Page 15 of Deja New
“Sorry,” he said. Because for some reason he now had to apologize for the fact that Leah Nazir was once a household name.
“It’s weird that I keep forgetting you were a child star, right, hon?” Archer asked.
“Why do you keep asking questions you don’t actually want the answer to? And it’snotweird, it’s lovely.” She managed to arrange her lips into a gruesome approximation of a smile. “I’d prefer everyone kept forgetting.”
“Sorry,” Jason said again. And then he could put his finger on what he’d overlooked... not just Leah turning her back on acting, but the eventual fallout from that decision: Her costar/mother had been murdered just a few months ago. It had made headlines in various entertainment sections of various papers.PeopleandUs Weeklyhad each done a small article on the case.“Death of an Icon’s Mother,” “Agent Murders Former Client,” “That’s My MomCostar Slain.” It hadn’t been his case, but when it came to gossip, cops put hair salons to shame. The murder had been exceptionally foul and violent; two rookies had gotten sick at the scene. It had been discussed. Frequently.
“All right.” The brisk voice pulled Jason back to the present. “Your IDOC paperwork is all set, here are your IDs back.” A corrections officer had looked everything over and fed copies into the great bureaucratic machine that was ICC (pronounced “ick” to nearly everyone’s annoyance). This was a small relief, because filling out paperwork didn’t necessarily guarantee entrance to Intake Processing.
And if youwereallowed in, you weren’t done yet. Such things took time: a minimum of two forms of ID for every visitor. Searches. Paperwork. No cell phones, no pagers, no smoking. No boxes, no purses, no bags, no books. No sunglasses, no keys, no drinks, no food. No money, no backpacks, no magazines, nowallets. Lock them all away, but the State of Illinois is not responsible for anything stolen if someone breaks the flimsy lock and absconds with your purse, bag, book, keys, drink, food, backpack, wallet.
Diapers, tampons, medication? Determined on a case-by-case basis. (Hint: Take your meds in the parking lot.) Contraband? Illegal per the Illinois Code of Criminal Conduct. (Hint: Leave contraband in the parking lot unlessyouwant to live in a cage.)
Clothing? Everyone must wear underwear. All females must wear a bra.*No tank tops, no shorts, no dresses. No hats, no gloves, no scarves.
All this to sit in a bare, sad room and stare at a loved one who, for whatever reason, now lived in a cage.
“Drake family.” This from the intake processing officer, whom no one saw unless the paperwork was squared away.
“That’s us,” Archer said, and Jason saw Angela bite her lip.
“Come on,” Jason said, and led them to the Visitation Room.
