Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 (23 page)

Jacob looked at Jill. She smiled at him. He
shook his head at her in amazement.

“
It’s really what you need,
Jake,” Jill said. “A new mess to sort through. And that building is
a mess. I’ll design the interiors. It’ll be fun.”

Jacob shook his head.

“
What’s not right?” MJ
asked.

“
Everything’s right,” Jacob
said. “And Jill’s right. I do need a new mess to sink my teeth
into. Especially since we can’t get into the chapel until the
police are done. The apartment building is about thirty percent
occupied. I’ve tore out the interior of the third
floor.”

Jacob closed his eyes for a moment to gather
his thoughts. For the first time since finding the bodies, he
smiled.

“
We could start on the
third floor,” Jacob said. “That would give us a place to try out
the idea on a small scale. If it works, we move to the rest of the
building.”

“
What about jobs?” MJ
asked. “People need jobs.”

“
Let’s take it one step at
a time,” Jacob said. “Place to stay first. We can add job placement
as a service.”

“
And we’ll be a part of
it?” Honey asked.

“
Of course,” Jacob said. “I
have to think it through but we can be partners in this
venture.”

“
But…” MJ said.

“
We’ll figure out a way for
you to work for your equity,” Jill said.

Honey and MJ looked at each other and
smiled. Lost in his own thoughts, Jacob laughed.

“
If you had asked me before
this Johansen thing happened, I would have been much more gung ho,”
Jacob said. “It’s been a crappy few weeks. I need a
vacation.”

“
You do,” MJ said. “You
both do.”

Jill smiled at Jacob and he nodded.

“
Maybe that’s what’s
next.”

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and
THREE

Changing Times

Friday morning — 4:00 A.M.

As the light began to invade the early dark
of morning, Jacob woke up with a start. It was time to get his day
started. Slipping out of bed, he wandered across the loft. He
opened the white shutters Jill had used to cover the front East
facing windows and sat down in an armchair.

In the still quiet of the morning, he could
hear the people below him starting their day. Aden said something.
Sandy’s high pitch laugh responded before the water turned on for
his shower. His father’s usual tuneless whistle moved through the
building below. Jacob even thought he heard Honey and MJ roll to
the gym two floors below.

They were getting ready for a day at Lipson
Construction.

A week ago, Jacob was among them. He was up
at 3:30 or so to grab the first shower. He’d luxuriate in the
shower until the water pressure shifted and he knew someone else
was up. He had planned his day in the shower. By the time he came
down from the loft, he was grounded and ready to take on whatever
Lipson Construction had to dish out. Every day for the last five
years had started the same way.

Until today.

Wednesday, he’d started the day this way.
But by the end of the day, he was out of Lipson Construction. He’d
started yesterday with the usual 3:30 AM shower followed by a
brutal five hour meeting with the board of directors.

Today was the first day in five years that
he didn’t have to be anywhere.

He’d fought to be rid of Lipson
Construction. He’d called it his personal albatross. More than
once, he’d wished the company and all its problems would
disappear.

But today, he felt lost.

Who was he now that he didn’t run Lipson
Construction?

What would he do with his life?

He’d never asked that question. He’d always
just done what’s next. High School led to College. College led to
his carpentry business in Brunswick, Maine. He’d been certain he
would marry his college girlfriend. Or maybe the girlfriend after
the college girlfriend. Everything changed when his distraught
father arrived in Brunswick. Sam’s plan to sell Lipson to some
asshole investors launched Jacob into action. Or that’s what he
told himself in the dark light of morning.

He returned to Denver to save his father.
The construction company and the asshole investors were way down
the list of reasons he was in Denver. The girl, now his wife, was
near the top. Jacob sighed. He came to Denver because he had
to.

And now, he didn’t have to live in Denver
anymore.

In fact, the moment the news of his
‘problems’ in Denver became public, he’d received job offers from
construction companies all over the country. Those who knew Jacob,
knew he didn’t do the things he was accused of. They also knew he
had worked miracles at Lipson Construction. In some way, they hoped
he would work miracles for them too. He could step into a CEO
position at any of at least ten companies. A couple of companies
called to see if he would be willing to consult.

“
What is it?” Jill
asked.

He looked up to see her pad across the
hardwood floors in her bare feet and a sexy negligee he’d bought
for her. He held his arms out and she sat on his lap. He kissed her
neck. She put her head on his shoulder. For a moment, they sat in
silence.

“
What is it?” Jill
repeated.

“
Feel weird not getting up
for work,” Jacob said.

“
It’s what you wanted,” she
said. She kissed his lips.

“
I know,” he
said.

She returned to resting against him. He
stared at the rising light.

“
I feel lost,” he
said.

“
I know,” she
said.

~~~~~~~~

Friday morning — 8:35 A.M.

Sandy turned left on Locust Street and drove
the couple of blocks toward where her father’s house had been.
After scraping the house, Jacob and his MLR Properties had erected
a chain link fence around the property. She pulled Aden’s SAAB
sedan in front of the lot.

They were going to finish clearing the lot
on Monday. By this time Friday, there will be a foundation for a
new house. Because they were getting one of those super green
pre-manufactured homes, the house and landscaping would be done in
a month’s time. Jacob had already sold the new home to a site
manager at Lipson Construction. The site manager would get a great
deal on the house. And Jacob would make a lot of money.

Unlike the house her father owned, the new
home looked like a historic Victorian. It was gorgeous. The
landscaping was going to be gorgeous. By the end of the month, the
place where everything awful happened will be gone forever.

Sandy unlocked the padlock with the key Jill
had given her. She pried open the gate portion of the fence and
shoved her pregnant body through.

The grass her father had tended to
perfection had withered and died. The space where the house had
been was bare dirt. They’d left the big trees and most of the wild
backyard. Her father never cared about the backyard. He was too
busy making sure the neighbors only saw perfection. Anything
protected by walls or six foot fences was left to its own devices.
The backyard had been Sandy’s jungle paradise.

She’d torn down most of the building and
found her father’s hidden money stash the last time she was here.
Of course, the Feds kept all the money. But that was all right.
Sandy didn’t want the money her father made selling her childhood
sex tapes.

Then again, when Sandy was here last, she
was also madly in love with Aden. He’d just beat up her father and
their journey through the criminal justice system had just begun.
At that time, she believed in him and the promise of their life
together. She’d just found out she was pregnant too.

And now? They were getting along. They
weren’t arguing anymore. He’d slept over every night this week
because he was in so much pain with his teeth. She was guardian to
his children. And…

Sandy’s mind went blank. Sighing, she picked
her way across the lot.

He’d asked her last night what it would take
for them to get back on track again. She’d been so happy just a few
months before. Now, there was an invisible barrier between them.
She longed to be close to him again, to trust him again but she
couldn’t imagine a way back to loving him again.

Shaking her head at herself, she moved
through what used to be the backyard. They had cleared and cut back
much of the wild brush of the backyard. They left the towering
trees near the back - an ancient Elm and a regal Cottonwood
tree.

Sandy went to the back of the lot where the
fence had been. She used to hide back here for hours at a time.
When Frisky, the cat who loved her no matter what, died, she’d
buried him here. In the moments when all her hope was lost, she’d
buried her sorrow here. She was confident her father had never been
back here. And in all the intervening years when her father was in
prison, no one else seemed to come back here.

Sandy sat down on the big boulder between
the two towering trees. She touched the popsicle-stick cross she’d
placed for Frisky, the cat who loved her no matter what. In all
those years before her step-father saved her and she met Jill,
Frisky had been her only friend. She used to bring Frisky back and
forth between her Mom’s house and her father’s house.

Frisky died one night at her father’s house.
She wasn’t exactly sure how Frisky died. She’d always thought her
father killed him. A tear dropped splashed on the ground for
Frisky.

She’d asked Jill whether she should move
Frisky. But Jill thought, after almost seventeen years, Frisky
would be sad to leave the trees. She suggested they create a nice
place to remember Frisky. Jill had asked Delphie if they had a
place. Delphie took them to the area of the garden, near the bees,
where they’d buried their dogs and cats. They did a little ceremony
and Delphie had created a lovely cross for Frisky, the cat who
loved Sandy no matter what.

But Frisky’s body was buried on this
property. Before another family moved in, Sandy had wanted to say
‘good-bye’ to Frisky.

She touched the cross one more time and went
to Aden’s sedan. Opening the trunk, she took out the long pink
jacket she used for dying hair, a pair of work gloves, long handled
digging shovel and a tarp. She looked down the street to see if
anyone noticed her and returned to the lot. She walked to the
boulder at the back of the lot again. She paced off three steps to
the south and four steps to the west. She laid out the tarp, put on
the work gloves and the pink jacket. Leaning down, she brushed the
leaves from the spot.

Sandy began digging. One full shovel. Two
full shovels. Three full shovels. She set the loose dirt on the
tarp. Her fourth stab into the earth with the shovel made a ‘chunk’
sound. She looked from side to side. No one could see her behind
the tall bushes. She dug the rest of the dirt from the hole and
pulled out a rusty metal box. She set the box on the tarp and put
it down on the ground. Reaching into the hole, she pulled a two
gallon pickle jar out of the ground. She shook the dirt off the jar
making the coins inside rattle against the glass. She lay down
again and pulled out another pickle jar. Moving quickly, she filled
the hole with the dirt on the tarp.

She took four steps to the north and began
digging again. After she retrieved two large pickle jars full of
coins, she took four steps to the east. She added two more large
pickle jars to the growing line of coin filled jars. Breathing
hard, Sandy moved the dirt around until all three holes were filled
in. One at a time, she carried the heavy jars to the car. Returning
to the back of the lot, Sandy looked from side to side to see if
she could find the last spot.

She sat down on the boulder next to Frisky,
the cat who loved her no matter what. She wasn’t sure how long she
sat there before she realized two things.

First, she expected Aden to act like Frisky
or Cleo, her cats who loved her no matter what. But Aden was not a
cat. She touched her belly, and the baby inside, for the
obviousness of his non-catness. She expected too much from him. She
nodded to herself and thanked Frisky for always giving her the
wisdom she needed at the exact moment she needed it.

She also realized where to find the last
coin stashes. She went over to a bush near the very back of the
lot. The construction people had driven over this entire area when
they were clearing the brush. Sandy fought against the hard packed
dirt until she was able to retrieve a jar. She went two feet and
dug up another jar. One at a time, she carried the heavy jars to
the car. Aden’s sedan sagged against the weight of the jars.

She refilled the remaining holes and checked
that all the holes were filled. She jumped up and down on each hold
to compact the dirt. She added the remaining dirt to the holes and
jumped on them again. Finally, she carried the shovel and tarp back
to the car. She went back to layer leaves and grass over her
digging sites. Looking up, she saw the heavy snow clouds coming in.
After the snow, no one would know she’s taken something from
here.

She went back one last time to say good-bye
to Frisky. Crying, she told him that a new family would arrive and
that he would bless their lives. She took the popsicle cross for
Frisky’s new memorial at the Castle. With one last, ‘I love you’
and ‘Thanks’, she walked to Aden’s car. She took off the long pink
coat and drove to her hair studio. When she got there, she asked
Pete if he would help her unload. Pete followed her to Aden’s
sedan.

“
What is this?” Pete asked
when she popped the trunk.