The Last World (11 page)

Chapter 14

Steve collapsed into the small plastic chair inside the entrance to the National Guard Headquarters
meant for visitors or Guardsmen to wait for loved ones to pick them up when their monthly duty was over. Over the last few years, more people than Steve probably knew sat in those same chairs. Such a thought may or may not have bothered him had he contemplated it, but as things were, history was the farthest thing from his mind. Steve did everything that was asked of him with an air of servitude rather than gusto. That fact wasn’t lost on his coworker and “mentor”, Zach Wahl.

Thirty-one years old, Zach worked as a maintenance man at the National Guard Headquarters in Tarken Heights for almost fourteen years. Ever since he found out he couldn’t serve in the military because of his clubfoot, he
chose this avenue to serve his country in any way possible. He believed it was a small price for him to pay. Zach had been working with the new kid for most of the day and he had to admit, he was impressed. Zach liked to lean on the rookies to see what they were made of. Too many times someone came in looking and talking like they could do the work without a second thought and had to quit after a few days. If he had to evaluate Steve, Zach would definitely give him a thumbs up. He wore the kid out, there was no doubt about that, but not once did Steve cry or complain. Even when he was told the lunch break would be later, Steve nodded and continued on. Before telling him about lunch being delayed, Zach was chuckling at the look of horror he expected to see. Instead, he was surprised and very pleased with the reaction he got. In most cases, the rookie would quit right there, or at least cry a river’s worth of tears.

Once Zach finished filing the paperwork for the day and placed it in the proper box within the catacomb in the wall, he picked up his jacket
from the chair and paused. “Need a ride, buddy?” Who said he didn’t have a heart for hard-luck cases?

Steve looked out the door then turned
toward Zach. “Probably. I thought my dad would come for me.” While the subject hadn’t been discussed between Steve and his father, it did seem reasonable to him.
Guess it’s all part of my lesson
.

Zach shook his head, another spoiled rich kid that didn’t act like he was rich. Oh well, he’d seen stranger things in his life. Zach motioned for Steve to follow him
. “Come on.” Without waiting to see if Steve took the hint, Zach stepped outside and walked toward his car. Hearing the door remain open for a beat longer than it should’ve caused Zach to smile.
Kid’s not stupid.
As maintenance men, they were required to lock the headquarters up when they were leaving for the night unless someone was on duty. The kid understood the rules and his role perfectly.

He turned back and watched with his hands in his pockets. Steve’s back was turned while he worked to turn the deadbolt. Once the loud click sounded, Zach could hear the keys being pulled from the lock. He was liking this kid more and more
. Steve listened and picked up on things quicker than Zack thought he would.

When Steve turned
away from the door, he paused at seeing the smile on Zach’s face. “What?” At first he thought he was the butt of some joke. What a perfect way to end the day.

Zach shook his head
. “Nothing. C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

Steve nodded with his own smile, followed him to his car, and climbed in. The
red vinyl seats were covered with cheap purple covers. Seconds after both doors were closed, the mustang’s engine roared to life and Zach pulled out of its parking space.

As they turned onto the road and headed
toward town, Zach glanced over at him. “So where are we going?”

Steve paused for a second
, realizing he never told Zach his address. “145 Potts Avenue.”

Zach let out a low whistle. “You live up there? Shit, I‘m surprised you didn’t have your sweater vest on today.”

Steve chuckled, though he didn’t feel like it. One, the joke wasn’t funny, and two, it was the same old shit. He knew he was just being kidded with and not being picked on, but it still hurt. It was something he began experiencing when he was younger, but over the last few years being a “rich” kid had worn him out. “Yeah, I left it at our summer house.” God, it hurt to play along.

Zach burst into laughter
. “You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.”

After being a bundle of nerves for most of the day,
Steve was surprised that he felt more at ease and relaxed than he had at any point since his dad dropped him off.

“Do you mind if I ask you something?”

Steve was sure another joke was coming so he smiled before answering, “Sure.”

Zach paused in thought. He knew how hard these things could be to talk about
, given his own history. In the end, he decided against asking what he wanted to. “Need a ride in tomorrow?”

Steve paused
and looked at him for a brief moment, unsure what to say. Until then he had the thought the guy was going to ask him on a date, but as it turned out, he was only being nice. He was the first one to treat Steve decently, aside from Horace. Knowing he didn’t have much of a choice about going to work, he nodded. “Sure do. I’m not sure how long until I get my truck back.”

Zach nodded, glad he changed his mind about what to ask. “Done deal. Where’s your truck now?”

Steve motioned with his thumb. “At Jimmy’s garage; he and my dad go way back. They grew up together and he does good work.”

Zach nodded his agreement. “That he does. Any time I have trouble with this old girl, he fixes her right up.” He paused at a stop sign before continuing to the left. “You getting it a tune up?”

Steve shook his head. “No, I wish that was all. I got into an accident yesterday out on Old Sixty-Six.”

“I heard about that. A guy was hurt in it
, wasn’t he?”             

“Yeah… well
, sort of. He fell and hurt his head in the field. He wasn’t in the car when I hit it because was he trying to find that meteor.” The more he thought about it over the day, the more that reason made sense than chucking a tire iron into a field.

“What meteor?” Zach’s face screwed up into a scowl. H
e was sure he would’ve heard about them and it made him curious.

Steve’s face brightened even more in the failing light. “There was a silver streak yesterday afternoon. I say it was a meteor
, but Horace, my buddy, didn’t believe me. No one else noticed it either.”

“Shit! If I hadn’t been working
, I probably would’ve been there right with you.” Zach’s priorities were correct and in order, for him at any rate. First came America, there was no discussion about that. Second, third, and fourth were UFOs. In his heart, Zach believed the government wasn’t lying about the weather balloons, but he could understand why such measures were necessary if UFOs did exist.

“Want to check it out before it gets dark? We have time.” Steve suddenly forgot about his fatigue and need to rest.

Zach thought it over for a few seconds before nodding. “Fuck yeah, that’d be awesome.” In seconds, the rust-stained mustang changed direction as a budding friendship took root.

*****

Horace stood on top of one of the cafeteria tables and loosened the final light bulb. He knew when he saw Janice’s look in the car that he was in for an interesting time. Out of all of the possibilities, he never thought he’d be fixing the lights in the small hospital cafeteria.

This was the second, no third
, time he ever set foot in the hospital, and the second time in the last day. It wasn’t that he hated hospitals, he understood the good that came with them, but he hated the smell. Born and raised around the smells of baking, fresh laundry, and living gave him a natural reaction to the sterile-smelling facility and doctors in general. Maybe his mom was right and he inherited those feelings from his father, but he didn’t think he was so strange. No one liked to be sick, and being there to see a doctor for another’s well-being would make it natural to think of the two as being related. It was human nature and a logical deduction. Such an advent didn’t often occur since nature and logic don’t mix well.

With that in mind, Horace was sure he came across a means of defending himself from the onslaught of his mother and girlfriend. Besides, he was helping
Janice set the cafeteria up on a whim to help her father. He just wished he knew what the whim was. Janice could be counted on for a great many things, but if she didn’t want to tell you something she wouldn’t. Horace could guess what she was up to when he looked around at the scene he helped her create.

Being a small hospital
, the cafeteria had to be equally small. Its four tables had red-and-white checkered table cloths, paper plates and cups decorating the surfaces. To him, it looked like a private dinning room dressed for a party with medium lighting instead of the harsh white light of the phosphorescent. Not bad, but did she really plan on cheering Doug up in the same building that caused his distress? He didn’t think it’d work, but who was he to say so? She knew her own father better than he did.

Horace wasn’t upset, rather he was clueless about her plan until she pushed open the swinging double doors
and nearly gave him a heart attack. She carried six boxes of pizza that reached the bottom of her chin. He moved to help her, but Janice shook her head.

“There’s more in the car.”

More
? Afraid of what he had gotten himself into, Horace left her with the pizza and went out to her car. She parked toward the far side of the parking lot so it’d be tougher for her father to recognize it in the dark. Horace was still amazed she’d been able to keep this secret from him for the last hour and a half. Of course, she enlisted the help of the head nurse, Phyllis, to try to keep him busy and away until everything was set up.

Shaking his head at her conniving ways, Horace wondered how long until he was the recipient of a
similar gesture. After opening the passenger side door, he was buffeted by the warmth and mixed aromas of three pasta dishes. He’d been with her long enough to develop a healthy appetite for Italian food and knew what each tasted like, but he was unable to remember their names. They sat in a large paper bag on the seat and four two-liter bottles of soda were on the floor.

Trying to be the hero, Horace took the bag in one hand with two sodas tucked under that arm and the other two in his right hand and arm. How he managed it, he didn’t know
, but he was sure he wouldn’t be able to do it again. With his cumbersome load somewhat secured, Horace pushed the door closed with his backside. By doing it that way, he’d at least be able to see if anyone was by the hospital watching him. With no one in sight, Horace realized he wouldn‘t have minded some help after all and began his lumbering trek over the sixty feet toward the door.

*****

“Doctor Doug, I need you to sign this please.” Phyllis held out a clipboard with a new sheet on it verifying their daily inventory count. It was considered a wasted signature since the Head Nurse already signed, but the chief medical practitioner on duty had to sign for insurance purposes. She was pleased with her timing, as Doug had turned toward the front door a second earlier. When he turned back to face her, she noticed Janice’s boyfriend enter loaded down like a mule. His stride resembled a crab, and would’ve brought out a laugh at any other time. Phyllis surprised herself with her ability to remain stoic and businesslike. She would’ve made one hell of a poker player, as her husband used to say.

Doug looked at her in shock while the young m
an disappeared into the cafeteria with Janice’s help. “Phyllis, I’ve signed more things in the last hour than I normally do in a week.” His eyes narrowed and he flexed his sore hand following all the signatures she asked him for. “Is there something going on I don’t know about?”

While Doug looked more like his usual self since he’d been kept busy than he had for most of the day, Phyllis didn’t have the heart to keep lying to him. “Doctor, if you choose not to sign this
, and not leave for five minutes I can’t be held responsible.” It wasn’t a lie, not exactly at any rate.

He stood watching her for any sign
as to what in the hell she was talking about. After what he’d been through, she, of all people, shouldn’t be giving him such a hard time. After a minute, Doug decided she was trying to tell him something, so he played along to get out of there.

“Alright.” He let out a breath, conceding at last. “After this
, am I allowed to leave without any more games?”

God, she felt terrible for putting him through such a wringer
toward the end of the day, but Phyllis nodded with a smile. “You got it, doll. Nothing more for you to worry about.”

Doug smiled
for the first time in hours and let out a deep sigh before leaning forward to sign. “You really gave it to me today, didn’t you?”

Phyllis returned the smile
. “I only do so out of love, doll.”