The Cage Keeper Read Online Free

fast and start her up. I put on my seat belt, rev the engine a couple of times, turn on the headlights, then flick on my wipers so I can see. They flap in front of me but the fog on the windshield stays. I start to wipe it off with the back of my hand but then stop. I sit still. My whole car smells like booze. I take a breath then turn right around into a hand that grabs my face and squeezes my cheeks so tight my molars are about to cave into my mouth. I see a big knife blade about three inches from my face. Then I am looking into eyes I know. They are glassy. Wide-set beneath bushy gray eyebrows. They are mean; they belong to Elroy.
    “Hello, Alley Oop. How are you?”
    I don’t say anything. I don’t try. He holds the knife up for me to see.
    “This is a very sharp knife, Al. Do you know what kind it is?”
    My teeth are stinging my cheeks. I shake my head as best I can.
    “I thought not. It’s a Bowie knife, Al. I have castrated horses with knives like this. They do the trick. Believe me.”
    His breath hits me straight in the nose.
    “Now I am going to let go of your face, Allen. And when I do, you are not goin’ to move. You get me?”
    I nod my head. My eyes are watering.
    “Good.”
    He loosens his grip then lets go completely. I take a deep breath and rub my jaw with my hand. I see myself jerking open my door and running out into the alley and around to the front door and Wilson, but I can’t move. He leans between the bucket seats and holds the knife loosely in his hand. It is huge.
    “We’re going on a little trip, kid. Put this car in gear. I’ll direct you.”
    “Mr. McElroy—”
    “Shut up. Just back this car up and drive down the alley to Broadway Street.”
    I put her in gear and back over the potholes behind me. When the car jolts a little I almost apologize. I’ve got to stay calm. I look once to my left, at the white brick wall of the center, at Wilson’s motorcycle. Then I drive straight ahead between the back-door lots of fraternity houses. I look to see if a party is going on in the ground floor of any of them, but everywhere there are dark rooms and closed curtains. My mouth is all dust inside.
    “Take a slow and careful left when you get to Broadway, Al.”
    Elroy’s voice has never sounded so low and rough. I stop where the alley intersects Broadway and look to my right up the hill where there are streetlights and Pau-Pau’s Variety Store. Across from that are the tall pine trees surrounding the university campus. The university police.
    “Left.”
    I see the knife turn a little bit. I put on my indicator, wait for a green Jeep to pass me, then pull out onto the street and head down the hill towards the shopping district.
    “How much petrol have you got, Al?”
    “Half a tank.”
    “That’ll be enough for now,” he says as he squeezes his body between the seats and sits beside me with a grunt. “That’s better, Al. Yes, it is.” He lowers the knife and I feel it press against my side on the outside of my jacket. He reaches behind him between the seat and the door and pulls a bottle from the back. It’s brown and shaped funny. He takes a sip then points straight ahead with a thick crooked finger.
    “You just take another slow and careful right turn when you get to the corner before the bank. Take that right and then get on 119 to Niwot. And Al, do not fuck with me. I am in complete control of my senses.”
    2
    My mind is one big training manual. I’m seeing white pages flip over and over in my head; I’m trying to remember anything I might have read about being kidnapped by an inmate under your jurisdiction, how to handle a knife. My palm slips slightly as I take the turn in front of Rocky Mountain Bank. There is a red traffic light in front of us. I have to stop. Okay, I’ll speed the car up just a little then jam on the brakes and put Elroy through the windshield. I see it all clearly in my head but my body isn’t going along with it. I pull the car to a gentle stop