Blackbird

by Jessica MacIntyre

  “You think so?”

  “Yeah, I mean I guess. Or maybe I’m just out of the loop. Maybe places that just serve breakfast are the in thing right now and it’s only me that hasn’t heard.”

  “Nah, this place has been here forever. We’ve been coming here on both Mother’s day and Father’s day for the last twenty years.” Robert paused. It only just in this moment hit him that this would be the first year he’d have no reason to come here on either of those days. They’d been taking their mother here on Father’s day after his Dad had passed away, as well as the regular Mother’s day breakfast.

  Something must have shown on his face because Chelle leaned forward. Now she was the one looking at him with concern. “How is she doing?”

  Robert traced the handle of the fork with his finger as he felt his jaw tighten. “Confused, I think. She’s got dementia. She’s probably wondering where we all are, and why she’s in a strange place.” When he finally looked up again she was sporting a pair of red rimmed eyes. In one minute she had shown him more compassion than Billie had shown him in days. No, come to think of it, months. Robert had expressed his sorrow over his mother’s deteriorating condition time and again, never getting anything but an absent, ‘yeah’ or ‘umhmm’. “I hate it.”

  “Does she really have to be there? Is it really that bad?”

  “Well, I don’t think so, but I kind of got outvoted.”

  “Outvoted?”

  “Yeah. I have three brothers and they kind of did it without consulting me. I only found out the night before.”

  Chelle’s brow drew down into a straight angry line. “No offense to you or your brothers, but they sound like arseholes.”

  For some reason this made Robert laugh. He’d been thinking the same thing but didn’t dare say it out loud, not even to himself. He’d convinced himself he was wrong but hearing Chelle say it made him feel better. “Indeed, they can be when they want to be. They’re ok sometimes though. You met Paul the other day.”

  “Ah yes, the doctor. What about your other brothers? What do they do?”

  “Michael and Greg are scientists. They work together.”

  “Wow. Impressive jobs. What kind of scientists are they?”

  “You know what? I have no idea. They start to talk and it’s like: wonk, wonk, wonk. They talk a lot about getting grants and funding and research. It’s a big white building just outside of town.”

  “Sounds like they’re super smart.”

  “Yeah, I guess it skipped over me. I never had a head for science. Wasn’t smart enough for med school. Maybe I just ended up running the bar by default.”

  “Don’t say that. You have to be pretty smart to run a business. You run a bunch of them don’t you?”

  “Six in total.”

  “I bet your brothers couldn’t do it. I bet the first time something went wrong that they couldn’t do some type of analysis on they’d lose their little science loving minds.”

  “You speak as though you’ve met them. You sure you don’t know my brothers?”

  “Pretty sure, but I know the type. We hired a few of them at the bar recently. They didn’t last. Too afraid to get their hands dirty.”

  “Well, you’re certainly not afraid of that. You’re a hard worker.” It was true. Chelle was one of the hardest working people he’d ever seen. She never had to be told what to do, she saw what needed to be done and just went ahead and did it.

  “I do what I gotta do,” she said.

  That statement said it all. I do what I gotta do. He wondered for a moment what she’d actually done. He guessed some of it probably wasn’t pretty. She had an inner toughness that although he couldn’t relate to, definitely admired.

  Another silence. This one was broken when Sunshine lay two large plates of food down in front of them. For someone who had only wanted toast not too long ago, Chelle ate every single bite of the trucker’s breakfast, then stretched her arms over her head leaning back against the seat, which she’d not done since they’d sat down.

  “You seem like you’re feeling better now,” he finally worked up the nerve to say. They looked at each other for a moment. There was definitely an elephant in the room, but who would bring it up first? As if suddenly aware of her surroundings, Chelle looked out the window noticing the steady flow of passersby on the sidewalk. “What’s wrong?”

  “It wouldn’t be good if we were seen together.”

  Robert raised his eyebrows, taken aback at the statement. “You’re ashamed to be seen with me?”

  “No, of course not. But it wouldn’t be good. I mean it’s kind of inappropriate to be eating alone with your boss outside of work, isn’t it?”

  “Is it?” Robert leaned back against the booth, stretching his legs out and positioning his hands behind his head as well. “If that’s what you’re worried about you can relax. Today I’m not your boss.”

  Chelle folded her arms across her chest, giving him a defiant stare. “You’re not huh? You said I still had a job.”

  “And you do, but, last night you were fired. Maybe I won’t rehire you…today. I don’t have any openings until tomorrow. You can start then.”

  He could see she was trying to hide a smile. “I didn’t know you were such a manipulative smartass.”

  “Ah, ah! Language like that could cost you this interview.”

  “Interview?”

  “Yes, Ms…” Robert picked up a napkin, pretending to try and read it like a resume. “How do you pronounce this? Canary?”

  “You know it’s Carrey.”

  “Carrey, ah yes. Well, I need to get to know you before I can have you work in my establishment. I don’t hire just anyone, you know.”

  “No? Would you like to drug test me?”

  He stopped short for a moment, admiring her quickness. “Hmm…no. I don’t think that will be necessary.” His tone became more serious. “I just need to figure you out. You’re way more complex than most people.”

  “More complex than your fiancé?”

  She’d stunned him again in less than a minute. “I don’t have one of those.”

  “I could have sworn you did, just yesterday in fact.”

  “My dear Miss. Canary, I think you’re mixing me up with someone else.”

  He could see the hitch in her chest as she swallowed catching her breath. He was trying to do the same. “My apologies.”

  “Think nothing of it,” he said, resuming his job interview persona and stretching out his hand to help her up as he stood. “C’mon. Let’s get Sunshine taken care of and then we can get out of here.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “My favorite place. You’ll see.” He could tell she was hesitant. Robert had a lot of charm and at times like this it certainly came in handy. He smiled his most winning smile, the one that had enabled him to get pretty much any woman he’d ever wanted into bed. Chelle smirked and rolled her eyes, but took his hand anyway.

  “Alright, but I’m interviewing you too. You might not want to hire me, but then again, I might not want to work for you either.”

  “I’m sure by day’s end we’ll be able to come to some sort of conclusion Miss. Canary.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Robert tipped Sunshine generously, even though she less than deserved it, and then walked Chelle back to the car. Instinctively she checked for her backpack. Still there. Years of being homeless had made her jealous of what little possessions she had. Everything was hard fought. Everything was meaningful. She slid in and buckled her seatbelt, leaning back against the seat more comfortably this time. The open wounds were pretty much healed, and the searing pain she’d felt last night had calmed down to a dull throb. Eating helped the healing. Now if only she could get some sleep her body would be as right as rain. Maybe not cosmetically, but certainly physically.

  As they drove the snow began to fall, covering the windshield and making it necessary to turn the wipers on. It wasn’t a lot but it was just enough to give the road a goo
d dusting. “It’s a cold one this year,” he said. “Much colder than last year.”

  “It is,” she said. “Lots of people are suffering this year. Oil is expensive.”

  “How exactly…” the hesitation in his voice was obvious. He was finally working up the nerve to address it. “How exactly do you stay warm? You have heat in there?”

  Fuck it, she thought. He knows about the wings. How much worse could it be if I told him about my living situation? At least squatting is fairly normal. Human anyway. “Well, the house has a heater of course, but I don’t use it.”

  “You don’t?”

  “No. It’s not mine. I try not to use things that don’t belong to me if I can help it at all.”

  “Except for the house.”

  “The house is just an empty structure. It sits there whether anyone moves around in it or not. Nobody charges you by the day to be in a house. You get charged a mortgage payment if you’re there or if you’re someplace else. Things like oil and water though, you get charged for as much as you use.”

  “Makes sense I guess.”

  It really didn’t and she knew it. Years of doing it had given her a kind of flawed reasoning that she knew was wrong, but say something to yourself in your head enough and you start to believe it. Now, hearing it out loud she knew, as she had on some level always known, how ridiculous it was. She sighed. “Yeah.”

  After a time they pulled into a small parking lot. “Where are we?”

  “Wait for it,” he said smiling.

  She stayed silent. Wait for what? It occurred to her for the first time that Robert Cole was actually a complete stranger. For all she knew he could have lured her out here to kill her. She’d be a perfect victim. Nobody would ever look for her, largely because the world had forgotten she’d ever existed. He had a weird goofy grin on his face that said he was anticipating something big. Something he wanted to show her. Hopefully it wasn’t something crazy like an axe or a gun.

  Then she remembered he’d seen her bend a crowbar in half last night, and so trying something probably was not on the top of his list.

  A small rumble came from far off and Chelle felt the vibrations in her chest get heavier and heavier. The noise grew and swelled until it was on top of them, and then she saw what he’d been waiting for. A jumbo jet went right over their heads en route to land at the airport. The car windows rattled as they watched it swoop down in front of them, making its final descent.

  “Whoa!” she said.

  Robert smiled, obviously pleased he’d impressed her. “It’s neat huh? Better in the summer though. I like to come out here and watch. You can lay on the roof of the car and watch the lights. It’s a good way to forget.”

  From the outside Robert certainly didn’t seem like he had anything he needed to forget about. Chelle always assumed people like him had no worries at all. What was there to worry about if you had a roof over your head and food in the fridge? Everything else just seemed trivial and small. “Where do you think that plane came from?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. Was a big one though. Probably somewhere in the states.”

  “Wow. I’ve always wanted to get on a plane. Have you ever flown? What’s it like?”

  “You can’t tell me?”

  There it was. One of them had finally addressed it and it was him. She had given him the perfect opening without even realizing it and mentally smacked herself. She took a deep breath and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket so he wouldn’t see them shaking. “No, can’t tell you. They don’t make me fly.”

  “They just give you enough strength to bend a crowbar.” Neither one of them took their eyes off the windshield. Another plane passed and she waited until it did to respond.

  “Yeah. Pretty useless talent.”

  He chuckled. “I don’t know. I think it would be the best party trick anyone ever saw.”

  “Yeah. If I could keep from breaking everyone’s stuff before I did it. They have a mind of their own.”

  “They do? So they come and go when they want?”

  “Not exactly. They come out, like a defense. If I’m scared or feel threatened…or angry.”

  “What made them show themselves last night?”

  “I guess…I was angry.”

  “Because of Billie?”

  “Yes.”

  “And that night the two guys gave you a hard time? Is that why you hid in the storage room?”

  Chelle paused, remembering her humiliation and choked back the sadness at the memory. She tried to hide it but her voice quivered gently. “Yeah.”

  “Well, if it makes you feel any better I punched one of them in the face.”

  “Seriously? Why?”

  He locked eyes with her, his face hardening. “Because, nobody fucks with my staff. That’s the long and short of it. If there’s one thing my father taught me it’s that if you treat the people who work for you right, they’ll treat you right in return. I know it’s not common practice today, but it’s the best advice I ever got and it has never steered me wrong. If I have to treat people like dirt to make a profit then count me out.”

  “Your father sounds like he was quite a man.”

  Robert’s eyes took on a wistful dreamy quality as he turned back to the windshield. “That he was. I think you would have liked him.”

  “I think so too.”

  Another plane passed and they watched in silence. Robert then broke it once again. “Chelle, I know it’s none of my business since we don’t really know each other but how do you survive? It doesn’t seem like you’ve had a place to call home in a while. What will you do when the owners come back? It might still be winter outside. Where will you go?”

  “Don’t worry about me. Trust me, there’s always someone on vacation, or gone away for a weekend. There are even some vacant houses that are waiting to be rented or sold. As long as you keep an eye on the neighbours and get in and out before they see you, you’re good. I have lots of options.”

  He still looked worried. “You really have no idea why or how that started happening to you, do you?” She shook her head ‘no’. “You must have been scared out of your wits the first time it happened. What brought it on?”

  Chelle felt her body go cold at the memory. As interested as he seemed in the whole crazy situation she was positive he didn’t want to know that. People didn’t want to know that your father beat you. The teachers and councillors at school had solidified that belief each time she’d gone to them. It had always fallen on deaf ears. Nobody wanted to hear that shit. “I felt threatened.”

  “What happened?” He was looking at her now. Looking with fear. Not of her, but for her, even though the moment had so long ago passed. She opened her mouth to speak, sure she was going to let her secret out. The secret that wasn’t really a secret, but the one she kept anyway. He must have seen how upset she had become because all at once his face changed and he reached out, touching her gently on the shoulder. “Listen to me, asking questions I have no business knowing the answer to. I’m sorry, Chelle. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  Now she felt a little guilty that her reaction had made him feel so bad. “It’s ok, Robert,” she said, turning back to the windshield once more. “It was a long time ago.”

  “Chelle, I hope…” Robert was interrupted by the blast of his cell phone. It came in through the car speakers invading the quiet moments they’d been enjoying. Despite the discomfort of being forced to think about her father, the rest of their time in the car, watching the planes had been pleasant. Peaceful even.

  Robert disconnected the Bluetooth and answered the phone, bringing it up to his ear. “Hello? For how long? I’m on my way.”

  Whatever he had started to say before the phone went off was forgotten. “Everything ok?”

  Robert turned the engine over as quickly as he could and Chelle’s heart jumped in her throat. “That was the nursing home. I have to go see my mother.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ro
bert pulled into the parking lot of the nursing home barely missing another parked car in his haste. Hearing that his mother was so upset they couldn’t calm her down and that she was asking for him sent him into a tailspin. Paul was the main contact but they had failed to get hold of him, likely he was in surgery if that was the case. Robert didn’t need to be told twice. He sped all the way there, barely saying a word to Chelle who was looking confused and worried herself.

  He should have offered to drop her off somewhere before seeing his mother to take care of whatever was going on, but he was in such a state of panic it didn’t even occur to him. Now as he looked at his gas gauge he swore. “Shit. I’m sorry about this, Chelle. I’m almost out of gas and it’s freezing out here. I don’t know how long I’ll be, but I’m sure they have a place for you to wait. You’ll have to come in or you’ll freeze to death.”

  “It’s ok,” she said. “I just hope your mom is alright.”

  “I hope so too. I’ll try to take care of whatever it is quickly.”

  “It takes however long it takes. It’s your mom. Don’t hurry on my account.”

  The inside of Angel Manor was, on the surface at least, cheerful and bright. Large windows in the main area where the public came and went suggested a happy living environment. The rooms toward the back where his mother was being kept suggested anything but. To Robert it looked like a prison. Much less attention was put into this area with its old grey walls and yellowed floor tile. Greg had referred to it as a ‘great place.’ Robert huffed at the thought. Great my ass.

  Once he’d passed the outer waiting area he could hear his mother crying and when he rounded the corner what he saw broke his heart. She was standing facing the window, forehead pressed to the glass, big wet tears streaming down her face sobbing like a lost child. In his entire life he’d never seen her that way. The woman who’d kick a drunk out of Cole’s without the aid of any bouncer and kept all the financial books, most of which she’d committed to memory, didn’t seem to know where she was.