Tales of the City 08 - Mary Ann in Autumn

gave him a heavy-lidded look.
    “She didn’t know that when she dated him. He was just a shy guy who had a crush on her, and she felt sorry for him. They had dinner a few times, that’s all.”
    “How did she find out, then?”
    “Find out what?”
    “That he was a pedophile.”
    “Oh … she found kiddie porn in his room. Norman was in some of the pictures. He had one of those black bars over his eyes, but she could tell who it was. Plus, she recognized the little girl. They’d gone trick-or-treating together.”
    Ben frowned. “ Who’d gone trick-or-treating?”
    “Mary Ann and Norman and this kid.”
    “And she didn’t wonder what he was doing with this child?”
    “He was supposedly babysitting for some friends in the East Bay.”
    “Jesus. Did she call the police?”
    “Of course. But he was gone by the time they showed up.”
    “Gone from where?”
    “Barbary Lane. He didn’t even leave his room key with Anna. He just left on Christmas Eve and never came back.”
    “So he must’ve known that they knew about him, right?”
    “Oh, yeah … I’m sure.”
    For some reason, Michael didn’t sound entirely convinced about this, but Ben decided not to badger him about it further. “So when did this happen?”
    “Thirty-two years ago. The first year Mary Ann was in town. You were barely on the planet at that point.”
    Ben squeezed Michael’s arm in rebuke. “That doesn’t mean I’m not supposed to know about it.”
    “I know you think she’s a drama queen,” said Michael, “but she’s had some actual drama.”
    “Apparently,” said Ben.

Chapter 15
To Save Some Guy
    W ith the weekend came rain—or at least a drizzly mist—so Jake proposed they blow off the new science museum and stay home. Anna was chipper about it, insisting that all she needed on a day like this was to snuggle up in the new gazebo with a pot of Earl Grey tea and a box of ginger snaps. Jake would have much preferred the albino alligator and the living roof and the four-story rainforest, but he knew that Anna’s energy was lower than usual, so there was no point in braving the park in this shitty weather.
    He dragged a space heater into the gazebo and rolled down the plastic curtains before settling Anna in her chair with her Hudson Bay blanket. He was glad to see that the gazebo wasn’t leaking, since he’d built it himself a few months earlier. Anna was making a methodical show of appreciation, surveying the space like an astronaut checking her capsule before a flight. “Perfect,” she said. “I couldn’t ask for more.”
    Jake pulled up a chair next to her. “Warm enough?”
    “Oh … dear … before I forget … a young man came by yesterday when you were at work.”
    Jake felt tightening in his gut. “Oh, yeah?”
    “His name was Snow, I believe.”
    “Flake,” Jake muttered.
    “What, dear?”
    “His name was Jonah Flake, right?”
    “Yes! That’s it.” She rapped her knuckles comically against the side of her head, so as to reprimand her brain for its silly mistake. “He thought he had the wrong place until I told him I was your roommate. I hope I didn’t frighten him.”
    “Who cares?”
    “What, dear?”
    “He’s a Mormon. He’s trying to save me.”
    “How interesting.”
    “Correction: he’s trying to save some guy I haven’t even become yet.”
    Anna studied him for a moment, blinking her bleary blue eyes. “He thinks you’re gay, you mean? A gay man?”
    Jake grunted in the affirmative.
    “Well … isn’t that sort of encouraging?”
    “C’mon. If he wants to fix a gay man, what the hell’s he gonna think about a trans man? I haven’t got time for that kind of shit.”
    “Was this the boy from the floating island?”
    “Yeah. Why?”
    “Well, he seems to like you. He said to tell you he was sorry.”
    Jake said nothing; there was nothing to say.
    “He looked like he meant it. He looked bereft, in fact.”
    He shouldn’t have snapped at her, but he did. “Anna, did you hear what I said? He’s trying to save me.”
    Taking her time about it, Anna tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear. “Or trying to be saved. Most of us are doing one or the other.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “I have no idea, and you won’t either unless you call him back.”
    It was typical of Anna to toss out something mysterious like that, then run away before she was forced to explain herself.
    Jake folded his arms with a sigh. “Would you like your cocoa now, Your Majesty?”
    Anna