I managed to put things off to the side in my head to get through the next two weeks, until three days before the last day of school. I was helping my neighbor Kim, who lived across the hall from me two doors down, pack up her room. Kim and I were talking about her French penal, her grandfather, WWII etc. when we came to a lull in the conversation. At which point Kim asked me what I thought of my room. I said it was okay; she wrinkled up her nose and said, "Oh! I hated that room! I couldn't get out of there fast enough and I still don't like to walk past it." At which point we just stared at each other for a moment. I must have had a peculiar look on my face because then she said, "You've seen it too." I just said yeah, and then Kim proceeded to tell me her story.
When Kim first came to UW a year and a half before, she was assigned to room 217. Half way through the semester she awoke one night because she heard a step on the floor (the floor is tile and she didn't have a rug like me.). Standing in the middle of her room looking startled as though he were just caught in the act of something was a tall man in a dark suit. He was bald, with a long sharp nose and black eyes that watched her as though he were surprised to see her and yet he had been walking towards her.
我將這件事情暫且放在一邊,期望能安然度過(guò)接下來(lái)的兩周,但就在離放假還有3天,我?guī)秃臀宜奚岣袅藘蓚€(gè)宿舍的金收拾她的房間的時(shí)候,事情發(fā)生了。當(dāng)時(shí)金正和我聊法國(guó)的刑法制度,她的祖父以及二戰(zhàn)之類(lèi)的東西,忽然我倆陷入了沉默。因?yàn)榻饐?wèn)我覺(jué)得我的房間怎么樣。我說(shuō)還好。她皺皺鼻子說(shuō):“哦,我討厭那個(gè)房間!我不愿進(jìn)那個(gè)房間也不喜歡從那走過(guò)。”這時(shí)我們倆只是看著彼此。我臉上的表情一定很奇怪,因?yàn)樗龑?duì)我說(shuō):“你也見(jiàn)過(guò)他了。”我說(shuō)是的,金接著給我講她的故事。
一年半前她剛到懷俄明大學(xué)時(shí),她就被指派到217房間。學(xué)期進(jìn)行到一半的時(shí)候,有一晚她被腳步聲吵醒(地板是磚面的而她沒(méi)像我一樣鋪地毯)。房間中央站著一個(gè)高個(gè)子的穿著深色衣服的男人,表情驚訝,像是正要干什么卻被人逮個(gè)正著。他是禿頭,長(zhǎng)著大而挺的鼻子,黑色的眼睛正盯著她瞧,仿佛看到她很驚訝似的,但之前他明明是向她的方向走的。