by Dawn Sister
Cal's safe, he's hidden in the back of the booth.
I crumple up the napkin and turn my attention back to the man in front of me, feeling relieved that Cal is being protected by his friends but also filled with trepidation because I have no idea what his Uncle would want with me. My heart is suddenly beating twice as fast in my chest,
"What can I do for you, Mr Steele?" I ask, hoping my voice is steadier than the rest of me.
I'm feeling much less friendly and actually a little queasy because this is the man who strikes fear into Cal's eyes just thinking about him. He's the one that has spent the last four years telling Cal he is not capable of living on his own, undermining his confidence, trying to take control of his life, trying to steal his money,
"Actually Mr Reuben," Steele begins, "I was hoping I could offer you some help or at the very least, some advice."
"Oh?" I tip my head to one side, "What kind of help or advice did you have in mind?"
Steele smiles, there is no emotion in that smile, only ice. It leaves me cold. If this guy played poker he'd be unstoppable,
I search the man's face for some sort of family resemblance to Cal. The man's eyes are blue, but where Cal's are a warm sapphire this man's are hard steel with no hint of any kind of laughter hovering in the background. There's no hint or indication that this man even knows how to smile with his eyes.
Steele leans forwards and lowers his voice, as if he is divulging a secret, or trying to be covert,
"You know my nephew." He doesn't ask me, he states it, meaning he already knows. It almost sounds like an accusation, as if it is meant to unsettle me, put me on my guard. I am certainly feeling defensive,
"Perhaps." I say lightly, in full defence mode, giving nothing away. I can play poker too, "I know a lot of people."
Steele narrows his eyes and there's a flash of anger but he recovers quickly,
"My nephew is Calvin Steele, or Cal as you've probably been told to call him, and you do know him, Mr Reuben, you live next door to him." He sits back in his seat in triumph as if he has won a point against me.
I lean back in mine,
"Now, then, Mr Steele," I raise one eyebrow in disapproval, "You have me at a slight disadvantage, since you seem to know more about me than I know about you." This is not exactly true, but it seems like a good card to play,
"I have my sources." Steele plays, raising me a slimy, false smile that makes me like the man less and less every time I see it. He leans to his side, reaching down into a brief case he has on the floor.
When he sits back up he places an envelope on the table in front of me. He's raising the stakes and since I have nothing to play at this time I bide my time, giving him as little reaction as I possibly can. He's seen my interest, however mild, in the envelope though. I see another flash of triumph in Steele's eyes, it's his tell, since he thinks he's holding a winning hand, if he was playing poker with me he would have lost by now,
"My wife and I became Calvin's guardians when he was seventeen." Steele explains to me as he taps the envelope possessively like it's his trump card and he's simply waiting for the right time to play it.
I tip my head, and keep my poker face in place. I don't have a tell,
"His parents died tragically." Steele continues, although this information does not produce any kind of emotion in his expression or tone, "His father was my older brother. Calvin had no other family so he needed to be in the care of an adult until he came of age."
This much I already know, from Cal's perspective. What I'm curious about is the envelope and what that has to do with the story,
"What became increasingly apparent when my wife and I took Calvin on was that he had been most horribly indulged by his parents." Steele continues to tap the envelope making me think he is doing it to keep me distracted, "I didn't get on well with my brother, Mr Reuben. He had strange ideas about how life should be lived. He was always a reckless boy and young man and Calvin inherited this reckless, rebellious and stubborn streak."
I want to laugh in this guy's face. Cal? Reckless and rebellious? He's determined, and strong willed, but reckless? I've seen him surf, he's fearless. Is this what Steele means? All the things he sees as negative personality traits I have only ever seen as positives,
"Calvin was supposed to stay with us until he reached his twenty first birthday at which time he would legally inherit his parents' estate and be able to live independently. What we discovered was that Cal was completely incapable of living independently. His deafness has only compounded the problem."
"Mr Steele." I lean forward now, with a deep frown on my face, "I wonder if you can actually be talking about the same Cal." Steele frowns now, "You see, the Cal I know is very capable and doesn't appear to need any help whatsoever to live independently."
Steele's frown disappears and he pats the envelope again as if it is his life line,
"Oh Mr Reuben, how wrong you are. You see I know for a fact you've been helping him. Perhaps you may see it as being neighbourly when really you haven't been helping his case for independence at all. You were seen bringing him into town. You've been seen taking him out at night. And I also know he has spent several nights sleeping at your house rather than his own. These are all indications that he isn't ready to live alone. My wife and I do not wish him to be an inconvenience to anyone, so I have come to take him home where he belongs."
I sigh and take a breath to speak, then stop, feeling a little baffled by this man's attitude and his interpretation of Cal's and my actions over the last few weeks. Not to mention the fact that this man knows all these things in the first place,
"Mr Steele." I begin, "I'm a little bit confused." I take another deep breath, "I am very curious to know how you actually found all these things out."
Steele nods in acknowledgement,
"Yes, yes, of course you would be, I can understand that." He takes a breath and a sip of his coffee, "Calvin left us just before his twenty first birthday; about a month before. He went to live with one of the lawyers who is another executor of his parents' will. My wife and I were not very happy but you know how lawyers are, they twist the law to mean what they want. They got themselves declared Cal's legal guardian saying it was for his protection and we couldn't do a thing about it. Since then we have been building a case, with the help of a private detective, to get Calvin returned to us."
"But he's twenty one now." I blurt out, forgetting the game altogether, "You can't make him go anywhere. He doesn't need a legal guardian any more."
"Oh, but we believe that he does, Mr Reuben, because of his disability and because of the other problems that prevent him from making sensible decisions about his life and the way he spends his money."
"I don't think there is a court anywhere that would decide those things about Cal." I lean forwards and look Steele directly in the eye, "I know what you're trying to do, Mr Steele, and I have to tell you that Cal is happy here, he's popular and well liked. Not once has anyone here thought he needed any extra help nor has he ever asked for any. He's definitely never been in any kind of trouble."
"I beg to differ, Mr Reuben, I know for a fact he was arrested just three weeks ago, for suspected car theft and for resisting arrest."
"You need to get your facts right then, because he was driving that car with the permission of the owner."
"Oh?" Steele still looks annoyingly smug although his cool, smug exterior is beginning to crack just a little,
"The car was mine." I tell him,
"Really!" Steele leans away from me looking as if he concedes this one point but is searching for the next one to gain,
"And resisting arrest?"
"A misunderstanding on our Sheriff's behalf. Sheriff Jefferson made a full apology the next day."
"Mr Reuben. I can understand why you would be trying to defend Cal. He can be very charming when he wants to be. But the advice I came here to give you was not about Cal, it was aimed at you specifically."
I frown and the man
opens the envelope he's had his hand so possessively covering and slides out several large photographs which he passes across the table to me,
"I'm a little worried that Cal's deviances may in some way damage your reputation as a well renowned author. Mr Reuben."
I stare down at the set of four photographs. They've been taken with a long distance lens, so the pictures are slightly grainy, having been blown up to a large size. One is of Cal holding out his hand to me as I lie on my back in the ivy below my decking. One is of us talking on my deck; another of us here in the coffee shop and the last, most intrusive of all, is of us kissing two nights ago on our shared drive the night Cal discovered his break in.
"What is this?" I ask Steele, feeling decidedly defiled and very angry that my life and Cal's has been so intruded upon, "Why do you even have these? How do you even have these?"
Steele smiles his most slimy, smarmy, oily smile yet,
"Oh we have many more, Mr Reuben, and we will not hesitate to distribute them if you don't agree to help us in returning Cal to his family."
All bets are suddenly off. This man is taking things too far. My poker face has gone out of the window, "Are you trying to blackmail me?" I ask, incredulously. Steele shakes his head,
"No!" he gasps, I don't believe him, I'm not supposed to, "I'm trying to warn you. Your relationship with Cal could seriously damage your career." He sounds calm, even reasonable, he really does believe what he's saying will have some sort of effect on me, "I'm sure you don't want the world to know that you share his homosexual deviances Mr Reuben."
I actually do bark out a laugh this time, loud and unrestrained. This guy is unreal. Who the hell talks this way nowadays? This attitude belongs back in the dark ages. I lived through a generation of bigotry and prejudice and thought I'd left it all behind. Steele takes my reaction as an expression of helpless shock though,
"I'm sorry to be so heavy handed but Cal just won't speak to us, and since you seem to know him so well, we thought you would be persuaded to speak on our behalf."
"I'll do no such thing." I spit, sitting up straight. Steele smiles sadly, although I can see a flash of excitement in his eyes, as if he is enjoying this immensely. The smug, slimy, contemptible bastard!
"Then you leave me no choice," he sighs, a look of false regret on his face, "I will be uploading these pictures to every social media site and every author web page where your name is mentioned. Your name will be mud by the end of the day, Mr Reuben. I'm sure you know how quickly these rumours spread nowadays."
I don't actually, because I have no interest in social media, but that's beside the point. I think he believes he has me over a barrel. I lean forward as much as I can without getting in the man's face. Deliberately slowly I slide the photographs back across the table without my eyes leaving his,
"You go right ahead." I tell him, calling his bluff, not that it would make any difference to my career whatsoever, "If you'd done your research properly Mr Steele, you'd know that I am not only a very well respected writer but also an openly gay one who was happily married to another man for ten years until he died thirteen years ago. Your warning and your threat to out me, I'm afraid, has come, ooh let's see…" I roll my eyes as if I'm doing some calculations, "….about twenty five years too late. The whole world already knows." Steele's face pales slightly, "So you can take those damn photographs and shove them up your oily, despicable little ass."
He puffs out air through his nose as his metal cold eyes narrow. He moves to take the photos but I stop him, sliding the one of Cal and I kissing, back towards me,
"Not that one though." I tell him, suddenly knowing exactly what I can do and say for maximum impact, "Because I like that one. Think I might get it framed actually, and give it pride of place in my living room. It's not often you get a record of a first kiss Mr Steele, but that kiss was a damn good one and if you'd be so kind as to give me the name of the photographer I'd like to thank him personally for preserving it in print for us to enjoy forever." I take that photo back, and he snatches the other ones away in disgust, "Now, where to go from here."
I sit back in my seat with my hands in front of my face, drumming my fingers together thoughtfully. I regard Steele with narrowed eyes as he becomes increasingly less composed,
"I'm sure our Sheriff would be very pleased to know that you were attempting to blackmail me." I inform him casually enjoying his attempt to hide his squirm, "You do know it is actually a crime don't you? Poor Sheriff Jefferson, he doesn't get much intrigue to deal with around here. I'm also sure he'd be thrilled to know that you had a photographer on hand at the time Cal's house was completely trashed, perhaps he took some photographs of that, or maybe he saw something while he was waiting in hiding for us to appear. I'm sure you could help him a great deal with that investigation as well." I give Steele a significant look and he does actually manage to look guilty, which confirms our suspicions that he was involved with the break in. I don't think I see any remorse in his eyes. I take out my phone, "I think I might just call the Sheriff right now." I say casually.
Steele looks positively stricken now as his eyes dart in panic towards the door,
"That's right, Mr Steele." I tell him without looking up from my phone, "That's where the door is. I suggest you walk through it now. I suggest you leave town and don't come back. Cal doesn't need you and if you're in any way worried he won't be looked after, let me assure you I will take very good care of all of his needs." I give him a wicked grin and flick my eyebrows suggestively, "Especially his deviant ones."
Steele stands, recoiling from me, unable to hide his disgust, his expression is livid, his face pale,
"I knew there would be no reasoning with you." He hisses, "Your kind are all the same. I feel sorry for you Mr Reuben and you can tell Calvin he will be hearing from our lawyers very soon. He will be coming back to us. Once he is away from your bad influence I'm sure he will thank us for saving him from a life of deviance and sin. You can rest assured, I won't be leaving town without him."
I can't help the derisive laugh that escapes my mouth as I also stand, enjoying the fact that I am at least three inches taller than this man and I feel a sense of satisfaction when I see a flicker of panic in his eyes as he realises this, "I think you might have a very long wait then, Mr Steele, because I don't think he wants to go."
Steele regards me with narrowed eyes, but his smug, self satisfied expression is back,
"With all due respect, Mr Reuben, you are not the best qualified person to answer that question." Steele sniffs disdainfully, "I would like to ask Calvin that myself."
I am about to answer when I see a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye. I turn to my side just as Cal steps from behind me,
"Uncle Jackson." He says, his voice calm but I can see the tension in his shoulders, the knots in the muscles of his back. I want to reach out to him but I know this is not the right moment. He already knows I'm right there by his side whatever he is going to say or do, I see that in the look he gives me before he turns back to glare at his Uncle,
"Calvin!" Steele sighs, opening his arms in an attempt to seem relieved and welcoming. Cal just stares at the open arms, staying right by my side, until, with an uncomfortable clearing of his throat, Steele lowers his hands, "Calvin it's so good to see you are safe and well, especially after what has happened to you over the last few days."
Cal narrows his eyes,
"No thanks to you, Uncle Jackson." He hisses angrily.
Steele affects a look of innocence but I saw the anger flash in his eyes at Cal's rebuke,
"I have no idea what lies this man here has been feeding you, but your Aunt and I have had nothing to do with what has been going on here. This town is not a safe place for you, Calvin. Look what happened to your home."