بخش 01 - فصل 12

12

They are almost back to the driveway when Hodges is visited by something new: a searing bolt of agony behind his left knee. It feels as if he’s been stabbed. He cries out as much in surprise as from the pain and bends over, kneading at the throbbing knot, trying to make it let go. To loosen up a little, at least.

Tom bends down next to him, and thus neither of them sees the elderly Chevrolet cruising slowly along Hilltop Court. Its fading blue paint is dappled with spots of red primer. The old gent behind the wheel slows down even more, so he can stare at the two men. Then the Chevrolet speeds up, sending a puff of blue exhaust from its tailpipe, and passes the Ellerton-Stover house, headed for the buttonhook turnaround at the end of the street.

“What is it?” Tom asks. “What happened?”

“Cramp,” Hodges says through gritted teeth.

“Rub it.”

Hodges gives him a look of pained humor through his tumbled hair. “What do you think I’m doing?”

“Let me.”

Tom Saubers, a physical therapy veteran thanks to his attendance at a certain job fair six years ago, pushes Hodges’s hand aside. He removes one of his gloves and digs in with his fingers. Hard.

“Ow! Jesus! That fucking hurts!”

“I know,” Tom says. “Can’t be helped. Move as much of your weight to your good leg as you can.”

Hodges does so. The Malibu with its patches of dull red primer paint cruises slowly by once more, this time headed back down the hill. The driver helps himself to another long look, then speeds up again.

“It’s letting go,” Hodges says. “Thank God for small favors.” It is, but his stomach is on fire and his lower back feels like he wrenched it.

Tom is looking at him with concern. “You sure you’re all right?”

“Yeah. Just a charley horse.”

“Or maybe a deep vein thrombosis. You’re no kid anymore, Bill. You ought to get that checked out. If anything happened to you while you were with me, Pete would never forgive me. His sister, either. We owe you a lot.”

“All taken care of, got a doctor’s appointment tomorrow,” Hodges says. “Come on, let’s get out of here. It’s freezing.”

He limps the first two or three steps, but then the pain behind his knee lets go entirely and he’s able to walk normally. More normally than Tom. Thanks to his encounter with Brady Hartsfield in April of 2009, Tom Saubers will limp for the rest of his life.