by Mike Gomes
Taking a small sip he felt the liquid being absorbed into his dehydrated system. Taking too much in at one time would simply cause him to vomit. Injecting small sips over a period of time would let him rehydrate and lower the headache and the pains associated with having a hangover. Falau was not proud he knew this information so well and wished he could get to the day of never having a hang over again.
Cracking his eyes again he let out a grunt and turned his head to the dark side of the room helping his adjustment to the light. Holding his eyes open longer he sipped again from the bottle and let out a grunt.
Over the next five minutes Falau worked to keep his eyes open for longer periods of time. He turned to the sun slowly and saw the light was not so direct now that it had shifted higher over the building.
Rolling to his side he swung his feet down to the floor and slowly lifted himself to a sitting position. Hunched over and his back curled he struggled to lift his head feeling the pain in his head start to throb. The bottle of water was now lower and his body better able to handle the night before, but the hardest part was always getting to his feet and making the first movements.
Pushing off the bed Falau staggered to the bathroom and ran the cold water, placing his hands under it. Filling his hands with water he submerged his face in them and rubbed his hands all over his mug. He repeated the action two more times and then rubbed his cold wet hands on the back of his neck. The cold water revitalized the big man and helped bring his senses to attention.
Falau’s eyes rose to see himself in the mirror. His face had started to look worn. Far too old of a look for a man just in his late twenties. The baby face he had carried a few years before was long gone and replaced by one that looked like it belonged on a man more than ten years his senior. Gray hair started to prematurely develop on his temples and his hair was tattered and in need of a haircut. His skin lost much of its color and was drawn.
Looking hard into the mirror Falau saw a man that looked like an alcoholic who lived on the street. The only real difference between Falau and those people was that Falau had some money from the System.
“Hey Falau, are you up?” called the voice of Tyler making his way up the steps. “Grady let me in.”
A sigh dropped out of Falau’s mouth and he reached his hands back under the running cold water and cupped his hands getting a handful. He pulled the water up and onto his hair wetting it and pushed it back with his hand before walking out of the bathroom in nothing but a pair of sleeping shorts.
Tyler entered the open door that held his bedroom.
“Up at noon. Must have been a hell of a night.”
Falau just flicked his head upward as a greeting to his friend. Falau grabbed the shirt sitting at the end of the bed that had three days of wearing on it and pulled it onto his body. Slipping on a pair of socks he walked past Tyler and into the hallway without a word.
Turning to his old friend, Tyler attempted to interpret his behavior. “Did I do something to piss you off?” he asked
“No. Just a little burnt today and I am in no mood for one of your lectures about how I should live my life.” Falau answered and continued into the living room.
Tyler followed with a hop in his step wondering why Falau felt the need to attack him for no reason. “I came today not to lecture but to give you the money for your mission.” Tyler pulled the plain tan oversized envelope from his jacket and tossed it onto the sofa. “You want to count it?”
“Have I ever before?”
“What’s your problem with me today. Did I do something to you?”
“Ya, you never got back to me on what the judges decided with the Whitmore case.”
“You don’t need to know that until they say you can know about it.”
Falau got up abruptly from his seat and turned to Tyler with anger in his eyes. “What about all that talk about being the good guys? You said we were the good guys but you all had no problem with me leaving dying children and suffering people to the mercy of that mad man. Why is that Tyler?”
“It is that we do not just go running into things without planning them out. We don’t just grab people or shoot people without careful thought. Believe it or not Falau the idea is to do what is right not just vengeful. That’s why it takes time, so decisions are not made with a snap judgement of emotion.”
Falau took a step closer to Tyler “There isn’t much to think about in this one. He is killing children. He is killing women. He is killing men. He fucking branded them, and I watched him not able to stop him. There is nothing that is gray about this. He is a killer and it is time for the judges to take care of this situation.”
Tyler stepped into Falau shortening the distance between them and taking control of the situation. “Who do you think you are, Falau? You get a few missions and now you think that you’re the one that can tell the judges what to do. Maybe you forgot that we came to you and took you out of a pretty bad situation. Maybe you forgot you were close to killing yourself.”
Falau raised his eyebrows and Locked eyes with his longtime friend.
“Ya. I know about that. You better calm down Falau because if we go away your life will go right back down the shitter. The only reason you got a shot with the judges and continue to get a shot is because of me. Not anything you have done!”
Moving in fast Falau lifted his right hand and swung it at Tyler looking to strike him in the face. Tyler slipped the punch and the big man’s hand crashed off the door frame with a crack. Tyler reached up and grabbed his hand and twisted his wrist back in on himself leaving him under the control of Tyler. Tyler pushed the wrist in harder and bent it to the point just before breaking it.
“Falau, you lack respect. You lack control of yourself and your emotions. I am your friend. I have gone out of my way to help you over and over and what do I get for it?” questioned Tyler in a rhetorical manner. “I get the man I stuck my neck out for questioning my bosses. I get that same man yelling at me and attempting to hit me. After all I have done for you I would have thought you were going to walk the straight and narrow and do your best not to embarrass yourself and me. Show some respect for me. Show me some friendship like I have shown you. I could kick your ass right now but from what I can see you’re doing a better job of that than I ever could. You keep diving to the bottom of that bottle and nobody will be able to help you.”
Tyler twerked the wrist hard and pushed Falau to the floor. Turning away he went to the stairs and headed down before Falau could regroup and pull himself to the sitting position.
“Tyler, come back. I was stupid. Come on man come back.” called Falau not getting off the ground and rubbing his wrist.
The sound of the front door opening and closing came up from the stairs. Falau closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“This has to change.”
Chapter 19
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
A fist banged down on the open bathroom door shaking Falau from his slumber.
“Time to wake up sunshine!” called Tyler with just a bit of venom in his voice.
Falau laid in the bathtub a picture of depression and instability. Vomit covered his shirt and he had urinated on himself. A once full bottle of whisky laid on its side empty next to the tub.
“Tyler?” Falau questioned cracking his eyes open and seeing the well put together friend.
“Yes it’s me. Did you forget?”
“Forget what? I mean yes I forget or at least I think I forgot something. What the hell happened?”
“You got drunk again.” said Tyler disapprovingly.
“I figured that out. Why are you here?”
“Not just because you pissed your pants.” said Tyler with full intent of cutting into Falau’s pride. “You called me last night babbling and calling me Dave. You said it was too late but to still come over.”
“I called you Dave?” Falau said pulling himself up and out of the tub. The big man pulled his soiled shirt off and tossed it under the sink. “Dave is my
sponsor.”
“Sponsor as in Alcoholics Anonymous?” questioned Tyler leaning on the door frame.
“Ya. I started going but as you can see it hasn’t started to set in yet.”
“I hear the best way to make it set in is to stop drinking. A fifth of whisky is never a good thing while in the program.”
“I understand that, but I got into it pretty good with an old friend and took a swing at him. Made a total asshole of myself.” Falau ran the water and washed off his face.
“That’s great because I made a breakfast fit for a king and an asshole.” said Tyler leaning into Falau. “Some nice greasy eggs smothered in butter, sausages, and some nice black coffee. You can just smell it. Mm mm mm mm good.” Tyler wafted his hand trying to bring the smell of the cooking into the bathroom. The suggestion of the greasy food provided its desired effect making Falau wretch and gag at the thought of the greasy food. Falau lunged for the toilet and started to vomit.
“Should I take this to mean that you’re not interested in having breakfast?” said Tyler his words covered in sarcasm. “I will set you a plate anyway. Nothing like pure grease to set your stomach right.”
Falau wretched again as Tyler turned from the door and walked away. Falau knew he deserved whatever Tyler had in store for him after his behavior. After what Tyler had witnessed the big man wondered if this was the end of his work with the system.
Falau stumbled in the bedroom taking his soiled shorts off and washed himself with a cloth. Slipping on some clean clothes the sense of shame became overwhelming. Urinating on himself was a new low and a shame he had always thought was saved for the worst of the alcoholics. Falau looked into the mirror that sat above his bureau realizing he was one of the alcoholics like that.
Walking into the kitchen Falau strained through the smell of the breakfast that Tyler had cooked. The burnt smell in the air seemed intentional to his weak stomach. Tyler sat at the table and shoveled the eggs onto his fork and took a big bite. Across the table was a plate filled with eggs, sausage, and toast. The black coffee was just off to the side.
Falau sat down looking at the meal that could have been fine any other morning. “I think I will just stick with the toast.”
“Come on now, you’re a growing boy and growing boys need to eat. Besides, you need to coat your belly with something if we are going to go for a ride.”
“Why do we need to go for a ride?”
“We have business to talk about and you know how I like to talk business in the car.”
“If you’re going to fire me then you can just do that here.” said Falau lifting the piece of toast and taking a bite.
“Fire you?” asked Tyler taking the cup of coffee away from his lips. He set the cup on the table and looked sternly to his friend. “I am not here to fire you. From what I can see your job is the only thing keeping you alive. You having a sponsor is a big thing and you need to stop drinking soon or it could cost you your job but as for now there is work to be done.”
Falau smiled and took another bite from the toast. Placing it back on the plate he lifted the fork and took a bite of the eggs gagging. “Tyler, these taste like shit. What the hell man you can’t cook eggs?”
“Oh I can cook eggs. I just burnt the hell out of yours and then threw them in with another egg that looks right. You need to pay some dues for your behavior toward me and this was a lot better than being in a fight.”
“So we are all even?”
“No you need to eat all the eggs.” said Tyler with a devilish smile on his face.
“I would rather not be your friend than eat these eggs” said Falau pushing the plate away and letting out a slight laugh.
Tyler slid his plate away and took another long sip from the cup of coffee. “I don’t mean any disrespect or to sound like I am accusing you of anything, but you don’t tell Dave everything do you?”
“No! In fact I have told him very little about myself. We have only spoken at the meetings. He wants me to go to another one tonight.”
“Are you going to go?”
“Ya. I think so. I think I need to go and try to get through one night sober.”
“One day at a time right.”
“That’s what they say. Ya know the strangest thing is I don’t even know how I got so bad.”
“I know what it was and so do you. Jennifer.” said Tyler looking matter of fact leaning back in his chair. “You had something happen that is a one and a million. After it happened you didn’t go get any professional help. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can just shake something like that off. You still have that card I gave you?”
“Ya, it’s in my wallet. Thought you were not going to talk about that ever.”
“Just asking not talking about it.”
“I was just joking. I know I should call her and set something up, but I think I need to get sober first.”
“That sounds good to me.”
“Is there any work on the horizon for me.”
“If you want there to be work there is work but if this is something that needs to happen first then I am fine with that. I think our employer would be fine with you getting treatment before the job.”
“The kind of treatment I need takes money and I don’t have a lot of that. I could use the work first. Besides the work is the thing that gets me sober the fastest. I never drink on the job. My mind is too focused on the work.”
“Well we have some things to talk about.” said Tyler standing up and taking his coat off the back of the chair. “Let’s go for that ride so we can talk some things out.”
Falau reached out and grabbed Tyler by the arm but not coming out of his chair. “I know I might still be out of bounds, but I need to know if anything will be done in regards to the last job I had. I think those people could use a lot of help.”
“I hate talking in code like this. If anyone is listening they know we are full of crap with all this.” Tyler said holding his hands open and talking to the room at large. “What I can tell you right now is that you made a very compelling case even if you could not keep your mouth shut. We all know you’re a man of great passion and care very much for people.”
“So they will be getting some help?” asked Falau his eyes lighting up for the first time since Tyler woke him up in the bathroom.
“I can’t commit to anything. People who get help sometimes do not want it. We can’t make people take the help we can offer.”
Falau nodded his head up and down in agreement. “I understand, and I know you can only do and say so much. I just want the best for those people. They are good people.”
“I am sure they are. Just like you are. You just need to control that fire that burns inside you and put it in the right place. I know you can find out how to do that.” said Tyler with a smile of reassurance. “Now grab your coat and let’s hit the car. BMW this time.”
Chapter 20
COMING THROUGH THE front door of the brownstone Falau saw a fresh off the lot BMW 640i Gran Coupe parked right in front of the building. There was no mistaking that this was Tyler’s. The local kids and teens gathered round it having rarely seen a car that expensive this close up.
Tyler stepped past Falau and zipped down the steps with his keys in his hand. He raised the alarm remote control and clicked the button.
Beep beep. It sounded causing the kids to start scurrying in all directions.
“Hold on. Don’t run. I thought you guys would like to see under the hood.” called Tyler to the kids before they could get too far away. Most of the kids slowed down and turned back to see the slick white guy in the suit opening the driver’s side door and leaning down to pop the hood.
“Hey, sorry about looking into the car. It’s just nobody around here drives a car like that.” said a boy in his teens pointing to the car.
The car shined with a new waxing and the black color shined with a high gloss. The wheels held specialty rims that had the BMW symbol but were made special by Tyler. The interior was black leather
and every feature was immaculate as if the car had just been driven off the showroom floor. Falau marveled that Tyler was able to drive the car to his home and still pick up no grime or dirt from the road.
Falau drifted down the steps and stood with the kids as Tyler opened the hood to reveal the engine. Slightly embarrassed at having little idea of what he was looking at he gave a low slow drawn out whistle showing he was impressed. The kids chirped and pointed knowing far more about the engine than the big man.
“Isn’t she a beauty?” asked Tyler to the kids without taking his eyes off the engine that he had made various modifications to for his particular kind of work. “Zero to sixty in 4.3 seconds. 445 horsepower working with a Twin Trebor engine. The frigging thing is a work of art.”
The kids all nodded their heads along with Falau and Tyler.
“Can you take us for a ride?” asked one of the kids.
“Sorry, but that would be too much. I don’t mind showing you the car but if you’re in it and we get in a crash it will be my ass.”
“How about you light up them tires when you pull away?”
“Maybe I could do that.” said Tyler with a wide grin.
“Hey man, how did you afford a car like that? It has to be like eighty thousand dollars. You a drug dealer?” asked one of the older teenagers with his head cocked to the side looking Tyler up and down.
Tyler stopped and looked to the boy not breaking his hard serious look on his face. “No, I am not a drug dealer. I have to work for a living. The cops will never get to take away my money. You get focused and work hard, take advantages when the opportunities come, and you will be driving something like this too. You sell drugs and it’s just a matter of time until the police grab you and you’re in the joint. I like my money and plan on keeping it.”
