by Shawn Keys
So, he didn’t grasp at memories. Instead, he tried to deflect hers away. He smiled in a friendly way. “Trust me, we’re from different worlds. You all seem really nice, and I haven’t hung out with a lot of nice people in my life.”
“Didn’t I hear the officers say you were in the military?”
“Once upon a time, yeah. See what I mean?” He laughed, trying to pass that off. “Nothing but strip clubs and bars for soldiers, right?”
Cara smacked his arm. “Don’t make fun. I know lots of nice guys who were in.”
That melted Drake a little more. Anyone who was privileged like her that still had an honest, heart-felt, fond word to spare for service men and women couldn’t be all bad. He slammed down another wall on his empathy. No! You don’t need this! He gave her a slight nod of approval, but nothing more. “Yeah, I know a lot of good ones, too. Just joking.” He gestured off into the night. “I’m going to take off, though. It’s Christmas Eve, and we’ve been kept here long enough. Go be with your families.”
Karin grinned, finally letting go of him. “You’re looking at my family. We’re all way too far from home. Just us girls.”
He smiled. “Sounds like a fine way to spend Christmas.”
Cara interjected, “They let us drive here once the paramedics were done with us. Our car is right around the corner. Can we give you a lift?”
Ohhhh no. No no no no no. He struggled to brush the offer off without sounding like a jerk. “Nah. It’s not far for me, and I could use the walk to cool off after the nonsense in there.”
Tricia glared back at the door. “Yeah, I get that.” Her mouth downturned into a frown. “If you’re sure. I mean, it feels like we haven’t done enough to thank you at all.”
Drake said honestly, “That’s not why I did it. You got me out of trouble in there. That’s more than enough. I’m just glad you’re alright. For me, that’s enough. One favor?”
Cara said, “Name it.”
“Nail that bastard Patrick to the wall. For all of us. They’ll forget about me once the trial starts, since I didn’t see anything. But you three are star witnesses. Kick his ass for nearly getting us all killed.”
Tricia showed her teeth. “You can count on it.”
Drake smiled. “Fantastic.” He resisted… with great effort… from roaming his eyes up and down the green-corset, black hosiery, slinky elf costumes the three women were wearing to cement the memory of them in his mind forever. Their gorgeous faces glowed with smiles, a hint of warmth, and… dare he hope… the slightest edge of attraction. Fantasies of walking the town with these three on his arm, then ending up in a bed with them all at the end of the night rippled through his mind.
But that was all it would be. Old thoughts crept out of his darker mind to help, You don’t really deserve them anyway, do you? That’s right. Walk away. Forcing the words past his lips, he said, “Bye. Stay safe, alright?”
Karin smiled brightly. “We will! You too!”
He turned away resolutely, then walked off into the night before he was tempted to do anything or say anything he would regret.
* * *
Tricia narrowed her eyes at Karin, holding her beer hostage. “You’re sure the medics said you could drink?”
Karin grabbed at the bottle, which was her favorite Old Timer’s Pale Ale. She was blocked by the bar table. They had managed to find one of the few places still open, though there was only a half-hour left on their clock. They had rolled in only seconds before last call: which was probably perfect so they didn’t end up being too stupid. “Yes!”
Cara scowled at her. “Really? You asked?”
Karin rolled her eyes. “Well, no. But they didn’t say I couldn’t!” She pleaded her friend to give in. “Gimme gimme! You can’t drag me in here and then say no! That would be cruel and unusual.”
Snickering, Tricia gave in. Probably stupid, but it was Christmas. She slid the bottle over the table. “Fine. But go slow!” She slid into her own seat, brushing crumbs off the fabric with a wrinkle of her nose. The bar was nice enough, but it was late. The lights were about to come on to signal it was time to go home. Nothing in there was totally clean anymore.
Cara was taking a long swig of her own beer, a citrus blend imported from across the border from Quebec, Canada, called a ‘Tornado’. As soon as she heard the name, she was ready to go all in with the experiment. Apparently, it was agreeing with her. She had drained half of it before setting it back on the table. “Slow, my ass. I nearly died. I’m bummed they wouldn’t let us buy two.”
Tricia took a small sample of her much tamer Holton’s brew, a commercial lager that had always suited her taste. She shrugged. “Probably because they knew we would chug both and end up puking in their bathrooms. This isn’t their first rodeo.”
Karin sucked down a good swallow, then held up her bottle in a gesture for a toast. “Here’s to survival, girls.” Her smile glowed to twice its normal brilliance. “And this means we don’t have to finish the Santa Shack pack-up!”
Cara grinned. “And we get our bonus!”
Tricia finished, “Bonus? Are you kidding me? They better offer us a settlement or we’re going to sue the mall’s ass! We should anyway! Their owner tried to off us! That’ll be all the seed money we’ll ever need. All we had to do was almost die. We should have thought of this years ago!” Sarcasm dripped from every word.
“If only Drake was available whenever we needed…” Cara trailed off, then her eyes widened. “I knew I knew him!”
Tricia asked, “What?”
“Drake! I’ve met him before!” Her joy turned into a gasp. “But I can’t believe that was him! I mean, the coat is the same, but…” She shook her head, trying to equate the two images in her mind. She knew she was right, but it barely made sense.
Karin jostled her arm. “Come on, Cara, give!”
Tricia nodded, “Words, Cara. You need words. You know, Nouns. Adjectives. A few Verbs.”
Cara shook off her surprise, scrambling to explain, “Drake. I met him on the street yesterday. Yesterday? Yeah, I think it was. He was dressed the same. I think…”
“You think he was dressed the same?” Tricia was trying to be patient.
“I think so. The clothes were just as beaten up and torn around the edges, but they were filthy. So was he. Not just with soot and fire smoke. I mean, like he hadn’t had a shower since the last time it rained. I swore he was homeless. This time, his clothes looked like they had been cleaned. And he had shaved! That’s why I didn’t recognize him right away. He had a beard before. Not a full one like it had been going for years, but a good month or two since he last took a razor to it.”
Karin looked skeptical. “You’re sure it was him? I mean, his clothes were pretty beaten up, but I dunno. Homeless?”
Cara nodded, sure of herself. “We talked. Not long. He returned this guy’s wallet, then got accused of trying to steal it.”
Karin moped. “Poor guy. Seems to be his luck. Helping someone out, then getting accused.”
Cara nodded again. “I felt the same way. So, I gave him a little money to help him out. I figured he would have bought himself a new jacket or something. He was a lot cleaner tonight. Maybe he rented a hotel room and got washed up or something.” She shrugged. “But it was him! He’s a homeless guy living down off the Market. That’s why he was in the mall! Probably getting warm from the cold.”
Tricia sank back into her seat. “That’s crazy! Wasn’t he in the military or something?”
Karin’s moping frown got deeper. Her heart was always full of empathy. Sadness came to her as easily as joy. “Seen a lot of stories of vets out on the street. Guess he’s one of them.”
Tricia insisted, “We need to go see him!”
Cara wasn’t sure. “Do you think? He obviously didn’t want us knowing. He ditched us as fast as he could. And we were a long way from the street where I saw him. If that’s where he was living, that meant he would rather walk quite a few miles in the freezi
ng cold rather than let us drive him back there. He’s proud. Maybe we shouldn’t push him.”
Tricia scowled. “Screw that! He’s a guy. So, he’s proud. I get it. Most of them are! But he saved us. We can’t just let this go. We care more than that, don’t we?”
Karin’s cute mouth shifted into a perplexed frown. “So, what are we going to do then?”
Tricia said, “What we’re going to do is… first, finish these beers.” She took a swig.
“Alright…”
“Then, we’re going home because we’re all stupid tired.”
Cara nodded with feeling.
“Then, we’re going to sleep for a few hours.”
That made sense, so the other two didn’t argue.
“Then, we’re going to get up super early.”
Karin’s support waned. “Ugh. Really?”
“Yes! Because it’s Christmas and we’re not going to let him think he’s all alone out there for a second longer than necessary! Military guys get up at the crack of dawn, right? We need to get to him before he thinks we’ve forgotten.”
Cara scrunched her face up, uncertain. “I don’t think he’s really going to be thinking –”
Tricia pushed on. “– then, we’re going to go find him and tell him what he doesn’t know. That we care. That we are thinking about him.”
“And then… what?”
Tricia faltered. Then, she shrugged. “I have no idea. We’ll have to play it by ear. But he isn’t going through another Christmas thinking he’s all alone!”
Chapter 5:
A Walk in the Cold
Drake caught a glimmer of silver just off the sidewalk, flashing in the sunlight. He bent down and found a quarter glinting up at him. Smiling at the piece of fortune, he looked around.
Leroy was huddled nearby, tucked up against the brick wall between a Spencer’s and a Mugo Juice store. Both were closed for Christmas. Not much was open on the street. That meant no-one was there to chase Leroy away, but also not many people going past to take pity on him.
The older man with the tangled, grey-brown beard looked half asleep. He was slumped over a little, with a hat tucked in between his shoes. Only a few coins were inside. Half of them were already his. Most beggars learned fast that empty hats got less change.
Drake had never resorted to open pan-handling or begging. He had tried his hand at a few busking efforts, but his few talents didn’t draw a huge crowd. He practiced knife juggling now and again, hoping one day to get the skill up to snuff so he could put on a show. There was good money in that.
But he preferred scavenging to begging. You never got to hold hard cash, but his damned pride wasn’t crammed down far enough yet. One day he probably would, if he survived long enough. He could see his future in Leroy. He hated thinking about it, but was too honest to deny it was coming when he couldn’t move around so easily.
He pointed at the ground. “That one of yours that got loose, Leroy?”
The old beggar pried open his eyes and found what Drake was point at. “Nah. I’d hear it if one ran away from me.”
Drake chuckled, not about to argue with him. Leroy didn’t look alert enough to notice a herd of rampaging elephants coming through. Then again, the sound of a rolling quarter held a certain ring to it.
Grunting in mild pain as his hip grinded around his old injury, Drake stooped to pluck up the coin. He straightened up and slid it into his pocket. He didn’t offer it to Leroy. A windfall like the $200 was one thing. That was a Christmas windfall that needed to be shared. He was back to scavenging, and he’d seen this coin, fair and square. Besides, if Leroy had been desperate, he would have said so. Insisting on Leroy taking it after he already said ‘no’ would hurt the guy’s pride.
Drake ambled on, working the stiffness from his hip. The cold made it worse. The frantic bursts of energy at the scene of the fire made it worse. That was more exercise than he normally did. Then there were the miles he’d walked back from the station last night because he had been too proud to accept a ride. You’re such an idiot. What does it matter what they think? Not like you’ll ever see them again!
He knew there were physiotherapy exercises he could do to lessen the strain in his hip. He tried to do them when the weather was warmer. He’d find a nice place on the beach and work his muscles back into a semblance of shape. But once the weather clagged in, who had time for that sort of thing? Winter was about surviving. He’d have to suffer the lingering pain and stiffness until the sun returned in spring.
He got back up to pace, deciding to do at least four laps of the block to work out the soreness in his legs and back. He was on his stride when a dark green compact sedan jammed on its brakes and hauled out of the light traffic. Somehow, the car’s movements conveyed the excitement of its owners. It pulled to a stop a little further up the street from him.
Drake stopped. The car’s movements had a specific quality to them; the driver was there for him. It had stopped at the perfect distance as if they car had been about to drive by him, then the owners had recognized him, then swerved to a stop and parked. He was the trigger. He felt it.
The railroading of the police was still too fresh; this wasn’t a black-and-white, but not all cops drove cruisers. His eyes narrowed, and he tensed, ready to bolt.
Three of the doors opened, and out poured… them.
Cara had been driving. Her elf costume was gone, replaced by the faux-fur coat he had first seen her in. He got the impression of light-blue jeans and a black sweater she was wearing underneath, topped off by her black hiking shoes and light leather gloves for driving.
Tricia burst from the passenger side. No longer an elf, she was wearing a white-and-blue, bomber-style skiing jacket with dark jeans and the hint of a white sweater peeking out below the lower hem of that jacket. She had red-and-black, deep-tread sneakers on for walking on the semi-icy sidewalk and blue gloves on her hands. She might have been on her way to a ski hill, but for the fact that there wasn’t one within two day’s drive.
Finally, Karin popped from the backseat. Her own elf persona was discarded, replaced by a long, draping green overcoat that really made her red hair stand out like flame. She was wearing red jeans that matched her hair, ending in white sneakers. The front flap of her coat was open at the top buttons, flashing him with a deep green blouse. She might no longer be an elf, but the colors she had picked still screamed ‘Christmas’.
The three women swept off the street and onto the walkway around him. They looked ecstatic to have located him.
Karin led the way, charging into him and wrapping her arms around him in a huge hug as if the last one they had shared should never have ended. “There you are!”
Cara came up to his side, daring to place a warm hand on his back. “We weren’t sure we were going to find you.”
Tricia held back a little, chuckling, “But fortune favors the bold, right? We had to try somewhere.”
Drake swallowed, caught midway between flattery and embarrassment. “Why are you here? I mean, are you doing alright?”
Tricia smirked. “See, how can we not like you? You’re honestly worried about us right now?”
Cara tried to soften the blow. “We didn’t know, last night. Maybe we should have. But it didn’t sink in. Otherwise, we would have offered some help. Honestly.”
Drake was beginning to understand. He searched for the right words. “I… I mean, this… well, it really isn’t…” Nothing would come out. How do I tell them I don’t want three hot women I’d kill to be with seeing me trapped in my own worst nightmare? This wasn’t him. This wasn’t what he wanted them to see!
Karin felt him tensing up. “What is it? Aren’t you happy to see us?”
Drake worked his mouth, then finally closed his eyes in pain. “Last night felt good. That’s how I wanted it to end. Understand?”
Silence reigned.
Drake pressed. “Last night, you three were looking at me like… well, like I haven’t been looked at in a long
time. It felt good. You called me a hero.”
“You were!”
“Yeah, well, hero or not, it felt good. I wanted to remember that. I didn’t have any of your pity. Only respect.”
Cara insisted, “You still do.”
Drake did his best to smile. “Maybe. But probably it’s both now. It has probably been both since the moment you worked it out.”
Tricia challenged him a little. “Too proud to accept help?” She looked immediately pissed at herself, but this wasn’t going the way she wanted.
Drake sighed. “Maybe. I’m an idiot. Holding on to my former self a little too hard. Sure. Pride. That’s it. But I can’t shake it. I’ve taken help from people. More than a few.” He looked at Cara. “I remembered you. Took me a while, what with you in the elf-getup. I took that help from you a couple days ago. But that was different.” He shrugged. “Don’t ask me how. Maybe because it felt like a reward.”
Awkwardness hung around them. It was what Drake didn’t want. Before, they had been equals. In a way, conquering heroes who together had taken down a criminal. Now, he felt like a charity case.
Tricia kicked at a rock on the ground. “Maybe we shouldn’t have come.”
Karin moped openly, then peered up at Drake, still half-nestled in his arms. “What can we do?”
“What do you mean?”
The red-head shook her head. “This isn’t going to end like this. I’m sorry, I’m not walking away with you thinking you’re not my hero. Don’t believe we think you are beneath us. Because I don’t. None of us do.”
Drake exhaled, sounding sad. “Not sure much is to be done about that. I’m not seeing another fire I can pull you out of.” He chuckled. “I don’t need to be your hero. But I’d give anything to feel like an equal again.”
Cara reiterated, “You are.”
Tricia nodded firmly.
But Drake knew they were saying it, not feeling it. They had come down there to ‘save’ him, or something like that. Maybe he needed a little saving. But not from them. Why not? He struck that idea down as soon as it popped up, crushing it ruthlessly. Because their help would be too real? Too likely to let you get back on your feet? It took effort to strangle those thoughts. Damn, but it was hard! Finally, he got past the temptation to say ‘yes’.