Cascade (5 page)

Dumb de dumb dumb

Tres, Aden and Sam filed out after the venture
capitalist. Jacob stood from his desk then weaved. He plopped back
down in his chair. Blane held Jacob’s nitroglycerin spray out to
him.

“
I’m all right,” Jacob said. “Just
tired.”

“
You look like crap,” Blane said.
“Stop being such a martyr. Take your spray. Did you eat
today?”

Spraying the nitroglycerin under his tongue,
he shook his head.

“
You’re such an idiot,” Blane
said.

Jacob laughed. Using the desk, he pushed to
standing.

“
Come on,” Blane said. “They’re
waiting for us. You just have to get through this then flop on your
fluffy bed with your beloved. I’ll even drive you home.”

“
That’s a deal,” Jacob
said.

“
One more thing,” Blane said. He
stuffed two Nutter Butter cookies into Jacob’s mouth.
“Chew.”

Seeing only concern in Blane’s eyes, Jacob did
what he was told.

“
I look that bad?”

“
You look like I do when I have
the Ribavirin shots,” Blane said. Stopping at the door to the
conference room, he said, “Whatever these guys say, we’ll be fine.
I know you’ll figure something out.”

Jacob nodded to Blane then followed him into
the conference room. The first thing he noticed was the laughing,
chatting venture capitalists. The next thing he noticed was Sam
coming to hug him.

“
It’s settled,” Sam
said.

~~~~~~~~

Sunday evening — 7:47
P.M.

“
Are you all right?” Jill asked to
Jacob. “You look terrible.”

“
Just exhausted,” he said.
“Listen, I’m going to miss dinner, but if you…”

“
I’ll stay with you,” Jill
said.

“
What about your Mom?” Jacob
asked.

“
She was here for a couple of
hours. But Sandy was right. She’s overwhelmed by everything. She
played with Katy while we talked. It was… nice,” Jill said. “Katy’s
exhausted too. She’s already in bed. Have you eaten?”

“
Two Nutter Butter cookies that
Blane made me eat.”

“
That’s not food,” Jill said. “Why
don’t you take a bath? I’ll put some dinner together.”

“
You don’t…”

“
I can cook, husband. Just because
I haven’t, doesn’t mean I can’t.”

Jacob nodded.

“
Come on,” Jill said. “I’ll help
you with the bath.”

Turning on the water for his bath, she helped
him undress. Even exhausted, he was aroused by her touch. She
laughed.

“
Maybe after you’ve eaten and
rested,” she said.

“
Will you say it
again?”

“
What?” Jill asked. “In the tub.
Go on.”

“
The husband thing?” Jacob stepped
into the tub.

Jill pointed to his wedding band then her
own.

“
I’ll be right back,
husband.”

Smiling, Jacob leaned back and let the warm
water dissolve his fatigue. He was drifting somewhere between
memory and dream when an incredible smell tickled his nose. His
stomach rumbled and his mouth watered. Unable to stay in the tub,
he wrapped himself in a terry bathrobe and followed the
scent.

He wandered across the open space of their
loft apartment to the kitchen. Jill was setting the dining room
table.

“
Would you like some wine?” Jill
asked.

“
I better not,” he said. “I’m too
worn out. What smells so good?”

“
I made one of my favorite chicken
recipes,” Jill said. “I used to cook for us growing up. This recipe
is from Costa Rica.”

“
What did you make
tonight?”

“
Jerk chicken,” Jill said. “I
don’t know if you’ve had it. I know you like spicy stuff
so…”

“
It smells like
heaven.”

“
I made some instant rice,” Jill
said. “I wasn’t sure how long you’d…”

Jacob kissed her and Jill giggled.

“
You have to eat,” Jill
said.

Jacob wagged his eyebrows.

“
Food,” Jill said.

“
I’ll get dressed.”

“
It’s okay to eat in your robe,”
Jill said. “I don’t mind you eating naked but Katy might wake
up.”

Jacob nodded.

“
It’s our first meal at home as a
married couple!”

Jill set a plate of saffron rice, jerk
chicken, sweet potato fries, and a small salad in front of him. She
set a plate for herself then poured him some water.

“
You made all of this while I was
in the bath?”

“
Practice, my friend, practice.
Try it!”

It seemed to Jacob he had taken only one bite,
but when he looked down, everything on his plate was
gone.

“
Would you like more?”

“
Absolutely.”

Jill filled his plate again.

“
What happened with the company?”
Jill asked.

“
They reorganized the way we do
business,” Jacob said. “And… I think it will be good. They’re going
to take board seats. I’m disbanding the existing board tomorrow.
With these guys as board members, we’ll have the support we need.
We’ll see how that turns out.”

“
What about your bank? Your
credit? All the stuff you’ve been so worried about?”

“
We’re moving banks. The VCs are
going to help us with the credit issue but we’ll still need a bank.
They project by the middle of next year, we won’t need credit,”
Jacob said. “The good news is that they liked our company, the
people and the policies. They want to help us.”

“
And the bad news?”

“
Oh, I guess we have to change,
take risks, and grow.”

Jacob shook his head.

“
You’re exhausted. Tomorrow’s
another long day,” Jill said.

“
Are you inviting me to bed,
wife?”

“
Yes, let’s leave these dishes.
Come to bed with me, husband.”

Jill stood from her chair. She squealed when
Jacob jumped from his seat to carry her through the loft. Tasting
their spicy meal on her lips, his tongue continued a gentle
exploration of her mouth. He set her onto their bed then helped her
out of her clothing. She slid off his robe. He lay down beside
her.

And fell sound asleep.

~~~~~~~~
One week and a half later
Wednesday afternoon —– 4:30 P.M.
The day before Thanksgiving

“
That’s the end of our group
work,” Colin Hargreaves said. “I want you to pick a partner that’s
around your size.”

“
Daddy, can I stay with Katy?”
Paddie asked.

“
Of course,” Colin said. “Teddy?
You and Nash. Noelle? Work with Ryan again. Becky? Can you work
with…?”

“
Stevie, Mr. Hargreaves, I’m
Ryan’s littlest brother.”

“
Stevie! Nice to meet you. You can
call me Mr. Colin.”

“
My other brother couldn’t come
today,” Steve said. “But he’s going to come on Friday.”

“
Great! The more the merrier,”
Colin said. “Mike? Are you working with the ladies?”

“
I’m on it,” Mike said.

Mike helped Jill, Heather, Tanesha, Sandy,
Colin’s wife, Julie, and Valerie set up a circle where they could
work with each other.

“
Ok, work with your partner now,”
Colin said. “Slow and easy. Take the hand, bend the wrist and turn
to the outside. Slow and easy. Feel the lock.”

Colin moved to the edge of the room to watch
the class.

“
I’ve looked for you at lunch but
I never see you,” Nash said. He turned Teddy’s wrist until he felt
it lock. “You go to Smiley, right? Seventh grade,
right?”

“
Yeah.” Teddy took Nash’s wrist
and locked it in place. “I’m in the library. I’m behind in school.
You should see the stack of work I have for this weekend. No
holiday for me.”

“
Oh,” Nash returned the wrist
lock. “How come?”

“
I didn’t go to school for a
while,” Teddy said. “My Mom’s messed up. She’s in some program now.
She’s supposed to be getting better.”

“
My Mom’s in jail,” Nash said.
“She’s supposed to go to prison.”

“
Oh,” Teddy smiled. “I didn’t know
you were a citizen of the country of fucked up.”

“
Hey!” A big guy yelled from the
doorway to the room. Nash gulped as the muscle bound man pointed to
them. “Language.”

“
My guardian,” Teddy said. “My Mom
hates Miss Alex. Just hates her. But Miss Alex is the person for us
at three in the morning. Me and my sister and brother. You know,
when things went to shit. Miss Alex walked through the chaos, the
police, and whatever else to bring us here. Mom signed my
guardianship to Andy.”

“
He’s a little scary,” Nash
whispered. “He has a prison tattoo on his eye.”

“
Yeah,” Teddy said. “He’s been
really great to me.”

“
Where’s your Dad?” Nash
asked.

“
Good job everyone!” Colin said.
“Let’s go back to simple escape. Kneel across from your partner.
We’ll do this for ten minutes today.”

“
My Dad’s taken care of us since
we were little.” Nash grabbed Teddy’s wrists. Teddy shifted his
hand to break Nash’s grip. “He’s a good Dad, you know, for a
Dad.

“
My Dad flies spy airplanes over
the Middle East.” Teddy grabbed Nash’s wrists and Nash broke his
grip. “He’s trying to get here, but… If he doesn’t fly, men don’t
get any time off. We promised him we’d be all right for a few
months until he finishes up.”

They worked back and forth for a
while.

“
I saw that guy harass you. At
school,” Teddy said. “What’s his problem?”

“
He makes fun of my Dad’s
girlfriend. Calls her a slut and a whore and stuff. Everybody joins
in. Even my ex-best friend Tommy.” Nash scowled. Shaking his head,
he shrugged. “Sandy’s really great. Beautiful. Well, you can see.
She’s in the middle next to Valerie, the movie star.”

“
She has a pretty
smile.”

“
Yeah, kind of lights up the
room,” Nash said. “I hope my Dad marries her so she can be my mom.
That kid says awful stuff to get me mad then pushes me
around.”

“
Bully,” Teddy said. “I hate that.
They always pick on kids like us.”

“
From the country of the fucked
up?”

Nash felt a hand grab the back of his shirt.
The big guy lifted him from sitting to hold Nash’s in front of his
big scary face.

“
See this?” The big guy rotated
Nash to look at the women at the back of the room. “Ladies present.
Watch your mouth. You want to be a thug? Talk like a thug. You want
to make something of your life? Speak like a gentleman. And
gentlemen don’t swear when ladies are present.”

The big guy set Nash down on the
mat.

“
Carry on.”

The big guy returned to the edge of the
mat.

“
You Ok, Nash?” Colin
asked.

“
Yes, sir,” Nash said.

Leaning into Nash, Colin whispered, “He means
well.”

Nash nodded.

“
All right,” Colin said. “We’re
done. Remember to thank your partner with a bow.”

Nash and Teddy bowed to each other.

“
Have a great Thanksgiving! I’ll
see you Friday afternoon.”

After collecting Noelle and checking in with
Sandy, Nash ran to catch up with Teddy.

“
Teddy!”

Teddy was walking down the hallway with his
massive guardian. The boy turned around in the hall.

“
I can help you catch up. With
school,” Nash said. “We have this whole weekend. Sandy’s working
every day but tomorrow. That means we’ll be at the Castle. Why
don’t you see if you can come over? I can help.”

Smiling, Teddy nodded.

“
Great! They have our number,”
Nash said. “Give me a call on Friday.”

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday evening — 5:00
P.M.

The day before
Thanksgiving

“
You don’t want the baby,” Honey’s
therapist said.

“
No. No. I want the baby,” Honey
said. “I don’t know how it will work. I mean, I can barely take
care of myself. Steve bathes me, helps me go to the bathroom… How
am I going to care for a baby? When I can’t …”

“
Even care for
yourself?”

“
Yeah,” Honey said. “I don’t mind
living at the Castle. I mean everyone’s really great. Nice. MJ
loves it there. He feels like I’m safe because everyone will help.
But… I need to care for myself, my baby, my life. And… I
can’t.”

“
You have a job. You pay your own
bills. You…”

“
I pay some of my bills,” Honey
said. “Jake and the insurance company pick up the tab for most of
it. MJ’s salary goes to his brother and sister, or most of it
anyway.”