“It is. And it will give your parents and sisters a lot of peace of mind to know that you’re on top of all that.”
“Why are you so squirmy right now?” he asked.
“My shirt feels funny. I think sweat made it pokey.”
Levi glanced down at himself. “Do I smell? I feel like I smell.”
“Yes, but only because you were working really hard on your day off to help someone,” I said. “It’s the smell of righteousness.”
“I think it’s straight up BO,” he said, wincing, but he was polite enough not to comment on my odor.
All the way to the pool in his friend’s real estate portfolio, I thought about Hernán’s departure, but as we approached a big gate, I focused on that. “This is August’s house?” I asked.
“One of them. It’s his primary residence. He’s not here right now but he said to go ahead and swim.” He looked up at the gate. “It should read my license plate and open.”
“What?” I looked around. “Where are the cameras?”
“They’re hidden…there we go.”
The gate swung noiselessly to reveal the house behind it. We were in an older neighborhood and had passed some places that looked like they would have fit well in a history book, but not this one. It was ultra, ultra modern, to the point that it looked mostly like a block of steel. There were plants around it, a few pointy, thin trees and some bushes with foliage of such an odd color that they reminded me of a Dr. Seuss book.
“It’s beautiful in a brutal way,” Levi said as he stopped in front of…it might have been a door, because there was an area of white stone on the ground in front of it. But I couldn’t see a handle or hinges.
“Are there windows?” I asked.
“Wait until you go inside. It’s amazing,” he assured me. “It’s ok, Coral. We’ll find a cool place for you to hang out. How do you feel about cabanas?”
He got out and opened my door because that was what he always did, and he waited to see if I needed help stepping from the car. I was kind of stiff, since I’d carried more today than I had in the last year, and we went slowly up to what might have been the entrance.
“Is this how we get in? Wait a minute. It seriously scans your eye?” I asked as he leaned forward toward a small camera lens almost totally disguised in the dark wall.
“August has all the bells and whistles. And biometrics,” he said as a slab of a door swung upwards rather than to the side. “Come on in.”
By some kind of alchemy, the exterior was a black cube but the interior of this home was as bright as a sunny day. “Wow,” I breathed as we went through the foyer and into the large space that seemed to be the living area. It felt like walking into the sky, that airy and open. “It’s all windows?”
“All of it,” Levi said. “He lives, literally, in a glass house. Which is why I keep telling him—” He stopped, grinning. “I’m not going to finish that thought, about how he shouldn’t throw stones. I want to save the joke for exactly the right opportunity.”
“Good idea.”
He laughed. “Wait until you see the pool.”
Due to its size, it was more like a private lake, but just like the house, it was square and totally uncluttered. “There are chairs,” he said, pointing to some curvy pieces of metal. They were the only things out here without sharp angles, because even the plants were trimmed and shaped in very different ways than what nature had intended.
“Do you want to join us, Coral?” he asked the cat in her carrier. “Let’s do the collar and leash.”
“I’m ready.” I reached into the bag of stuff I’d brought and retrieved my net. I would need to catch her when she bolted.
“Let’s see if she’ll let me do it,” he said, and put the case on a square stone table. “Hi, kitty. Don’t be mad. We brought you here for your own good.”
“She’s going to run and there’s no way to keep up, even if you have two good hips!” I whispered, but he opened the metal door without heeding my warning. Coral stepped out and stretched.
“There she is,” Levi told her, and gently stroked her head. “Feel better? Are you ready for your collar?”
She let him put it on. She batted a little at his hands, but she didn’t make a break for it and disappear into the sunset.
“You’re like a movie I saw with Rex Harrison,” I said. “It’s in color. He has this amazing way with animals…oh, be careful!” Because Levi was putting on the leash, and the click of that set her off more than anything.
“I usually do ok with cats and dogs, and also turtles,” he said and then told Coral, “Your leash is nice and long, so you can roamaround in the shade.” He lifted her down. “It’s cooler here.” It was because of all the fans—and maybe there was outdoor air conditioning? The temperature felt twenty degrees lower than in my apartment. He filled a bowl of water and I heard her purr.
