Inconstant Moon - Default Font Edition (24 page)

“Was it just the two of you?”

“No, she was watching her DVDs with Boris when Amelia and I came in after the Branagh Hamlet at the Kingsway. So it was just the four of us sitting around the common room, you know?”

“So, you're saying you never dated Natasha?”

Eric shakes his head. “No. Nothing like that. Natasha was with Boris, and until recently I was seeing Elsie.”

The low whistle from behind startles Eric, rudely reminding him of Detective Wolfrom leaning against the door back there. He'd forgotten Wolfrom. It occurs to him that that is probably the point. Eric swivels around to face him. “So you hang out back there to pounce on inconsistencies? Keep the bad guys from taking it on the lam? You're the bad cop, right?”

Wolfrom just looks at him. Lewis bites her tongue so the kid won't see her laugh. Problem is Wolfie looks like he might crack up at any moment. Lewis can't let the subject control the interview, she has to get back the lead.

“How long have Boris and Natasha been together?”

“Pretty much from day one, I think.”

“And were they getting along well, would you say?”

“Wait a minute, you can't pin this on Boris. No way.”

“We're not looking to 'pin it on' anyone. We're looking for facts.” Lewis looks at him. “Can you vouch for Boris? Can you say you were with him every minute of the afternoon?”

“Well, no, but that isn't fair.”

“How about you. Can anyone vouch for your own whereabouts yesterday afternoon

“I was in a lecture for part of it.”

Wolfrom asks, “And would anyone testify to that?”

“Am I a suspect?”

“Certainly, until cleared, yes, you are. Maybe we can start with why you broke up with your girlfriend.”

Oscar comes into the computer lab, settling at his usual machine between Maggie and Adam.

Maggie looks up, “Look at what the cat dragged in. And here I thought you'd tossed your alarm clock out the window again this morning.”

Oscar shakes his head. He leans in and Maggie inclines closer to hear as he says, “I spent the last hour pouring coffee into young Jake. He had a disturbing tale to tell. It seems that Natasha was brutally attacked yesterday afternoon.”

“Natasha? Oh no.” Maggie covers her mouth.

“Seems she was only found because Liz led out the cavalry to search for her.”

Maggie swivels around and psssts Kate and Krystal, who both roll closer for a mid-class confab.

“What's up?” asks Kate softly.

“One of the girls in my dorm was attacked yesterday.”

Adam leans in to listen as well.

Kate frowns, “Who was it?”

Maggie says, “A frosh named Natasha.”

“Not Bo's Natasha?” asks Kate.

Krystal gasps, “You mean the chick with the hay maker?”

“Same and same.”

“Ohmigod, what happened?”

Oscar says grimly, “She was bashed in the head and raped.”

“That would explain the police presence.” says Adam.

Krystal swivels toward him. “Yeah cops were crawling all over the parking lot when I got off the bus, but they wouldn't give a straight answer why they were here. 'Procedure'was all they'd say.”

“I was told 'routine'. There was crime scene tape across the near parking lot entrances this morning.” Adam adds, “ Those of us who drive in had to park in the overflow lot and hike back. There were security guards, and police officers throughout the woods.”

“Oh that's so scary.”

“I'll bet it was that Boris.” says Krystal.

Kate shakes her head. “I don't think so. Nick works out with Bo, he's a really nice guy.”

Maggie says, “Besides, Boris and Natasha are friends.”

“Natasha wasn't very friendly when she clocked him yesterday.” says Krystal.

Oscar shakes his head. “That was just friends having an argument. I hardly think rape would be the result.”

Krystal asks, “Never heard of date rape? Or marital rape?”

Oscar looks thoughtful, “I stand corrected.”

Maggie asks, “Is she okay?”

“I only know she's in hospital. Jake was so exhausted he hardly knew up from down. They were out searching whilst we watched House last night. That's why Jake missed the meeting.”

“That's terrible.” says Adam.

Kate asks, “So she was out there for hours?”

Oscar says, “Yes, Kate, she was hit on the head.”

Kate says, “They would have had to warm her up and give her fluids if she was suffering from exposure.”

“I'll bet it was Boris,” says Krystal. “Any guy can become a wack job if he sucks up enough steroids.”

“Boris power lifts but he doesn't use steroids.” says Kate.

Krystal laughs. “Don't they all?”

Kate shakes her head. “No. They don't. Nick works with weights when he has the time and he doesn't use steroids. If he'd seen any sign in Bo I'm sure he'd have said something to me.”

Maggie says, “That's terrible about Natasha.”

“What does one do in a situation like this?” asks Adam.

“Do?” Maggie frowns at Adam. “You mean . . . like socially?”

Adam nods. “Yes. Would chocolate be appropriate?”

“Krystal snaps, “It's not like a date, Adam. That's twisted.”

Adam looks uncomfortable, “I didn't really know her.”

“Not 'didn't,'Adam, 'don't'. Natasha's not dead and gone, she's still here.” snaps Krystal.

Adam blanches. “I didn't mean . . . I just thought we could let her know we supported her.” mutters Adam.

“Yeah,” Kate says, “we should do something like that. That's very thoughtful, Adam. Maybe flowers, or a plant maybe?”

“A couple of girls got raped in my high school,” Maggie says.

Kate asks her, “Did they ever get the guy? Or guys?”

“Nope, never did.”

Krystal says, “That's awful. What'd the girls do?”

“Both of them left school. I know one of them went out west. All I know is I never saw either of them again.”

“That's rough.”

“You think Natasha will drop out?”

Genuinely perplexed, Adam asks, “I don't understand, why would they leave school?”

“They were probably afraid.” says Krystal.

“Especially if the guy wasn't caught,” adds Oscar.

Maggie nods. “That's about it. You don't know who to trust. And I gotta tell you, it sure didn't help male female relations at school.”

“Weren't you and Stu high school sweethearts?”

Maggie smiles. “Yup.”

“So how did you know you could trust him?”

“It helped that the first rape happened when we were on our first date. I knew it wasn't him, I could trust him. I wondered about other guys, though.”

“That must have been hard on everyone.”

Maggie nods. “It was. You know how when you first meet people you check them out? At our school every girl had to decide if she thought the guy was a rapist before even considering him as a boyfriend. The worst was nobody even knew for sure if it was somebody from school or not. Didn't make any difference, though. All the guys were suspect.”

Adam says, “But that isn't fair.”

“No it's not, but that's what happened, Adam.”

“Like it was fair to the girls?” says Krystal. “Bad enough they were attacked but then having to drop out, too. They didn't do anything wrong. They were the victims and it screwed up their lives even worse.”

“I don't know about you,” says Maggie, “but this attack scares the hell out of me.”

“Me too,” agrees Krystal. “We won't be safe until they catch the guy.”

Oscar says, “You do realize how naïve that is?”

“No, Oz, what do you mean?”

“There are always rapists and murderers and thieves, but we go through life not even thinking about them until something like this happens. People only think defensively when it's too bloody late. If we'd been on guard before it might not have happened.”

Kate says, “Illogical or not, now is when I'm scared.”

There's a loud bit of suggestive throat clearing from behind Adam and the group turns guiltily to face Professor Gates, who is looking fairly thunderous.

“Excuse me, Maggie, but would you mind sharing what's so interesting with the rest of the class?”

Maggie flushes, but rises to her feet. “Actually I do, but it's important that everyone knows so we can all take precautions.”

Gates is floored by Maggie's unexpected response. “What?”

Maggie continues more loudly so everyone can hear. “Everyone should know that a frosh from my residence was attacked on campus yesterday.”

There's a silence as Professor Gates looks stunned and the rest of the class takes in the disturbing information. Clearly even the Christie faculty has not yet been told of the incident.

“What happened?” Gates asks quietly.

“She was attacked and raped and left unconscious in the woods. If she hadn't been found she might have died.”

Professor Gates looks stunned. But she knows she's lost the class for the day.

“Who was it, Maggie?” someone calls out.

“Natasha.”

“No way!”

Someone else adds, “Goddamn I'll bet it was Boris.”

Kate says, “Not Boris.”

“Why not Boris?” mutters Krystal.

Kate replies, “Because Boris has been in my house.”

The stunned silence gives way to muttering, both general and specific outpourings of outrage, fear and anger. Little discussions of safety precautions spring up throughout the class.

Oscar has been typing, and he interrupts the growing pandemonium to announce, “I'm just pulling together a quick and dirty web page. It isn't very pretty but to start I've popped on a few rape prevention links, and a few tips.”

Gates interrupts. “Set it up as part of the ComSci wiki, Oz. Then anyone who logs in can add to it. Maybe Maggie might want to start a forum, for example.”

“Include police contact information when we get it too,” adds Kate.

Krystal says, “Read out a few of the main tips Oz.”

“Be observant. Avoid walking alone. Keep to well lighted areas. Avoid shortcuts through parks, vacant lots and the like.”

“And don't turn your back on Boris.” Krystal mutters. Kate shoots her a look.

Gates nods, “Be observant is probably most important. Try to use the buddy system.”

“It's posted on the wiki so pass the word around. This is for everyone.”

“Good job. Thanks Oz.” says Gates. “I think that's it for today. Everyone please try to stay safe.”

Jake comes into the common room and sniffs ostentatiously. He glares at Jose flaked out on the red sofa holding a burning roach in his hand.

Jose grins foolishly. “Hey there kid. How's it hanging?”

Jake comes in and sits in the arm chair, attempting to stare down Jose.

Doesn't work.

Jose says, “You look pretty rough, man. Want a hit?” pinching the stub in a roach clip he proffers it to Jake. Jake looks at the offering with dismay. Obviously subtlety has no hope of working.

“Jose, you can't smoke pot in here. We'll get in trouble.”

Jose shakes his head. “Doesn't make sense man. If a man can't smoke up at home, where can he?”

“Nowhere. Smoking pot is against the law in Canada. It's not legal anywhere, home or not. And think about it, if you get caught you could get kicked out of school. All it would take is for a porter or the don to wander in and you're cooked. We'd all get in trouble, too.”

“Aw, sorry Jake.” Jose puts the butt out in a portable ash tray, and snaps it shut. “I've just been having a crappy day, man, and I just wanted to get level, you know.”

“What do you usually do?”

“I usually go smoke up in the woods but it's crawling with cops. And it's fucking cold out there.” He laughs ruefully. “They warned me about Canadian winters but I didn't really get it.”

In spite of himself Jake laughs.”I hate to tell you, but this isn't winter, it's fall. Winter is much colder.”

“Are you shittin'me? That isn't winter out there?”

“Sorry. The way it works is that once we get used to this weather, that's when it gets really cold. But it really isn't so bad, you might even get to like snow.”

“It gets worse? Oh man. I can't believe it. And I have to go outside to smoke? Isn't there anywhere warm to go?”

“Not really. It's even illegal to smoke cigarettes indoors in public spaces, and they're legal.” Jake thinks a minute, then says, “If it's gonna be a problem for you maybe you ought to think about getting an off campus apartment.”

“Maybe I should. Man, I wish I'd a known.”

“Better take it outside there, Jose.”

Jake and Jose look over and see Boris padding blearily through the common room on the way to the kitchen. Suddenly Jake looks a little queasy.

“Why is the campus crawling with cops?” asks Jose.

“Because Natasha got attacked yesterday. I was out searching for her half the night.”

“Man, I'm sorry. I didn't know.”

Suddenly towering over Jake, the only colour in his face made by black circles around his eyes, Boris asks, “What happened to Natasha?”

“Somebody attacked her in the woods.”

“Is she OK?”

“She's in the hospital.” Looking at the thunderous expression on Bo's face Jake isn't sure if it would be safer to tell him or not. He takes a deep breath and realizes there isn't a choice. He has to tell. “She was raped, Boris.”

Boris sags, “Oh God. Did you see her? How was she?”

“She was unconscious. I came home to try and get some sleep but I couldn't, so I tried going to class, and I couldn't do that either. Liz and Ethan stayed at the hospital hoping to see her when she wakes up. They haven't come back yet.”

Dropping to a sitting position on the floor Boris buries his face in his hands, shaking with heavy sobs.

Jake and Jose exchange awkward glances, wordlessly deciding the best course of action is withdrawal.

Adam is coming into the cafeteria just as Barbie and her annoying friend come out.

Isn't Barbie ever alone?

Adam wants so desperately to talk to her. All right all right, he's got to try anyway. Get under control. Deep breath.

“Hello, Barbie. How's your computer handling Ubuntu?”

“Oh, hi, uh, Alan, it's doing just great. You have a magic touch!” Barbie bestows a million dollar smile and then she's gone.