True Heroes (90 page)
“Sure it does. Tell me about her.”
“How does having one pencil in a world full of pencils make us special?”
Caleb didn’t smile. “Tell me about her.”
The old magazine closed and slapped to Stanley’s inside knee. ‘He slammed it down.’
‘Shut the hell up. I’m listening to the important conversation.’
‘Fine.’
“Around your time frame, she was a looker and a saint. Blonde just came off her in waves with green eyes to anchor her to this grassy world. She had these tan lines that wouldn’t ever match up with her shirt sleeves. When we were inside, she’d wear these little beaters and might step into the sun for a few seconds out of the day, and that’s where the tan lines would be. Even when she was out gardening and cutting grass while I was away on duty and wore T-shirts in Texas heat, the tan would always be up onto her shoulder.” The ring twirled between two fingers. “She passed away about six years ago.”
“Would me being sorry make any difference?”
“Not in the practical sense.”
Caleb looked on as his friend looked into the blue aisle. ‘Something…he’s not sad or angry. His iris movement is fixed in small patterns, possibly noticing the lines of the carpet or the stitches on the back of the seat. What’s he thinking of? Some time when he returned home from duty to find her between a sunhat and an empty plot, waiting beneath the beating sun for her husband to emerge from the backseat of a cab? Here’s what’s so special about what they have: it’s the one thing I’ve ever seen stop the man in his tracks to think. Alice and I want that.’
‘Shut up!’
Stanley replaced the ring on his finger, covering the white skin perfectly, and turned to Caleb. “Why in the hell did you give everything up?”
“What subject are we jumping to?”
“The publicity, the notoriety, the everything. You gave it up.”
“It wasn’t important.”
“I’m fairly certain you’ve never had that shallow of a thought in your life.”
“That’s about the middle of the thought process, I guess. It started when I saw what everyone else needed, and that it was just as important as what needed to happen. It wasn’t an object, that’s what I saw next. Then, I realized that I wasn’t the right person to carry out right actions, so I surrounded myself with the world, literally. Every piece of the past surrounded me with messages and interpretations and fascinations, but in the end, there was something pulling the will to life, pulling the will back to here and towards her. Never before has life or death seemed so full and so far, and neither of those are touched by the fame of news headlines.” He paused for a sigh. “It seems like the world needs the right thing, not another hero to worship.”
“There’s something wrong with you.”
“No, not anymore. Well, maybe a little more on the genetic side.”
‘David just asked if they would’ve ever had a chance together without me and you around.’
‘And she said?’
‘She adamantly denies the chance ever existed. I don’t believe her.’
‘You should.’
‘She had no clue of his hypocrisy before we came along.’
‘They’re not the same type of people. The relationship would’ve worn apart sooner or later.’
“What the hell do you get out of being so damn complicated?” Caleb turned his face up to Stanley’s. “I mean really: what’s the point of thinking that deeply?”
“If my thoughts weren’t that deep, everybody would stay away from me. It’d be an entirely different person sitting next to you, and there’d be a lot more unbearable traits you could associate with Caleb Whitmor.” He looked between the seats again as Alice chopped hand in the air. “There’s no way she’d be with me, then there’d be no me period.”
“I can’t decide if you’re a romantic or just something else entirely.”
“A bit of everything. Dabble of this and that, but master of only one.”
“I’m sure.” The military man smiled and flipped his hat in his lap. “What are you doing in New York?”
“The friend there has a new job starting this afternoon.”
“And you? I’m pretty sure that’s who I was asking about.”
“He wanted her to come along.”
“Again, you’re missing the answer I want.”
Caleb laughed lowly. “I’m here because she wants me here.”
‘He does too.’
‘Since when?’
‘He just said so. That he was glad that you came along.’
‘I take it your watching his facial expressions?’
‘He was sincere. Alice is watching him like a hawk and she hasn’t called him out at all.’
‘He passes two lie-detector tests for something I never thought he’d say. Interesting.’
“You don’t think that’s a little stupid of you? Maybe not stupid, but at least puppy-ish?”
“See, a puppy doesn’t have a choice. It’s a choice to go anywhere, and being here is a choice made because she’s here.”
“How does that coincide with you being pulled to her like you said earlier? That makes you sound like you’re on a leash being dragged around and have no choice in the matter.”
His head nestled into the comfortable rest and his eyes closed to allow Power more freedom. “She’s pulled me from the brink of death. She’s owed everything by me; literally, without her, there would be no me. On the other hand, if there was a different person sitting next to you with a different sense of things, it would be entirely possible to leave and not really care what she wants or cares about. There is always that potential, but it’s a very, very simple choice for me to stick around and be with her no matter what.” His right eye opened and looked towards Stanley. “Maybe that’s what makes us special, just the same as you and your wife were special. Even after death, there’s a heavily-worn wedding ring on your finger.”
The older man’s head had leaned forward for only a moment before settling back against the cushiony rest. “I never had a chance either.”
David suddenly stood up and walked swiftly past the chatting men. ‘Follow him.’
‘I am. Retract me when someone else is in the aisle so I can focus.’
Stanley slapped Caleb on the shoulder lightly and nodded to the turned, smiling Alice. “She beckons.”
Caleb stood and hopped into the aisle. “Never had a chance.” He took the stride forward quickly and his seat hastily. “Didn’t go too bad I take it?”
“Not at all. He just had some things to get off his chest.” She took his arm across her chest and lap before embracing it warmly. “Anytime you’re away from me now, your voice speaks my thoughts in my head. They’re always questions like I used to have before; always about when you’ll be back, where you went. I even knew you were five feet away, and still I could barely think enough to help David.”
‘He’s vomiting in the bathroom.’ A woman was walking quickly to their row, forcing Caleb to suck Power back within him. ‘There was a terrified look in his eyes.’
“He seems to be taking this new job quite seriously.”
“It’s what he does.” She looked up at him. “Didn’t like what I said?”
“I did, but I have no idea how to respond to that as Caleb.”
They smiled at each other while Alice’s eyes seemed to detach, her mind figuring the subtext of his sentence while her lips stayed with the unheralded task of constantly smiling to Alice’s beckon. “What if I were to ask Nobody?”
Caleb stretched his lips to match hers. “He might have a better response. I have a feeling he would say something along the lines of ‘then that careening path of thought would but justify to standing legs the need to never move anywhere without you again,’ or something similar.”
“No he wouldn’t. That’s still you.”
“I know.”
“You said you’d tell the truth.”
He smiled still. “Five feet is too great a distance.”
Her smile was softened then; her eyes grown wide while small traces of white teeth shone beneath her stretched lips, and the deepening iris of each mind’s window developed a moment of sparkle from the moist surface and into the singularity where all points converge.
“We will be landing very soon if you will all fasten your seatbelts and secure all loose items….”
Caleb was startled as David’s hand fell softly to his shoulder attached to, “Excuse me.” He moved past Alice and sat with the window. ‘He doesn’t look that bad.’
‘He’s hiding his eyes. That’s where all the juicy secrets are.’
‘Do you really think he could hide something from Alice and you?’
‘He’s been telling the truth so far, of that I’m sure.’
‘But….’
‘It’s in no way the whole truth.’
‘Oxymorons aside, let the guy be. I let you get your curiosity satisfied, so now we owe him a little alone time with his thoughts.’
‘That’s not how I work.’
‘It is how this will work.’
Caleb felt pressure against his chest, and saw Alice handing him his bag from the carrousel. “Whoa. Lost some time there.”
“Did you find it yet?”
“Yeah, I’m back.” They exited after Caleb and Stanley exchanged pleasant smiles, and Alice suddenly thrust a
New York Times
into his chest. “What do I want with this?”
“It’s a
New York Times
, in New York. That’s kind of awesome isn’t it?”
“In the same way that being fat is fun if you do it in America.”
David turned back up to the curb Caleb and Alice stood upon. “Actually the obesity epidemic subsided somewhat about eight years ago. We’re not exactly on our way to the skinniest nation in the world, but it’s become more manageable.”
Caleb smiled down. “That’s a plus.” ‘See, his eyes are completely clear now.’
‘He has to be in complete denial. It’s impossible to change emotions that quickly.’
‘Not impossible, but I’m trending to agree with you on the denial part.’
Caleb and Alice sat on a bench behind the crowd of people looking and raising their hands to the street of yellow taxis. “Looks like the war’s end is going to dominate headlines for quite a while.”
“Isn’t that sad?”
“The war?”
“No, look at the bottom right there.”
His eyes maneuvered down quickly. ‘Oldest preacher in New York State dies at eighty-nine…blah, blah, blah…Lawrence…ah c’mon.’ Her hands took the paper as he dropped it into his lap. “I knew him.”
“From before?”
Caleb felt a weight on his chest that he worked mightily to move. “Yeah. My mom used to go to his service, and recruited him to try and change me into a believer.”
Her hands were suddenly all around his face. “I’m so sorry, Caleb.”
‘There goes the last of your past. Rejoice.’
‘My past was always gone, and I guess it was his time to go.’
He looked around. “I should to go see his son.”
“You knew him too?”
“He visited me before. Do you mind?”
David held his arms up. “We’re leaving if you two plan on joining.”
Alice stood up and hailed another cab. “We need to go somewhere else. We’ll meet you at Central Park when we’re done. Call us okay?”
“What? Alice, I’ve….” Caleb looked up as David’s head fell and looked around; his chest and back could be seen breathing heavily. ‘There it goes again.’ “I’ll call you.”
The cab pulled up as David’s pulled away.
-
- -
“Any coffee, or anything?”
“No, we’re good.” Caleb gently traced a golden frame along the outskirts of a crop of them. “This was before my senior year at a church picnic,” he said to Alice over his shoulder.
“You were a favorite photo subject of his, actually,” Kain said as he wrapped his body around the corner. He waved them down a slender hallway and into the light of a living room. ‘Baby toys in the corner next to a rocking chair. Regular, blue couch directly across from a closed sliding door with open vertical shades and grey walls across the board in either direction. Alice isn’t comfortable, but she seems entertained with the baby corner.’ Caleb turned towards the sitting Kain. “It’s nice of you to stop by. Is it safe?”
