True Heroes (42 page)

              ‘Was. I don’t smell any self-made bathrooms…just a splash of Windex and Pine-sol. It doesn’t look like they’re here legally, but neither are we.’

              He was finally met by David a few steps into the forest of creaking wood. “Welcome,” David said while extending his hand again.

              “Thanks.”

              They shook and David escorted Caleb across the floor, drawing two or three stares and a great deal of anxiety. ‘Pick the chair against the window. View the room, easy escape if needed.’

              ‘Do you really think these people are dangerous?’

              ‘David’s competent enough to be. He seems the type.’

              Caleb didn’t bother looking around the circle, and suddenly heard a door slam on ground level. His power flinched while Caleb’s eyes calmly turned towards the open double-doors. A worn, abstractly patterned recliner was carried through the doors by Alice, whistling some jaunty tune as she hefted the chair across the floor by her lonesome. David pushed one of the folding chairs out of the way and a few others scooted apart to create a space for the approaching recliner before it gently fell to the ground with a final peppy whistle from her mouth. Caleb could just smile and shake his head.

              David’s meek figure stood in the center. “The news of the day is still our victory earlier, and the second order is that Alice has taken it upon herself to invite someone else to our circle.”

              ‘Pecker head.’

              Alice curled her entire body into the large chair and spoke. “His name is Caleb, and he needs our help like everyone else here does. He’s got blue eyes, and an amazing face, as you can see.” She waved her hand towards him. ‘She’s adorably innocent.’

              “I’m Caleb—”

              “This is going to screw with the story I had ready for today.”

              The speaking man had a filing folder at the side of his chair and fidgety hands that now scooped it into his lap. His short, blonde hairs didn’t move as he did, his button up shirt dark and loose against his slightly tanned skin. He quickly flipped open the purple folder and the dividers sprang from one finger to the other. “It’s okay, Benny, maybe you could just read a poem for us tonight until you work out the story.” He flipped faster and nodded. “Let’s all introduce ourselves to our new mate.”

              “I’m Benny: the guy whose story you just ruined.”

              “Angela.” ‘Caramel, shoulder-blade-length hair with chubby cheeks and small hands.”

              ‘And she’s connected by the hand too…,’ “Christopher.”

              “Lacey.” ‘Such a tiny voice.’

              “Andrew is I.” ‘Satirically, lovely. Aesthetically, way too young to be a long time member of this group.’

              “Stewart.” ‘Has never stood out of a crowd in his life.’

              The next tilted her head out of the shadow of the window molding. “Joy.”

              “David,” he said quickly. “All right then, Alice will start us off while Caleb and I have a chat.” His fake smile flashed to comfort the faces, ‘Obviously not concerned about his actions….’ Caleb stood and walked after David. “Sorry for ruining your story, Benny,” he said as they walked by. Benny took a sharp breath as Caleb passed, afraid that he would violate his space somehow. ‘The artistic worm could be crushed easily.’ Caleb made sure he had a wide berth, walking closer to Alice as he passed between.

              ‘He’s holding that clipboard like a gun.’ They wandered halfway to the other end of the gym. ‘He just looks congested. Something isn’t tickling his pickle.’ The man turned on a dime and closed his eyes. ‘I guess it’s biting his pickle like a piranha. Why is he so annoyed at us? This goes beyond you contaminating his precious lab rats.’ “We need to communicate on a more personal level if you’re going to be helped by this kind of gathering. Do you have any medical records confirming your diagnosis? I have clearance, if you allow me, to have them sent from any medical center.”

              His head cocked and eyes rose until a single gemstone was peering over the black rim of his glasses. ‘That was a shot. Look at his eyes: he’s got some power over you. The government may have—’

              ‘My picture.’

              ‘He saw it, which means your little ballerina knows about you too. Kill him, turn, push everyone against the walls—’

              ‘How are you showing me this?’ His waking eyes suddenly saw the events as if they happened.

              ‘Power of the mind. Hold them there while another part starts a fire. Barricade the door on the way out, the barred windows will hold, building burns down. A pile of derelict ashes with supposedly homeless bones powdering the ground would be the remains. We go on with your experiment.’

              ‘No, no involvement by you that was the deal. Let the military come first. She wouldn’t greet me like that and David wouldn’t wait two seconds to turn me in.’ Power backed down under his command. “I have my medical files at home, but you don’t need to see them. They’re full of sensitive information that is quite personal, hence them being my medical files, and hence, you don’t need to see them.”

              “Not technically, no, but I’d like to get to know you a little, and this is usually a good place to start.”

              “You’re trying to get to know me?”

              “Well, connect with you is more appropriate. I’ve known a great deal of this group for over a decade, and Alice our whole lives. That boy for two years and Joy was referred to me by a colleague not a year ago, which makes you the stranger, which isn’t a problem as long as they can find some common ground with you. The best way to connect with them is to connect with me, then Alice, then the rest. We’re like the tether poles of the group, the best place to start getting rooted.”

              Caleb snickered. “David, you’re not going to connect with me. You have nothing in common with me. You don’t have any of the diseases I have or the one they have. The simple truth is you can only take an educated leap at what they’re going through, and can’t even fathom what I’m going through. I know you’re trying to wipe the grime from the window between you and me, but wipe forever, it’s still a barrier that keeps you from ever truly connecting with me. I’ve got a laundry list of experiences you could never imagine. So, don’t even try to connect with me, because it’s simply not possible.”

              David pushed his glasses against his face and crossed his arms. “How will this work then?”

              “Hey, I can help.”

---

              “You can connect to me, I bet.”

              Alice felt her smile burst a little further from her head. Both men looked at her now; at her youthful skin and wind-damaged hair as they went against her looming, deeply effervescent eyes. She knew very little about the world; very little about the splintered paths she never took and where they led. They were nothing more than an idol curiosity as she strolled by; the trees along the dense forest path too thick for her to brave a gander. Even if their branches were thin and weak, she would never summon desire for another direction. She loved the path she tread unequivocally, and was incredibly gifted at her estranged skip along it. Everything on the path was easily seen by her, but the dirty clouds ahead swirled into a dust that blinded her feet from the straight and narrow. “I’m the perfect bridge. I know his mumbo-jumbo and I know what you’re going through. Perfect!”

              “Alice….”

              “David,” she said in a mocking tone. “If he wants to be a part of us, then let me help. He obviously isn’t going to let you in, and he won’t find anyone more friendly than me,” she said to Caleb’s face. “I’m five-foot-ten, about one-forty, my favorite color is blue and sometimes green, I’ve lived here for four years now and before that New York, my favorite animals are kittens and fish because fish hardly ever bite when you pet them. Relating to any of this yet?”

              Caleb swayed his body all the way around to her and tilted his head with a tiny smile gently furrowing his cheek. “I do like the color green.”

              “See, David? We’re like brother and sister already. Give me a chance to see if he’s worth your almighty guidance or not.”

              David flared his nostrils. “Fine he’s your project.”

              “He’ll stomp away now,” she whispered to Caleb as soon as David was out of earshot. “See how his shoulders are raised a little? He’s puffing out his chest to look tough. Does it when he’s mad. So cute. Anywho, come. Listen. Benny is about to read a poem for us.” Her voice continued to trail into a whisper as they walked closer to the circle. “He’s a poetic-path; he can turn anything into a poetic verse. I’ve never heard him talk without prose like he did to you. You must’ve really made him mad. You kinda look mad now. Well, half of you does. Remember I told you about that? Right now half of your face is looking around while the other seems set. Lefty is saying ‘I’m happy’ while righty is saying ‘I wanna kill her now,’ it’s so neat.”

              “Your friend is talking,” he snapped lightly at her.

              She leaned into his shoulder as they settled. “That was the grumpy side.”

              Benny stood in the middle of the circle with a wrinkled piece of paper. “He looks good in that outfit don’t you think? Really lights up his blue eyes and blonde hair.”

              Caleb gave her another sideways glance. Benny cleared his voice and straightened his posture. “This is called ‘The Last Feather.’”

---

              The lights went out suddenly. Somebody yelped as Caleb looked up. ‘No power.’

              “They cut us off again, ugh. All right everybody, we’ve gotta call it an early night tonight. Carefully find the door and keep in mind your feedback on Benny’s poem for next time.”

              Caleb waited for everyone to move around before extending enough power to clear a path to the door. ‘Use me correctly or not at all.’

              ‘This is the correct use for you.’ He clicked carefully across the floor and opened the double-doors, letting early streetlights spill as a beacon for the wandering diseased. Alice and David were the first out, her large recliner being carried by her own deceptive strength. They wandered as a quietly frightened group out into the night before Caleb released his polite hold on the metal door. He saw every one disperse into groups of two or less, and noticed David and Alice by the beat-up red truck. ‘His chest is puffed out.’ Caleb meandered just barely out of earshot against a wall and extended his power while closing his eyes.

              “I thought you sent the payment in, David?”

              “I just sent it off today, Alice. I’ll call them tomorrow and set it straight.”

              “You really think you can lie to me after all these years?”

              Caleb opened one eye and watched David straighten his posture and look directly into her tiny face. “I sent the money off today. I’ll call them tomorrow.”

              She studied him relentlessly, even when his face didn’t seem to emote at all from Caleb’s vantage point. “What’s she studying,” he asked in a whisper.

              “Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow night then.”

              “Well, I was hoping we’d go out tomorrow during the day….”

              “Tomorrow’s Tuesday.”

              “Ah, I forgot, I’m sorry. I’ll see you tomorrow night then. Good night.”

              “Night.”

              The only physical sentiment between them was a touch on either arm by the other. Caleb didn’t smile. ‘What are you studying?’

              ‘That. That didn’t seem right or caring at all.’

              ‘Oh God you’re going to be interested in her aren’t you?’

              ‘I’m interested now, just not as much as you think I am.’

              ‘I’m keeping close tabs on your emotional state and I know all about where your interests lie. If she’s the one that breaks your will for me, I’d be just fine with that. Victory will fly on swift winds in that case.’

              ‘Or failure.’

              ‘Ha!’

              Caleb walked up behind the truck and was nearly hit in the crotch as Alice hoisted the chair into the scratched bed with one flex. David’s eyes glared against the rearview mirror as Alice pushed the chair to the back with one shove. “You’re a strong little pixie.”

              “I know, I try.” She smiled and chuckled. “Did you enjoy the poem at least?”

              “The little of it I heard, yeah.”

              “Hey, you heard most of it. I know I’m a big talker. That’s how I think. Most people tell me they have a little voice in their heads that makes sense of what they say and think and see and know. Not me. I talk out my thoughts, which gets embarrassing, and leads to more thoughts and bigger embarrassment. Not for me, for people around me. I don’t get embarrassed too often. I say some pretty awkward things sometimes, but everyone here’s so used to it that it doesn’t matter usually, but sometimes I say things like I think you’d look pretty hot naked and realize what I say and…,” she whispered a bit before resuming her regular tone, “on the bright side, it means I have no secrets, which is convenient for people.”