touch (9 page)

When I neared, she nodded behind the counter toward a closed
door, “Go to the back room and hang up your stuff.  I’ll be right there.”  She
didn’t pause in her task.  A man stood waiting for his coffee to go.

Pulling off my hat and gloves, I stepped around the end of
the counter and opened the door.  It led to a long spacious hallway with four
doors.  Two on each side.  To the right of the door, Mona had several coat hooks
and a rubber mat just below it.  Boots rested on it.  I’d be able to wear boots
here and have somewhere to keep them after I changed to sneakers.

I hung my things on an available hook then looked around. 
The first door to the left, a small bathroom for employees, stood open. 
Further down the hall, also on the left, a supply room door stood open. 
Peeking inside, I saw supply racks, but also a counter and sink on the wall
connecting to the bathroom.  The doors to the right led to a utility room and
an office.

Mona stepped through the hall a minute later.

“There’s a steady stream of customers that come in
throughout the day.  For now, I could use your help prepping for the sandwiches
I offer.”  She walked to the supply room with the sink.  “This is where I do
the prep work.  The actual assembly I do out there.”  She quickly went over
what needed slicing or dicing, how to store it and told me to get her when I
finished.

After she left, I looked at the work doubtfully.  There were
five tomatoes and a head of lettuce to dice thinly, an avocado to cut into
wedges and sprouts to wash.  I hoped she had more work than this.  Fifteen
minutes of pay wouldn’t go very far.  I washed everything and set it aside to
drain while getting the clear containers she used for her under-the-counter
refrigerators out front.  Her knives were much better than ours at home and cut
through everything with ease.  I carefully avoided my fingers.

When I had one large container and two small ones filled and
covered with plastic wrap, I washed my hands and ventured out to the front.

Mona seemed surprised to see me so soon, but directed me
where to place everything and then told me to watch her for a while.  She
certainly had a rhythm for what she did.  No move was wasted.

Most of the customers ordered some variety of coffee.  I
tried to memorize the different ingredients and felt I understood the basics. 
Every now and again, someone ordered a sandwich.  Mona offered a limited menu. 
They all sounded great.  The turkey avocado one made my stomach growl and she
grinned at me.

By lunch, I no longer just watched, but helpfully passed her
cups keeping pace with her.  She took a quick break to eat at a table with a
friend while I manned the machines.  The register took some getting used to,
but it appeared simple enough with a cheat sheet next to it indicating which
buttons to push.

Mona flipped the sign from open to close at ten after one. 
The last customer climbed into his shiny grey car parked on the side of the
street outside the picture window.

“You did great,” she said with a huge smile.  She moved
behind the counter and started putting together a sandwich.  Turkey Avocado.

Although she’d given me an opportunity for a break, I’d only
used it to go to the bathroom.  I hadn’t brought money for eating figuring I’d
eat when I got home.

“So what do you think?  Want to give the Sunday crowd a
try?”

I didn’t think I’d been overly useful but agreed since she
invited me back.  I moved behind the counter and grabbed a washcloth and the
cleaning spray to wipe down the tables.  I’d done it periodically throughout
the day when I could.

“You are a gem, Tessa,” she said walking around the counter
with the plated sandwich in one hand and the tip jar in the other.  “Most of the
time you’re doing stuff before I even tell you to do it.  You read minds?”

I contained my startled laugh.  Barely.  “No.  I guess you
can thank my great Grandmother.  We make dinner together every night.  So I’m
used to the prep, serve, and cleanup process.”

“Leave the rest of those tables for me and come sit.”  She
set the sandwich on the table I just finished wiping down.  “This is for you. 
Let me know what you think.”

She sat in the chair across from me, dumped the contents of
the tip jar on the table and started counting.  I sat and took a bite savoring
the delicious flavors.  She smiled at my expression.  While I ate, I watched
her count.

“I have to admit this is more than usual.  Don’t get your
hopes up that it’ll be this much tomorrow.  Someone tossed in a five.”  She
handed me nineteen dollars and some change.  Half of the tip jar for less than
half of the work she did.

I wanted to protest, but I needed the money.  I knew my
future.  I’d be alone raising kids in just a few short years.  Well, not
alone.  I’d have my mom just like my mom had Gran.  So, I nodded my thanks and
pocketed the money.  Then, I finished my sandwich.

When I stepped outside, the wind buffeted me and I thought
again of getting a different coat.  In spite of the cold, I looked up at the
overcast sky hoping for snow.  A Christmas without snow just didn’t feel like
Christmas.  The money in my pocket called to me wistfully.  It’d be nice to
earn enough to buy everyone real presents, but we had a standing rule in our
house.  No purchased gifts.  Everything had to be homemade.

Lost in thought, I didn’t hear someone calling my name at
first.  The second time it rang out, it registered, and I turned around.

Parked a few feet behind me, I spotted Clavin’s car.  Clavin
himself opened the driver’s side door and struggled to get out.  He looked pale
and unhappy.  Limping toward me in his cast, he wordlessly handed me a note.

Go to her.  She’s at the Coffee Shop.  She will help you
get the rest you need.

I read it again.  Say, what?

Looking up at Clavin, I really studied his face.  The sunken
dark flesh around his eyes, the hollowness of his cheeks, he didn’t look well. 
“Are you having problems sleeping?”

“Since I last saw you, every time I close my eyes I see…” he
hesitated, closing his eyes briefly.  “Its eyes...”  He shoved his shoved his
hands in his pockets and ducked his trying to keep his ears warm.  He spoke
softly and I had to strain to hear his next words.  “Its horns…”

So he dreamt of Morik.  But why would Morik send him to me? 
I thought he didn’t like Clavin.  My eyes flicked to his cast.  Wasn’t the idea
to prevent me from picking a boy so Morik would have a chance to spend with
me?  I looked at Clavin again.  Although I’d forgiven him, there was still no
way I would ever choose him.  Maybe Morik knew that.  But it didn’t explain why
he sent him to me.  Did Morik really care that Clavin wasn’t getting any
sleep?  Maybe he felt guilty for walking Clavin in front of a car.

While I debated, Clavin started to shiver.

“Fine,” I said with a sigh.  “Give me the keys and I’ll
drive us to my house.”  He handed them over willingly.  I hadn’t thought he
would.  “You really look like crap.”

Taking pity on him, I helped him to the passenger door. 
“I’ll let you sleep at my house for a while, but I’m kicking you out in an
hour.  Got it?”

He nodded his agreement, relief plain on his face.

I parked in front of our house a few minutes later.  Listening
to Clavin’s hobble as he followed me to the door, I dreaded what Gran would
say.  Silence greeted me when I opened the door.  Danielle’s chair sat empty. 
A called out a hello as we removed our jackets, but no one answered.  A first. 
I wondered if they’d gone to visit the widower Gran had mentioned.

A note sat on the table from Mom and Aunt Grace stating they
went shopping and would be home before dark.  I shook my head at the last
part.  Of course, they would.  She also added a note asking me to take a
picture of myself.  The camera lay on the table.  I ignored it.

After hanging Clavin’s coat over mine, I led him to my room
and pointed him in the direction of my bed.  I stayed far away from him and he
wearily laid back.  A boy in my bed.  I couldn’t quite process the thought.  A
boy I didn’t really care for.  I still questioned why he was even here as I
watch him pull a quilt over himself.

Trying to stay in a charitable mindset, I didn’t think about
how I would need to wash my bedding quick before dark… well, I didn’t think
about it much.

Clavin had barely closed his eyes when his breathing
deepened.  Tired from work, I turned to leave the room and relax on the couch. 
Morik’s voice stopped me.

“I trust you don’t mind if I use Clavin?”

I spun around and stared as Clavin sat up.  It was one thing
for me to talk to Morik at school.  Talking to him here made my heart jump in
fear.  I’d brought this unknown creature into my home.  I backed toward the
door another step.  Suddenly, I was very glad no one else was home.

“How did you know where I was?  Where I would be?”  My voice
remained steadier than my pulse.

“Since I’ve found you, I’ve never lost track of you.” He
stood and walked toward me.

I backed out of the doorway and quickly walked to the living
room reminding myself he had plenty of opportunities to hurt me before if that
were his intent.  What did he expect me to do now?

Trying to calm down, I decided to try treating him as a
guest… without getting too close.

“How did you find me the first time?”  Nervous, I kept
moving, getting us both a drink of water.  He sat at the table and waited for
me expectantly.  Hesitantly, I joined him.  Sitting across of him, I relaxed a
little and passed him his glass.  Just like at school.  A conversation across
the table.

“I felt you the moment they bruised you.  Your pain was my
beacon.”  He took a drink of water and then explained.  “I feel every birth and
death in Belinda’s line, but those are weak signals compared to when one of you
is hurt.  It’s because of those faint signals that I lost track of you at
times.”

I tried to piece to together why he would feel our pain,
birth or death, but couldn’t think of a reason.  “Why do you feel us?”

“How else would I keep track of all of you throughout the
years?  Especially when you move around so much?  It also helps me know how
many of you are approaching your seventeenth birthday.”

I thought of the family tree in the back of Belinda’s book. 
Perhaps the dead branches weren’t dead after all, but branches that had moved
away for safety.  They could have made a copy of the book to pass down through
the daughters of their branch.  “Are there others then?  Other descendants of
Belinda?”

He shook his head sadly.  “The four of you in this house are
the last of her line.  You are the only one of age.”

“Five you mean.”

He canted his head to the side as I’d seen him do before
when puzzled.  “No.  Four.  I am not mistaken.”

The certainty of his tone had me frowning.  Playing with my
half-empty glass, sliding it back and forth on the tabletop, I stared at the
clear water thinking.  Without a doubt, there were five of us in this house or
my mind wasn’t the only one in question.  Maybe, somehow, we’d managed to hide
one of us from him.

The obvious answer came to me.  Gran and Aunt Danielle. 
Twins.  He’d probably only sensed a single birth since they’d been born so
close together.  And they looked identical.  With Aunt Danielle mostly staying
home, he’d probably never seen both at the same time.

I glanced back up at him.  He watched me closely and I tried
to keep my expression blank.  They were both gone, but for how long?  I wanted
to get answers, but his presence could jeopardize their secret.

The biggest question still remained.  Did he pose a threat
to us?  And it wasn’t a question I could just ask him.  Yes, he’d walked Clavin
into traffic, but he’d made it clear it was because Clavin hurt me.  But it hadn’t
just been Clavin.  What would he do to Brian if he knew about his involvement? 
Since hurting Clavin, he hadn’t done anything more than possess people to talk
to me.  And even then, when I said what he did would make people crazy, he used
Clavin… and in a way that Clavin wasn’t going to notice since he was taking a
nap.  I sighed.  Why couldn’t I detect lies instead of seeing the future?

“Why do I see my future when I touch a boy?  Where does that
come into all this?”

He replied with a sad note in his voice, “Once her father
made the deal, she chose a suitor.  It had been a disappointment, but a few
months later, she bore a daughter.  It gave me hope that maybe her daughter,
wouldn’t be so opposed to the idea since she would be raised knowing I waited to
meet her.  But Belinda sought to make a different deal with another of my
kind.  She wanted the deal removed.  Ahgred’s price was too high... her life to
spare her daughter from the choices she faced at seventeen.  Since my deal with
her was complete, I couldn’t interfere.  But I was near and listened to the
bargain she made.  I will never understand why she agreed.

“She’d married a lazy man and grew to despise him.  The
money her father obtained through his deal with me, he gave to them as a
wedding gift.  The man lavishly spent the money.  Because of her mistake in
choosing him as a husband, she asked that her daughter be granted a glimpse of
what her life would be like if she were to choose the man she touches.  Ahgred
was a fair broker.  Such a gift, used repeatedly, required a high price.”

I leaned forward in my chair caught up in his retelling, imagining
a young woman dressed in a fine dress angry at the world.

Morik took a sip of water his gaze never leaving my face.
“The man she chose using that gift would have a short life.  She agreed and
asked for more.  She knew I sensed her best at night.  So she asked for a way
to hide her daughter from me during that time.  Ahgred taught her a simple
chant that would force sleep through a touch.  The price for Belinda was easily
paid.  She returned what money remained of the gift given to her by her father
and relished telling her husband of the loss.”