Before Norman arrived at home, bad news came via mail. The mortgage rate for the house had been raised. This was a real shock. They had had barely enough money to pay the previous one! Crystal strongly hoped, Norman had got the job!
However, she was about to be disappointed… Not to give her a pleasant surprise, he had not mentioned it last evening when he called! But more, because he had failed!
"They used medication from the Cavens-Pix-Group, and we know about the animal testing done by these criminals!" he explained now, throwing his jacket over the hook in the kitchen.
"And you had to point it out instantaneously!" Crystal replied angry and frustrated, with the mortgage rates in the back of her mind.
"Of course I had! If this veterinary clinic uses these products without thinking about it, someone has to put their noses into the matter!"
"This had to be you, of course!"
"What's wrong with you, Crystal? Do you expect me to sit around and keep my mouth shut after all the fights we've been through?"
"What is wrong?!"
She exploded because the worries and sorrows and everything else crumbled on top of her now like an avalanche. "We have no car, no money to pay the next rates for the house! We have no fucking jobs! And you just screwed up the one chance you had in all these months!"
Norman tried to grab her at the shoulders, but she pushed him back.
"Darling…"
"You NEVER think of other people! Just of your damned –"
"That's stupid bullshit! You're talking like a kid!" he answered, starting to get angry, too. "Do you want me to sell my beliefs and honor for some bucks?"
Good Lord, he was on that 'lonely martyr' road again! Why the hell couldn't they talk about such things like normal people? But maybe there was no such thing as normal people… yeah… She sighed and fumbled through her hair. "I don't want to argue with you, but…"
"I'm not arguing, Crystal. I need your support and understanding in this fight!"
Hearing that, she got even angrier about the situation and herself. He NEVER argued. He only made her feel guilty that she thought about such mundane things as mortgages and payments and went on with his work. At that point, she was resolved again to visit Mikael and take the art lessons! She just wanted out of this constant waiting, these constant promises, these constant fights which he never even discerned! If for him, morality and honor came first - well, she also had things coming first now! Crystal did not exactly realize what she was thinking in her frustration.
Norman was already in the dining room, looking after the turtle. As usual, he had finished the discussion by simply not reacting anymore or going away. Crystal inhaled to suppress at least the highest waves of her annoyance.
"Norman…"
"Yes, Darling?" He acted as if the whole argument hadn't taken place.
"Look…," she continued. "I'm sorry, but the mortgage rate has been raised. I can't ask my brother again. You NEED to find a job."
"I know. I know, and I'll try again tomorrow."
"Or I can go and ask again in the supermarket if they need a helper to fill up the -"
"No! I promised I'll be able to care for you this time. And I will be. Believe me. I'll search the newspapers tomorrow, for any kind of work, for the moment. It will get better."
She nodded, suddenly too exhausted to hope for anything.
"By the way, I'll visit a friend this afternoon."
"Okay. Have a good time! I'm so sorry for giving you that many worries! It will get better, I promise!"
"Yes."
Crystal turned around and went upstairs; already thinking about what she could dress in when she went over to Mikael's studio. She would work, so she didn't need anything too delicate and fancy. However, she wanted to look nice!
She took a red dress with little white flowers out of the closet. No… this wasn't fitting! It made her look like a … like a little girl. She dug deeper in her belongings. Some new clothes would be not that bad… However, she couldn't afford anything, now the less. In the end, she chose jeans and a plain white top. When it was time she put some light make-up on but finished by wiping at least the lipstick away again. It wasn't a date, was it?! Only that she was nervous as if it would be one!
…
When she arrived at Mikael's home, she got the impression he had already been waiting for her.
"Welcome! Please come in!" His face lit up, as she entered. "I never taught anyone. I can only hope I'll be a good teacher!"
There was this smile again, which let her melt in an instant! She realized, she was playing with fire, but she was still angry at Norman and just wanted to forget all her worries about mortgage and no-job and no-money... She followed him to the studio, which this time already had lost its frightening air of a frozen forest full of goblins. On the contrary, it seemed familiar and welcoming to her. Suddenly, another issue flashed through her mind. What if he expected any remuneration for the lessons?! He was a famous artist, not some hobo painting portraits for tourists on the street! She had not thought about this subject, and now she searched nervously for a way to bring it up decently.
"Crystal?" Mikael stood next to one of the workbenches.
She looked away. Obviously, there was no possibility to evade the truth! "I can't pay you," she said. "That's it."
She was ashamed and startled when he laughed.
"You honestly thought I would take any money from you?" The next moment, he had taken her hands. "I said I would teach you because I believe you have the hands, the heart, the mind of an artist."
He was still holding her tightly and Crystal fought to pull herself together. Finally, he let her go, leaving a slightly tingling sensation on her skin.
"So, what do you want to do? Painting or sculpting?"
"Oh… I … I don't think I would be very good in painting. I mean, I consider it enormously difficult to create a lifelike image of someone or something. It would probably look like any other thing but the one I want to paint!" She still had Mary Cassatt in her mind, and the few Old Masters she remembered from high school.
"Ah – it is not the sole purpose in art to create photographic similarity. It is certainly not mine," he answered. "I want to confront the viewer with the art. Make him or her part of it, let them experience it and see, what it does to them. That is what fascinates me."
"I never thought about that…" Crystal watched him standing amidst all his creations and all she could think of was that he was the most perfect creation himself. His face, his eyes, his nose, his hands – everything seemed to her the embodiment of a perfect piece of art, just as one of those Greek statues. Did he know how beautiful he was? She forced her eyes away and discovered a piece of wood on one of the work benches. "I'm going to try sculpting," she decided.
"The first thing, before you ever lay hand on a wooden block or a stone is, that you must see and feel the soul of the thing you want it to be," Mikael started to explain. "It must… speak to you! I know, this sounds odd, but it isn't. If you touch the material, you must be able to sense what it will become under your hands and skills. Now, what do you see in here?" He padded on the wood.
Crystal's eyes followed the lines and spots in the block and answered spontaneously: "A bird! No, two birds, flying up through the clouds!"
Mikael smiled. She had such a bright, forceful imagination! He had to help her to make it a reality! With every passing minute, he felt more drawn to her.
…
During the next hours, he showed her the different kinds of tools and let her do some tests with them. She was eager to learn, and he judged, very talented. A pity no one had recognized this before and the creativity had slumbered that long!
Crystal felt wonderful, actually seeing the image she had in her mind becoming a real graspable shape due to their work. The silhouettes of the two birds started to emerge. Still clumsy, but yet promising. At difficult points, Mikael guided her hand or took over. She was completely happy, not only to see what she could achieve, but also because she was close to him. The time went by that fast! Crystal only realized that it was time to go home when they needed artificial light. They agreed to meet again in three days, as for tomorrow she had her appointment at school, and the next day the dentist was on the list, and then a Wildlife-Supporter's meeting in town.
They stood at the door as if she was about to part for a month long journey over the ocean, and could not force their eyes away from each other. After what seemed an eternity, she felt his right hand move up over her arm and neck to her face, where his fingertips traced her features. Stop, she wanted to say, but could not. A moment later, they kissed. A gentle little goodbye-kiss – and when she opened her eyes, Mikael was inside the house.
When Crystal came home, Norman had already made some preparations for dinner. It seemed he tried to apologize for the worries he had caused by being the perfect man at least for this evening. The more she felt uneasy and fidgety. That night, she was glad for the first time, that Norman went to a friend to discuss whatsoever and she stayed alone in the house and her bed. She realized she did not want him next to her right now.
…
The police officer entered Detective Hoover's office and waved with a printout. "Good and bad news concerning the murder in Hilo last week!"
The detective took a sip of coffee and adjusted his slipping glasses. That crime occupied his mind for a few days now. He and his partner had asked in bars and gas stations of the area where the victim had been found, but no one had seen anything suspicious - or at least they pretended not to have seen anything. "The good ones first, it's seven in the morning!" he answered with a wry grin.
"There have been similar crimes in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles spread over the last five years. – Look at those pictures."
Hoover spread the printouts in front of him and shook his head in an instinctive gesture of repulsion. Those women had literally been carved like… "I work here for 13 years now, and I have never seen such a thing." Hastily, he counted the bodies on the photographs. Seventeen. The similarities to the murder in Hilo were undeniable.
"And that's not all, Ray." His colleague placed a video tape in front of him. "Courtesy L.A.P.D."
"What's that?"
"Something else you won't have seen yet, I assure you."
Hoover read the note accompanying the tape. "For fucks sake! Someone did not only KILL those women but videotaped everything?! What goes on in this world…" He remembered the mentally ill homeless he met this morning on his way to work, who always talked about the end of the world coming close. Maybe, he was not so far out of his mind, though, considering such perversions. He looked up to his colleague again. "Did you not say something about 'good news'?"
"Yes. The sicko who did this", he padded at the video tape, "had been identified."
Another printout landed in front of the detective. The identification beneath the picture stated 'Nick Sorvino'. The few scarce additional lines listed his crimes: armed assault, robbery, rape and finally murder. Just the low life scum that never should have polluted the earth with its breath, Hoover thought. "So, the L.A.P.D. failed to arrest him – or what happened exactly?"
"He was killed in a shootout during his arrest. About eight months ago."
"Shit." Hoover made a tortured face and scratched through his beard stubbles. Then he asked: "That leaves us with what exactly?"
"Another suspect."
The officer handed the papers over.
"Mikael Gant."
Hoover snorted. "Holy crap. He looks like an angel on Saint Peter's square! Who is this guy?"
"An artist. There seemed to be something shady about him and he was under suspicion as well, but he produced airtight alibis and his lawyers raised hell. Anyway - he left L.A. shortly after and lives in our neighborhood for a few months now."
