Page 15 of Witness 8

4

Ruby

Ruby opened the knife drawer and gazed inside.

She had quite the selection to choose from. All were Japanese. The very finest handcrafted steel blades with walnut handles. For a second, her eyes flicked across the kitchen island to Tomas. He sat on a stool at the opposite end of the island, reading his Spider-Man comic book. He was dressed in a Spider-Man-themed sweater, blue jeans and little red-and-blue Nikes. He was small for a seven-year-old. Ruby had picked him up from elementary school and taken him to the waiting town car and the family driver, who then drove them back to Tomas’s West 74thStreet home.

Tomas’s gaze never left the comic book as he angled his head and his small, cherry lips searched for the paper straw sticking out of his juice box.

He wasn’t tall enough for his feet to reach the footrest on the stool, so he swung his legs idly. His heels tapped the stool legs, banging out a dull beat.

Dum – dum.

Dum – dum.

Ruby looked back at the knife drawer, selected a blade about six inches long and two inches wide. The steel had a blue, mottled look to it. Like it was submerged in fast-flowing water, just a part of the tempering process to harden the steel as it’sfolded and cooled and sharpened. The tip looked like it could go through anything.

Ruby listened to the beat of Tomas’s feet on the stool.

Dum – dum.

The rhythm echoed her heartbeat.

As Tomas sucked at his juice box, his cheeks concaved and Ruby wondered how easily the tip of the knife would slip into the plump, pink, perfect skin around Tomas’s neck.

Dum – dum.

She closed the drawer, walked round the kitchen island to stand beside Tomas. He looked up, glanced at the knife and for a second, he was transfixed by its strangeness. He turned back to his comic book as Ruby gripped the handle tighter, bent her elbow and raised the knife into a vertical position, shoulder height.

Dum – dum.

Her elbow extended, pushing the blunt end of the knife over her shoulder. She was winding up her arm. Ready to whip the blade forward with force.

Dum – dum.

Ruby extended her arm, dropped her shoulder – all in milliseconds. The blade flashed toward Tomas.

And down.

Tomas flinched.

His legs were suddenly still.

The apple on the chopping board split in half, the tip of the blade buried in the hardwood board. Ruby smiled, yanked it free and began quartering the fruit.

She placed the apple in a bowl beside Tomas and said, ‘Hey, little mini-munch, don’t you have homework you should get started on?’

‘Not today I don’t. Mom gave Mrs. Gordon a note.’

Behind her, Ruby heard the vacuum cleaner firing up in the hallway. Althea, the maid, was finishing off the last part of her shift.

Althea had started with the family a few months ago. Ruby had previously been cleaning for them one morning per week as well as picking up Tomas from school and babysitting him for two hours afterwards. One day, Ruby got an urgent call from the Goldmans, who had to head out of town for two days due to a sick relative. Ruby had to babysit the kids, which meant canceling her morning cleaning session for Tomas’s mom, Alison.

The next week, Ruby got a text message to say she would no longer be required to clean for them.

Althea had replaced Ruby. And Althea was great. So good, in fact, that they increased her hours to Monday and Thursday. Ruby had gotten to know her a little, but the young lady, who was Hispanic, didn’t say much even though her English was perfect. Althea kept her head down and worked. My God did shework. Her clothes were threadbare. That blue summer dress was so thin and worn it looked like lace. To protect what clothes she had, Althea wore an apron when she cleaned. She kept it in the utility cupboard. It was the first thing she did when she got into the house, put on her little canvas apron. The last thing she did before she left was hang it up. A brown stain was now permanent on the neck of that apron – from Althea’s sweat. She worked like no one Ruby had ever seen, but, more than that, she made sure Alison saw her work and appreciated it. Althea always wanted more hours. In this regard, she was a real threat to Ruby, who made sure to try to keep Althea and Tomas separate. She didn’t want Althea getting to know Tomas. Althea wanted Ruby’s job. This wasn’t anything personal, purely business, but, even so, she suspected that Althea could sense Ruby’s true nature. Some people are like that. They operate on more than one plane.

‘Eat your apple, sweety-boo,’ said Ruby, and then cast her eyes around the kitchen.