Sphinx returned, with Humpback and Black. Sphinx then went to the door and engaged in a whispered dialogue with Blind. The wheelers of the Sixth remained where they were. The walkers got up but also didn’t go anywhere. Then the walkers of the Second and Third assembled in the center of the floor. They held hands and formed a large circle. Then the wheelers were introduced into it, and then finally Black, Humpback, Lary, and the remaining Hounds. Every one of ours and of Birds was positioned so that he had members of other packs on both sides. Once the guys from the Sixth joined in, the circle grew to the size of a boxing ring. It looked silly, but was done very efficiently, as if the House held weekly drills in creating circles like this. I was marveling at the unusual spectacle, but then someone called me. Turned out I had to go and take my place as well.
“Wake up, will you,” Tabaqui hissed when I wheeled by him.
“Alexander hasn’t gone in either,” I said by way of an excuse.
Tabaqui gave me a withering look, pursed his lips, and turned away. I was stationed between Angel from the Third and Monkey from the Second. The former was intently studying something on the ceiling and yawning. The latter fidgeted, made faces, and smacked his lips. Angel’s hand barely touched mine, while Monkey now gripped my hand, now shook it, now almost pushed it away. I got the impression that neither one of them perceived me as a human being at that point. I was just a fragment of the chain. Nothing more.
Once the movement ceased, Pompey rose from the mat, stretched, and entered the circle, bobbing under a pair of clasped hands.
“Does it always happen like this? Like a kids’ game?” I whispered to Monkey.
He looked at me distractedly, made another face, and said that he had no idea what I was talking about.
Sphinx led Blind toward the circle. Blind then also went inside.
“Why this merry-go-round?” I asked Monkey again.
“What do you mean why? So that everyone can see properly, you fool! And so that nobody’s hands . . .”
Monkey didn’t finish. A collective cry made us startle and crane our necks. The chain broke. Pompey lay prostrate on the floor, kicking his legs and making strange bubbling noises. Sort of like a cooing dove.
What I saw next made me sick. Pompey was clutching at his throat, and between his red fingers there was a knife handle. I closed my eyes, and then heard everyone exhale in unison. That could only mean one thing. But I still waited, not able to make myself look again. When I did, Pompey wasn’t moving anymore. Just lying there, a sad bulk in a widening pool of blood. Not a single person among those sitting and standing around could have any doubts that he was dead.
The circle was still standing, even though no one was holding hands anymore. It was very quiet. We all looked at Pompey in silence.
I realized then that I was going to remember this for the rest of my life. The corpse on the glistening green paint, the track lights reflecting in the dark glass of the windows, and the silence. The silence of the place where too many people were silent.
Blind crouched down near Pompey, felt for the knife, and pulled it out. The wet noise almost made me throw up. I waited for the rising contents of my stomach to settle down a little, then turned the wheelchair around and dashed toward the doors. The only thought in my head was to leave this place as soon as I could.
I was speeding blindly down the corridor and definitely would have crashed into something at the very next turn if Tabaqui hadn’t caught up with me.
“Hey! Where are you going? Stop right there!”
He grabbed my wheelchair and forced me to stop.
“Smoker. Calm down. You’ve got to calm down,” he kept repeating.
I told him I was absolutely calm. He produced a flashlight from his backpack and we proceeded along. Very slowly.
Tabaqui was trembling and mumbling, “Not with me, barred from me, find yourself another skin, walk up the river, join with the moon, but never with me, not now and not soon . . .”
I laughed.
“Please stop with the crazy,” he said, “or we’ll have to slap your cheeks and pour water on you. And I don’t think anyone wants to do that at the moment.”
“What is it you want to do at the moment?” I said. “Lots of demands on your time?”
He didn’t answer.
And they all stared at me. The way people look at complete idiots.
Which was exactly what I was.
“Oh god!” I said. And laughed. And couldn’t stop myself. Tabaqui stopped and waited out my bout of mirth.
