The room was a big one. It was in darkness, too. All except for one light, that is. Maybe a reading lamp on a desk. It cast an unhealthy-looking yellow glow in one corner behind a screen.
We both stopped when we heard the male voice. “Oh...oh...ohhhh...that’s the way I like it, baby...that’s it...lift your legs nice and high...oooohhhh...you’re a fucking horny bitch, you know that? Oh boy...got sex smeared all over you...ah, that’s it...to the left, to the left...oh...”
I pulled Ham’s sleeve and whispered, “Come away...don’t go in there.”
But he moved forward. Biting my lip I went with him.
When we saw what was happening behind the screen I felt myself roll back on my heels as if I’d been pushed in the chest.
One of the morgue attendants had slipped down his green drawstring pants. I saw twin moons of buttocks that had the red-yellow dappling of a pizza. The guy was around fifty with close-cropped blond hair.
And he fucked a woman on the desktop. She had long curls that swished over the side of the desk as he tucked into her, pumping his buttocks hard.
“Oh, that’s the business, honey. You whisper dirty words in Joey’s ear...yeah, that’s it. Oh, that’s the thing...”
I screwed up my face as I turned away, not wanting to see an inch more of that disgusting pimple-butt-scape. I noticed that Ham, however, looked closer.
A second later he was back to whisper in my ear. “Shit, oh shit. You’re not going to believe this, Kate.”
“Let’s go, Ham. I don’t like it here. I think I’m going to throw—”
“Listen, that guy’s tooling a dead woman.”
“Oh, God. I feel—”
“And get this, he’s not entering via the doormat...and from the look of her she’s taken a lot of gunshot wounds.”
I closed my eyes. My breath got choked up in my throat. Perspiration ran down inside my T-shirt. God, the smell of this place. The sounds! The squishy sounds as the guy...
“It’s OK,” Ham whispered. “He’s stopped. Look for yourself.”
Yeah, I’m an idiot, aren’t I? I looked.
The mortuary attendant stood back from the woman with the chest full of Uzi rash. She slipped off the desk. The slap of her face against the floor tiles made me flinch.
Then the guy dragged away a sheet that covered another figure on a slab.
“Don’t be impatient, sir,” the man said. “Your turn now. Come on, let’s get you up on all fours...ah, there’s a nice little doggy.”
The stiff on the slab looked as if he’d stepped in front of a truck.
The attendant made cooing noises. “There, sir, let’s just loosen you in the ring department.”
I threw up. The cheese sandwich I’d eaten for supper hit the floor with a loud enough splash to make the attendant look up from his love-object. “Hey, who’s there?”
My puke was invisible.
For a moment. Then suddenly it was there. A Technicolor splatter, stinky and steamy against white tiles.
“Hey, what is this?” The man sounded furious.
I jabbed my hand into Ham’s back. When he turned to me I mouthed, Come on!
This time he followed.
3. RIVERSIDE PARK. NIGHT. WATER RHYMES WITH TORTURE.
Ham Masen shot questions. “How come I couldn’t see myself in the mirror but you see me?”
“It happens like that immediately after the transition. Then your eyes adjust. You’ll be able to see your reflection now.”
“Are my parents Invisibles?”
“Your mother possibly. But it sometimes skips a generation or two.”
“When will I become visible again?”
“Toward dawn.”
“So I shouldn’t be anywhere I shouldn’t when I...?” He fluttered his fingers.
“Right. And remember it’s instantaneous.”
“What happens if I eat?”
“Try it for yourself sometime.”
“Invisibles see each other?”
I nodded.
“Are there any more about now?”
“No.”
“How long is it since you lost yours?”
“My visibility?”
“Uh huh.”
“Four years ago.”
“Is that young?”
“Sort of average.”
“What’s the wildest thing you’ve ever done when you’re—”
“Ham. Listen, being an Invisible isn’t all fun and Peep Tomery, you know?”
“Oh, come on, lighten up, Kate.”
“We have serious responsibilities.”
“Responsibilities? Huh, you sound like my parents.”
“And we are governed by a strict code of conduct.”
“You do sound like my parents.”
“Ham. You’ve got a lot to learn about us. And life’s going to be different for you now. You’ve got to learn how to handle being invisible. Have you thought what happens if you get married? Come on, walk with me.”
I linked arms with him. We walked and talked. Before long we found ourselves heading along one of the leafy paths of Riverside Park. The moon shone bright silver through the trees. The scent of dew grew stronger on the air. An owl hooted.
Maybe Ham was learning; he only paused for a moment when he found the couple making out under some bushes.
As we walked on, I whispered, “Unless you’re a pathological voyeur, watching naked people sex each other up becomes the dullest spectator sport ever, believe me.”
He smiled, his eyes catching the moonlight. “I’m glad you’re here to help me through this, Kate. I’d have gone nuts if you hadn’t found me.”
“Oh, you get used to it. Once, I was taking a shower when—”
“Shhh.” He held up a finger.
“What’s wrong?”
“Don’t you hear it?”
I shrugged.
“Listen.” He tilted his head. “Someone’s crying.”
I told him straight, “Ignore it. We don’t get involved.”
“But someone might be in trouble?”
“That isn’t our problem.”
“But—”
“And if you see someone being mugged or beaten up then it just leaves you feeling bad, because—”
“It sounded like a girl.”
“Ham—”
“There it is again. Come on.”
I thought: Why does he keep doing this to me? Every time I start to tell him to be careful he rushes off.
He dashed across the lawn in the direction of a line of trees. And, yup, I had to follow. Remember? I have responsibilities, too. I couldn’t let the idiot get himself into trouble the first night he lost his visibility.
So I followed. In a minute I’d almost caught up with him. He’d reached the bank of the river. It stretched out glistening silver beneath the moon. At the far side of the water I saw tall buildings that were swish apartment blocks. But at this side of the river there were only gloomy trees overhanging the bank. There were no houses, no cars, no people. Nothing but spooky shadow.
And Ham running, of course. I followed him along the riverside path. I saw his head turning left and right as he searched for whoever made the crying sound. Then suddenly he stopped me. He pointed down the bank to the shore. Two figures were at the water’s edge. Luckily—or unluckily, depending on your point of view—the moon lit every detail. A girl of around twenty dressed in a skimpy little skirt and a crop-top sat on the shore, while looming over her was a real brute of a man dressed in green combats. “Jesus,” Ham breathed. “He’s tied her to a post. Look at her hands.”
I heard the brute say, “Make that noise again and I’ll cut your tongue out.”
“Please...” The girl was terrified.
“So you’re going to be one of the talkative ones, hah? I know how to fix that.”
We watched the guy take a roll of silvery gaffer tape from his pocket. He stuck the loose end of tape to her lips then wound it round and round her head a few times for good measure.
“There, you won’t be singing out so loud now, will you?”
I pulled at Ham’s sleeve as the man talked to the girl. “Ham, come on,” I whispered. “Don’t watch.”
“We can’t just walk away.”
“We’ve got no choice,” I told him. “The rule. No interference in the lives of Visibles.”