Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 (36 page)

“
Did you say good night to
Charlie?” Sandy whispered.

Aden nodded. He took her hand and led her
out to their dining room. Even though he could now live with Sandy
and the kids, they made the effort to eat together every night. She
went into the kitchen for their dinners.

“
That child is a mess.”
Aden followed her into the kitchen. “I don’t think he’s ever
brushed his teeth.”

“
He used to.”

Sandy dished grilled chicken and sautéed
vegetables. Aden put the rest of the salad together.

“
Must have been a long time
ago,” Aden said. “It was like I was speaking French. We went
through toothbrush, toothpaste, and every tooth. I did that with
the kids when they were little.”

“
Do you think he has brain
damage?” Sandy asked.

Sandy carried the plates out to the dining
room table. Aden followed her.

“
I think he just doesn’t
know,” Aden said. “We talked about basic toilet hygiene – washing
your hands, flushing the toilet, and that kind of thing. How old is
he?”

“
Sixteen.” Sandy’s face was
a mask of sorrow and guilt.

“
How long has your Dad been
dead?” Aden asked.

“
A few years,” Sandy
said.

Sandy’s entire attention turned to her
dinner.

“
A few?” Aden asked. He
touched her hand. “I know it’s hard Sandy but how many years is a
few?”

Sandy looked up at him.

“
Um… I was eighteen,” Sandy
said. “I guess it’s been eight, no nine years.”

“
Charlie was seven or
eight,” Aden said. “He acts like it.”

“
Is it too much to deal
with?” Sandy asked. “I mean we just got tentative custody of the
kids.”

Aden shook his head.

“
Should I find another
place for him?”

“
For Charlie?” Aden asked.
“No. He’s welcome here.”

“
Then what?”

“
I feel awful for him,”
Aden said. “He’s like a lost little boy.”

“
In a sixteen year old’s
body,” Sandy said. “He had awful nightmares last night.”

“
Why don’t I get up with
him?” Aden asked.

“
He’s had nightmares all of
his life,” Sandy said. “I don’t mind getting up.”

“
I have this feeling that
he needs a man,” Aden said.

“
You don’t mind?” Sandy
asked.

“
I don’t mind,” Aden said.
“But I doubt I’m enough.”

“
When he’s feeling better,
he said he’d like to take martial arts,” Sandy said. “Nash
suggested it.”

“
What’s he going to do
tomorrow?” Aden asked.

“
He’s going to come with
me,” Sandy said. “I have a full day tomorrow. I thought he could do
our laundry while he waits for me. He’s mostly needs to
sleep.”

“
And Pete?” Aden
asked.

“
Pete works in the
mornings,” Sandy said. “He’ll be around in the
afternoon.”

“
So Charlie will have me,
Pete and Colin, three men in recovery,” Aden said. “I hope it’s
enough.”

“
Certainly Seth too. And
Sam, Jacob... Mike will be home next week,” Sandy said. “Why does
he need so many men?”

“
Because at some point,
he’s going to get angry,” Aden said. “Really angry.”

“
That doesn’t sound
fun.”

“
I’m glad you found him,
Sandy,” he said. “I don’t think he would have made it much
longer.”

Sandy nodded.

“
Let’s just hope he doesn’t
wind up at the bottom of some ditch,” Aden said.

Unwilling to even acknowledge that
possibility, Sandy took their plates into the kitchen. When she
returned, Aden changed the topic. It wasn’t until much later, after
they were in bed, that Sandy allowed herself to hear Aden’s
words:

“
I hope he doesn’t wind up
at the bottom of some ditch.”

“
Me too,” she whispered.
“Me too.”

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday morning — 8:45 A.M.

“
Why do we have to stand in
this line again?” Delphie asked.

They were standing in a long security line
in the middle of the Denver International Airport terminal.

“
This is the security
line,” Sam said. “We have to get through security to get on the
plane.”

“
Oh,” Delphie said. “Why
don’t we do this when we go on your plane?”

“
Because it’s our plane,”
Sam said.

Delphie took two steps forward. The man in
front of her looked at her and she smiled. Sam came up behind her
so that his mouth was next to her ear.

“
You don’t have to read
everyone’s mind,” Sam said.

“
They might be a security
risk,” Delphie said. “I should do my part.”

“
These folks are good at
what they do,” Sam said. “Why are you so anxious?”

“
I don’t like to fly,”
Delphie said.

“
You don’t have to,” Sam
said. “We could stay home. Both Jacob and Jill said that if it was
too much we could stay home.”

“
No… no… I need to get out
a little bit,” Delphie said. “I can do this thing.”

“
You’re very brave,” Sam
said.

He stepped forward to give to the Transport
Safety Administration agent their boarding passes. The man smiled
and nodded toward the x-rays. Sam helped Delphie off with her
shoes. They put their possessions on the conveyer belt.

Delphie leaned down to watch the white tubs
move into the machine.

“
What does it do?” Delphie
asked.

“
It x-rays all of our
possessions to make sure there’s nothing illegal in them,” Sam
said.

“
There’s not,” Delphie
said. “Valerie gave me instructions and I followed them. Valerie
flies a lot. Just think. If I can do this, I can go to Valerie’s
premier in the fall. I really want to do that.”

Sam smiled at her. He shooed her through the
metal detector. The metal detector went off.

“
Oh,” Delphie
said.

“
Do you have anything in
your pockets?” the Transportation Safety Officer asked.

“
No, Jeremy,” Delphie
said.

“
How did you know my name?”
the Transportation Safety Officer asked.

“
It’s not my fault you
didn’t win the lotto last night,” Delphie said. “Don’t take it out
on me.”

Delphie walked through the machine again. It
went off.

“
Do you have any implants
or a prosthesis?” the Transportation Safety Officer
asked.

“
No, why?” Delphie asked.
“You wouldn’t have been shot if you hadn’t picked that
fight.”

“
What are you talking
about?” the Transportation Safety Officer asked. “Go through the
machine.”

Delphie went through and the machine went
off.

“
Ma’am, I have to ask you
to wait here,” the Transportation Safety Officer pointed to a
plastic lined holding area.

“
What? Sam! Sam!” Delphie
screamed. “What’s happening to me? I don’t want to go in
there.”

“
Listen, she’s never flown
a commercial flight and…” Sam started.

“
Sir, I need you to step
away,” the Transportation Safety Officer said.

“
She’s no risk to anyone,”
Sam said. “She’s…”

“
Sir, I will not warn you
again,” the Transportation Safety Officer said.

Sam looked to Delphie. Behind the thick
plastic walls, Delphie was crouched on the floor. Her elbows
covered her face and she was crying into her knees.

“
You can’t do that
to…”

“
I have a security risk,”
the Transportation Safety Officer said. “Security risk! Security
risk!”

Five Federal Air Marshalls and
Transportation Safety Officers came toward him. They grabbed Sam
and dragged him away from Delphie.

“
SAM!!” Delphie
screamed.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday morning — 9:45 P.M.

“
Hey, whatcha reading?”
Sandy asked.

Charlie was sitting on the couch in the back
room staring at a magazine.

“
Oh,” Charlie said. “Nash
gave me this magazine.”

He held up a copy of Sports Illustrated.

“
He said I had a lot to
learn about sports,” Charlie said.

“
Dad really liked sports,”
Sandy said. “I didn’t know Nash liked sports.”

Shrugging, she leaned down to hug
Charlie.

“
How are you feeling?”
Sandy asked.

“
Sick,” Charlie said. “How
come I feel sicker the longer it goes?”

“
I think you’re coming down
off crisis mode,” Sandy said. “Starting to feel how sick you really
are.”

She touched his forehead to see if he had
spiked a fever.

“
Sandy?”

“
Yeah,” Sandy
said.

“
Is Aden going to kick me
out?” Charlie asked.

“
I don’t think so,” Sandy
said. “Why?”

“
Oh, nothing,” Charlie
said.

“
What happened?” Sandy
asked.

“
Nothing really,” Charlie
said.

Confused, Sandy shook her head.

“
It’s just that I don’t
know anything.” Charlie’s words came out in fits and starts. One
phase came quickly, then a pause. “About living in a house, you
know. Noelle was mad at me this morning because I left the toilet
seat up. She said she fell in. That’s just gross. But Aden told me
to hold the seat up when I pee. Last night, I had nightmares and
Aden came in. He was really nice. He made me feel better. But I
don’t really know how to shave. Nash was talking about dating
skills. What the hell are those? And…”

Charlie looked at the magazine and shook his
head.

“
What?”

“
I can’t read,” Charlie
said. “Nash said this magazine would be easy but I can’t even read
this.”

“
Where are your glasses?”
Sandy asked.

“
My what?”

“
Your reading glasses,”
Sandy said. “You got glasses when you were three or four. Dad wore
them too.”

“
Glasses?” Charlie
asked.

“
Reading glasses,” Sandy
said. “You had them when you started school.”

“
I did? Are you
sure?”

“
Yes, I’m sure,” Sandy
said. “I bought them for you. Remember you wanted red frames and
Mom thought they were unmanly?”

Charlie nodded his head at some vague
recollection. Sandy went into the salon. She went through a stack
of reading glasses she kept for customers. She found a pair that
she thought were strong enough for Charlie and brought them
back.

“
Try these,” Sandy
said.

Charlie looked at Sandy and shook his
head.

“
I’m not wearing those,”
Charlie said.

“
Why?” Sandy
asked.

“
They are white with red
lips all over them,” Charlie said. “They are definitely
unmanly.”

“
Who is going to know?”
Sandy asked. The bell rang and Sandy said, “I have a client. Try
the glasses. If they work, we can get some cheap ones at Walgreens
until we get your eyes checked.”

Sandy went out into the main area leaving
Charlie to himself. He looked up when he heard her greet her
client. He returned to staring straight ahead. After a few minutes,
he picked up the glasses and put them on.

He blinked. The world came into some kind of
shape.

Picking up the magazine, he pulled the
magazine close to his face and pushed it far away. The words were
clear when he held the magazine near his face. He could make out
letters and words. In fact…

He pulled the glasses off when he heard
Sandy and her client coming back to wash the client’s hair. He
closed his eyes and rested until he heard them going back into the
salon. He peered around the corner to make sure they were in the
salon. When he was certain he wouldn’t get caught, he put the
glasses back on and pulled the magazine close to his face.

He could read.

Not well, but he could make out words.
Determined, he decided to read every word in this entire magazine.
Maybe then, he’d have something to talk about with Aden or Nash. He
started on page one. When Sandy came to check on him, he was sound
asleep. He had the magazine resting near his face and he was
wearing the glasses. Sandy took them off, kissed his cheek, and
returned to her day.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday afternoon — 3:45 P.M

.

“
You arrested Delphie?”
Seth O’Malley openly mocked the Federal Air Marshall Chief. “She’s
a kooky lady but a terrorist? And Sam Lipson? What’s Lipson
Construction? A front for Al Qaeda?”

“
She knew things about the
officer. Private things,” the Chief said.

“
She’s a powerful psychic,”
Seth said. “She could have a philosophical conversation with your
great-great-grandmother on your father’s side. Now let them
out.”

“
Sir, we are holding them
for Senior Homeland Security Agents,” the Chief said.