What Passes For Normal

Chapter 28

After dropping Jello and C. J. off at C. J.'s house, Teddy drove across the Johnson Street Bridge to Vic West to check and see if Darwin was at Yvonne's. Yvonne told him over her building's intercom that she hadn't heard from Darwin in a couple of weeks.

So that was another waste of time.

He didn't get home until nearly 8:00. It was so dark it felt like midnight. The house was much colder than usual. He was about to take off his coat but thought better of it. As he was turning up the heat on the front hall thermostat, he noticed the curtains in the living room moving as if the window was open. Weird, he thought, and then froze in place. Had someone broken in? Was Kodi back? He listened anxiously for any sounds from inside the house. He heard nothing but the rain outside.

He went to close the window and saw that it wasn't actually open. It was broken. Shards of glass had spilled in onto the floor. The hole in the window wasn't big enough for someone to climb through, so he relaxed a bit. But why would someone do something like this? He started to gather up the biggest pieces of glass, then he spotted a large black rock on the floor near the leg of the coffee table. Someone had thrown a big rock through the window. Teddy had a pretty good idea who.

He went to pick it up, but caught himself. Kodi or one of his friends did this and the police should know about it. This is evidence, he thought. He went to the kitchen and got a clear plastic zip-lock baggie from a drawer. He turned the baggie inside out and slipped it over his hand to pick up the rock. He carefully folded the bag back over the evidence and as he did he noticed flecks of red on the rock's rough surface. Blood? No, it was crayon or coloured pencil and made a letter D. There was an A and an R, then what looked like a V. Teddy turned the rock around and saw the letters I and N. The V was actually a W, he thought. DARWIN.

It made no sense! Darwin might be mad at him, but why would she put her name on a rock and throw it through the window? It was completely bizarre. Would crystal meth make someone do that?

He went to the kitchen and got some duct tape from the tool drawer and a couple of dark green heavy-duty garbage bags from a box under the sink. He finished cleaning up the broken glass then taped one of the bags to the inside of the window frame, then went out onto the porch to stick the other bag to the outside of the window, hoping that would keep the house a bit warmer until he could get someone to come and replace the window.

Carefully sticking long strips of duct tape on all sides of the window frame, he kept a cautious eye on the rainy, dark street in case the rock thrower was still around. He didn't see anyone but, as he finished the window, something on the porch caught his eye. There was another rock. This one had apparently missed a window but it left a gouge in the wood siding. Teddy went in for another baggie and sealed this new rock inside. Back in the house he looked more closely at the second rock. Like the first one, it was dark and rough-surfaced. There were red letters on this one too: S, S, O, O, O, O.

What the fuck? Teddy thought. "Ssoooo?" What was that supposed to mean? This made even less sense than the first rock!

He looked more closely. The first S had some marks around it. Was that meant to be a vertical line through the S? A dollar sign? So maybe the second S was actually a 5?

$50000.

Darwin. $50,000.

• • • •

Cold...

Can't see... where the hell am I?

Why can't I see or move? Why can't I open my mouth? Something's holding me and it won't let me go... My head is throbbing, bitter taste of puke in my mouth... Body hurts too, and my throat is so dry... What's happening to me?