Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6 (17 page)

“
That’s good, Sandy,” Seth
said. “If she had computers, would she keep them in this kind of
disarray?”

“
No,” Sandy said. “She’d
have a climate controlled clean room. She used to work in an HP
facility. She knows what computers need. The computer at her house
was up to date, latest hardware, software. The room it was in had
its own air conditioner. Huh…”

“
Huh?”

“
Oh, it’s probably
nothing,” Sandy said.

“
What’s
nothing?”

“
I can’t remember when it
was, but she was really pissed about computers failing,” Sandy
said. “She didn’t sleep or eat. All she did was talk about how our
country was failing because of its poor manufacturing standards. It
was all she talked about for months. She was furious.”

“
Manufacturing standards?”
Seth’s voice rose with doubt.

“
Yeah, I know. Why would
she care?” Sandy’s eyes flicked back and forth as she strained to
bring up the memories. “Dad was still alive, but sick, really sick.
I don’t think anyone knew how sick he was except me, and you, of
course. I remember being mad at Mom because Dad was really sick and
she was in a rage about something stupid. I wonder if that’s when
Dad and Sissy came here.”

“
Probably,” Seth
said.

“
Who knows?” Sandy
shrugged. “The weirdest thing about it was that she was pissed
about it for months. Every time I talked to her, every time I saw
her, she went on and on about it. Then like a switch, she stopped
talking about it. It was so weird I asked her about not talking
about it. You know what she said?”

“
What?”

“
She said she didn’t know
what I was talking about,” Sandy said. “’Why would I care about
manufacturing standards?’ That’s what she said. She acted like I
made the whole thing up. I was surprised, but Dad was sick
and…”

“
Huh,” Seth said. “Where
do you think she kept her computers?”

“
Jill asked Agent Angie
about another room,” Sandy said. “She asked a couple of times. But
the FBI said there wasn’t another room, blah, blah.”

“
Another room?”

“
Here,” Sandy said.
“Connected to this room.”

“
Where?” Seth
asked.

“
Let’s ask Jill,” Sandy
said.

“
Jill?”

“
She’s got some powers…”
Sandy gestured to her head. “…you know, those kind of powers, since
she’s pregnant with the boys.”

“
Oh good Lord,” Seth said.
“More Marlowe boys.”

“
Poor Jill,” Sandy smiled.
“She says it’s like a curse or madness. She doesn’t know how to use
the skills or what to do with them. Jacob and Katy tease her all
the time.”

“
You think she can find
this room?”

“
I do.”

“
We need your help,
Sandy,” Seth said. “We can’t do it without you. I know it’s a
horrible imposition, but…”

“
No,” Sandy said. “We have
to stop this thing. For me and every other girl and boy they’ve
used.”

“
That’s my girl,” Seth
said.

“
Thanks for coming to
help,” Sandy hugged him.

“
I didn’t come to help,”
Seth said. “I came to drop off…”

“
Yes, yes,” Sandy
said.

She undid her side window screen but left
the windshield screen up.

“
Just stay there and
I’ll…” She started to say when the passenger door opened and
Maresol’s fury marked face appeared. Maresol directed a stream of
angry Spanish at Seth. But when Sandy was getting out of the car,
she heard Maresol ask Seth if he’d gotten it. She watched as the
two old friends whispered back and forth. When Maresol stood up,
she was back to her charade of being angry with Seth. Unable to
stop herself, Sandy ran around the car and hugged Maresol
tight.

“
Your idea?” Sandy
whispered in the woman’s ear. She felt more than saw Maresol
nod.

“
He was so frantic, so
worried,” Ava’s voice came from behind them. “I don’t think Maresol
had a choice.”

“
You see what I have to
deal with Sandra,” Seth said. “Women telling me what to
do.”

Sandy laughed.

“
Come on, old man,”
Maresol said. “Let’s go catch this bitch.”

“
Bitch?” Sandy’s eyes went
round. “Did you just say ‘bitch’?”

Maresol laughed. Their laughter brought
Jill, Heather and Tanesha over.

“
Can you find the room?”
Seth asked Jill.

“
I can try,” Jill said.
“I’m not very good and I don’t really know what I’m doing
but…”

“
Sounds perfect,” Seth
said.

“
Would you like me to take
you home now?” Dale asked.

“
And miss this?” Seth
shook his head. “Not a chance.”

Dale followed Ava and the girlfriends toward
the storage locker.

“
But I’ll need help,” Seth
said under his breath.

“
Come on old man,” Sandy
said. She put her shoulder under his arm. Maresol took the other
side. “Let’s catch the bitch.”

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday afternoon – 4:25 P.M.

“
Hi Rubén,” Blane
said.

Walking into his doctor’s office, Blane
found the phlebotomist who took his weekly blood draw waiting for
him.

“
Hola Blane?” Rubén, the
phlebotomist asked. “You can come back.”

Blane followed the young man back through
the maze of hallways to what he called the ‘blood letting’ area.
Since his liver crash a few months ago, he came in once a week to
see how he was doing. So far, with Heather’s help, intensive
Chinese herbs and acupuncture, his liver had been able to battle
back.

So far.

Every week was another test, another
mystery. Rubén tapped a chair and Blane sat down.

“
Where’s Heather today?”
Rubén asked.

“
She’s helping her friend
Sandy with her mother’s storage locker,” Blane said. “It’s a long
story. Sam and Jake are picking up Mack. We’re going to have a
boy’s evening.”

“
Beer and pizza?” Rubén
smiled.

“
Playground and ice
cream,” Blane said. “Or something like that. Boy’s night has a very
different meaning than it used to. Sam has some plan.”

“
Never stop a man with a
plan,” Rubén said.

“
That’s for sure,” Blane
said. He rolled up his sleeve for Rubén.

“
You know,” Rubén said. He
put the rubber strap around Blane’s arm. “I’ve always wanted to ask
you…”

“
Okay,” Blane
said.

“
I don’t want to be rude,”
Rubén
said. “Make a fist for
me.”

“
Okay.”

“
But I always wondered…”
Rubén tapped his vein.

“
I’m kind of stuck here,”
Blane said. “Ask away.”

“
How did you get AIDS?”
Rubén asked. His head was down and he stabbed the needle into
Blane’s vein.

“
I prostituted myself in
Cheesman,” Blane said.

Rubén didn’t move from his head down
position.

“
Why?”

“
Does Heather know?” Rubén
asked. When he looked up, his face was horror stricken. “You guys
seem so happy and…”

“
Of course, Heather
knows,” Blane said.

“
I mean about you being
gay,” Rubén said.

“
Of course, Heather
knows.”

“
But…” Rubén
said.

“
There you are,” Jacob
said. “Dad and Mack are playing in the fountain out front. I
thought I’d let you know.”

Jacob flashed Rubén a bright smile.

“
I’m not ashamed of my
life,” Blane’s voice rose defensively. “I was living on the streets
and addicted to drugs. I didn’t have a family until Jake’s Mom
found me in Cheesman. Sam took me in and Jake saved my life. I’m
gay. That’s the truth. I would never lie to Heather. Ever. I don’t
know what you’re implying.”

“
Nothing,” Rubén said. “I
didn’t mean anything. Really.”

Pulling off the last tube, Ruben released
the band.

“
Sorry,” Rubén said. “I
didn’t mean to offend you. Or…”

“
Great,” Jacob said. “We’d
better go rescue Sam and Mack before they get arrested.”

Blane nodded to Rubén and followed Jacob out
of the office.

“
What was that?” Blane
whispered to Jacob when they got to the waiting area.

“
I think he’s interested
in you,” Jacob pushed open the door to the office.

“
Interested?” Blane’s
eyebrows went up.

“
Interested in dating
you?” Jacob laughed at Blane’s puzzled look.

“
He is?” Blane turned to
look back in the office. “In me?”

“
Yes, genius,” Jacob said.
“He’s your type and is interested in you. If I hadn’t saved you,
you would have blown it.”

“
Blown what?” Blane
glanced back at Rubén who was standing behind the counter and
followed Jacob into the hall.

“
I guess you’ll find out,”
Jacob said.

For a moment, Rubén stared at the closed
office door.

“
What’s wrong?” Blane’s
doctor asked when he saw Rubén.

“
Blane just told me he’s
gay,” Rubén said. “He says Heather knows about him being gay. She’s
in love with him. She’s his wife. He’s going to destroy
her.”

“
He is?”

“
Of course, he is,” Rubén
said. “Gayness isn’t a disease that even the most wonderful,
beautiful woman can cure.”

Laughing, the doctor patted Rubén’s shoulder
and turned to go.

“
Why did you laugh?” Rubén
asked.

“
Heather is Blane’s wife,
right?” the doctor asked.

Rubén nodded.

“
She’s not his lover,” the
doctor said. “He hasn’t had a lover since he got burned by a guy he
was committed to five or six years ago.”

“
So he went
straight?”

“
You’re so conservative,”
the doctor laughed.

“
Me?” Rubén
asked.

“
That’s why I laughed,”
the doctor said. “Maybe you should ask Heather. I was concerned
too. I asked her. She’ll tell you. They’re convinced they’re soul
mates. You’ve seen them together. Don’t they seem like soul
mates?”

“
But…”

“
Conservative,” the doctor
laughed.

Turning, the doctor walked down the hallway
to his office. Rubén stood in behind the counter for a moment and
ran after him. He tapped on the doctor’s door and went in. The
doctor looked up from the chart note he was writing.

“
What are you saying?”
Rubén asked.

“
I’m saying that there are
lots of different kinds of soul mates,” the doctor said. “Blane and
Heather are parents. They have Mack and are hoping to adopt from
foster care. They’re partners in everyway except one – they aren’t
in a sexual relationship.”

“
What if…?”

“
If she finds someone,
Blane and the kids come with her. If he does, same thing. Or that’s
what they say. We’ll see how it works out if and when it
happens.”

“
So he’s available?” Rubén
asked.

“
He comes with a child and
a wife,” the doctor said. “That’s a tall bill for anyone to take
on.”

“
So he’s available?” Rubén
asked.

“
He was burned badly by
this guy,” the doctor said. “He doesn’t associate in the gay
community because he was thrown out, shamed, and his life
destroyed. If you can get him past even considering a first date,
then he’s available.”

Rubén nodded and left the doctor’s office.
He wandered back to his testing station, put together a package to
send to the lab, cleaned up and got his stuff. He was almost to his
car when he realized what the doctor had said.

His dream man was available.

Smiling, he started his car and drove
home.

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday evening – 6:25 P.M.

Looking in the mirror, Schmidty tucked his
dress shirt into his jeans. He couldn’t do anything about his
thinning hair or his distance runner’s thin body.

“
Lizzie knows you’re bald
and skinny,” Schmidty said to his reflection.

His reflection didn’t say what he wanted it
to. It didn’t say how handsome he was. It didn’t shout great catch.
He leaned closer. His image reflected what he was sure it always
did – that he was a complete and total loser.

“
Just pizza,” Schmidty
said. “It’s just pizza.”

He tugged on his shirt to give him more
bulk.

“
You can get through
pizza, can’t you?”

It wasn’t like Lizzie was the first girl
Schmidty had taken out. He’d dated a lot in high school and
college. She wasn’t even his first shickza.

He smiled at the word. She’d heard the word
somewhere, probably from one of Seth’s music friends. He didn’t
know what she meant. They were playing in his parent’s backyard
when she snottily told him she wouldn’t be his shickza. He’d nodded
and ran inside to ask his Dad. His Dad has looked over his reading
glasses at him for a moment before saying: “A shicksa is a gentile
woman a Jewish man uses for sex.” Without saying another word, his
father had gone back to read Variety.