Fade to Grey (16 page)

“I’ll have the same thing the lady had,” he said. He thought that was the best bet, since he was unsure of exactly what she had bought and he didn’t want to sound out-of-place.

“Sure, buddy,” the vendor said with a flourish of his silver tongs. “Can’t go wrong with a Chicago dog and chips, can ya?”

Royce watched him as he repeated the movements he had done a minute ago. The wiener was slapped in the bun and mustard and onions lavishly applied on top of it.

“What are ya having to drink today, bud?”

“Oh, just whatever you have on the top of the heap.”

“Looks like Coca-Cola,” the vendor said.

“Wonderful.” Royce figured it must be safe to drink if the woman was drinking it. He was used to a variety of tasty drinks back at Fallow Field Farm. Milk, sarsaparilla, ginger beer, and hot tea were always plentiful. In the fall and into the early winter they had good fresh apple cider. The maids dug up sassafras root in the springtime, and kept a supply of the dried roots in the pantry for brewing year-round. Then in bars out in town of course, you had beers, applejack, and whiskey for grownups.

Unsure what his purchases cost, Royce dug in his pocket and held out a handful of change to the man.

Quizzically, the man looked at him, then down at the change in his palm. Shrugging, he picked out a number of coins and pocketed them.

“First time in Chicago, eh?” the man said.

“Oh, no,” Royce said. “I’ve been here many times in the past.”

“Whatever. Enjoy your dog,” the man said.

Royce took his food back to the bench and saw the woman with the short skirt now had an upset look on her face.

“Drat! My pull tab broke off!” She was looking at her drink can in disgust. “Now how will I wash down my dog?”

Feeling chivalrous, Royce stood and took his knife from his pocket. “I’ll be glad to help you, miss.” The problem seemed vexing to her but the solution was as simple as A-B-C to him. He removed his knife from his pocket and wiped it clean with the napkins he had. Placing the can on the sidewalk, Royce jabbed his knife tip into the round circle that was keeping the drink inside the container. With a quick ‘poink’ the sharp metal pierced the can and the brown liquid bubbled out.

The woman clapped her hands in glee. “Thank you! I should have known a construction worker would carry a knife!”

Royce thought about correcting her because he was certainly no construction worker. He decided against it and thought he would get to work on eating his meal. He sat on the bench and carefully took a bite of the steaming hot dog, enjoying the flavors that mixed together. Since he saw the lady pull a ring on her drink can, he did the same and when it popped open, he took a sip of it. He was surprised at the bubbles that burst and tingled in his mouth. Suddenly, he felt a hand behind tugging at his collar, almost choking him. He turned to see Donna’s face blazing with fury.

“What are you doing? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

Royce looked at her bemusedly. He didn’t appear the least bit ashamed that she found him sitting and eating a wiener.

“It’s not safe out here,” she blustered.

“Seems safe to me,” the strange lady in the short skirt said. “Anyway, he’s got a knife!”

When she saw the hostile look Donna shot at her she clamped her mouth shut.

“How did you plan to get back into the apartment?”

Royce smiled, continued to eat his wiener and mused on the question. “I guess I’d go up in that fast box you call the elevator and open the door.”

“Oh! You think it’s so easy! You don’t even have a key. And furthermore…” Suddenly she stopped, as though she realized how ridiculous she sounded. Her shoulders slumped and she looked at the sidewalk. “Just go ahead and finish your food. I’ll wait.”

Royce was glad she calmed down. Before she walked up, he thought he would get quite some free entertainment watching all these modern people walk about. Their clothing was so strange and their cars so brilliant and quick moving. But he saw at each intersection the cars slid to a stop as a flashing box above the street blinked colors. He wondered what it stood for, but the people driving the cars seemed to know. Cars, for all their futuristic wonder; didn’t travel much faster downtown than a horse and rider in his book.

People walked past him holding little skinny boxes clamped to their ears. Some were listening to them, as he had seen people do with seashells. He wondered what they were hearing; surely it wasn’t the sound of the ocean? Suddenly, they would bark out words into the devices as though they were talking to a person directly in front of them. Strange as it appeared, no one gave them a second look.

He thought he might even chat with the other lady on the bench. It didn’t take him long to finish off his hot dog and the crispy salty things that were in his sack. Donna stood silently while Royce finished his quick meal. She almost had to laugh when she saw how the bubbly drink affected his throat and nose. She knew he was drinking it too fast to let the bubbling sensation go down his throat. She calmed down and saw the ridiculousness of the situation. She knew she was being overprotective of Royce. He was a grown man, quite capable of handling himself in Chicago.

“Go ahead and take your time, Royce. Time is immaterial nowadays.” She sighed. The lady looked at her strangely and then looked away as if she didn’t want to get involved in a lover’s quarrel.

When Royce was finished, he stood and threw his trash in a nearby can. He smiled at Donna and the two of them made their way back to her apartment house.

They rode in elevator and he didn’t experience near the discomfort he had the first two times. Donna unlocked her door and they walked in.

“We need to talk, Royce.”

“About what?”

“About you venturing outside without me. It was dangerous.” She turned toward him, her face furious and her arms crossed.

“Donna, I’m quite capable of going out in public. I don’t need a nursemaid.” He walked back to the window and stared down at the streets below.

She followed him. “It’s not that you aren’t capable of being outside the building alone. It’s just that you’re not used to this place, to the people, to traffic…and just everything.”

Royce continued to stand there peering out the glass. “Donna, I swear you have smoke coming out of your ears.” He laughed.

“Don’t laugh at me! I’m dead serious!” She grabbed his elbow.

Royce turned to face her.

“Alright, alright. If it makes you feel any better, I won’t go anywhere without you right by my side.” Hugging her, he gently kissed her forehead. “And thank you for being so concerned about my safety.”

Stiffening against his hug, she suddenly softened. “It was just scary to see you sitting there talking with strangers.” She began to rub his back. “I picked up some pastries and cream cheese from the coffee shop. I know it’s a bit late for breakfast, but we can have them now and watch a little bit of television before we go to my office.”

She took the box from the bakery and opened it up. “Here, I’ll show you how to use this in case I’m not around and you want to heat up some food.” She placed a muffin on a paper plate and opened up the door to the black metal box on her counter. Punching in ‘22’ and ‘Start’ she showed him how he could watch while the food turned in a circle and a light lit up the inside of the box.

“Be careful, sometimes food with sugar and grease gets extra hot. Another thing, don’t operate it with the door open. I’ll make us some coffee.”

He had been watching through the tiny glass window as the pastries turned inside. He thought the muffin smelled wonderful! Plus the convenience of heating them in the little metal box was fun. He poked the muffin and felt the tingle of warmth on his fingertip. They sat on barstools in her kitchen, spreading cream cheese on their pastries with more of those plastic knives and waiting for the coffee to brew. Donna prepared it in a strange way. She scooped coffee from a can and it was already ground. He thought how Lilly would have scooped the beans from a burlap sack and run them through a hand grinder in the kitchen. She took a small piece of white paper and shoved it down into a machine and snapped a door shut on it. Next she ran water from the tap and dumped it into a type of trough on top. Lastly, she plugged a white rope into the wall and punched a button. A few seconds later, the earthy smell of coffee began filling her kitchen.

“How wonderful! And it was so easy to make!”

“Yes, we have improved a lot of food and drink products. Everybody wants convenience nowadays,” Donna said. “Things have to be pre-chopped, pre-cooked, and pre-washed.”

They sat silently a moment, enjoying their food and looking out the window at the cityscape.

“Why don’t you go wash up and shave and I’ll check my emails? Then we can go to my office,” Donna said.

“Thank you, I would feel better if I freshened up.”

“I’ve got shaving supplies in the bathroom though they might look a little different than what you’re used to. Oh here, I’ll go show you—it’ll be fun.”

They went together to the bathroom and Donna opened a cabinet across from her towel display. She took out various cans and containers and arranged them on the counter. “First off, I guess you’ll want to shave.”

“Aye, that would be a blessing,” Royce said, rubbing his stubbly chin. “I suppose you’re going to tell me you aren’t giving me a shaving brush and mug?” He appraised the toiletries Donna spread around.

“No, nobody has those things anymore unless you’re shopping in an antiques shop.” She picked up a can marked ‘GEL’ and pressed the top to show Royce how to dispense it. “You’ll love this. It guarantees an easy glide.”

“Good!” Royce said.

“As a matter of fact, I think demonstrating the wonderful safety razor will help you out. I’ve never seen a man shave with a straight razor except in old cowboy movies.” Donna handed him a lightweight disposable and pried the safety cover off. “No more of those dangerous straight razors.” Royce examined the thin blade and the yellow hollow handle. “When you’re done with it, you know, when the blade gets dull, you just throw the whole thing in the trash and get another one out of the bag.”

“So, no razor stropping for these?” Royce turned on the tap and ran hot water onto a washrag. Then he wiped it over his face.

“Nope, that’s obsolete. As you can see, it’s plastic.” Donna took a bit of the green gel and lightly stroked it on Royce’s cheek. “Wait, I’ll show you. This is more fun than arguing. I never thought I’d give a man a shaving lesson.” She giggled. Squirting some gel into her hand, she stroked it on her cheeks. Taking another capped razor, she began slow short upward strokes in the mirror. After each stroke, she ran the razor under the tap to remove the gel. Royce watched in amazement. Then he stood next to Donna and began imitating her moves.

“Go slow, I know it’s a strange feeling to you.” Donna finished her cheeks and then stroked the razor over her neck and upper lip. “It feels strange to me too!”

While Royce was finishing his shave, Donna took a large bottle, flipped the cap and squirted some orange liquid into her palm. “This soap doubles as a shampoo and body wash. Smells heavenly, too.” She put her palm out so Royce could sniff it.

“Last is the deodorant. I don’t know if you would like to use roll-on or stick but I have both.”

“Deodorant?”

“Yes, underarm and everyone uses it nowadays. Men and women all smell flowery or powdery or perfumed. You rub this on after you wash and towel off.” She demonstrated again with the tube.

“How wonderful. That would be one of the best inventions I think you have in the future. Especially on hot summer days!”

“Yes, science has given us a lot of useful, everyday stuff and frankly, we wouldn’t dream of living without it.”

As Royce studied the small group of cans and bottles she left him, Donna began edging out the door.

“When you’re done, give me a call and we’ll style and dry your hair. No more wet heads in Chicago winters anymore!”

“We’ll be there in a few minutes,” Donna said, watching her rear-view mirror. “What do you think of Chicago traffic?”

Royce was sitting, transfixed, watching cars zip by them at horrific speeds.

“Things seem different in the daylight and scarier. Cars go faster than a galloping horse. Do they ever spin off the road?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Sometimes bunches of them tangle up. If you want to see it, we’ll watch the traffic reports on the evening news. By the way, would you enjoy going to a horse race sometime? I could take you to the Chicago race track.”

“The race track? Oh, could we?” Royce asked. He had to admit, Donna handled her car with grace and grit. He wasn’t sure if he could drive the way she did and remain fearless. She pulled off the road into a parking lot by a cluster of buildings. “We’re here.”

Royce breathed a sigh of relief.

“Was my driving that bad?” Donna laughed. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to Chicago traffic after a day or two.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to seeing cars five and six abreast at neck-breaking speeds.” Secretly he was glad they stopped. “It reminded me of pictures of a chariot race I saw one time in a book.”

“That’s a good way to describe Chicago traffic! Well, here’s where I work every day. I need to make an appearance and check up on things since I’ve been gone.” Donna indicated her building with a nod of her head.

“What do you do here?” Royce asked. “And why are we going in through the back staircase?”

“I don’t want anybody to see us, at least not yet.” Donna said.

“Good. I thought perhaps you were ashamed of me for some reason,” Royce laughed.

“If anything, I’d hide you from my girlfriends!” Donna unlocked the door and flipped on the lights. “I run a small business incubator. I help women get started in businesses. I help get them bank financing, networking, and set up shop.” She walked over to her fax machine to see if anything was in the tray. “Pretty much everything.” Noticing that her lack of faxes was probably due to the fact that the machine had run out of paper, she inserted some into the slot.

“So more women work outside the home now? I think that’s wonderful! I always thought women were as smart as men anyway, probably smarter. How do they manage a husband and children doing that?” Royce said.