Stories Beneath Our Skin (9 page)

"
Sure thing. Pick me up some orange juice? There's no pulp in the stuff they serve here. That's like sour water."

"
Pulpy orange juice. I can do that."

"
It was nice meeting you, Ace." Gene smiled sleepily. "You watch out for my boy."

"
Shouldn't be a problem. Been accused of having a staring problem already."

When the door closed behind them, tension Liam hadn
't realized he was storing up bled out of shoulders.

"
Come on, Professor. I'll buy you a burger."

"
Oh, you don't--"

"'
Course I don't." Ace headed back down the hall. "But it's lunchtime. Might as well. You can drop me back off at the shop after. Be about time to open up by then. There's a decent place a few blocks from here."

"
I know where you're talking about. I did grow up here, you know." Liam walked past Gretchen and offered only a small wave instead of stopping to chat like usual. She frowned, and he felt like an ass.

"
Doesn't show." The sun burnished Ace's dreads white gold. "You sound like you're from somewhere else entirely. California, maybe."

"
Berkeley."

"
What about it?"

"
You wanted to know what college I go to." He unlocked the car, letting the hot air escape. "I've been there three and a half years. Whatever accent I had, I lost."

"
You weren't kidding when you said it wasn't a party school." Ace whistled. "Smarter than you've been letting on, Professor?"

"
I'm good at school. Study hard, write solid papers. I'm not a science student or anything."

"
Right. English major. Shakespeare and all that."

"
And all that," he agreed.

The diner hadn
't changed at all. It still smelled of caramelized onions, and the walls were still too cluttered with knickknacks. It was bizarrely intimate to sit across in a booth from Ace instead of next to him on barstools. Liam's legs were too long for the cramped space, but he worked hard to keep them on his side of the table. The waitress seemed to know Ace, not bothering to ask his order after she was done taking down Liam's.

"
What kind of classes do you take for an English major anyway?" Ace asked as soon as she'd closed her pad and turned away.

"
Just the usual stuff, I guess."

"
Pretend like I never went to college." Ace picked up the butter knife, setting it on its end and spinning it slowly. "Because I didn't. Don't have clue one on the
usual stuff
."

"
Um, okay. Let's see... I took a lot of survey type classes. English novels and East Asian literature. But I'm down to seminars in my major now. I did 'Freud, Marx, and Nietzsche' last semester. Not sure what I'll take to finish it all off. I only need a few more credits and some other required classes."

"
Nietzsche was the guy who said God is dead, right?" The knife spun on, hypnotically slow.

"
Sort of. I mean, that's one of his main ideas, but it's used wrong a lot. He was interested in people evolving beyond religion. He thought that it was a crutch stopping us from reaching our full potential." Liam frowned. "The Nazis adopted his philosophy of the ubermensch, the superman, but he would have hated that."

"
Why?"

"
Aside from the fact that he wasn't an anti-Semite and hated the state? He was advocating for a more amoral lifestyle. The superman wouldn't be hampered by religion or any kind of conventional morality. Less Nazi, more anarchy. He wanted a world where no one was master or slave. Everyone was equal and the master of their own fate."

"
Now that's a guy I could get behind." Ace let the knife drop with a clatter. "You like him?"

"
Sometimes. I don't agree with everything he has to say."

"
So who's your favorite then? Writer or whatever."

"
Who's yours?"

"
Oh, no. You go first, Professor." Ace grinned. "I've learned your little tricks. Might have been too drunk to catch on last night, but you are the king of redirection. So, favorite author. Go."

"
Depends, I guess." Liam squirmed as Ace stared at him, clearly ready to wait in silence for an answer. "For pleasure, I've got to go with Clive Barker."

"
The horror guy? Man, I tried to read one of his books once. He's disturbing."

"
I like the way he's disturbed. It's dark and vicious, but it's also real and his characters have all these deep feelings that get expressed through mutations of the flesh." Liam gestured between them. "Sort of thing we get."

"
I haven't grown any new limbs recently, but yeah, I can see where that might be something you'd like. You said for pleasure though. What else is there? You read for pain, too?"

"
There's the stuff I read because it make me think even if they're not easy to get through." Liam leaned back in the booth, trying to keep his legs tucked on his side. "Mary Shelley was my favorite.
Frankenstein
has all these layers when you read it."

"
Layers in a groaning mindless monster?" Ace mimed the classic zombie pose.

"
That's just it!" Liam waved his hands in broad circles. "He isn't mindless at all. In the book, he's a sensitive thoughtful creature rejected by his creator and trying to sort out what it all means. It's about God and motherhood and man's search for meaning."

"
Never got any of that out of the movies." Ace propped his chin in his hand. "So Nietzsche, Barker, and Shelley."

"
And Ginsberg," he added, tearing off a strip of his napkin.

"
Who?"

"
Seriously?" Liam shook his head. "He was a beat poet, and he got banned almost everywhere and wrote all about being gay. His most famous poem is
Howl
, but he wrote a ton of great stuff."

"
So lay some on me."

"
What? Why?"

"
Because you like the guy, and now I'm curious." Ace looked serious, eyes soft and mouth a neutral straight line. "Never seen you get your blood up before. Nice to know you've got some passion bottled up in there."

"
It's not really diner appropriate stuff."

"
So don't get up on the counter and yell it. Just me sitting here."

Stymied, only one piece
, the "Sunflower Sutra", came to Liam's lips and it was easier to spill it out than keep it in once he'd thought of it.

"
We're not our skin of grime, we're not our dread bleak dusty imageless locomotive
," he spoke low, mimicking the cadence of Ginsberg's voice from the recordings Liam had played ragged once upon a time, "
we're all golden sunflowers inside, blessed by our own seed and hairy naked accomplishment -- bodies growing into mad black formal sunflowers in the sunset
."

Their food came then and Liam broke off, preferring to eat th
an gauge his performance by Ace's expression.

"
I'm not much of a poetry person. Can't say I even understood all of that, but I liked the sound of it." Ace poured ketchup over his fries. "You'll make a good teacher."

"
You think so?"

"
Yeah, if you can let loose like that. When you care about something, you make me want to care about it, too." Licking a stray spot of ketchup from his thumb, Ace glanced at him under his eyelashes. "That's a talent."

"
Yeah." Liam disassembled his burger. His skin buzzed, and his heart started up double time. It had been ages and he'd never been good at reading signals to begin with, but he could almost swear that Ace was, very gently, flirting with him. "I'm nervous about it. I haven't started applying for masters programs yet."

"
Be strange if you weren't nervous, but it's good that you know what you want to do." Ace shrugged. "I had to kick around for a while, waste time."

"
You're thirty-one, now right? So you started the shop when you were like twenty-seven. Doesn't sound like it was all that much wasted." Which reminded Liam of something else. "You know when I first saw the name of the shop, it reminded me of Nietzsche."

"
Was it the obvious anarchy?" Ace rolled his eyes. "I swear it's like trying to herd cats."

"
No, it was the name like I said. Though the anarchy is growing on me." He bit into a slice of onion. "There was a quote I liked of his, 'I rejoice in great sin as my great solace.'"

"
I think I liked the sunflower thing better." With a faint smile, Ace pointed to Liam's plate. "I keep wanting to ask. What is it with you and eating in layers?"

"
I like distinct tastes," Liam answered primly. His eating habits were one thing he couldn't escape ribbing about in college, and he'd long worn off the embarrassment. "I've always done it."

"
Remind me never to take you to a fancy restaurant."

"
They don't tend to serve layered foods, so it's less of an issue. Except lasagna. It can take a while to eat lasagna."

"
Remember when I said you calling me weird was pot and kettle?" Ace laughed. "I take it back. You are way weirder than me."

"
I can stop." He dropped the onion back on his burger.

"
Did I say that? Eat your burger however you want. Weird is good."

"
No it isn't. We demonize the Other. Anything weird becomes the enemy. That's the basis of the entire horror genre."

"
Trust me on this. On you, it's good." A boot smacked into Liam's sneaker under the table. "Now eat, Professor."

Liam ate
-- onion, tomato, meat, then bun -- while Ace talked about ink brands and the shipment due in later in the week. At some point in the meal, Liam stopped concentrating on staying to his side of the booth. Their legs tangled together, and neither of them made an attempt to escape.

Chapter Six

"
Gather all ye strange children for I have brought you the food of the gods!" someone shouted from the lobby.

Liam didn
't break the streak of green he was delineating over hard muscle, but it was a close thing. Pin-ups weren't really his specialty, and this one had the added bonus of a fishtail. Still, he was pleased with the mermaid when all was said and done. The customer slipped him two sweaty twenties as a tip, so apparently he approved, too.

When Liam finally made it to the lobby, there was already a horrifying carrion pile of gnawed bones on the table and the thick scent of fried grease in the air. Frankie presided over a pile of biscuits, nearly Donna Reed in her full skirt and pumps. The safety
-pinned together t-shirt spoiled the image, though it did give Liam a good look at the smirking dragon winding over her side. Frankie looked eminently pleased with herself while Ace and Deb roundly praised her through full mouths.

"
There's the youngest darling." Frankie held out a biscuit. "I held back these savages with a plastic spork, so be grateful."

"
Thanks." He took it and bit into it. The bread melted over his tongue in salty sweet buttery bliss. He sank into the chair, clutching the biscuit like a lover. "Oh my God."

"
My grandmother's recipe." Frankie waved a paper towel napkin at him until he held it under the crumbling biscuit.

"
Patron saint of home cooking." Deb grinned ripping into a wing. "That woman almost killed me last time she came up for a visit."

"
She thinks everyone is too thin." Handing over a plastic plate next, Frankie commanded, "Dig in. Just try not to lose a finger."

"
What's the occasion?" he asked as he snagged a drumstick.

"
Girl can't bring her friends some decent dinner?"

"
Don't question her." Deb pointed a finger. "The bringer of food may come and go at her own whim."

"
Actually." Frankie crossed her legs in the chair, flashing an intricate tree rooted under her sock that grew all the way up and over her calf, disappearing into the hem of her skirt. "I'm hoping to bribe you guys into taking a booth at the street fair this year."

"
Aw, c'mon Frankie, you know we've got nothing to sell. Can't tattoo on the street. It's a total wash for us," Ace complained even as he reached for another chicken leg. "Not to mention, I spent a week peeling off my sunburn from it last year."

"
That's why I didn't ask you until I was sure that no one else was signing up. We've only got twenty vendors so far, and the deadline is next weekend. If we don't get more the fair won't go off."

"
No way. Last time we baked for seven hours and no one even came near us."

"
It's not my fault you didn't remember to slap some sunscreen on! Anyway, they saw your banner! Didn't you get a walk-in or two out of it?" she pouted. "C'mon Aces. Do a girl a favor."

"
It's a three-hundred dollar favor. Not to mention man hours. You're asking me to pay out for no return."

"
You could sell some of your sketches." Deb took another biscuit, avoiding Ace's narrowed glare. "Someone's gotta like your strange little doodles."

"
Those are personal. And come on, who the hell is going to buy marker cartoons? What people want at a street fair are portraits. You know, like those street artists that hang around tourist traps." Ace frowned, then shot Liam a calculating look.

"
No," he said flatly, peeling the fried skin off and eating it meticulously. "Not gonna happen."

"
That'd be perfect!" Frankie actually bounced a little. "Get junior to do caricatures, and you can hustle business, Ace. Take your shirt off and draw in the crowd."

"
I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the direction this is going in," Ace growled. "How about we stick to Liam's sketches."

"
I'm not selling my stuff." Liam frowned.

"
It wouldn't be your personal stuff. Just quick outlines of faces. You're decent at those, and people love getting drawings of themselves." Ace waved a bone at him. "They'll throw cash at us."

"
No way in hell," Liam said stiffly. "I'm not even sure I can draw that fast."

"
Awww." Frankie widened her eyes, showing off the deep green. The piercing in her dimple flashed winningly. "C'mon, baby, do it for me?"

"
I barely know you," he grumbled.

"
It would be good advertising." Ace licked grease off his thumb, the tip of his tongue pink and pointed.

"
Maybe." Liam lost track of the conversation for a critical second, imagining that tongue tracing the lines of his back.

"
Great!" Frankie beamed. "I'll get you the paperwork."

"
Wait. What? No!" But it was too late. Ten minutes later, Frankie was walking out the door with the signed paperwork in hand and a smug look on her face.

"
I'm not happy about this," Liam informed Deb and Ace, who had a shared conspiratorial look about them.

"
It's okay, Professor. If you got all sunshiney about something, I might call 911 for my oncoming heart attack." Deb grinned. "Now finish your chicken."

They were still eating when Goose wandered in a half
hour later. There was a bandaged cut on his forehead and a ripening bruise around his right eye. He slumped down into a free chair.

"
Frankie was here?" he asked mournfully, gazing over the decimated impromptu picnic. "She knew I was gonna be in late today, why didn't she wait?"

"
Jesus, what happened?" Deb leaned in, hand hovering over his eye. "Get in an argument with a brick wall?"

"
Yeah, something like that." Goose picked up a piece of chicken. "It's all good."

"
Look at your hand!" Grabbing his wrist, Deb exposed the torn up knuckles. "You punched someone? Are you kidding me? What happened to zen?"

"
I was zen. Total zen fu." Goose pulled away from her. "Stop fussing about it. Just had a little disagreement, no big deal."

"
You've never thrown a punch in your life." Ace stared Goose down. "Not even after I taught you how in tenth grade so Studebaker would stop pushing you into lockers. You started bribing him with your lunch money instead."

"
First time for everything." Goose bit into chicken then winced.

"
They get you in the jaw too?"

"
Maybe." His gaze slid away, but Goose had no poker face whatsoever. Liam read embarrassment and anger easily in the tight lines around his mouth.

"
Out with it." Deb demanded.

"
No. Seriously, you guys, it wasn't a big deal."

"
It was Joy, wasn't it?" Ace wiped his hands very deliberately on a napkin. "You caught her at something with someone. Her dealer?"

"
No," Goose denied limply. "Just a random dude at a bar."

"
What was she doing?"

"
Ace, seriously, it's fine. All taken care of."

"
Tell me." The deadly calm shook Liam a little.

Apparently it shook Goose to
o because he started talking, eyes glued to the floor.

"
I ran into them outside the liquor store. He was giving her something."

"
What was it?"

"
Dunno, I swear. Looked like pills. White ones. Could have been anything. I asked him politely to stop the sale, and Joy clocked me a good one on the jaw for interfering. Dealer followed it up with one to the head. I... got angry, man. I mean, she'd been trying. I know she was trying, and I'm like you man, I remember her being a sweet little kid. I was just... don't think I've ever been that mad. Anyway, guy took another smack at me, and I hightailed it. Didn't want to get the shit kicked out of me. Cleaned up before I came over."

"
Where was Cole?" Ace asked into the stunned silence.

"
Not with her. I checked, I swear. I wouldn't leave the little guy there if I'd seen him." Goose licked his lips, wincing when he hit the tender spot that must've been bleeding fiercely not long ago. "I called your Mom first thing. Joy dropped him off with her yesterday."

"
Of course she did. Excuse me." Ace got up and went to the back. Liam heard the faint clink of his boots on the ladder to the roof.

"
It's good you told him. He had to know." Deb reassured Goose.

"
He didn't." Goose ate a biscuit, chewing on the good side of his mouth. "I should have kept my distance. Definitely should've kept my mouth shut. His mom was going to call soon anyway."

"
There's a kid involved, you ass. It's different. Time is important on this stuff."

"
He's going to call Child Services on her, isn't he?" Goose dropped his head into his hands. "God. What a mess."

"
If he doesn't, I will." Deb shrugged. "I like Joy when she's sober, but I love Cole and no kid deserves that. If she's using again, then someone has to get him out of there."

"
Is Ace going to be all right?" Liam asked, listening to the faint echo of footsteps through the ceiling.

"
No idea." Goose didn't look up.

"
Aren't you going to check on him?" Surveying both their faces, Liam found they were certainly not going to try to beard the lion in his den. "I'll go."

"
Your funeral, Professor," Deb warned.

He waited a few minutes before going up, but he still caught the tail end of Ace
's phone call. Pacing, Ace did look lionish with the heavy fall of his dreadlocks on the back of his neck and the loping strength of his stride. Liam waited by the hatch, unwilling to go back now, but hesitant to intrude.

"
Of course I can take him for a few days, but that isn't a long term solution," Ace said irritably into the phone. "The poor kid deserves a bed and space to run around."

There was a long pause
, and Ace stopped dead in his tracks, staring out into the parking lot. The night air too humid and close, a promise of a storm coming.

"
I know." Ace said eventually. "I'll -- we'll just figure something out. If you can get her into the center, I can take him for six or seven weeks. Yeah... yeah. Love you too, Mom."

Liam waited in silence, watched as Ace sunk into the patio chair and folded one leg underneath him. He was beautiful in the night, softened by the glow of neon lights. A surge of want took Liam off guard
, and he had to shake himself out of it. It was certainly neither the time nor the place for it.

"
I know you're there," Ace said without sting. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that staring is rude?"

"
Sorry." Liam paused. "I think I told you that this morning actually."

"
It's a joke isn't it?"

"
What is?" Liam took the chair beside Ace, accustomed now to its rickety dip beneath him.

"
You spend all this time growing up, figuring out your shit, and just when you think just maybe you've got a handle on things, it all goes to hell." Tucking his arms tight around his chest, Ace let out a long breath through his nose. "She was a good kid. Smart. I looked out for her, and Mom did her best. Then I went Afghanistan and came back to this furious teenager that I barely recognized."

"
Rehab will help," Liam offered limply.

"
Yeah, but getting her to go? I don't want to strong-arm her, but there aren't any choices left. Cole doesn't deserve all of this. He can't stay with my Mom all the time, she's got a full-time job and not as much energy as she used to, you know? All I've got to offer is a one-bedroom apartment and weird working hours. When he stays over, we're always falling all over each other. Fine for a day or two, but in the long run--"

"
Gene's house is mostly empty." Liam blurted out, the idea coalescing only as he spoke. "It's not very big, but there's his bedroom and his office. I've been -- I'm supposed to be emptying it out. Selling things. I haven't -- but if you want. There's space."

"
I can't move into your house." Ace tipped his head back, watching the mill of clouds. "I'll think of something."

"
No. I'd like it. I mean--" Liam stopped, took a breath. It may have been impulsive and risky for his mental health, but Liam identified too much with Cole just then to offer anything less than the moon if he could. "It's space that no one is using, and you need it. As long as you buy your own groceries, it won't cost me or Gene anything. You can even bring George. Put the litter box in the basement."