by Kai Holloway
A bunch of boys were running scrimmages on the football field, and some were tossing the ball back and forth, or running tackle drills. The track and field guys were running laps with some of the girls.
When she glanced back at the lunch table, there was Logan Suttor again - talking to Jenny. He sat down across from her. They seemed to be laughing, but Rae wasn't sure.
Great, I hope you two are happy together.
She finished her last chip, and closed her eyes and listened to the wind in the trees. When the bell rang for class, it startled her awake and she realized she'd nodded off.
She grabbed her backpack and raced down the hill. The hall monitors were already out in force. She avoided them and darted to Civics class. When she got there, Mr Salazar gave her a cold look, glanced up at the clock, and marked her in his book.
Late.
Rae couldn't believe it. She'd never been late to any of her classes, and now there she was, marked down in the book.
She didn't speak up at all during fifth period Civics, but kept her hand down and her mouth shut. Jenny wasn't in the class, but Logan was. She didn't look at him, but felt him staring right at her a few times.
Just ignore him and he'll go away.
No one mentioned her birthday again, so that was good. People seemed to forget about her.
After school she had theater club. They were putting on a new production of Dracula, written by one of the students in the class, Brad, and directed by Mr. Monroe.
Rae liked theatre and enjoyed helping out after school. She was working crew, and Mr. Monroe gave her the understudy role of Mina Harker. Being understudy meant she had to learn all the lines and the blocking and make her own costume, but she probably wouldn't get to actually play the part.
There were only four performances, Thursday through Sunday, two weeks away, and Marcie Brandt, who got the lead role seemed fit as a fiddle, even though she still didn't know her lines and couldn't remember her blocking. But she was pretty and blonde and had nice boobs. All the boys liked her and the teacher too, so of course she got the part. Her parents were on the school board, and she had more friends than anyone, so it made sense to put her in the role.
Rae was helping to repaint the stage floor a matte black when Marcie came by.
I was wondering if you wanted to run lines with me later."
"I've got plans after." And then added. "It's my birthday."
"Oh, wow. I didn't know. Happy Birthday."
“Thanks.”
She gave Rae a hug, but it was awkward because she had a wet paintbrush in her hand. Marcie didn't seem to mind, or even notice, which was endearing. That dress of hers must have cost a fortune and if she got paint on it, it would be ruined.
"You're taking the test so of course you can't run lines tonight. I didn't even think about that. Let's do it tomorrow then, I could really use your help."
"Okay, sure."
"Thanks Rae. You're the best! Happy birthday and good luck with the cryptograph."
Which I'm not taking, Rae thought, but didn't say.
Her cell phone buzzed. She checked the message. It was a text.
IN THE PKG LOT.
God, Mom…
Rae grabbed her backpack and marched down the empty hall. There were only a few kids around, most of them theater kids hanging out. She could sneak out back and catch a movie. That was tempting. Or go to the public library.
Anything but the cryptograph.
She went back down to the front and looked out the glass door into the parking lot, making sure to stay far enough back and in the shadows so that her mom couldn't see her from outside.
Her mom's car was in one of the visitor spots up front by the office. She was sitting in the driver’s seat, probably listening to music. Her dad was there, and Carl too.
They'd all come out for the big occasion.
Rae went back to the hall and leaned against the lockers. They couldn't come inside to get her because of security, but she couldn't very well stay in the hallway forever.
Her cell phone buzzed again.
WHERE ARE YOU?
She needed to answer, but how? She needed a good excuse.
Rae heard noises down the hall. Boys joshing each other. They were coming back from the gym, heading for the front door. Football practice must be over.
Sure enough, the rest of the team started flooding into the hallway, in groups of two and three. Rae made her way toward the gym, crossing paths with the other team members. She didn't know all of them, but Brian from her Geography class was there.
"Happy Birthday, Rae!" he said, and the others chimed in.
She heard one of them say, "Who's that?" and "Kinda cute." and "Tag team."
Whatever.
She was almost to the girl’s room when she saw Logan coming down the hall.
Don't make eye contact.
Her phone buzzed again but she didn't check the message. She'd have to go home, and they'd argue again about the test, and it would be the same thing all over again.
Unless—
"Logan?"
He stopped and looked at her, surprised.
"Where did you park?" she asked.
"Near the benches. Why?"
"Can you give me a ride?"
"Sure. But isn't that your mom out there? Looks like her car."
"That's why I need a ride."
"Oh." Then he got it. "No problem."
"Let's take the back way around."
Rae sent a quick message to her mom. HANGING OUT WITH FRIENDS. BE HOME LATE.
She followed Logan out the back way and around the gym. They waited for her mother to drive off. The phone buzzed again, but Rae didn't read the message.
"Hiding from your folks, huh?"
"Sort of."
"Well, I'm glad. For me, I mean. I wanted to talk with you. You've been ignoring me all day." Her mom backed up and pulled out of the driveway. "Okay, she's gone. That's my car over there."
It was a pickup truck, dirty and dust-beaten, and could use a new coat of paint.
"It was my dad's," he offered reading Rae’s thoughts. "He passed away when I was just a kid."
"Oh. Sorry."
They got in.
"So. Where we going? Am I taking you home?"
"Not yet."
"We can study if you want."
"No."
"Movie?"
"I'm hungry."
"Okay then, let's eat. Any ideas on what you want?"
"I don't care. I'm not that hungry."
"But you just said—"
"Let's go to the mall. Food court. Pizza, maybe.
"Okay. I've got some money." He started up the car.
"You're not buying. It's not a date. I'm just hungry."
"Fine. Cake and ice cream maybe. I thought, since it was your birthday I'd do something nice for you."
Rae glanced at him. "You already have."
Chapter 4
They decided not to go to the mall, because it was too crowded, and Rae didn’t want to be around that many people.
“How about Mario’s?”
“I haven’t been there.”
“You’re kidding,”Logan said reproachfully.“Best pizza in town. They use Tillamook cheddar and fresh tomato sauce, from their own organic tomatoes, not a can, and their spices are amazing. They grind the garlic right there, and you can watch them make it. It takes a little longer, but totally worth it.”
“I’m not in any hurry.”
“Great.”
Logan swung a U-turn and went back past the school and the library and the used book store on 4th street, where Rae hung out sometimes, just browsing for old stories.
She was thinking about that, trying to remember the last book she bought there, waiting for Logan to say something to kill the silence, when she saw her mom’s car up ahead, coming toward them from the other lane.
She tried to hide, but she was buckled in. She unlatched the seat buckle and slunk down in her seat, throwi
ng her body across the wide seat of the pickup almost into Logan’s lap.
“What are you doing?”
“Just drive.”
He did.
“Are they gone?”
“Yeah,”he said.“They’re behind us now.”
Rae sat back up and looked out the back window. She saw the taillights of her mom’s car.
“I don’t think they saw you,”Logan said.
“Good.”
“I’m guessing they don’t know you’re with me, huh?”he added, knowingly.
“No, and they’re not going to find out, either.”
“Fine with me.”After a pause, he said,“Let’s head to Mexico.”
She gave him the evil eye.
“Just kidding,”he chuckled.“Pizza it is.”
A few minutes later they pulled into the driveway of Mario’s. It was a small pizza joint in a strip mall, between a Fed Ex and an art frame store. Rae had seen the pizza place a million times, but never thought to go into it. It just wasn’t on her radar. Their family mostly ate at home, and her friends liked to the go to the mall.
When they stepped inside, she smelled garlic and tomatoes and bread dough and olive oil, rich amazing smells that seemed straight out of Italy. Not that she had ever been there, but this was what she imagined it would smell like.
“This is nice.”
“Told you.’
No one else was sitting inside. There were only eight tables, and they were all empty.
“I usually sit in the corner over there.”
Rae followed him in.
“Hey, Logan. Buongiorno!”A guy behind the glass was cleaning the oven.
“Hey Mario. Where’s Bianca?”
“Out back, getting a smoke.”
Logan found a table, and pulled out a chair for Rae.“Sit here and you can watch Mario work his magic.”
“They don’t get a lot of customers,”she commented, sitting down.
“We’re early.”Logan said, sitting across from her.“They do a good take-out business at lunch, and then it dies down again until around five. They don’t get a lot of kids, mostly corporate types who swing buy for a pizza on their way home from work, and then the date crowd comes in around eight or nine.”
“You seem to know a lot about this place.”
“My favorite restaurant,”he said. And then:“I’m really glad you came.”
An older lady came in from the back, tying on an apron. She looked to be in her fifties, a little pudgy with her black hair tied back. Her red and white blouse had a flower pattern. Her skin was dark, and her nose was thick. She looked Italian, and spoke with an Italian accent.
“Logan, where have you been?”
“Football practice.”
“Haven’t seen you in a week, at least. I thought maybe we’d lost you to Pizza Hut.”
“Never.”
They laughed at that. It seemed like an old joke between them.
“And who is the pretty girl?”
“She is, isn’t she? This is my friend Rae. We go to school together. Rae, this is Bianca, the best waitress in the city. And a looker, too.”
“Oh, stop. You know you’re too young for me.”
“One day, Bianca, one day…”
The woman stepped in to whisper to Rae.“Watch out for this one, hon. He’s a heartbreaker.”
She smiled uncomfortably.
“Hush,”Logan protested.
“Okay, okay. You look thin though. We can fix that.”
Logan asked Rae.“Do you know what you want?”
She looked through the menu. It had a lot of toppings and combos. She usually just ordered a margherita or a pepperoni at the mall, but she was feeling adventurous today, and it was her birthday after all, and she should try something new. But there were too many choices and everything smelled and looked delicious.
She set the menu down.“You choose.”
Without looking at the menu, Logan said,“One large, thin crust, with artichoke hearts, sausage and ricotta. Garlic bread to start. And two drinks.”
He gave Rae a look, and made it a question.
“Diet coke,”she said.
“And I’ll have a regular.”
Bianca, didn’t write any of it down.“Great, I’ll bring your bread.”
She gave Logan a wink, and went to the back.
“I’m guessing you bring a lot of girls here,”Rae said.
“Never.”
“Oh, really. What was that wink, then?”
“Bianca keeps telling me to bring a date and I never have, and now I’m here with you.”
“This isn’t a date.”
“We know that, but she doesn’t.”
“She seems happy for you,”Rae said.
“She wants me to find a pretty girl and be happy. And you’re exactly what she asked for.”
“Is that your way of giving a compliment?”
“Sure, if you can take it.”
“I can take it.”
Bianca returned with a bowl of garlic rolls and the drinks.
When she left, Rae asked,“So, how did you find this place?”
“My dad used to bring me here, when I was a kid. He’d pick me up from school after work, and we’d come in here for pizzas. It’s a nice family place. Bianca’s known me since I was like three or four, I guess. She and Mario are married. They opened this place maybe twenty years ago, after coming over from Italy. It’s really the best pizza place in the county, possible even in all of California, but not many people know about it. I like to come here at least once a week, when I can. Sometimes I can’t afford it, but they’re always happy to feed me, and offer me extras, but I don’t like to take advantage. This place doesn’t make a lot of money. At least, I don’t think so. But they knew my dad, and liked him. He was a loyal customer, but a friend too, over the years. They went to his service. That was nice.”
Logan grew quiet and contemplative and Rae didn’t know what to say after that.
She tried a garlic roll. It was light and fluffy and drenched with olive oil and garlic and basil. The flavors exploded in her mouth.
“Wow,”she said, after swallowing the first bite.“These are amazing.”
“I know.”He smiled, seeming thrilled to see her enjoying it.“Happy Birthday, Rae. I still don’t know why you wanted to spend it with me, but I’m glad.”
“I’m just using you to get away from my family,”she blurted, then saw his face fall and immediately regretted it.“I mean, it’s good timing that’s all. I’m glad we’re here, and this is really nice, and—“
“And it gets you out of the house, I get it.”He laughed, playing it off.“Go ahead, use me.”
She laughed, too.
Bianca came back,“Everything all right?”
Yes, thank you,”Logan said.
“These are delicious,”Rae told her.
Bianca smiled.“You should watch Mario make your pizza. He likes to perform. He’s really a showman at heart.”
They scooted their chairs around to get a better view, and watched Mario knead and toss the dough. He fired the oven and chopped the meat and vegetables, and it was like watching a chef show on TV. He was a master of his craft, and everything was perfectly timed, and when he finally slid the fresh pizza into the oven he took a little bow, and Logan and Rae both clapped for him.
“That was fun.”
“I know.”
“Well, I guess we’ve still got a few minutes,”she said.
“You want more rolls?”
“No I need to save room for the pizza.”
“Plus cake and ice cream, I hope?”
“This is better than cake and ice cream. Thanks.”
Their eyes met and held for the first time. Rae didn’t look away, and neither did he. She’d never noticed before, but his eyes were a deep blue with dark specks. They looked like little galaxies or nebula from some hi-res NASA photo. She could imagine voyaging into those eyes - a deep space explorer - and never coming
back.
It was silly and she blinked, and he blinked and the moment passed.
She took another sip of her Diet Coke.
Logan spoke again.“You mind if I ask why you’re skipping the cake and ice cream - and the cryptograph?”
She looked up at him.“How did you know?”
“Jenny told me.”
Damn her.
“Sorry, I didn’t know it was such a secret.”
“It’s not, I guess. Jenny just has a big mouth sometimes.”
“It’s kind of a big deal. I never heard of anyone ditching the test. A math test, maybe. But…”
“So you took your cryptograph then?”she asked, feeling nervous all of a sudden.
“In February.”
“And?”
“I was terrified. Mostly because of my dad. He died young, when I was nine. Thirty-three years old. I didn’t want to die young. I don’twant to die young. You know, I’ve got lots of plans and dreams and death takes that all away in an instant. And sure, if you know you’re going to die young, you can plan for that and obviously you have to give up your dreams.”
Obviously.
Dreams and aspirations were a waste of time for Transients; those unfortunates who would be dead in less than ten years. Things were a little easier for Interims who were afforded some decent enough opportunities (within reason), but it was the Constants–those expected to live beyond sixty years and beyond - who got to win the lottery. These were the chosen individuals who went on to higher education, were offered the best jobs, earned the most money, had the best of everything, became heads of corporations, got to be part of the legal system and get into government. The current US president, Martha Rosewell was expected to live well into her eighties.
After all, what was the point in providing Transients education, training or responsibilities when they wouldn’t live long enough to be productive members of society? For Transients, having dreams or aspirations was the same thing as believing in fairy tales.
Logan was still talking.“So I was terrified of finding out, terrified I’d die at thirty-three like my dad. You know my friends refer to their dads as‘my old man,’but I never said that. Thirty-three isn’t old. He used to run. We ran together sometimes, on the bike path, and the beach. I couldn’t keep up with him, he ran three days a week and even ran a marathon when he was in his twenties, I think. Or maybe his teens. But he was athletic, track and field, and no one expected him to die. He hadn’t taken the test. Back then the cryptograph was mostly for rich people, and my dad could probably afford it if he really wanted to. It was more of status thing, he said, knowing the future. And he didn’t want to know. Like you, I guess.”He swallowed and his tone grew serious.“So he didn’t take the test and we had no idea, and he went out running one day, early in the morning like he always did. And he didn’t come back. He missed a meeting at work, which he never did, and after lunch his secretary called the house to find out if anything happened, and I picked up the phone. They asked for my dad, and I said he was at work, and they said he wasn’t, and I could hear it in their voice. I knew something was wrong, but I wasn’t sure what. And when I hung up the phone, I told my mom. She was in the shower. She didn’t like me answering the phone, so I was afraid I’d get in trouble, but I told her and she called my dad’s phone, and he didn’t answer. And then we went to look for him. The car was still in the garage, but he wasn’t at the house, and I knew he’d gone running, so I ran outside, and my mom ran too, but she was never a runner, my mom, and she couldn’t keep up with me. She was following behind me and calling out for me to wait up, not to go so fast, but the worry in her voice made me run even faster, faster than I ever had. And then I knew.”He looked away, pain etched all over his face.“A bicyclist had stopped. It wasn’t a crowded path, but someone else had found him, and they’d called for an ambulance, and the medics declared him dead on the scene and I never saw him again.”