“So you’re finally breaking down and getting one?” Jesse asked.
“Thinking about it,” Darren replied, and grinned. “I’ll let him have your bedroom. Your ex-bedroom.”
“Dad…” Jesse shook his head, taking a quick glance at Malcom which, thankfully, as far as Darren was concerned, the man didn’t pick up on.
“Okay. I think it’s time I went home,” Darren said a few minutes later, finishing the last of his coffee. “This has been fun. Congratulations on your engagement.” He hugged Leah when she stood, whispering, “First a dog, then maybe a housemate.”
“Go for it,” she whispered back.
He hugged Jesse as well, promised to call him if he wanted to go dog hunting with him, which Jesse said he did. After saying goodnight to Malcom, Darren left.
Malcom’s a nice man, and not even remotely interested in me, thank God. Hopefully Jesse finally realizes that and more to the point, if he does, I hope to hell he doesn’t start looking for someone else to hook me up with.
* * * *
Darren ran into Rob twice during the week after the dinner with Jesse and Leah. Both times, Rob had seemed distracted but when Darren asked him if something was bothering him, Rob merely shook his head, replying “Nothing more than normal.” Darren didn’t believe him, but he didn’t push the issue. They might consider each other friends, but given their situations, that was it.
Friends, not bosom buddies who confide our personal feelings to each other.
Then, the following Wednesday night, while patrolling their normal downtown area—without hassling the homeless, most of whom seemed to have fled the area once it got dark—Darren spotted Rob sitting on a low wall surrounding one of the plazas a block over from the mall. Since he was doing the driving, Darren parked half a block away. Telling Zack he’d be right back, he walked over to Rob. The man seemed to be edgy, his gaze darting around as if he was looking for something, or someone.
“Hi,” Darren said, taking a seat beside him on the wall.
Rob nodded, smiling briefly before scanning the area again.
“If you’re waiting for someone…” Darren said.
“More like hoping someone will show up,” Rob muttered.
It was then that Darren realized that the cast and sling were gone. “You’re back in fighting shape now,” he teased.
“Like it or not.”
“Okay. Want to tell me what’s going on?”
“Nope.” Rob shook his head hard to emphasize the word.
“Rob, is something happening I should know about?” Darren took a leap of logic, adding “Are those punks back? If so, why the hell are you sitting out here in plain view?”
“Hoping they’ll come after me again. I owe them. Before you ask, I saw two of them a couple of hours ago, on the mall, and they saw me before I got out of there. They’ve been bothering any of us they see. Trying to chase us away. I’m over it.”
“Fuck.” Darren sighed. “Two against one isn’t very good odds,” he pointed out. “Leave it to us to deal with them. That’s what we get paid for.”
“Haven’t done a great job of it so far,” Rob said tightly. “I’m ready this time.” He reached into the pouch pocket of his hoodie, pulling out a short knife. “Don’t worry, the blade’s not over the legal length.”
“Give it to me,” Darren replied softly. “Give it to me, then meet me at the diner. I’m off in a couple of hours.” When Rob hesitated, Darren said, “I mean it. We need to talk and I can’t do it right now, as much as I’d like to.” He nodded toward the squad car.
“How about I keep it, and meet you,” Rob said. “I promise I’ll lay low until then, but if they do show their ugly faces…”
“Robin,” Darren growled.
“Now it’s Robin, huh?” Rob scowled. “Okay. Here you go.” He gave the knife to Darren. “But if someone finds my dead body, it’s on your head.”
“You’re too smart to let that happen,” Darren told him, pocketing the knife.
Rob shrugged as he got up. “Maybe. See you then.” He walked off, squaring his shoulders before going into a nearby alley.
“If you don’t show up, I’m killing you myself,” Darren muttered under his breath before returning to the car.
“Problems?” Zack asked.
“No. At least I hope not.”
Zack smirked knowingly. “Twenty-to-one says he’s a special case, as far as you’re concerned.”
“Yeah, he is. He’s a vet who deserved a good life when he got out and got shafted instead.”
“And you’re bound and determined to change that.”
Darren nodded. “I’m trying to.”
* * * *
“You made it. I was wondering if you were going to stand me up.” Rob rested his hand on the roof of Darren’s car, peering inside.
“Turn about,” Darren replied with a brief smile. “Get in.”
“Uh, I thought we were going to get something to eat.” Rob nodded toward the diner.
“We are, but not here. Too many people around.”
“It’s damned near dawn. Anyone who’s in there is probably more than half asleep, or trying to sober up.”
“Rob. Please.” Darren reached across to open the door.
With a shrug, Rob asked, “So where we going?”
“To my house, where we can talk in private.”
From the look on his face, Rob wasn’t certain he liked the idea, but he got in anyway. “What’s so important we need privacy?”
“I’ll tell you when we get there.” Darren pulled out into traffic. Not too much later he was parking in the driveway of his house. When he got out of the car, he realized Rob was still sitting there, watching him distrustfully. “Come on. I’m not planning on doing anything except feeding you a home cooked meal and talking. I promise.”
“Yeah. Okay.” Rob joined him, commenting, “Nice place, from the outside.”
“It’s not too bad inside, either.” Darren unlocked the front door, disarmed the security system, then beckoned for Rob to come in. He did, still looking wary. “Make yourself at home,” Darren suggested, waving to the sofa.
“Naw. I might get used to it.” Rob stood in the middle of the room, although he did put his backpack down by one of the armchairs. Then he turned slowly. “Nice digs.”
“I like them.” Darren nodded to the kitchen. “I meant it when I said I’d make us something to eat. Do you feel like breakfast or dinner?”
Rob shrugged. “Whatever you usually eat when you get home.”
“Dinner it is, then. With the hours I work…Well, if they were normal I’d come home and make dinner, so that’s what I do, even though it is almost morning.”
“Makes sense to me.” Rob trailed after Darren, looking very uncomfortable.
Deciding to make it quick and easy, before Rob could change his mind and take off, Darren got two containers of homemade stew from the freezer. Putting them in the microwave to defrost, he started the coffee maker and set the kitchen table. By then the stew was defrosted and hot, so he emptied the containers into two bowls, put them on table, along with bread and butter. He wasn’t too surprised when Rob took it upon himself to pour their coffees.
“This is good,” Rob said a few minutes later after making inroads into his meal. “Better than what they make at the diner.”
Darren laughed. “I would hope so.”
As they ate, Rob kept glancing at Darren. Finally, after sopping up the last of the juice with a piece of bread, he put down his spoon and said, “So, what did you want to talk about?”
“I was thinking…” Darren took a drink of coffee.
Rob nodded. “Is this where I say ‘God help us all’?”
“Maybe? Hear me out before you go ballistic.”
“I’m not going to like this, I take it.”
Darren lifted one shoulder. “It depends. Okay, first off, because you’ve seen the punks who attacked you and some of the other street people, I want you to come
down to the station to press charges against them.”
“Fuck that! I value my life, even if it isn’t that great. They get out on bail, they’ll come looking for me, and not to make friendly.”
“We’d put you in protective custody until the trial.”
Rob shook his head violently. “No way. I’m not being hidden away somewhere. I’d go batshit crazy.”
“I figured that would be your answer. But, what if you had a safe place to stay where you’d still have the freedom to come and go, as long as you didn’t head right back downtown?”
“They’d still find me, unless you’re planning on my going out of town. I doubt your department would be willing to pay the freight on that.”
“Probably not,” Darren agreed. “Those guys are punks who need the book thrown at them, but they aren’t big time criminals. However, I wasn’t thinking about you leaving the city. I know a safe place where no one would ever think of looking for you.”
“Some sleazy motel in the subs?” Rob asked in derision.
“No.” Darren rested his elbows on the table, locking his gaze on Rob’s face. “Here.”
“Here like ‘here’?” Rob swept his arm around.
“Yes. I’ve got a spare bedroom. The house has damned good security. You’d be comfortable and safe here.”
“Why the hell would you want some homeless guy living in your house, screwing up your life?”
“Because he’s a friend who needs to get his life together. It won’t happen if he…if you run into those punks again and they decide to take another stab at beating you up, or worse yet kill you, just for yucks and grins.”
“I can take care of myself if they show up. I’ll get another knife,” Rob muttered. “I was in Iraq, and survived.”
“Where you were armed to the teeth. Before you decide to get a knife, or worse yet a gun…don’t. You’re not twenty anymore and for damned sure you’re not in peak form.” Darren sighed. “Look, I’m not trying to put you down. I want to help and I can’t when you’re God only knows where. Make sense?”
Rob pushed away from the table, walking quickly into the living room. Since his backpack was there, Darren had a bad feeling that he was going to grab it and run. I blew it, damn it. He waited a few moments, didn’t hear the door open and close, and got up, going after his friend. If he still thinks we are friends.
He found Rob sitting in an armchair, staring down at the floor. When Darren sat on the sofa, Rob looked at him.
“I’ll pay rent and do all the chores around the house. That’s the only way I’ll accept your offer.” He almost smiled. “I may act stupid at times, but I’m really not. Yeah, I like my freedom. I’ve told you that. But I like being alive even more.”
Heaving a silent sigh of relief, Darren replied. “I agree to your terms, except we’ll split the chores, the way my son and I did.”
“I will go out. I can’t make rent money if I’m not panhandling. But I’ll find somewhere well away from downtown, as much as I hate the idea. Are there any malls around here? And by the way, where are we? I wasn’t paying much attention.”
“On the west side of the city. There’s a large mall, and Oxford Avenue, a main thoroughfare, not too far away.” Darren tapped a finger on the arm of the sofa, wondering if it was too soon to broach the other subject he had in mind—Rob looking for a job. Probably. Let him get settled in first.
“Those should work.” Rob chortled. “If the cops in the area try to roust me I’ll give them your name.”
“Gee, thanks.” Darren stood. “Come on. I’ll show you your room.” Before you change your mind. He didn’t say that out loud.
Rob picked up his backpack and followed Darren upstairs. “Not bad,” he said when they were in what had been Jesse’s room. “Kind of sparse on the furniture, but who am I to complain.”
“Jesse took most of his things with him when he moved. He left the bed, the nightstand, and dresser because they didn’t need them,” Darren replied. “I think I’ve got a small side table and a chair stored in the attic, if you want them.”
“We’ll see. Right now, having a real bed, for the first time in years, well, if you don’t count when I crashed at a shelter…” Rob set his backpack on the dresser. “And a place to put my junk where no one will try to steal it.”
“Come on. I’ll show you the bathroom. It’s at the end of the hallway.”
Darren stopped at the linen closet to get towels and a washcloth, which he hung on a bar in the bathroom when they got there.
“All the comforts of home,” Rob said when Darren handed him a toothbrush from the cabinet over the sink. “I have one of my own, but it’s seen better days.”
Darren went to get him a glass from the kitchen, setting it beside the sink, next to his own. “If you want to shower, go for it.”
Rob cracked a wry smile. “Are you saying I need one?”
“For someone who lives the way you have been, you’re surprisingly clean, but…”
“I got the message.” Rob hesitated before asking, “Do you have a washer and dryer?”
“Yep. In the basement.”
Darren showed him where they were, not too surprised when Rob immediately went upstairs, returning with what few clothes he owned, other than what he was wearing, and put them in the washer. Then Darren told Rob that he was going to bed. “I keep strange hours, since I’m on the night shift,” he explained.
“Then you shower first. It’s not like I can’t wait,” Rob replied.
Darren did, and then put on his sleep pants and a robe before going down the hallway to knock on Rob’s door—and open it when Rob said he could come in. “The bathroom’s all yours. Feel free to make yourself at home. Oh, and you might want this, too.” He handed Rob a cell phone and charger. “It’s an old one of Jesse’s that he left behind, but it works. My number should be programmed into it, if you need to call.”
“Thanks.” Rob put down the battered book he was reading to take the phone. After setting it and the charger on the dresser, he asked, “What if I want to leave?”
“You’re not a prisoner,” Darren retorted tightly before getting what Rob meant. He went back to his room, writing the security code down on a pad by his bed. Tearing off the page, he returned to Rob’s room. “It’s got a fifteen-second delay between turning it on and leaving the house. The same when you come in.”
“Got it.” Rob put the paper in his book. “You’re being pretty damned trusting, giving me this.”
“Because I do trust you. I wouldn’t have asked you to stay here if I didn’t.”
“I won’t betray it, I promise.”
“I know.” Darren smiled then said, “I’m off to bed. See you late this afternoon.”
* * * *
As soon as Darren left the room, Rob went down to put his clothes in the dryer. As he did, he felt a strange disassociation from what had been his reality for the last too many years.
Like I’ll wake up and find myself back on some roof again, not in a nice house in the suburbs. The last time I actually had a bed to call my own was, hell, before I got kicked out of my apartment for not paying the rent, which was not too long after I left the army. Not a happy thought, but one he’d dealt with in the only way possible—by surviving as best he could after it had happened.
When he got back to the first floor he looked around. Something he hadn’t really done when they’d first arrived. There was the living room, with the comfortable looking sofa, the armchairs, and a TV sitting on a low bookcase across from them. A desk sat in one corner of the room, next to the doorway to the dining room. The kitchen was beyond it, with a door to the back yard. He almost opened it to see what the yard was like before remembering the security was on, and the paper with the code was in his room.
My room. He liked that idea. At least for the time being, until he gets tired of having me around. He wondered how long that would be. Probably as soon as they catch those punks.
He didn’t like the idea he
was in hiding from them. However, common sense said Darren had been correct. He wasn’t a young man anymore. Not old, but living the way he had been had taken its toll.
“Maybe I can get some real, uninterrupted sleep,” he said under his breath. “Without dreams.”
When he’d first been discharged from the army, memories of Iraq had plagued his sleep—and too often his waking hours as well. He’d learned to cope with them, although as he’d told Darren at some point, he did tend to fly off the handle when the pressure got to be too much. Not so much so these days, thank God. I guess I’m calming down in my middle-age.
After his exploring, Rob checked out the books in the living room. He found one which sounded interesting and began reading while he waited for his laundry to dry. A faint ding from the basement told him it had. Setting the book aside, he went down, folded everything neatly, and then returned to his room. After putting his clothes away—a quick task since he had very few of them—he took off what he’d been wearing, laying everything on the top of the dresser, put on a clean pair of briefs, and settled on the bed. Picking up the book he’d brought with him, which he’d almost finished, he began to read.
* * * *
Darren rapped lightly on Rob’s door around six-thirty Thursday evening. He heard movement and a few moments later the door opened. Rob stood there, wearing a pair of old but serviceable jeans and nothing else. Darren was surprised to see he was fairly muscular, although much too thin. Both, he figured, had to do with his life on the streets.
“I’m about to fix…well, breakfast, although I can make it more dinner if you want something along those lines.”
“Naw. For you it is breakfast time, despite the hour. I’m good with that. Hell, I slept most of the day so, yeah, breakfast it is. Let me finish dressing and I’ll be right down.”
Darren was in the middle of scrambling eggs when Rob appeared. He had on a sweatshirt and shoes without socks. His hair was combed back, which made him look a little less like a vagabond.
“Want me to set the table?” Rob asked.
“Sure, if you would.” Darren almost said “If you don’t mind,” but Rob wasn’t a guest, at least as far as Darren was concerned. A housemate, for as long as he’s willing to stick around.
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