Walker and Valerie

by Annette Stephenson

  “Text me tomorrow and let me know if you both liked it. We will start a note for her if she does. Here is the juice,” April said, and sent me on my way. Ammo and Tarzan were so lucky to have found this gem of a restaurant. I got back in and handed the bag to Val.

  “Drink the juice, please. You will start to feel better pretty quickly.” I handed her the Styrofoam cup and straw.

  She put the straw in and started to drink. “You are so bossy.”

  I smiled and started to drive to her house. “It’s for a good reason—your health.”

  “What did you get?” She opened the bag to smell the food.

  “I have no idea. April and her family took care of it,” I said.

  “What do you mean they ‘took care of it?’” She was still drinking her juice.

  “You will see.” I could tell I was making her nuts, but I thought she was cute when she was frustrated.

  “Fine.” She folded the paper bag back up and waited till I got to her house. “You know I never said you could eat with me.”

  I looked over at her. Her lips were quirking up, trying to hide a smile. “True, but I think after the things I have done for you today I do deserve a small reward. I would hope having to share a meal with me would not be asking too much of you?” I turned up my smile. “I’ll even let it count as a date if you really have to.”

  She sighed, then she laughed. I knew right then I was going to fall really hard for her. “At least you can make me laugh Walker.” I had pulled up to her house. There was parking right in front. I pulled out her chair first and got it in a place so I could quickly set her down. I opened her door. She had placed the food on my seat, her juice in the cup holder, and unbuckled.

  “Like last time. Arms around my neck.” I scooped her up and got her in her chair. She settled in. I grabbed the food, juice, and locked up. I followed her to her place.

  “Here we are. Home sweet home,” she said as she opened the door. A striped brown, black, and white flash shot itself into Val’s lap. “Hi, Tabby-Girl. I am sorry. I know you’re hungry.” She went into the kitchen. I shut the door and kicked off my shoes. We had walked into her living room. She had a TV on the wall separating the kitchen from the living room a couch and coffee table and end table. I could see where she liked to relax. Everything in the room was beige, with slashes of purple from throw pillows and some blankets. She had hardwood through the place. I saw a hall. It looked like she had two bedrooms, and a bathroom. She had a galley-style kitchen that opened to a small eating area. She had a table with three chairs at it. It was nice, simple, and clean. I set the food on the table.

  “Did you have water to drink?” I asked, turning to look at her. That’s when I realized the kitchen was completely customized to accommodate her. While she had upper cabinets, I was sure they would be filled with items she never used.

  “Sure, there is a cold pitcher in the fridge, and there are glasses in that cabinet.” She pointed to one. “I need to change before I eat.” She started to go back to her room.

  “Stop. Let me look at you first, please.” She turned towards me. Her shaking was almost gone, and she looked a bit better, not so pale. She needed food and water and she would be fine. “Are you feeling better now?”

  She was quiet for a moment. “Yeah,” she admitted.

  “Okay, go change, but call for help if you need to. No shame, Val, your blood sugar we just a little off from skipping lunch, okay?”

  “Thank you, Dr. Walker.” She went back to her room and came back shortly in black stretchy pants and a T-shirt. I had set out our containers with the chopsticks and a spoon for Val’s which April had put in the bag. “That smells really good.”

  “Here, this is yours.” I put hers in the place at the table with no chair. They’d made her some sort of soup, but heartier and full of noodles and vegetables. I sat to her left. Mine was the chicken and vegetables they made the other day. I couldn’t get enough of it.

  “Oh wow, this is good. There are rice noodles, all kinds of vegetables, tofu, some chicken, all in a broth. Do you eat here often?”

  “Mostly for lunch. I can cook simple things, but what they make is so much better. When you meet them, they ask you about what you like and don’t like and then cook for you. If you like it, they go from there; if you don’t, they note that, so you don’t get it again.”

  “What special people,” she said as she enjoyed her meal. Soon I saw the tabby cat with white mittens join us. “Tabby-Girl, this is Walker. He brought me home and got me dinner too. Walker, this is Tabby-Girl. I bottle-fed her when she was a kitten.”

  “Hello, Tabby-Girl.” She walked on the chairs to come to me. I held my hand out to sniff and she went in for some head scratches. “What’s her story?”

  “I found her when she was about three days old. The vet thinks her mom abandoned her because she was so small. I kept her and raised her. Cats like her get very attached to the one who does that, and sometimes they have behavior issues because of it. But so far, she is just fine.” Val finished about half her soup. “That was fantastic. I am excited to have this tomorrow.”

  I realized I had finished mine. I collected my trash and threw it away. She put the lid back on hers and I placed it in the fridge for her. I grabbed our water glasses and headed to the living room. She followed me. I gave her room to get into her spot. She had a bunch of yarn placed next to it. She turned the TV on and looked at me. “Anything you prefer to watch?”

  “Not the news.” I really didn’t want to hear all the negative things that were happening. I had enough of that from the army.

  “Okay, a movie channel.” She put American Movie Classics on.

  “Good choice.” I let her get settled once she seemed comfortable. Her blood sugar seemed to be back to normal; she was not shaking or pale. She still needed water, so I would make sure to keep her glass full. “Are you ready to tell me what happened to the popcorn today?”

  Chapter 10

  Valerie

  I blew out my breath. I knew I would have to do this Monday with Domino. Maybe if I did it now, I could avoid Domino. “I opened the theater at 9:00 a.m., like I do every Saturday. Made the popcorn. Everything was fine; Blake and Vikki came in at 11:00. Vikki went to go clean and Blake was going to make the next batch of popcorn. He opened the airtight container and it was full of roaches. He closed it back up. Told me to call Joe, our exterminator, and left everything the way he found it. Joe got there and helped Blake dispose of everything and clean that area.” I drank some water.

  “Vikki explained the popcorn had gotten wet from an accidental spill and Blake said he was so klutzy, so the patrons had a story they could believe about why I didn’t have popcorn. Joe did a full inspection on the house because he was freaking out that he’d missed something. He values his reputation, you know. Well, it was contained to the popcorn container. He said the bugs had to be planted as that is not how they behave. I looked at the video feeds and I see nothing. I sent an email to Domino about it, hoping he could help.”

  “I will be right back,” he said, got up and ran out to his Jeep, then came back. He had a tablet. He opened the Forces app, found my feeds, and started them playing from 9 a.m. We got to 11:10 when I saw Blake open the container then close it and put it back. So, from 9:00 a.m. till 11:10. He took the feed we had from the counter area and played it again. At 10:22 I saw a blip. A flash that should not have been there.

  He slowed it down and played it again. “Where were you at 10:22?”

  I watched the screen, then looked at him. “It was like a blip. What was that? I would have been checking theater two for overflowing trash before the next movie would start.”

  “That blip is someone messing with the signal, a jammer, I think. I am going to send this to Binary and Hack to investigate farther. But it does seem Joe was right; they were planted. The next question is who would want to sabotage you? Who would not want you to succeed? Who hates you, Val?”

  No one. I could not
think of anyone who would do something like this. “There is no one I can think of. The one person I did fire for stealing can’t hurt me now, so I just don’t know.” I shrugged my shoulders.

  “Why can’t he hurt you now?”

  “He’s dead. He stole the cash from a Friday night take. I had video of him doing it. I called him to return the money, he said no, told me to fuck off. I told him he was fired, do not return. He said fine and hung up. Two days later neighbors found him dead of an overdose. He bought all the drugs he could with the money he stole and went on a bender. His name was James. Or Jim. Ugh. I can’t remember his last name right now. I’ll have it in my office on Tuesday.”

  “All right. I will also work on talking to all your employees to see if someone is bothering them. Anything else you can think of?”

  “No, this is just crazy. I am a small independent movie theater. Why ruin me?”

  “Okay, let’s shelve this problem for now and talk about other things. We can leave it till Tuesday, we might have the feed analyzed by then.” He looked at my water glass. He then got up and refilled it. “So, Val, tell me about yourself.”

  “Like what?” I asked. What could he want to know? Why was he doing this?

  “Val, if we are going to be friends, we need to get to know each other; that’s what we have been doing. Here, I will go first, then you can get an idea on how to answer, okay?” I nodded. I really wasn’t good at making friends anymore.

  “Do you mind if I keep my hands busy? I find I listen better when I do.” I picked up my yarn and hook.

  “What is it that you are making?” he asked.

  “I’m crocheting ear warmers. I give them to the homeless that I meet in the soup kitchen where Grandma and I volunteer.”

  “That’s very nice. I don’t mind. All right, you ready?” I nodded and settled in. “My family is of Scandinavian decent. They immigrated into Wisconsin in the early 1830s. They settled down near Janesville. My family has lived in the same town since. Everyone called me Torin—it’s my middle name because my dad is Travis too. Anyway, I was Torin until sophomore year. My high school put on a talent show. There would be three winners from each grade, then an overall winner from that group. By this time, I was fully obsessed with zombies, even more so than now. I had one month to get everything perfected,” he said, pulled out his phone, and found the picture. “The day of the talent show came. I was ready. I asked a few of the drama club members to help me. But this is how I won first place for my grade.” He handed me the phone.

  It was a picture of him and some other kids. He was in full zombie makeup, and they were holding an award. “Oh my! Walker! You did that?” I looked at him then back at the phone in disbelief.

  “Yup, I perfected my special effects makeup skills so much I could have been an extra in any movie of my choice. The drama club kids and I did a little skit. I wandered around them as they ran away, trying to get their brains. One of the kids was great at sound effects and added a soundtrack. We had such a fun time with it. Everyone started calling me Walker after that.”

  “That’s some real talent. Why didn’t you go to Hollywood?” I asked as I stitched.

  “I knew I wanted to serve for a long time. My dad and my grandfather both served in the army. I wanted to as well. Then 9/11 happened when I was a junior, and it cemented how I was going to spend the next twenty-some years of my life. My mom is a high school science teacher; she instilled my love for science. I ended testing well enough to get into the medic program and eventually I became a special forces medic.”

  “That’s amazing, Walker. Thank you for serving our country.” I smiled at him. “You never did mention what your dad does?”

  He was staring at me. He cleared his throat. “Oh yeah. Dad, he is the head of the maintenance staff at the high school. He also helps out the volunteer fire department. I would too, if I lived up there. I qualify to be a paramedic.”

  “So why don’t you? You seem to be good at it, if taking care of me this evening is any indication.”

  “I should have served until I was at least thirty-eight or forty, but it turns out I have a heart condition. It got me discharged at thirty-three. I am not supposed to be in high-stress situations, too much strain on my heart. So, I came to work for Domino since he trusts me to know what I can and can’t do.”

  I looked at him as he explained why he was no longer serving. “You are like one of the calmest people I’ve met in a long time. I can’t believe you have that going on. Well, I see what you want for an answer now.” I drank some more water.

  “It was fall of senior year for me; life up till then had been normal. My parents loved me. They worked at the theater, and I went to school. I also played soccer. I had gotten a scholarship with it, even. Well, we only had one car. Dad needed it one day but said he would come get me after practice. He picked me up and life changed forever. As we drove home, a fully loaded dump truck blew a red light and struck our car. Dad never saw it, never felt it; he was just gone. I only remember the sound of squealing tires, brakes.

  “When I came to in the hospital two weeks later, I found out he was gone. My mother hated me so much for it she just left me for my grandparents to care for. I thank God for them every day. They helped me get to where I am now. The nerves in my lumbar area were affected from the accident. I have been lucky that I can still use the bathroom normally as long as I watch what I eat. I have some feeling and movement in my hips, but not in my knees down. The doctors don’t think I will walk again, just too much nerve damage, dead nerves. But there is not much I cannot do.”

  “Did you get to go to school?”

  “No, with the help of two of my high school teachers I got my high school diploma on time with the rest of my class. But college was just too much at that time of my life. My grandparents and I talked. The theater was to be left to my dad, but with him gone and my mother out of the picture, they left it to me. I wanted to run it. I wanted to keep it the little gem of a place that my grandparents had made it. I think I am succeeding. I did take a few courses at the local community college, accounting and business so that I can run it on my own.”

  “You didn’t mention your mother before when I asked you who hated you,” he pointed out to me.

  Yeah, because who wants to be reminded, they are not wanted? “Yeah, she has not spoken to me since three days after I woke up. And that was to tell me I was no longer her daughter, stay away from her, don’t talk to her, she didn’t care, I had ruined her life, and so on. Not long after that she moved to California and we have never heard from her again. I didn’t say anything because I believe she is happier pretending I do not exist. Hurting me, sabotaging me, would be admitting I exist. I don’t see her doing that.” Ugh, it still made me so upset.

  “Well, if you don’t mind, give me her name on Tuesday along with the other guy’s.”

  “Sure.” I put my crocheting down. “Walker, I hate to do this, but I’m getting tired.” I wanted to be alone. I did like him; it was easy to talk with him for the most part. He seemed like a really nice guy, but I had been fooled before.

  “Oh sure. What are you doing tomorrow?”

  He looked at me, watching for my response. “Sundays while my grandparents are not in town are just relax around the house. Why?”

  “Well, if you are not doing anything I wondered if you would like to come hang out at Domino’s for the afternoon and dinner.”

  “I don’t know Walker, that seems like …” This was too much. I wasn’t ready for that.

  “What holds you back, Val?”

  I looked at him. I couldn’t tell him what was really going through my mind, “I’m not very good at being friends with people. I had some horrible experiences with people I thought were friends, best friends, even one I thought was more than a friend. It didn’t end well. I was hurt for a long time.” I hung my head. I knew I was going to cry. I could feel the tears in the back of my eyes. I took a deep breath, willing them to go away.

&nbs
p; The next thing I knew I was in his arms, sitting in his lap crushed against his chest. He smelled so good. I almost couldn’t believe this was real. I felt him brush my hair away from my face, kissing my temple. “I didn’t mean to make you upset, Val. I am sorry. Please don’t cry.”

  “I’m sorry. I am just overtired,” I said, trying to pull away. He only held me tighter. I gave up my fight and let him hold me. No one had held me like this.

  “I don’t think that is exactly what is causing you so much pain. Will you tell me?” He was rubbing small circles on my back.

  I really didn’t want to tell anyone. My one failed relationship was too embarrassing to share.

  “If you tell me now, you never have to share it again because I will already know,” he said. He looked in my eyes and was pleading with me to share. To open up.

  I took a deep breath. “After the accident and my mother leaving, I was working hard on learning my new normal. The girls I had played soccer with finally started to visit me. Once they realized I would never play soccer with them again they stopped calling and coming around. Rachel and Josie were my best friends; we were always together. After the accident they were here a lot. Then they started to drift away. Hanging out in a hospital is not fun. Then they heard I was moving into this place. They came to help, or so I thought. They really just came to see how the poor crippled girl would live. I could not believe my best friends who knew everything about me would turn into such asshole people. I went to counseling to deal with all the abandonment.” I took a couple breaths. The worst was yet to come.