Despite the rapid cycling of the simulators inside him, Javier found it within himself to be pleased. He now had the opportunity to do something he’d dearly wished to, upon meeting Portia.
“Fuck you, you elderly psychotic cunt.”
Javier grabbed the ceramic basin and smashed it over Cherry and Portia’s head. The little girl’s body fell sideways across the bed. Smoke billowed from the wounds in her neck and head. But she was smiling. Portia was smiling.
“Thanks for letting me out,” Portia said.
She slid Cherry’s body down the bed and pulled the letter opener out. Her head still dangled to one side. She seemed unable to hold it up. She advanced on Javier. He looked for another weapon, but it was a little girl’s room. Everything was fluffy: the plushies, the pillows, the comforter. He had destroyed the second most useful item in the room, and Portia held the other.
She swung the blade at him in lazy threshing motions. It looked absurdly huge in her toddler hands. “She loved you, you know,” Portia said. “She loved you so goddamn much, you ignorant little shit.”
Javier held himself tight. He had to wait. Lure her in.
“I saw it all. I saw everything.”
He leaned left. She leaned with him. She was small, but fast. He’d have to handle her like a big jungle spider: wrap her up in the comforter somehow and then beat her until she stopped moving.
“I saw your children burn.” Portia made Cherry smile. “I saw your little one’s treehouse go up in flames. He was hiding there. From me.”
“Where is he, now?”
Portia’s smile only broadened. She licked her lips. She licked her hand and wiped her face with it. Like a big cat. Like a lion.
Javier aimed carefully, and kicked her in the face.
She flew across the room. She bounced messily off one wall, and ran at him, letter opener out. Javier kicked her again, between the legs this time. Cherry’s dress ripped where he left a muddy bootprint on it. She bent double, fell to her knees, and laughed.
“I forgot how strong those legs are,” Portia said. “I really miss them, you know.”
Javier kicked her in the face, again. She was so light she flipped over onto her back. The connection between the head and the neck was thinning. Javier checked the display. The car had stopped moving. Maybe Portia was too distracted to control it, any longer. If so, it didn’t seem to bother her very much. She was still laughing uncontrollably. Like she’d heard a joke he hadn’t. Like she knew something he didn’t. She flailed her arms and legs and laughed harder.
“The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t.”
Javier rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”
“Not without your help!” Portia cackled. She held her broken ribs. She spat out a tooth. “But you’re not helping!”
Javier stepped closer. “I’m bringing Amy back.” He raised his foot. “And when I do, I’m going to make sure she puts you away for good.”
He stomped on her hand. It crunched like old shells under his foot. Then he did it again, to her other hand. When he brought his foot up a third time, Cherry was back.
“Stop!”
He stopped immediately and bent down. “I’m sorry about all this,” he said. “Is there some place you can go? Or port to? Like another body, or something?”
With great difficulty, Cherry shook her head. “I have very little time,” she said. “My sisters are coming. There is something they don’t want you to know.”
“What’s that?”
“Sarton had a beneficiary. Chris Holberton. The copy–”
Cherry twitched. He tensed up, waiting for Portia to show. But there was nothing. No movement. No sound. Cherry had simply vanished. Above him, the cuckoo clocked chimed. His time was up.
The door swung open. On the other side of it, a line of other men stood waiting. They looked at Javier. They looked at Cherry’s body. As one, their eyes widened.
“Not cool, man,” said the guy three spots back. “Not cool.”
“It’s OK.” This guy in front of him smiled at Javier. “He just got a little carried away.”
“I’m getting the bouncer,” said the man at the end of the line. “I want a fucking refund. And I want his ass to pay it. You break it, you buy it, asshole!”
Javier straightened, flipped up his hood, and walked out. In the hall, the guy at the end of the line was now talking to the doorman.
“I paid good money to reserve my timeslot,” he was saying. “And this guy – yeah, you!” He grabbed Javier by the shoulder and showed him to the doorman. “This guy fucking ruined it. He broke Cherry.”
The doorman blinked. “Broke her?”
“She’s in a million pieces! It looks like fucking Toy Story in there!”
Javier had no idea what this meant. But the doorman appeared to. He looked at Javier sadly. “What happened?”
Javier flexed his feet. “You know, I’m getting real tired of everybody asking me that question.”
He jumped down the stairs, crashed through the window, and kept running. He caught Tyler and Seamus sitting outside a convenience store, drinking cold coffee and smoking.