“You have to hide.”
“Not yet, I don’t.”
She refused to let go. Her shaking shifted—now a result of stifling the urge to cry. “Leo, please!”
If he touched her—cradled her face as he wished to—it would be evident to everyone she saw, but the raw fear in her eyes wiped away his hesitation. With one hand leaving grease residue on each cheek, he raised her head to watch her eyes. “Trust me. Do you think I want to die?”
Her whimpered “no” did little to assure Leo of her utter confidence in him. “Ok, then I want you to get on that computer and look up biker meetings in a five-hundred-mile radius. I’m going to go check out—”
“No! You search; I’ll go take pictures with my phone.”
Leo shook his head. “I can’t let you do that. I’m pretty sure these aren’t Kasimirs, but you won’t be able to tell.” As she began a fresh protest, he shook his head. “Trust me. I am not going to get myself killed just to satisfy curiosity. I know what I’m doing. This is what I did for them.”
Allison stared as the door closed behind him. Was he for real? The men out there—evil horrible men out there wanted to kill him, and all he could do was say, “Trust me?”
Her fingernails drummed the arms of Adric’s chair as she waited for the computer to boot. The messy surface distracted her, and by the time the computer desktop appeared ready for her to use, she had filed the paperwork, tossed the trash in the bin beneath the desk, and wiped the phone with the Clorox wipes—still stashed in the bottom drawer from over a year ago. From the pristine look of the outside, Adric hadn’t touched them since. She gave the mouse a swipe with a wipe and began the search. It took exactly forty-six seconds to find the answer she sought. Her eyes widened, and her hand covered her mouth just as Leo burst in the door.
“You found it?” he demanded.
“Yeah.”
His lips twitched. “CMA? Really? You were worried about the CMA?”
“How was I supposed to know? I didn’t even know there was a Christian Motorcycle Association! A bunch of guys arrive on bikes with leather jackets and tattoos on their arms and I freaked. I mean, who wouldn’t? There are people out there who want you dead.”
As she ranted about the flagrant way he flaunted his freedom, Leo moved to her side and leaned against the desk. He waited for her eyes to meet his and said, “The kinds of people who want me dead are going to show up after dark and take me out when they think no one is looking. They’re not going to announce their arrival quite so publicly.”
“So, I have to go back to class now?”
He grabbed a peppermint from the bowl on Adric’s desk, unwrapped it, and popped it in his mouth. “I’d suggest making a joke about it or the kids will eat you alive over it. You’ve got a thing for me, you know.”
“I what?”
“That’s what some of the guys think.” He winked. “No worries. You’re not alone. Apparently, I’m ‘into the hottest teacher ever.’”
Before she could respond, Leo bit down into the candy and moaned. Clutching his jaw, he winced, whimpering. “Ow!”
“What?”
“I’ve got a tooth that acts—ugh—up. I forget about it when there’s a long time between flare ups.” He groaned.
“Go see my dad. He’ll—”
“I can’t afford it, but thanks.”
Allison stood and leaned close. “Open your mouth wide and pull your—” she stared at his hands. “Never mind, mine have to be cleaner.” She pulled the cheek away and directed his head toward the light. “Oh, yeah. I guarantee that’s a root canal. You’ve got to be seen, Leo.”
“Well, I can’t.”
“Dad’ll take payments…”
Eager to change the subject, Leo nodded. “I’ll think about it.” The disappointment in her eyes made him sigh. “I’m sorry. I promise I’ll think about it. Really.”
“Decay like that is not going to go away, Leo. It’ll only get worse.”
“Yes ma’am.”
She handed him a cup of water from the water cooler. “Rinse the sugar from your mouth. Get some echinacea and some garlic cloves. Put the clove on your tooth with a little salt. When you can’t stand it anymore, chew it up.”
“If you aren’t interested—”
“Very funny. It’ll help. Really.”
She started for the door, but Leo led her to the bathroom. “Might want to take care of that grease first…”
“Oh!” Her head shook as she lathered soap in her hands. “How did I not notice that?”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I needed it.” She smiled at him, wiping the last bit of grease from her jaw.
“Your clothes are toast.”
“I’ll be fine. Mom’s amazing with stuff like this.” At the door, she turned and smiled at him. “I’m glad you’re safe, and I’m sorry about your tooth. Call us if you need help. Dad really doesn’t mind.”
Chapter Twelve
Handing Allison the keys to her thoroughly internally refurbished car deflated him more than Leo expected. As he watched her back the car into the street, turn around, and whiz down the road at what couldn’t possibly be within the speed limit, disappointment settled into his spirit. He wouldn’t have a reason to call anymore. In two more weeks, she’d be in some other school around the loop instead of in Macy Felspan’s English Lit class.
Just as he dropped the paperwork in Adric’s file tray, the shop phone rang. Adric answered and called Leo back from the door to the bays. “Allison.”
“Don’t tell me your engine is knocking again. You’ve gotta keep her away from hunky trucks.”
The look on Adric’s face was worth the embarrassment—this time. He listened for a minute, cleared his throat, and said, “Sure. That’ll be fine. See you later.”
He made it into the bay before Adric’s voice called after him, “She’s not going to give up, Leo. She likes you. That’s a good thing.”
For just a hair of a second, he considered ignoring Adric, but instead, turned and caught the door just as it started to latch. Pulling it open, he said, “That’s what I’m afraid of, Adric. If they find me and find out about her, she’s dead. It’s that simple. If I’m around, what they’d do…” He swallowed hard. “It’s just how it works. I know it sounds cruel, but I’m telling you, you really don’t want her connected with me.”
“They’re not coming for you. They don’t know where you are and the leaders are in jail. You can have a normal life!”
“Look,” Leo began, allowing himself to say exactly what he thought for the first time since he’d met Allison, “you may have let her go—and as far as I can see that was the stupidest thing you’ve ever done—but that’s no excuse for shoving her at me. Normal life? You’re kidding, right?” He jerked his pant leg over the tracking cuff around his ankle. “Yeah. That’s normal. Sure it is.”
“Leo, listen—”
“No, you listen for once. I can’t have a cell phone, because if I do, and the wrong person gets a hold of it, I can be tracked. If I go any farther than around this loop, I’ll have half of the law enforcement of the state on me, and despite what you think, there are men out there who, if they get the time, will come looking for me and will kill me and anyone they think I care about if they find me.”
He pushed his way into the bays and grabbed the battery charger. Two seconds after he connected it, his anger boiled over into dangerous levels. Nearly shaking with rage he couldn’t understand, Leo stormed into the office, grabbed his time card, and punched it. “I’ll finish up tomorrow.”
“Leo—”
Adric’s attempt to call him back failed. He strode down the street, struggling to shake off the fury that seemed to suffocate him. Within seconds, he was jogging and then he ran. His feet hit the pavement awkwardly, but still he sprinted toward his apartment. Toes cramped, but he took the stairs two at a time before he burst into his living room. His fists ached to pound the walls, but instead, he jerked the shoelac
es and tossed the shoes into the closet with more force than necessary. A half-moon arc at the bottom of the wall produced a wry smile. “Too bad it wasn’t the bathroom door.”
Bathroom. The thought gave him direction. He pulled his shirt over his head and unbuckled his pants. Leaving a trail of clothes throughout the apartment, he made his way to the bathroom. The moment hot water hit his neck, some of the steam built up inside of him released. With every second that passed, water soothed his angst-riddled body and he relaxed. The first tears mingled the spray from the showerhead, but within seconds, sobs overtook him.
He stood in the thirty by thirty inch cubicle allowing the water therapy to relieve his tension until he began to shiver from the lack of warm water. That was when he realized he’d forgotten a towel. Leo hated tracking water all over the bathroom floor. The mostly closed bathroom door counter confused him. He hadn’t closed it, had he? He’d left it wide open; he was sure of it.
A towel on the sink made him hesitate once more. Was that there earlier? Did he leave it that morning? He grabbed it, sniffing for the stale scent of a damp towel left in a hot apartment. Dry and fresh. Leo snatched it, his eyes darting around the room looking for anything to use as a weapon. Disgusted, he dried off, tied the towel around his waist, and reached for the plunger. Clothes on the toilet seat confused him once more.
He shut the door, locked it, set the plunger on the counter, and pulled on his boxers, jeans, and t-shirt. Taking a deep breath, he unlocked the door, grabbed the plunger, and peered around the doorjamb. The room looked empty at first glance, but Allison stood at the sink washing a few dishes.
“What are you doing here?” He picked at his t-shirt. “Did you put these in there?”
Her cheeks flushed as she nodded. “The door was open and I heard the shower.” At the look of alarm he knew he couldn’t hide from his face, Allison added hastily, “I just tossed clothes in and put the towel on the sink. I didn’t know what kind of shower thing you had…”
“Well, thanks.” Had she heard his sobs? How could she not? Should he mention it?
Before he could decide what to do, she stood and crossed the room. Her eyes slid to the plunger. “Were you planning to hold me hostage with threats of overflowing toilets?”
“Well, I thought I might be able to pull a Dalek,” he dropped his voice to robotic monotones, “‘Ex-ter-min-ate,’ kind of thing, but...”
“That’s it. You are now officially the perfect man.”
“How do you figure?”
Allison grinned. “You just made a Doctor Who reference in casual conversation.”
“Not complaining or anything, but why are you here?”
“Adric called, so I turned around and came back to make sure you were okay.” For the first time since he’d stepped out of the bathroom, he saw the concern on her features. “You’re not.”
“You heard.”
Her arms wrapped around him. “I heard. Want to talk about it?”
“Not really.”
She glanced up at him, unshed tears in her own eyes. “Want me to go?”
“Not really.”
“I could make us dinner.”
He nodded. “I need to run back to apologize to Adric. I was rude.”
Her phone found itself in his hand. “Call him. He understands.”
To his astonishment, she waved and exited the apartment leaving him standing there with her phone and no idea what had happened. If she planned to make dinner, why did she leave? “Um, Allison?”
Allison’s footsteps grew louder as she retraced her steps. She popped her head in the door and said, “Hmm?”
“What happened to us making dinner?”
“Do you see anything makeable in your fridge? I don’t. You call; I procure some kind of food stuffs. I’m thinking chicken.”
While she went—presumably to The Market—he made the call. Adric assured Leo that he understood. “I didn’t realize, not really, just how uncertain your future must seem to you.”
Leo’s feet shuffled as he tried to explain without downplaying the reality of his life. “I forget and I live it. No one expects you to understand. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
“I called Allison. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“She came,” Leo admitted. “You did the right thing. I needed someone to make me laugh at myself.”
Before Leo could add any further reassurances, Adric groaned. “I’ve gotta go. Jael’s at it again.”
“At what?”
“She just sent me a picture of the kitchen. We don’t have any cabinets and she’s talking about demolishing a wall and putting up a half wall.”
“I thought she was like six months pregnant.”
“Seven. I’ve gotta get home before she decides to add on a sun porch as a breakfast nook or something.”
“Bye, Adric. Tell her I said she needs to take it easy. She’s working by her mere existence. Shouldn’t that be enough?”
“Will do.” The dead air of a disconnected phone call punctuated Adric’s words.
Glancing around the room, Leo debated within himself. Clean up and help prepare for making a meal that he didn’t know how to make or hurry to catch up with Allison and help carry home groceries. The moment he thought it Leo realized that she’d drive. She liked Fairbury life, but she was a Ferndale girl. The pedestrian life of Fairbury wasn’t second nature to her yet—was it?
Allison breezed through the door carrying two cloth bags of groceries. He should have known she’d be the environmentally conscious type. Jill at the market almost glared at him every time he asked for plastic bags during his checkout.
“Hey, I didn’t know if we needed the oven, so I preheated it to three-fifty anyway. That’s what mom cooked everything on.”
“Good.” She pulled out a whole chicken and patted it almost affectionately. “Doesn’t she just look yummy?”
“Gaggy is more like it. I mean it’s all goose bumps and fat globs.”
Her hand shook the other bag. “But behind door number two, we have the perfect ingredients for a rub that’ll give it more flavor than you can imagine.”
“I don’t have a pan—”
A disposable, aluminum, roasting pan appeared alongside a box of roasting bags. “I came prepared.”
Fascinated, he watched as Allison washed the bird, half-dried the bird, removed all sorts of odd things from the cavity of the bird, and then rubbed it with a mixture of salt, pepper, and various herbs that now stood proudly in his cupboard as if they actually believed he’d use them again—the poor misguided things.
She placed the chest side down, stuffed it in the cooking bag, and placed it all in his small oven. “There. I’ll add the asparagus when we take this out and dinner will be done.”
“Asparagus?”
“Trust me, you’ll love it.”
“Ok…”
As if ready to change the subject, Allison sank onto his sofa and said, “So, I heard about your basketball game with some of the guys. They’re still talking about it.”
He seated himself opposite her as he asked, “Did you happen to notice if they got over the idea that gang life is cool? I couldn’t tell if they didn’t believe me or if they were trying to figure out if I downplayed stuff in my Q&A sessions.”
“Both. Tyler said he hadn’t believed you until the game. He was sure we forced you to say how awful it was as part of your plea bargain or something.” She nudged him with her toe. “Did Kevin really ask to see your scars again?”
“Yeah.”
Allison squirmed awkwardly. “Does that happen often?”
“Um, who would ask? It’s not like anyone talks to me.” Something in Allison’s demeanor told him there was more to it. “Why?”
“It just seemed—uncomfortable. I can’t imagine how that’d feel. I mean, on both sides. I can’t see what would give me the chutzpah to ask in the first place, and then how I’d respond if someone asked me something like that. I just don’t know.”
A reply seemed necessary, but Leo didn’t know what to say or think. Absently, he covered part of the snake on his arm with his hand and shrugged. “I think it’d be different for you than for me.”
“Why?” Before he could respond, comprehension dawned. “Oh, you’re more used to people being in your face, I suppose.”
“Well, yeah and I’m pretty sure no matter how many scars and tattoos you had, no one would ask you to take off your shirt and show them. The whole male vs. female thing.”
How a blush could make a gorgeous woman even more attractive made no sense to him. Leo winked and started to change the subject when he realized her dilemma. “Allison, I thought my scars and things bothered you.”
“They do. I don’t know how anyone could do that to a person.”
“You want to see them again but then again, you don’t.”
Eyes wide, she stared at him. “How did you know?” Then, as if a dam burst, she began talking. “I mean, in class I can’t stand it, you know? I’ve got to be in control, but every time I look at them; I lose it. I keep thinking that if I just let myself see what I don’t want to see and take it all in, I’d quit falling apart every time. It’s just unbelievable. I mean, if it was a movie, I’d swear they overdid the makeup.”
“So, like I said, you don’t want to see it but you do.”
She grimaced. “Now you’re laughing at me.”
“Not really, but I did want you to acknowledge the universal proof that you’re female—indecision.”
“Of course you do,” she agreed. Allison pointed to his side. “Kevin said the big one there was where they had to save your spleen.”
“Yeah. Well, they removed it—saved me from it is more like it. I should have died from half a dozen different things that night. Seems like God wasn’t done with me yet.”
“That’s what Kevin said! You got through to him with that one.”
Leo shook his head. “I didn’t say that. God got through to him, not me.”
“Are you going to play basketball with them again?”
“We didn’t make a play date, Allison. If I see them and they invite me, I’ll do it, of course.”
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