Princes of Arkwright (7 page)

“
You too?” said Tucker. “I thought I was the only one who hated cotton candy. Kids used to make fun of me for it when I was little. I just think it’s gross.”

“
How about mashed potatoes?” asked Victoria.

“
I hate mashed potatoes!”

“
Me too!” she said. “And nobody understands.”

“
On Thanksgiving,” continued Tucker, “I always feel an obligation to put a little on my plate or my family gets mad, because they love it so much.”

“
What about it don’t you like?” asked Victoria

“
The consistency, I guess,” said Tucker thinking carefully about it. “I have a sharp gag reflex.”

“
Really?”

“
Yeah, it cut short a promising career in gay porn.”

Victoria
laughed.

“
I’m sorry,” continued Tucker. “That wasn’t very appropriate.”

“
Are you kidding?” said Victoria, still laughing. “I think you’re hilarious. Besides, I’m much worse. You never have to worry about what you’re saying around me.”

Tucker bought
Victoria a doughboy and they walked back to the kiddie rides to watch Lenore going around in circles on a miniature dump truck.

“
I want to go on the Ferris wheel,” shouted Lenore, tripping out of the truck when the ride had ended and running up to Victoria, “but I want you to go with me.”

“
OK,” said Victoria, passing her half-eaten doughboy to Tucker and taking Lenore by the hand. “We’ll be back in a minute.”

Tucker was left standing alone with Aly, who stared at him as though he were a bug she was trying to decide whether or not to stomp on.

“So,” stammered Tucker, “what have you been doing for the past 10 years?”

“
If you hurt Victoria,” said Aly, putting her face about an inch away from Tucker’s, “I’ll kill you.”

“
Why are you so mean to me?” demanded Tucker. “What did I do to you?”

“
You were like every other guy in high school that made me feel bad about myself for four years.”

“
What are you talking about?” said Tucker, throwing his hands up. “I hardly ever spoke to you.”

“
Of course not,” said Aly. “I wasn’t a cheerleader or a perky blonde. So I didn’t exist. I dressed a little differently, so I was a weirdo. And you were a jerk to judge me on appearances.”

“
Well, I was wrong,” admitted Tucker. “I’m sorry I thought you were strange because of the way you dressed. I’m sorry I found your demeanor a little dark and off-putting. And I’m sorry I didn’t get to know you better. In short, I’m sorry that I was a 17-year-old boy. But if I was a jerk then, you’re an even bigger jerk now for thinking I’m the same person I was in high school.”

Aly stood for a moment watching Tucker with her face frozen and her mouth wide open, like she had just been slapped. Then she looked down at the leaves and said,
“You’re right. I shouldn’t judge you for the idiot you were over 10 years ago.”

“
Thanks,” said Tucker, rolling his eyes.

“
It’s just that Victoria has dated a lot of jerks and I didn’t want to see her get her heart broken by some misogynistic boob-starer.”

“
Boy,” said Tucker, “stare at your boobs once and you get slapped with a label.”

“
Touch my boobs once,” said Aly, “and you get slapped with a restraining order.”

“
Thanks for the warning,” said Tucker. “I’ll try to control myself.”

“
Truce?” said Aly, offering her hand and showing the slightest hint of a smile for the first time all day.

“
Truce,” said Tucker, shaking her hand.

“
Of course,” she added, “I still think you’re an idiot.”

“
And I still think you’re a weirdo,” said Tucker with a smile.

He had just let go of her hand when Lenore came running up and grabbed it.

“Come on, Auntie Aly,” she said, tugging her toward another ride and disappearing into the crowd.

“
So what were you two talking about?” said Victoria, biting her lip, expecting the aftermath of a fight.

“
Oh, you know,” said Tucker, “old times.”

“
Oh, good,” said Victoria, letting out a long breath. “I was worried you two were going to hate each other.”

“
No, no,” said Tucker, “we’re good. I was just …”

“
I love this song!” yelled Victoria as the horrible band began playing the first few notes of “Brown-eyed Girl.”

“
I’ve yet to meet the brown-eyed girl who didn’t love this song,” said Tucker, nodding.

“
Dance with me!” said Victoria, grabbing his hands.

“
Here?” he said, looking around to see who was watching. “In the middle of the carnival?”

“
Sure,” she said. “Why not? Others are doing it.”

“
Yeah,” he admitted, “but they’re all like 60. Besides, they’re drunk and under the beer tent.”

“
Fine,” she said, letting go of his hands and pouting. Just as she turned her back to Tucker, he threw down the remains of the doughboy, grabbed her arm and spun her around. She let out a little scream as Tucker tossed her around to the rhythm of the music, kicking up the leaves and creating a minor scene. When the song was finally over, Tucker looked her up and down as if surveying her with a comical frown of slight disapproval.

“
Happy now?” he asked.

Victoria
lunged forward and hugged him. “Thank you,” she said. “Let’s go find Aly and Lenore and we can all have lunch. By the way, I’m having a small party for Lenore at my place tomorrow at noon. She’s turning 10. Can you come?”

“
I’d love to,” said Tucker. “Where do you live?”

“
230 Concord Avenue, Apartment 13B.”

“
I’d better write that down,” said Tucker, pulling a business card out of his wallet and writing on the back of it.

“
Bromley!” yelled a gruff familiar voice. Tucker looked up and saw the police chief over at the edge of the beer tent, with a plastic cup of beer in his hand and a scowl on his face. “You’re supposed to take them on dates, not take dictation!”

“
Who is that?” asked Victoria.

“
Some old … I don’t know … I think he’s the janitor,” said Tucker. And he grabbed Victoria and pulled her deeper into the carnival grounds.

8. MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL

T
he overcast day turned into a foggy night as Tucker walked alone down Station Street. The vacant mills and behemoth church had disappeared, save for the vague architectural apparitions where the yellow streetlamps smeared the air. It was colder now, but the brisk chill of the day had given way to the choking dampness of the night. For a Saturday, it was eerily quiet, and Tucker could hear nothing but his own footsteps. The fog shrouded everything to such a degree that he was within a foot of the church’s moveable letter sign before he could make out the words on it.

“
See I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way,” it read.

“
Creepy,” thought Tucker. Then he shuddered a little and kept walking. Spending the day with Victoria had kept his thoughts from lingering on his angelic companion of the night before. Now, he couldn’t stop thinking about Uriel hurling a 300-pound man against the wall with one arm. No wonder Victoria had a crush on him. And she didn’t even witness the car ride down the river. But it was the archangel’s assault of a demon that monopolized Tucker’s mind. Battling evil one on one – no arraignments, no paperwork, no reading Miranda rights – that was the police work Tucker had always dreamed of. And he wouldn’t even have to carry the gun he hated. He would have an arsenal of divine weaponry at his disposal.

Tucker had been out walking for a couple of hours – mostly to kill time.
Victoria was working at Wallbangers tonight and he told her he “might” stop by. There was no more sincerity in that “might” than if he had said the sun “might” rise tomorrow morning. He figured just enough time had passed now where he could show up at the bar without seeming too eager.

His eye caught the headline in a newspaper vending machine: “Mysterious crash leaves hole in bridge rail.”

Seeing this tangible evidence of his adventure gave Tucker another shudder, which shook off any lingering doubts about his sanity.

When he arrived at the bar, he tried to peer in through the window, but there was so much condensation, he could make out nothing but distorted ghostly figures. He slowly opened the heavy door and looked inside.

This time the bar was a whirl of activity. The bright fluorescent lights, along with the clatter of clinking glasses, laughing patrons and bellowing drunks was such a sharp contrast to the dark quiet walk, that Tucker’s senses were momentarily overwhelmed. He looked down to the familiar barstool. There was Uriel, once again clad in khakis, a green T-shirt and a black dress shirt. Sitting next to him was Aly, still in her red plaid miniskirt, trying to engage him in conversation. Tucker sat on the other side of the angel and Victoria had already started to pour a cranberry juice.

“
Aly and I were just talking to your friend,” said Victoria.

“
We’re not friends,” said Tucker.

“
OK,” said Victoria, looking pleadingly at Aly.

So, Tucker,
” said the redhead, “I hear you had quite an adventure last night.”

Tucker winced. He looked at Uriel, wondering how much the archangel told them and how he would explain it all.

“Victoria tells me there was someone in here who wanted to kill you,” continued Aly, while Tucker breathed a sigh of relief. “I imagine that happens to you a lot.”

Tucker laughed insincerely and took a sip of his cranberry juice.

“I’m sorry,” said Aly to the archangel. “I don’t even know your name. I’m Alyson.”

“
I am called Uriel,” said the angel.

“
Uriel?” said Aly. That’s an unusual name. I wonder what it means.”

“
It means ‘fire of God,’” he answered.

“
Wow, that’s cool,” said Victoria. “What does ‘Tucker’ mean?”

“
It means ‘pinhead,’” said Aly quickly. “So do you live around here?”

“
Um, Victoria,” interrupted Tucker, “I have to tell you, Lenore is a great kid. She really takes after you. So, who watches her while you’re here?”

“
My father does,” said Victoria. “He’s a lifesaver, too. I can’t afford daycare.”

“
Daycare?” asked Tucker. “But you work at night.”

“
Well I’m taking some classes at the community college during the day.”

“
Really?” said Tucker. “What in?”

“
Oh, criminal justice,” admitted Victoria.

“
You want to be a cop?” said Tucker, a little surprised.

“
I was thinking about it, but I don’t think I’d make a very good one. I’m afraid of guns.”

“
So am I,” said Tucker. “That never stopped me.”

Victoria
chuckled as she refilled Aly’s glass with chardonnay.

“
I’m glad you’re coming tomorrow, Tuck,” said Victoria. “Lenore really likes you.”

“
And I always thought she was such a good judge of character,” said Aly.

“
You call this a truce?” said Tucker, leaning over the bar and frowning at Aly.

“
Sorry,” she said. “Baby steps.”

“
Well, tell Lenore I look forward to it,” said Tucker. “I already bought her a present.”

“
Oh, she’ll be so excited,” said Victoria. “She hasn’t been feeling well lately and I’m trying to keep her spirits up.”

“
Nothing serious, I hope.”

“
I don’t know,” said Victoria, losing her omnipresent smile for a moment. “She’s tired all the time and she complains she doesn’t feel good. I’m taking her to the doctor on Monday. I just don’t know what else to do.”

“
You could petition God for help,” said Uriel.