Before they reached the final section of the stacked buildings, Cody stopped, staring up at the corner window. He was sure he saw someone standing there, watching them. Tyler followed his gaze with a smile and chuckled.
“Is someone watching us?”
“Don’t worry brother. You’ll meet him at dinner.” Cody was still surprised with the new brightness in Tyler; his persona oozed joy. “Grab your stuff. I bet you want to get cleaned up and rest before dinner.”
Cody glanced at his watch; 3:00 P.M. and there weren’t any workers on a Friday afternoon. Maybe, Tyler had sent them home early as a bonus for completing the Top Hat in hardly any time. The clouds broke apart, displaying cracks of blue in their gray covering.
As Cody opened the trunk, Tyler yelled, “You should move your car to this side of the street. Don’t want to upset any neighbors.”
Cody glanced across the street at his brother, leaning against the stop sign. He kept himself from looking up at the window above. His stomach churned as he backed out of the parking space. Acid bubbled into his throat as he made a U-turn in the street and came to the corner. His instincts screamed for him to get back on the highway and drive to safety, but he ignored them, as he had ignored Hector. He pulled into the space directly below the window.
“What the fuck am I doing?” he mumbled as he followed Tyler to the hotel entrance.
Chapter Twenty-One
And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me.
1 Samuel 25:32, KJV
For lack of anything else to do, Jen waited in the lobby. Not wanting to look as though she were too eager to meet Cody, she decided to clean; she was tired of looking at the fly corpses and outdated magazines. When Cody and Tyler hadn’t come into view from the window, she moved to the desk, throwing anything away not relevant to this millennium.
The rumble of a truck caused her to jump as she wiped off the smudges on the glass lid of the soda machine. She glared out the window.
Neither bathroom needed much, mostly removing the dried spiders with brittle legs folded inward from behind the toilets. She stared into the laundromat. A few townspeople used it, but never on Saturday, which she thought was strange; the town didn’t have a Jewish influence. She returned across the tiled floor, wishing the lobby door to open, but it didn’t.
A shadow stretched across the landing from the second floor, then disappeared — more than likely Becki playing. Strangest girl, Jen had ever met, somehow managing to sneak in without her noticing.
She glanced at the clock over the key hooks—it wasn’t even three yet, why wasn’t she in school? If her parents didn’t care she played hooky, why should she?
Running the cloth along the front of the newel post, she thought she heard Tyler. Her stomach rumbled, feeling like a teenager waiting for her Prom date to knock.
Seconds passed. The bell on the door clattered. She tossed the cloth into the dumbwaiter and pulled the sliding door down. Casually, she turned from the dumbwaiter to the door. Tyler, followed by Cody, entered the lobby.
Her cheeks warmed. Cody met her expectations. He was tall, fit, and handsome. Tyler caught her eyeing his brother and shook his head, having seen women swoon over him before. It didn’t bother him anymore.
Growing up, he’d been jealous of the way Cody had always drawn every girl to him just by being present. Cody always had appreciated the attention but never was interested in what was offered. He was curious to see how he reacted to Jen, who at the mention of Cody’s name became wet.
“Cody, this is Jen,” Tyler smirked. “Jen, Cody.”
“Hello.” Her voice quivered.
“Good to meet you.” Cody glanced at Tyler with a brow raised in question.
“She moved here with me,” Tyler clarified. “I thought I told you about her.”
“Nope.”
“Tyler has told me everything about you,” Jen said breathily, taking his hand he’d offered.
“Seems like you still have it,” Tyler said flatly. He didn’t care if his girlfriend threw herself at Cody, he was willing to share if Cody were convinced to stay and see the vision through, but he knew his brother wasn’t interested.
Cody blushed. “I guess I do.” He pulled his hand from her.
“Yes, you do,” she gushed. Her free hand found its way up his arm to his shoulder, feeling the strength beneath his shirt. She moaned, lowering her eyelids to half-open. Her hand then made its way down his chest. “Oh, very nice.”
Her mind raced with the question of why she was acting this way. She never threw herself at men. Even with Tyler, she had waited until he dared to go for it.
Since her encounter with Wayne, her sexual demands fought to be the forefront of her mind. Except for Tyler, who, after their arrival, had become less and less attractive to her. Most of the time, she ignored his advances. But when there was no other way to avoid it, she allowed him to have his way while she pasted Wayne’s or Cody’s face on his; while he was a wonderful lover, taking her to paradise every time, she had lost interest.
Cody was too stunned to move or say anything, wondering whether she was always this forward. Tyler didn’t seem surprised or to care about her fondling him.
No longer able to take what he was seeing, Tyler turned away and entered the manager’s suite. Cody broke free from her before he thought she’d begin to undress him. She stood in the lobby watching him leave.
Tyler returned to the living room after giving Cody the choice of the two empty rooms (he chose the one at the end). Jen had a strange expression on her face; staring into nowhere, she faced the dining room. Her jaw was slack, and a dribble of saliva slid from the corner of her mouth.
Saying her name brought her out of her stupor. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. A grin caught her mouth, and she laughed, something he hadn’t heard her do since arriving in Shoshoni; maybe a forced chuckle, but nothing heartfelt like this.
The sound was contagious, and he joined her, all the while wishing he knew the joke, but what did it matter, they were enjoying themselves…finally…together. Cody stopped in the dining room, watching them laugh.
“Hector?” he whispered. She appeared with a large smile on her face, pleased with what she saw. “Looks familiar. You responsible?”
“No.” She shook her head, and laughed, too, hoping to ensnare Cody. “Not directly. I suggested it to her Watcher. She’s got something in her, and laughing should shake it loose. Won’t hurt him either.” Cody’s brow furrowed. “Oh come on! You know laughter is the best medicine.” He looked at her with a bored expression. “It’s supposed to be contagious, too. So why aren’t you laughing?”
“I don’t see how any of this is funny.” He glanced at the ceiling. “This whole place leaves my stomach sour.”
“I told you so.” She threw back her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Sure you don’t want to join in?”
He shook his head. A simple nod from Hector was all they needed to stop. Apparently, she had communicated with their Watchers with the gesture, who ended the frenzy. Laughter was a straightforward thing. It cleansed. It uplifted.
Jen flushed, seeing Cody in the dining room. Her embarrassment for the way she acted when they were introduced overpowered her—she hadn’t any idea why she had acted so inappropriately.
Her fingers began to pick at each other as she took a deep breath. To stop them, she forced a hand to rub the small of Tyler’s back. The electricity exploding at her fingers felt good; she didn’t want to stop. He grinned, relieved she was once again doing something normal.
“We’ve got time before dinner,” Jen said, breaking the silence. “I bet you two want to catch up.” Before they were able to agree or disagree, she continued, “I’ll go down to the restaurant and make sure everything will be ready before sundown.”
“Interesting,” Hector said. Tyler and Jen didn’t hear or see her.
Cody glanced at her, then back to Jen and Tyler. They were j
ust at the restaurant, and no one had been there preparing food as no sounds had carried from the kitchen into the dining room. Before her face reddened more, she was out the door.
She shook her hands as she hurried to the corner. Of all the embarrassing things to have done, but throwing herself at Cody was not like her. She hadn’t known him for more than two seconds. What had come over her? She didn’t understand the way she’d acted that way.
Stopping at the boarded-up entrance to the store, she watched a car parking in front of the bar across the street. The man who got out of the car paid her no attention and slunk into its confines. For a moment, she heard the twang of a song bounce from the open door, and then it was cut off when it closed again.
The slight distraction didn’t clear the questions from her mind. She didn’t like the way she’d acted; it wasn’t like her at all. Then the fact she wasn’t in the slightest bothered by the ghosts materializing on the second floor of the hotel made her question her sanity. First Dorothy gushing blood from her wrists—she did enjoy the conversations with her. It felt good to have someone to talk with—then Wayne. How was it possible she’d had sex with a ghost? She leaned her head back, wanting to scream, but didn’t. Who knew what a sign of distress might bring?
She snuck toward the end of the block. As she passed the theater, she shivered—no longer was the feeling uncommon to her. Staring across the dirt street at the end of the block, she took in the scenery. The faded colors of the prairie were brightening. Grass near the railroad tracks outlined the rusted iron and gave life to the rotted ties. Spring was on its way.
Realizing she’d forgotten the keys to…what did Tyler call the place? The Top Hat? She remembered when he had first told her about it the name reminded her of old black-and-white movies with people dancing and singing. Then he’d gone into the disjointed history lesson about the family who owned it and other restaurants in the State.
Rather than returning to the hotel for the keys, she wandered to the back of the restaurant. The weeds and garbage had been cleaned up nicely, and the freshly grated ground was flat and even. A single car sat behind the building with its trunk open. She saw no one near it and turned to the backdoor standing open. The clank of dishes came from the opening. She stood on the threshold.
“Hello?” She leaned in, not wanting to startle anyone.
“Howdy!” a kind looking man with a dark-blond, thick handlebar mustache replied. His golden eyes gleamed. The black T-shirt showed off the intricate, and brightly colored tattoos covering his left arm to the wrist, but hid whatever hung from two leather strings and a silver chain.
The muscles of his biceps flexed as he put the knife on the counter. His hair, lighter than his mustache, was combed up and back. “You must be Jen.”
“I am.” The feelings she’d shaken in the living room began to flow through her again. “I’m checking on dinner.”
“Sorry, I’m late.” Happiness exuded from his upturned mouth, showing off his white teeth, making her pulse race. “I had a bit of car trouble. But don’t worry, it’ll all be ready before the sun hits the horizon.” She stared at him. His smile faded. “You ok?”
“Oh, yes.” She looked away from him to the stainless-steel counter behind him, and the four steaks he had been trimming. “I’ve never seen a mustache like yours before.” Heat burned her cheeks.
He guffawed, putting her at ease. “I got the idea,” he said with a thicker drawl. “When I saw a picture of my grandpappy.” Then he laughed harder.
She forced herself to look at him again and seeing his honest merriment, joined. As they settled, she felt in control of herself. The sexual urges to take this man where he stood had evaporated. She still found him attractive, and she loved a man who knew his way around a kitchen, and so well built, and charming.
She lowered her gaze for fear the lustful thoughts began running rampant in her mind again returned. She found the swirl of colors on his left arm.
At first, she didn’t see any sense of what was hidden in the patterns, and then as Jen studied the details closer from the doorway, she found a yellow sun inside an equilateral triangle with a black Greek cross below its lower arm.
The top point repelled three blue tear-drops, while the bottom corners held red stars at bay. Farther up his lower arm a pink heart was impaled by three crosses surrounded by green and blue paisley in yin-yang formations flowing like water up his bicep.
He watched her study the sigils on his arm, hoping one stirred whatever lurked inside her, and helped her break free of its grip. But, though she was curious, they didn’t widen in recollection or acknowledgment of knowing what was printed on him; the thing inside her didn’t even loosen its grip.
“I’ll let Tyler know,” she continued. “Thanks for not thinking me a bitch over your mustache…” She looked him in the eye, realizing she hadn’t gotten his name, but she wasn’t about to ask now that she’d made a fool of herself.
As she turned to leave, he said, “I’m Eli, by the way.” She glanced back at him. He winked. “Thanks for the laugh. I needed a good one today.”
“Anytime.” She vanished around the corner before he said more.
“Keep laughing, little lady.” He stared through the doorway. “It’s the only thing going to keep you free.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1, KJV
Dusk spread its fingers across town as the trio made their way through the alley. Tyler, whose knowledge of the block had become measurable in the last two weeks, told them his plans for the rest of the block. He gloated about obtaining the building attached to the Shanley; though Jen knew he had little to do with the negotiations, she didn’t contradict him.
Cody vaguely remembered seeing Mrs. Johnston driving her long, Sedan into the driveway—he’d forgotten there was a garage in the basement. The fence separating the yards for the apartments from the alley was gone. The lush cottonwood which had stood in the center of the courtyard had been cut apart, leaving its trunk in the heap of old appliances filling the yard. The tree had been the only nice thing nice in these yards.
Twilight intensified the undulating shadows in the cavernous open backside of the theater; the burned wood and charred, rusted iron-staircase had been removed, giving the rancorous entities access to the world. A rough breeze billowed the blue tarp along the edge of the roof. Abhorrence attacked him, and without realizing it, he ran the rest of the way down the alley to be away from the malevolence looming from the open wall.
“Ha!” he yelled, skidding to a stop, to cover up his fear. “I beat you.”
“Didn’t know we were racing. Otherwise, I would’ve whooped you!” Tyler looked from Jen to Cody; his face was the color of orange cream in the setting sun’s light. “Who’s hungry? Eli is the best chef in the State.” Jen blushed hearing his name and turned her face away to find a pair of rabbits rutting, making her blush more.
“I so am!” Cody exclaimed, eyeing the alley, then in a quieter voice he said, “I thought he was coming.”
“He said he’d meet us there.” Tyler grimaced. “He wants to make a grand entrance or something.”
I’m sure he does. Cody thought. “Are we going through the back door?”
“No, dufus, we’ll use the front.” He dangled the keys in front of his face.
The orange sunlight filtering through the strip of glass blocks, high in the center of the wall, made the room glow. The center booth was set for dinner. Tyler frowned, stomping toward the back of the restaurant; he had requested the center table, and it aggravated him it wasn’t done; everything had to be perfect from Mr. Bel.
Eli heard them enter, and waited at the entrance to the kitchen with a sheet of paper in his hand. The slight movement of his mouth moving into a cheerful shape, caused his handlebar mustache to bounce.
“I thought you’d be upset,” he s
aid, handing the paper to Tyler, who snatched it from his hand. His upper lip curled, then relaxed when Eli continued, “Mr. Bel requested the change.”
Tyler’s lips twitched as he read the note:
Eli,
For tonight, please set the center booth. I want our dinner to be cozy. Most appreciated.
B
Tyler handed the note back to him. “He’s right. It does make it cozy.” Looking up at the chef, he wondered whether he always had the sparkle in his eye, finding it annoying. “I hope you’re done cooking. The sun will be done in a few minutes.”
“Yup, I finished a bit ago.”
“Are you going to be serving by alone?”
“As requested.”
“Good.” Tyler turned back to his dinner companions, his voice again jovial as he said to them, “Come on sit and have some wine.”
Eli watched them slide into the booth, wishing to be anywhere but here. He’d taken many jobs in his time. Tonight was the only time he had wanted to quit before the first service had started.
A shy grin moved across Jen’s mouth, seeing him. Poor girl didn’t have any idea what was happening. Nor did she have any idea of what was to come. Then again, none of them did, including himself. He had to ride it out like the rest of the town, hoping for the mundane to continue in their lives.
Cody returning home meant Belphegor planned something. He remembered Cody growing up and was happy to see him again. Tyler’s head turned toward where he saw Jen looking; the empty entrance to the kitchen.
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