Page 21

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Hotel California

Leaf waited on the porch, arms tightly wrapped around himself, trembling as he stared at the door.

Fuck, where is Nathan?

The house was dark, but that didn’t mean much to Nathan. As a photographer, he spent most of his time in the basement or in the darkroom anyway. Something caught Leaf’s attention in his peripheral vision, and Leaf turned his head toward the neighboring property.

In the warm glow of the living room, a family gathered around a board game. The little boy was rolling the dice, grinning proudly. The mother lovingly stroked his head and smiled. Next to her, a girl gestured wildly, while the father listened attentively.

Leaf felt a pang in his chest that radiated down to his stomach. He wrapped his arms even tighter around himself, breathing unevenly as cramps started shooting through his muscles.

It wasn’t the first time he had watched the family next door. Every time he came to Nathan’s place, they were gathered in the living room, as if desperate to prove to him that there were normal, happy families.

Sickening.

“Are you watching the Bradys again?”

Leaf spun around in surprise. Nathan hobbled up the porch stairs with his lame leg and jangled a set of keys.

“Sorry, got stuck in traffic. Were we supposed to meet?” Grinning, Nathan turned on the porch light and unlocked the door. When he glanced up at Leaf, he grimaced. “Dude, you look like shit.”

Leaf ran a shaky hand over his mouth and hesitantly scanned his surroundings.

“Don’t worry. Daisy’s in the backyard.”

“The Bradys?” Leaf’s voice was no more than a whisper.

“It was a TV series. You don’t know it?”

Leaf shook his head and followed Nathan into the house.

“I have no idea why I know it.” Nathan shrugged and limped to a side table, where he sorted through the mail. “It was a TV series from the seventies. Happy family and all that shit. There was a remake at some point.”

“Nate, I … Have you heard from Diego?”

Nathan set the letters down. “No, still nothing. The guy seems to have vanished into thin air. I’ve asked around. No one knows anything.”

“Shit, man.” Leaf was starting to feel at a loss.

“What was Diego’s sister’s name again? You used to hang out with her, didn’t you.”

“Ariana.”

“Exactly! Ariana. A real hottie. Have you tried reaching out to her?”

“Of course! I called her, texted her. Nothing.”

“And are you sure it’s not because you dumped her?”

“That was too long ago.” Leaf shook his head, perplexed. He didn’t understand what this meant. What could be more important to Diego than his business?

“Don’t worry, I got this,” Nathan said, patting him on the shoulder as he passed by and opened the door to the basement. “Come on. I guess you’re here for something else too, right.”

Leaf followed him, waiting every other step. The way down was more strenuous for Nathan than going up.

“Others have lost their legs over there,” was his response to stupid questions. “At least I still have all my limbs.”