City of Night

like mothers do, and they don’t miss you when you leave.”
    Vicky closes her eyes, as autistics sometimes do when there is just too much of everything to process, a daunting amount of stuff coming in.
    She is not, however, an autistic. She is a mother.
    Randal is surprised that he himself is coping so well with all these new developments, and talking so smooth. His mind seems to be healing.
    Vicky’s appearance, however, is troubling. Her face is drawn. She looks ill.
    “Are you ill?” he asks.
    “I’m so scared.”
    “Stop being scared, okay? Randal wants you to be his mother. All right? Now you can’t be scared of your own son, Randal.”
    The most amazing thing happens: Tears spill down Vicky’s cheeks.
    “That is so sweet,” says Randal. “You’re a very nice mother. We will be happy. Randal will call you Mother, not Vicky anymore. When is your birthday, Mother?”
    Instead of answering, she sobs. She is so emotional. Mothers are sentimental.
    “You should bake a cake for your birthday,” he says. “We’ll have a celebration. Randal knows about celebrations, hasn’t ever been to one, but knows.”
    She hangs her head, still sobbing, face wet with tears.
    “Randal’s first birthday is eight months away,” he informs her. “Randal is only four months old.”
    He returns the remainder of the strawberry-banana ice cream to the freezer. Then he stands beside the table, gazing down at her.
    “You are the secret of happiness, Mother. Randal doesn’t need Arnie to tell him. Randal is going to visit his brother now.”
    She raises her head, eyes open wide. “Visit Arnie?”
    “Randal needs to find out are two brothers okay or is that one brother too many.”
    “What do you mean, one brother too many? What’re you talking about? Why do you want to see Arnie?”
    He winces at the rush of her words, at the urgency of them; they seem to buzz in his ears. “Don’t talk so fast. Don’t ask questions. Randal asks questions. Mother answers.”
    “Leave Arnie alone.”
    “Randal thinks there is enough happiness here for two, but maybe Arnie doesn’t think so. Randal needs to hear Arnie say two brothers are okay.”
    “Arnie hardly ever talks,” she said. “Depending on his mood, he might not even tune in to you. He zones out. It’s like the castle is real and he’s inside it, locked away. He might not really hear you.”
    “Mother, you are talking too loud, too much, too fast. Loud-fast talk sounds ugly.”
    He crosses toward the door to the hall.
    She raises her voice: “Randal, untie me. Untie me right this minute! ”
    “You aren’t acting like a nice mother now. Shouting scares Randal. Shouting is not happiness.”
    “Okay. All right. Slow and quiet. Please, Randal. Wait. Please untie me.”
    At the threshold of the hallway, he glances back at her. “Why?”
    “So I can take you to see Arnie.”
    “Randal can find him all right.”
    “Sometimes he hides. He’s very difficult to find when he hides. I know all his favorite hiding places.”
    Staring at her, he senses deceit. “Mother, are you going to try to hurt Randal?”
    “No. Of course not. Why would I hurt you?”
    “Sometimes mothers hurt their children. There’s a whole Web site about it—www.homicidalmothers.com.”
    Now that he thinks about it, he realizes that the poor children never suspect what’s coming. They trust their mom. She says she loves them, and they trust her. Then she chops them up in their beds or drives them in a lake and drowns them.
    “Randal sure hopes you’re a good mother,” he says. “But maybe you need to answer a lot more questions before Randal unties you.”
    “All right. Come back. Ask me anything.”
    “Randal needs to talk to Arnie first.”
    She says something, but he tunes out her meaning. He steps into the hallway.
    Behind him, Mother is talking fast again, faster than ever, and then she is shouting.
    Randal Six has been in this living room previously. When Mother first regained consciousness, she chattered at him so hard that he had come here to calm himself. Now here he is again, calming himself.
    He hopes that he and Mother don’t already have a dysfunctional relationship.
    After a minute or two, when he is ready, he goes in search of Arnie. He wonders whether his new brother will prove to be Abel or Cain, selfless or selfish. If he is like Cain, Randal Six knows what to do. It will be self-defense.
     
     
     

Chapter 60
     
    Carson parked in her driveway, shut off the