Pendulum — chapter twenty-three

“Abrupt messages”

Nick Duhigg
Jul 20, 2017 · 4 min read

Bailey’s house looked intimidating after the last time Eve had been there. It wasn’t because there seemed to be more furniture on the lawn than in the house, or because the discarded paint cans were serving as makeshift pot plants — but because no good could come from going in. She was either going to be confronted by Bailey’s parents — who had been embarrassed the other night — or by Bailey himself, whom she had to somehow tell that she had to leave.

As she walked across the grass, a crash from inside the house stopped her. Gathering her composure, she made herself keep walking. She didn’t have time to stall any longer. Knocking on the front door, she waited for what felt like an eternity.

The door opened and Elizabeth was standing in front of her, paint roller in hand.

“Eve, hello. What can we do for you?” she said in an unexpectedly polite voice.

“Hi, Elizabeth. I’ll get right to it. Is Bailey here?” she asked anxiously.

“No, sorry, he isn’t. We haven’t seen him since yesterday when his door slam chipped the paint,” she said, inspecting the flakes around the doorframe.

“So, you don’t know where he is?”

“No idea,” she said, with a level of disinterest in her voice that Eve found startling.

“Is he okay?” Eve asked desperately.

“Why wouldn’t he be? He doesn’t seem to have anything to worry about any more.” Eve hesitated at this abrupt answer, unsure how to react.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” she said. It was all she could come up with. As she began to walk away, more of the defiance she had been building up over the last few days came over her. She forced herself to stop and turn back to Elizabeth. She knew she had to say something.

“You have a very special son, Mrs Nichols. I hope you know that.” Elizabeth stopped and a very strange calm came over her face. It was as if she was totally hollow on the inside; like she had accepted the loss of both children and it was now time to move on.

“And we used to have a very special daughter,” she said, closing the door behind her.

Eve struggled to get Elizabeth’s comment out of her mind — it was so blunt. But she had to continue on. She had to find Bailey, and after scouring a few places around town she headed for the mall next in her search.

But she couldn’t get those callous words off her mind. She remained mystified how distant Elizabeth seemed about her own son. She couldn’t fathom how much pain she had gone through losing Lucy, but it was almost as if she wished Bailey had been lost with her. Eve tried to forget about it, and instead focused on her task at hand. She desperately needed to talk to him. She phoned him again and again, but he still wasn’t answering. Like before, it seemed like he didn’t want to be found. Eve knew something had to be up.

It was then that her fortunes changed. Walking the main stretch of the mall, she could see Ethan. He was sitting exactly where she had seen them both the other day — in the same chair at the same coffee shop. He was once again enjoying an elaborate-looking coffee and had his head buried in the newspaper. Eve hurriedly made her way over and snatched away the stock market section he was perusing. She could tell straight away he was hiding something.

“Eve. Hi,” he said defensively.

“You know where he is, don’t you?” Eve knew she sounded abrupt and rude, but she didn’t have time for formalities. “Look, I can tell something’s up. What’s happened? Tell me,” she pleaded.

“I can’t. I’m sorry.” Eve knew Ethan was just protecting his friend. “He was here earlier, but you’ve missed him. He just needs to be alone. He needs to think about a few things. I really am sorry.” Eve dropped her head, knowing she was not going to get anything out of Ethan, and respecting that enough to not push it.

As a waitress walked past her, Eve put a hand on her arm and stopped her.

“Sorry, may I borrow this?” Without waiting for a reply, Eve snatched the waitress’s notepad and pen from her grasp. Eve quickly scribbled a note, tore it off, and handed the pad and pen back to the waitress, who gave Eve a huffy eye-roll. She folded the note in half twice and held it out to Ethan.

“I have to go back to the city tomorrow. Can you please just give him this?” Ethan hesitated and then gave Eve a reassuring nod.

“Yeah, okay. I can do that,” he said, taking the note from her.

“Thanks. Look, I have to go. Thank you,” Eve repeated, rushing off. She had no time to waste.


Copyright © 2017 Nick Duhigg

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