Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6 (30 page)

“
But…”

“
No, buts,” Jeraine said.
“That man doesn’t know me. He only knows the person he wants me to
be so he can make money. And he’s made a lot of money.”

“
So he is an
overseer.”

“
Yeah,” Jeraine said. “Did
you call him that?”

Tanesha nodded. Jeraine laughed.

“
I knew it,” Jeraine said.
“I just knew it. The moment he told me you’d said it, I knew you
were right. I’ve been a slave. I’m not his slave. I’m not anyone’s
slave anymore.”

Tanesha smiled.

“
I’d be your slave,” he
said. She felt his eyes almost kiss his face. “You don’t want a
slave.”

She shook her head.

“
Ah well,” he shrugged. “I
tried.”

She smiled at him.

“
I guess I’m just going to
have to be Jeraine,” he said. “How does that sound?”

“
Really great,” she
said.

“
I thought you’d like it.”
He leaned over. She closed her eyes thinking he was going to kiss
her. His mouth was right next to hers when he whispered, “T,
they’re not going to give up easily. They feel like they did a lot
for me and I walked away. They say I owe them. I took everything to
Seth’s lawyers. It’s all square, but not to them. I…”

She stretched her lips forward to kiss
him.

“
We’ll get through it,”
she said.

“
I can’t do anything
without you,” he said. “You have to believe me. I…”

“
Just kiss me,” she
said.

“
Yes ma’am.”

~~~~~~~~

Monday afternoon—2:21 P.M. MDT

Charlie stood next to Tink’s hospital bed.
She lay at the end of a four bed room. Every bed was filled with an
unconscious, destitute person who’d seen the wrong end of the
weekend. He touched her hand and pulled back.

“
She’s cold,” he said to
Anjelika.

“
She’s very ill,” Anjelika
said.

“
She’s dying,” Charlie
said.

“
We don’t know that,”
Anjelika said. “The doctor says…”

Shaking his head, Charlie walked out of the
room. Anjelika kissed the girl’s cheek and followed Charlie
outside.

“
I want to use so bad,”
Charlie said. “I want to use so bad, so bad.”

He punched a ‘Doctor’s parking only’ sign
and started walking. Anjelika kept pace as they walked along the
sidewalk, dodged traffic on Eighth Avenue, and made it to Sunken
Garden’s Park. Charlie stomped across the park until he got to a
picnic table near the playground. He plopped down on a bench and
began looking under the table.

“
What are you doing?”
Anjelika was so surprised by his actions that her accent was
thick.

“
Vat am I doink?” Charlie
laughed.

“
Don’t be rude,” Anjelika
smiled because he was laughing.

“
I’m looking for drugs,”
Charlie said. “Some folks tape their stash to the under side of
these park benches so they don’t get caught with it at
work.”

“
We came here for drugs?”
Anjelika’s eyebrows shot up.

“
No,” Charlie said. “The
drugs are a side benefit.”

He held up a small plastic baggie of white
powder. Angry, Anjelika crossed her arms.

“
What are you going to do,
Charlie?”

“
I’m going to put them in
my pocket, Mrs. Anjelika,” Charlie said. “When I get home, I’m
going to flush them.”

“
Why not just put them
back?” Anjelika asked. “Why take on the temptation?”

“
They’re tempting me right
now.”

“
There are drugs nearby.
So what?” Anjelika shook her head at him. “That’s not a new thing.
You could reach out your hand almost everywhere in the city and get
drugs.”

Charlie looked at her for a moment. She
could almost see the thought process through Charlie’s brain. Very
slowly, his head moved up and down in a nod. He put the drugs
back.

“
Do you want to talk about
Tink?” Anjelika asked.

Charlie shrugged.

“
Is she your girlfriend?”
Anjelika asked.

“
Just a friend,” Charlie
said. “She used to call me Pan, Peter Pan. I was the Pan to a lot
of street kids.”

“
Peter Pan?”

“
Like the story,” Charlie
said. “I tried to take care of them. It’s a hard life, you know?
Especially for girls. Tiffanie, that’s her name, she’s been on her
own since her parents kicked her out last week. She’s been raped,
beaten and… who knows what she didn’t tell me. Girls like Tink,
they’re free game for drunk frat boys who like taking turns using
them. It’s…”

“
Not fair?” Anjelika
asked.

“
I was going to say ‘a
tough life’ but, yeah, it’s not fair,” Charlie said.

“
How is your fairness
assignment going?” Anjelika asked.

“
I asked all the adults
except Delphie,” Charlie said. “I didn’t get to Noelle. She’s been
upset about Teddy leaving and… It’s started to seem kind of
dumb.”

“
Have you heard anything
that helps?” Anjelika asked.

“
It all helps,” Charlie
said.

“
Why does it seem
dumb?”

“
Because everyone has a
different answer,” Charlie said. “It’s almost like in order to be
an adult, you have to have an answer to why life isn’t fair. Adults
who still struggle with life not being fair? They’re drug addicts,
alcoholics, or just feel shit on.”

“
Who impressed you the
most?”

“
Honey,” Charlie said.
“And… have you met Tanesha’s dad, Rod? Tanesha’s boyfriend calls
him Rodney-Smith. It’s a total crack up.”

“
I met him at the
post-sewer barbeque Saturday at Tanesha’s house,” Anjelika said.
“Remember Sandy and Aden stayed home with Rachel, so I brought you
and the other kids.”

“
That’s right,” Charlie
said. “What did you think?”

“
I liked him,” Anjelika
said. “We have a lot in common.”

“
Yeah, I guess you do,”
Charlie said. “I asked him about life being fair, you
know.”

“
Good thinking,” Anjelika
said. “Someone who has experienced extreme injustice would know a
lot about why life is or isn’t fair. What did he say?”

“
He said that he couldn’t
control life,” Charlie said. “He can only control his decisions and
actions toward life, not life itself. His first years in prison, he
was hard and bitter his first years in prison. One day, he realized
that his own rage blocked him from preparing for the day when he’d
get out. Before he went in, he’d been working to get his Bachelor’s
degree in Philosophy. He wrote a letter to Metro and they let him
finish his degree and get his Ph.D. while he was still inside. He
started writing letters to Tanesha and her Gran. He got off drugs,
worked out and kept out of trouble. When he heard he might get out,
he started applying for jobs. Sam, Jake’s Dad, visited him in
prison to do the interview. He went to work the day after they let
him out. Now he runs a site for Jake’s construction
company.”

“
And what do you get from
all of that?”

“
I think he’s right,”
Charlie said. “I didn’t have anything to do with my Dad dying. I
didn’t pick my psycho Mom. But I didn’t pick Sandy or Sissy either.
And they’re really great. I have to figure out where I’m going,
that’s what Honey says, and then get work getting
there.”

“
Good thinking,” Anjelika
said. “I’d still like you to ask Delphie and Noelle.”

“
I thought so,” Charlie
said.

“
If Tink dies?” Anjelika
asked.

“
In some ways, it’s
better,” Charlie said. “If she stays on the streets, she’s going to
die soon anyway. At least now, she’s clean and
peaceful.”

“
That’s kind of
nihilistic,” Anjelika said.

“
Nihilistic?”

“
We’ll read some
nihilism,” Anjelika said. “What if she goes to a
shelter?”

“
I guess that would be
okay,” Charlie shrugged. “You know what’s not fair?”

“
What?”

“
I get to live with Sandy
and Aden and Nash and Sissy and Noelle and Tink is in the
hospital,” Charlie said.

“
Exactly.”

Charlie nodded. Expecting him to say
something else, Anjelika waited. When he didn’t say anything, she
got up.

“
Time to work?” Charlie
asked.

“
Time to work,” Anjelika
smiled.

Charlie got up and they walked to her
car.

~~~~~~~~

Monday afternoon—3:21 P.M. MDT

“
They said three-thirty
right?” Sandy asked. She pulled into the parking lot of Andy
Mendy’s building.

“
Three-thirty,” Ava said.
“Nervous?”

“
Terrified,” Sandy said.
“No offense, but I wish Seth was here.”

“
None taken,” Ava gave her
a smile. “I wish he was here too.”

Sandy smiled.

“
Sandy,” Ava
said.

“
Ava?”

“
I really love Seth,” Ava
said. “Sometimes when I get away from him, I think about all the
problems.”

“
Problems?”

“
He’s a lot older than me.
He’s an addict. His children are almost as old as me. Well, I guess
you’re older than me. He’s a detective. He’s obsessed with the
piano. He’s gone a lot. My boss doesn’t love that I’m dating
him.”

“
But?”

“
But when I see him and
all my worries vanish,” Ava said. ”I feel lucky to be with
him.”

“
Sounds like love to me,”
Sandy said.

“
Yeah,” Ava said. “Do you
think it’s weird that I’m here? I mean, Andy’s really the love of
Seth’s life.”

“
I think it’s a very
loving thing to be here to help me and him,” Sandy said. “I don’t
think we can really know what happened between Seth and Andy. They
both seemed to have strong feelings for each other and
then...”

Sandy shook her head.

“
I wonder sometimes what
my life would have been like if I grew up with Andy and Seth,”
Sandy said so softly that Ava had to strain to hear her.

“
Pretty different,” Ava
said.

“
Do you know why I’m
here?” Sandy asked.

Ava shook her head.

“
We’d better go in,” Sandy
said.

“
You don’t want to wait
for your friends?”

“
Jill’s getting an
ultrasound with Valerie,” Sandy said. “Heather’s with Blane at the
doctors. Tanesha’s looking at houses with Jeraine. I didn’t tell
them about this stupid stuff.”

“
Oh,” Ava said. “I hope
you don’t mind if I did.”

Sandy look at Ava. She pointed to Jill’s
Lexus SUV as it pulled up next to them. Heather waved from the
passenger’s seat and Tanesha sat in the back.

“
The FBI said I should
come alone,” Sandy said. “They weren’t very nice. I don’t think
Agent Angie is on the case any more. I’m pretty sure I’ll be in
trouble for just bringing you.”

“
They said that?” Ava
smiled. “Huh, they didn’t say that to Seth.”

Sandy smiled.

“
In fact, they were very
‘yes, Detective O’Malley’ and ‘of course, Detective O’Malley’ with
him,” Ava said. “Why do you think?”

Sandy shrugged.

“
I heard him mention
something about… hmm… let me see… a serial killer they were
supposed to catch but didn’t? Someone named Jude?”

Sandy laughed.

“
Come on,” Ava said.
“Let’s get your girlfriends and go see what the Feds have to
say.”

Smiling, Sandy followed Ava out of the
car.

~~~~~~~~

Monday afternoon—3:41 P.M. MDT

“
Everything looks great,
Val,” her obstetrician said. “I have to tell you…”

The doctor fell silent. She moved the
ultrasound probe over Valerie’s belly.

“
What is it?” Mike’s voice
rose. “What’s wrong?”

“
Wrong?” the doctor turned
to look at him.

“
Sorry this is our first
baby,” Valerie said. “We’re a little on edge.”

“
Don’t be,” the doctor
smiled. “The baby is healthy. Val’s healthy. This has been an easy
pregnancy. Hasn’t it?”

Valerie and Mike shared a look of
remembrance for the murder of their boy by the horrible Levi
Johansen. They nodded to the doctor. After losing Jack, everything
had been easy.

“
I don’t know why you
couldn’t have ten children if you wanted them,” the doctor
continued to ramble. “Here. Look here.”

Mike and Valerie peered at the computer
screen image.

“
In all my years of
delivering babies, I’ve rarely seen a baby as happy as your little
girl,” the doctor said.

“
Happy?” Mike leaned
forward to get a better look at the grainy image.

“
She’s smiling,” the
doctor said.

Valerie smiled at the doctor’s
interpretation of the grainy image.

“
If you wanted to schedule
a Cesarean section, we could do it as early as the next week or
so,” the doctor said. “But we recommend you wait as long as
possible. The longer she’s in the longer she’s…”