”

They found seats in the middle of the theater and when the
lights dimmed and the coming attractions began to roll, Daniel turned in his
seat and scanned the crowd. The people looked like zombies to him; eyes glazed
over, stuffing their gaping mouths. What would they think, any of them, if they
were told the things Daniel now knew?

You don’t know them. You dreamt them.

“What are you doing?” Echo asked, making him jump.

“Nothing,” he said, facing forward again.

“Shh!” from somewhere in the theater behind them.

Daniel whipped around in his seat again, looking for the
anonymous shusher. He couldn’t help but think that among those zombie faces sat
the man he’d seen at the concession stand, and not knowing where or who the man
was made Daniel nervous.

“Watch the movie,” Echo whispered.

Daniel faced forward and shifted in his seat, looking for a
position where the .38 wasn’t digging into his back. It was easier than he
thought it would be.

They walked out discussing the film, their individual
critiques fading puffs of air in the cool darkness. The entrance of the large
plaza was alive with a nervous crowd-energy that Daniel wanted to be free of as
soon as possible. He took Echo by the hand and forged a path through the
people, randomly uttering excuse me and sorry.

Daniel had finally relaxed about half an hour into the film,
and though it was a bit pretentious, it had been very predictable and he’d had
no trouble picking up what he’d missed, or correctly guessing how it would end.
Going to the movies was something he’d always loved; a holdover from being a
kid in North Dakota, where in the summer he would spend most of the days in the
local multiplex with his cousins, watching movies and eating sugar. One of his
favorite things to do, even now, was to go to a movie by himself; just sit
alone in the dark and let whatever story was there wash over him, envelope him.
He would watch anything at the theater: horror, romantic comedies, gangster
flicks, it didn’t matter. Though of course he had his favorites, he mostly enjoyed
the experience. He would become totally absorbed in movies he wouldn’t give an
extra second to if they came on TV. This little pocket of normalcy had seemed
one of the constants in his life, and returning to it that night, after the
last few days he’d had, was a welcome respite.

Exiting the theater he was still in that little bubble, just
a guy and his girl out at a movie, nothing in the world was more normal or
American. At that moment he forgot about the things he’d seen and his own
insistence that he’d dreamt them, as well as the sneaking suspicion that the
other voice inside him was right, and what that might mean. He forgot about the
stitches in his head and the conversation with the TV, and the pills in the
hall, and gun on his waist.

The bubble lasted about two minutes outside the theater.
Daniel looked to his left, across the street, and saw the familiar face from
the concession stand. There, holding his drink and leaning against a wall,
looking right at them; the black guy lifted the large cup and drank deeply from
the straw. Then he winked, and everything clicked.

That night at the burger stand, after he left Gene’s house.
He’d gone in to get a drink and take a piss.

This was Mr. Mazda.

You’re here too. Maybe you’re really following him!

Daniel ignored the voice. In his peripheral vision he saw
the tail straighten up, push away from the building, and angle across to their
side of the street.

His head thudded softly, the quiet pain building its way up
to a dull roar. “Hey, go get the car, huh?” Daniel asked, handing Echo his
keys.

“What? Why?”

“Just ... OK? Please?” He gave her a gentle nudge in the
other direction and what he hoped was a smile. They turned the corner and she
kept going. He sucked himself up against the cool brick and waited. She turned
into the parking garage stairwell and he pulled the .38 off his waist. He took
several deep breaths. Maybe 30 seconds passed, maybe a minute before he heard
footsteps approaching his corner.

Jesus Christ what are you doing?

Just make sure it’s him first, Daniel told himself.

Mr. Mazda rounded the corner and Daniel grabbed him by the
throat and spun, slamming him against the wall.

Daniel lodged the barrel beneath the shelf of the other
man’s jaw. “Who the fuck are you?”

Silence.

He thumbed the hammer back. “Who
are
you?”

Then Daniel saw something that made his blood run cold.
There were words, little red words scrolling across his enemy’s emotionless
brown eyes, like on a marquee sign.

WE’RE COMING FOR YOU DANIEL

His prey blinked once and the words were gone.

You can’t really believe you just saw that, can you?

“You got three seconds to explain what the fuck is going on
before I paint this wall with your brain, man.” Daniel’s tired mind split
further, and he could feel it preparing to snap.

Then Echo pulled him away and slapped him across the face.
“What in the
fuck
are you
doing
?” she screamed.

The colors of the world grayed as the pain exploded to a
rotting 70-piece orchestra between his temples; black spots danced in front of
his eyes. Daniel staggered to keep his balance.

“I told you to go get the fucking car!”

“I did!” She grabbed him and turned him toward the street
where the Mustang sat idling at the curb, and he had one horrible moment when
he was sure she was just going to shove him into traffic. “I come back and find
you holding up—” she stopped speaking as they turned to where Daniel had been
ready to make a terrific mess just seconds ago. Mr. Mazda had taken heel, was
about half a block away and still picking up speed.

Daniel eased the hammer down and tucked the .38 into his
pants and turned to the car.

“Get in.”

He opened his door and stared at her. “You don’t know
everything you think you do, OK? That
fuck
was after me! He’s been
following me—”

Police sirens wailed in the distance. His eyes darted back
and forth, picking up everything: the two people watching from across the
street, and a group of three up the block that appeared not to have noticed. He
didn’t think the sirens were for him, not yet anyway, but it was better safe
than incarcerated ... he would have a tough time pinning this on roaches.

“Echo, just get in the car? Please?”

She opened the passenger door and climbed in. “Where did you
get it?” she demanded, as he cranked the wheel, whipped a u-turn, and took off
toward home.

“I’ve always had it,” Daniel lied.

“You’ve had that gun since I met you?”

“Correct.”

“Where did you keep it?”

“Top of the closet. I didn’t tell you because I thought
you’d freak ... but you know what kind of life I lead, angel. These are the
tools of the trade.”

“Is it loaded?”

“No, honey, I was gonna choke him with it.” Daniel said, and
checked for cops in the rearview. Clear.

“Then who was that poor guy?”

“Poor guy? Right. He’s a skag baron named Savage Henry—”

“Oh, fuck you!” Echo said. “You always have to be so goddamn
clever! You’re not the only one that can read a book, remember?”

That was nice! Why don’t you tell her your dead
grandmother is crawling up your leg with a knife in her teeth!

“That was a joke, OK? A bad one. I ...” Daniel trailed off,
unsure of what to say. His hand went to the spot where she’d slapped him. His
head was a rolling terror. He felt weak and nauseous. He dug in his pockets for
his pills as he drove.

“What are you
into
, Daniel? It never used to be like
this.” Her anger collapsed and deflated her deadly gaze, diluting it with
pending tears.

“I’m sorry.” Daniel crunched the chalky pill between his
teeth. “I’ll tell you everything when it’s over. This is just something we have
to get through.” He spoke quietly, not really expecting a response.

Those words;

WE’RE COMING FOR YOU DANIEL

They rolled across his mind, burnt there, indelible.

Daniel realized that Echo had just said something to him,
and he hadn’t the slightest idea what it might have been.

“What?” The pill was slowly making it possible to think
again; now all he wanted was some water to rinse the bitterness from his mouth.

“I said I’m sorry for hitting you. I panicked, I guess.”

“Forget it.”

“What happened back there? Were you really going to shoot
him?”

“I don’t know,” Daniel said, and that pretty much killed the
conversation for the rest of the ride home. Echo sat as close to her door as
she could, wiping away the slow tears as they fell. Daniel smoked a cigarette
and tried to make the stranger in his head go away.