“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Everything’s okay. Just waiting for you.”
But she had not been truthful. There were two police cruisers in front of the gallery when I approached, and immediately the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Three officers had congregated in front of our building, talking, milling, one writing in a notepad, a fourth seated in one of the cars. Things were not okay.
I parked in my spot behind the gallery and entered through the back door.
Lulit, Matt, and Josephine were all standing in the kitchen, their faces solemn.
“What happened? Was there a burglary?”
They looked at me. Funny. But not talking. Matt sipped from his espresso.
“What happened?”
“We had an incident,” Josephine said. “It’s not a big deal. It’s just graffiti.”
“Then why are the police here?”
Lulit took a moment to respond. “They’re taking it pretty seriously.”
“They’re taking what pretty seriously?”
Without speaking she grabbed my hand and walked me through the gallery, to the front entrance and out the door. There, on the lower part of the white brick wall that had been blocked from my view by the police cars, spray-painted in large black letters, were the wordsDIE WHORE.
“Oh my God. OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod. Is this for me? Is this about me? Is this because of me?” My head was spinning and I could not feel my legs. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Let’s go inside,” Lulit said, taking me by the arm.
“I’m going to be sick.”
“You’re not going to be sick. You’re going to be fine.”
I’d begun to shake. “Those fucking fans. Those fucking crazy fans.”
“All right… Let’s get you a glass of water. Jo, can you get her some water? They’re going to want to ask you some questions, but it’s okay.”
“It’s not okay.”
“It’s going to be okay. They’ve photographed it. They’ve dusted for prints. They’re going to check the camera footage. It’s probably just a couple of teenage girls. It’s going to be okay.”
“It’s not okay, Lulit.”
“Look at me.Look at me. It’s going to be okay.”
She led me back into our office and sat me down, and I could not keep my water from sloshing out of the glass, I was shaking so.
“Who called the police?”
“Josephine did. She told them what was going on, the phone calls, the threats. They came immediately.”
Josephine was flustered. “I know you said to use discretion, I know you said ‘No comment,’ but I thought this was a pretty big deal. I’m sorry.”
“No. You did the right thing.” My mind was racing. “Are they going to paint it? Can we paint it? Can we get rid of it before thepress gets ahold of it? Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m even saying this.
“Those fucking…bitches,” I said. And then I started to laugh. We all did. “It’s not funny. I feel like I’m in high school. Except I never even got to date the cute guy in high school. Can’t I just enjoy this? It’s not fair.”
“I say we find those bitches,” Matt said, “and then we beat their asses. Who’s down? We’ve got box cutters in the back.”
