I didn’t know what to say. The anniversary of her death. We had been through the anniversary of my dad’s and Ben’s deaths a few weeks ago and it was horrible. All day long, I couldn’t stop thinking about what had been happening at that time the year before. When they got in the car. When I found out what had happened.
Leo reached into the pocket of his peasant pants and pulled out a piece of paper. “Here’s a map I’ve made of possible tour sites,” he said, spreading it out. “The trick is that we can’t drive, so everything has to be in walking distance.”
I remembered that Leo didn’t actually know Lisette. She had been gone for a long time.
And this way at least she would be remembered.
It would be horrible if people just forgot you.
“We’re going to wear either our work costumes,” he said, “or all black. I can’t decide. I had the idea for the tour a couple of days ago so I still haven’t worked everything out.”
“Gary won’t be happy if he finds out we’re wearing our costumes outside of the festival,” I said after a second. Was I going to go along with this? I kept talking, like my mouth had decided to go ahead without me.
“You make a good point,” Leo said. “Okay. We’ll wear all black.” He tapped the paper with his finger. “As far as the sites go, we have the theater, of course, where she performed. We also have the hospital where she was born, and the hotel where she died, and the cemetery where she’s buried. It’s too bad that they tore down the house where she grew up.”
“Wait,” I said. “The hospital is new.”
“I’m talking about the old hospital. It’s still around.”
“That’s cool,” I said, picturing something old and overgrown with vines. “Where is it?”
“Two streets away,” he said. “The Everett Building.”
“The insurance office?”
“Yup.”
“That’s all you’ve got?” I said. “Four sites?”
Leo wasn’t paying attention. “What would be great is if we could go through the tunnels.”
“What tunnels?”
“There are tunnels that run under the administration building and go to the theater,” he said, dropping his voice as if he were telling me a secret. I glanced over my shoulder but the only people around were the ones in the portraits. “They built them years ago so the actors could get from the dressing rooms in the basement of the administration building out to the theater without being seen by the people in the courtyards. And there’s some old maintenance tunnels, too, that they don’t even use anymore.”
“Why would we want to go into the tunnels?” I asked.
“Because Lisette would have gone through them all the time,” Leo said. “All the actors use them. They have for decades.But when they tear down the theater, they’re getting rid of those tunnels too. This is our last chance to see them.”
“People aren’t going to let kids into the tunnels.”
“Maybe we can find a way,” Leo said. “For now, we have the other four places. And they’re all within walking distance of each other and of our houses. It’s perfect. I’ve done a lot of research about Lisette so I can fill you in. And I’ve come up with some advertising.” He leaned closer. “That’s another reason I want to do the programs. I can put these flyers inside without Gary or anyone noticing.” He handed me a piece of shiny paper printed with a picture of Lisette Chamberlain. The lettering on the flyer read:
LISETTE CHAMBERLAIN TOUR. FOLLOW IN HER FOOTSTEPS & LEARN ABOUT HER LIFE. FOR MORE INFORMATION
CALL 555-1234 between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m.
$5 per person, cash only.
“This is crazy,” I said.
“We can’t stay out late at night,” Leo went on, “so we’ll have to go early in the morning. Like really early, so we don’t get caught. And then I’ll sit by my phone every morning to make sure no one else answers it. It’ll be easy. That’s when my parents are at work and my brothers are at practice. I’ve thought it all through.”
“I can tell,” I said. “So what made you decide that you want a partner?”
“Meeting you,” he said.
Was he flirting? Teasing? Asking me to do this because he felt sorry for me because of what happened to my family? He had to know. Everyone knew. And over the past year people did nice things for me mostly out of pity.
“I’ll split the money with you,” Leo said. “We’ll meet at my house at six forty-five so we can walk over to the Everett Building together. That’s where the tour is going to start—where she was born.” Lisette stared at me from the flyer and from the portrait on the wall. “What do you think?”
“I’ll do it,” I said.
I wasn’t sure why. But if I had to guess, I would say it was because I liked talking to Leo. He always seemed to be thinking about something. His brain was very busy.
I wanted to go along with him, tag along with his mind like a hitchhiker, so that I could keep my brain busy too.
14.
Two days later, on the evening shift, Leo told me that he’d had three customers sign up for the tour the next day.