The Demon Pool
Page 39
He knew that life had forced him to make the bigger change, but maybe that would not turn out too badly. He had some money in the bank, a little money coming in each month, and a new job — a new life, even — waiting from him in Maui. Life was not perfect, but right now, it didn’t entirely suck either. Except, of course, for losing part of his leg.
They arrived at the Southwest Florida International Airport and Linda pulled the Miata up to the curb. Jim got out, grabbed his laptop case, and unloaded the two bags stuffed in the Miata’s diminutive trunk. Linda waited while Jim dropped his duffel bag and his carry-on at the curb. He waved off a skycap.
Cars, shuttles, and taxis flowed past, pulling in suddenly to discharge travelers. Diesel, car and jet exhaust fouled the air. Jim came back to the car and waited for a full-size bus to pass. He carefully stepped off the curb, favoring the fake leg, his stump still experiencing occasional tenderness and irritation. He walked around to Linda’s side of the car.
“I might be in Hawaii in a few months,” Linda said. “Maybe Mario and I can get over to Maui. Say hello.”
Jim nodded. She looked stunningly beautiful today. The perfect princess. Mario’s princess.
“Give me a call,” he told her.
With nothing much else to say, Jim leaned in and they hugged. Briefly. Perfunctorily.
He walked back to the curb, wobbling a bit as he stepped back up on the sidewalk. He turned and watched for a moment as Linda drove off. She flipped him a little wave over her shoulder. He waved back, thinking she might be looking at him in her rearview mirror. Probably not.
Jim arranged the strap of his laptop case across his shoulders, picked up his bags, and headed into the terminal. He looked for his airline’s counter. The prosthetic leg felt stable as long as he walked on even ground. Most people might not even be aware that he was a one-legged man.
At the counter, Jim checked the duffel bag with an attendant.
“Hey, only one ticket? You going surfing without me?” she asked, her smile all sunshine and blue sky.
Jim smiled back. No Linda around. No crazy eyes.
“Well, you never returned my call. Do you need my number again?” Jim asked.
Her smile brightened even more. “Sure.”
She gave Jim her pen and a piece of paper. He wrote down his name and cell phone number. He also wrote down Polynesian Palms Resort.
“I’ll be there on an extended stay. If you get away, call me.”
“I will.” She sounded as if she meant it. “Aloha, Jim Demore.”
“Aloha ...” He looked at her name tag. “... Debbi.”
Jim left the counter feeling better and made his way to security. The line was long with dozens of people trying to escape Florida’s almost perfect winter weather for the more perfect winter weather of Hawaii. Phantom pain kept him company while he waited his turn. At the security podium, Jim told the TSA officer about his leg and showed him his FHP disability retirement ID card. The officer called his supervisor and they escorted him to a private area.
The TSA officers were almost too courteous. They scanned Jim with a handheld metal detector, had him strip off his pants in order to check the prosthesis, and, once he redressed, politely escorted him back to have his carry-on checked. Overall, not a bad experience. Even retired, sometimes it paid to show the Gold Card.
Jim sat in his flight’s waiting area. The big jet squatted at the gate. The only thing holding him to Florida now was gravity. In a few minutes, the jet would take care of that physical reality.
He stared out the huge window, alone with his thoughts. Human beings had overcome almost all of the limitations of living on earth. They had extracted the planet’s wealth, protected themselves from much of what nature and God were able to throw at them, and had even overcome the force of gravity to defeat the restrictions of time, space and distance.
Yet regardless of human progress and human potential, he’d found a realm that humans could penetrate only at great risk to life and soul. The evil behind the evil. That a metaphysical world existed, Jim no longer doubted. But how it came to manifest itself in his life still left him with unanswered, and possibly unanswerable, questions.
The gate agent made the boarding announcement and Jim got up and took his place in line. Today, he chose not to take advantage of his new “handicap” to board early. A small piece of stubborn pride. The Few, the Proud, the one-legged Marines.
In someone else’s mind, the thought may have sounded bitter, but for Jim, no bitterness. Simply the recognition of a tangled reality. The old twisted up with the new.
He found his window seat in coach and tried to get comfortable. Although it would probably freak out his seatmates, he could always take off the prosthetic if he needed to.
As the plane taxied away from the gate, he thought about Saffi and their last moments together. She had shared a Bible verse with him about what she called “the new life in Christ.” Despite her gentle prodding to put his faith in Jesus, he had not converted, but he liked the verse.
Old things are passed away; all things are becoming new.
The plane moved to the beginning of the runway, turned, and paused. The engines roared and the jet rolled forward, picking up speed. Lifting off, it escaped both gravity and Florida. The pilot turned the plane, preparing to chase the sun westward. Old things are passed away; all things are becoming new.
Jim prayed that for him, it would be true.
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard B. Dwyer lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and their poodle-bichon, Max. Richard studied fiction, poetry and screenwriting with National University, graduating with an MFA in Creative Writing. The Demon Pool is Richard’s debut novel.