Electric Blue

by Jamieson Wolf

  Settling down behind the desk with the new book of short stories by Charles De Lint, a Pepsi and a sub from subway (her idea of a slice of heaven) Poppy was concentrating so hard on her book that she only looked up when the bell above the door rang.

  She looked up to see her mother closing the door behind her. Lucy Stone was tall with curly black hair and a kind, oval face. Right now, however, her face looked flushed.

  "Poppy!" she said breathlessly when she saw her. She ran towards the desk, arms flailing. "I've found him, I've found him!”

  “Who?”

  “Your father, well, not really your father, but a clue, I found a clue!”

  "You did?" Poppy was on her feet in an instant. "What did you find?"

  Lucy smiled and held out her hand. In her palm was a white piece of parchment with the name Keech Robinson written in her mother's spidery script.

  "He will lead us to your father."

  * * * * *

  "Your water broke?" Jose said, his voice rising. "Oh, Honey, should I call the hospital?"

  She rolled her eyes at him. "Of course, unless you want me to have the babies right here in the kitchen.”

  “That probably wouldn't be a good idea,” he said.

  “Then call an ambulance!” She took the collar of his shirt in her fist and pulled him to her. "If I have to have these babies without the benefit of drugs, you will see my wrath. Understand?"

  Jose nodded. "Is there anything else I can do? Hot towels? Chocolate?" Honey had begun her Lamaze breathing. "Yeah, there is something you can do." Breathe, breathe. "Call David."

  * * * * *

  David was enjoying the morning. He had been writing since seven am that day and had kept going at a steady pace. Orlando was at his store, selling fortunes and readings to those who wished to see a bit of the future. Orlando's business as a fortune teller was doing really well. People always wanted to know about the unknown, even if they were afraid of it.

  David had the place completely to himself and took a break to enjoy it. Alone time was rare for him. It wasn’t that he didn't love Orlando, he did very much. But sometimes you needed time by your lonesome to think clearly.

  Mave was sunning herself on his lap as he typed out pages of his new novel. He was gearing up for the publication of his first novel. He had sent off the edited manuscript to the editors and was now anxiously awaiting November, the month his first novel would be placed upon the shelves, just in time for Christmas. Every time he thought about it, his novel being published, he felt light headed.

  He had plenty to look forward to. His wedding to Orlando, a small affair between family and friends, would take place soon. They had chosen December 21st for their nuptials. David could hardly wait. They wanted to have the wedding outside, but Orlando and David wanted to be married as soon as possible. December 21st, the day of the Winter Equinox, seemed like a very good day to get married. David smiled just thinking about it.

  He was clicking away at the computer when the phone rang. He answered it. "Hello?”

  “Oh God!" said a voice, "Your mother, God, David, God! What do I do?" It was Jose. "Jose, has something happened to the baby? What's wrong?”

  “Nothing, nothing, oh goodness, I'm not very good at this. It's a family emergency!"

  "What is it? What happened?”

  “Your mother's water broke!" he practically shrieked. "I'm afraid I'm not doing well under pressure, these will be my first children, you know!"

  "Her water broke?!" David said. "Really?”

  “Yes, and she looks about ready to have them right now. The ambulance isn't here yet, but I'm driving her to the Civic right now, can you meet us there?"

  "Just try and stop me," David said.

  * * * * *

  After leaving a short note telling Orlando to meet him at the hospital, he grabbed a coat, kissed Mave on the head and bounded down the steps. He was in the foyer when Karma poked her head out from her apartment.

  "What's up? You're running out of here like a Witch on a broom." She chuckled at her own joke.

  "Mom's having the baby; I'm going to the hospital.”

  “Having the twins now? Wish her luck for me David, and Goddess speed!"

  David smiled to himself. "I'll do that." He ran to his car, got in and started the engine. It was weird to think that when he had first moved in, Karma, her daughter Starr and Karma's boyfriend Jason had all seemed bizarre to him. Next door neighbours to avoid at all costs. It was weird to think that they were now his trusted friends, part of his family of the heart.

  When he arrived at the hospital, over forty-five minutes later, he was informed that his mother had already been moved to surgery. Jose was in the birthing room with Honey, getting screamed at, most likely. He called Orlando at home and left a message, saying that he had made it to the hospital and that Orlando could find him in the emergency waiting room.

  David passed the time reading a novel and pacing. Orlando showed up a few hours later and hugged him.

  "How’s the mama-to-be?"

  "Don't know. Haven't seen hide or hair of them in four hours."

  "When we get home, I'll give you a massage."

  "I love you more already," David said, kissing him on the cheek. Just then, Jose came running out to meet them.

  "Oh, good, you're both here! Your mother had the babies!" He was practically jumping up and down. "They had to give her a C-section, but they're both fine, they're both so beautiful, oh, David!" Jose threw himself at David and hugged him hard, repeating the same action with Orlando. They had never seen him so emotional.

  "So what are they?" Orlando asked. "Boys? Girls?”

  “Come see for yourself!" Jose said, leading the way.

  * * * * *

  "So how will Keech Robinson lead us to my father, Mom?" Poppy asked. They were seated in the café around the corner from Spandoosh, an hour after Poppy's shift. It had been an uneventful day with a few sales and paperwork. Poppy had sold one of her favourite pieces, a statue of a woman crouched in a ball, made from soap stone. She had rubbed her fingers on its smooth surface every day for good luck. She would have to find another good luck charm.

  She had told her mother to meet her at Rosie's, away from the gallery. If the Dragon Lady came by and saw her talking to family or friends, her job was finished. Of course, that didn't stop McGowan from having her own friends visit her. It only applied to Poppy.

  So, here they were, in Rosie's Café, looking at the scrap of paper in Lucy's hand. Poppy's mother Lucy had been a prostitute in a former life. She now lived above Rosie's Café in a quaint one bedroom apartment and was trying to make a new life for herself as a waitress and working on her art. Unfortunately, Lucy didn't know who Poppy's father was. The search for clues had begun last summer and so far nothing had turned up. Until now.

  "Well," Lucy said, "I remembered his name. Your father talked about going to see his friend after he and I had. . .finished business. The name was different, unique, I could never think of it. I know I wrote it down all those years ago, because it was so odd. I found this in my old journal from before you were born."

  She handed Poppy the piece of paper. It was rough and yellowed.

  "I don't know if he's still alive, or even if he exists. But with a name like Keech Robinson, he shouldn't be too hard to find, don't you think?"

  Poppy sighed. "I hope not. I mean, I've never had a father. It'd be nice to have one again."

  Lucy looked at her daughter across the table, a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. The sun was falling, the sky a brilliant electric blue mixed with purple and pink. It was pretty enough to paint. She took her daughters hand. "I am sorry," she said.

  "For what?"

  "For leading the life I did. I never planned on having children, but you were and are a blessing to me. I want you to know how sorry I am that I could not give you a normal life."

  "Hey," Poppy said, seeing her mother's tears. "It's okay, really. I got to travel and what kid gets to do that?"
>
  "But I raised you in motel rooms and shoddy apartments. That's no way to raise a child. And to not know your father. . ."

  "Don't get all gloom and doom on me Mom. It's okay, I'm pretty well adjusted, see?" She smiled. "I love you. You did what you had to do and we both made our choices. Now we gotta just move on." She squeezed her mother's hand.

  "He's out there, baby, I know he is."

  "I know Mom." She said. "I know." Her cell phone rang, shrill and loud in the quiet of the café. "Yeah?" she said."Poppy!" It was David. "Poppy, oh my God!"

  "David?" she said. "David, is that you? Where are you?"

  "I'm at the hospital!"

  "Is something wrong? What's happened?"

  "Nothing’s wrong! Everyone's okay! Honey had the twins!"

  "What?!"

  "Yeah, a boy and a girl!"

  "That's amazing news! What are their names?"

  "Eileen and Kieran."

  "What kind of names are those?"

  "Gaelic. Eileen means ‘light’ and Kieran means ‘little dark one’. Mom thought it would be nice if they had unique names that complimented each other."

  "No kidding. Is Honey up for visitors?"

  "No, not till tomorrow. I'm heading home in a bit. Orlando is here with me, but it's getting late and we're both pretty bushed. Visiting hours are from 9am till 8pm tomorrow. You can come see the kiddies then."

  "Excellent. You go home and rest okay? Your Mom’s going to need you."

  "Love ya," he said.

  "Love you too," Poppy said and hung up. Lucy was staring at her, open-mouthed.

  "What are you doing tomorrow?" Poppy asked.

  Chapter Four

  Alive in the Black

  Night was coming fast. The sun had set and already the sky was turning black and blue, the greyness that comes before sunset being chased from the sky. She saw him first, sitting on a park bench, a plume of smoke rising up to the night sky. She pulled a cigarette out of her purse and lit up, inhaling slowly. She made her way towards him.

  "I wasn't sure you'd come," he said.

  "I told her I had to run back to the store to get something. Poppy would have suspected something otherwise. What did you tell David?"

  "I told him that I needed a bit of fresh air. He's writing, so he's gone to the world. He probably doesn't even know I'm gone yet."

  She sat down beside him and let her eyes adjust to the dark. She could see the cherry of his cigarette, glowing red and alive in the black. She hated smoking, but meeting like this made her nervous. The cigarette calmed her, steadied her.

  "I hate lying to her," she said.

  "I know," he replied. "But what choice do we have?"

  "We can stop this," she said. "She's not ready."

  "We can't stop it. Everything was set in motion the day Jethro came back. We're on a cycle, you know that as well as I do. We can't stop fate."

  "This has nothing to do with fate," she spat. Her words were like acid in the air. "We have to protect the ones we love. I can't do this to her."

  "You have no choice."

  She stood, began pacing, the red tip of her cigarette blinking like an eye in the darkness. "If Jethro hadn't come back, she would never have to know. If she hadn't used her power. . . ."

  "But she did. We couldn't prevent that, we had no way of knowing that she would use her power so soon before we had a chance to teach her, or that it would come alive so strongly. Neither of us could have seen that coming."

  "Yeah, it was quite the surprise," she said dryly. "I was shocked, truth be told."

  "As was I. No one has asked us any questions though."

  "Why would they? I doubt they really remember everything that happened on Valentine's Day. Why would they ask questions about a little light and magic when two people came back from the dead that day?"

  The man chuckled. "I still can't believe he thought of that."

  "He's another one we'll have to keep an eye on. David and Poppy mustn't know what's going on."

  "They will find out eventually."

  "No," she said. "Poppy can't find out what she is."

  "She will," he said. "It is inevitable."

  Silence stretched between them. She sat and smoked furiously, smoke filling the air around her with its bitter sweetness. Finally, she spoke. "I can't lose her. I love her so much."

  "If we don't tell her what she is, you will lose her. That I can promise you." He took her hand in his. "We already know what we are. We have had years to adjust to what we are. We need to ease her into this, alright? I know you love her." He paused. "That is why we must be careful with how we proceed. Samhain isn't that far away."

  "October 31st. . .no, it's not." She puffed away again. "What do we do in the meantime?"

  "Keep our wits about us. Take it day by day." He said. "It's all we can do."

  "I feel so useless. All this energy in my veins and no use for it."

  "That time will come," he said.

  "I know," she said. "That's what I'm afraid of." She reached over and squeezed his hand.

  Chapter Five

  Like Little Miracles

  The day was warm and cool, a light breeze coming through the kitchen windows. Poppy sat, staring out at the back garden, an Earl Grey tea close to hand. Its fragrant aroma made her think of steamer trunks and travel to far off places. The newspaper was open to the funny pages, but instead Poppy looked at the trees outside, the flowers. And the tomb stones. They gave her a source of comfort, knowing that she had not imagined Anna; that she had not imagined what had happened on Valentines. She was afraid of the power within her.

  Pushing that thought away, she thought instead about Honey. A smile came to her mouth, drawing it out into a curve, half moon. Honey with newborns. Poppy couldn't think of anyone being a better mother. She was excited to see the twins today, was looking forward to it in fact.

  There was the sound of wind behind her. Poppy looked around to see Moe coming in through the living room wall. "Hey, hot stuff," he said.

  Poppy smiled. "Hey Moe. How goes it?"

  "Oh, you know, still dead. . .never have to diet and all that jazz. I've been out in the greenhouse."

  Poppy and Alicia had built a greenhouse on the left side of the house, off the sunroom, for Moe. He maintained solid form as long as he was in part of the house (as long as he wasn't floating through walls, that is) so he was able to continue to garden to his heart’s content.

  "Anything new to show me?" Poppy asked. She loved plants and Moe was teaching her all he knew of herbs and remedies.

  "Not yet, but next week should show us the beginning stages of a new bunch of roses that I'm growing organically. They seem to be doing really well, but they thrive in coffee grounds."

  "Coffee grounds?"

  "Yeah, they thrive in coffee for some reason. Makes them grow like gangbusters. Are you going to go see Honey today?"

  "Yeah. Visiting hours all day."

  "Cool. I'll give you some to bring over to her."

  Poppy smiled. "I think she'd love that. Make the room a whole lot prettier I'm sure."

  There was a quiet moment between them. Moe sat down across from Poppy and looked outside. He placed his hand on the glass, stretching his fingers along its surface.

  "Do you miss the outside?" Poppy asked.

  Moe removed his hand from the window. "Yeah. Yeah I do. Some days I wish I was left dead."

  Poppy drew in a breath. "You don't mean that."

  "I do. Jethro saw fit to kill me, I should have stayed dead. This is a kind of death in itself, really." He put a hand through himself, through his back and out his stomach. He wiggled his fingers at her. "I am already dead but am still suffering."

  He got up and began to pace. "But then other days, I walk through walls, remold myself into a part of the room, a piece of furniture. I can blend into any room and you won't see me. I can fly. This is a kind of magic. It is a curse and a blessing. I feel lost within myself." He sighed. "Enough negativity. Come
out to the greenhouse to get the flowers before you leave. I'll have them ready for you."

  Before Poppy could say anything, he was already gone through the wall.

  * * * * *

  Hospitals always made Poppy want to try her best to be in a cheery mood. She felt that the people in the hospital rooms needed someone to be cheerful for them, since they were usually not capable of it themselves. This visit was different though; this visit was to celebrate a birth.

  When Poppy got to Honey's hospital room, David was already there and Jose sat on the bed. David and Jose each held one of the babies, while Honey looked content to take a break for a little while. When she came into the room, Honey opened her eyes.

  "Darling!" she said. "You made it! Where is Alicia?"

  "With Orlando," Poppy said. "They're over at Strange and Unusual. Alicia got a new shipment of Tarot cards early this morning, so she wanted to get those out of the way and Orlando offered to help. These are from her," she said, handing Honey the roses. She smiled. "She said to send her apologies." She went over and gave Honey a huge hug and then Jose. "You guys must both be so happy."

  "Happy is not the word," Jose said. "Awed is more the word."

  "Parenthood is a blessing thus far. Ask me next week how I am and I may have a different answer. Did you want to hold them?"

  "Both of them?"

  "Sure, Darling, both of them. Come on, it's not that hard!" Soon, Poppy found herself holding both Eileen and Kieran, their soft heads nestled against her. "They're like little miracles," Poppy said.

  "Yes," Honey said. "They are. Is Lucy coming?"

  "She said she had to work today; she'll come by this evening to see the babies and you. She said to send her love."

  "Your mother is an incredible woman. I am proud to know her," Honey said. "You are very much like her, you know."

  Poppy blushed. "Wow, babies and compliments—what a day!"