Cut and Run 4 - Divide and Conquer

door at his side opened up, and Ty took his elbow gently.
    “Watch the curb when you step down. It‟ll come up fast,” he mumbled,
    sounding as if he was looking down at the ground as he spoke.
    Zane turned in the seat and set one foot down. He could feel the
    soft decline of the curb and shifted his foot a little farther forward
    before pushing himself out of the seat to stand. Ty got him onto the
    sidewalk, gave him a pat on the shoulder, then removed his hand from
    Zane‟s elbow. Zane heard Ty talking briefly to the cabbie.
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    Shifting carefully, Zane moved further away from the car and
    waited. He could tell by the familiar smell of Italian restaurants in Little
    Italy that they were at his apartment. He also knew which way the front
    door to the apartment was, but he didn‟t know how far away it was.
    And there were steps and a railing and a bench and some broken
    concrete in the sidewalk and what if it was almost garbage day and
    there was a trash can at the curb? Zane groaned. His battered brain was
    channeling Ty.
    “Here,” Ty said, surprising Zane out of his circling thoughts. Ty
    took Zane‟s hand and pressed something into it. “Use that,” he
    instructed as he held Zane‟s hand around a curved wooden grip.
    Zane realized it was the umbrella he kept beside the door to his
    apartment. He frowned and curled his fingers around the handle,
    moving it slightly in front of him. It definitely wasn‟t a cane, but he
    figured if he moved it in front of him it would hit something before he
    did. “Good idea,” he murmured.
    “I know,” Ty responded easily, a smile evident in his voice. He
    took Zane‟s elbow and turned him. “Take your time, shuffle your feet
    when you‟re not certain. If you hesitate or anticipate, you‟re more
    liable to trip over nothing,” he advised.
    Zane grimaced. “Right,” he murmured as he took a breath and
    took a couple steps. He could feel the hard surface under his feet, so at
    least he was on the walk. Although he felt like a complete idiot, he
    swung the umbrella carefully in front of him, the end down around his
    knees. When he hit something metal that clanged, he stopped in
    surprise, trying to remember what it could be.
    “Just the railing,” Ty said at his side. “Steps,” he added as his grip
    tightened on Zane‟s elbow.
    Zane still paused. “How far? Step up now?”
    “Yes,” Ty answered curtly. “Kick out with your toes to find it.”
    Zane lifted his foot, kicked, finding the front of the step, and then
    he put his foot on it, somewhat surprised when it worked. He repeated
    the motion two more times and stopped. “That‟s all, right?”
    “Yep,” Ty answered, and he let go of Zane‟s arm. The sound of
    the keys in the door followed, and the door squeaked as it opened. Ty
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    took his arm again, but he didn‟t pull him. “Come on,” he instructed.
    “Don‟t drag your feet, there‟s a doorjamb.”
    “You‟ve done this before, haven‟t you?” Zane said, following the
    directions and getting inside without a problem.
    “When I was little,” Ty answered in a softer voice. “We‟ll use the
    umbrella until I can find something better.”
    Zane frowned again and placed one hand against the wall he
    knew was to his right side. “No one in your family is blind.”
    “My great-grandmother. She died when I was fourteen.”
    Zane nodded and started moving, letting his hand skim along the
    wall. He knew he had several feet until he got to a bookshelf. He was
    on the main drag through the apartment. It led to the kitchen in front of
    him. He was in the living room, and after the bookshelves there was a
    hallway to the right with four doors: two bedrooms, a closet, and a
    bathroom. He didn‟t really have much furniture, so what trouble could
    he get into?
    “At least I know where stuff is in my own house,” he murmured
    as he walked until his hand met the wood of the shelves.
    “That‟s kind of the idea, sport,” Ty murmured from somewhere in
    front of him.
    Zane deliberately closed his eyes to visualize the couch and
    chairs, and then he swept the space in front of him before taking two
    careful steps to stop right behind the sofa. He trailed his fingers over it
    as he walked around the side, and with a sigh of relief he sank down
    onto it.
    Ty patted him on the head as soon as he was down, like he would
    a dog who‟d performed a trick correctly. His voice was the only way