No Reservations

by Natalia Banks

  Griffin fell back, body burning despite waves of blistering cold passing over him. He struggled to stand, barely able to move. He looked over to see the man in the black jacket laying on his back, a brown package just a few feet from his motionless body.

  Backstage, Lorraine quietly watched the buzz, checking her watch. Footsteps clacked against the stage boards, muttered conversations around her scrambled to memorize lines and reassure one another in whispered promises of perfection.

  Lorraine was nervous, she couldn’t deny it. It was easy for her to assume what was causing those nerves. She caught Ashe walking by and grabbed his arm. “How long ’til the curtain. Shouldn’t we go on? Is the pianist all ready? I think he drinks, Ashe — ”

  “Relax, Mom, it’ll be fine. We blink the lights in five, you’re at your mark in twenty. Got it?”

  “Right, Ashe, got it.” Lorraine confirmed.

  “And don't worry,” Ashe said. “It’ll be fine.”

  “I know that,” Lorraine said, voice fast and fluttering, “of course I know that. It’ll be fine, perfect, better than perfect.”

  “And you’re not afraid?”

  “Afraid? Me? What, no, afraid? Don’t be silly, of course I’m not afraid … I’m terrified! What if I blow my lines, or throw up on stage? I don’t wanna ruin this for you, Ashe. I can’t act, I can’t sing, I can’t remember any of my lines … I told you I wasn’t the right person for this.”

  Ashe held out his hands to calm her. “And I told you that you were. And I know you’re gonna be great. So sit tight, relax, and enjoy yourself. That’ll make all the difference.”

  “Is that what you’re gonna do?” She asked.

  “I’m the director,” Ashe said, “I don’t have that luxury.”

  Ashe walked away, once more leaving Lorraine amazed at his poise and confidence but unable to muster any of it for herself. Lorraine peered out of the side of the curtain to scan the packed house. There was one seat in the front row that was conspicuously absent. She pulled out her smartphone and dialed Griffin’s number, getting only a few idle rings and a recorded invitation to leave a message.

  “Grif, where are you? The show’s about to start!” Assuming he was in the bathroom, Lorraine tried to calm herself.

  It didn’t work.

  Three minutes later she was walking around the side of the auditorium, looking for Griffin. With most of the people inside, it was quiet and still on the dark private school campus; save for one lone figure standing nearby, crouched down, wearing a long coat that didn’t make much sense for a late spring evening in New York City. Lorraine stepped closer, the figure fidgeting, looking down at something.

  Lorraine was struck with a sense of familiarity by the shape of the figure as she got nearer to it, stocky but not obese, bent slightly forward with unseen burdens. The figure turned to see Lorraine coming, moonlight hitting her face even under a black fedora.

  “Treena? Treena Torasco?” Treena turned, her eyes wide, face bloodless even in that stark shaft of light. “Treena, what are you doing here?”

  Treena lifted the object she was holding, a small device with a steady green light. She held it back and above her head and held her other hand out, palm flat to stop Lorraine in her tracks. “Stay back, Lorraine. Not another move, not another sound.”

  Lorraine stood, frozen in her tracks, eyes locked on that small, black box in Treena’s palm. “What is that?”

  “Detonator,” Treena said. “There’s a bomb under the stage.”

  “A bomb?” Lorraine gasped.

  Lorraine was about to scream but Treena spat out, “Shut up shut up shut up, or I’ll blow ‘em all up right now.”

  “A bomb … you planted a bomb? Why? Do you really hate me that much? Are you that jealous?” Lorraine grimaced.

  “Jealous? I don’t give a shit about you or your family or your money, Lorraine. It may shock you to realize this, but you’re not the center of the goddamned universe!”

  “Then why? Treena, this is madness!” She cried out.

  “No, it’s perfectly rational, even … even necessary. I tried to warn you, I told you that you didn’t know who you were dealing with. But you just kept shooting off your mouth, flouncing around, Little Mrs. Thing — ”

  “You mean … pro sports? But I cancelled that petition. And I quit the Education Department — ” Lorraine explained.

  “Too little, too late,” Treena said. “Word came from the brass upstairs, just like it did with Albert Jenkins. You’re to be made an example of.” She stared at Lorraine with disgust.

  “You killed Albert Jenkins? But … how? He outweighed you by over a hundred pounds.”

  “Casper and I did it together. It was easy getting access to him because we’d taken meetings with him already. Crept in up the stairs to bypass the registration desk, he let us walk right in.” Treena spat out a sad chuckle. “I’m not saying he gave up without a fight, though. I don’t suppose anybody in that auditorium will have the same chance.”

  Lorraine’s heart was pounding fast in her chest, sweat collecting on her neck and behind her ears. “Okay, listen to me, Treena, I’m the one they want, I’m the one who caused all the trouble. So you can just take me and leave everybody else out of it.”

  “Take you? And do what with you?”

  “Turn me over to whoever ordered this, they can do what they want to me. But you can’t hurt my family, Treena, I know you’re not that kind of person. And the other kids, and their families, my God it would be a bloodbath!” Lorraine babbled in the potential horror of what was about to unfold.

  “Will be a bloodbath,” Treena said. “Soon as Casper gets out here, then he’ll take care of you, too. Boom boom, bang bang, you skinny, rich bitch.”

  “But why, Treena? Why are you and Casper doing their dirty work?”

  “It’s our job, stupid! You think they pay me to sit around and tease dick like you do?”

  “But, I mean, you’re not … ” Lorraine went on.

  “That’s exactly why they use me, and Casper’s a lot stronger than you think. You’ll find out.” Treena smiled. “And he’s ten times the lover your money-stuffed scarecrow could ever be … or maybe I should say, could ever have been.”

  Chapter 16

  The campus rang with a deadly quiet, tension swelling between the two women. Even the moon seemed frightened, pulling back into the ink-black sky, anxious to hide behind a slow-moving cloud. Lorraine took a single step forward and Treena a single step back. “Stop, Lorraine, I mean it. I’ll kill ‘em all.”

  “What about Casper? He's still in there, he’d have to be or he’d be out here with you.”

  “He knows the risks, we both do.”

  “But that doesn’t have to happen, Treena, honestly. I get it, okay? I understand, you both served all your lives, overworked and underpaid, and this was the only way you could make it work for you. Okay, I really do get that. I've made the system work for me, I know what that's like.” Lorraine tried to reason with her the best she could under the mounting pressure.

  “Do you ever.”

  Lorraine continued, “So I can sympathize with you, Treena. I know how it is to have people stonewall you at every turn, shut you down. I’ve had people gunning for my life, Treena … look at the situation we’re in now.”

  “Any person would think you’d taken the hint at this point.” Treena took a step forward, raising the detonator just a bit more. Lorraine stepped back, crouching a bit, hands up and out.

  “Okay, okay, but you got me all wrong, Treena. I’m not the person you want to kill, I’m the person who can help you … I’m the only one who can help you.”

  “What are you talking about?” Treena scoffed.

  Lorraine’s words came fast as she thought it through. “We’ll pay you twice whatever they’re paying you, more than that.”

  Treena spat out a bitter chuckle. “You rich jerks think you can buy your way out of, or into anything. But, it’s not about the money, you bough
t-out little snipe! We have to do this, just like we had to take out Albert Jenkins. If we don’t then we disappear, then we take the dirt nap.”

  “Okay, I can see that, they’re forcing you into this. But, we can take care of that, too, Treena. Put that thing down, walk away from this, we’ll protect you. Griffin’s got all the resources in the world, we can get you the best lawyers, drop any charges we can. You can work with us to bring the truly guilty parties to justice, Treena! And I know you still believe in justice, I know you still want to do the right thing.” Lorraine said, trying to sway her judgement.

  “You don’t know shit about me!” Treena exploded.

  “That’s not true, Treena. I haven't lived your life, I haven't suffered through everything you’ve suffered through. But, I know you’re a good person, Treena. I know you set out to do good things, to help people, not to hurt or even kill them. That’s not the person you are, the person you were born to be. That’s not the person who dedicated her life, sacrificed her best years to help children she didn’t even know, that she’d never know.” Lorraine doing her damnedest to remind Treena of who she was before she got caught up in all of this.

  Treena stood there, eyes softening, the detonator lowering in her hand.

  “This isn’t you, Treena, this is them; shallow, callous people who don’t value human life the way we do. We may have different experiences, live different lives, but we're both hard-working people who sacrifice our lives to keep the system going, to keep the system alive.”

  Treena gave it some thought, her voice beginning to quiver. “I … I couldn’t have kids of my own … ”

  Lorraine went on, “I’m … I’m sorry to hear that, Treena. But again, you’ve got options. You just lost your way. But, we can help you find it again, get back on track.” Treena looked at the detonator, now in front of her, arms relaxed at her side. Lorraine took one step toward her and Treena tensed up, stepping back and raising the detonator again.

  “It’s okay, it’s all right, Treena. It’s all gonna be okay.” Lorraine said in a low, calming tone.

  Treena’s face started to bend into a tortured frown, blood rushing to her cheeks, eyes tearing up. “How?”

  “That’s simple, Treena, just hand me that detonator.” Lorraine said level headed.

  Treena almost did, arms stretching slowly out to her, but then they retracted in a panic sending a wave of tense anticipation through Lorraine’s body. But, no explosion resulted, hundreds of lives still safe, for the precarious time being.

  “No, I can’t. It’s too late, it’s too late!” Treena shrieked.

  “It’s not too late, Treena, please listen to me!”

  “Why? They’re gonna put me away for life, Casper, too. We won’t be able to survive in there! I don’t wanna go to prison, Lorraine, I don’t wanna die in prison!” She choked on her words.

  “You won’t have to if you’ll just listen to me,” Lorraine urged her.

  “No! You stay back or I’ll do it, I swear I will!” Treena stepped backward toward the side-door entrance to the auditorium.

  “Don’t do it, Treena, please!” Lorraine pleaded, keeping her voice even to not rile up Treena any more than she already was.

  “Don’t you move!” Treena threatened as she backed up to the door, pushed it open and scrambled into the auditorium. Before the door closed, Lorraine could hear Treena call out, “Everybody get outta here! There's a bomb, get outta here now!”

  Lorraine tried to push her way in, but those double doors were already punched open from the inside, the crowd rushing out, wide-eyed and screaming. They pushed against Lorraine, some faces familiar, some not, all of them lit up with terror. Parents clutched their kids, pulling them along, banging into each other, pushing Lorraine back and nearly sending her toppling to the ground. She knew she’d be trampled to death if she lost her footing, so Lorraine had no choice but to let the tide push her further back and away from her family, Treena, the detonator, the bomb.

  “Stop it,” Lorraine tried to insist, “let me through!” Unable to beat the thick rush of frightened New Yorkers, Lorraine scanned the crowd instead, desperate to find Griffin and Ashe and simply rush them away from the auditorium as quickly as possible, if it wasn't already too late.

  Faces rushed past her, and Lorraine knew that wasn't the only exit, that both her husband and son could have fled out one of the other doors. When she saw Ashe running out, dragging his girlfriend Rachel out with him, Lorraine rushed over and wrapped her arms around him.

  “Thank God you’re all right! You, too, Rachel. Are your parents outside?”

  “I don’t know.” She said quietly.

  Lorraine looked down at Ashe. “Have you seen your father?” Ashe shook his head and Lorraine scanned the crowd. “Okay, you two get outta here, run as far away as you can. Stick together and find an adult you know.”

  “But Mom — ”

  “Do it now, Ashe!” By then, Lorraine was already running back into the auditorium.

  Treena climbed up onto the stage as the last stragglers ran out from the various exits. Lorraine slipped into the door at the side of the stage, hurrying down the hall to see Griffin pushing himself slowly up the little concrete staircase.

  “Griffin!”

  Lorraine rushed to Griffin’s side, slipped under his arm, and supported him in an awkward, injured gate to the door. They stopped and turned, Treena on the stage, a tragic, crumpled figure, barely able to stand upright.

  Lorraine called out, “Treena, please!”

  She turned slowly to look at them, her face without expression, without pain. She’d already let go of those Earthly emotions. Instead, she shouted, “Just get out!” After a long moment of consideration, Lorraine and Griffin turned, pushed the door open, and limped out of the auditorium.

  They made it out of the double-doors, the last two people who would ever walk out of that auditorium alive tonight. They walked as quickly as they could, Griffin clutching his bleeding belly as Lorraine dragged him along as fast as they could go.

  “Who shot you? Casper Newkirk?”

  “Fat man, pale, didn't know him.” Griffin managed to say between sharp, labored breaths.

  “That’s him all right. Where is he?”

  “Left him knocked out, some package next to him.”

  “Package,” Lorraine repeated, still hurrying the wounded Griffin away from that doomed structure. “The bomb … ”

  But, that was the last second of quiet reflection Lorraine would have. The explosion burst with such volume that it hardly seemed to make any sound at all. The wave of heat and energy smacked Lorraine and Griffin from behind, pushing them forward making them stumble to the asphalt. They fell, hitting the ground hard, which was the only thing keeping them from being perforated by flying shards of shattered glass and hail-stone sized chunks of hot stone.

  Lorraine’s ears were ringing, her back stinging with a slight burn. Flames replaced the explosion, the massive crackle and roar of a terrific fire, big enough to handily consume what remained of the auditorium, and everything inside of it.

  Lorraine and Griffin looked up to see the auditorium burning, debris still falling, lighter chunks carried away by the heat of the fire and the spring breeze. They clutched each other, reddened faces pressing together. Ashe ran up to them and fell to his knees, the Phoenix family reunited once again, against all odds from that moment forward. They shared tears of joy and of relief, heads pressing against each other, arms intertwined, hearts bound forever.

  Epilogue

  One year later, another diverse crowd of Denver, Coloradans were gathered around a newly restored brownstone in Lincoln Park. Cars crawled down the boulevard, drivers gawking at the gathering. News crews were there, interviewing members of the community, the famous Phoenix family, visiting from New York especially for the dedication. The warm, salty smell of popcorn poured out from the vendor’s cart, a cloudless sky stretched out above them.

  Lorraine and Griffin stood in the cr
owd with Ashe, who was thrilled that his fifteen-year-old girlfriend’s parents allowed Rachel to join him on the trip. He’d earned their respect, and that of every other adult he came to know. And, of course, he lived up to his reputation as a respectful, sober-minded, and gentlemanly young man.

  Lorraine held little Kayla, which was harder and harder to do the older the child got. At four years old, she was a wiggle-worm, eager to investigate everything, see everything, do anything. So like her father, Lorraine thought to herself, and I suppose a bit like her mother, too.

  Jeremy and Anton stood next to the Phoenix family, their newly adopted baby girl, Leezah, already asleep in Anton’s arms.

  Lorraine looked out over the crowd and smiled easily. There was no trace of the fear or doubt which had plagued her over the previous four years, and for years before that. At long last, Lorraine had defeated her demons, both inside and out. Authorities finally found Mrs. B. running a pub in the London suburb of Croydon, and thanks to Griffin’s connections and Lorraine’s high profile, she was extradited. Both Mrs. B and Tony Gardner had been found guilty only two months before the Phoenix’s trip back to Denver, and they’d spend the rest of their lives in federal prison on multiple felony charges including conspiracy, attempted grand larceny, and more.

  It had been an otherwise quiet year, no sign of any retribution from the school board, the Education Department, pro sports, nobody. With Casper and Treena’s deaths, Albert’s murder had been solved and avenged and a major source of department corruption taken out of commission forever.

  On the stage, Sally and Larry Devonshire winked at their daughter as they drew the crowd’s applause. They had run the first Denver PEEC project learning center to success, then spearheaded the city’s second learning center in Lincoln Park, which they had just dedicated to great fanfare. The PEEC project became the center of their lives, which were healthier, happier, and more fulfilled. Sally’s smile told Lorraine how grateful she was, how proud of her daughter and grandchildren, how much she looked forward to her future.