Leech 01 Caleo

by James Crawford

  “Nonsense! You can have Caleo’s bed. He’ll sleep on the couch,” Grandma insisted, and when Caleo made to protest, she cut him off. “No guest in my house is going to sleep on the sofa. He's a guest and will be treated like one.”

  “No, I can’t do that. This boy is a hero; he deserves to sleep in his own bed.” Nolan patted Caleo on the back reassuringly. “Besides, it’s not like I’m a paying guest.”

  Caleo flinched at Nolan’s words. I’m not the hero. I wanted to head home from the start.

  “Okay, you two can share his room. I'll not have my guests, paying or not, sleep on the couch.” Grandma’s voice was sweet, but Caleo knew it was just masking her annoyance of the man questioning her orders. “Caleo, get the fold-out bed from the closet and put it in your room.”

  She then turned her attention to the tattered group of people. “Go and get yourselves cleaned up. There won’t be any hot water, but it’s better than going to bed dirty. I’ll find something for you all to wear to bed so I can get your clothes washed once everyone turns out their lights. Please don’t use any more electricity than you need to. I don’t want to overload the generator. If you can use a flashlight, please do. There are some in the top drawer of the nightstand beside every bed. I have bowls and lots of cereal if you want some food. So go get cleaned up and I'll be around shortly with some clean clothes and food. Don’t think this is normal at the Purple Rose Inn. When the power is back on I'll cook you all up something to tell your friends about,” Grandma said excitedly.

  Caleo saw Jillian roll her eyes and smiled knowing that she was thinking the same thing he was. She's worried about them thinking badly about the Inn serving cold cereal. Looks like the generators will be fueling the stoves tomorrow and we'll be cooking all day just to make up for tonight’s dinner. The group followed their instructions and went to their rooms. Caleo, Jillian, and Nolan stayed behind with Jack.

  “Okay, let’s have a look at those ribs,” Grandma instructed, lifting Jack’s arm to see it better. Jack winced and bit his lip. “It looks like it will be bruised pretty badly. I'll go get some Tylenol and we'll see how bad it looks in the morning. We'll take you to the doctor tomorrow just in case. Can you two get him to the kitchen where I can get him cleaned up a bit?”

  Helping Jack to the kitchen and setting him on a barstool at the counter, Caleo said, “Grandma, the doctor’s office is gone. The whole town is gone.”

  “I heard we're under some sort of attack. They even blew up the White House today, but that was before the power went out. When we got the generator started, all we could get on the TV was static. We tried the radio, but it’s the same,” she said, filling up a bowl with water and grabbing a dishrag.

  “Grandma, Jillian said Mr. Roberts was on the TV today. Why?” Caleo asked.

  “He lied to us. I don’t know how he got … He's not a writer. He's part of some terrorist group,” Grandma said, casting a suspicious eye over Caleo’s shoulder at Nolan as she said it.

  Then, as if flipping a light switch, her suspicious look turned into a smile. “Now, you two go get cleaned up and ready for bed. We have a lot of work in store for us in the morning. We don’t know how long the power will be out, and if it's as bad as you say, we’ll need to prepare for the worst.”

  The worst being cooking elegant meals without the aid of electricity, Caleo thought sarcastically before his grandmother hit him upside the head with the palm of her hand. “Ow, what was that for?”

  “I don’t know what you were thinking, but it looked like sass,” she said with a smile and shake of her finger.

  “I wish I knew what sass looked like,” Caleo snickered, dodged another blow, and retreated out the door laughing.

  Caleo could just see Jack grabbing his side in pain as he seemed to choke back his laughter, before Nolan’s big form blocked his view. “Come on, let’s go. I'll show you where you can get cleaned up while I get the spare bed.” As Caleo heard the stairs behind him squeak in protest under Nolan’s weight, he couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder and marvel at the man’s size. I hope he isn’t one of the Leeches hunting me. There's no way I could take this guy.

  Caleo led Nolan to his room and told him where he could find towels for a shower. Then he quickly walked down the hall to find the fold-out bed, not wanting to leave a complete stranger in his room unattended. The fold-out bed was old and heavy, but after a while Caleo managed to maneuver it out of the closet and down the hall to his door, where he realized it was going to be too tall to fit through the opening. Great! Now what? He stared up at the bed for a second before deciding he was too tired to worry about damaging anything. He shoved the bed onto its side, and let it to slam against the floor with a loud thud that somehow seemed therapeutic to him.

  His grandmother’s voice carried up the stairs less than a second later. “You all right?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine!” Caleo turned the knob and pushed the door to his bedroom open with his rear.

  “Be careful! I don’t want any scratches on the woodwork,” Grandma yelled

  Caleo shook his head, muttering, then proceeded to pull the bed through until it got stuck on the doorframe. “Damn it!” He kicked the bed in frustration.

  “Hold on, let me help.” Nolan walked up behind Caleo and grabbed the edge the bed. “Here, you get on that side and twist it around that way. It should fit then.”

  Caleo climbed over the bed and grabbed the other side. After careful maneuvering, he and Nolan managed to get it the rest of the way in.

  “Now, where do you want to put it?” Nolan smiled at Caleo, motioning to the dark room behind him. The only light coming in was from the open bathroom door and the hallway. Caleo remembered he had turned it off, out of habit, on the way to get the bed.

  “Hold on. Let me get the light.” Caleo flicked the light switch and turned around. “I was thinking we could slide my bed over by the window and … ” Caleo stopped when he noticed Nolan was standing next to the fold-out bed with only a towel wrapped around his waist. His eyes drifted over Nolan as if appraising him. He looks like a Greek God. His arms were double the size of Caleo’s thighs. His chest and abs were like those out of a fitness magazine, all perfectly tanned and chiseled. Caleo was mesmerized; he had never seen someone look so godly in person. His eyes fell lower, exploring every inch that he could see. Nolan’s towel hung inches above his crotch.

  Nolan cleared his throat drawing Caleo’s attention back to reality. Oh my God! He caught me staring. Caleo could feel his ears getting warm from his embarrassment.

  Nolan gave Caleo a quick smile. “I work out a lot.” He nodded to the bed. “You want to grab this at that end?”

  “Yeah, okay.” Caleo jumped on the distraction and quickly grabbed his bed and pushed.

  The bed screeched across the floor as they moved it three feet closer to the window. Nolan stopped pulling his side and stood up straight. “That should be good, I'll push the headboard against the wall then we can move my bed in place.” He walked towards the bottom of the bed but he slipped and fell to the floor.

  “I’m so sorry I can’t believe…” Caleo said, running over to help Nolan to his feet.

  “What's this?” Nolan said, grabbing the magazine he had just slipped on and holding it up for Caleo to see. “Hiding magazines under the bed?” Nolan smiled up at Caleo, chuckling softly. Caleo cringed realizing Nolan had just found his only dirty magazine, a Playgirl he had found in a guest’s room a few years back. “I remember I used to hide my magazines, too.” Nolan climbed to his feet, using the footboard for support. “But I had to hide them under all my baseball cards in my Babe Ruth collectors tin so my brother wouldn’t find them.”

  Nolan casually tossed the magazine on the bed and it opened on the centerfold of a man standing in full glory on a diving board. Caleo quickly grabbed the magazine shoving it under one of his pillows, trying to hide it and his embarrassment at the same time.

  “It’s not what you think,” Caleo explained, trying
to fill the awkward silence, but not knowing how to cover for having a male nudie magazine under his bed.

  “Okay, you were holding it for a friend. Well they're a nice set of knockers anyway,” Nolan said, smiling awkwardly.

  Caleo gave Nolan a confused look then asked, “Knockers?”

  “Yeah, the boobs on that woman are huge, they’ve got to be fake,” Nolan added, pushing the headboard against the wall. “Now for my bed.”

  Nolan walked across the room to the fold-out bed, leaving Caleo looking dumbfounded and out of place. After a long moment Nolan asked, “You going to grab that end?”

  Caleo eyed Nolan, What’s going on? He saw what the magazine was. So why would he say that? Caleo thought, trying to figure out what was happening as he walked over to help Nolan. Caleo grabbed his end and pulled it into position.

  “You two decent?” Caleo’s grandmother’s voice came through the door. Caleo quickly threw a blanket towards Nolan, who made no reaction to catch it. The blanket fell over Nolan’s head, covering him like a ghost just as the door to the room cracked open.

  “I couldn’t find any clothes big enough for your friend, so I grabbed one of your grandfather’s old robes. He wasn’t as tall as you or as broad shouldered, I hope it’s big enough. Better than nothing, though.” She smiled at the man draped in one of her homemade quilts, then her eyes darted to Caleo. “Caleo, if you would hand me your dirty clothes and Mr.—” she paused, waiting for Nolan to introduce himself. When he didn’t, she continued, “Well, hand me both of your dirty clothes so I can wash them and have them drying for the morning.”

  Nolan adjusted the blanket over his form so it wrapped around his body, concealing everything but his legs. Caleo walked past Nolan and picked up a pair of black sweat pants and a black t-shirt off the floor. He searched the ground for more and paused when he thought, He must not have worn any underwear ... freeballer. Caleo glanced up at Nolan, who was still standing in the same spot Caleo had left him. He couldn’t help but smile a little as he walked to the door and passed Nolan’s clothes through the door to his grandmother and accepted the robe in return. Caleo turned, threw Nolan the robe, and went to shut the door.

  “Caleo Anima, you are filthy!” Caleo cringed at his grandmother using his whole name. “Strip down and get in the bathtub. I don’t have all night. I have to hand wash everything, and I would like to go to bed tonight, too.” She tapped her toes against the floor, showing her impatience as she waited. “I'll have Jillian bring up a couple bowls of cereal and some peanut butter sandwiches. What would you like to drink? We have Coke, OJ, and milk.”

  Caleo thought for a moment.

  “Caleo! Your clothes, now! Strip!”

  “I’ll take a Coke,” Caleo said, hiding behind the door and sliding out of his burnt Spider-Man boxers.

  “Can I just get some water, please, ma'am? I don't drink anything else. The tap will be fine,” Nolan said, turning to face the door as Caleo was handing his underwear through the opening.

  “Okay, it’ll be right up. Caleo, get your shower. I need to turn off the generator soon.” Caleo’s grandmother pulled the door shut.

  Caleo turned his head to see Nolan staring in his direction and suddenly felt very exposed. Yeah, he'd been naked in a locker room before with other men, but this felt different. This felt dangerous. He slowly turned, cupping his crotch with both hands, making sure to conceal both his manhood and his mark as he went. Steve’s warning not to show his mark to anyone played over, and over, in his head as he made his way to the bathroom. Nolan’s gaze followed him as he went, not saying a word.

  “Go ahead, say it!” Caleo snapped, seeing the blank, questioning expression on Nolan’s face as he walked to the bathroom.

  “Say what?” Nolan asked dumbfounded.

  Caleo rolled his eyes with annoyance. “All the white jokes.”

  Nolan shook his head. “I don’t know if I got any white jokes.”

  There was a long silence as Caleo tried to decide if Nolan was making fun of him or not. “Okay. What do you call four hundred white men chasing a black man?”

  Caleo raised an eyebrow intrigued by this new tactic of making fun of him, but didn't respond. I'll give him credit for presentation.

  “The PGA tour,” Nolan finished flatly.

  When Caleo didn't laugh he quickly added, “I can’t think of any more, sorry. Why am I telling white jokes again?”

  “That’s okay,” Caleo said, just as confused as Nolan sounded.

  As Caleo walked into the bathroom, he noticed Nolan feeling his way around the room as he walked to the bed, then he slowly lowered himself down onto it. Caleo, trying not to make it obvious that he was watching him, turned the corner and stepped into the shower. Peeking out from behind a crack between the shower curtain and the wall, he saw Nolan rearranging the blanket so it was lying over his lap before reaching under the blanket and pulling out the towel, which he folded and laid neatly at the bottom of the bed, Then he sat facing the window, motionless. After a few moments Caleo got bored and started to wash off, looking back at Nolan every few seconds just as a precaution.

  Why is he just staring at the wall? Caleo turned off the water and started drying off. Normal people would be walking around, investigating the room or trying to sleep. Wrapping the towel high around his waist to conceal his mark, he walked out of the bathroom to his dresser where he kept his back to Nolan as he got dressed. When he turned around, Nolan was still staring at the wall. He walked in front of Nolan to his bed and sat down noticing that Nolan wasn’t even paying him any attention.

  Caleo leaned in closer till he was right in Nolan’s face. “You okay?”

  “Yep, just meditating,” Nolan said in a calm, relaxed voice, his eyes staring blankly and never moving from the wall.

  “Why?” Caleo hoped it wasn't a dumb question.

  “It’s to—” A knock interrupted Nolan, who finally turned towards the disturbance.

  Jillian voice came from the other side of the door as she tried to imitate a French cook. “Dinner is served.”

  Nolan wrapped the blanket over his shoulders again to conceal his form.

  “It’s open,” Caleo yelled to the door.

  “Well then you better get your lazy butt up and open it. My hands are full!” Jillian yelled sharply.

  Caleo jumped to his feet and ran to the door.

  He opened it and bowed. “This way, your highness.”

  “You’re lucky I don’t dump your food on your head,” she growled, entering the room and placing two trays of food on the dresser.

  “Hello, I just want you to know that this isn't normal for us here at the Purple Rose Inn,” Jillian said sweetly in a well-rehearsed voice that Caleo knew Grandma had made her practice before she came up with the food. “I mean, Caleo’s room is not what the rest of the place looks like.” Jillian turned to face Nolan, who just nodded with a smile plastered on his face.

  Jillian’s face reddened and she smiled. “And I don’t normally look like this. It’s just been a hectic day.”

  “I’m sure it will all be better in the morning,” Nolan reassured her.

  Caleo snorted. “Yeah, she looks a lot better with her mask of makeup on.” Jillian shot him a look that Caleo knew meant she would make his life hell for a month, before she turned back to Nolan with a smile, a move she perfected watching Grandma correct Jack and Caleo with guests around.

  “Well, lights out in ten minutes. Grandma wants to save the gas in the generator. She doesn’t know when the power is going to be fixed, so we have to make it last.” Jillian walked to the door, but first turned to shoot Caleo a dirty look before closing it behind her.

  Caleo handed Nolan one of the trays and took his to his bed. For a few minutes the only sound in the room was chewing.

  “So, what happened to your leg?” Caleo asked, pointing to two large scars on Nolan’s legs just below his knees, trying to break the silence.

  “Old injuries…from a different life,”
Nolan replied gruffly, before he guzzled down his glass of water.

  When it was obvious that Nolan was going no further with his story, Caleo got up and collected the empty dishes.

  “So, have you lived here long?” Caleo tried again to make conversation, this time choosing a less personal topic, but Nolan still didn’t seem to want to answer. Caleo was just about to throw in his last card and ask about the weather when lights in the room went out, leaving them in complete darkness. Great, now I'm alone in the dark with this giant, naked, creepy man I know nothing about. Maybe it would be safer to sleep in Jack’s room. Caleo climbed to his feet.

  “No, I moved here looking for someone,” Nolan answered.

  “It’s a small town, maybe I can help you,” Caleo suggested, sitting back down not, wanting to offend the man.

  “You've done enough. I’m sorry. I'm just tired and stressed, let’s just get some rest.” Nolan yawned, and the bed creaked as Caleo assumed he laid back.

  Caleo followed suit and closed his eyes.

  I saved lives today. I’m like a real super hero. My power isn't useless. I just need to figure out how to use it. I wonder what Bradley’s power is. Wait a minute! A Leech is in my house! Nolan is friends with the Leech… Is he a Leech? Who's he looking for? Are they the ones Steve told me about? Are they looking for me?

  He looked over at Nolan and could just make out that he was facing away from him towards the door. Caleo could see his feet sticking out the bottom of the bed. He stared at the man, thinking back on his exposed body earlier that day when he had the towel wrapped around his waist, trying to remember if he'd seen a mark or not. Damn it! He chastised himself for paying too much attention to Nolan’s muscular body instead of looking for a mark. How am I supposed to go to sleep next to a Leech, who might kill me? Caleo slid as close to the window as he could, keeping his eyes on Nolan. I wish Steve was here, he was supposed to be back by now, maybe this is another one of his tricks! Caleo thought angrily, but after a moment realized: How could he have planned all this out? There's no way he would have known we’d rescue these people.