Kaylee slowed her car and pulled off to the side of the road, creeping up just enough to see past the curve behind her yet still staying out of sight of the group laughing around the fire. She wanted to talk to Mama C alone—without her gang of protective followers nearby.
Twisting in her seat, she glanced at the door lock to ensure it was in the down position even though she’d checked it multiple times already. She let her gaze fall to the street and sidewalk behind her. That had been the direction Mama C had come from last time. Kaylee drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. She tried to convince herself she was safe inside the car, but she knew she wasn’t. Nothing a good crowbar couldn’t fix for someone truly intent on getting to her. “I won’t stay past dark,” she said out loud.
A kink in her neck forced her to turn back to the front. She glanced at the clock in her dash and her heart sank. It would be dark within forty minutes. She adjusted the rearview mirror and watched the street through it.
Kaylee growled as the sky darkened. She sighed and took one last look behind her. “Oh, well. I really need to study for that test tomorrow, anyway.” She started the car but didn’t turn the headlights on. She eased into the road and turned around, not wanting Mama’s gang to see her. Not wanting Blayne to know she’d been there.
She turned onto a main street and clicked her headlights on.
“How’d I do?”
Kaylee smiled at the guy who’d sat on the front row all semester but had only uttered a few words that whole time. “How do you think you did?” She’d just finished proctoring the Psych 1100 final for the professor she TA’d for.
His face flushed, and he shrugged. “Art History is my major. I’m not that into Psych.”
Kaylee zipped up her jacket and shoved her pencil into her bag before throwing one strap over her right shoulder. “See ya’ later.”
The quiet guy caught up to her in two steps. “Wait.”
She hesitated, frowning before she turned to face him.
He must have caught the tail-end of the frown in her eyes because he dropped his gaze to his hands and cleared his throat. “I…I was just wondering if you’d like to go get lunch. With me.”
“Um, I’m seeing someone. I’m sorry.” Why had she said that? She hadn’t been on a date in months. And Shy-Guy was kinda cute.
“Oh. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, it’s a new thing. I just don’t want to mess it up before we see where it’s going.” More lies. What was she doing?
“I…I understand.” He started walking beside her. “What’s his name?” Did his voice hold a hint of disbelief? Or was that her guilt tricking her ears into hearing it that way?
“Blayne,” she spat out. She slapped a hand to her mouth and tried to cover the reaction with a lame cough. Blayne? Really? The homeless guy? She rolled her eyes. Way to set your standards high.
“Is he a student here?”
“No. No. He isn’t a student. He works with the homeless.” She needed to get away from her prying classmate before her nose started growing. “I’m meeting him for lunch downtown. And then I have papers to grade for the professor. Sorry again. Gotta go.” She sped up to a near jog and didn’t turn back to see if he’d followed her.
She’d parked her car on the street; money was too tight to pay for a parking permit on campus. She slowed to a normal pace after a couple of minutes, sure she’d left him in her wake.
The walk to her car seemed to take hours. She threw her backpack in the passenger seat and slammed the driver’s side door. Drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, she thought, What am I going to do now? Her plan had been to grab a bite to eat from the cafeteria then spend the rest of the time studying before her last final in two hours. She’d have to drive somewhere to get lunch and just study there.
Even though she drove herself there, she looked up in shock to see she’d ended up, not at a fast-food joint as she’d planned, but at the viaduct. She slowly shifted the car into park and stared at the lone figure beneath the bridge as she turned off the engine. “Mama C,” she whispered. With no one else around to interfere.
The older woman looked up sharply as Kaylee shut the car door. Kaylee didn’t take her eyes off the woman who didn’t exactly smile, but didn’t scowl either. That was good, right?
Kaylee smiled as she approached.
Mama C put a hand on her hip, pursed her lips, then said, “Hmm. I kinda’ thought you’d give up after your last visit. How’s your head?”
Biting her lip, Kaylee ran her fingers down the sutures she’d need to get taken out soon. “It’s fine. Nothing a few stitches couldn’t fix.” She took another step closer. “Do you have time to talk right now?”
Mama C snorted out a laugh. “I suppose I could spare a little time out of my busy schedule.” She gestured to a couple of upside-down buckets. “Have a seat.”
Kaylee, glad she’d worn an older pair of jeans, brushed some ashes off the top of a bucket and sat down, zipping her coat further up her neck to help fight off the chill air.
“Well,” Mama C grunted as she lowered herself onto a bucket. “What questions ya’ got for me? And just so you know, I’m not gonna tell you my whole life’s story. Nobody gets to know that but me.”
Kaylee frowned, looking down to get a notebook and pen out of her backpack. “Fair enough. Let’s start with your name, maybe? Everyone calls you ‘Mama C’—what’s your real name?”
With a shake of her head and a waggling of her finger, she answered, “Nope. That’s one of those things you don’t get to know.”
“Not even your first name?”
Mama C pulled her eyebrows together.
“Please?” Kaylee begged.
“Fine. Guess it won’t hurt to tell you that.” She looked Kaylee straight in the eyes. “My name’s Claire.”
“Great,” Kaylee said with a smile. “What…”
“You can call me Mama C, just like everyone else. Don’t go around spreadin’ my name around like it’s your business.”
“Of course.” Was this woman really the benevolent angel others had claimed her to be? She seemed kind of ornery. Like Kaylee’s Aunt Helen. She’d have to steer clear of questions about her past—for now. “Can you tell me about the group of young people you…uh…you live with here on the streets?”
“They’re just some young people I try to help. And they help me.”
“How do you find them? Or do they find you?”
“Both. I find some, and some look for me because they hear I might have food.”
“Do you accept anyone into your group? Or do you have rules?” Kaylee already knew there were some stipulations, Blayne had told her that.
“No drugs, no fighting, everyone helps if there’s work to be done.”
“And, you feed them. I saw that you brought them food. What else do you do? What else is it that brings these street-kids to you?”
Mama C sighed and looked down at her filthy gloved hands. “It’s like you said when you told me the name of your thesis. Some people just crave a family-like environment. Some of these kids ran from some horrible pasts and some of them made their own horrible present and ran because of that. So, we become the new family together. And I’m the matriarch. I feed them and make sure they’re warm. They take care of me in other ways.”
“Why?” Kaylee whispered. “Why do you do this?”
Kaylee had to lean in to hear the response, spoken so quietly. “A mother’s instinct never goes away.”
Kaylee forgot the next several questions she’d planned to ask and blurted out, “You have kids? Or had kids?”
Grunting as she stood, Mama C wiped a single tear from her face. “Interview over. I’ve got things to do.” She stepped away and turned to glare at Kaylee still glued to her spot. With a shooing motion, she growled, “Off with you now.” Her face softened a touch when she looked into Kaylee’s eyes. “I’ll meet you at Brews and Things tonight at four o’clock if you want—but no more questions about my pers
onal life.” She pointed at Kaylee with a stern finger and turned and walked away.
Kaylee slipped inside just before the professor shut the door. She’d nearly forgotten about her last final and she certainly hadn’t done any extra studying like she’d planned.
The first question on the test stared back at her from the white page. In the background she faintly perceived the scratching of pencils on paper. Her own pencil remained still in her hand, the words on the paper blurring as she replayed her short conversation with Mama C over again in her mind.
“Kaylee!!”
The hushed whisper caused her to jump and almost drop her pencil. She stole a quick glance at her friend, Jamie, sitting next to her. Jamie gestured at her own test then went right back to furiously scribbling down answers. Kaylee’s eyes widened as she looked up at the clock. Ten minutes had ticked by and she hadn’t even read the first question of this thirty-minute timed test!
Pushing thoughts of her thesis aside, she rushed through the test in the remaining twenty-minutes.
Kaylee parked in front of the coffee shop and drew in a steadying breath. She’d written down the questions she would ask, not necessarily the ones she wanted to ask, though. A hard rap on her window. She jumped in her seat, and her heart vaulted into her throat. She scowled and looked to her left. Blayne stood there, laughing at her, Mama C by his side. Kaylee wiped the scowl from her face and opened the door to hear Mama C chastising him. “You shouldn’t go around scaring people like that. Shame on you. Look, her face is all red, now.”
“That’s just…uh…I must have had my heater on too high.” Kaylee looked at the ground as the heat in her face burned hotter.
“Sorry, Kaylee.” He still had a hint of mischief in his voice. “Let’s go inside where it’s warm.”
He opened the door for them and Kaylee leaned into Mama C and said, “I didn’t know he was coming.”
Shaking her head, the older woman replied, “He insisted. Says he wants to make sure I’m protected, but I’m not so sure that’s the reason he’s taggin’ along.”
“Why…” Kaylee didn’t get to finish her question.
“There’s a table right over there,” Blayne caught up to them. “You buyin’ Kaylee?”
“Umm, yes, of course.” Thinking about her abysmal bank account, she hoped they just wanted coffee.
“Just kidding, we can get our own.” Blayne stood behind her in line. “What, do you think we’re homeless or something?”
She turned to look at him, her mouth slightly open, and he winked at her. She shut her mouth and narrowed her eyes a little. “I’d like to buy your drinks, if that’s okay, since Mama C is helping me with my thesis.”
He shrugged. “If that’s what you want.”
“It is. Why don’t you tell me what you want so you two can go save that table for us? I’ll bring our order over there.”
“Coffee. Black.”
“Same here,” said Mama C. “None of that fancy fru-fru stuff for me.”
Kaylee carried their two black coffees and her “fru-fru” vanilla cappuccino over to the table, sat next to Mama C, and pulled her notebook and pen out. “So, Blayne. I hear you’re afraid I might be a danger to Mama C?” Despite her proclivity to flush with embarrassment at the slightest thing, she wanted to show him she could be strong and confront people if she felt the need.
“Huh,” he looked at Mama C, “did you tell her that?”
“I tell it like I see it.” Mama C sipped at her coffee.
Blayne shook his head and quirked his mouth into a half smile. “I don’t see you as a physical danger, obviously. But you might be an emotional—or just annoying—danger to her. So, I’m just here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“I would never,” Kaylee started to deny that she was any such danger, but then remembered how their earlier conversation had ended. She cleared her throat. “I would never intentionally hurt her in any way.”
“And,” Mama C interrupted. “I’m sitting right here, you two young hooligans. And, if I feel she’s gettin’ too personal, I’ll just get up and walk away. Isn’t that right, young lady?”
Kaylee nodded and looked at Blayne. “But you’re welcome to stay anyway so I can prove to you how innocuous I am.”
He rolled his eyes. “Do all you college girls use big words?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Innocuous means…”
He leaned over the table, closer to her. “I know what it means.”
She squirmed in her chair and took a big sip of her still-steaming cappuccino. “Ow! Hot!” It burned all the way down until it splashed into her stomach.
The smirk on Blayne’s face turned to one of concern as the corners of his mouth wilted into a frown. “I’ll go get you some ice.” He pushed his chair back into the person sitting behind him and hurried to the counter to ask for a cup of ice.
“See,” Mama C said. “My Blayne isn’t so bad.”
Kaylee smiled despite her burning tongue and throat and watering eyes.
“Here.” Blayne slammed the cup of ice onto the table in front of her. “I’ve done that before. It burns all the way down. You should have spit it out.”
She crunched a piece of ice and let the coolness slide down her throat. “Don’t think I didn’t consider doing just that. I didn’t want to spray it all over you, though.”
He laughed for real this time. A beautiful, short laugh. “You’re my hero. Thanks for not spewing your fru-fru drink all over me. I’d hate to have to take this,” he gestured to his battered, dirty, worn coat, “to the dry-cleaners again so soon.”
“You’re welcome.” Kaylee smiled but didn’t quite dare to laugh at his self-deprecating joke.
“Let’s get started, shall we,” Mama C said. “I’d like to get back home before it gets too dark.”
Kaylee drew in a breath and sat the cup down. “Okay. We talked a little this morning about some of the kids, or young people, you help. Can you tell me more about them? About their backgrounds?” She glanced at Blayne then back at Mama C and quickly added, “Not names and stuff, just some general information.”
“You know theirs aren’t my stories to tell. You’ll have to come back to the viaduct with us and ask them yourself if you want to know their tales.”
Tapping her pen on the table, Kaylee tried not to show her frustration, even though she’d been sure that would be the woman’s answer. She nodded. “Okay, I’ll do that. How about just some general numbers? How long have you been homeless?”
“Right around ten years, I suppose.” Her eyes faded out of focus for a moment.
“About how many young people have you helped over the years?” asked Kaylee.
“Hmm. Now that’s a harder number to come by.”
While Mama C sipped her coffee and thought, Kaylee looked around the coffee shop. Two police officers in the corner stared at them and whispered. One caught her eye and frowned, mouthing “you okay” as he pointed at her. She nodded and smiled to show she was in no distress.
“What was that all about? Flirting with our fine men in blue, are you?” asked Blayne.
“No, no. I…he…”
“Oh, wait.” Blayne scowled. “I think I know what happened. He saw you here with us and was just making sure you’re okay. That we aren’t forcing you to be in our presence. Is that it?”
“There isn’t one thing wrong with that, Blayne,” Mama C said. “You know we look like a couple of deranged druggies in our old clothes and unbathed states. Now quit glaring at those nice policemen. Kaylee and I have things to discuss.
“Now, what was it you asked me?”
Kaylee looked at her notebook and answered, “How many young people have you helped over the years?”
“That’s right. I really don’t know. Could be fifty, could be a hundred. I don’t keep track. If they need help and are willing to live with my rules, they’re welcome.” She slapped her hand on the table in front of Blayne. “Stop giving the evil eye to those police.”
“No, thank you.”
As Blayne made his way to the counter, Kaylee asked, “Can you tell me about any of your past kids? Not specifics, just in general? Why they became homeless maybe and if…if there were any happy endings?” Her eyes flicked to Blayne, his hand tapped his thigh in rhythm to the music playing over the store speakers.
“Oh, there are always happy endings, dear.” She patted Kaylee’s hand. “Sometimes…” her eyes glazed over again, “sometimes even death can be a happy ending.” She shook her head and focused on Kaylee. “The ones that do well are those who clean up their act and go back to their families. Unfortunately, not everyone has a family they can go back to.”
Was she referring to herself? Kaylee wondered.
Blayne sat back down with his refill. He shook his head. “I really miss my stereo.” He looked at Mama C. “We should be going soon. This place is getting crowded and I hate being stared at by these people who, you know, have a life.”
“Come on now, Blayne,” Mama C said. “You have a life, too. Just not as clean or warm as theirs.” She turned to Kaylee. “Do you want to come back with us and talk to the kids? There are at least two who I’m sure will share their stories with you—they share them with everyone else often enough.” She shook her head.
Kaylee perked up. “Yes. Thank you. I’d love to go talk to them.”
On their way back to the viaduct, Kaylee quizzed Blayne about what kind of music he liked, surprised to find they had similar tastes.
The sun dipped behind the horizon as they pulled up to the viaduct. Kaylee readjusted the scarf around her neck as she stepped out into the bitter cold, wondering how anyone could survive the cold winters of Denver with nowhere to sleep but the streets. The slanted sides of the viaduct only helped slightly to tame the wind. The orange glow from the fire barrel called to her like a Phoenix song. This is their lifeline, she thought, as the three people surrounding it made room for her, Blayne, and Mama C.
Under the Viaduct Page 3