The Cracks in the Labyrinth

Chapter 7 (Part 2)

Keeping his eyes on Lili, Adam finished putting on his sweatshirt and placed his hand over his watches. He was not an impatient man, but at that moment, he was struggling to control his anxiety. Adam was waiting for his neighbor to speak again, waiting for her to stop eating and say something about the audio file.

Am I imagining things?

Since the muted TV news had completely enthralled Lili and only opened her mouth to eat, it became clear to Adam that if he didn't bring up the subject, she would not say another word about it.

"Lili?"

"Your food is getting cold," she said without looking at him.

"What did you mean by that?"

"By what?"

"The audio file."

"Oh yeah, that."

While she enjoyed a sip of coffee, Adam felt as if his entire world was on hold.

"What do you know?"

Lili took a second to think it over.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Well," she started crumbling her second arepa, "I know that Bianca and someone called Rafael have something to do about it. And I know you are worried."

Adam felt his mask of composure was slipping.

"How do you know all that?"

Lili raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No." Adam sat at the dining room table. "Who told you about this?"

"Why, it was you, silly."

"Me?"

She nodded.

"You talk in your sleep."

He sighed, feeling relieved. Things were making sense, and they weren't as bad as he thought. Adam knew that last night's nightmare hadn't been normal. It happened again, he admitted. I have to see Magda later. But first... If he'd had one of his 'episodes' and revealed some skeletons in his closet, then finding out how much Lili knew was crucial.

"And you believed what I said in my sleep?" Adam cut an arepa open, spread some butter in it, and filled it in with grated cheese. "Dreams are nonsense."

"Dunno," said Lili. "Never heard anything like it."

"Many people talk in their sleep."

"Don't know anyone who does."

"Maybe you don't know enough people."

"I know everyone. No one talks in their sleep. Not like that. Not like you."

As hungry as he was, Adam didn't want to eat anything after his first bite. Later that day, the only way he'd be able to describe the terrible aftertaste that bland arepa left in his mouth would be to compare it to the awful shock he felt that one time he thought there was Seven UP in his cup when, in fact, it was plain soda. They looked the same, even smelled similarly if you weren't paying attention, but the tongue always felt betrayed after that first taste.

"Tasty?" Lili asked.

Adam had a hard time swallowing and tried to stay on topic.

"So, what else did I say last night?"

"Nothing embarrassing," she winked at him, "Come on, eat!"

Adam forced a smile and the rest of the food down his throat. All he could think about for the next few minutes was keeping his stomach from retching. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten a meal out of obligation but doing something that could upset Lili was out of the question. A breakfast high in screams? No thanks. Besides, he needed her in a good mood to get his PC back that same day.