Ashes to Ashes

by Jason Banks

  “I know you do, I know,” she replied. “Just tell me what you need and consider it done.”

  Max knew he could count on Melanie for anything he’d ever need whether it was from the comfort of her own place back home or in Denver itself. She had a very positive reputation in the administrative assistant scheme of things and was a personal assistant for a very high-profile publicity firm in Indianapolis. There truly wasn’t any task too big or small that his twin sister couldn’t tackle head-on with her certain go-getting approach. In the world of personal assistants, Melanie Williams was the ‘Queen Bitch’ of her field.

  “I’m going to buy you a plane ticket to fly here. There’s a huge fashion show for The American VOGUE magazine in New York City and I absolutely cannot back out of this contract I have with them. I mean, the only thing which would legally be in my favor would be my own death. It’s a rigid gig, this fashion show is,” Max admitted.

  A smile washed over Melanie’s face. “Oh Max, color me already there. You don’t have to buy my ticket, I bet mom has plenty of air miles.”

  Maxwell shook his head in disapproval. “Don’t worry about it, I’m going to do it this morning,” he said. “Besides, you and I both know I can afford it.”

  Maxwell knew that Melanie could attest to his and Brogan’s combined wealth all too well. There hadn’t been a birthday or major holiday since he married into the affluent lifestyle where any of his relatives went without a lavish gift from he and the now late Dr. Brogan Baxter. That being said, he wouldn’t have it any other way than to book his sister’s flight. Besides, he’d put her in first class, which would afford a far greater flight experience with comfort and practicality both in mind.

  Melanie shrugged. “Yes, I know that. You’ve been the best brother anyone could’ve ever asked for since we were like two.”

  “What about before then?” Max offered, trying to lighten the conversation for both their sake.

  “If I remember right, mom said you kept biting my feet,” she laughed, raising from her couch to turn off the lights in her room. “If anyone, it should’ve been me trying to eat your feet. We both know eating is my favorite hobby anymore.”

  During a small pause, Maxwell heard bare feet squeaking down the stairwell. There was only one person who it could be, and he knew in his heart that Lily either had troubles sleeping as well, or she just woke up incredibly early. Either way, there wasn’t a single doubt in his mind that Lily needed more rest.

  Max muttered softly into the device. “Oh, oh. Sis, we gotta take this to texting. In which case I’ll go upstairs and grab my phone shortly. Munchkin’s already awake and after last night, getting home late, she should still be deeply asleep.”

  “Okay, I’m kinda getting tired myself now,” Melanie whispered back.

  As he ended the FaceTime call, Maxwell turned his head to spot Lily traipsing into the living area clutched to her stuffed bear and a favorite blanket dragging behind. Her eyes appeared tired as she approached the sofa to climb up next to him.

  “Sweetie, what’s the matter?” Max questioned, outstretching his arms to help her up into the couch.

  Lily rubbed her fatigued eyes. “I can’t sleep good, Maxie,” she replied, letting out a big yawn.

  “Me too, actually,” he said, tucking her underneath the plush violet blanket as she placed her head into his chest. “Me too.”

  Max gently patted her on the head and stroked at her hair. “You just shut your eyes, Kiddo. I’m right here for you.”

  The plan to retrieve his phone from his jeans pocket didn’t exactly pan out as he promised Melanie it would, but that didn’t matter to Max as much as ensuring Lily’s comfort and safety did. He still had the iPad within grasp and that’s all he really needed at the moment anyway.

  “I love you, Maxie. I don’t want you to go anywhere too,” Lily murmured, softly shutting the lids of her eyes and grasping hold of Maxwell’s left arm.

  “Oh honey bunny, I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me for a very long time,” he reassured the exhausted princess.

  Lily’s response could barely be heard since she was already succumbing to the land of dreams. “Prommisse?”

  “I promise, Munchkin. I promise a thousand times over,” Max quietly replied.

  With Lily back in slumber mode, Max turned on the tablet to look at itinerary options for his sister’s flight to the Mile-High City. He logged into the Delta Airlines website, which luckily already stored his payment information on file. Max chose the dates specified for arriving that Thursday evening and selected the shortest possible flight time. The website showed a total fare for the First-Class one-way ticket at $806.00 with one stop in Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. It appeared that there were no direct flights, but it seemed to make sense to Max since his last flight from Denver to Indianapolis didn’t have any direct options either.

  After he confirmed the ticket and itinerary selected, he entered Mel’s email address as a secondary confirmation source, so she’d immediately receive the info. Since that process took Maxwell several minutes, he figured it would be easier to gently slide Lily somewhat to the side without waking her.

  Indeed, her eyelids didn’t move a muscle as he re-positioned her into the couch cushions. Shit, Max figured the sofa was far more comfortable than her own mattress. He slid his fingers through his somewhat greasy hair while looking at his distraught face in the wall mirror on the way into the foyer. Those dark circles of distress, that same shirt he wore from the previous night, and he’d still been in just his boxer shorts after flinging off his jeans before attempting to sleep himself. Although he shouldn’t have wandered around the house in just a shirt and underwear, in his defense, he didn’t figure Lily would’ve came downstairs unexpectedly. Maxwell knew he needed a shower, which would undoubtedly wake him up. But he couldn’t bring himself to the mental anguish of stepping into the walk-in shower with the thoughts he’d never share that special place with Brogan ever again. Additionally, sleeping in the same bed didn’t seem immediately possible to him either. Which could’ve precisely been the reason Lily had troubles sleeping in her room as well. Rest was eventually going to be pivotal—and the sooner the better. A quick thought popped into his brain as he quietly escaped to the stairwell.

  Max climbed each step faster than the previous as if sprinting on an uphill track. He shuffled into the master bedroom, shimmied into his jeans from the night before and let out a quick wheeze from being a bit out of breath. He glanced at the mobile overhead luggage on the top shelf of his closet. Without hesitation, Max flung it from the shelf and onto the bed. The plans of spending the next couple nights in a hotel with Lily seemed the most reasonable to just get away from their large Cherry Creek home. He retrieved just a couple changes of clothes and tossed them on top of the suitcase as he paced into the bathroom to grab his toothbrush and minor toiletries. First, he splashed a bit more of the cold water into his tired face before he rounded up his mobile device chargers as well as his own iPad. This prompted him to glance and see if Melanie held him to the promise of taking their conversation to texting.

  Not surprised at all to see his iPhone’s battery saver feature didn’t preserve its juice through the night, Max sighed as he slid it back into his pocket. A charge would just have to wait until he could return downstairs, then finish while in the vehicle. He rolled the suitcase containing his few essentials to the hallway outside its master bedroom entrance while schlepping down to Lily’s room where he’d complete the same task. She as well only needed a couple changes of clothes, a favorite stuffed animal and her toiletries. As he turned around to walk into her bathroom, Max spotted the photo snow globe containing the picture of he and Brogan with Lily back in Indiana on top of her dresser. This was something he promised Lily that would be with her wherever she spent a day away from home, so he knew without a doubt that there was ample room in her luggage to pack away the fond memory.

  With Lily’s suitcase rolling on its wheels behind him, he app
roached his pack waiting for him outside the master bedroom and knelt down to pick up both the pieces of luggage by their top handles. He stepped down the stairs steadily, making sure not to drop them or causing a major sound, since he hoped Lily was still resting peacefully and swallowed up by the inviting sofa cushions. Max left their luggage in the foyer while he continued toward the kitchen where he’d plug his phone into the charger at the stainless-steel counter. The problem with smartphones these days is whenever the battery completely depletes itself, a person has to wait like twenty minutes at least just to power it back on while keeping it plugged in.

  Taking a glance at the digital display on the hanging microwave, Max noticed the time advanced further into early morning which confirmed why daybreak appeared from out the windows. He figured it was only a matter of minutes before Lily would wake back up and wonder what the suitcases were doing downstairs, packed and ready for some unknown trip. He knew that it would startle her, because it was unplanned. Some ideas flooded his head as he wondered what the two of them would do in each other’s company for the next forty-eight hours at minimum. No matter what they’d decide, his rumbling stomach would rank breakfast among the top of his priorities. Sure enough, Lily could be heard rousing from her slumber in the living area.

  Maxwell stepped into the living area while noting Lily wrestling the television remote from the long, marble coffee table.

  “Babe,” Max called out softly, rounding the corner of the couch. “I think I might have a better idea than T.V.”

  Lily looked up towards him. “What, Uncle Maxie?” she asked, showing a look of curiosity.

  Max propped himself into his usual arm chair next to the sofa. “Come here,” he said, patting his legs alluding the invitation for her to sit on his lap.

  She shuffled toward the chair and climbed up with his help.

  He ran his fingers through Lily’s thick locks and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Well...” he began, taking in a deep breath trying to look excited and convincing even if it still hurt deep down to his core. “What would you say to spending a couple nights away from home? It would be like a cool little indoor camping trip just the two of us.”

  Lily placed a finger on her chin as if contemplating with decisiveness just like an adult.

  “And where would we go?” she questioned earnestly.

  “Perhaps a hotel downtown here in Denver, or we could drive over to Colorado Springs which would get us away from town and stay in a nice place there,” Max offered, knowing that she was too young to associate The Broadmoor Resort with its prestigious reputation in the sector of travel.

  “What kind of place, Maxie?”

  “This place is really special,” he emphasized in a vernacular which she’d understand. “Remember when you and Millie next door went to that place to celebrate her birthday last year?” he asked. “It has a huge day spa just like that where you and I could lay back and relax while getting a facial, get mani/pedi’s, order up room service with whatever we could ever want...”

  Lily interrupted, looking confused. “But why would we celebrate when we’re so sad?”

  That was a valid question, especially coming from an autistic seven-year-old girl. She wouldn’t understand the importance of self-care and taking care of their own bodies to regain some mental clarity or rejuvenate their souls in a healthy manner. Since giving up his very own kryptonite, this was a concept not at all foreign to him. Quickly after spending time in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, he learned the value of replacing his previous disabling coping mechanisms with positive and effective means to combat stress.

  “It’s not at all a celebration, honey,” Max emphasized. “It’s a very healthy way to ensure we take the best care of our bodies, our minds, and our hearts. Especially during a very sad time. If we don’t make an effort to treat ourselves in a positive way, then we will stay sad for a very long time.”

  “But we are... sad, Uncle Maxie?”

  “Of course we are. We’re going to have a hard time moving on without daddy here with us in person,” Max explained. “But this is called ‘self-care’ and it’s an important part of our grieving process.”

  “Okayy,” Lily admitted. “I’ll try it, then.”

  “That’s my girl,” Max said, startled by the possessiveness of my coming from his lips. “You will feel a little better, I promise.”

  ***

  Driving through the bottleneck of traffic in Denver is never an exciting time, though morning rush hour was nothing to joke around about. The two of them satisfied their hunger for at least a little while, for which Maxwell’s rumbling tummy was certainly thankful for. But, trying to stay alert through absolute exhaustion proved to Maxwell that it wouldn’t be an easy task. As he pulled next to an available pump at the gas station, he glanced to Lily in the backseat who was currently kept occupied with a revamped Strawberry Shortcake show on her iPod touch.

  “Babe, I’m going to be right outside the car and I need to run in for only a minute and grab something, okay?” He assured her, rubbing his eyes. “Do you want a cold apple juice for our little drive out of town?”

  He could see Lily was really laser focused on the show. But as she glanced up from the screen, nothing could prepare Max for the absolute laughter which he’d realize would be the first time he actually laughed since the horrifying events the night prior.

  “Maxie, you and I both know it goes without question that I always want a cold apple juice,” Lily retorted, appearing to look convincingly much older and mature than she actually was.

  It was at that exact moment when Maxwell realized Lily was about to turn seven—going on thirty.

  “Touche, munchkin. Touche indeed,” Max snarled, wondering where the hell she picked up that phrase. “Alright, I gotcha...”

  When the gas reservoir wouldn’t allow any more fuel to be pumped, Max placed the spout back into its cradle and tore the printed receipt from the slot. He quickly shuffled into the convenience store hoping not to waste much time finding a 5-Hour Energy shot and Miss Princess’ apple juice. Luckily, he spotted a whole plethora of energy supplements right at the counter so all he needed to do was traipse to the cold drink wall and grab a juice. On his way back up to the front, he realized what an amazing single parent he’s proved to be just within the first twenty-four hours of taking on the privilege.

  “Oh for fuck’s sake,” Max grunted, taking his spot in line at the register.

  A very scruffy, rough around the edges biker type of guy turned his head to meet Max’s distasteful demeanor and raised an eyebrow.

  Max glanced back at the man and realized his outburst may have been offensive as if he were complaining about having to wait in a long line.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” Max explained. “I just remembered I forgot something.”

  The guy said nothing and turned back around to face the counter. Max was thankful that didn’t cause a scene—the Denver biker crowd wasn’t known for being very humble. The fact of the matter was, leaving a child in the backseat of a car in the lot of a gas station probably wasn’t the best idea—or anywhere for that matter. Max knew he had a long way to go before he could be proud of considering himself half as decent of a parent to Lily as Brogan was. Of course, the main trouble was before his stark understanding about no longer being able to maintain his career, he’d only been physically present in her life thirty percent of the time. He didn’t know how Brogan managed for those three weeks out of four by himself, or any other single parent in the world either.

  “Next,” the clerk behind the register called out.

  Maxwell didn’t waste time picking out a variation of the energy supplements, scooping a small bottle with red and yellow labeling into his grasp. He paid for the items and before the door was completely swung open, the cap on his liquid supplement was already tumbling to the ground. He swigged the small portion of oomph down his throat as he paced back toward Brogan’s Porsche SUV—well, his now of course.
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  “Here you go Princess Smarty Pants,” Max stated, handing the bottle of Mott’s apple juice toward the backseat while closing the driver’s door. “I still don’t understand where you heard that from, kiddo.”

  “Daddy says it all the time to people,” Lily confirmed. “When I asked him what it meant, he said grownups say it to make them sound sophistitrated.”

  “You mean so-fist-uh-cated, sweetheart,” Max giggled, turning the ignition to begin their small trip outside of the city.

  ***

  Their first day at Colorado Springs’ most notable Broadmoor Resort went seemingly successful. By taking things slow throughout the day and paying mind to her sensory needs, Max knew he could pat himself on the back knowing he did a good job. What a fantastic idea it was for the both of them to leave town for a couple days—even if it wasn’t terribly far. He wouldn’t have objected going all the way down into the western slope of Colorado, if he didn’t need to pick up Melanie from the airport that upcoming Thursday night. After a day full of refreshing spa treatments to their face and bodies, Lily seemed to have been in a much brighter mood by the close of their lunchtime. Though no matter how insignificant it might have been, Max was happy that he knew how to teach her the importance of self-care.

  Max opened his eyes and rubbed them gently while the sun shone through two generous glass door panes which led in from their private terrace. He felt Lily’s hands pushing into his spine and realized the time by squinting to decipher whatever he could from the glare bouncing off of the wall clock. He was surprised to see they both slept until past ten in the morning, which as rested as he felt—he was glad to have partook in a decent slumber for the first time in days. Carefully, Max slid out from the bedspread and rose to his feet. The other positive thing he noticed was the pain from his small cut the morning before felt much better. He grabbed his phone from the nightstand and schlepped quietly into the seating area of their suite.