by Paul Ruoitis
Once the order was placed, their food came much faster than usual, which Isabel attributed to the fact that the cook and waitress weren't engaging in idle chitchat to keep them from their jobs. As she sat in the booth with Kyle, she managed to coax him into a conversation about his new job as a mechanic. The goal of the talk and the entire afternoon was to avoid anything even remotely alien
in nature-a challenge, to say the least, in Roswell, the alien capital of the world.
After lunch, Isabel started their fun-time tour at the Museum of Contemporary Arts. Even though she knew this kind of entertainment was not Kyle's speed, it had the desired effect when he started making many jokes about the collection of modern art and, more specifically, the modern artists. One particular painting of a black line that had a plaque beneath it claiming its value was several thousand dollars nearly had him in hysterics. Isabel decided that she would come back to the museum Saturday with Jesse so they could seriously enjoy the works.
Following the museum, Isabel took him to the Spring River Park. It had been years since she had played on the playground, and figured that the same was true for Kyle. She couldn't exactly picture Kyle and his football buddies hanging out in a place where the average patron was about four years old, not counting, their mothers and the rogue father every now and then. Trie trip was entirely worth it just to see Kyle trying to fit onto one of the kiddie swings. She took it as a good sign when Kyle laughed out loud after a little girl stole a swing right out from under him, sticking out her tongue as if she owned the playground equipment. They capped off their time at the park with a ride on the carousel. Again, this was something neither she nor Kyle had done in years. They both commented on how huge the merry-go-round had seemed to them as children, but now the Roswell carousel appeared really rather limited compared with those huge wooden ones they had seen in movies. But that didn't matter as they continued to ride round and round for almost a half hour.
When they were finally kicked off the ride, Isabel took Kyle on a stroll through the zoo that was attached to the park. The last time either of them had been there was during a seventh-grade field trip, but the place hadn't changed all that much since then. In fact, they even remembered some of the animals from the field trip. All in all, they were both having a good day.
Leaving the park, they walked back into town to retrieve Kyle's car, which they had left at the Crashdown because the weather was nice enough for them to get everywhere on foot without suffering from heat exhaustion typical to most Roswell summers. Most of their stroll was spent in animated conversation as they went over all the fun details of their day.
«Thanks, Isabel.» Kyle openly beamed like a man without a care in the world. «I'm having a great time.»
Isabel silently patted herself on the back as she tried to discreetly look at her watch. «I knew you would.»
«So what's next?» he innocently asked as they walked down the streets of Roswell.
The unspoken response was coffee with Jesse, but Isabel couldn't say that because of her decision to keep the relationship on the sly. Even though she had been enjoying their conversation, she had also spent the past fifteen minutes trying to figure out a way to extricate herself from their activities for her secret rendezvous without spoiling Kyle's mood. The day's activities were supposed to have taken Kyle's mind off his problems and make him tired enough for a full night of sleep. But he seemed more awake than when she had picked him up earlier, and was ready to stay out and have fun.
And she was already five minutes late.
«I promised to have dinner with my parents," she lied. «Since they're going to Santa Fe tomorrow.»
«Oh.» The look of disappointment on Kyle's face nearly made her cancel her plans on the spot. She noticed that he had absentmindedly started drumming the fingers of his right hand against his leg. He hadn't done that since the museum.
«But maybe we can get together afterward," she immediately suggested since she knew Jesse had plans to go out with one of his friends later. «Maybe we could just hang out at your place?»
«Okay.» Kyle didn't really sound thrilled to be left alone even for a short time.
It seemed to Isabel that all the work she had done over the past few hours had served absolutely no purpose at all, since Kyle was suddenly back in the same mood that he had greeted her with earlier in the day. Then she noticed that his expression changed yet again. His face was totally blank as he stared at the traffic in the street.
«Kyle?» Her eyes followed his gaze, and she saw a dark-colored car turning onto the main drag. At first she thought it looked a little like Alex's car, but it was a totally different make and model. However, in the fading light of sunset, the color did appear close enough for her to make the false assumption.
Looking back to Kyle, she watched as his eyes tracked the car while it drove down the street. At first, an almost imperceptible shudder ran through his body. But, soon enough, he was shaking violently.
«Kyle?» she called to him, but it was like he was miles
away. His eyes seemed to be pleading with the driver to stop, and his body looked like it was about to spring into action and run after the phantom car. His fingers tapped wildly against his own body. «Kyle, you're scaring me!»
But he continued to ignore her as the voices ran through his mind.
Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap.
Slowly, the car made another turn off the street and out of their line of sight. Isabel actually watched Kyle's body make a physical change as he regained his composure. He was breathing heavily as a drop of perspiration rolled down his forehead. He finally blinked.
«Are you okay?» she asked.
«Yeah," he said in a hollow voice.
«That was no daydream," she said.
«I know," he replied. «I get kind of thrown into them whenever something even remotely reminds me of Alex or Tess.»
«Are they always that bad?» she asked.
«That was mild," he said without a trace of sarcasm.
Suddenly Isabel knew that her plans with Jesse were about to be cancelled. As luck would have it, they were already back at the Crashdown Cafe. «Kyle, would you mind waiting in here for a few minutes? I have to run a quick errand.»
«Sure," he said. «I could use a milk shake anyway.»
Isabel remembered how much milk shakes had seemed to be a cure-all for every dark situation when she was a child. Going back to the original theme of good fun and comfort food, she felt the need for a shake herself. «Order me one too. I'll be right back.»
As soon as Kyle went inside the restaurant, Isabel was off down the street. Conveniently, the coffeehouse where she was to meet Jesse was only a few blocks away. Since Roswell wasn't a huge bustling metropolis, they only had a coffeehouse every fourth block instead of every other block as in most major cities.
Seeing the sign for Bean There, Done That, Isabel slowed herself and grabbed the compact from her small pocketbook to do a quick makeup check. She was still in the early stages of her relationship with Jesse and she didn't want him to see her without so much as a hair out of place. After a quick lipstick reapply, she opened the door into the overly air-conditioned coffeehouse. With a shiver, she stepped inside.
Isabel found Jesse immediately, which wasn't difficult because the place only had four small tables-two of which were empty. He had been kind enough to wait for her without ordering, which Isabel couldn't help but notice obviously annoyed the guy behind the counter since Jesse was taking up a seat without having purchased a beverage.
It's a coffeehouse, she thought. People are supposed to loiter.
A perfect gentleman, Jesse was up and pulling out the seat for Isabel before she even reached the table. He gave her a hug with a quick kiss hello as she arrived, and waited for her to take her seat before sitting himself.
She chose to remain standing. «I'm sorry I'm late," she said.
«You're worth the wait," he replied, indicating that she should sit down.
«I
hope you still think so when I have to cancel on you," she said with a flirtatious and apologetic smile.
«But you're already here," he said.
The guy at the counter was looking at them expectantly. It was as if they were taking up major table space in the practically empty coffeehouse.
«Would you believe I have to take care of a sick friend?» she asked. «A really sick friend," she added, leaving out the fact that Kyle's illness was more mental than physical.
«Is it serious?» he asked, and she gave him extra points for the fact that he was obviously concerned.
«We don't know," she replied.
«Well, then, you should stay with her," Jesse said, starting to walk her to the door. «We're still on for tomorrow, right?»
«Of course," Isabel replied without correcting the assumed gender of her friend. «Thanks for understanding.»
The guy behind the counter looked rather annoyed as they stepped out of the establishment and back onto the sidewalk. Isabel couldn't help but notice how Jesse had let the door slam behind him, assuming it was done on purpose to let the coffee guy know he hadn't liked being stalked while waiting for his date.
«Until tomorrow," he said, giving her a more serious kiss on the lips. «And remember, you're all mine for the entire day.»
Reluctantly, Isabel broke from his embrace and started to make her way back to the Crashdown, peering over her shoulder every few seconds to keep him in her sight as long as possible. Even though she knew that Kyle needed
her, she couldn't help but feel guilty over the fact that she had to blow off Jesse to be there for her friend, especially considering how understanding Jesse had been about everything.
Once Jesse was finally out of sight, she replayed their conversation in her head and was confused about why she hadn't corrected him and explained that her friend was male. Certainly Jesse would have understood that a sick friend was a sick friend no matter what gender. She just chalked it up to the growing ease at which she had taken to lying about things after having had so much practice. It was not necessarily one of her better personality traits.
One day, she promised herself, I'm going to tell Jesse everything.
5
Baby-sitting is much easier than I thought it would be.» Max was comfortably leaning back into the Lyleses' plush white leather couch, careful to keep his sock-clad feet off the glass coffee table. «Especially considering that we haven't seen Jason since we got here.»
They had been in the Lyleses' home for well over five hours and hadn't even seen their charge. Every now and again, they thought they heard footsteps above them, but whenever either of them called upstairs, they got no response. At least a toilet had flushed once letting them know that Jason was still alive up there.
«He's got to come down for dinner," Liz said as she looked through the take-out menus Aunt Jackie had left on the kitchen counter for her. «How about pizza?»
«Sounds good to me," Max said, distracted by the silence from the second floor.
«Should we see what Jason wants on it?» Liz asked as she pulled the menu for the pizza parlor out of the pile.
«I think we've played his game long enough.» Max got
up from the couch with a determined look on his face. «Order whatever you want. I'll be down with Jason in a minute.»
Liz watched as Max went upstairs, looking more focused than she had ever seen him-and she had seen him in many intense situations. «First lesson in fatherhood coming up," she said softly to herself.
Outside Jason's bedroom door, Max took a deep breath and prepared himself for whatever it was that was about to happen.
«Jason, this is Liz's friend, Max," he reintroduced himself through the closed door as he banged on it. «We're ordering dinner. Open up.»
«Go to Hell!» the kid yelled back.
Not a great start, Max thought. On the bright side, he finally spoke.
«Look, Jason.» Max decided to take the gentle route. «We haven't even met, and I certainly don't know what's going on, but I'm sure Liz and I have nothing to do with it. Why don't you open the door and we can talk about it?»
Silence.
Okay, new direction.
Max placed his hand over the lock. «Jason, if you don't open this door, I'm coming in.»
«Go ahead," Jason yelled. «It's locked-hey, how'd you do that?» he asked as the door opened.
«A little trick of the baby-sitting trade," Max said cryptically from the now open doorway. «Come downstairs and I might consider showing you some other tricks.»
Intrigued, and lacking any other option, Jason got up and stormed out of the room.
Max followed as the twelve-year-old made his way downstairs. Jason seemed somewhat tall for his age and rather pale considering he lived in a desert. He had a shock of black hair that Max figured must have come from his father, since his mother's hair was light brown. Although she could have had it colored, he supposed.
Jason's clothes matched his hair, as he was outfitted in black from head to toe in a T-shirt and jeans that had obviously been bought for him when he was a few pounds heavier, since the clothes hung rather loosely on his body. Max knew from past experience what a crazy time period this was in a boy's life, and attributed the almost intensely skinny body to changes that Jason was probably undergoing. He was an attractive kid, and Max thought that once Jason's body got through this tumultuous period he would probably have a number of girls interested in him.
Liz came out from the living room when she heard footsteps plodding down the stairs. She tried to keep her excitement in check, considering how rude he had been to ignore her for so long. «Jason, it's good to finally see you.»
«What's for dinner?» was his short response.
«We haven't seen each other in over two years and all you have to say is, 'What's for dinner?»' Liz was visibly hurt by the boy's abrupt manner.
Max noticed that Jason seemed to be sorry for his rudeness, but only for a moment. The stone face of resolve quickly went back up as he chose to remain silent. Max figured he was like most preteens and was probably just angry at the world for no particular reason. Since he hadn't even truly met the boy, he wasn't going to take any of it personally, but he wished he could say the same for
Liz, who appeared to be more than a little hurt by her young friend's attitude.
«We're getting pizza," Max spoke as abruptly as Jason had, then took Liz by the arm to guide her back into the living room.
«What are we doing?» she whispered.
«Ignoring him," Max replied, also in a whisper. «Don't worry, he'll follow.»
Then they heard the front door slam shut.
«Time for a new plan," Liz said as she hurried back into the hall and flung the door open. «Jason, freeze!»
He had only gotten a few steps away from the house when Liz's voice stopped him cold. With shoulders slumped, his back was still to her, but she had definitely gotten his attention.
Max came up behind her to watch what she was doing and provide backup if necessary. But her body language told him that, for the moment, his assistance was not required.
«In the house," she said in one of the most firm tones of voice Max had ever heard her use, «now!»
«You don't have to talk to me like I'm a baby," Jason moped as he came back into his home.
«Then stop acting like one," Liz replied, shutting the door behind them.
Jason sulked into the living room and deposited himself on the couch. Max and Liz followed and took seats on either side of the boy. They sat in total silence until the pizza came.
Max paid the delivery guy while Liz brought the pizza into the dining room. They had wanted to just relax and
eat while watching TV, but one look at the pristine living room convinced them that sitting at a table would be their best option. So, instead of the random noises of whatever was on the tube, the three of them settled in for a very quiet dinner.
Forty miles away in Michael's apartment, another
dinner was taking place with an even greater amount of hostile silence. A meal carried out with equal amounts of anger and absolute quiet was in itself an art form, one at which Maria and Michael had become masters.
It had started when Michael had placed on his plate the piece of lemon chicken that Maria had prepared. A scrape of the fork against the ceramic dish evoked a dirty look from Maria as she assumed it had been an intentional message aimed at her. She answered with an abrupt clink of her own fork onto her plate, clearly indicating that he should have let her serve herself first considering that she was not only the cook but the only lady present and it was the gentlemanly thing to do. Michael only glanced up briefly as he continued to ignore her.
The meal progressed to the next phase with the passing of side dishes. First, Maria took a small helping of her world-famous string bean casserole and placed the bowl down on Michael's side of the table, but not into his waiting hands. She made sure it landed with a definite thud. Michael countered by taking a heaping spoonful and plopping the casserole onto his plate, spilling some of it onto the table. Maria rolled her eyes at his gluttony.
Then came the passing of the rolls. Both participants reached to the center of the table for the bread at the same
time, grabbing their own pieces while their hands momentarily grazed each other. There was a bit of hesitation as they looked into each other's eyes and knew that they were both tempted to take their rolls and use them as projectiles to be launched at each other. However, the possibility of a harmlessly flirtatious food fight was the furthest thing from their minds as they considered the hot buttered weapons.
«You didn't have to come if you were going to be in a mood.» Michael slammed his roll onto his plate to punctuate his statement.