A Small Gray Dot

How did I think I’d get in unscathed? Note that I said hardly anyone went in through the blight and that you were almost certain not to make it.

I knew of an exception, a man who had gone through the Blue Heaven blight at least three times – and lived. There may have been others but if so I hadn’t heard of them, only about the ones who went in and never came out. So, as far as I knew, he was the only person who ever successfully made the trip through that inhospitable strip of land.

I met him a couple of years before and he wasn’t exactly a pal but we sometimes shot pool together.

“Ain’t no good way ta go slidin’ through that crap, man,” grunted Cue. “Ain’t no best time, neither.”

He uttered those words as he lined up his shot after I asked what would be a good way to go and the best time for slipping in through that stretch of desiccated vegetation.

I didn’t know his real name. “Cue” was what everybody called him because he loved nothing better than shooting pool. I’d gotten him into a game down at “Bob’s”, the bar and pool hall a few doors down the street from the flat I called home and office.

“They’s only bad ways, an’ bad times for doin’ it. Now, a bad time ta do it is durin’ th’ day ‘cause them turds at th’ gate take turns lookin’ over th’ wall an’ taking pot shots at anything that moves, an’ they ain’t th’ only ones keepin’ a eye out for somebody tryin’ ta come in that way. If ya luck up an’ make it to the wall ya will git caught tryin’ ta sneak in an’ that ain’t good. But, they don’t go near th’ wall at night an’ it ain’t watched. ‘Course, th’ worst time ta do it is at night.” He leaned over and took his shot, which was a good one, then stood up and studied me. “But, that’s when ya have ta do it so nobody sees ya creeping yo skinny ass in.”

I had a feeling he was going to say that. “Why’s night the worst time?” I asked. Like I didn’t know.

He finished shooting, and racked up the balls before cocking his baldhead over and squinting at me with one bloodshot gray eye. “You ain’t even gotta ask that, Tenn. You know why. An’ that place is worse than any that little shit we got ‘round th’ city. But, I can tell ya how ta git in, an’ how ta git around th’ worst of it.” He smiled. “Tell ya what, ‘cause I like ya, jist gimme one-fifty an’ ya got it.”

See? Not a pal. But, I knew I’d have to pay him for the information. And Cue never haggled so that was his final price.

I hesitated. A hundred and fifty bucks wasn’t an extraordinary amount of money. In fact, with the latest round of inflation, it was more like having fifty or sixty dollars seven and a half years ago, but it was still a nice piece of change. I got to thinking maybe I could take my chances at the entry. Then, I re-thought. I’d have to tell those tan-uniformed blockheads why I was there and my instincts were telling me that letting them know I was searching for a missing young woman in their neighborhood might not be a good idea.

That might bring out the suit, and I suspected “I’m here for a friendly visit” wouldn’t be likely to cut it, either. In my line of work, you had to be good at lying and I was a decent liar but I knew that, usually, the only people allowed in at night were ones that lived there or someone from law enforcement. You needed a damned good reason and what kind of excuse could I give that would make them let me in without sending for the suit? Given time, I could set up one but I didn’t have a lot of time.

When Madison came to me the evening before, her sister had already been missing for over twenty-four hours so I didn’t want to drag my feet on this. I’d needed a lead but neither of Morgan’s friends knew anyone in Blue Heaven. After I talked to them the night before, I thought of the ex-client whose brother I found in Texas.

I went to find him but wasn’t able to track him down until morning when I caught him on his way to work. Thanks to him, I had that lead. He gave me a name and said I’d have to meet the man at night since he worked during the day. The guy hung out at a particular bar on Friday and Saturday nights. It was now Saturday and I needed to get a move on.

I could’ve tried slipping across the blight that afternoon but it wasn’t safe to cross it in daylight either. After all, the crew that went into one of the small patches in the city did it during the day, and never came out.

Making it through to the wall and getting caught didn’t appeal to me, either. I didn’t know what black suit would do but I was sure it wouldn’t be just a kindly warning to go forth and sin no more. Besides, even if I managed to get in unseen, I’d have to hang around until dark and I didn’t want to be in Blue Heaven any longer than I had to.

I didn’t like the thought but I was going to have to cross that strip and I needed to know how to get it done while remaining in one piece.