Running From the Night (10 page)

“Thank you. Glad to please.” He smiled, looking down at the light cream-colored Berber carpet. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“What do you look for in a guy?”

“Why are you all the way in my business?” she asked, looking at him directly.

“What? I …” he stammered. “We just finished the whole interview of my personal code of ethics on dating. Isn’t it fair that it’s your turn to share?”

“I never said I was going to share anything just because you eagerly burbled out answers.”

Jelani’s mouth hung open. “Ah,” he said coolly. “So I was burbling. I see.” He looked away.

Alisha laughed, placing a hand on his cheek and forcing him to face her. “You know what’s cute about you?” She didn’t wait for him to respond. “You get so serious when the stakes are high and there’s something you really want.” She kissed him on the cheek again, this time closer to his lips. “Try not to lose your sense of humor when there’s something you really want involved.” She stood up and grabbed her purse, moving toward the door. “You may already have it, if you’re patient.” She opened the door. “I’ll text you when were done. Sleep well.” She blew him a kiss and closed the door behind her.

“Well alright,” was all he could think of to respond, in the quiet of the room with only the small plant on the dresser drawer to hear him. He looked over at the green and yellow plant. “Should I even allow myself to get excited over this?” He shook his head as if the plant had answered. “Nope, I didn’t think so either.”

***

Chapter Twelve

Jelani awoke to the sound of one of his favorite songs playing on his phone. He knew without having to look at it, that Daniel was the one calling.

“Hello?” he croaked.

“You sound like you’re still not ready to get up,” Daniel’s voice said through the phone.

“I’ll be good in a few minutes,” Jelani said. “What time is it?”

“A little after eleven.”

“Two and a half hours.” Jelani sat up, rubbing his eyes. “I think I should be good till tonight.”

“I hope so, because we’re going to be on the mountain for the rest of the day going into the night.”

That last statement sent a chill down his spine. “You think that’s wise?”

There was a silent pause on the other end. “I really don’t know. It’s one thing for him to have found us in Vancouver, but do you think he’ll find us that fast all the way up here?”

“You remember what Saaya said?” Jelani reminded, stretching. “I think it could go either way, but as long as we’re not up there alone, we should be fine.”

“Hopefully,” Daniel said. “Wen just called. She said they didn’t want to wake us, so they’ll meet us at the lifts.”

Jelani stood and stretched again, yawning. “Alright. I’ll meet you in the lobby in ten minutes.”

“Okay.”

After they hung up, Jelani went to freshen up in the bathroom, then changed into his snowboarding gear and grabbed his coat. He unzipped his long black bag and pulled out his snowboard. He kept it polished and immaculate, and every time he pulled it out of the bag, he admired the custom art on the underside. A fierce panther stood on two legs on its own snowboard, wearing baggy boarder’s pants and a sleeveless coat, revealing muscular arms. Atop its head, in front of its long pointed ears were a set of goggles. “Let’s do it!” Jelani said, grabbing his coat and heading for the door.

He made it to the lobby only a few seconds before Daniel, who carried his own snowboard. On the underside of his best friend’s board was cartoon depiction of himself with blue hair, doing a trick that was physically impossible in reality. He’d gotten the idea from a snowboarding game EA was famous for. He’d been trying to get the artists to design a character in his likeness for the new game, but hadn’t gotten a definite answer. Jelani had already done the motion capture acting for the upcoming game and knew that Daniel’s character was on the roster. It would be a pleasant surprise for his friend.

“Looks like that little nap did you good!” Daniel said, falling into step alongside Jelani. “You don’t have that glassy-eyed look anymore.”

“You weren’t looking much better,” Jelani replied.

“I’m really looking forward to getting up on the mountain,” Daniel said as they stepped out of the hotel. It was cold, but not as cold as they’d expected. “Wow, it’s not too bad out at all!” Daniel said. “It’s probably no colder than around minus one or two!”

Daniel’s childlike smile made him look like a nine year old in a twenty-seven-year-old body. Jelani laughed softly. There was little Daniel who liked more than snow and snowboarding.

“Let’s get to the lifts,” Jelani said. “I want to start off on the beginner slopes and make sure I’m not too rusty.”

“Dude, c’mon! Don’t punk out! Just come up to the regular runs, you’ll be fine!”

“You can talk that ‘punk out’ talk all you want, but it’s been almost two years since I’ve been on my board. I’m not trying to plow the mountain face first.”

Daniel smacked through his teeth and started walking, Jelani in tow. Snow was gently falling from the clouded, white sky, settling on the ground and on the rooftops and in the trees, giving the ski village a winter wonderland look. One of the things Jelani found fascinating about the snow was that it muffled sound, making the place peaceful. It was hard not to be in a good mood surrounded by an environment covered in the soft white carpet.

At the base of the mountain, Alisha, Wen, and the rest of their friends stood talking. When they arrived, Wen reached a pink gloved hand into her pocket and pulled out two lift tickets, handing one to each of them.

“You guys get enough beauty sleep?” It was Jason Wall who’d asked. Jason was an electrician who had been doing a job for one of the offices at EA when he’d overheard Jelani and Daniel talking about snowboarding. Minutes later, the trio had engaged in a lengthy conversation about the different mountains and runs that Vancouver and the outlying areas had to offer. They’d been friends for two years now, and Jason and his wife Amber always found time to come whenever a ski trip was planned.

“Yup. Ready to get up there,” Daniel said, making a show of pumping his arms out in front of him.

They started toward the lines to the lifts when a crow landed on the rail on Jelani’s right, not two feet away. He stopped, staring at the bird, who silently stared back at him. Daniel glanced over his shoulder, and the blood drained from his face.

“Jelani?” he asked.

“Yeah?”

“What are you two—” Wen started to ask, then looked at the strange sight of Jelani and the crow “—doing?” She finished, frowning. “Why are you staring at that bird, Jelani?”

“Why is it staring at me?” Jelani replied, already knowing the answer.

“That’s kind of creepy,” Alisha said, from further up. “Maybe you should get away from that thing.”

Jelani started walking away, and the crow hopped a few feet, then took wing and glided past him, landing on the rail a few feet ahead in his path. “I think it likes you,” Amber Wall said, from the front of the line.

“Come on, baby,” Jason said. “Let Jelani play with his crow, and we’ll see him after our first run.” They laughed and continued on.

“C’mon, babe,” Wen said, eyeing the bird. “C’mon, you two. Leave the crow alone and let’s go.”

Daniel purposely turned his back to his girlfriend to make a show of teasing Jelani. “C’mon, man. I know you’re a nature fanatic, but now you’re showing off.” His words were playful, but his face was serious. “Come on,” he said in a low voice. “We’ll talk about this on the way up.”

After the three couples, Wen and Alisha took the next lift, claiming they wanted to catch up, so Jelani and Daniel had a lift to themselves.

“Would I sound crazy if I said there was more to that crow than just a friendly staring contest?” Jelani asked.

“Well,” Daniel replied, looking out at the snow-covered mountain stretching as far as the eye could see. “Considering the last time we saw a strange-acting crow, our ‘buddy’ showed up. So I’d say probably not. There could be no connection, but I feel like those ‘friends’ she spoke about being everywhere might be of the winged variety.”

Jelani looked at him. He’d totally forgotten!
What was that she’d said? “I have friends everywhere.”
He felt a cold streak go down his back. Could that mysterious woman actually communicate with crows? Just a few days ago such a possibility would never have entered his mind. Now anything seemed possible.

“Well if that crow is playing the liaison role, I would rather it be for her and not anyone else.”

Daniel looked irritated. “Might not matter whether she is here or not. It really seems like she’s just hovering over all this to see what happens, more than actually trying to help us survive all this.”

Jelani couldn’t disagree with that, but still. “You could be right, but whether she decides to intervene or not, should something happen, I would rather her here than not. At least we stand a fifty-fifty chance she’ll do something.”

“I wouldn’t hedge my bets on that happening.”

“Neither would I, but I’ll gladly accept the possibility.”

Jelani nearly jumped when the crow glided up and landed on the armrest next to him. He leaned away, staring at the bird incredulously.

“Hey, what the hell?” Daniel said when Jelani crowded him. Then he saw the bird on the rail, black as onyx, staring at them both. “Okay, either this guy is convinced you have food, or it’s spying on us.”

Jelani felt the gauge on his “foolish meter” going off the charts as he sat upright again and started talking to the staring bird. “Okay, I’m not going to say I don’t feel more than a little stupid talking to a bird, but if you can understand me, or if it’s Saaya listening through you, just give me some kind of sign. I dunno, caw, or something.” The crow spread its wings and
cawed
at him.

Jelani glanced nervously at Daniel, who sat staring. “Are you here watching us, Saaya?” he asked. The crow looked straight into his eyes and cawed at him again, then bent over and pecked his hand. “Ouch. Hey, man, what the hell?” He recoiled his hand, and the bird hopped down on his leg and sat.

Jelani frowned in amazement, looking at an equally dumbfounded Daniel. “Comfortable?” Jelani asked. The crow gave a soft caw in response, still sitting.

“If this is going to get romantic, I could leave,” Daniel said, attempting to lighten the mood. The crow looked directly at him, fixing his gaze.
Caw!

Daniel reared back and alternated his gaze between Jelani and the bird. “Okay, I’m thoroughly freaked out. That bird understands us!”

“Yeah,” Jelani said, trying and failing not to be tense. “And while it’s sitting so close to an important area on my body, you wanna not antagonize the thing?”

The crow looked up at him.
Caw!

Once the lift was near the top of the run, the crow stood and hopped back on the rail, much to Jelani’s relief. It looked over its shoulder at him once more, then hopped from the rail, gliding away.

“That was more than a little weird,” Daniel said. “And I guess that means she’s here somewhere. I wouldn’t normally be quick to think a girl would follow us all the way up here, but …”

“Could there be any doubt after that?” Jelani said, jabbing a thumb in the direction the crow had gone. The lift reached the top of the slope and they raised the safety bar and slid out of their seats, turning their legs sideways and riding the short downhill path to where everyone else waited.

“And the rogues finally make it!” Christopher said, as was his general description of snowboarders. The others had often teased that he had been born with skis on his feet, to which he agreed.

“I’ve seen you admiring the boards,” Daniel said. “You’re just afraid to fall.”

“No, I don’t like both my feet locked into one place. I like the freedom.”

“What does it matter?” Jelani asked. “You still have to keep your feet in place, the only difference is that with skis, you have the freedom of getting your legs twisted and tangled if you fall.”

“Can’t remember when the last time I’ve fallen was,” came the reply.

“And now if the boys are finished churning the testosterone,” Nikki cut in, “let’s go!”

They moved to the top of the run and stopped to adjust goggles and gloves. Alisha moved next to Jelani and gave him a slap on the rear end, then jumped off, flying down the hill. Jelani smiled deviously and jumped after her.

About forty feet in front of him, Alisha crisscrossed his path, as both of them wove left to right, keeping a consistent speed. They had chosen to start at the intermediate run, or blue, as it was called, to get warmed up. Everyone in the group was capable of the expert runs, the black diamonds, but after a few runs on the blue, Christopher would head up to the black, and eventually double black diamond runs, as was his custom. Jelani thought he was crazy, as the double black diamond runs were practically vertical.

He narrowed his eyes as he angled his body to cross left and right, maintaining his speed. Ahead, Alisha passed between a group of skiers and continued down the hill, turning right and passing on the far side of a group that were clearly beginners.

Jelani lowered himself and sharpened his focus, crisscrossing less, and increasing his speed. Like Alisha, he passed on the far side of the beginners just as several of them fell into a tumbling heap, laughing and crying out in pain all at once. He lowered himself and kept his body relaxed, allowing his legs to bounce up and down to absorb the impact of the bumps and tracks.

Crouched on his snowboard, feeling the snow passing swiftly beneath his feet, Jelani basked in the exhilaration of the speed and scenery. It was a rush of adrenaline that was so addictive he wanted to come back every day for the rest of the season.

Alisha must have felt him closing in on her, for she glanced over her shoulder, then lowered her body and tucked her poles in tight under her arms. Her speed increased, and the distance between them began to lengthen. Standing sideways on his board, Jelani also condensed his body and crouched just a bit lower, also picking up speed. For a while, he kept pace with her, but eventually the distance between them increased.

Jelani’s jaw clenched. They must have been traveling at least forty miles per hour by now. Finally, the slope started to level off and more skiers and boarders came into view. Alisha raised up and began to crisscross again, slowing down. Jelani followed suit, weaving around the knots of people who were either moving much slower or had stopped to rest.

Jelani liked to continue all the way to the bottom without stopping, and he hoped Alisha had the endurance to make it all the way down. He needn’t have worried. She slowed a bit more and glanced over her shoulder. Taking it as an invitation, Jelani sped up a little until he was finally next her. Side by side, they zigzagged their way down the slope.

Finally they reached the end of the run. Jelani turned his body forward, leaning back and thrusting his heels down until he stopped. He lifted the goggles and looked over at Alisha.

“Good run, girl! I thought you were trying to kill us for a second there, but good run!”

“The only reason you thought I was trying to kill us was because you didn’t want me to beat you.”

Jelani waved the thought away. “If I wanted to beat you down the mountain, I would be wearing skis.”

Wen came skidding to a stop, followed by Daniel, then Christopher and Nikki. A couple minutes later, Jason and Amber came skidding to a stop nearby.

“Looks like we finally caught up to the daredevils,” Nikki said, lifting her goggles over her eyes.

“Is there some kind of friendly competition we didn’t know about?” Christopher said, bouncing his eyebrows.