He heard him enter. He knew who it was. No one in Beginnings walks that heavy except for Frank but why was he being so quiet? Henry, realizing he was up to something, and really not in the mood for Frank-games, ignored him and kept cleaning.
A heavy sigh. A footstep toward Henry.
Henry paused, shook his head, and swept with his hands.
Another huff. Another sigh. A step of his boot.
What is he up to? Henry wondered and kept cleaning.
A very heavy huff, a ‘tsk’, a loud clearing of the throat, a sigh, and a stomp of his big foot.
“What, Frank, what? What!” Henry turned around and stood up. “Why are you being like that?”
“Like what?”
“That clicking-of-your-mouth thing you’re doing and breathing.”
“I have to breathe, Henry. We’re all human. I was just ...” Frank let out another sigh. “Watching you.”
“Why?”
“Feeling sorry for you.”
“You should, Frank. I’m very busy. Robbie is running around being the protector. I’m sore, really sore, Frank, because some big ape beat me up last night. And now I’m on my hands and knees cleaning up a floor.”
“Why don’t you get a broom?”
“Why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”
“To see if you want to come and meet the new Survivors. My dad is doing his orientation thing and we thought you’d like to be there.”
“I can’t, Frank. I’m busy.”
“Oh.” Frank nodded. “OK, I just thought that maybe you’d really want to be there.”
“Why? I’ll bite.”
“It’s just that ... well ... Nah.” Frank shook his head. “Never mind. My imagination. Go back and pick up your paper.” Frank began to back out.
“What?” Henry rushed to him. “Don’t do that shit. What?” Henry leaned closer to him and sniffed loudly. “And why do you smell so strongly of cigarette smoke?”
“Me? Fuckin Robbie was blowing in my face again. See ya.”
“Frank. Finish.”
“I did. I told you he was blowing the smoke in ...”
“Frank. About me visiting the Survivors.”
“Oh yeah.” Frank snapped his finger. “It’s just that the one is kind of attached to Ellen already. Like immediately.”
“So, they always attach themselves to Ellen.”
“Yeah, but this one is different. His name is uh ... Danny Boy. No, wait. Danny Joy? No, that’s not it. Oh yeah, yeah, Danny Hoi. That’s it. He’s Chinese like you.”
“I’m Japanese, Frank.”
“Whatever. Anyhow, this guy was different. He was really clean and together when he came in. And he, uh, he just has this talent for making things.”
“Like what?”
“Like a tracking device that uses the microchip to find the SUTs before they reach you. Something simple like that, no big deal.”
Henry’s mouth dropped open. “Oh he did not make something like that.”
“He did too. It went off before the SUT attack on Robbie, and they were able to divert the sneak attack.” Frank shrugged. “But you know that’s only one thing he makes. Probably can’t do much of anything else even though he says he has a degree in architecture and electrical engineering.”
“He does not.” Henry got defensive. “He’s lying. All Survivors lie at first to get in.”
“You know what? You’re probably right. We probably just believed him because he reminded us so much of you, tall, skinny, Chinese.”
“I’m Japanese.”
“Whatever. Hopefully Ellen will be able to see before it gets too late.”
“Too late for what?”
“See, she ... never mind.” Frank flung his hand. “You know me. I get jealous so easy. It’s probably just my imagination because she smelled the guy.”
“What do you mean, ‘smelled him’?”
“You know.” Frank leaned into Henry and sniffed. “Like that.”
“Did he stink?”
“Like cologne or something. At least that’s what Ellen said before, or was it after, yeah after, she told him he had great hair. No wait-wait-wait before.”
“You’re lying, Frank,” Henry spoke so irritated.
“I’m not, but then again, maybe it was my imagination, but after talking to you, I see I was probably wrong. But just in case, I’m heading to Containment to double check myself. That way, in case I’m not wrong, I can be there when they expose this Danny guy for who he really is. But I have to say that contraption he made looked real.”
“Anyone can make anything look real, Frank.”
“You’re right.” Frank backed up. “But then again, how do we know? We can’t tell that shit. We only know what he tells us. Ellen doesn’t know what he says he can do yet. She should be able to sift through the bullshit. That is if she can sift through the fact that she was impressed how clean he was. That’s what she told him when she went to Containment ... early.” Shrugging, Frank opened the door to Paper. “See ya.”
With his mouth tightly closed and his jaw going back and forth in a shifting debate, Henry looked at the mess on the floor, looked at his tool bag, and then the just closed door. After a few seconds, Henry grabbed his tool bag and ran from Paper. “Frank, wait up.”
Frank smiled.
<><><><>
“This room is our skills room.” Ellen walked with Danny into the large room. “Here’s where we do most of our testing and evaluating, our social skills classes and such, to prepare people for civilization again.”
“I see.” Danny walked with his hands behind his back. “Big room.”
“It needs to be because sometimes we have to divide up. Diane comes in and does speech therapy because a lot of people forget exactly how to speak. They sort of started their own language. Unfortunately there are only a few of us here that can understand them.”
“You’re one of them.”
“I work with them. I’d be pretty lost if I didn’t.”
“So you’re close to every new person that comes in here?”
“You can say that,” Ellen told him. “I’m the primary judge of when they get out of Containment and move into general population. We have to be careful because if we let someone out too soon, we have problems. We’ve had problems.”
“Have you ever gotten close to someone that they have thrown out?” Danny asked.
“Twice, but you can’t let it get to you. You have to keep thinking, ‘good of the community’. I distance myself quite a bit from the Survivors. That is, at first.”
“Oh.” Danny dropped his head some. “So this is just a job. You really don’t take special interest?”
“Of course I do. I love working with Survivors. Between you and me,” Ellen nudged him, “I find it rewarding and fun. But don’t spread that around. I have a reputation of being a bitch.”
“But wouldn’t you have to have that reputation in here?” Danny quizzed. “If you came off soft, it could be dangerous. I know what’s out there.”
“Very good.” Ellen smiled.
“So did you work with people in the world before the plague?”
“I was a nurse.”
“How come you don’t work at the clinic?”
“I do,” Ellen said, “but not much with patients. Usually just taking their blood. I have a pretty bad bedside manner. I tend to bitch when people whine. For example, we have woman named Trish who is expecting. Don’t get me wrong, Trish likes me, I think, but she specifically requested that I be nowhere near her when she is in labor or gives birth.”
“So you’ll kind of hang in the wings?”
“Oh hell no. I’m going to be in there every step of the way. Annoy that kid right out of her.”
Danny laughed. “This is very nice having a conversation with someone other than Bentley.”
“Bentley is a very bright man,” Ellen stated. “I picked something up about him, much common sense.” Ellen turned Danny from the skills
room. “Shall we go back to my office and finish?”
“Sure.” Danny followed. “So you pick things up about people?”
“Yes, Survivors especially. I’ve worked with them so much, I can tell all about them without them telling me a thing.”
“No way.”
“Yes way and I’m good at it too. I ought to be. I’ve been working with these people for years.”
“Tell me about me.” Danny stopped walking.
“Give me your hands.”
“A palm reader.”
“No.” Ellen giggled and took his hands in hers. “Now keep in mind, I didn’t read Joe’s stupid report on you, and you haven’t told me anything.” She ran her fingers over Danny’s hand and snickered at his dramatic shiver. She bent his fingers back and forth. “You lived civilized for a very long time post-plague. You work hard, very hard and take pride in everything you do because you take pride in yourself. Um ... the work you do is difficult and tedious but it’s not your typical laborer work. You work with your hands, quite a bit. Intricate work because the muscles in your fingers are firm. That tells me you use your fingers more than your hands. Someone that uses their fingers tend to have strong muscles in them. Someone who doesn’t has soft hands, calloused but soft.” She gave him back his hands. “How did I do?”
“Amazing.”
“Thank you.” Ellen smiled.
“You are totally wrong.”
“Shit. I’m never wrong.”
Danny laughed loudly. “Just kidding. You’re pretty much right on the nose. I work with electronics and fixing things.”
“Really?” Ellen held the door to her office open for him. “Henry will be glad to hear that. He runs Mechanics and he does so much on his own because he’s the only one who really knows how to fix the big things that break. Trust me, things break around here. You’ll like Henry. Everyone likes Henry.” Ellen motioned her hand to a chair for Danny then she sat down behind her desk. “Any questions so far?”
“Explain social skills classes. What exactly are they?”
“Oh gees. Um ... like I said, we teach Survivors how to be civilized again, from eating with a fork and using a toilet again to trusting people and giving them stressful situations to handle. Checking them under pressure. Trusting one another is a big problem with Survivors. I think we’ll use Bentley to help in a class. He’s a barber, right? I think we’ll make Bentley give some haircuts. Even though our Survivors do need it done, it will be good to see their reaction when some stranger is over them with a pair of scissors. Then again, we’ll have to bring Frank in just in case there is trouble.”
“Why Frank?” Danny asked.
“Frank runs Security. He is Security. Everyone’s afraid of Frank.”
“Frank? The big guy with the black eye? Everyone is afraid of him?”
“Oh sure. He’s the meanest, toughest, strongest man in Beginnings.”
“This is your ex-husband you’re praising here.”
“Oh sure, I always praise Frank. I’ve known him all my life. He’s my best friend.”
Danny looked curiously at her. “And people fear him? You’re kidding? He doesn’t look that tough.”
“Ask anyone. They’ll tell you. Watch out for Frank. Ask anyone.” At that second Robbie walked into Ellen’s office.
“Hey, El.” Robbie grinned. “Hey, Danny. My Dad will be here soon to talk. In fact, he’s on his way.”
“Thanks.” Danny looked up to him. “Hey, Robbie, is Frank the meanest, toughest, strongest man in Beginnings?”
“Nah.” Robbie waved his hand at him. “Frank’s a pansy.”
Ellen gasped loud. “I cannot believe you are talking about your brother like that. No, I believe it, but who was the one last night that couldn’t control Frank when he was beating up poor Henry? You.”
“Yeah well, who was the one dying here not long ago? Me.”
“I’ll give you that.” Ellen lifted her shoulders with a drop.
Danny was confused. “Frank was beating up Henry? I thought you said everyone likes Henry.”
“They do. Frank was being a jerk.”
“You said ‘poor Henry’.” Danny tilted his head. “You’re with Henry?”
“Well sort of, not really. We thought we were married but we weren’t, so around here, Henry is considered my primary relationship even though we’re just friends. Although we are planning a wedding, but if that happens remains to be seen.”
“Oh.” Danny nodded with agreement. “I see, so Frank was beating Henry out of jealousy?”
“No. Henry and Frank are best friends. It’s a long story. Like I said, Frank was being a jerk. I was pissed at him. I shot at him to break up the fight.”
“You shot at Frank?” Danny asked with shock.
“Yeah, but I hit my father instead.”
“You shot Joe?”
“Not seriously. I shot him in the ...” Ellen snickered and so did Robbie, “in the ass.”
“I see,” Danny said. “And here I thought he had hemorrhoids. So let me get this straight. You shot your father inadvertently in the rear-end when you were shooting at your ex-husband who was beating up your friend who is your primary relationship and may or may not be a husband one day.” He saw he was on track. “Why were they fighting?”
“Because of Dean,” Ellen stated.
“Who’s Dean?”
“My other ex-husband. Actually, he’s my first ex-husband. Frank is my second. I was with Dean last night.”
“OK.” Danny blinked several times. “If you were Dean, why weren’t Henry and Dean fighting?”
“Because Henry knew, he became my primary so I could be with Dean and have a say so about it, it’s called an understanding.”
“So if you’re allowed, why did Frank and Henry fight?”
“Because he wanted to have the understanding with Henry. He thought he was going to be with me, and he was mad that I was with Dean.”
“So why didn’t Frank beat up Dean?” Danny asked.
“He wanted to, but he opted to beat up Henry. Somehow Frank thought it was understood that he and Henry were going to have the understanding. Understand?”
Danny tossed his hands in the air. “It doesn’t happen much to me, but I’m lost.”
Ellen grinned at him and folded her hands on her desk. “Then welcome to Beginnings.”
<><><><>
“Frank! You’re an asshole. Will you shut up?” Henry requested loudly as they entered into the entrance office of Containment.
“Just curious, Henry.”
“I’m not listening to you.” Henry covered his ears and motioned his head to Dan to buzz them in.
“But what if she does that, Henry?” Frank talked to fast-walking Henry who still held his hands on the side of his head. “What if this guy fixes things, invents things, and Ellen gets confused and thinks he’s you. You guys do look alike.”
“I can’t believe you’re saying that. God, you are such a racist!” Henry peeked in the sleeping quarters then in the dining room.
“I thought you weren’t listening,” said Frank, agitated.
Henry stopped walking. “How can we even remotely look alike? We won’t, especially if he’s Chinese. I’m Japanese.” He moved to Ellen’s office and looked in there.
“Henry, I’m Caucasian. And it is a well-known fact that us Caucasians are racially ill-informed.”
“Frank, you’re just intellectually ill-informed.”
“Hey ... George Washington,” Frank called out to Henry as he approached the skills room.
With a curled up face, Henry spun to him. “What? What did you call me?”
“George Washington.”
“Now why on earth would you call me George Washington?”
“Because ... you’re history, pal.”
“Oh I am not.” Henry faced the skills room. “You’re such an ...” He stopped cold in the archway. Immediately he saw Joe and Robbie sitting at a table with the two new guys. But that w
asn’t what made Henry stop from going in. Ellen was. She sat next to one, very next to one, and she smiled brightly.
Frank walked up to behind Henry, leaning in toward his ear. “What were you going to say I was, George?” With a nudge to Henry’s back, Frank bodily moved Henry inside while motioning his head in toward the group.
“Henry!” Ellen called out his name the moment she saw him. She stood up. “I’m glad you’re here.” She ran over to him. “Come here, Henry, you have to meet the two new men.” She grabbed his hand and led him to the table.
Henry walked slowly and he grew even more annoyed at Frank who trailed so closely behind him.
Ellen pointed. “This is Bentley. He’s a barber.”
As Henry extended his hand he felt the nudge of Frank to his arm. “Ow, Frank ... Nice to meet you.”
Frank nudged him again. “He’s a barber, Henry. Maybe you can get him to cut off some of that long fuckin hair.”
Reaching back, Ellen smacked Frank. “Leave his hair alone, Frank. Some men look good with hair. And this, Henry, this is Danny Hoi.”
“Henry.” Danny stood up shaking Henry’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you. All good.”
“Thanks.” Henry retracted his hand.
“I hear we have a lot in common. I have to say I was shocked when you walked in the room and Ellen called your name. Somehow with the way she’s been talking about you, I thought you’d look more like Tom Bosley. You know, the dad from Happy Days.”
Henry hurried and looked at Ellen. “What did you tell him?”
Ellen giggled. “Danny’s teasing. He teases, Henry.”
Henry grabbed hold of the back of his arm when he felt the nudge to it again. “Ow, Frank, knock it off. Don’t you think you’ve bruised my poor body enough?”
Seeing the annoyance of Henry’s face, Joe knew that Frank had been working on him. But he also knew Frank was far from subtle about it, so Joe took over. “Danny, Henry here is on Council as well, next in line for the leadership position. Anyhow, Henry, you’ll be happy to know that it looks like Mechanics is finally gonna get that steady person you need.”
“Really.” Henry kept his views on Danny, especially when he watched Ellen sit back down next to him.
The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series Page 295
