London Harmony: Small Fry (7 page)

I said with a smile, “I'm vindicated, justified, validated, and...”

She interrupted by calling out toward the rail where June and Vannie were grinning like idiots, watching the whole thing, “Van, she's doing it again, make it stop!”

Everyone chuckled then Tabby placed a hand on my cheek and smiled to let me know she was teasing as usual.  It was surreal to have superstars joke with you.  I noted that Tabby's best friend, Paya, and her beau, Harry, were there.  Good, I wanted to ask Paya a couple things about the Flotilla Project later, since she runs it for Tabitha.

Then I brought Tash over to my sisters.  “Tasha, this is my sister Vanessa.”  She did her intense examination of Van as she took her hand to shake.  Vanessa tilted her head and I saw a twinge of something in her eyes.  Recognition of something in Tash?

Vannie told her as she watched her intently, “It is an extreme pleasure Tasha.  I'm glad you could come to Thursday Night.”

Then I turned to June, who I noted had been watching Natasha the entire time I had been introducing her around.  There was something going on behind her eyes too.  I grinned at June and then said, “June this is Natasha.  She's my... well my Tash.  Tasha, this is June Harris-West, better known in the music world as J8.”

My redhead's eyes went wide.  She loved J8's music and she knew that was who June was and I knew she was excited to meet her.  This was one time her face blindness was handy.  Since she didn't recognize June, the anticipation had built until then.

June took her hand as Tasha started inventorying what made up June.  Then J-Dub surprised me yet again when she shook Tash's hand and said, “So pleased to meet you Rocky.  No matter what I am wearing, I will always have on this bracelet, Nessie gave it to me.  And for the most part unless I dress formally, I'll be in my Converse.”  She motioned her other hand down at her feet.

Tasha's eyes darkened and she glanced over at me accusingly.  I held my hands up in a defensive gesture.  “I haven't told a soul.  June is just that smart.”

June chuckled. “For once Small Fry is innocent.  I noticed the way you took people in, and avoided faces.  There are only a few reasons to do that and Prosopagnosia seemed the most likely to me.  Now... who is ready for a movie?”

Showing that it didn't matter a fart in space to her, June just winked at her then turned to the people gathered around.  “Let's watch a movie shall we?”

I think my gal was a little surprised when people gave enthusiastic approval of that plan, not only from the Water Witch, but from some of the other nearby boats in the marina.  That's when she noticed all the other people on the other boats and some people who came from nearby homes with lawn chairs to sit on the dock for our weekly event.

As the marina owners unrolled a huge sheet between two pilings in front of the little office, I asked June while Tash hid her face in my arm as she bunched up her sleeves, “Why Rocky?”  I was always curious how she came up with nicknames for people that seemed to make no sense until later, then they seem the most appropriate.

Tasha answered with a lopsided grin before June could, “From the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon.  There was a character, Natasha, in it.”

June shot another wink at her and inclined her head in agreement.  Then she moved with Van to the seats beside the old school projector.  She reached up and turned it on.  I pulled my girl to the back rail with me and sat on a bench, so I could hold her under a blanket as we watched “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

She kept looking at June then to me.  I whispered, “She's one of the coolest people I know.  She, and none of the people here in our expanded family, couldn't care less about your condition.”

She squinted her eyes at me and I put an exclamation point on my assertion.  “She knew about Vannie's paranoid schizophrenia, and saw her at her worst during a psychotic break and still fell in love with her.  Do you think she gives a gerbil fart in banana pudding about face blindness?  None of us do.”

She whispered back, “You talk too much Small Fry.”  Then she grinned and kissed me.  Oh good lord, she's right, why talk when I could be in heaven kissing a pretty woman?  We made out for a minute before she snuggled into me and we watched the movie.  I noticed that she kept her eyes closed though most of it and I realized why.  So I just snuggled in with her and enjoyed the classic.  I admit to closing my eyes a few times, just to experience the movie like she was.

By the end of the movie I was grinning down at a sleeping redhead.  The clapping at the end credits woke her.  There was panic on her face when she looked up at me without recognition in her eyes until she fully woke up and focused intently on my bandanna, then looked around.  “Hi,”  I said to let her hear my voice.

She blushed.  “Terribly sorry, I think I fell asleep.”

I grinned and shrugged. “That's okay, you didn't bother too many people with that god awful snoring.”  She looked at me in horror and I let her off the hook.  “You didn't snore.  You're too easy.”

She squinted and shook a balled up fist at me.  “You will pay woman.”  I showed my extreme fear of retribution at her hands by just cuddling in more.  Making her smile cutely.

She looked around as everyone started milling around as the sheet was taken down.  I said, “Be right back.”  Then hustled off to Paya Doshi.  I glanced back and caught my girl tilting her head and smiling as she watched my butt.  I blushed and hopped in front of my favorite Indian-Brit.

She gave me one of her patented smiles, “What's up Small Fry?”  I looped an arm in hers and pulled her away from her beau.  “I'm just stealing her for a second Harry, I'll bring her right back, undamaged and in original condition.”

He waved us off. “Knock some bloody senses into the woman while you have her would you?”  I nodded and us girls chuckled as I pulled her below decks.

I cocked an eyebrow.  “Still haven't given him an answer?”

She shook her head with a grin. “I love the bloke to death, but I'm not sure I'm ready to move in with him.  I have so much going on with the Flotilla Project and all.  If he'd get off his bloody arse and just pop the question instead, then he'd get his wish sooner.”  She stuck her tongue out at the ceiling in his general direction.

I rolled my eyes at the woman.  “You do know this is the twenty-first century, you can ask him too.”

She raised an imperious eyebrow and I had to wonder if she knew just how sexy that looked on her exotic face.  “Putting a bloke through the nerve wracking torture of waiting for your answer is one of those little perks we women have.  It is like the final test before you accept their hand in marriage.  Like a flaming ring in the gauntlet.  It's only proper right?”

Her cheesy grin was contagious and I chuckled. “If you say so.”

She shook her head with one of her half-smiles. “No, the proper responses are either, yes ma'am, or yes Paya.”

That was possibly the cutest part of her personality and I said like a scolded child, “Yes, Paya.”

She bobbled her head with a grin and replied, “There's a good girl.  Now why are you down here with me when you have a shy cutie topside you could be flirting with?”

I asked, “I was just wondering about the Flotilla requirements.  Like what if someone is between jobs and all?  No current income.”

She narrowed her intelligent eyes and glanced toward the stairs.  Shit.  It wasn't my place to expose Tasha's secrets.  She looked at my reaction and said, “Pride is a destructive thing.  It makes people blind to those who only have their best interests at heart.  I can have a talk with her about...”

I blurted, “No!  It is too soon.  She may rabbit.  But I think having a place to call home would boost her confidence and bring her out of her shell.  I'm just gathering info for now.”

She looked at me like a mother would a misbehaving child.  “Fine.”  Then she took a deep breath, I could see how well suited she was to run the Flotilla Project, she cared too much for others, and not enough for herself.  She wanted to save everyone.  “We have cabins on the barges specifically for homeless people, and other programs to get them on their feet.  Placement programs and subsides to get them self sufficient and into a low rent flat once they can.”

I nodded and said, “Okay thank you, Paya.  Now that I know it is possible, I might talk to her later about it.”

She smiled then asked, “You work at the Royal Library Archive correct?”  I nodded and she said, “Grand!  I'll drop by some papers and an informational packet on the relevant programs that you can look at in the next couple weeks.”

I nodded. “Thanks lady.  You rock.”

She held her arms open and I blushed and gave her a hug.  Then she looked at the stairs and cocked her head toward them in question. “Shall we join our heartthrobs?”

I walked with her saying, “She's not my heartthrob.  We've just met and this is our first date.”

She chuckled as we peeled away from each other toward out dates, and said loudly so everyone could hear, “That silly grin on your face when you look at her tells a different story.”

The heat of a blush burned on my cheeks and down my neck as I blurted out, “Paya!”  Tash caught on to the topic and curled into her jacket until I joined her, then she hid her face in my arm as she bunched her sleeves into her hands.

I said to Tasha, “She's just... a meany.”

She giggled and looked up into my eyes. “That's the best you could come up with using your vast vocabulary?”

I grinned at the playfulness.  “Fine. She's obstreperous.”  I raised my voice. “You hear that?   Obstreperous!”  This gained us an almost giggling chuckle from Paya's direction.

Then everyone slowly said their goodnights, trickling off the boat until it was just Tabby, Teri, Van and J-Dub, with us.  We all went below decks and sat on the comfortable couches in the living area, and the Spanish Inquisition began as they all grilled the woman who was heating me up with her seductive glances.  I just knew she was doing it on purpose.

I woke up in the little cubbyhole I had made in the attic of the Archive building.  My home for now.  It was bloody chilly.  I had to smile to myself, thinking about the last couple days after attending Fran's Thursday Night and Friday Night rituals with her unorthodox family.

I still can't believe Fran's sister is J8, and we hung out with Tabby Cat!  I love the emotions which both of the women put into their music.  June dressed smartly, her clothes on both Thursday and Friday seemed to be custom fit high end designer trappings.  A counterpoint to the torn jeans and faded tee that Tabby worn on Thursday.  Their clothing and body language matched their music, so you knew they were singing their hearts.

Fran seems to be of two minds when it comes to them.  On one hand, she dovetails nicely into the group.  A compliment to them that helps create a seamless unit.  On the other hand, her body language tells me she feels lost, and not sure if she fits in, not realizing she is a big cog in the machine that makes the group work together so well.  And they all love her to death.  That last thought made me smile.

I turned on the music she had put onto the prepaid mobile Fran gave me Friday.  I tried to decline it.  I had been angry that she would give me charity, like I couldn't take care of myself.  My situation is only temporary, until I graduate and get a decent job, then I can get a flat.

Ten seconds later I was blushing when she explained that the mobile wasn't for me, it was for her.  She said, “I'm sort of crushing on you here Tash...”  I loved it when she called me Tash.  “This will let me text you when I'm bored and let us keep in touch and make plans.  Like if... well, like if I wanted to...  You know, like food, eat, ummm dinner or whatever.”  I secretly enjoyed I could get her tongue tied.  She usually had the a vocabulary of someone much older.

So now I have a mobile.  Loaded with gigs of music, a lot of it unreleased music from London Harmony itself.  I sang along to an old retro Amber LaLanie tune as I picked out some clothes for the day.  She was bringing me to work with her at the studio.  I still didn't know how she found the time for school, two jobs, studying, and hanging around with me.

I had the curves of her body memorized now, and the sweep of her neck, her stride, and body language.  The way she would sign what she was saying with her hands when she got nervous, I don't even think she realizes she is doing it.  The tone of her voice, the feel of her lips on mine.

I tried to envision her face, got frustrated, and I slammed my hand on a shelf.  I just wish I could see her face in my head.  There was nothing.  I can remember every contour of her face when I close my eyes and 'see' her the only way I can, with my fingers.  I hate this bloody affliction.  I see a stranger in the mirror every day.

Imagine walking down the lane and passing someone, not realizing they are your aunt because she is wearing a new pair of shoes or a new blouse.  Or not having a clear picture in your head, of your parents, who were taken from you when you were young.  I would sometimes go through most of a day with my eyes closed.  I can identify people better that way.  Sometimes I think I would have been better off blind than not being able to recognize the people I love in a photograph.

I've tried to isolate myself as much as possible because growing up taught me one thing, you could only rely on yourself and family.  The children in school were cruel, and would play pranks on me all the time since I was face blind.  I was relieved at the chance to start over in college.  Then my only family was taken from me when my aunt died.

Then this fun and insecure girl started flirting with me and to my own shock, I was liking it.  Though I knew it would be short-lived, once my affliction made itself known.  I've never been able to hold onto friends for long, and that sort of precluded my hope of ever dating.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that same girl worked at the Archive.  I have moved around the building with complete impunity using my aunt's key.  Mr. Donnigold was easy to avoid because he had this loping, clomping gate that advertised his approach and I could hide.

But lately, I kept seeing girls working in the building, the bandanna and studded leather bracelet told me it was just one person.  She moved so silently, or would be reading the books from the shelves,  she always took me by surprise.  She never stopped me.  She waved a couple times and I found myself blushing.  I thought on that long and hard, it was exciting.  I realized I was just then coming to the conclusion that I might be gay, because I warmed up every time I heard her voice.

Then what I thought was the worst day of my life, when she found my cubby in the attic space.  I was about to lose my home again, and the woman I found myself crushing on would shun me.  I was less than nothing.

But she surprised me.  She had no sympathy for me, rather, she had empathy instead, having been homeless herself at one point.  She was an example to me that it was indeed possible to turn things around.  This was just a temporary stop in the voyage of my life.

She recognized my malady, and didn't run, didn't show pity.  Instead she offered friendship.  She seemed more lost than me.

Then she went on to shield my presence at the Archive.  Every time she was near, I warmed up in some embarrassing spots.  Her own scent combined with that light hazelnut soap she used, drove me crazy and for the first time in my life, I wanted to kiss someone.  For how confident she pretends to be, I think she may be even more shy than me.

When she finally kissed me I remember thinking that it was about bloody time, then I couldn't think straight for a few minutes after that as I reveled in it and wanted more.  I wanted her.  This girl who didn't care about my problems, she only seemed to want to make me smile, like it were sustenance for her.  And I realized it was mutual, I wanted her to smile.  I can remember emotion since emotional recognition uses a different portion of the brain than facial recognition.  Her emotions made me... hungry for more.

I stuffed the clothing in my bag and blew out the candle and turned off the music, unplugging the mobile from the old electrical receptacle on the outer wall.  Then started off toward campus so I could get a shower before Fran picked me up.

I got to an intersection in the maze of an attic.  Was this the right turn?  A side effect of  Prosopagnosia is that I get easily confused.  Everything is patterns and it is best to stay to the same things all the time.

I wiggled my left hand to remind myself.  Left, right, left, left, right, to get to the stairs.  I turned left and before long, found myself going down the stairs to the third floor.  I listened at the door, even though I knew nobody would be here on a Saturday except Mr. Myong.  I'm really not sure what the old custodian's hours are, he seems to always be around cleaning or fixing things.

He knew I was squatting here, I was positive of that, but he has never said a word.  I mean literally, I have never heard the man say a single word in the ten years I have known him.  Even at the funeral last year he was there in the back, just silently standing in respect.

I opened the door then ran down the stairs, hopping three at a time.  I couldn't wait to learn more about my Fran.  Oh bloody hell, I have it bad.  I opened the door to the lobby and saw Mr. Myong mopping the floors.  I could tell because he was in his olive drab overalls and he had his slight limp as he moved.  The place was always spotless with that man around.

He looked up at me with his expressive face, I knew after I looked away I wouldn't be able to recall it.  He smiled and gave a half head bow then went back to his mopping.  I smiled back at the man then headed out the door.  Making sure the lock engaged before darting off down the lane toward the campus.

I passed a few people on the sidewalk and even more when I got on the campus grounds.  I tried to make myself small, scrunching down into my sweater, and I found myself bunching up the sleeves in my hands to help me disappear.  I didn't know who any of them were and didn't want to insult anyone I should know.  So I scurried into the building, having to use my student card to unlock it on the weekend, and headed to the locker room.

There were a couple girls in there, stripping out of their white fencing gear.  I started undressing for the shower when one said, “Hey Tasha, how's things?”

I looked over.  The voice was familiar I couldn't place it.  My eyes darted around her, trying to get some clues as to who it was by the white padded outfit didn't help at all.  Her long straight black hair and chocolate skin made me remember the voice.  I think it is...  She beat me to it by saying, “Max.”  Yup I was right, Fran's roommate, I saw her yesterday before we went to June and Vanessa's for board game night.

I looked at my feet, “Hi.  Sorry.  Just getting ready for Fran to bring me to see London Harmony.”

She grinned and bumped shoulders with me.  “Lucky!  I haven't got an invitation yet.  I'd be all fangirling out if I saw any superstars there.  And J8 is her bloody sister-in-law!”

She didn't seem to mind that I hadn't recognized her.  I smiled.  Fran said she was good people. Then she said as she kept stripping out of her gear.  “Frannie babbles about you all the time.  Don't let her know I said that.  It is great to hear her vocabulary diminish when she blushes.”

I started blushing at that and she chuckled. “Oooo... you too!  I'm going to have so much fun teasing you two this year.”

I smiled and looked at my feet and pushed her shoulder.  She chuckled and then just started gossiping with me and the other girl, who she never introduced.  I was wondering if I should know her.

After the shower and getting dressed.  I looked at the stranger in the mirror.  I knew every time I looked at her that I should know her, she was me, but I never did.  As long as I looked at her though, she was the only face I knew.  I absently wondered if it was a cute face.  Fran seemed to like it.  I smiled.  Those are the dimples she likes.

That's when Max spoke beside me, I hadn't even noticed her step up and start using a hair straightener on her extremely wavy wet hair.  “You looked sad for a moment there.”

I shrugged and confided in her and I don't know why.  Maybe because Fran trusted her. “Just looking at the stranger in the mirror and trying to decide if I look ok.”

She paused.  “You can't even recognize your own face?”  It was curiosity in her voice not pity.  I shook my head and she surprised me by smiling and saying, “Then you get to meet a new cutie every time you look in the mirror.”  That was all she apparently had to say on the subject, as she turned back to the task of working on her hair.  I smiled at her, knowing why Fran liked her.  She made me feel good about myself and said I was cute.

I finished getting ready, then headed out just as I got a text. “Where be? Out front.”

I grinned and texted back. “Heading out now.  Don't get knickers in bunch.”  I could imagine her snort, she had such a great sense of humor.

I saw her car and a blonde with a red bandana leaning against it in a cocky manner.  As I approached, I knew it was her, I mean all the indicators were there and it was her car after all, but I still made sure.  Unless I saw her walk or she spoke, I always had unjustified doubt in my head.

Those long, graceful fingers resting lazily across her folded arms.  The cute studded leather bracelet she thinks makes her look tough but only succeeds in making her adorable.  Black leather jacket.  Her shoes with the smiley face she drew on them to make me grin.  That gorgeous mane of blonde hair streaming out from under the bandanna.  And most importantly, the body language that is uniquely hers when she is around me.  The woman was smiling and that made me want to smile back, so I did and gave her a little wave.

She grinned and waved back, saying, “Hey lady.”  A small part of me that always lacks confidence sighed at the fact that it was her even though I already knew that.  It is like I am always perpetually second guessing myself.  I always feel more confident if I close my eyes and let my other senses do the driving.

She stood and we moved into each others personal space.  I felt shy suddenly and ground a heel on the ground as I looked at the only face in my world at the moment.  She shared a quick, toe curling kiss with me.  I never knew it could be like this, feeling so close to someone that you just need the physical contact.  She chirped out, “Saddle up.  I don't want to be late for work.”

I chuckled as she opened the passenger door for me to get in.  “Only you would sound excited about going to work.”

She hopped in and shrugged and said, “I'm blessed with two jobs that embody two of my three favorite things, music, and books.”

That was actually a really good answer.  She was always so passionate about speaking about both subjects.  I understood, I could live in the worlds contained in books.  I savored the descriptions of characters and all the fantastical things they did.  I tilted my head and furrowed my brow slightly.  “That's two.  You said you had three favorite things, what's the third?”

She didn't look over at me and said in a small voice, “Just a girl I know, named Tash.”  I blushed and needed that physical contact after her saying something so sweet.  I claimed her hand for my very own.  I would hug it and squeeze it and call it George.  I grinned, way too many cartoons when I was young.

I sighed when she changed our grip and laced our fingers, that just seemed far more intimate than simply holding hands.  It was like she were allowing me to claim her as she claimed me.  It was like a statement to the world that we were a couple.  I couldn't stop a chuckle at a random thought.