Linkage: The Narrows of Time (10 page)

“It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure. Luckily for
us, Mom and Dad came along and adopted us. I’m not sure either of
us would have survived much longer.”

Just then, someone bumped into the table,
lifting it up about two inches. Drew grabbed his coffee cup and
Abby’s, catching them both before they tipped over. When he looked
up to see who smashed into the table, the breath ran out of his
lungs. It was the Rugby player. Drew ducked his head, figuring a
punch to his jaw was next.

“Sorry, my bad,” the man said, trying not to
spill the three coffee cups on his tray. He squeezed behind Drew’s
wheelchair and scooted by. The two girls with him followed
suit.

“Nice catch,” Abby said.

“Got lucky,” Drew said, trying to catch his
breath. He kept an eye on the player as he walked through the side
entrance and sat outside at a table on the terrace. The girls took
seats on either side of him.

“Do you remember your biological parents?”
Abby asked.

“Not really. My bio-mom died in a car
accident when I was only six months old. I was in the car with her,
but I don’t remember anything. From what I was told, she fell
asleep at the wheel, while we were on our way home from daycare
after she’d worked a double shift at the hospital. The car flipped
over several times and landed in a ditch. My legs were pinned
underneath. Would you like to see a picture of her?”

“I’d love to.”

He reached inside the collar of his shirt and
pulled out the leather pouch hanging from his neck. Inside was a
pristine picture of a beautiful, dark-haired woman. He handed the
photo to her.

“One of the orphanage’s volunteer workers
found her picture and had it laminated. Lucas made the pouch for
me.”

Abby studied the photo. “She’s beautiful. I
see where you get your good looks.”

Drew was not prepared for her compliment and
did not respond right away. “Her name was Lauren Falconio. She was
an ER nurse and was studying at night to become a doctor.”

Abby gave the photo back to Lucas. He slid it
into the leather pouch and tucked it inside his shirt. “I never
knew my bio-dad. Mom was artificially inseminated at some fertility
clinic. Apparently, she wasn’t into men and decided the
turkey-baster method was the way to go.”

Abby laughed again, nearly choking on her
coffee.

For some unknown reason, Drew felt very
comfortable talking with her—even about subjects that were taboo
with his brother. He couldn’t stop himself. “Lucas’ mom was a drug
addict who died of an overdose, and his dad died in prison. I think
he was a grifter. Lucas doesn’t like to talk about them much.”

Abby did not respond right away, obviously
deep in thought. “Tonight my roommate Jasmine and I are going to
the midnight movie at the Gallagher Theatre. Would you and Lucas
like to join us?”

“Sure,” Drew said before thinking it through.
He had never been inside the student-run theatre, even though he
passed by it every time he ate in the cafeteria. The box office was
just to the right of the Student Union’s main entrance. “Well, I
should probably check with Lucas first. I’m not sure if he’ll want
to go.”

“Jasmine’s
really
pretty. And she
doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

“Still, I’ll have to ask him first. Can I
call you later and let you know?”

“That’s fine.”

While Abby went on to tell him about her
parents and blistering cold winters in Wisconsin, Drew’s mind
wandered. He envisioned their future together . . . They were on
their honeymoon in Hawaii, sitting on the beach and holding hands.
She was drinking a margarita and he, a virgin Daiquiri. Both of
their glasses were garnished with tiny paper umbrellas.

The next two hours flew by quickly while they
chatted about everything. She’d smile at him, which would send
shivers radiating throughout his body. He never wanted to leave
that coffeehouse.

* * *

Drew found Lucas sitting at the study desk
in the apartment when he unlocked the door went inside.

“Nice timing. You just missed Mom’s call,”
Lucas said.

“How’s she doing? What did the cardiologist
say?”

“She’s doing excellent. Just needs to keep
taking her meds.”

“Awesome news.”

“So how’d it go today? You were gone
awhile.”

Drew considered telling Lucas about the
encounter with the rugby player, but decided against it. It would
only upset his brother. “It was actually really nice.”

“Did you get any?”

“No,” Drew said wholeheartedly. “She’s not
that kind of girl.”

“What? Does she have a penis?”

Drew didn’t respond.

“Did you at least kiss her or get a hug?
Something?”

“She held my hand.”

“Well, that’s a start. You gonna see her
again, Romeo?”

“Yes, tonight, for the midnight movie on
campus. Her roommate’s coming, too.”

Lucas laughed. “That sounds like loads of
fun. Better you than me, brother.”

“Actually, I was hoping you might go with
me.”

“Sorry, I don’t do blind dates. Not my
thing.”

“Please, Lucas. I really need you to go.”

Lucas closed his eyes and shook his head. He
bit his lower lip.

“I’m way too nervous to go by myself,” Drew
said. “Come on, I’d do it for you.”

Lucas took a deep breath and let out a long
exhale. “What’s the movie?”

“
Eraserhead
. Some low budget surreal
horror flick made in nineteen seventy-seven.”

“Never heard of it. Must be a lousy piece of
shit.”

“It can’t be that bad. It’s been playing at
the theatre for a while now.”

“Who’s her roommate?”

“Her name’s Jasmine. Abby says she’s really
nice.”

“Anytime someone uses the ‘nice’ word, it
means she’s hideous. So which body part is she missing?”

Drew laughed. “Abby says she’s very pretty.
She used to work at the Pussycat Palace on Speedway.”

“Isn’t that an all-nude strip joint in the
red light district?”

“Maybe. All I know for sure is Jasmine is a
pre-med student from Denver, and she doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

Lucas smiled and raised one of his eyebrows.
“Okay, I guess I’ll go. Twist my arm. What time are we meeting
them?”

“Eleven forty-five. They’ll be waiting for us
in front of the theatre.”

* * *

Drew and Lucas were late as they made their
way across campus to the student-run theatre. They would have left
a few minutes sooner, but Lucas had to wait for Drew to finish
combing his hair, and then spray it down. Once he was into his
personal hygiene ritual, nothing could stop him from finishing.

“Why so gloomy, brother? This is supposed to
be fun,” Lucas said, sidestepping a pile of dog crap sitting on the
sidewalk. It was covered in flies and looked fresh. Lucas figured
there might be more landmines along the way as the got closer to
the Grassy Mall area.

“I’m not sure about this, at all.”

“Just relax and go with the flow.”

“That’s easy for you to say. I have no clue
what I’m supposed to do.”

“Didn’t you just spend the whole morning with
her?”

“Yeah, but we just talked.”

“I thought you held hands?”

“She held mine. I never moved.”

“Then I’m sure Abby will take care of
everything,” Lucas joked, trying to relieve his own
nervousness.

“That’s what I’m afraid of. She’s going to
expect me to react in a certain way, but I’ll probably misread her
signals and ruin everything.”

“It’s simple, really. When she tries to stick
her tongue down your throat, let her. How hard is that?”

“You’re not helping very much,” Drew said,
rolling his chair forward. “When am I supposed to put my arm around
her?”

“As soon as the movie starts. Did you bring a
condom?” Lucas wisecracked, knowing that Drew’s penis was one of
the few things still working properly below his waist. Luckily for
Drew, his bio-mom’s car only crushed his legs and not his spine or
pelvic area.

“No, I didn’t. Was I supposed to? See, I
already screwed up.”

“I was just kidding,” Lucas said, patting his
brother on the back. “Look, there’s no reason to panic. It sounds
like she’s really into you. Trust me. Just be yourself and you’ll
be fine.”

Lucas had his own reservations about a blind
date with a former strip club worker. He had only been with one
woman before, the university’s librarian.

Lucas had hooked up with her in December of
his freshman year, working the graveyard shift. He stopped to
comfort the pudgy, forty-year-old woman who was going through a
tumultuous divorce and crying behind her desk. It began as a simple
hug and ended with him shedding his virginity on the floor in the
last row of book stacks. He had no clue what he was doing and just
went along for the ride. During the brief encounter, Lucas learned
the basics but was still not confident in his ability to bring a
woman to the height of ecstasy. He recalled very little from the
few minutes he spent with her, except how slippery and soft she
felt on the inside. However, one thing always puzzled him. Why did
she run off afterwards, sobbing the entire way?

Her first name was Robyn, but Lucas never
knew her last name. In fact, that was the one and only time he ever
saw her. He went back to the library the following night, but she
wasn’t there. Her replacement said she’d quit her job that morning
and was moving out of town.

* * *

The Student Union’s towering all-glass foyer
overlooked a hundred-foot wide set of cement stairs leading up to
its main entrance. To the right was Gallagher Theatre, where a sea
of film enthusiasts waited to enter through its turnstiles.

“There’s Abby and Jasmine,” Drew said,
pointing to them on the left side of the crowd on the middle step.
Abby was bouncing up and down, wearing a pink-colored pullover
jacket and waving her arms over her head. She was holding a spread
of movie tickets in her hand.

Lucas looked up at the Student Union’s clock
tower. The time was 11:50 PM, barely enough time to purchase
popcorn and Cokes and find seats together. “Damn it. Late again,”
he mumbled, hoping they weren’t relegated to the front row of the
theatre.

Jasmine was several inches taller than Abby
and wore a navy-blue Denver Broncos football jersey with a white 10
emblazoned on the front. If Jasmine were truly a fanatic, it would
pose a problem since Lucas knew zip about football. Lucas much
preferred the speed and grace of professional ice hockey;
specifically the Los Angeles Kings, who had just started their
season, hoping to defend their back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.

Her jet-black, shoulder-length hair was
pulled back into a single, understated ponytail. Lucas was still
too far away to decide if she were as attractive as Abby had
promised. Nevertheless, he did detect some prominent curves hidden
beneath her casual apparel, leading him to believe the blind date
had real potential, including carry on an intelligent conversation
since she was pre-med. But then again, he could easily converse
about high-energy processes in warped space-times around black
holes, but maybe she wouldn’t comprehend it. He started to have
doubts about himself, his date, and the evening in general. He
imagined her staring at his forehead as if he had a third arm
growing out of the middle of it while he rambled on about physics.
He wished he knew more about football.

He looked to his left, but Drew wasn’t there.
He turned around and found Drew sitting still, about six feet
behind him. “Bro, relax. It’s only a movie. Don’t worry. I’ve got
your back.”

“That’s not it. Look!” Drew said, pointing at
a group of three men standing two steps below Abby and Jasmine.
“It’s that Mohawk rugby player and his two goons.”

“Jesus, are you kidding me? Not again,” Lucas
said. He looked around and didn’t see any campus police. He would
have to face these assholes alone.

The theatre line advanced forward as the
patrons ahead of the girls navigated their way through the
rope-style stanchions leading into the theatre. Abby and Jasmine
turned to face forward, then stepped back into line to keep pace
with the procession. They, and the rugby players, were almost to
the top step.

“What do we do?” Drew asked.

“We ignore them. That’s what we do. Walk
right past them. Don’t give them the satisfaction. Come on, the
girls are almost inside. We need to double-time it,” Lucas said,
moving behind his brother to grab the wheelchair handles.

Drew nodded. “I wish those guys would just go
away, forever.”

Lucas glanced up at the girls, and was
blinded by an intense, white-hot light shooting out from behind
where the girls were standing. Before he could react, a deafening,
high-decibel squeal nearly ripped his eardrums apart.

He let go of the wheelchair handles, raising
his hands to cover his ears. It felt as though his head were in a
giant microwave oven and someone had turned it on full blast,
cooking his brain from the inside out. His equilibrium gave way,
buckling his legs and sending his kneecaps crashing into the cement
sidewalk.

A few seconds later, both the intense light
and the deafening sound subsided. He felt a sudden breeze pull him
toward the theatre, but it dissipated quickly.

He lowered his hands, opened his eyes, and
looked to his left and right. Dozens of people on either side of
him were lying on the ground; all but two appeared to be
unconscious. Drew was directly in front of him, slumped over in his
wheelchair and not moving.

Lucas moved in front of his brother with his
back to the Student Union. Drew’s head was tilted down with blood
dripping from his left nostril. He shook Drew gently, trying to
wake him up. “Drew, are you okay?” There was no response. Lucas
wiped the blood off his brother’s lip and shook him again. “Come
on, little brother, wake up. Talk to me.”