Evoking the paranoid tension of Rosemary's Baby and the unnerving atmosphere of the cult horror film Jacob's Ladder, The Cracks in the Labyrinth is a disturbing psychological thriller set in present-day Caracas, where the government has devolved int...
Why is the main door open? Adam asked himself. If that plumber copied my keys last night, maybe he did the same with —
"Lili?"
No one answered.
"Lili?"
Adam placed his hand on the table next to the couch to help himself up. As he got to his feet, his phone ended up on the floor. Still no charge.
"Lili?" he said with a hint of despair in his voice.
"There are arepas on the frying pan!"
"Where are you?"
"Eat. We are already late."
The realization that the morning was almost gone pierced Adam's chest. To get his PC back, he'd have to hurry. His hand reached for the sweatshirt in the armchair. Oh, God! It was wet. Adam screwed up his face in disgust; his sneakers were worse than the sweater. This has to be what slipping your feet into the carcasses of two small animals feels like.
"Lili, what time is it?"
Adam heard her laugh.
"Don't you have like a gazillion watches on your arm?"
"Only four," Adam muttered. He didn't let anyone know how many wristwatches he wore every day. It was his promise. No one else had to know about it. No one else would understand it.
"Hey, Mr. Comedian, do you want your pills?"
This can't be, Adam thought, hurrying outside. He didn't have to cross the hall to confirm his suspicion.
"What are you doing in my place?"
Lili was going through his closet. She had a half-open backpack on her shoulders filled with Adam's clothes, including a pair of running shoes. She held in her right hand a wad of cash he'd hidden that the fake plumber hadn't found the night before; her left fingers were almost touching his emergency stash of antidepressants.
"You were sleeping like a corpse," said Lili.
"What?"
She noticed his face was all suspicion and smiled, trying to lighten the mood.
"I tried to wake you up, but nothing happened. I got scared," Lili waited for a few seconds to see if Adam would say something. Once the silence grew heavier, she put the backpack on the desk. "Last night, the storm swung the balcony door open, and this morning you looked like you had taken a shower with your clothes on ... You slept through that! You were so tired I thought—"
"You thought it would be a good idea to scavenge what I have left?"
"You know what?" The smile fell from her face. "FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE!"
Adam wasn't expecting that. None of the women in his life were prone to yell. Not even Bianca, whose opinions clashed with his more often than not, had shouted at him with such rage. At least not in that same visceral 'I-might-kill-you' kind of way. Sure. He'd had nasty arguments with his grandmother, his friends from college, and Evi, but none of those had escalated this fast.
"Sorry?"
"Yes, you should be sorry," Lili came closer to Adam and threw the cash to his feet. "Maybe the plumber thing was my fault. Cool! I fucked up! But I offered you my couch, cooked you breakfast, and when I saw you all wet and half-dead, I thought, 'Hey! He said he didn't want to go back to his shitty apartment ever again; I'll go get him some clothes.'" She pointed at the backpack. "Like I'd steal this crap."
Adam couldn't believe her outburst: her voice was raw, and she was trembling; her eyes filled with tears of frustration.
"Okay, okay," Adam's gaze went to the floor. "You're right."
"You should thank — What did you say?"
"You are right. I was rude. I'm sorry."
Lili looked puzzled at this. She crossed her arms over her chest and opened her mouth several times, struggling to find the right words. Any words.
"Is this an apology?"
"Yeah."
"A man is apologizing to me?"
"Yeah."
"A man?"
"Last I checked, but I haven't been to the bathroom since I woke up."
She raised her eyebrows.
"And let me guess, you promise you won't behave like an idiot ever again?"
"That I can't promise. Will all the Plagues of Egypt be inflicted upon me in one night again?" Adam asked. "It's not easy to turn that frown upside down when God has it against you."
By the time Lili had finished wiping the tears from her face, she was smiling once more.
"Mr. Comedian."
Adam froze. It was becoming evident that laughter came as easily to her as raging anger. Is she bipolar? He couldn't remember seeing someone with mood swings like these.
"Well, these last twenty-four hours have been a cruel joke," Adam admitted, diffusing the tension.
Lili picked up the backpack and the money on the floor to give it back to Adam. Without saying another word, she went back to her kitchen, saying that she could eat a horse.
"Your nephew was here earlier, by the way," said Lili a few minutes later as they started eating breakfast.
"Nephew?"
"A boy. Around thirteen. Looks like you."
"Dario?"
"Yup. That's the one. You talked about him on Mother's Day, right? Your nephew."
"No. He's my brother."
"I could have sworn he was your nephew. Anyways..." Lili shrugged and cut an arepa open to spread some butter in it. Before her first bite, she turned on the TV and muted it with the remote control next to her cup of coffee. "I was worried about you."
Adam, who was already wearing a dry pair of jeans and was putting on a clean sweatshirt, smiled.
"Because I was robbed or because someone tried to run me over with a car?"
"No and no. That can happen to anyone before breakfast in the glorious Caracas," said Lili. "I'm talking about the audio file."
To be continued...
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