Running Northwest

by Michael Melville

  Daniel was in the second grade at South Prairie Elementary School. The class sizes were somewhat small, which was nice as far as Thomas was concerned. In addition, the school only did grades K-3, which Thomas also liked. The boy had many friends, and last week even had a girlfriend. However, she broke up with him on Friday before the weekend started; the relationship lasted for four days.

  Some parents just dropped their kids off, and some kids took the bus, but Thomas preferred to drive Daniel to school as a sort of bonding time for the two of them. Even bonding over music was bonding he thought. Thomas always walked his son to his classroom while knowing that someday, probably even next year, Daniel would most likely begin telling him that he was “too big” for that sort of thing.

  After pulling up to school at 7:50 am, the father and son entered the school through two large metal doors that were supposed to look like wood but didn’t at all. Holding hands as they walked down the hallway, Daniel’s classroom was the third door on the left. Standing outside the door was his teacher Ms. Laura Velasquez. She always greeted all of her students as they came in every morning and chitchatted with the few parents who took the time to make it this far with their kids. She was 27 and a very attractive woman of Spanish decent. However, what mattered most was that she was a great teacher, and great with his son. Thomas was polite with her and never intentionally flirted. Nevertheless, his being polite sometimes came off as a sort of flirting that she seemed to enjoy he thought but could never be sure. He did not really know how or what to think about it.

  “Good morning Laura,” he said smiling and looking her in the eyes as he approached her, trying not to obviously check her out in front of his son; she was very attractive after all.

  “Good morning Thomas,” she said with the slightest accent as she reached to shake his hand, which was already extending to meet hers.

  “Good morning to you too, Daniel. How was your weekend?” she asked as she kneeled down to make easier eye contact with the boy.

  “It was fine, we did cool stuff, and I got a post card from my grandma…she lives in Florida,” he replied excitedly.

  “You did? Well, that’s pretty cool. Did you bring it for Show and Tell?” she asked.

  “I know right? I brought it…Florida’s really far away. My dad says so!”

  “Yes it is, I’m pretty excited to see it Daniel; we don’t get a lot of postcards from Florida in our class,” she said.

  Thomas liked the fact that Ms. Velasquez would make a big deal out of little things like a postcard to make the kids feel important and special. She was a good teacher in his eyes, and Daniel enjoyed having her as a teacher. Thomas bent down to one knee as a few more of Daniel’s classmates shuffled by and through the door.

  “All right buddy I have to go, give your old man a hug, okay?”

  “Okay. Bye Dad, I’ll see you later. Have a good day and be safe,” the boy said in his squeaky voice as he leaned in to give his dad a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

  “I will Daniel, I promise. You too, okay? Be good for Ms. Laura today,” Thomas said.

  “I will,” Daniel said as he let go and turned to walk into the classroom as his father stood up at the same time.

  “Ms. Laura,” Thomas said nodding and smiling as he started turning away.

  “Mr. James,” Laura replied smiling and looking him in the eyes, as she turned into the classroom and shut the door.

  Thomas walked down the hallway and out the doors and quietly said, “Shit!” when he realized what just happened with Laura.

  He would have to talk to Derrick about it, get his advice on it…Laura was cute after all.

  Two

  At 11 AM, Thomas was sitting at a table in his coffee shop called Big Tom’s Sunset Café holding a hand of nine playing cards. On the other side of the table sat Derrick Pazinkski, who was holding fourteen cards in his hand. Three times a week the two grown men would meet for coffee before the shop opened at noon and sometimes play Rummy, but usually just to talk. Today it was a bit of both.

  Derrick Pazinkski moved out west to Oregon at 28 years old, a little less than two months after Thomas got there. He was 33 now and about 5’10”. He had a somewhat bulky build to his frame with tattoos on his forearms not to mention a few other places, and gauged ears. The two friends, for people who did not know them, looked like total opposites and found their friendship confusing. The pair had talked for a long time about moving away somewhere new, somewhere that was not Michigan. They both had wanted a fresh start for a long time. Italy, then England, then Florida, then Alaska where Derrick had lived in his early twenties had come up.

  Eventually, after Thomas had his heart broken, he just left Michigan for Oregon, and then called Derrick shortly after getting there.

  Thomas had literally said, “Quit your job, pack your shit and get your ass out here…you will love it, I promise.”

  That, in a nutshell, was all the convincing Derrick had needed to just up and go to join his friend at the other end of the country. The two friends had been through a lot together as friends since they got out to the Oregon Coast. Opening up this coffee shop actually came from necessity when Thomas adopted Daniel. Later Derrick and Thomas opened a successful local bar called the Whaleback Pub just a few blocks away from the coffee shop. Thomas owned a small part of that business also. They were also able to integrate themselves into the community and became viewed as true locals. This was not something easily done in small towns like this on the Northwest Coast – a place where the difference between locals and tourists was like the difference between Northern and Southern California. It was two different ways of life, two different perspectives on how people should live their lives.

  Some things they did not do anymore though, or not as often at least. Road trips every other weekend, camping in the mountains, drinking all day on the beach, chasing women, pulling all-nighters, motorcycle rides that took them all over the Northwest. All had become things of the past except on a rare occasion. Derrick, who swore off women for a few years, was now living with his girlfriend of two years, Erin Bowens. She was 27 and divorced. Erin was actually a friend and former employee of Thomas. She worked for Thomas for a year and a half at one of his coffee shops that he owned in Oregon in his mid-20’s. Thomas was the one who introduced Derrick and her to each other.

  Derrick was known to Thomas’ son as “Uncle Derrick” or just “Uncle D” and was as much a part of the boy’s life as a real blood uncle would have been. To a very large degree since Sarah, Daniel’s mother, died a few years ago, Thomas and Derrick were the only family the boy had.

  Derrick knew what his friend Thomas had been through back in Michigan and the real reason why he left. Moreover, he was aware of certain other aspects of Thomas’s past that only two or three other people knew about. What Thomas and his son had been through in the last few years caused Derrick to be very protective over the two whom he considered family. The feeling was mutual for Thomas and Daniel towards Derrick. One of the ways Derrick was protective was keeping Thomas’ actual location in Oregon a secret from certain people back in Michigan that Thomas would not want to see again, or rather, that he should not see again. Thomas and Derrick had started a new life in Oregon they were determined to keep what was back in Michigan in the past and far away from their lives here on the Pacific Coast. Moreover, with the exception of family, they had become virtual ghosts to almost anyone they knew from Michigan. Thomas and his adopted son had built a good life together after Sarah died and did not want that interfered with, and neither did Derrick. Derrick protected their life and privacy as well as his own with a fierceness, which only Thomas could understand and appreciate.

  As the Rummy game went on – Derrick was losing badly – the pair’s conversation switched from family and business matters to the subject of Daniel’s teacher Laura Velasquez, after a brief explanation of what happened at Daniel’s school earlier in the morning by Thomas.

  “So are you gunna ask her out, Bro?”
Derrick asked.

  “No; Hell no, I can’t do that,” Thomas answered.

  “Really, and why the hell not, man? It’s pretty damn obvious she’s kind of into you, why I don’t know,” Derrick said laughing.

  “Well neither do I,” Thomas said emphatically, adding, “I can’t because she is my kid’s teacher man. That would look bad I think, this is a small town and you know how much people talk and gossip and you know how private I am. Besides, I don’t know if I’m ready to date again or even try for that matter,” he answered his friend with a sigh.

  Derrick looked up from his cards, set them down on the wooden table, took a drag from his cigarette, and looked directly at Thomas.

  “If not now, Tom, then when? Seriously think about it at least. What are you scared of? And as far as what people are going to say or think, I don’t believe you have anything to worry about. You will never admit it but just about everyone in this town thinks you’re great, Bro. The ones who don’t are scared of you. Besides, when the hell did you really start caring what people think of you? Are you getting soft on me in your old age?” Derrick said trying to make it sound like a joke even though it wasn’t.

  Thomas leaned back in his chair and took a long hard stare into Derrick’s eyes, raising his eyebrows and growled a little bit under his breath. The look worked letting Derrick know that Thomas was getting irritated.

  “I’m not getting soft, Derrick,” he said in a very deep tone.

  “I’m not trying to push ya, you old fart, honestly, so don’t get all pissy with me. You have never been a fast mover with women as long as I have known you and it is probably a good trait especially now. I’m not saying you should ask her to marry you or have her move in with you or anything crazy like that. I am just saying a date, simple like dinner or something. Hell, you can double with Erin and me if you want, if that will make you more comfortable. Besides, Erin is always complaining that she never gets to see you enough anymore,” Derrick said.

  “I know you’re not pushing Derrick, it’s just that…well you know that if Sarah hadn’t died I probably would have asked her to marry me. You and I talked about that back then and it’s something I can’t let go of. Maybe I am a little scared I guess; every time I seem to find love or think I am close to it, it seems to be ripped away somehow. I have to think about Daniel and I do not want him to think I’m trying to replace his mom. You know how kids can get and I have to worry about the kind of women I bring around him. Even if I were willing to try dating again,” Thomas said quietly.

  “I know what you’re saying, Boss, I do and it’s great that you worry about Daniel so much. You are an amazing father and I do not know how you do it sometimes. Erin and I care about him too and we don’t want to see either of you guys hurt again. Nevertheless, you have to worry about yourself a little bit also. Listen, Laura is Daniel’s teacher…he already thinks she is great and she seems to adore him even if it’s just as a teacher. Besides, she’s hot as hell; even you think so and you don’t even find Latino women that attractive. But I know you think she is,” Derrick said laughing.

  That last remark made Thomas smile because it was, in fact, true. He did think Laura was attractive.

  “It’s just hard Derrick, every time I walk down the beach I still see her there walking with me. I walk downtown through the shops…and she’s there trying on dresses. I still hear her voice in my dreams. The way she smelled, the way her skin felt, the way she walked, talked, and smiled…lots of little things I guess, I don’t know. But I know what you’re saying.”

  “It’s damn hard man. I understand completely…but Sarah loved you, Bro, and she would not have wanted you to be alone forever. I know that for a fact! Just think about it, okay? I mean it…seriously think about it,” Thomas’ friend asked half smiling.

  Nevertheless, in his head he wondered which woman Thomas was talking about sometimes. Was it Sarah, Daniel’s mother or Stephanie, who was the reason why he left Michigan and never looked back? Thomas never talked about Stephanie much anymore but Derrick knew that Thomas had never gotten over her completely or forgot about the so-called dumb bitch as much as he should have and as much as Derrick wished he would have considering what she did to him. Especially since, he knew about the picture that Thomas had in his room that he never took down. He sat looking at his friend across the table trying to read his poker face.

  “I’ll think about it Derrick. I promise I’ll at least think about it, okay?” Thomas replied to his friend as he leaned back and looked at Derrick’s face wondering what more he was thinking but not saying.

  “That’s all I ask, man,” Derrick said.

  Thomas smiled and laid down the next set of runs he was holding for quite some time, inciting an ass remark from Derrick. He then took a hit of his own cigarette. Thomas cut back on his smoking a few years ago and never smoked anywhere near Daniel. Occasionally before the coffee shop opened, he would allow himself to have a few while he and Derrick played cards.

  At 11:40 am, Tracie Adams walked in the front door. Tracie was an employee of the coffee shop as well as Daniel’s occasional baby sitter. She was 22 and still trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. However, she loved the coffee shop business and had been a barista for a few years now. She had worked for Thomas for a little less than a year, and usually did the opening shifts four days a week. He had stolen her from a large national coffee shop chain where they both felt her talents were underused. He considered stealing her a small coup for the little man because he hated that particular chain of coffee shops. In particular, he hated how they destroyed small shops like his all over the United States, which he considered the heart and soul of the coffee business. Considering Thomas’ experience in the coffee shop business and how much success he has had at it over the years, Tracie considered it a great learning experience working for someone like Thomas. The two got along great in a weird, semi-dysfunctional sort of way.

  “What’s the matter boss, afraid I’m not gunna show up for work? Had to come and check up on me?” she asked as she walked through the door.

  “Something like that, Kiddo,” he answered, adding “What’s the matter? Can’t your boss be in his own coffee shop?”

  “Of course you can just stay the hell out of way though, I’ve got a routine,” she said heading towards the counter.

  “Well, about that, Tracie…we should talk,” he said.

  “Shut up, Tom,” she said laughing.

  The way that Tom and Tracie interacted was always entertaining for Derrick who sat quietly laughing in his chair.

  “No, but seriously, there is something extra for you to do today Darlin. There is a kid coming in at 5 pm for an interview. Young guy from somewhere in California, he is 19 years old, just a fetus yet if I remember right. He is staying with his grandma a little north of here until the end of the summer. His name is Pete something or other. And he is looking for a part time summer job; he wants the shift right after you three days a week. Says he has barista experience but you know what I’m looking for when they say they have experience,” Thomas said with a sort of stern look.

  “Okay, so how do you want me to handle the kid, you want me to be ‘nice’ or be ‘me’,” she asked, giving a Thomas a look that amounted to an unsaid question.

  Tracie Adams was known to be somewhat of a bad ass to the coffee shop regulars, not as much as Thomas was but she was close. They both have been known to throw people out for trying to order drinks by using size names like Grande or Venti or ordering drinks from other coffee shops. They were both coffee shop snobs and took pride in the business and what they did. The regulars found it all sorts of amusing. Tracie was the only female employee now in the shop. Another girl worked at the shop about 6 months ago. Who abruptly quit ten minutes into her shift after only being on the job for two weeks. A shift that coincidentally followed Tracie. Thomas never asked Tracie what, if anything, happened that day and she never brought it up either. He just assumed the other girl had b
een the victim of one of Tracie’s famous tirades. He really did not have much of a problem with that since the first three months of working for Thomas at one of his coffee shops was like going through boot camp. If someone could not cut it he rather they just quit and leave.

  “Tracie, just be your wonderful, hard-ass, overbearing self! Put him through the ringer Darlin. That is part of the reason I want you to do the interview him before I do. Usually that is a busy shift and if I put some hack job kid who doesn’t know what the hell he is doing behind the wheel, people are gunna go somewhere else. The shop will get a bad rep and I do not need or want that. You know we get a little busy in here. Look at his resume and quiz him a bit and see what he knows and if he is lying or not, you will know if he is. If he does okay with that, have him make a single shot latte and a smoothie off the menu. Maybe you should come up with something interesting to have him make and see how it tastes. Don’t worry too much about his speed though, that will come in time anyway. And I don’t worry all that much about it, this isn’t one of those coffee shops that get people in and out the door as fast as possible. Then if you think he did okay, set up a time for him to meet with me here, then I can really hammer him, but call me first. I would rather waste your time first than mine. Besides, if he can get past you then he deserves to meet the guy who signs the checks,” he told her with a little chuckle.

  “Oh jeez thanks boss, make me the evil bitch,” she laughed and added, “But okay I’ll see what he knows and give you a call. Are you gunna be back in later before I leave?”

  “I’ll be here when you’re interviewing him and watching to see how he does,” Thomas said.

  “Wait a minute, why don’t you just do it yourself then? He knows who you are, you met him right?”