by R. E. Rowe
I use the phone on the small white rattan table next to the lounge chair and follow the directions on a plastic card to dial internationally.
After one ring, Mom answers the phone. “Hello?”
I can tell by her gruff voice, I woke her up.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Reiz? Are you okay, honey?”
“Yeah. I just wanted to tell you I’m fine. Thanks for coming to visit.”
Bouncer makes violin sounds and Honesti shushes him.
A moment of silence passes. “Sure, honey. I’m glad you’re doing better. I was relieved to see you.”
“They told me you got a new job. How is it?”
“It's amazing. They tripled my salary and all I do is answer phones. Can you believe it?”
“So you like it?”
“I do.”
“That’s enough Reizo,” Honesti says. “You should hang up before she asks too many questions.”
“Yeah, hang the hell up,” Bouncer says. “Now who’s the brown-noser?”
“I better go.”
“All right, son. Love you.”
“Love you too, Mom.” I hang up the phone.
“That was sweet,” Honesti says.
A wave of homesickness hits me. What am I doing here? Where is Aimee?
I pick up the room key and my backpack, storm out the door, and bolt for the stairs. A minute later, I walk past the pool to the far end of the hotel building, hang a right, and stop. I lean against the building and watch cars pass by on a busy road beyond a lot filled with overgrown bushes.
I want to keep walking and leave all the bullshit behind me. But where would I go?
I kick at the asphalt and look around. The building’s twelve-foot, plaster and brick wall looks as if it’s a hundred years old. Cracks and chunks are missing. Five dumpsters are pushed up against it. The gray wall totally needs color.
“What are you going to do?” Honesti asks, as if she can see my wild eyes gazing at my next project. “This isn’t smart.”
I ignore her.
“Smart? Blah-ha-ha!” Bouncer shouts, laughing. “We’ve had this talk before.”
The early evening light is dim, but it’s enough to see what I’m doing without attracting attention. Rush hour traffic speeds along the main road about one-hundred-and-fifty feet away. The next hotel is at least three hundred yards away. I’m far enough away from everything not to be noticed.
I close the metal top of the nearest dumpster, pull myself onto the top of it, and take out my supplies. Stencils, paper, brushes, chalk, three plastic bowls, breathing gear, and gloves.
Smelling the faint smell of paint on one of the cans comforts me. I think of Franklinville. Mom. Aimee. The pond. And memories I want to ignore. I kick the wall and nearly fall off the dumpster.
I move faster. Put on gloves, pull the breathing filter over my nose and mouth, and stare at the blank wall. It seriously needs life, but what exactly?
Tropical. Got it. A place I always wanted to visit. Hawaii.
“It’s the bug man again,” Bouncer says. He laughs. “Buzzy, wuzzy. Bug man.”
“Here we go again,” Honesti says.
After adjusting the paint caps and visualizing a tropical ocean scene, I spray. At first, I spray in long, sweeping motions. Beach. Ocean. Blue sky. A distant mountain.
What am I doing here? My stomach is in a spin cycle. Intensity takes over and I spray like I’m on a mission. Sandy beach. Sunbathers. Surfing.
I kick closed the next nearest dumpster and jump to it, continue to spray, and jump on the next one. Surfers. A sand crab and sea turtles.
I jump off the dumpster and push them down the asphalt access road until they’re out of the way, then continue spraying all the way down to the ground.
After an hour and a half, I stand back and gawk. The scene pops out of the building as if it were a real beach—a perfect vacation for the perfect family. It’s definitely not for me. My heart races and anger swells inside my gut. I throw a spray can as far as I can and throw another against the wall.
Mom. Franklinville. What the hell am I doing here?
“What’s the matter?” Honesti asks.
“This is cray. What is going on? Tell me. Why am I here? Where is Aimee?”
“General, remember,” Bouncer says. “Carmina.”
“Aimee needs your help,” Honesti says.
I sit down on the asphalt and feel tears running down my face. “Help with what? I don’t even know these people. Why doesn’t she talk to me? Why?”
“Breathe, Reiz. Go back to your room and get some rest,” Honesti says.
“Chill, dude,” Bouncer says. “You’ll find out more tonight.”
“We promise,” Honesti adds.
“Screw you both.”
I grab two cans and spray again. This time the mountain changes to an erupting volcano and a boy on the beach shoots the crab with a blaster. I add sharks in the water. Fear.
I’m lost. Exhausted.
There's barely enough paint left for my mark. “ZzZ.” I spray a wild-style black outline, reddish-yellow with white shading.
“You should eat something.” Bouncer snorts. “Mack’s paying.”
“I’m sure there are drinks in the small refrigerator,” Honesti says. “Might even have candy and chips.”
“Aimee!” I yell as loud as I can. “Aimee!”
No response.
I leave everything but the backpack, and run to my room. Without hesitation, I head to the in-room refrigerator and stuff my face. Afterwards, I stand in a hot shower until my skin wrinkles, and then collapse on the bed and fall asleep.
Sometime later, my heart pounds against my chest bone when the phone rings, waking me out of a deep sleep.
Damn it. I’m still here.
I reluctantly pick up the phone. “Yeah?”
“I’m ready for you, sir,” Richard says. “Please come down to the lobby. It’s time for dinner.” He hangs up before I can say anything.
The last thing I feel like is going out to dinner with people I don’t even know, but whatever.
“You’re going to love the restaurant,” Honesti says.
“Yeah, right,” I say.
“Be nice,” Honesti says.
“Ignore the wise ass,” Bouncer says. “He’s being sarcastic again.”
“Unless you have something to tell me about that wacko General or how I can talk to Aimee again, keep both of your traps shut tonight, got it?”
“Oooh, we’re shaking,” Bouncer says.
“Speak for yourself,” Honesti says.
“I’ll put on that bracelet,” I say. “I’ll do it.”
“Just relax, Reiz,” Honesti says. “We’ll stay silent if that’s what you want.”
Bouncer agrees.
That’s a first. It sort of reminds me of how they listened to me at Willowgate during our escape. Ugh. My stomach sinks when I think of Aimee. That was the day I lost her.
I leave the room and take the elevator to the lobby. When the elevator doors open, Richard waves for me to follow him. I notice a line of people snaking through the lobby and out the back door. I point to the people. “What’s that about?”
“Evidently, there is an art display outside on a wall or some such thing. I’m really not sure.” Richard waves again as if we’re late. “Mack is waiting for us at the restaurant.”
I grin and follow him to the car.
Richard opens the back seat passenger door of an idling sedan. “It’s in a wonderful location, the restaurant you know, with an incredible ocean view. Nestled in amongst other fancy restaurants, cafes, and bars. Tourists love the walkway along the ocean’s edge. You’ll enjoy it.”
We drive on a coastal highway until reaching a small restaurant on the edge of a harbor. Richard stops in front of a stone stairway leading up three flights to a restaurant in a multi-tiered stone building.
Lights sparkle across the harbor like stars on a clear night.
“The
y call this place Spinola Bay,” he says. “One of my favorite dinner spots.”
I’ve never been to a place so fancy. Clusters of large white yachts are moored to floating docks. An outdoor terrace on the third floor overlooks the harbor. Hickory smoke hangs in the cool salty air.
“Mack is waiting for you on the terrace,” he says, pointing upward. “Just walk right in.”
“You’re not coming in with me?”
“No. I’m afraid not. I’ll pick you up later.” He smiles. “I have some new clothes to pick up for you.”
“Clothes?”
“You’ll need to wear something a bit more, well, um, appropriate at the construction site tomorrow. The bell captain will place the clothes in the closet of your room.”
“Hopefully not a gray suit and sunglasses,” I say, smirking.
Richard smiles. “Of course not, Reizo. Ah, one more thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Can I take your backpack back to your room? I really don’t think you’ll need it tonight. I promise it’ll be safe.”
Before I put it on, I give it a double take. I won’t need my sketchbook and no way in hell will I put on the gold bracelet anytime soon. “Yeah, sure.” I hand it to him.
It doesn't take me long to climb up the stone stairs into the restaurant and on up another narrow stairwell inside the restaurant to the top floor terrace.
Mack is already at the table near the edge of the terrace, which has an amazing view of the harbor. A petite woman in a pink dress sits next to him. She’s positioned her chair very close to Mack’s at one corner of the table. The woman is leaning in, her hand rubbing his bracelet. She's wearing a bracelet too. His girlfriend? The woman is stunning with warm chestnut eyes and straight black hair. Her dress clings to her as if it’s a layer of skin.
They both stand to greet me.
“Hi, Reizo, you’re looking rested,” Mack thunders, trying to get my attention as I continue staring at the hot woman in pink. Even her lipstick matches the color of her dress.
Wow.
“I see you’ve noticed my beautiful friend, Daniela Salafia. She’ll be our guide tomorrow at the construction site.”
Friend? She looks like more than a friend to me.
“It is so nice to meet you, Reizo,” Daniela says in a sultry voice.
I can’t stop staring.
“Dude,” Bouncer says. “Hello. You’re embarrassing us. Say something. Maybe ‘nice to meet you’?”
“At least blink, for goodness sake,” Honesti says with a sigh.
“You are as handsome as your cousin,” Daniela says with a slight accent.
I feel my face warm when I shake her hand. However, I shake it a little too long. “Call me, um, Reiz.”
We start to sit, but before I do, a second girl about my age approaches our table. I feel chills running up both arms and across my back.
The girl is tall with a thin frame and long, black feathery hair. Her black dress drapes over her curves highlighting a long white pearl necklace wrapped around her neck twice. She’s wearing high heels and takes each step as if she’s barefoot and walking on glass.
“Ooh-la-la,” Bouncer says.
“Aimee won’t be happy,” Honesti says.
The chills vanish. I nearly shout at Honesti when she mentions Aimee, but manage to keep my cool.
“Reizo, this is Bree Pellegrini,” Daniela says. “Bree, this is Reizo Rush.”
Time slows as she moves to the table with grace and elegance. I launch myself forward to shake her hand. My body moves faster than my brain causing me to bump her chair and send it toppling over backwards. I manage to grab the chair with my left hand and shake her hand with my right. Her handshake is firmer than Daniela’s handshake. But her touch is warm and crazy soft. It instantly calms me.
“Nicely done,” Honesti says.
“Luck, if you ask me,” Bouncer says.
The mysterious girl grins, and then smiles at Daniela.
“Mack told me it’d be appropriate to bring a guest. Bree is very special to me.” Daniela gives her a warm embrace. “She’ll be our photographer tomorrow at the construction site to record the discovery.”
“You look gorgeous, doll,” Mack says to her. “Love the pearls.” He winks at me.
She embraces Mack and kisses one cheek then the other. “Thank you, Mack. Daniela took me shopping in Sliema.”
“Shopping is one of our favorite things to do, is it not, dear?” Daniela says, and chuckles.
Bree nods.
She could be Daniela’s daughter the way they greeted each other, but I’m not exactly sure. Daniela looks too young to be her mom.
I stammer like an idiot. “Call me Reiz,”
Bouncer laughs.
“Ssst,” Honesti says.
So much for acting cool. I’m an ass.“Daniela is like my second mother,” Bree says, glancing at Daniela.
I manage to maneuver behind Bree to adjust her chair, but instead of moving gracefully, I stumble in the process and nearly fall on my face. It’s official. I’m blowing it as far as first impressions go.
“Klutz,” Bouncer says.
Mack and Daniela sit down and quickly engage in conversation, ignoring us.
“You are so very kind, and such the gentleman, Reiz,” Bree says in a voice as soft as she looks. “Nirringrazzjak.”
“Excuse me?”
“That means thank you,” Honesti says.
“It’s Maltese for thank you.”
“Um, in that case, you’re welcome.”
She smiles, making me feel a little less dorky.
“I see you have your cousin’s handsome hazel eyes and muscular shoulders.”
My mouth feels as though it’s filled with cotton. Muscular shoulders? I flex. Her jasmine perfume is making me high.
I try to act interested in the menu to regain my composure. The menu has Maltese names for the dishes with the English names next to them. After an awkward moment, I ask, “What’s good here, anyway?” I keep my eyes fixed on the menu.
“I like the pizza and the salad nicoise, but the focaccia combinations are delicious as well,” Bree says with a calmness and sensuality to her voice. She’d probably make reading the phone book sound way sexy.
“What’s in the pizza called ‘the sock’?” I ask with a grin. I prepare myself with a witty comment as if I’m some sort of standup comedian.
“Oh, you’ll love that selection. It has a whole variety of smelly cheeses. It’s quite delightful,” Bree says. “Assuming you enjoy smelly socks, of course.”
Dang. She must have been reading my mind. “Sure thing,” I say, and quickly try to recover. “I’m wearing two of them.”
Mack glances at me and rolls his eyes.
Bree laughs. “Oh, that’s terrible, Reiz. You’re so funny.”
Yes.
“OMG,” Bouncer says.
“You are getting a little carried away, Reizo,” Honesti says.
True. It was a stupid thing to say, but I can’t help myself. Bree has a strange effect on me. I notice she’s wearing a bracelet embedded into her forearm just like Mack and Daniela. They all match.
Bree clears her throat. She slowly moves her hand to a water glass. “Is this your first trip to Malta?” she asks.
“Yeah, it is.”
“What do you think of it so far?”
“To be honest, I guess I was expecting a tropical island. White sands and rum drinks, you know?”
“I see. Well, Malta is mainly rocky with coastal cliffs, but we do have some wonderful beaches too.”
“I noticed lots of old buildings. Some looked like ruins.”
“That is one of the most interesting things about Malta. It has been inhabited since fifty-two hundred B.C.E. My country has a great deal of history. Its location made it quite a strategic location over the centuries.”
My whole body warms the more we talk. Honestly, I could care less about the history lesson, but the way her lips move when she talks
makes everything sound interesting.
Daniela frequently glances at Bree. I see pride in Daniela’s eyes. They must be close.
“Is Daniela related to you?”
“No, but I don’t know what I would do without her. I’m afraid both my parents passed on some time ago.”
Oh hell. Mood killer. “I’m sorry.”
Bree forces a half-smile. “Ah, no, really, it’s okay. But thank you for your concern, Reiz. Daniela took me in to live with her after I lost them.” Bree glances over at Daniela who is engaged in a passionate conversation with Mack.
Who am I kidding? I’m thousands of miles away from Theodore High and Franklinville, but no amount of distance and no super-hot girl from Malta can make me forget about Ames. I try to be as nice as I can with small talk as dinner comes and goes. The waiter serves me my first cappuccino ever, but I’m not about to admit it.
Bree points out my milk foam mustache with a grin.
“So, Reiz, the plan is pretty simple,” Mack says. “One of my international construction companies uncovered a false marble floor in one of the buildings they’ve been renovating—”
“Your company is based in Malta?” I ask.
“Actually, your cousin has companies based in many countries,” Daniela says, affectionately gazing at Mack. “Including numerous construction, energy, and technology companies. They’re all part of his worldwide conglomerate.”
“Conglomerate?”
“A conglomerate is a combination of numerous corporations involved in many different businesses,” Bree says softly.
“Tomorrow, we’ll open the false marble floor for the first time. The plan is to explore the discovery together,” Mack says.
“Oh, honey, you should be an archeologist.” Daniela chuckles.
I shake my head.
Bree notices and places a soft hand on my forearm. The warmth of her touch sends goose bumps up my arm.
Mack smiles and sits back in his chair, removing a cell phone from the inside pocket of his dinner jacket. He studies my face, and then glances at his phone.
“Reiz, if you’d like, I have an extra camera you can use to help me record what the team finds.”
I look at Bree and grin. “Sure. Okay.”
She smiles back.
“Richard is on his way to take you back to the hotel, Reiz,” Mack says. “We’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”