Demarcus straightened up and pointed a finger at her in mock consternation. “Don’t ever let me hear you apologize for pizza again. Pizza is a national treasure!” As if to prove it, he shoved half a piece into his mouth and smiled a marinara-cheesy smile.
When the pizza was gone, the three teens and Mama wrapped up in the sleeping bags and Kaylee draped one of the quilts over her legs as she sat on a flat stone. Mama C pulled her beanie down over her ears and said, “Well, are you going to ask me more questions today, college girl?”
Kaylee glanced at Blayne, still standing in front of them, then back at Mama. “Not today. Today is just for hanging out.”
Mama C smiled and nodded.
“I’m gonna go see if I can find something to burn,” Blayne said. “Be back in a few.”
Kaylee jumped to her feet and spread the quilt over Mama C. “I’ll come with you.”
Blayne shrugged and turned his back to her. “If you want, I guess.”
A low chuckle came from Mama’s throat.
Kaylee caught up to him, her face flushed yet again.
“You really wanna go dumpster diving with me?”
“Umm, yeah. Is that where you find wood?”
“Sometimes. Not far from here there’s some abandoned buildings with boarded-up windows. That’s actually where I’m headed this time.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes until the buildings came into view. “Might need to go inside and scope it out. That wood looks soaked.” Blayne stopped and looked down at Kaylee. “You okay with a little breaking and entering, college girl?”
She shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
His eyes widened. “Oh, really? Do tell.”
The pert little twist of his lips was worth the confession. “Okay. But this stays between us. I don’t need everyone else finding out about my checkered past.” She put her hands on her hips in a dramatic fashion.
Blayne laughed and crossed his heart. “Your secret shall go to the grave with me.”
“Back home, there was this old, abandoned house. Everyone said it was haunted. We’d dare each other to go look through the only window that wasn’t boarded up.”
“Ooh. Scary.” He rolled his eyes.
“Oh, it gets better.” Kaylee crossed her arms. “One Halloween—I think I was fifteen—this older boy I had a secret crush on, who turned out to be a real jerk, by the way, dared me to go inside the house. Said he’d give me something really special if I did.”
Blayne’s eyes narrowed. “Special, huh?”
“Yeah,” Kaylee scoffed. “Like I said—a real jerk.”
“So, did you do it?”
“Of course I did! I’m no scaredy-cat. I took a hammer and pulled enough boards off one of the back windows to climb through. I flipped on my flashlight and heard hundreds of little feet skittering.” She shuddered at the memory. “The dare was that I had to walk to the front of the house and shine the flashlight out of the non-boarded-up window, take something from inside, then go back out the way I came in. I covered my mouth with my shirt and stepped carefully over dead rodents and spider webs until I could shine the light out the window. On the way back out I noticed an old key hanging from a hook in the kitchen. I grabbed that and booked it out of there.”
“So, breaking, entering, and robbery.” He nodded. “I’m impressed, college girl.”
“I still have the key somewhere.”
“As you should. You should always keep mementos of your crimes, I mean, adventures.”
She smiled up at him. The sparkle in his eyes lit a fire in her chest. She reached into her pocket and felt the package there. “I…uh…I have something for you. A thank you for, well, for helping me out.” She pulled the wrapped package out and handed it to him, the fire moving up her neck into her face.
A slight frown creased his brow.
Words tumbled out of her. “It’s no big deal, really. I didn’t even have to buy it. Allie gave it to me. I just thought you might like it.”
He sighed and took it from her. “Thank you.”
She watched as he unwrapped the small media player. He held it up and raised an eyebrow.
She hurried to explain. “I downloaded some songs I think you’ll like. It’s all charged up, and it comes with earbuds and a charging cord.” She looked down. “I figured you could probably find places to plug it in and recharge it, or I could recharge it for you.”
A strange look passed over his face. “So, you plan on sticking around long enough to recharge this for me?” Unlike other times, he didn’t sound put-off or annoyed. He sounded almost—hopeful.
“Yeah. I do.” She reached up and squeezed his hand. “Maybe it was a dumb idea. I’ve never been good at giving gifts.” She let her hand drop.
“Kaylee,” he waited for her to look up at him before continuing, “It’s a wonderful gift. Will you show me how it works? I’ve been a bit tech-deprived for a while.”
She nodded, unable to tear her gaze from his. There was something in his eyes she’d never seen there before—like the ice around his heart was slowly melting and maybe he was seeing her as something besides a spoiled college girl. “That’s the first time you’ve called me by my name.”
Blayne’s lips twitched, and he looked away. “Don’t make this awkward, college girl.”
“Right.” She nodded. “Let’s find somewhere to sit while I show you how it works.”
Glad for her long coat that covered her butt, they sat on a bench that was more splinters than boards. Blayne pulled the media player out of the box and scooted closer to her, so their legs touched. Kaylee removed her gloves so she could work the touch-screen, wondering at the odor of freshly laundered clothing.
As if reading her mind, Blayne leaned closer, holding out the player to her. “Don’t worry. I took advantage of the showers and laundering facilities at the shelter the other day. I should be bug and mostly odor free.”
“You do smell nice. I mean fresh.” She growled and shook her head like a confused pup. She let out a deep breath. “You smell clean, and I’m sure it felt good to take a warm shower and put on clean clothes.”
Blayne chuckled. “You really aren’t very good at the whole conversation thing, are you?”
Not with you, she thought. “Things always sound better in my head. Something happens on the way to my mouth, so by the time the words get there, they’re all screwed up.”
He caught on quickly to her tutorial, and she wondered whether it was her fabulous teaching or that he actually already knew how to work it. Either way, it didn’t matter, each time their hands brushed against one another, or he looked at her and smiled, her stomach released another butterfly into her chest. She could no longer deny it—she was attracted to a recovering drug addict homeless guy. She frowned at the thought. What was she doing?
Snowflakes floated down in a half-hearted attempt at a storm. Kaylee stared out at the gray street from Max’s apartment window, trying to keep her mind from wandering to Blayne. It was Christmas Day, though, so was it so weird for her to wonder how Mama C and her gang were doing?
Allie plopped down next to her on the loveseat and she turned from the window with a start.
“Sorry,” Allie said, not looking at all sorry. “I made you some hot chocolate.”
“Thank you.” Kaylee took the steaming mug from her friend.
“Lame Christmas, huh?” Allie brushed a stray hair from her face. “Maybe you should have gone home.”
Kaylee smiled. “It isn’t lame. I appreciate you and Max letting me spend the day with you. And eat dinner with you.” She rubbed her stomach with exaggerated strokes. “When did you say we’d be eating?”
“Max says the turkey should be done soon. He’s just waiting for the little temp probe thing to pop up.”
“You know those things don’t always work, right?” Kaylee raised an eyebrow.
“Um, no, I didn’t know that.” She stood and rushed to the kitchen.
The tur
key ended up being dry, but still good. Max and Allie packed up all the leftovers—of which there were many, making Kaylee wonder if they’d purposefully bought a bigger turkey and more food than they would need—and told Kaylee to take it, and do “whatever she wanted” with it. They really weren’t as sneaky as they thought.
The door let in a chilling breeze and a few random snowflakes as they said their goodbyes. “It’s getting kind of late,” Allie said. “Maybe we should go with you.”
“It isn’t late,” Kaylee said. “It just looks that way because the days are so short this time of year.” She patted Allie’s hand. “I’ll be fine. Thank you again for dinner, and the leftovers.” She would have liked their company but was afraid it would upset the group she’d worked so hard to gain trust from if she brought a couple of strangers in their midst. Besides, Blayne will keep me safe. She scowled at herself for thinking of him again.
Kaylee stopped at her and Allie’s apartment to gather some paper plates and plastic utensils. She thought about just stopping to buy some at a gas station, but money was tight, especially during school breaks when she wasn’t TA-ing. She wouldn’t see another paycheck until a couple of weeks after school started again in mid-January. The money her parents and grandparents sent her for Christmas would help get her by.
The gang huddled around a pitiful excuse for a fire under the new viaduct. Blayne stood off from them, hands in his pockets, watching Mama C from behind. She was wrapped up in two sleeping bags and wore a beanie, a scarf wrapped around her face so only her dark eyes were visible.
Kaylee cleared her throat to get their attention. “I brought left-overs.”
The teens perked up, lifting their gazes from the hypnotic flames. “Let me help you with that,” Demarcus said, jumping to his feet. Clint was right behind him.
Even Hannah stood and moved toward her. “Pizza again?”
Kaylee smiled. “Not this time. Turkey dinner. If you hurry, it might actually still be warm.”
“Mashed potatoes?” Demarcus licked his lips.
“Yep. And gravy.” Kaylee and the boys spread the plastic food containers out on the ground near the fire and then Kaylee passed out the plates and utensils.
Blayne leaned down, put a hand on her shoulder, and whispered in her ear. “This is really great. Thank you.”
His warm breath sent a shiver down her back. “You’re welcome,” she whispered in return.
After they devoured all of the leftovers, they sat around the fire. Blayne sat close to Kaylee, their shoulders brushing as he leaned in to tend to the fire. Mama C sat on the other side of her. The silence lingered, but didn’t feel awkward as they all stared at the flames, lost in their own thoughts.
“What’s your favorite Christmas memory, Demarcus?” Clint asked, breaking the silence.
Demarcus glanced around the circle, then looked up, thinking. “I guess, the year before my mom got sick. That was the last Christmas we were all together. The last time we had a nice Christmas dinner.” He winked at Kaylee.
“What about you Hannah?” Clint asked.
“Oh, when I was ten, my grandma and grandpa rented a cabin in the mountains for us to spend the holidays in. It was awesome. My cousins were there, and we stayed up and played games every night. We had a massive snowball fight, kids against grown-ups, and we had the advantage because we’d spent the morning building a snow fort to hide behind.” She sighed. “It was awesome.”
“Blayne?” Clint raised his eyebrows at his friend sitting across from him.
Blayne shook his head.
“Come on! Tell us something,” Clint pleaded. “Lie if you have to.”
Blayne laughed and glanced quickly at Kaylee then back at the flames. “This one has turned out to be pretty nice.”
Looking down at her lap, Kaylee smiled to herself.
“That’s a cop-out,” Clint said. “But whatever. Your turn, college girl.”
“You go first, Clint,” she stalled.
“Fine, but then you have to go.” He rubbed his hands together and smiled. “We went ice skating on a pond my dad used to skate on as a kid. It was terrifying, because the ice makes noise and I was sure we were going to fall through and die a horrible, frozen death. But it was also exhilarating. Me and my sister chased my dad around, trying to get him to fall while my mom laughed and tried to keep up with us. It was a blast.
“Your turn.” He smiled and nodded at Kaylee.
She groaned. “Do I have to take a turn?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“This is embarrassing, but my favorite Christmas was when I was about eight and my grandma got me a karaoke machine.”
Everyone laughed.
Kaylee hurried to explain. “But not because of the present. It was my favorite because my whole family, reluctantly at first, had a sing-off. Even my usually stoic dad. It was awful, and hilarious, and so much fun. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life.”
She turned to Mama C. “How about you, Mama C?”
The others quieted and looked back at the flames.
“You know I don’t talk about my past, Kaylee.” She coughed, holding a gloved hand to her mouth. “But I do want to raise your awareness of something.” She looked around at the gathered group as she spoke. “Not a single one of you talked about things when talking about your favorite Christmas. Not one of you talked about a favorite present. You all referred to spending time with those you love. That is what’s important. That is what we remember as we lay dying. That is what we yearn for again when we’re lonely and alone. And, that is what some folks cry themselves to sleep wishing for when even the possibility of such a thing is buried in the past, impossible to obtain. Feel fortunate, my young ones, that the possibility is still there for all of you.” She wiped away a tear, no longer looking at anyone, but gazing into the fire.
Kaylee laid her hand atop Mama C’s gloved hand. “But there must be someone you’d like to see again.”
“No.” Mama C’s voice turned harsh. “You won’t trick me into talking about my past. Stop trying.”
Blayne bristled on Kaylee’s other side. “I think it’s time for you to go now, college girl.” He stood and held a hand out to help her up, not leaving it open for discussion.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered to Mama C as she stood.
“I’ll walk you to your car.” The light had gone out of Blayne’s voice too. Her incessant curiosity had ruined a beautiful night, and she was furious with herself.
“Wait,” Mama C struggled to stand, another dry cough roughing up her throat. “I’d like to have a word with you, Kaylee,” she narrowed her eyes at Blayne, “alone.”
Kaylee and the elderly woman stepped out of hearing range from Blayne and the group. Kaylee barley held back tears, knowing Mama C would tell her she could no longer come around. Knowing she’d blown it.
A gentle smile softened her eyes, though, and Mama said, “There is something I’d like you to do. Consider it making up for your repeated breaking of my rules—which you agreed to.”
Relief washed over her and Kaylee nodded. “Yes. Anything.”
Placing a hand on Kaylee’s arm, Mama C said, “I want you to help Blayne. He’s ready to leave this life behind. He’s been ready for a while now.”
Confused, Kaylee asked, “How can I help him?”
“First of all, he needs a job. There are programs out there that can help with this, but they take some time to complete and I don’t think he needs that. But there are things that are necessary in order to even apply for a job, things Blayne does not have access to.”
Kaylee waited for her to continue, hoping she wasn’t going to ask her for money, because that was one thing she was unable to give right now.
“Clothes. He needs some decent clothes and I don’t mean for you to buy them for him. There are several places—churches and shelters—that have free, donated clothing for just such a purpose, but he’ll need to be able to get to those places. And he’ll need
help picking out the proper attire.
“A haircut and shave. Again, not asking you to pay for it. Those same places that supply clothing, have barbers come and give of their time and talents for free on certain days of the week or month. Find out when and get him there.”
So far, the list seemed doable.
Mama C continued, “And, this is the hard one, he’ll need to get a copy of his Social Security Card. He knows his number, but employers need a copy of an actual card. I have no idea what is needed to get it. I have a feeling it won’t be easy without an I.D. or permanent address. You’ll have to do some research into that.”
Kaylee nodded again, already thinking of ways she could find out. “He can use my phone number to put on the applications and I can drive him to any interviews he gets.”
“Now,” Mama C said, “the hard part is up to me.” She patted Kaylee’s arm. “I get to convince him to let you help.”
Downtown Denver bustled with people and cars. Kaylee thought it would have settled down a few days after Christmas, but people must have still been out visiting family and exchanging unwanted or mis-sized gifts. The traffic tried her patience. It didn’t help that she was having little luck with the Social Security Card mission. It was a catch-22—Blayne would need an I.D. or birth certificate to get a copy of his SSC, but he needed his SSC plus two forms of mail to prove his address in order to get an I.D. She was on her way to the homeless shelter to talk to someone whose job it was to deal with these kinds of conundrums. She may have also been using this task as an excuse to postpone going to find Blayne. Mama C had been able to talk him into letting Kaylee help him, but he wasn’t happy about it.
She drove around the block twice trying to find a place to park before giving up and parking three blocks away. She wrapped her scarf tighter around her face and neck to ward off the bitter cold. Knowing she shouldn’t be walking with her head down, she did it anyway. All of the self-defense classes she’d seen said to walk with purpose, head up and alert. Kaylee had a hard time looking at the people huddled in doorways and out on the sidewalk. She wanted to help them, but had no idea where to even start.
Under the Viaduct Page 6