Chapter 28
Disunion is treason by force
That night, Nom finally returned to his apartment. Another neighbor must have phoned in a complaint about the smell from Pham's apartment and the yoga girl above. A HASMAT cleanup team was pulling out when Nom arrived. One glance told him that the whole mess had been cleaned. Both apartments were being locked by the compound handy man. A few quick questions filled Nom in on what he had already known. Both of his immediate neighbors had passed, the police had investigated, and the units were decontaminated. At least Nom would not be forced to smell corpses while he mulled over the news from Tollen.
A glass of red, and a soak in the bath to think; that was what he needed. How had Tollen managed to keep all of this from him? Nom was still in regular contact with other workers from the old office. They might have assumed that he had known, but it was odd that something as big as an indefinite administrative leave had not come up.
Something was not right. Tollen had made things sound as if he had been at the office when Nom ended the management reign of terror. Had he lied about that? Had he simply had a source? The office was secured with cameras, security guards, and electronic key cards. It wasn't exactly Fort Knox, but it would not be easy to sneak into much less out of.
The wine and bath did little to answer his questions. Rather, they posed more. Why had Nom's old enemies insisted on meeting him in person? They could have quashed the lawsuit, fired Tollen, and then forgotten about the whole thing. Nom was in their rear view mirror, yet for some reason they had brought him back front and center.
Nom drained the bath, dried, and dressed for bed. The first thing to do was to reach out to some of those old friends from DHS and get a bit of perspective. He got into bed and started emailing and texting.
Nom's first message was to the third member of his and Tollen's cohort, Kieve Johnson. Kieve was a classic hefty-life of the party type. He had spent a number of years working as a coroner's assistant. He only gave up the excitement of body retrieval, when city budget cuts reduced staff. The cuts were so severe that he was working eighty hours a week, most of it unpaid overtime.
He came to DHS, not out of a liberal ideal as many of the workers there had, but simply looking for the next adventure in his life. In his off hours, he maintained a small business buying foreclosed homes, refurbishing and then flipping them. He was king of the office wallyball team, having perfected a power serve that was virtually unreturnable.
Kieve was a jolly spirit and always a source of solace and a good time in a pinch. The parties he threw were legendary for their debauchery. Even the classical Romans would have been overwhelmed by it.
Kieve was also the second person on Nom's speed dial if he ever needed advice.
Tollen just told me that he was suspended over two months ago and is on admin leave.
Do you know anything about it?
To be safe, Nom sent the same message by Facebook. Kieve had a bad tendency of misplacing his phone for days at a time.
Nom performed his nightly rituals, set his alarm panel, told his phone to wake him at o' six hundred, and turned out the light.
The next morning, Nom was surprised to see that Kieve hadn't yet responded. The man usually got up several times a night due to insomnia and passed the time online. Nom tried calling him, but got no answer.
Not wanting to waste too much time on what should prove to be a simple inquiry, he reached out to the rest of his old friends who still worked at the office. More than half of the old wallyball team had been fired or quit, but six were still present.
Nom emailed them copies of the same message he had sent to Kieve and went about preparing for his day.
He was just sitting down to eat his breakfast of a lox bagel and blueberry soy yogurt, when the first reply came in.
Guenn York was one of Nom's old gurus. She had been at the office for more than a decade and despite a constant string of personal tragedies had always maintained a rosy exterior.
Hi Nom,
I was surprised to get your email. Since you left a year ago, I thought you had moved on from us. Why are you asking me about Tollen?
Guenn,
I'm concerned about him. We've stayed in contact, and his changing behavior is alarming. He suddenly dropped the news of his suspension on me late yesterday. If it has been going on for months he's been hiding it.
Nom,
He hasn't been hiding anything. You really didn't know what he's been doing here at the office over the last few months?
Guenn,
No, he told me yesterday that he hasn't been to the office in months. Said he was substitute teaching.
Nom,
Ok, I'll fill you in. He isn't suspended. They announced he was fired three weeks ago. He decided to appeal to the county director's office. She held a formal hearing. Before that, Tollen reached out to all the people he's helped and that are still here. Asked them to write and sign affidavits. Wanted them to say that they were guilty of everything he had done. He tried to get me to confess to sending office wide emails from anonymous email accounts. Those things bad mouthed management and their stooges on the staff. When I refused, he sent me texts saying he would frame me for it. He threatened dozens of people. Everyone is terrified.
Guenn,
I'm not calling you a liar, but that sounds crazy.
Nom,
Not as crazy as what he did next.
Guenn,
What did he do?
Nom,
He threatened to out Kieve as the real mastermind of his plots! Kieve showed me the texts. But he took it a step farther. He told Kieve that if he didn't admit to them, he would send pictures of him and Kieve in bed to Kieve's family!
Nom knew in that moment that Guenn had to be telling the truth. Everyone knew that the three, Nom, Tollen, and Kieve were close friends. But, women's intuition or no, no one else at the office knew Tollen and Kieve were lovers. Nom had often run interference for them. He ensured that when they went out and about it was as the three amigos, just to give them cover. What they did in their own time, well, Nom would rather not think about it. He didn't care about the gay part, but what other people did in the bedroom was always repulsive.
Nom's head was spinning. There was no way that Tollen could have betrayed Kieve. They were classic star crossed lovers.
Guenn,
You have my attention. If you know about their relationship… Well… Then one of those two took you into their confidence. What happened?
Nom,
Tollen did it. When Kieve still said no, said that he needed this job, Tollen sent the pics. He sent them to the whole office too.
Guenn,
No wonder Kieve didn't respond when I texted him, he must be devastated. Have you heard from him, is he alright?
Nom,
Don't you know?
Guenn,
Know what?
Nom,
Kieve is dead. He killed himself.
Nom closed the email app on his phone and ran a Google search for Kieve Johnson. After narrowing the scope of the search, a news article from the Detroit Free Press popped up.
State of Michigan Employee commits suicide at Pontiac DHS office.
Last Thursday, a seasoned case worker died at the Pontiac DHS office. The Oakland County Coroner's office has ruled the death a suicide. Per the Coroner's and DHS' press releases:
Mr. Kieve Johnson, 35, of Waterford, died when he electrocuted himself in the office kitchen. Mr. Johnson, a former employee of the Detroit City Coroner's office, is believed to have used his experience in arranging his death. The kitchen sink was filled with hot water and a pound of salt added. The ground interrupt outlet in the kitchen was removed and the wires bypassed. A small toaster was then plugged into a plug that should have been protected by the GFI plug.
Mr. Johnson removed his shoes, spilled salt water on the floor, and down the floor drain. He then stood in the water, put a hand in the sink, and knocked the toaster into the sink.
Given the elaborate, and intentional elements, present in the means of death; the coroner has ruled that the death was a clear suicide….
Nom did not bother reading the rest of the article. He did not need confirmation from any of his other coworkers. Guenn had simply known too much to be lying.
Kieve's death was a suicide. The man had been a rock. There was only one thing that could have shaken him to such an extent: Tollen betraying him. Kieve was from an old Polish Catholic family, news of his sexual orientation would have destroyed his family life. Family was, second only to Tollen, the most important thing to him.
Tollen had 'gone to the dark side'. It was all starting to click. His willingness to help Nom. His fascination with Nom's powers. But above all, his lack of fear. The man had not mentioned once that his lover of three years was dead, much less dead by suicide. The case was air tight. Nom had a new enemy.