Rogue's Hollow (11 page)

With a heavy sigh, he lowered his shirt and continued, “After a while, the inner torment subsided and I didn’t feel as bad. The desire to cut slowly left my conscious mind until I didn’t have the urges at all. I stopped and haven’t done it in thirty or more years. But, I do believe it’s what kept me alive through the dark period.”

Travis rubbed his face; not quite believing what he was hearing or seeing.

Malachi could see how uncomfortable he was. “Travis, I’m not in any way, shape or form saying that you should cut yourself. That’s not why I told you all that. I’m just sharing with you what got me through the darkness. Everyone has their own thing. Some people write, some drink, some folks dance naked and howl at the moon, and some carve beautiful amulets. Everyone has their own way of dealing with pain.”

Travis nodded. “I get it. I’m sorry that you went through all that.”

A grin crept up on Malachi’s face. With everything that Travis was going through, he was still worried about someone else. He really was a good kid, deep down. Malachi patted Travis on the back. “I don’t want you to feel sorry for me. All in all, I’ve had a pretty amazing life. I just wanted you to know that I understand what you’re going through. I might be an old fart, but I’ve seen my share of living; the good and the bad. Son, it will get better, I promise.” He slapped the knees of his worn blue jeans and smiled. “You know what you need? I think that you need a job. Something to occupy your mind and time.”

Travis laughed. “Oh, please. No one would hire me. I don’t even have a car.”

Malachi rubbed his chin with his stumpy-fingered hand. “I sure could use some help around here. I’ve been contemplating hiring someone for quite a while now, but I never found anyone that I could trust, until now.” Smiling at Travis, he said, “Would you be interested?”

Travis sat up straight, like he was at a real job interview. “I don’t know. I’d have to get someone to bring me out.”

Malachi waved his hand and scowled. “Nonsense, I’ll come and get you. Maybe two or three days a week after school and Saturdays if you’re free. That’s our busy day.”

A crooked smile lit up Travis’s face. “Yeah, that’d be awesome.”

“I can’t pay you a whole lot, but a little is better than nothing at all I guess. Is minimum wage okay?”

Surprised, Travis chimed in, “Heck, yeah. I’m in. When can I start?”

Malachi slapped his knees. “How about right now? We need to clean up that parking lot and the front windows are in desperate need of a good scrubbing.”

Travis jumped up to his feet. Surprised by his own feelings, he was actually excited to start his new job.

Malachi grabbed a bucket and filled it with soapy water and a sponge. “Here, Travis. Why don’t you start with the windows outside and I’ll pick up some of this nasty litter.”

He watched as the kid anxiously began working, while he picked up gum wrappers and cigarette butts from the parking lot. Malachi couldn’t get over how much Travis had changed and in just a short period of time. He was dark and moody with problems at home and at school. Malachi was more than happy to have him around and maybe this way he could keep an eye on him and help him out in some small way. Even though Malachi really wasn’t looking to hire someone for the store, he felt that he owed it to the kid. He had to help him through this and even if it meant tapping into his savings to do so, it was worth it to him.

After a productive afternoon, Malachi fed Travis a sandwich for dinner and gave him a ride home in Rosie. The kid was smiling again. Maybe he’d turned a corner. He seemed happy to have a purpose. Malachi made plans to pick him up Saturday morning at eight A.M.

The entire drive home, Malachi questioned himself. Had he done the right thing telling Travis about Mera and Lukas? And then going on to share with him about his cutting? Maybe he’d gone too far. He knew that it honestly was the one thing that had saved his life. Surely, he would have killed himself without it, the pain was that severe. Even though he was being truthful, it kept him up at night, worrying if Travis would start cutting himself as well.

He would wake up in a cold sweat from nightmares about Travis. His young friend would be walking towards him in the shadows of darkness. He would stumble into the flickering light, covered in blood and reaching out to Malachi, pleading with him, “Please, help me. I think I cut myself too deep. I can’t stop the bleeding.”

Malachi would rush to him, just as he collapsed into his arms. Travis would look up at him with those sad, brown eyes and say, “Why did you tell me to do this? I think I’ll die now.” And then he would close his eyes and drift off, leaving Malachi cradling him in his arms, crying for yet another loss in his life.

Even though it was only a dream, it felt so real. Malachi would awaken with his heart racing, drenched in sweat. He would hold his head in his hands while tears trailed down his cheeks and repeat to himself, “It was just a bad dream. It was only a dream.”

Many a night Malachi sat at his kitchen table, drinking hot tea into the wee hours, angry at himself and whispering, “That was a fool-hearted thing to do. Why did you go and put ideas like that in the kid’s head? Sometimes this honesty pledge is for the birds. Wish I knew when to keep my big mouth shut. If anything happens to Travis, it will be all my fault.”

Eleven

M
alachi picked Travis up for work early Saturday morning. He’d never realized how much there was to do at the store and what a blessing it was to have his young helper there with him.

Travis was thriving and appeared to take his job very seriously. It gave him a reason to get out of bed in the morning and get away from that dreadful apartment building and those bad-seed friends of his. He gladly assisted the customers and helped Malachi in every aspect of running the store.

On the slower days, when there were very few customers, Travis scraped the peeling paint from the exterior of the old mill. He took it upon himself one day, grabbing tools from the shed and getting started on the task. He even brought paint samples to Malachi, so that they could choose the perfect color to apply after it was scraped and primed. The smile was back on Travis’s face and he seemed genuinely happy. This made Malachi extremely proud.

The part-time job, several days a week turned into every day, every chance that Travis got. He loved being out at the old mill with Malachi and spent most of his time there. Many times, he would just stay the night and Malachi would run him in to school the next morning. They understood each other like no one else did. There was a special bond between them that grew stronger every day.

Malachi took Travis under his wing, and really did feel that he was like a son to him. He loved having the kid with him. Even though Malachi didn’t understand Travis’s homework, he made sure that it got done every night. They’d eat meals together and watch television shows at night. Malachi loved the company. The one thing that got under Travis’s skin was watching
The Lawrence Welk Show
. But he did it anyway and the two had a lot of fun together. Malachi loved seeing things from his young friend’s perspective. Most nights he would chuckle while falling asleep over something that Travis had said or done.

Malachi was more active fixing up the store with Travis than he’d been in years, but felt his age creeping up on him. Late one night, he crawled out of bed, unable to sleep. In the darkness, he tripped over his own shoes and fell to the ground. He tried to catch himself as his aging body crashed to the hardwood floor. All he wound up doing was injuring his left wrist. The ice pack didn’t seem to be of much help. By the time Travis saw him the next morning, it was swollen and incredibly sore.

Travis took right over. He wrapped Malachi’s wrist tightly with an ace bandage, followed up with ice packs every hour for ten minutes to keep the swelling down. Every four hours, he was at the cupboard grabbing two more ibuprofen to keep Malachi’s pain at bay.

It wasn’t horribly painful, but it was refreshing to have someone take care of him for a change. Travis enjoyed the reversal of roles and delighted in tending to his friend’s needs. Malachi’s lips would curl into a smile every time Travis left the room. He was comforted by the assistance and rested for most of the day. Travis even insisted on spending the night so that he could be close if Malachi needed anything.

Travis proudly said, “No charge, Malachi. I’m off the clock. I want to stay. You pay me too much anyway.” He cooked a doctored up frozen pizza for dinner, which was actually very good. For most of his life, Travis had felt like a waste. But it was different at the mill. Malachi treated him like he was special, like he was important and really mattered to someone.

Malachi went to bed with a smile on his face and surprisingly, slept through the night. When he woke in the morning, he placed the kettle on the stove and looked at a picture on the refrigerator. It was a small photograph of Mera and Lukas, probably the last one taken of them. As he stared into their eyes, he was met with a hollow feeling and asked himself.
What will happen after I’m gone?
This old mill had been in his family for generations. He had no heir to entrust his legacy to. He was overwhelmed with feelings that he was letting his ancestors down. After his death, the mill would be auctioned off to the highest bidder and turned into some hippie house or worse yet, torn down.

As he poured the streaming hot water into the mug, he thought about Travis. The kid was doing a great job helping out around the mill. Would it be possible that he might consider taking over the old place? Unless he made a major life change, Malachi didn’t see the kid going off to college. Not that it wasn’t possible if he really applied himself, but it wasn’t probable. What would his future hold? This might work out for both of them.

Travis joined him in the kitchen half an hour later. Malachi was on his second cup of tea. “Good morning, sleepy head,” he said with a smile.

Patting down his wild hair, Travis grinned. “Morning, Malachi. Sorry I slept so late. I was gonna get up and fix you breakfast. I guess I’m not much of a morning person.”

“It’s all good. Let’s make some food now. Are you hungry?”

He rubbed the sleepers from his eyes and nodded. “I’m starved as usual.”

“Do you want to cook the bacon or the eggs?”

“I’d better do the bacon. I’ll just break the eggs,” he said, shaking his head. “Hey, how’s your hand feeling today?”

Malachi winked at him. “Grand and dandy.”

Travis scrunched up his face. “Hey, that’s my line.”

“I know and it’s a keeper!”

Travis nodded and grinned. “It’s all good, Stumpy.”

Malachi burst out laughing. He was amazed how well they knew each other and it only reaffirmed his thoughts. Travis was a good kid who just needed a helping hand from someone who cared about him. Some guidance and purpose would do wonders for the kid. He’d made up his mind.

As they prepared their feast, Malachi poked around, asking about Travis’s future plans. “Where do you see yourself in five or even ten years from now?”

Travis shook the hair from his eyes and thought for a moment. “I really don’t know. I’m kinda just along for the ride.”

“Do you think you might want to go to college?”

Laughing, he shook his head. “Yeah, no. With my grades, that’s not happening. Plus, we don’t have that kind of cash lying around.”

“There are other ways. You can get scholarships, or even take loans that you can repay after graduation.”

Travis’s face went blank and he looked lost. “I don’t think they’d take me, plus I wouldn’t really want to go. I don’t like school all that much and I haven’t found a career I would enjoy. Unless they have a school for carving amulets,” he said with a smile. He threw some more bacon into the skillet and sighed, confused about his own future.

Malachi nodded. “Okay, well then that brings us to a different subject.” As the pot on the stove began to boil, he asked, “Are three minute eggs okay?”

Nodding, Travis replied, “Oh, yeah. I’ll eat anything.”

Adding the eggs to the boiling water, Malachi set the timer and stared at Travis.

It made the kid uncomfortable. He nervously shifted from one foot to the other, and finally said, “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Malachi smiled, and leaned against the counter. “Travis, I’m the end of the line here. When I’m gone, this old mill will shrivel up and die.”

Travis shook his head. “Don’t talk like that.”

“Gotta face the facts, my friend. I’m sixty-six years old, and I’m not getting any younger.” He put a hand on Travis’s shoulder, and said, “Is there any chance that you would consider taking over when I’m gone?”

Travis reared back. “What? No, I don’t even want to think about it, let alone talk about it. Malachi, you’re the closest thing to family that I have. I know that my mom loves me, in her own way. But she’s living her life for herself. She never really thinks about me. You’ve been the one to help me through a lot of hard times.” Shaking his head, he looked away. “I don’t even want to think about you not being here.”

“I’m not planning on going anywhere any time soon. But when the time does come, many years from now, would you consider it?” Malachi’s piercing eyes bore right into Travis as he anxiously awaited his answer.

Travis shook his bangs and rolled his tongue around, playing with his piercing inside his mouth. “You mean like live here and do what you do?”

“Exactly. You would take over as the proprietor of the Old Mill General Store. Would you be interested?”

“How much would it cost?”

Malachi smiled. “Nothing. I would leave it to you. It would be yours free and clear.”

“For free? For real?” Travis said with confusion in his voice.

“Yep, for real. Actually, we could add your name on the deed now, so that you don’t have a headache with the probate court later on.”

Travis’s eyes darted to Malachi, then back to the sizzling bacon. Finally, he looked at him, and asked, “Are you messing with me or are you serious?”

“I’m absolutely serious. We can get all the paperwork done and finalized as soon as you’re eighteen.”

“I’m already eighteen,” Travis said proudly.

Shaking his head, Malachi asked, “Well, I had no idea. Congratulations. When was your birthday?”

Travis looked away and his face drew a blank gaze. He stared at the bacon and numbly replied, “I turned eighteen the day after Junior died.”

Malachi stood silent, taking it all in and thinking how horrible that must have been. What a way to celebrate a special day. He looked at Travis and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

Focusing on his task, he never looked up, but slowly began sharing his feelings. “It was awful, Malachi. I just knew that I was gonna get caught. I’d be tried as an adult and spend the rest of my life in prison.” Looking over at Malachi, he shrugged. “It was a pretty crappy birthday.”

“Did your Mom do anything special for you?” Malachi could see that he was sad, but he wanted to draw as much information out of him as he could. Travis was pretty closed up these days emotionally, so he was utilizing every opportunity that he could to reach inside and connect with him.

“Mom had to work. But she left me a couple of presents on the dining room table. I got a new pair of Nikes and some t-shirts.” He glanced over at Malachi with eyes mature beyond their years, and said, “She tries.”

Malachi hung his head, feeling like he had failed his friend. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you. I didn’t know what to do after the accident. If I just showed up at your apartment, I thought it might raise suspicion. And how would I explain my visit to your Mom? I was so confused. But I am genuinely sorry that I wasn’t there.” Malachi’s offer took on even more weight with the heaviness in his heart. “Let me make it up to you. Can I give you this old mill? You could even move out here and work full time with me, after you graduate. If you want to, that is.”

Travis grinned and nodded. “That would be pretty sweet. I never thought I’d have my own business. I figured I’d end up at the textile factory or bagging groceries for the rest of my life.”

Malachi smiled. “Then its official. You will be my successor.” He picked up a wooden spoon, regally stood before Travis and tapped him gently on each shoulder. “I knight thee, King of the Old Chidester Mill.”

Travis laughed and took a bow of pride. He was hit by a wave of emotion and began to feel like maybe there was some purpose for his life. He had a future to look forward to. This was the first stroke of good luck he’d ever received.

Over breakfast they talked about changes they’d like to make at the store. Travis had some really solid ideas about what customers might want to see, especially younger people. Malachi knew that this was the right decision. His old heart swelled as he watched Travis light up, making plans for the future.

With new enthusiasm, Travis jumped up from the table. “Can you handle the dishes, Malachi? I want to get back to work on scraping the rest of the outside, so we can get a fresh coat of paint on her before winter sets in.”

Malachi nodded. “Yes, you go, son. Please be careful on that old ladder.” Travis took off in a flash. As Malachi sat and finished his tea, he couldn’t help but smile. He felt like he also had a future again. He finally had someone that he could count on to be there and help out. This would be a great partnership for them both.

With the dishes neatly stacked on a towel to dry, he focused and went right to work. He opened his closet and pulled out a small metal box which held his important documents. Sitting back down at the kitchen table, he creaked open the strongbox. Inside it were a few old savings bonds, the title to Rosie and his deed to the mill. Norma had signed it over to him the year she passed away, after she was given her cancer death sentence. Malachi touched his mother’s signature, remembering how hard her life was. She was a good mother, always there for him. Much different than Travis’s mom. That woman couldn’t seem to be bothered with her own son. What a shame for a mother to turn her back on her flesh and blood like that.

Things would be different now. Malachi wanted to show Travis what it meant to truly be there for someone, to be a family. And just maybe, Travis would find the perfect gal. This old mill needed a family in it again. The sound of laughter had echoed through the old building at one time. It deserved to feel that love again. Malachi couldn’t help but smile as he thought of Travis raising a family here. This was the right thing to do. With a heavy heart, he whispered, “I miss you Mama. I hope that you’re proud of me.”