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“I don’t know, man, I don’t remember. Look, she was messed up. Everyone here was messed up. Most of it was drugs. Give me some more money and I can get us some.”
“I really don’t want any drugs. What else can you tell me about Hannah? Did she have friends? Family?”
“I don’t know.” He scratches his head. “I think I got lice,” he adds.
Jordan slides a couple inches farther away. “Anything you know could be important.”
Mark stays quiet until his cigarette’s halfway gone. “No parents,” he finally says. “Neither of us had ’em. Well I did, but they wasn’t worth anything. I got taken away from them. Rust Belt fuckin’ misery. She was in some orphanage way uptown. Charles Dickens shit.”
Mark looks over and sees the surprised look on Jordan’s face. He laughs. “That’s just what she told me.”
“Do you know what it was called? What neighborhood it was in?”
“Past Harlem’s all I know. I roll south of 45th exclusive.”
Did Hannah come from a group home in Washington Heights? Or Inwood? If Mark’s telling the truth, then Jordan suddenly knows more about her than anyone else at Belman. He doesn’t feel like a spy anymore—he feels like a goddamn hero.
Mark was still talking. “Whatever it was, she said it looked like some kind of fucked-up fortress or something.”
CHAPTER 88
“I think today’s the day,” Amy said, walking briskly over to the little window in my room and peering out.
“But the weather’s terrible.” I pulled my sweater tighter around my shoulders. “I’ve seen at least ten snowflakes.”
“Oh, Hannah.” She smiled like I was being cute.
I wasn’t being cute. I didn’t want to go outside alone.
“Do you still have that coat we loaned you?” Amy asked.
“Maybe,” I said. It was very plainly sticking out of the bottom drawer of my dresser. “But my stomach hurts.”
I wasn’t expecting Amy to buy it, and guess what, she didn’t.
“You were fine when they took your vitals an hour ago,” she said.
“It must have been something I ate.”
Amy came over and touched my shoulder gently. “Hon, no malingering, please.”
“I’m sick,” I said. Then I added, “In the head.”
Amy gave a short bark of a laugh. “Yeah, I’ve never heard that one before. Come on, put on your shoes.”
There was no point in arguing with her. I was going out, whether I wanted to or not. “I’m going to need laces,” I told her.“And a buddy. You know, how in elementary school, when you have to hold hands—”
“You’ll get laces when we sign you out. But you don’t need a buddy.”
“What if I want one? Like …” I pretended to think. “Like, I don’t know—Jordan.” I could leave the ward if it meant I’d be with him. I’d laugh at his stupid jokes and we’d walk around the neighborhood and maybe we could get coffee or even ice cream like two totally normal people. I mean, I woke up feeling pretty good today. Like I could have a regular conversation with someone.
Preferably Jordan Hassan.
“It’s his day off,” Amy said. “And you don’t need him.”
But I want him.
“Come on, let’s get you a MetroCard.” She literally lifted me off my bed. “You can borrow my hat.”
