Baptism in Blood(32)
“And?”
“There’s a thing called Dorothy L. It’s about mystery stories. Sometimes I talk to people on that, too.”
“And?”
Tibor looked down at the screen again. It was glowing, just like computer screens glowed in science fiction movies. Under the harsh light of the overhead, it looked too oddly, too intensely blue. Tibor looked enormously tired. He was a small man, wiry and much too thin. Years of living badly fed and badly treated had taken their toll on him. Gregor could see the lines in the sides of his face, deep and straight, and the white-skinned scars that wove their way through them. Tibor’s face always looked, to Gregor, as if it should hurt him. Tibor’s body always looked as if it had been wrung out like a piece of laundry by a giant’s hand, and never quite unwound again.
“Who else do you communicate with on that thing?” Gregor asked again.
Tibor’s shoulders gave a mighty shrug. “Yes, yes,” he said. “There are here other people who are interested in the bombing. That is the case. I know you don’t approve of it, Krekor.”
“I don’t think it’s good for you.”
“I don’t think it’s good for anybody, Krekor. How could a thing like this be good for anybody?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Yes, I know. I know. It isn’t what you think, though, Krekor. It is not an unhealthy obsession.”
“There was a week back in May where you didn’t eat for three days straight. At least.”
“That was back in May. I will admit, Krekor, when it first happened, I was distraught. I had reason to be distraught.”
“You were nuts.”
“But that was a long time ago, Krekor. I’m not like that now. I’m just… interested.”
“Did you get any sleep last night?”
“Yes, Krekor. Of course I got to sleep.”
“In your own bed?”
“I fell asleep on the couch. I was reading something. I often fall asleep on the couch, Krekor. I was doing that long before there was a bomb in Oklahoma City.”
“What were you reading?”
Tibor’s arms fluttered in the air. “It was only a periodical, Krekor. It was nothing important.”
“It was about the bombing. Or about the militias. Or something. You were at it again.”
Tibor tapped something into the keyboard, then stood up. A small white marker began to pulse in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.
“I think you make too much of this,” he said. “You worry about me without need. I am concerned, yes, I am worried, but so are a lot of people. It isn’t anything strange. It’s you who are beginning to be strange.”
“Why?” Gregor asked. “Because I care about what happens to you?”
“I am going to make some coffee now, Krekor. You should sit down with me and have some. And I have some yaprak sarma in the refrigerator that we could heat up in the microwave. Hannah Krekorian brought it over last night. You should relax a little, Krekor. It is you who are beginning to be distraught.”
“I came to ask you to go someplace with me,” Gregor said. “To North Carolina. I’ve been asked on a case.”
“You’ve been asked on a case? And you want me to go with you?”
“That’s right. There’s a lot of religion in it. The case, I mean. I thought you could be a kind of expert witness.”
Tibor swayed back and forth on his legs. “You never want any of us to go with you on a case. You never consider it safe. Why do you want me to go with you now?”
“I thought it would take your mind off—all this,” Gregor said. “I thought the change of pace would be good for you.”
“Krekor, if I want a change of pace, I will go to the Bahamas with Lida. When are you supposed to leave for this case?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” Tibor said. “Krekor, I am responsible for the church here. For the services on Sunday. For baptisms and funerals. For weddings and religious instruction. I can’t just pick up tomorrow and go off. I would have to make arrangements.”
“You’ve done it before. It’s not that hard to make arrangements.”
“On less than one day’s notice, it’s impossible. Krekor, Krekor, you are not making any sense. You have not made any sense for weeks. It is you I think who needs to see the doctor.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gregor said.
Tibor grunted. “I will go now and make something to eat. I will make you at least a cup of coffee. I am being serious when I say I think you should see a doctor, Krekor. I do not think you have been very well for weeks. I have been worried about it.”