CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The silence that fell upon the restaurant was as heavy as fog. I looked from Barriers to Rubberman and back again, wondering if I’d heard that right. Rubberman did not repeat or correct himself. He just stood there, his arms crossed in front of his chest. As for Barriers, his hands had balled into fists and were even shaking, as if Barriers was trying to keep himself from shouting.
But finally, Barriers laughed. It sounded like the same laugh he’d made yesterday when James and I visited him, except now it sounded forced, even strained. Rubberman didn’t smile or join in the laughter, and neither did I. The two of us just stared at Barriers as he continued to laugh like someone who had told a terrible joke and was trying to make other people laugh at it by laughing uproari
