The Devil in Silver

“And Coffee’s still dead.” Loochie spoke so evenly it was eerie.

Then Nurse Washburn arrived.

She waded through the patients. She’d finally unlocked the drawer. She carried a needle, full of the great immobilizer. Hearing Coffee’s name made Pepper remember his roommate. Coffee’s last moment. Pepper looked up. Kofi’s blood up there, on the ceiling. The nurse injected Dorry, in front of everyone. Then one orderly escorted her back to her room.

After that, the nurse went to her knees and pulled bandages from a shirt pocket and administered to Loochie’s scalp.

And at this moment, Pepper realized he had his chance.

The nurses’ station sat empty; the staff were all occupied. The patients had yet to filter back toward their rooms. Pepper and Sue, at the rear of the crowd, were suddenly invisible.

But it wouldn’t last.

Sue stood on her toes, one hand against Pepper’s forearm for balance, taking in what she could. Pepper pulled away from her grip. He touched the small of her back. She looked at him. He nodded toward Northwest 2. She looked back at the nurses’ station, at the patients clustered in the hall. She understood. Pepper put his hand out and Sue took it.

He walked her to his place.

29

THEY ENTERED HIS room. The lights were out. Only moonlight filtered in through the windows and clarified the space. Strange to come from the fight in Northwest 3 and step into this quiet room. When Pepper shut the door behind them, the distance seemed even greater. Their heart rates were still up. Their eyes still wide with surprise. So the two of them were out of place in here, too, at least for a moment. They stayed right at the lip of the room. They didn’t step in any farther yet. Sue raised her right hand and stuck out her pointer finger. She spun it in a little circle.

“That was crazy,” she said.

“So to speak,” Pepper added.

They both laughed because what they’d just seen was terrible and surprising, and those feelings had to come out. Then they stopped laughing just as abruptly. They stood in silence a little while.

Finally, Sue grabbed Pepper’s right thumb.

“This is nicer,” she said.

They were slowing down. Their shoulders loosened. Their jaws unclenched. They were finally ready. They walked farther into the room.

They reached the beds, but didn’t sit down. Sue let go of Pepper’s thumb, and ran her hands across the top sheet.

“It’s like we’re in a hotel,” she whispered.

He scooped her up, swayed her in his arms, and settled her onto the mattresses. The metal frames creaked, but they weren’t very loud. Pepper looked down at Sue. She shut her eyes.

“That’s much better,” she said.

He climbed on top of her. He kissed her on the forehead. He kissed each of her closed eyes. As his lips touched her face, he imagined a fire in his belly, growing and growing. And each time he kissed her, the heat traveled from his lips to her skin. The more the fire grew, the warmer his kisses became. He wanted to put her hand on his stomach so she could touch his hearth. When he finally kissed her lips, she rose up to meet him.

Her mouth full of embers, just like his.

They undressed each other. Not fast and wild, not tearing off stuff. All that would make too much noise. They had to be cautious. They were passionate, but could still see the chain-link fence outside his windows. They couldn’t forget where they were.

So they got off the bed and she undid the zipper of his pants. Slid the slacks down. He put one hand on her shoulder as he stepped out and kicked the pants away. He slid her sweater off and undid the buttons of her nightdress. She raised her arms and he pulled it over her head. Finally both were just in their underwear. Sue wasn’t wearing a bra.

Pepper pointed at her chest.

“I like those nipples,” he said.

She forgot herself and jumped on him. He spun around as if he couldn’t handle her weight. They fell back on the beds together. Now the frames made a powerful squeal. Much more noise than when he’d laid her on alone.

They stopped moving.

Both watched the bottom of the closed door and waited for shadows to appear. The specters of the staff. Pepper and Sue gave it a minute. An actual minute. She counted to sixty in a quiet whisper. But no one came.

Sue returned to climbing over Pepper’s body until those nipples he’d admired were right over his face. He kissed one while the other tickled his shoulder. Then he traded. He nipped at them very lightly.

“Do you have gums?” she whispered. “Or teeth?”

He bit her nipples harder. She wriggled with happiness.

He slid back on the beds now, using his elbows to move. And she slid off him so they lay side by side. They turned to each other and kissed again. He reached around and squeezed her thigh. Moved his hand up and felt her butt. Oh, that butt! He smacked it. The sound seemed hellaciously loud.

Stop.

His hand hung in midair.

They watched the door again.

Counted all the way to sixty, again.

Pepper brought his hand back down, lightly resting it on her thigh.