Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 (44 page)

“
Wait,” Salvator said.
“Let’s take a closer look.”

The next photograph was a close up of one of
the walls.

“
You thought it was wall
paper,” Salvator said. “I did as well. But look, it’s actually
painted. And look!”

He zoomed in on the picture. A small human
face looked out among the flowers.

“
This is the owner’s
youngest son,” he said. His voice was elevated in excitement. “The
Biatchi’s, their four children, even the owner’s dog are hidden
among this floral display. Mrs. Biatchi was over the moon. Will you
tell us Jillian, why you chose this?”

“
At the time this room was
built, wall paper was a sign of status,” Jill said. “In the high
end homes, the wall paper was hand painted. Rather than paint the
paper, I decided to paint the walls. My brother, Mike, and I
painted the walls together. He drew the flowers and the people
before he left for Prague. I filled in the color while he was
gone.”

“
Why put the people on the
walls?”

“
Mrs. Biatchi asked us to
personalize the room,” Jill said. “It seemed only
natural.”

“
You would think all this
pink makes the room feminine,” Salvator said. “But the choice of
the cherry floors and this table even out the femininity of the
pinks. Tell me about the chandelier. Where did you get
it?”

“
My husband found it, sir,”
Jill said.

“
Found it?”

“
Yes sir,” Jill said. “He
owns an underground utility company. They were working a job out in
Northern Colorado. Someone was working on a farmhouse near Greely.
They left this chandelier on the side of the road. The owner
offered to pay him to haul it to the trash. Jacob got a number of
fixtures from him.”

“
Was it in this
condition?”

“
No sir,” Jill said. “It
was originally was gas powered. I had to power wash it to get the
dirt, grease and tar off it. After a day of cleaning, we realized
it was copper. Our electrician rewired it. We had to get a few of
the crystals remade but otherwise it was perfect.”

“
And why this
chandelier?”

The screen switched to an image of the
chandelier.

“
When it’s lit, it looks
like rain,” Jill said. “Even with the fluorescent
bulbs.”

“
For the garden on the
walls?” Salvator asked.

“
Yes sir,” Jill said. “With
any luck, the copper will turn green.”

“
This is a brilliant
room.”

“
Thank you, sir,” Jill
said. “We’re proud of how it turned out.”

“
You may sit down,” her
teacher said. “Mrs. Biatchi will allow us to tour their home on
Friday afternoon after you turn in your designs for the
room.”

“
Sir, we meet on Tuesdays
and Thursdays,” a man near the back said.

“
And you turn in work on
Friday. When available, we’ll take field trips to see the actual
redo of the rooms we work on,” Salvator said. “Is that going to be
a problem?”

“
No sir,” the man
said.

“
Good.” Salvator pointed to
Jill. “This is your competition. I’d understand if you wanted to
transfer. Go ahead. Ms. Roper is already a pack leader, if not the
pack leader.”

Jill blushed.

“
Let’s move on,” Salvator
said.

For the next two hours, Jill wrote
furiously. After the class let out, she looked over her notes to
make sure she didn’t have any questions. Awful woman knocked into
her shoulder. Jill looked up.

“
Pack leader my ass,” awful
woman said as she passed.

Jill grit her teeth. She was going to win
the weekly competitions if it was the last thing she did.

~~~~~~~~
Thursday night — 9:25
P.M.

Charlie woke up with a start. He hadn’t
intended to fall asleep. But like always, lying on Noelle’s bed, he
fell sound asleep. He shook himself to make sure he was awake.

And angry.

He hated rehab. He wouldn’t speak to Aden in
the car on the way home. He’d made sure everyone felt his rage.
From snide comments to sheer defiance, he’d forced everyone into
his angry world. Aden shook his head at him. Sandy hugged him and
told him she loved him. Nash and Noelle rolled their eyes at him.
More than once, Noelle told him to stop being such a jerk.

But Charlie wouldn’t stop.

He’d had enough of the rules and the
bullshit. He was fine on his own, on the streets. He’d planned to
leave after the ‘little kids’, his new term for Nash and Noelle,
went to little kid bed. But he fell asleep on Noelle’s bed
listening to Sandy tell a story.

Again.

Rage coursed through his veins. How could he
be stupid enough to lie down? Stories were for little babies, not
men like Charlie. He pulled on his new jeans and the jacket Sandy
bought for him. He was leaving tonight.

No more rehab. No more rules. No more
bullshit. Just his friends, his pipe and the open night. His buddy
Razor was meeting him at 9:30 outside the Castle.

He slid down the hallway toward the living
room. He saw Sandy sitting on Aden’s lap in a high back dining room
chair. Their dinner lay uneaten on the table. Staying in the
shadow, he could see them but they couldn’t see him. When Sandy
flipped her hair, he saw that she was crying. Sobbing really.

Charlie felt like he’d been punched in the
gut.

He’d never seen Sandy upset. She might drop
a tear or two, but never like this. Her face was red. Her eyes were
almost swollen shut. Sandy’s black and white cat, the one that
slept with him every night, pranced on the dining room table trying
to get her attention. He heard Buster, their ugly dog, scratch at
Noelle’s door. Like Cleo, Buster was drawn to help Charlie’s
sobbing sister.

He could only make out a word or two she
said. ‘Failure’ was one. ‘Child endanger’ was another. He heard
Aden’s low soothing voice but not his words. He was about to storm
in when he heard:

“
Charlie’s going to die.
He’s going to die.”

Charlie stopped in his tracks.

Sandy was crying about… him.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and
SEVENTEEN

Charlie

Charlie took a step back into the hall.
Unbidden, his mind flashed on Sandy’s bright face. She was the
light of his life. No matter what he did, she had always loved him.
He remembered seeing her outside the Hotel Teatro. She was so
small, tiny compared to him but the bright beacon of her essence
drew him to her like a magnet. He had run to her just to be near
her, by her side. Wherever Sandy stood was a perfect place for
Charlie.

He stared at Sandy and Aden for a while
before he felt a hand on his arm. He looked down to see Nash. Nash
gestured toward his room. When Nash opened the door, Buster zoomed
into the hallway. Noelle was sitting on Nash’s bed. Feeling left
out, Charlie anger and attitude returned. He grunted at Noelle.

“
We hoped we’d catch you,”
Nash said.

“
Catch me?” Charlie
grunted.

“
Delphie talked to me after
dinner. She said you were leaving tonight and if you left…” Noelle
panted with excitement. “You would die and Sandy would die and the
baby would die. Nash set his alarm so we could stop
you.”

“
Why do you care if I die?”
Charlie asked. “Sandy’s fine.”

“
Sandy’s in trouble,” Nash
whispered.

“
The doctor’s worried about
the baby,” Noelle whispered. “That’s why Sandy’s so
upset.”

“
She feels responsible for
us and you and your sister,” Nash whispered. “She feels like she’s
failing at everything. The doctor said the baby isn’t gaining
weight like it should.”

Stunned, Charlie’s attitude slipped a tiny
bit.

“
The doctor wants to put
Sandy on bed rest,” Noelle whispered. “But she won’t be able to
help you or Sissy and us. She refused.”

“
Sandy’s health is coming
apart,” Nash whispered.

“
Her hair is falling out!”
Noelle whispered.

Realizing Nash and Noelle knew something
about his sister that he didn’t, he was angry again.

“
How do you know this and I
don’t?” Charlie asked.

“
Delphie knows stuff…
psychically. She told Noelle you planned to leave tonight,” Nash
said. “You won’t survive tonight. You and your loser friends will
get high but you’re still too sick. You’ll die.”

“
And Sandy will be so
heartbroken that she’ll lose the baby,” Noelle said.

Not willing to give up his anger so easily,
Charlie said, “Why should I care about some stupid baby?”

“
This is Sandy, you idiot!”
Noelle said. “You may not care what happens to you, but Delphie
said Sandy
and
the
baby will die. I remember life without Sandy and I don’t want to do
that again.”

“
Dad’s trying to convince
her to go on bed rest, but she won’t because she’ll miss your
stupid rehab,” Nash said.

“
She’s willing to risk her
life for you but you just want to be a jerk,” Noelle
said.

Nash’s door opened and Aden walked in.

“
What’s this?” Aden
asked.

“
This isn’t what you
think,” Nash started.

“
How do you know what I
think?” Aden asked. “Noelle get to bed. Nash get in bed. Good lord,
don’t we have enough trouble without you guys
misbehaving?”

“
Dad, we…”

“
I don’t want to hear it,”
Aden said.

“
What about Charlie?”
Noelle asked.

“
Charlie’s coming with me,”
Aden said.

Shrugging, Noelle went through the bathroom
to her bedroom.

“
But Dad!” Nash
said.

“
In bed now,” Aden said. “I
don’t want to hear it.”

Aden grabbed the back of Charlie’s jacket
and pushed him toward the door.

“
Get in bed,” Aden said to
Nash.

“
Fine,” Nash said.
“But…”

Aden glared at Nash and Nash got into bed.
Aden pushed Charlie into the hall.

“
Where is it?” Aden
asked.

“
What?” Charlie
asked.

“
Your pipe, your drugs,”
Aden said. “I told you no drugs.”

“
I don’t have drugs,”
Charlie said.,”

“
If you think I won’t strip
search you right here, you should think again,” Aden
said.

Charlie took his pipe out of his pocket. He
held it out. Aden dropped the ceramic pipe on the ground and
crushed it with his heel of his boot.

“
Where’s Sandy?” Charlie
asked. “I want to talk to my sister.”

“
Your sister is upstairs
with Jill,” Aden said. “You and I are going to talk to your
friends.”

“
My friends?”

“
Seems someone named Razor
is downstairs waiting for you,” Aden said. “He and his merry band
of boys seem to think you’re being held hostage here. Hostage?
Really? Are we torturing you too, Charlie?”

“
I had a bad day at rehab,”
Charlie started.

“
Whoop de fucking do,” Aden
said. “You’re going to have plenty of bad days at rehab. That’s why
you have to go, dumbass.”

Aden grabbed the back of Charlie’s collar
and pushed him through the apartment. He pushed Charlie out the
door.

“
Go,” Aden said.

Charlie swallowed hard. He opened his
mouth.

“
Don’t give me that look,”
Aden said. “Your sister perfected that look. You can’t rip the
heart out of me. Your sister already completed that task
tonight.”

“
What?”

Aden sighed.

“
I’m not kicking you out.
You need to tell your friends you’re not available. And it would be
nice if you told him you’re also not being held
hostage.”

Charlie slunk down the stairs and Aden
followed. At the bottom of the stairs, Charlie saw this big guy
with a bushy beard and a mean look.

“
This is the hostage?” Mike
asked.

Aden nodded. Mike grabbed Charlie’s arm and
pushed him through the doorway. Razor and Charlie’s friends stood
in the middle of the Castle living room. There was another big red
haired guy and the guy he knew as Jake. The old guy, Sam Lipson,
stood near the kitchen.

“
Your friends appear to
believe they can rob the house tonight,” Jake said. “They believe
you were going to let them in to... ‘rob the rich people blind’…
yes, I think that was it.”

“
Punk ass,” MJ, the big red
haired guy pushed one of Razor’s friends.

“
I never said that,”
Charlie said. “I was going to meet them. I…”

When Jacob gave him a long look, he felt
like he was stripped to the bone. Jacob nodded and turned back to
Razor and the guys.

“
What do you want?” Jacob
asked Razor.

“
We’re hungry,” Razor
said.

“
Val’s making food for
you,” Mike said.

“
Charlie, you have
something to say?” Aden asked.

“
I know I told you I was a
hostage here,” Charlie said. “My sister lives here. She and her
husband are letting me stay… here… with them.”