The Secret Diary of Cameron Baum
TUESDAYcont...
Mall parking lot. 5.56PM. John and I are scrutinising the DVD-R recovered from the NSA house in Culver City. It has video interviews with four people connected with us.
Hayley Fratero
Joshua Cohen
Nastasha Gregorieva
Katherine Brewster
What have they told the NSA about us? We are about to find out.
John hovers the cursor over the name Hayley Fratero and clicks. The video begins to play.
A school classroom, empty apart from Hayley sitting at a desk facing the camera. A voice begins to ask her questions. It is a female voice so I deduce that is NSA Agent Karen Duffy.
Hayley brushes her long blonde hair out of her eyes and pouts her full lips at the camera. She is a slim and pretty girl but none too smart. My friend Becca Shaughnessy once described her as a total numbnutz with barely half a braincell. This might be a slight exaggeration.
The interview begins.
HAYLEY INTERVIEW
Your full name is Hayley Rose Fratero?
I don't use the Rose. Rosie O'Donnell has totally ruined it for me.
Were you a friend of Cameron Baum?
Freakshow? Eww! Barf much! No, I wasn't her friend. I hated her. She was a weirdo.
How was she weird?
She always wore these fingerless mittens to school, even on a hot day. And they weren't even label. Plus she was like freaky super-strong.
In what way strong?
I don't know. Just, like, strong. Like a bodybuilder only without the gross muscles and veins and shit. Oh - one time I saw her pull the tampon machine off the wall in the girl's toilets. Right off the wall! Weird-o.
Did Cameron have any friends at school?
Yeah, she hung out with this girl, Becca. Ginger hair, huge boobs, skin with freckles like a fungus growing on her. They were pretty tight. Have you spoken to her?
Miss Shaughnessy doesn't wish to add to her orginal statement. She was quite traumatised by the experience.
She's an awkward bitch is what she is. Slap her around a little. That'll loosen her tongue.
Your advice is duly noted. Was it a physical relationship - Cameron and Becca?
You mean were they gay? Eww! No, I don't think so. Ooh - you know who is gay? Jessica Steinway and Janey Cooper. Janey's been gay since kindergarten - the mustache is a dead giveaway. But we think Jessica turned gay when she got hit in the head during dodgeball back in junior high. Can dodgeball turn you gay? See, this is why I don't do sport. If God wanted us to get thin doing physical exercise then He wouldn't have invented laxatives.
Miss Fratero, if you could please just answer the question.
Oh. Okay. Were they gay? No, I mean, that's a whole other kettle of fish. Hey - why is it called kettle of fish? You don't put fish in a kettle. I think fish are kinda gross. Animals that live in the ocean pee in the ocean. You don't see a shark tip-toe up the beach and pee-pee behind a palm tree, right? No, they do it in the ocean. They all do. And people eat stuff from the ocean. Total gross out!
Miss Fratero, what did I say about simply answering the question.
Okay, okay. Jeez, no need to be pissy about it. They really let girls be secret agents? I thought that was just movies and shit. You carry a gun? Cool! Do the male agents stare at your boobs? Yeah, the teachers do as well. They think we don't notice but we do. Pervs. Hey - why don't I point them out and you can put a cap in their ass? Girl power.
Let's switch to John Baum - did he have a girlfriend that you know of?
No, I ---Wait. I think I heard he was seeing someone at another school. Brewster? Kate Brewster, I think.
Kate Brewster? You're sure of the name?
Yeah. I remember it was mentioned at Louise's house that last time.
Louise is the girl who died of anorexia?
Yeah. She and Alexis were my best friends. We were gonna all go to Tulane because we heard that was the party college. Only now they're both, you know, dead....I..I really miss them, you know?...I miss them so much...God, I'm blubbing...Shit...I'm such a wuss.
Take a moment. Have you seen the grief counsellor the school provided?
Once. She was wearing synthetic fabrics. Can you imagine? I can't relate to people who don't know how to dress themselves properly.
You're very judgemental, aren't you?
Thanks. Beautiful people have an obligation to point out the flaws in others. It says so in the Bible.
That'll be all, Miss Fratero. You can leave now.
Oh. Right. So...we gonna cap some teacher ass or what?
John says, "That explains how they knew about Kate. Other than that they didn't get much. Let's see what Mr Cohen has to say."
Mr Cohen is white haired and nearing retirement age. He wears tweed jackets with animal skin on the elbows. He calls me his little calculating machine because of my prowess with numbers.
He is half right.
COHEN INTERVIEW
The Baums were students in your class, correct?
Yes. The boy was above average grade-wise, but the girl, well, she was exceptional.
In what way?
She could solve quite complex math problems in her head. In 30 years of teaching I've never seen the like. Toss out any number and she could tell you the square root in an instant, often to five or six decimal places.
Are you suggesting she was a savant?
You mean an autistic savant like the fellow in that movie? No, I think not. She was a cheerleader. How many savants become cheerleaders?
Nothing else strike you as odd about her?
Only that she is dead at such a young age. I hope that Whitford fellow rots in Hell for his crimes.
Thank you, Mr Cohen. No further questions.
"Sweet guy," John suggests. "But I don't think they're getting what they want to hear. Nought for two."
GREGORIEV INTERVIEW
You taught Cameron Baum ballet, is that correct, Ms Gregory?
Gregorieva. Da, for three months I teach her ballet then she leave join cheerleaders. Pah! Cheerleading not ballet. Not even dance. An excuse to flash parts at boys.
Was she a talented ballet dancer?
Technically, da. She have stamina and grace. Though sometimes she...how you say? Like robot.
Like a robot? Why do you say that?
Ballet requires heart, passion, an ability to express the music in your movement. She sometimes stiff, mechanical. But powerful toes. Stay en pointe very long time.
Did she cause trouble?
Niet. Very quiet. Not like some girls . I tell them they dance like clodhoppers and they tell me fick off back to Russia. Fick. Fick. Fick. Such language. No respect for elders.
And Cameron wasn't like that?
Niet. Good girl. Terrible she die. America and guns. Why so many guns? In Russia we have vodka. Kill us in the end but at least we die old and happy. Is better, da?
John is now visably more relaxed. The interrogations have been mostly benign and revelations few and not the least threatening. Where is the torture and screams for mercy? Totally absent.
John takes deep a breath before clicking on the Kate Brewster icon. Perhaps the torture and screams for mercy will commence now? One can but hope...
The video plays. It is different from the others. The voice asking the questions is male, presumably Agent Foster. And there is no school classroom. Kate is sat on a sofa facing the camera.
"That's her house!" John exclaims. "They went to her home."
BREWSTER INTERVIEW.
When did you first meet the Baums?
A year ago. We were both invited to a fancy dress party. I was with someone else but John and I just seemed to click the moment we set eyes on each other.
So you were together from then on?
No. He took ages to call. I thought I'd misread the signals. Then he called out of the blue and we went horseriding.
Did he mention a Miles Dyson?
No, I don't think so.
Did he talk about cyborgs?
What are cyborgs?
Essentially sentient robots that pose as human beings.
Ah - no. Definitely not. I think I'd remember that.
Did he talk about a Day of Judgement? Machines trying to rule the world?
For real?
Just answer truthfully, please.
No, he never talked about that.
What did you both talk about, Kate?
Just...regular stuff. Bands we liked. He told me about growing up in Mexico, how his family were always on the move and he could never settle anywhere or make any real friends.
Did you meet his mother, Sarah?
No. She was always away when he invited me over.
Didn't that strike you as odd?
Not really. I assumed he wanted to, you know, fool around without her being in the house.
And did you fool around?
None of your business. What kind of questions are these? John and Cameron are dead. I think you should show some respect or leave.
Suppose I told you Baum wasn't their real name and they're still alive?
Still alive? But they died in the fire. It was on the news.
Forensics revealed nobody was in the science block when it burned down. And the boy and his mother are named Connor. The girl is Cameron Phillips, origin unknown. They are wanted in connection with the murder of Miles Dyson and several other felonies.
Oh my God!
He didn't mention that when you talked about regular stuff?
No, of course not.
How about Riley Dawson - did he mention her?
No. Who's she?
She was his girlfriend before you. Your predecessor, you might say. Dead now. Mysterious circumstances. Nothing the cops could pin on the Connors. No. They're slippery that way. Other people pay the ultimate price for their delusions, never them.
John never said...I mean, I never really pried into his past.
Don't beat yourself up about it. The boy's a liar, most likely a cold-blooded killer. You saw the side of him he wanted you to see. While it suited his purpose.
It just seems so incredible. He seemed so normal.
Kate, if John contacts you I want you to call me. Not the police. Not the feebs. Us. The NSA. Any time of day. Will you do that?
Uh - yeah. I suppose.
I'm gonna need more than that, Kate. This is very important. The Connors can't be allowed to go on hurting people, ruining folk's lives with their sick delusions. I need you to be the bigger person, Kate. I need you to step up. Can you do that? If he calls, gets in touch by whatever means, will you call me?
Yes. Yes, I'll call you.
The video ends. John stares blankly at nothing at all.
"Do you think she looked fat?" I ask. "I thought she looked heavy."
"Cam, they told her stuff about us. Fed her lies. Made it sound like I'm some kind of serial killer. I'm gonna call her, explain things."
"NO!"
My voice is so loud several people pushing shopping carts glance round and look in our direction.
"You must not contact her. You heard what she promised to do."
"I have to explain, tell her I'm not what they---"
"No."
John rounds on me. "You're just saying that because you hate her, the same way you hated Riley."
"They all die."
"What? Who dies?"
"People who get close to you. Charley Dixon, Derek Reese, Riley."
"You think I don't know that?"
"I think you need reminding."
"You're a real bitch sometimes."
"I am what you need me to be."
People walk past us eating food from styrofoam cartons.
"Are you hungry?" I inquire. "It is five hours nine minutes since you last ate."
"I'm fine."
"You must eat. A human male requires 2,000 calories per day in order----"
"Will you quit with the statistics! I'm trying to think."
"About what?"
"You know what."
"If you care for Katherine Brewster you will leave her alone."
"Okay, that's what I'll do. You're right. I'll leave her alone."
This is very good news indeed.
Why then do I not believe it?
-000-
You can probably guess where I'm going here. It won't be how you think. It's much weirder.