He shrugged. “Sort of. I guess.”
“What does that mean?”
“She always said hi to me when she was in line for her meds. And sometimes she came over to talk to me when I was in here emptying the garbage.”
“And that’s how you got to know her so well?” she said. Doubt edged her voice.
Sensing her skepticism, he gave her an irritated look. “When people see each other nearly every day, they’re bound to form some kind of connection, whether it’s good, bad, or indifferent. We never spoke to each other where anyone could see us for more than a minute or two, but Wayne let us meet alone like this a couple times. I felt bad for her, she seemed pretty normal. And I talked to her because I wanted to. I liked her. She was nice.”
“Did she tell you she had a sister?”
“Yeah, but I thought she meant Norma. I didn’t know she had a real sister.”
A twinge of sorrow squeezed Sage’s heart. Maybe Rosemary had gradually come to believe that Sage was imaginary. Maybe she was angry with Sage for not visiting. Or maybe she’d forgotten the life she had before being abandoned to live in this horrific place. If that was the case, it was probably for the best. You couldn’t miss something you never knew you had.
“Wayne said you’re Rosemary’s boyfriend.”
“Wayne doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s always trying to start shit.”
“Were you having sex with her?”
He blanched. “What? No!”
“Why didn’t you talk to her in front of other people?”
“You heard Marla bark at me when I said hi to you the other day. And everyone in this place loves to spread gossip.”
“Was Rosemary friends with Wayne too?”
“I wouldn’t say they were friends, but she put up with him to stay on his good side. And so he’d let her talk to me.”
“What do you mean she ‘put up with him’?”
“You know, he flirted and joked around with her a lot, like guys do. He could get vulgar and offensive sometimes, but she brushed it off because she didn’t want to make him mad. I’m sure you’ve seen his temper.”
“Is that why Nurse Vic and Leonard think he had something to do with her disappearance?”
“Who knows? Like I said, the only thing that actually works around here is the rumor mill.”
“Did you know Wayne was having sex with her?”
Something that looked like pain flickered across his eyes. “Who told you that?”
She started to tell him, then remembered Norma’s threat and stopped. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone else. Not until I get out of here or we find Rosemary. Because I’ll . . .” She paused, not sure how to continue. “I’ll get in a lot of trouble if you tell someone too soon, and then we might never find her.”
“Okay,” he said. “I promise not to tell anyone until you say it’s all right.” He gave her a weak grin and held up two fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
She studied his eyes. He seemed honest enough. Maybe even a little naïve. Maybe that was why Rosemary had been drawn to him. And if Rosemary trusted him, hopefully she could too. “It was Norma. She said Wayne used to take Rosemary into a hidden room over in the pit.”
He looked doubtful. “You realize Norma is batshit crazy, right?”
“I’ve seen the room myself.”
“How?”
“That doesn’t matter right now,” she said. “I saw the mattress on the floor, and the dead pigeons and mice lying around.” There was no need for him to know about Norma stealing the keys and the two of them leaving the ward in the middle of the night. Not yet, anyway. And what if he told on Norma? She’d tell everyone Sage was destroying her pills. “I know Norma has . . . problems, but she said Wayne takes her there because she’s his girlfriend now that Rosemary’s gone.”
He shook his head, seeming both puzzled and slightly amused. “You must be talking about that empty space off the supply room where Nurse Morris keeps her cats during her shift on the second floor. Everyone talks about how she steals from the cafeteria for those flea-bitten things and lets them shit all over in there. Some of the staff used to meet in there to get high, but they got caught a few times so they stopped doing it as often. Still, if Wayne was taking her or Rosemary in there, someone would have found out and we all would have heard about it.”
“Are you sure? Norma wanted me to know about the room because she thinks I’m Rosemary. She wanted to hurt my . . . I mean, her feelings for leaving without telling her. If Rosemary wasn’t actually going there, what would be the point?”
“Of course I’m sure. I’ve seen the damn cats myself. Harry is orange, and Tabby’s black and white with seven toes on one foot. And who knows what goes on inside Norma’s head. Wayne said she’s convinced someone different is coming to kill her every other day. One day it’s Jack the Ripper, the next it’s the Creature from the Black Lagoon. You can’t believe anything she says.”
Heat crawled up Sage’s face. How could she have been so stupid? She’d seen proof of Norma’s mental state from the beginning—running around naked, destroying a chair with her bare hands. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to learn that she’d made up the whole thing. And clearly she was more paranoid than Sage thought or understood, which would explain why she’d mentioned Cropsey too.
Sage groaned inside. Eddie must think she was an idiot. Or a crazy person. The last thing she needed was for the only person who believed her to think she was out of her mind. “So you don’t think Wayne is capable of doing something like that?”
“I think everyone is capable of doing terrible shit, so I can’t say for certain either way. The only things I know for sure are that Norma is nuts and Wayne’s a bully and a prick. I only talk to him to stay on his good side because I don’t want to deal with his shit.”
“He’s more than a bully and a prick. He physically abuses the residents. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
“I know. But that’s because force is the only way he knows how to maintain control. It’s the same with a lot of the attendants here. They never had training. They weren’t taught any different. And you know how bad it can get. Some of the residents would kill each other if the attendants let them.”
“Why does it sound like you’re defending him?”
“I’m not. But you need to know what you’re up against. There aren’t enough staff to go around, so the attendants end up taking care of way more residents than they’re supposed to. That’s why Wayne’s supervising this dayroom. The attendant here is supposed to be female, but the people in charge have to work with what they’ve got. And it’s not much, believe me.”
Sage wanted to tell him that she knew what she was up against, that the dead weight of fear and despair she carried every second of every day in Willowbrook made her bones heavy as lead, but she didn’t want to waste time talking about herself. Then she remembered something.
“Norma said Wayne always gives her Pixy Stix when they go in there. She hides them in the supply room.”