Alyssa tossed her hair and snapped her reply. “No problem. Between school and work for me and the things that you have to do, we’ll barely see each other. That’s probably for the best.”
5
Toby had worked hard at his previous kitchen job (that is, when he had shown up for work). Nothing, though, had prepared him for the pace at Harbor Lights. As one of Tacoma’s most popular eateries the seafood restaurant’s small size was belied by the line out the door almost from the time that the door was unlocked at 11:00 a.m. Toby barely had time to grab a quick ice water from the server’s area between tubs of dirty plates and bowls being thrust on him by bus boys on the run. Toby earned a dime over minimum wage for a shift that started at 6:00 at night and lasted until about 12:30 a.m. four nights a week. He worked Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday nights. Occasionally he was called in on Sunday as well, but that shift tended to be noon to seven.
Luckily the bus from the Boylan’s Olympia home ran at times that he could catch a ride to work every day. It was a long dark slog back at night, however. Toby had every intention of staying on the straight and narrow, but it wouldn’t have mattered much if he hadn’t. On the days that he worked Toby fell into bed and into a dead sleep as soon as he got back from work.
Two weeks after Toby started work he was sweeping off the parking lot at Harbor Lights when he heard a familiar voice, “Hey! Tobe!”
Amos hadn’t been in touch at all up until now. Toby acknowledged him and kept working. Amos hopped over a parking barrier and joined Toby in the lot.
“Where you been, my man?” Amos said, throwing his arm around Toby’s shoulder.
“I been around. I got a job working here.”
Amos squinted a little as he looked, first at Harbor Lights and then at Toby’s stained apron.
“So I see. What are you doin’ here? I got some ideas about how we can make some quick money.”
Toby glanced quickly at the door that went into the kitchen from the parking lot. He didn’t want to be rude to Amos but he also didn’t want to be seen leaning on a broom by his boss. He spoke in a low voice to Amos while continuing to sweep.
“Whatchu got in mind. I don’ want no trouble.” Toby realized that he had fallen into the slang and lingo of the inner city. It made sense since that is where he knew Amos.
Amos realized that he didn’t have Toby’s undivided attention. “When are you done here?”
“Midnight, 12:30, maybe later.”
“You gotta phone?”
Toby figured that it would be best to get Amos away from his workplace as soon as he could. “Yeah. Call me at 360-425-5645,” he said, giving Amos the Boylan’s land line number. What with rent, restitution, bus passes and the like Toby didn’t have a cell phone, and didn’t know when he would be able to get one.
“Gotcha’. I’ll call you tomorrow. When are you up?”
Toby shook his head. “Don’t call me until after noon, man. I gotta ride my bike home and it’s about ten thousand miles.”
Amos left and Toby didn’t think about him again until the next day. Just before noon Toby was awakened from a sound sleep by someone banging on his bedroom door and yelling his name.
“TOBY! PHONE!!!”
It was Alyssa, none too pleased with having to be an answering service for her parent’s delinquent house guest. “TOBY! PHONE CALL!”
“Okay, okay. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Half expecting Alyssa to keep hounding him Toby rubbed his eyes and waited for her to say more. “It would be just like her” he thought.
But Alyssa was already away from the door and on with her day. She and Toby hadn’t exchanged a dozen words since he had moved in.
Toby got dressed and went into the kitchen where the nearest phone extension hung on the wall.
“H’lo?”
“Tobe, it’s me man. Can you talk?”
Toby glanced around the corner and didn’t see anyone. “Sure, I guess.”
“Listen. Some of us were talkin’ about you. We don’t want to see you wearin’ dirty aprons and sweepin’ whitey’s parkin’ lot. Do you work tonight?”
“No.”
“Me and some others will pick you up at 11:00. We got a plan.”
He knew that he should just hang up on Amos, because Amos’ idea was surely going to be trouble, but Toby didn’t hang up. The idea of having some ready cash appealed to him. Toby was still tired from his long shift at work and exhausting ride home. His legs ached all the time and, while John and DeeDee were great to him they were all he had. His friends lived in downtown Tacoma, and all Toby saw every day was them and Alyssa, known to Toby as “their snooty-assed daughter,”
“Okay Amos, 11:00. You don’t know where I live, though.” Toby said. He quickly gave John and DeeDee’s address to Amos, who hung up without another word. Toby went back to bed.
What he didn’t realize was that Alyssa had come into the kitchen from behind him, and had heard the end of the phone call. She hadn’t recognized the voice on the phone when she had answered it, but thought that Toby’s plan to hook up with “Amos” at 11:00 at night was something to note.
Toby slept until 2:00. When he finally walked into the Boylan’s living room he saw that snow had fallen on the driveway. DeeDee had asked him to help around the house so he went into the garage to get a sidewalk broom. He was clearing a path from the driveway to the front door when Alyssa came out on to the porch. She was carrying two steaming mugs.
“Hey, you want some hot chocolate?”
Toby looked up in surprise. Alyssa had been anything but welcoming in the days that he had been a guest in her home. Truth told he was a little suspicious of her offer even now. The steam rising from the brown ceramic mugs, in concert with the cold air against his face was more than he could resist.
“Sure,” Toby said. He put the sidewalk broom over his shoulder military style and moved toward the porch.
Alyssa held out the mug and sat down on the porch. Toby joined her, holding the mug between his hands. The warmth from the hot chocolate was welcome. Toby and Alyssa sipped in silence until Alyssa spoke.
“You know I wasn’t much in favor of Mom and Dad letting you stay here, but now that you’re here, how are you doing? Do you like your job? What are your plans?”
Toby smiled a little at Alyssa’s admission that she hadn’t been in favor of her parent’s largesse. Not that she needed to say it. She was a young lady whose opinions showed on her face like a reader board at a football stadium. If the hot chocolate and conversation was a form of olive branch, though, Toby wasn’t going to quibble about the past.
“The job’s okay. The bike rides are a drag, but I guess I’m going to get strong.”
Alyssa glanced down at Toby’s legs. The heavy winter pants that he was wearing to shovel snow couldn’t completely hide the muscle structure underneath. She could tell that Toby’s legs were lean, but strong. Alyssa pulled her eyes back to Toby’s face. He hadn’t seemed to notice her checking out his legs. “I really wasn’t,” she thought.
Toby drained the last of the sweet hot beverage and put the empty mug on the porch as he stood up.
“Gotta finish up, thanks.”
Alyssa picked up Toby’s mug and put it in her left hand along with her own. She hesitated for a moment and then held out her right hand toward Toby. “I’m sorry that I got so mad. I really do hope that everything goes well for you.”
Toby took Alyssa’s hand in his. Her handshake was firm, belying the softness of her skin.
“Friends?” Toby asked.
Alyssa laughed, “Friends.”
Toby watched Alyssa as she went back into the house. He couldn’t help but be stirred by her. Toby had never been with a grown woman. His “love life”, if you could call it that, consisted of hurried groping and coupling with girls who were proud to call themselves “bitches and ho’s.” Toby may tell Amos that Alyssa was a snooty assed bitch but even he knew that was a show of bravado. Alyssa was an in
telligent young lady with a real mind. The body that she was carrying into the house along with Toby’s empty cup wasn’t too bad either.
When Toby had finished out front he went back into the Boylan’s living room. A fire had been laid in the fireplace and the heat of the blaze was a magnet for Toby’s frost-bitten hands and feet. Alyssa got up from the couch and stood beside him in front of the hearth. The two young people stood companionably in silence for a moment. Toby appreciated the atmospheric thaw that Alyssa exhibited to him that morning. It made life so much easier if he didn’t feel like she hated him being there.
For Alyssa’s part, she was dealing with a fruit salad of thoughts and emotions. As evidenced by her impassioned speech during Professor Bakewood’s lecture, she would only too readily have described herself as a “law and order hard-ass,” to this point. She believed in a strict interpretation of society’s rules and harsh punishment for those who flout said rules.
All of that was well and good in theory, but the recent weeks had put a face on people who broke Alyssa’s precious rules. She saw in Toby someone who had a strong work ethic and a good heart. It had been hidden behind what hides the good in so many young men raised in the mean streets.
The dilemma that Alyssa faced that cold winter morning was no small mountain to climb. If Toby was redeemable, was he the only one? Alyssa warmed her hands next to Toby and decided to give herself a good internal tongue lashing.
“Get a grip! You have a good time talking to this guy and give up everything that you’ve always believed. He’s hot (a point that she decided to stipulate in the courtroom of the mind) and you’re getting all mushy brained about what he’s done. He’s probably just faking being good so he can stay here with Mom and Dad.”
Toby, of course, had no idea of the inner dialogue that was raging inside Alyssa’s mind. Nor did he know that what he was about to say was only going to confuse her more.
“I’ve been thinking about my Mom. I wish that I could talk to her and make her understand. I’ve disappointed her…” Toby went on talking but Alyssa had some more internal dialogue to handle.
Oh great! Now he’s sad about his mother! Pull on my heart a LITTLE HARDER, TOBY! Maybe bring a puppy or a kitten home and nurse it back to health. You would do that, wouldn’t you?”
Toby had stopped talking and was looking to Alyssa for a response. She had no idea what he had said at the end so she went with a noncommittal, “Mmm-hmm.”
Apparently it was sufficient, because Toby continued talking. “A lot of the people that I went to school and hung with are gone. A couple went into the Army, a couple are in prison…one is dead. I could have been one of them too. Not now, but if I had kept going the way I was.”
Toby looked at Alyssa, and said with deep feeling, “Your Dad may have saved my life, Alyssa. I really believe that.”
Alyssa looked into Toby’s chocolate brown eyes and didn’t say anything…out loud.
“Unbelievable! It’s like you’re reading off a script titled, ‘This way to Alyssa.’ You’re sorry, you miss your Mommy, you’re a changed man, and my Dad is the hero that made it all happen for you. Why don’t I just melt into an easy to carry pile of clothes and we can ride off into the sunset? I’m going to be some kind of judge. ‘You! The one in the handcuffs! Yes you, with the strong jaw, nice teeth, and winning smile. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past if you’re sorry. Are you sorry? Great! Meet me in my chambers. I’ll be the one in the thong.’ I’m pathetic.”
Toby was afraid that he might have overshared with Alyssa. Why else would she be looking at him without anything to say? He noticed that the reflection of the firelight brought out the ash blonde highlights in her hair and the roses in her cheeks. He noticed also that her eyes, which he had always thought were plain brown, were in fact chocolate brown and had green flecks of fire, at least in this light. Toby’s thought process while less articulate than Alyssa’s, conjured up its own inner dialogue.
“I wonder what would happen if I kissed her?”
“Why, oh why do I want to kiss him right now?’
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. John noticed that Toby seemed quieter than normal at dinner, but also noted that the tension that had surrounded the dinner table since Toby’s arrival seemed to have eased a bit. Alyssa had inventory at the campus bookstore this night, so she left as soon as dessert had been served.
Toby spent the balance of the evening in his room with his feet up, listening to music. Just before 11:00, after John and DeeDee had retired for the night, Toby put on his coat and stepped outside. The crisp cold winter air was bracing. Toby shivered a bit, and pulled the collar of his coat up near his ears. Just then a white Chevy Camaro roared around the corner and hurried to the curb. Amos jumped out of the back seat and motioned for Toby.
The car was being driven by someone Toby only knew as “Spike.” They weren’t friends but had been in the same place at the same time occasionally. Toby had neither a positive nor negative impression of Spike. He was just a guy. Spike quickly put the Camaro in gear and headed out of the residential neighborhood and toward the lights of downtown Olympia. Toby realized that he should have asked a question from Jump Street.
“This ride stolen?”
Amos laughed and threw his arm around Toby’ shoulders. “Would we do that to ya’, my man? This is Spike’s ride.”
Toby nodded. He wondered how Spike could afford such a fine machine, but not enough to ask any more questions. He was curious why Amos had insisted that this little get together happen in the first place.
Spike downshifted on Capitol Way and roared into an empty parking lot. During the day the lot was full of shoppers going to South Sound Mall but it was deserted at 11:00 at night. Spike slid the Camaro to a stop across two parking spots and shut down the engine. He turned and spoke directly to Toby.
“Amos says you’re cool. Is he right or ain’t ya’.”
“I’m cool, but what’s this all about?”
“You need cash, I need cash, everybody need cash. There’s a Dar-Mart up in Tenino that just has one old guy at the till. I been there a bunch ’a times and it’s always just this one old guy. People come in all day and all night buying beer, smokes, food, whatever. He takes their money and never goes to the bank, far as I can tell. I’ve watched him from inside and outside. Old guy doesn’t even swipe cards. Cash only. Tomorrow night it’s goin’ down. You in?”
Toby knew that what Spike said was probably true. Tenino was just a wide spot on a road that wound aimlessly through the fields and forest. Known for having more chickens than people Tenino was where chicken ranches that supplied Foster Farms were located. The old guy that ran the Dari-Mart probably knew every one of his customers by name. Toby imagined that security was at best lax and, as Spike had indicated, probably non-existent.
“How much, ya’ think?” he asked.
Spike lit a cigarette and cracked the window. He squinted through the smoke as he pondered Toby’s question. “Three, four thou apiece anyway. You, me’n Amos. Enough to have some fun anyway. Show some bitches a good time. Score some bling.”
All of that sounded really good to Toby. He was tired of walking around with empty pockets and no prospects of having any money for a long time. He had one more question, though.
“No guns, right?
Spike glanced quickly at Amos. They had talked about this, and decided that the less Toby knew about their plans for firearms the better. Amos looked impassively back at Spike, who turned back to Toby.
“No guns, it’s cool. Easy score, in and out.”
Toby looked into Spike’s impassive face and saw the future. It wasn’t a matter of clairvoyance or being prescient. It was Toby seeing what Spike’s life, and by extension his life, would be if he let this go on any longer. Toby knew that, even if this was an “easy score in and out” (and he wasn’t sure it would be that) the next one would go wrong, or the next one after that. Eventually something would go horribly wrong and Tob
y would end up dead, or in prison for the rest of his life for being around crime, violence, and destruction.
Toby looked at Spike first, and then Amos. “Not gonna happen for me. I’m out.”
Spike snorted in disgust. “Amos said you were cool. You ain’t.”
Amos defended Toby, in his own way. “He just needs to be sure. He’ll be in when he’s sure, woncha’ Tobe?”
Toby ignored Spike. He knew that Spike was going to do what Spike was going to do. Toby thought that, maybe, he could talk Amos down from the plan to take down the Dari-Mart.
“Amos, you don’t need this crap. Come over to the house where I’m staying tomorrow. You can meet John and DeeDee. They can help you like they’ve helped me.”
The Chaplain's Daughter Page 5