Emily Kimelman - Sydney Rye 04 - Strings of Glass (3 page)

T
hough
I’d become practically nocturnal, Dan and
I were no more drifting apart than we had
drifted together. While I slept, he gardened and spent
time on his computer doing I didn’t know what. But after three weeks I came
back from a two- hour run late in the afternoon
with mud on my legs and leaves in my hair. I stripped down for my shower and as
I headed for the bathroom Dan looked up from his laptop and said, “Hey,
can I talk to you about something?”

“Sure,”
I said.

“I
see how that fight affected you.”

I
shrugged. “Yeah.”

“I
see the glint in your eye, Sydney. I mean, hell, I love
lying around with you and reading books and chilling, but that doesn’t mean
that you are going to be happy here. Not for long anyway.”

I bit my
lip not wanting to talk about it. The first time I felt anything like this it
was a wild crazy burn. It burned Joy away. But Sydney was made of sterner
stuff. Practically made of stone. I could get through this without hurting
anyone, I thought.

“My
point is I know that you need something to do.”

I didn’t
answer, waiting to see where this was going. Dan sighed and stood up,
tilting his computer screen toward me. I saw that it was the Joy Humbolt
website and closed my eyes. “Dan-”

“Wait,”
he said, interrupting me. “Look, it’s not the same as it was. It’s not so
much about Joy anymore.” His voice rose as he became more excited.
“Now it’s about fighting for justice.”

I cocked
my head at a sarcastic tilt. “Fine,
what’s it called?”

He
swallowed. “Joyful Justice.”

“You
want me to be involved in something called Joyful Justice. Are you
insane?”

He
flopped his head. “Come on, Syd-”

“No,
really,” I laughed. “Seriously, have we been hanging out at
all?”

“Yeah,
Syd, and you’re not some badass vigilante, you read Sookie Stackhouse
mysteries.”

My jaw
dropped. “You recommended them.”

“Yeah,
and I like Joyful Justice.”

“Dan,
I don’t want to talk about this,” I said again.

“I
know,
babe, I know that but I just wanted to bring it up. I just wanted to plant the
seed in your brain.” He came and wrapped his arms around my waist. He
kissed the top of my head and then leaned back, his arms still linked around
me. “But, just so you know, I think Mulberry would agree with me.”

“What?”
I said. “You’ve been talking to Mulberry about this?”

He
shrugged. “No, I just think he’d agree.” An evil little smile played
on his lips.

“Don’t
try to manipulate me, Dan.”

His lips
straightened. “Manipulate you?” He dropped his arms and turned away.

“Yeah.”

He
looked over his shoulder at me. “Sometimes you say the most fucked up
shit.” And with that he walked out the door leaving it open. I watched him
as he crossed the lawn to our motor bike. He got on and with a putter and blast
the old Bullet roared to life. Dan pulled out of the drive and into the road
without looking back at me.

His
sudden anger was totally out of character. I was the one who got all crazy and
he was the one who stayed totally calm. I looked around the little hut at Dan’s
T-shirts in a neat pile on top of the dresser. My flip flops askew by the door.
His bug spray, sunscreen, and hand sanitizer neatly lined
up on his side of the bed. All there was on my side was a pile of paperbacks,
old and fat from the tropics. I used his sunscreen and bug spray. He read my
pile of books. We were living together. I was living with a man. A man named
Dan. I swallowed, oh shit, we had roles, we were in a god damn relationship.
And that was our first fight. Shit.

I was
already in my towel ready for my shower so I decided to take it. Stepping into
the bathroom I inhaled the rich scent of jasmine. A
lizard dashed up the wall and into the vine’s
fragrant flowers.

The
water sputtered for a moment and then streamed hot and heavy. Stepping under
the spray I closed my eyes and concentrated on getting clean. I heard Blue
barking excitedly and wondered if Dan had come back. Were we going to make up
now? I remembered how fun that could be and thought that maybe I could do this
relationship thing again. Maybe I was ready. My heart fluttered at the thought.

#

F
inishing quickly I dried off
and headed back into the hut. Throwing my towel on the bed I reached for a
sundress when a voice behind me said. “Whoa, whoa.”

I turned
around to see Mulberry sitting in my reading chair, his left hand covering his
eyes. I grabbed the towel off the bed and when I turned back he was peeking.
“Mulberry!” I yelled.

He
shrugged and dropped his hand. “What?”

“Jesus,
what are you doing here?” My heart
was pounding in my chest.

“When
you refused to respond to my emails I figured I’d show up.”

I rolled
my eyes even though I was really happy to see him. If I was wearing more clothes
and he’d actually knocked, I would have hugged him. Blue sat next to him
leaning into his legs. Mulberry reached out and ruffled his ears.

“Why
have you been ignoring me?” he asked, looking at me with his bright green
eyes.

I
sighed. “Why do you insist on only writing to me about cases?”

Mulberry
smiled. “Because I know a good mystery is the best way to your heart;
isn’t that right, Blue?” Mulberry said,
returning his attention to my beast. Blue looked up at him, his eyes filled
with devotion and joy. “At least he’s happy to see me,” Mulberry said.
“What happened to him? I’d hate to see the other guy,” he said with a
soft laugh.

“He
was attacked by an aggressive pack. And I would be happy to see you, if
you
hadn’t just seen me naked.”

Mulberry
laughed. “Come on, what are you doing here?”

“What
do you mean? I’m living here.”

“I
can see that,” he said, then looked around the
cabin. I saw his jaw clench and then he asked quietly,
“With Dan?”

“Yes,
with Dan.”

“And
that’s what you want to do?” He looked
over at me again, glints of yellow in his eyes sparkled in the sunlight that
streamed through a nearby window.

“What
do you mean?”

“You
want to stay here, not have any more adventures with me?”

“Your
adventures
usually involve Bobby Maxim,
lies
, and almost getting me killed,” I said.

Mulberry
frowned. “What are you going to do?” He stood up and stepped toward
me, his broad shoulders blocking out the sun’s rays. “Stay here and marry
Dan? Become a homemaker?” I felt anger rolling off of him like a wave of
heat surges over blacktop in the desert.

His rage
struck me like an unexpected blow and I yelled at him. “Why not, Mulberry?
Why wouldn’t I marry Dan? Because that might make me happy? Shouldn’t I be
happy!”

His face
paled and he shrunk away from me. I felt like a bull, huffing air out my nose,
ready to charge. He shook his head. “I’m sorry,
Sydney. Of course you should be happy.” The word seemed to die in his
mouth. He ran a hand through his dark hair, the silver that peppered it shining
in the light.

I
squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed at them with my free hand. “God Mulberry,
what are you doing here?”

“I
don’t know,” he said,
not looking at me. A moment passed as we stood there, the steam from my shower
and heat of our emotions filling the room with a wet and heavy silence.
Mulberry licked his lips. “I’m sorry.”

I
nodded, my damp hair tickling my bare shoulders. “Want a drink?” I
asked.

He
smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

“All
right, then get the fuck out so I can get dressed.” I smiled at him.

Mulberry
laughed and turned to the door, Blue following him outside.

When I
came out  Mulberry was sitting by the pool with Monica. She laughed and placed
her hand on his forearm as he leaned toward her. When I walked up to them
Monica was blushing. “Oh, Sydney,” she said. “Your
friend is so charming.” Mulberry smiled up at me, squinting against the
sun behind me.

“Really?”
I said. “Not usually.”

Ignoring
me Monica said, “I’ll send Badlu out with some drinks for you. What would
you like?”

“Two
tequila gimlets with a splash of cran,” Mulberry answered.

“You
two must know each other well,” Monica said.

“Yes,”
Mulberry said, not taking his eyes off me. “We go
back a long time.”

Monica
laughed again and I saw her resist touching his broad shoulder. Mulberry looked
good. He’d lost the weight I’d last seen him carrying around. Those boulder
arms were back, the same ones he had when I first met him in New York, a
full-on lifetime ago. “You look good,” I said as I sat next to him.
“Back in shape.”

Mulberry
smiled. “Nothing like a near-death
experience to make you remember you want to live.”

I nodded
but didn’t say anything, scared by how the man was saying my thoughts out loud.
Maybe he’d always done that and I’d just never noticed. “It’s hot out
here, huh?” Mulberry said.

“The
sun will be down soon.”

“Come
on,” he stood up and pulled me out of my chair. “Let’s sit with our
legs in the pool.”

I
laughed. “You’re kind of like a kid.”

“Only
when I’m around you.”

He
rolled up his khakis and I sat on the tiled edge, slipping my calves into the
cool water, pulling my dress up to my thighs. Mulberry settled next to me,
close enough that our hips almost touched. Badlu came out with our drinks and
Mulberry held up his glass to mine. “To happiness,” he said.

I
clinked my glass, brimming with light ruby liquid, against his. A little splashed
down his hand as our glasses touched. Mulberry reached down and sucked it off
his hand. I watched as the sunlight caught the saliva on his lips making them
sparkle in the final rays of the day.

“Are
you happy, Mulberry?” I asked.

He
looked up at me and the glints of gold that floated in his deep green eyes
twinkled. “Enough,” he said. “I’d be happier if you-” He
cut himself off and shook his head. “I’m happy that you’re happy.”

I turned
away from his penetrating gaze looking out onto the river that meandered by.
Two fishermen
rowing with strong strokes propelled their wooden canoe through the muddy
water. One of them said something and the other laughed. The sound carried
across the water like an echo.

“I
miss you sometimes,” I said.

Mulberry
wrapped his arm around my back. “I miss you,
too.”

We sat
like that, sipping our drinks, his heavy arm hugging me close. I leaned into
his chest smelling a man I realized I knew so well. Mulberry saved my life in
more than a physical sense. The man pulled me out of my misery, my denial, and
my loathing; he always came and got me when I needed him
to. Did he need me now? Was I
missing a call for help? Or was it the other way around?

The sun
set behind us and the stars began to pop out of the pale blue sky. Our glasses
sat empty by our sides and we didn’t talk. Blue came and curled up against our
backs, resting against us. There didn’t seem to be anything to say. We shared a
past filled with violence and triumph, strong emotions and death. Is this what
kinship meant? I wondered.

“I
should get going,” Mulberry
said,
breaking into my thoughts.

I
nodded turning my face into his chest, pressing my eyes so hard that spots
exploded in my vision. I loved it here, squeezing against him. It felt like a
kind of home, a safe place.

Mulberry
turned and brushed his lips against my hair. A thrill ran down my spine,
something I’d never felt with him before. He kissed my
forehead and reached a hand up,
stroking the back of my neck. Heat rose to my cheeks and I pulled away looking
up at him. Mulberry stared out into the darkening sky, his jaw clenching. I
watched the muscle jump and thought about reaching up and kissing it. Shocked
by the thought I dipped my head onto his chest again.

Blue
stood and I turned to see Dan walking down the path. When he saw me his eyes
hardened. Mulberry turned to look. Seeing Dan, he unwrapped his arm from around
me. We both stood.

“Hey,”
Dan said.

“Hey,”
Mulberry said, his voice gruff. He extended his hand and Dan took it, his chest
puffed out, and a scowl on his face. “I was just
leaving.”

“Yeah?”

Mulberry
turned to me and then back to Dan. “You’re a lucky man,” he said.

Dan
seemed to soften. “Why don’t you stay for dinner?”
He smiled tightly. “I know Monica would love that.”

Mulberry
laughed. “I’m sure,” he said grinning, “but I’ve got to
go.”

“A
case?”

Mulberry
nodded. “I came to try to tempt your
lady away to help but she won’t have it,” he said,
looking over at me. I dipped my head looking down at my wet feet, pruney from
how long they’d swung in the pool. “Says she’s happy,” Mulberry
continued, turning back to Dan.

Dan just
nodded. “I hope so,” he said.

“It
was good to see you,” Mulberry said to Dan. “Mind if I have one more
minute with her before I go?”

Dan’s
jaw tightened but he nodded and walked toward our hut. Blue followed him,
tapping his head into Dan’s hand, looking for more of a greeting. Mulberry
turned to me. “If you ever want to blow shit up or anything call me,
OK?”

“You
know there is no one I would rather die with,” I said quietly.

Mulberry
smiled softly and then stepping close to me, too close, he reached up and
brushed my bangs aside, looking at the scars on my
forehead. He leaned down and brushed a kiss onto the pink line that ran along
my eyebrow into my hairline. Then ran his thumb along the thicker line that
puckers the skin under my left eye. He stepped even closer so that our bodies
touched. Tilting my chin up so that he was looking into my eyes he said,
“I don’t want to die with you, Sydney,
but if you ever want to live again…” He
leaned in and kissed me on the lips, softly, almost chastely, except for the
electric shock that ran between us.