Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 (45 page)

“
Anything else?” Aden
asked.

“
They’ve been taking care
of me – food and clothing and medical stuff,” Charlie looked from
face to face and looked down. “I really like it here. I was just
pissed off this afternoon so I said all that stuff.”

“
So your friend is fine.
You’ll get a warm meal,” Jacob said. “Anything else?”

“
Place to sleep?” a young
boy Charlie called Jeffy said. “It’s still cold out
and…”

“
You can sleep here,” Jacob
said.

“
But you should know
prick,” MJ said. “The house has premium security. You stray from
this room and I’ll know it.”

The boys’ eyes went wide with horror at
MJ.

“
And… I don’t like you,” MJ
said.

Coming into the living room, Valerie carried
a pot of beef stew. Delphie followed her with bowls and loaves of
sourdough bread. Seeing Valerie, the boys nudged each other.

“
You made all of this?”
Mike asked Val.

“
Delphie made it this
afternoon,” Valerie smirked at him.

“
You’re a movie star,”
Razor said.

“
I
am
a movie star,” Valerie said.
“Right now, I’m the only person who stands between you and my
husband.”

She nodded toward the big, mean looking guy.
Charlie gulped. Aden grabbed the back of Charlie’s coat and pushed
him out of the room. Behind him, he heard the sound of stew being
dished out. Aden nudged him up the stairs. He turned to talk to
Aden at the top of the stairs.

“
What’s going to happen?”
Charlie asked.

“
You need to be in bed,
son,” Aden said. “You’re still sick. Get going.”

Charlie shuffled toward their door.

“
No really, are they going
to call the police?” Charlie asked.

“
No,” Aden said. “The boys
will get a warm meal. They can stay in the living room tonight.
It’s locked. They can’t get out. Jake’ll get them cleaned up and
wash their clothes. Tomorrow morning, we’ll offer them work if they
want it. If not, we’ll try to contact their families.”

“
Why would they do all of
that?”

“
It’s what they do,” Aden
said. “Your friends aren’t the first homeless people to arrive on
the doorstep of the Castle. They won't be the last. This is what
Sam, Val & Jake do when anyone needs a warm meal and a place to
stay.”

“
How did they know they
would be here?”

“
Delphie,” Aden said.
“She’s usually one step ahead of stupidity.”

“
Delphie?”

“
You haven’t met her yet?”
Aden asked.

Charlie shook his head. They walked to the
living room door.

“
Why don’t you wait here
and I’ll get her?” Aden asked. “You’d do well to talk to Delphie
tonight. Go on in. I’ll meet you back here.”

“
Sir?” Charlie swallowed
hard.

“
Yes,” Aden turned back to
Charlie.

“
It was my fault Nash and
Noelle were awake,” Charlie said. “I was going to leave tonight.
They were trying to talk me out of it.”

Smiling, Aden gave him a tight nod. He
turned back to walk down the hall.

“
Sir?”

“
Yes, Charlie,” Aden
said.

“
Is Sandy going to die?”
Charlie asked.

“
She’s very upset,” Aden
said. “We all count on her as our anchor. Each of us uses her to
make our world better. She can’t do that right now. We have to make
our own worlds better so that she can rest. But she won’t do that
until you and Sissy are safe and stable.”

“
Oh,” Charlie
said.

“
You can make a big
difference,” Aden said. “If you choose to. Think about
it.”

Charlie nodded. He went into their living
room and sat down on the couch. After a few minutes, Aden appeared
with an older woman. The woman had a bright smile, dyed red curly
hair and wore a flowing flowered dress. She looked somewhere
between an aging hippy and a gypsy. Aden nodded to Charlie and
moved to leave.

“
Where are you going?”
Charlie asked.

“
I’m going to see if I can
do something for my wife,” Aden said. “Delphie offered to stay with
you kids tonight. Sandy and I will stay upstairs so that Jill can
fuss over her.”

Charlie felt a stab of sorrow that surprised
even him.

“
She’ll be back in the
morning,” Aden said. “Don’t worry. Jill’s touch is exactly what
Sandy needs.”

The aging hippy lady smiled at Charlie and
led him to the kitchen where she made some green tea for herself.
Without asking, she made Charlie’s favorite Raspberry tea and
poured it over ice. She smiled when she gave it to Charlie.

“
Why don’t we drink our tea
then clean up a bit?” Delphie asked. “I’m Delphie.”

“
Charlie,” he
said.

She smiled at him. He followed her into the
living room where they sat down. She got up to turn on the gas
fireplace.

“
Jake’s installed these
fireplaces all over the house,” Delphie said. “They’re perfect for
relieving the chill. Are you cold, Charlie?”

“
I’m okay,” Charlie said.
“How did you know I was going to leave tonight?”

“
I know things,” Delphie
said. “That’s what I do.”

Charlie’s eyes squinted as he puzzled out
what she said. Taking a drink of his ice tea, he shrugged.

“
How did you know the exact
time?” Charlie asked. “Nash set his alarm by it.”

“
I could see the clock in
the mirror behind your head in the hallway,” Delphie said. “Just a
single image and a knowing that you were angry and leaving. The
rest was simple. Go check yourself.”

Charlie walked over to the hallway. Sandy’s
antique mantle clock reflected off the glass of a painting and was
easily visible in the full length mirror in the hallway.

“
I usually see exactly what
I need to see,” Delphie said. “You have something you wanted to ask
me. I could feel it when we were downstairs.”

Charlie looked over his shoulder to see if
Nash or Noelle were still in their rooms. Discovering they were
alone, he went back to the couch and sat next to Delphie.

“
What’s wrong with me?”
Charlie asked.

“
What do you mean?” Delphie
asked.

“
I’ve never been quite…
normal,” Charlie stumbled and rushed his words. “When my glasses
broke, I was glad ‘cuz I didn’t have to try so hard any more. I
can’t read or do what other kids do. The first time I felt even
sort of normal is with Teddy and Nash and Noelle. And let’s face
it. They aren’t really normal.”

“
They aren’t,” Delphie
said. “They’re special kids.”

“
But I’m not special,”
Charlie said.

Charlie stopped talking. He collapsed into
himself.

“
Your father had these same
problems,” Delphie said.

“
My… father? My father was
a saint.” Charlie repeated what his mother had said a billion or
more times.

“
Hardly. You should ask
Seth about him,” Delphie said. “Or Sandy. They knew him better than
anyone. They’ll tell you that he struggled a lot. He had a drug
addiction, like you do. He wore reading glasses, like you do. He
was tall and handsome, like you are. He had been with both women
and men, like you have.”

“
Hey, I was just with men
for money,” Charlie said. “I’m not gay.”

“
You’re not,” Delphie
said.

“
I’m not?”

Charlie had been troubled by this. If he was
gay, he could accept that. It was a genetic thing, plus it
explained why he felt so weird all the time. At the same time, the
things he did to get drug money didn’t bother him too much. If he
was really straight, wouldn’t they bother him? He didn’t feel gay
or straight.

“
No, you’re not,” Delphie
said.

“
You’re sure?”

“
I’m sure,” Delphie said.
“Your father had some of the same confusion. There was a lot of
experimentation in his day.”

“
What was wrong with him?”
Charlie asked.

“
Your father?” Delphie
asked. “Not a thing.”

“
But…”

“
You expect yourself to fit
into some box, Charlie,” Delphie said. “You’re not a box fitting
guy. You’re creative and sharp. You see through dishonesty in a
heart beat. You refuse to play the game most people play. Your
father was the same. Ask Seth. He’ll tell you.”

“
But why...?”

“
Don’t you fit in?” Delphie
asked. “Because normal doesn’t appeal to you. You’re special like
Nash, Noelle, and Teddy.”

“
But I really want to be
normal,” Charlie said.

“
Too bad,” Delphie said.
“Jake wants to be normal too. He doesn’t have much of a choice
either. It seems like a huge crisis at your age. But you’ll do just
fine. You’ll see.”

Charlie nodded. They sat in silence for a
while. Charlie fought with himself to stay awake.

“
Come on,” Delphie stood.
“Let’s get you to bed. I can clean up in a jiff so don’t worry
about that.”

“
You sure?”

“
I’m sure.” Delphie herded
him toward the hallway. “Sam told me you liked this little
closet.”

“
It suits me,” Charlie
said.

“
That’s not quite normal,”
Delphie said.

Charlie stopped walking. She gave him a
little girl smile and he laughed.

“
I guess it’s not,” he
said.

“
Sleep,” Delphie helped him
under the covers. “You did a brave thing by choosing to stay
tonight. I’m glad you did.”

“
I might leave tomorrow,”
he said.

“
You won’t,” she leaned
over to kiss his cheek. “You’re a good man, Charlie. Just be
yourself and you’ll do fine.”

Pushing Cleo out of the way, he lay down on
his futon and fell into a deep sleep.

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday morning — 6:20 A.M.

“
Wake up,” Charlie shook
Nash’s shoulder.

“
What wrong with you?” Nash
asked. “You scared me half to death.”

“
Oh, sorry,” Charlie said.
“I called your name and tried to wake you gentle but…”

Nash’s alarm went off with a blast.

“
That’s how you get up?”
Charlie asked.

“
Alarm,” Nash
said.

“
I made breakfast for us,”
Charlie said. “Sandy and your dad stayed upstairs last night.
Delphie’s asleep on the couch.”

“
I’ll wake her,” Nash
said.

“
Who wakes Noelle?” Charlie
asked.

“
She’s awake,” Nash said.
“She sleeps very lightly. She wakes up when my alarm goes
off.”

They heard the bathroom door close.

“
Crap, I missed my chance,”
Nash flipped off his covers and popped out of bed.

“
Use Sandy’s,” Charlie
said. “Breakfast in ten minutes. Is that doable?”

“
Sure,” Nash said. “I’ll
tell Noelle.”

Delphie stuck her head in Nash’s room.

“
Oh great, you’re up,”
Delphie said.

“
Charlie made breakfast,”
Nash said.

Charlie blushed in response to Delphie’s big
smile.

“
Come on,” Delphie put her
arm around Nash. “Let’s get you ready for school.”

Charlie followed them out and went back to
the dining area. He continued setting the table until Noelle, Nash
and Delphie came in. Delphie gave him the same big smile when he
gave her a cup of green tea. Unsure of what was going on, Noelle
and Nash sat down at the table.

“
Ok, I know it’s weird,”
Charlie said. “I’ve been a slug since I’ve been here. I used to
make breakfast for my sister and Mom every day. I made pancakes
this morning.”

Noelle and Nash looked at each other.

“
If you don’t like them,
I’ll get the cereal,” Charlie said.

“
Deal,” Nash
said.

Charlie set a plate of animal shaped
pancakes down on the table.

“
They’re animals!” Noelle
said.

“
Yeah,” Charlie sat down
next to Nash. “They take a little practice but they’re
fun.”

“
So…” Nash started.
“Why?”

“
I did a lot of thinking
last night,” Charlie said. “I’ve been a real tool since I've been
here. If you’re willing, I’d like to be more like a brother than a
jerk.”

Bouncing in her chair, Noelle squealed and
clapped. Delphie got up to kiss Charlie’s cheek. Nash pointed at
him with a fork full of pancake.

“
Deal,” Nash
said.

“
Your dad said I could make
a difference in what happens to Sandy,” Charlie said. “I’m going to
do what I can. I know I need to go to rehab, it just
sucks.”

“
Why?” Noelle asked with
her mouth full of pancake.

Charlie smiled at her.

“
They’re mean,” Charlie
said. “Yesterday, they put me in a chair in the middle of the
group. They call it the hot seat. Then the whole group joined in to
tell me what an asshole I am. It didn’t go very well.”