How It Rolls

by Lila Felix

  Owen spoke up first. “Falcon, you’re gonna keep an eye on Nellie, right?”

  That fired Nellie up fast. “Owen, I’m having a baby, I’m not a baby, jeez.”

  He turned to her and after only a few seconds of whispering in her ear, her entire demeanor relaxed and she smiled up at him as he caressed her cheek. I guessed that was the end of that argument. Owen gave Falcon a look across the table and Falcon nodded slightly, no one else probably noticed it. And just to show him that I did, I reached under the table and squeezed his thigh. I tried to pull my hand back but I wasn’t quick enough. Falcon reached down and put my hand back where it was. I cut my eyes sideways at him as he tried to suppress a smile.

  We finished our meal and made our way back home. We both showered and I sat on the couch while he studied next to me. He took a deep breath and exhaled it. And then a few minutes later he did it again. I turned off the TV and turned to him.

  “Ok, spill it. What’s wrong?”

  He smiled at me and slammed his books closed and put them on the table beside him.

  “I love my family. I’m just gonna put that out there before I start.”

  “Of course you do, Falcon. You’re preachin’ to the choir.”

  “Ok, so I just feel the pressure sometimes to be this upstanding guy all the time. To be the one who takes care of things. The one who handles situations. The one who cleans up messes and the one who is left in charge of protecting. I know I’m responsible by most people my age’s standards but that doesn’t mean that it’s the only thing I want to do.”

  So there it was. Yes, he loved his family but they assumed and expected him to take on these roles. It was dragging him down.

  “What do you want to do? Just say whatever is on your mind.”

  He rolled his eyes at me. I would have to persuade him a little.

  “Ok, for every thing you confess, you get to hear a confession from me.”

  “Now we’re talkin’.”

  “Ok, so talk.”

  “I haven’t paid myself a salary from the restaurant or the bookstore in two years.”

  “You what? You mean you’re working for free? How do you afford to live?”

  “Oh, no, those were not the rules, Poppy. I confess, you confess. No questions.”

  Well, just aggravate the piss out of me why don’t you?

  “I first started skating when I was thirteen because some kid at school called me a fat lard. No comments, your turn.”

  “When you said you couldn’t see me anymore I came home and cut off my Mohawk.”

  I gasped and then slapped my hand over my mouth.

  “I was wondering what happened. Ok, let me see. At my last foster home I had to sleep on a blow up mattress in the laundry room.”

  You could practically see his blood boiling at that one.

  “I had planned to take you to Avery Island after my parents’ wedding thing. But now I have to stay here and keep an eye on Nellie while Maddox takes a road trip with his friends.”

  “I’ve never been to Avery Island,” I cooed at him. I had no idea—none.

  “I wanted to surprise you.”

  “Not this weekend, but next weekend, I have no team dinner, no bout, and I’m off work on Sunday. I can ask Nellie if I can have Saturday off too. But I don’t know if I’ve been there long enough for that to be ok.”

  He smiled the biggest, broadest smile I’d ever seen and pulled me into his lap. Again, I had gotten past his walls and got to the real Falcon. The Falcon, I realized, that not very many people took the time to see.

  “I will make sure you have Saturday off. I have to call tomorrow and make reservations.”

  “You were really upset. I wish they could see this Falcon.”

  His hands on my hips dragged me closer. “And which one would that be?”

  I looked him directly in the eyes because the emotion which had brewed in me for weeks was about to verbalize itself.

  “This Falcon. The one who smiles like I’ve just rocked his world. The one who plans the most amazing dates. The one who buys me skates. Don’t get me wrong, I dig solemn Falcon, I do. But I love that no one but me gets to see this part of you. It’s like a secret you save just for me. I love how you keep those things for me.”

  “I love you so much,” He leaned forward and put his forehead on my chest like loving me wore him out.

  I nearly choked as my next words came out, “I love you Falcon.” He sucked in a swift breath and looked back in my eyes.

  “I’ve got an idea.” I said, trying to take the spotlight off of myself.

  “What?” He could barely speak through the vainglorious grin on his face.

  “I think you’re great at taking care of everyone you love. That’s why they rely on you. So here’s the deal. Take care of everyone. Love them the best way you know how. And…” He looked at me, exasperated, it seemed like I was fraternizing with the other team.

  “And,” he asked.

  “And I will take care of you.”

  He threaded his fingers through my hair, “How about we take care of each other?”

  All I could do was nod.

  He leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes. He pulled me back with him and I laid my head on his shirtless chest. We stayed like that for at least a half an hour. I rose and fell with his breaths until I started to drift off.

  “Come on, let’s go to bed.” He said but his arms told another story as they crushed me tighter to him. He hefted both of us up and carried me the few steps to bed. We fell asleep, tangled in each other.

  The next morning I woke to the theme song of Jem. There’s only one person who would do that—Nellie.

  “Nellie, I swear if someone hasn’t died, you will rue the day you called me this damn early.”

  “I had a dream about your derby name. I’m changing it.”

  “Can this wait?”I closed my eyes hoping it would make her go away.

  “No! You’re dying your hair teal and you’re the Teela to Falcon’s He-Man. So—you’ll be Serial Keela, like Killer, but it’s a play on Teela.”

  “Ok, I’m Serial Keela, I get it. Can I go back to sleep now?”

  “Ugh, yes. Tell Falcon hello for me,” the phone call ended by me hanging up on her giggles.

  He groaned beside me. “If she wasn’t pregnant I’d go over there and flick her in the forehead for calling this early.”

  “Oh babe, you’re so tough. You might go to jail for flicking her in the forehead.”

  He flew at me and I squealed as he suddenly crouched above me.

  “You did not just insult the tough, rugged man that is Falcon, did you?” That just sent me into another fit of giggles.

  “Ugh,” He rolled back over onto his back and crossed his arms. I snuggled into his side and fell back asleep. It was too early for this crap.

  I woke up a few hours later to an empty apartment. I got dressed and got ready for work. I moved to pick up my derby bag and heard a clang on the floor. I saw a key ring with two keys on it and a note.

  It’s about time you had a set of keys. One’s for the door. One’s for the mailbox. Love you.

  I picked up my phone on my way out and called him. How could I not?

  “Hey, I’m walking into class.” He said it in a whisper. In my rush I’d forgotten to look at the time.

  “Sorry, call me later.” He hung up.

  I made it into work and I went into Nellie’s office to try and get time off. I knew I hadn’t been here long and there was a good chance she would say no. I walked in and she sat at her desk, talking on the phone. She smiled and motioned for me to come in. I sat down and listened as she made what sounded like a doctor’s appointment change since Owen would be out of town.

  She hung up the phone and turned to me. “What’s up?”

  I took a deep breath and answered, “I know I haven’t been here very long but I was wondering if I could have next weekend off, the weekend when we don’t have a bout.” I cringed as
I asked her.

  She squinted her eyes at me, “Of course, no problem. Amber was just asking me for more hours. She can take your shift since she was supposed to be off that day.”

  “Great, thank you.” I moved to get up and she scoffed.

  “Not so fast sister. You’re seriously not telling me why.”

  “Um, I have plans?” I knew it would aggravate the piss out of her but I couldn’t help myself.

  She cocked her eyebrow at me, “That’s fine. I’ll ask Falcon. One day you’ll learn to just tell me.”

  “Ok, ask him, Coach,” I challenged her.

  About four in the afternoon, as I finished packing up shipments, I heard his voice, talking to Nellie.

  “I’m not telling you.” His laugh could be heard through his voice.

  “I’m your best friend Falcon, tell me now. That totally falls under best friend knowledge.”

  “I’ll tell you when we come back, ok? We just wanna get away without everyone knowing where we are.”

  “Ugh, fine.” I could tell there was a small tinge of hurt in her voice.

  He came into the inventory room the epitome of every edgy woman’s fantasy and leaned his shoulder against one of the bookshelves. He had an envelope in his hand and held it out to me.

  I took it from him as I told him, “You could’ve told her. I think we hurt her feelings.”

  He shrugged and looked in the direction of her office, “I just want to go somewhere with you where no one can call me and ask me about business stuff or anything. I just want you, alone.”

  “It will be great. What the heck is this letter?”

  I opened it and had to read it three times through before it sunk in. Falcon had busied himself with carrying boxes to the front. He came back and must’ve seen something on my face.

  “What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”

  I shook the letter at him, wordlessly begging him to make some sense of it. He read it and read it again.

  “So this lawyer says you have unclaimed property in your name?”

  “What the hell does that mean? Is it a chair, or a goat or what?”

  “I guess you need to call him and make an appointment.” I reached out and grabbed his phone out of his pocket. Mine was in my purse. I leaned into him to get the number off of the letter and called it. They told me they had an appointment the next morning at ten. My luck it was an ant farm or a collection of mollusks.

  “Ok, tomorrow at ten. He asked me to bring my ID and my birth certificate.”

  “You have your birth certificate?” Falcon asked.

  “Yeah, I do. I wonder what it is.”

  He shrugged, “I guess you’ll find out tomorrow. Are you hungry? You have about an hour and a half until practice.”

  My hands flew to my hips in protest. “Oh, first we’re taking days off and now you’re sneaking me out early. Just because I’m your girlfriend, shameful.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll go eat by myself. Just so you know, I’m going to get a loaded burger. You know, the ones with cheese and bacon inside them? But you’re gonna be here, starving, without me, have fun.” He said it all with such a satisfied smirk on his face.

  “Ok, ok, let’s go.”

  We passed by Nellie’s office and out of nowhere he grabbed me, fixing me under his arm like a football and began his charade.

  “Nellie, there’s a starved derby girl under my arm and I must take her to eat burgers before she faints and is unable to attend practice. End of story.”

  Nellie laughed, apparently over the earlier episode, and said, “If you’re gonna take her, you have to take me too. I’ve got a derby girl in my belly to feed.”

  “What if it’s a boy? With Owen’s temper and your blue hair?”

  I chimed in, intrigued by the conversation. “He’s gonna be a zebra.”

  Nellie grabbed her stomach and made a disgusted face, “Gross! No child of mine will be a ref—ever. Now let’s go.”

  We piled into Falcon’s truck and Owen met us at the restaurant. We talked and laughed while we ate burgers stuffed with bacon, cheese, and everything in between. Owen and Falcon took off together in Owen’s Bronco and Falcon handed me the keys to his truck to take Nellie and I back to the bookstore. Practice was extra grueling. Nellie was making us all learn how to do jumps and though I was pretty decent at most skills, I sucked at jumping. It’s like I got halfway in the air and then freaked out. By the time practice was done everything hurt. And I knew that I hit my jaw on the track more than once in the same place. I was sure it was already bruised.

  “Oh shit, I’m turning off my phone tonight.”

  “Why?” I churned my jaw back and forth.

  “Because your face is busted up.” She touched my jaw line and I winced.

  “Youch, Nellie, easy.”

  “Get some ice on that.” She said and turned her attention to the other teammates.

  I decided to sleep in my car that night. I didn’t want to deal with Falcon freaking out about my face and I kinda just needed some alone time to think and wrack my nerves over that letter I received earlier in the day. It was probably nothing. I was just being silly. I called Falcon to tell him that I was staying at my place. He sounded less than pleased. That part was certain. I still needed ice so I went to a gas station, bought a cup of ice, piled it inside of a towel and put it on my face. Then I took a couple of pain relievers. A text came through on my phone.

  F: Nellie called and apologized for your face. What does that mean?

  R: Um…

  F: Come home—please.

  I decided that even after my decision to spend some time alone—I didn’t want to be alone. Being alone with my headphones was the way I’d always had to deal with life. But I didn’t have to do that anymore. I hesitated before opening the door. I got to use my key for the first time and when I entered he sat on the couch. I dropped my bags on the floor.

  “I’m cool; just get over here so I can check you out.” I walked over to the couch and sat beside him.

  “It’s fine. I just worked my ass off today. When you work hard in skates, sometimes your face cashes the paycheck. That’s all.”

  He turned to me and tried to maintain a straight face as he lightly ran the pads of his fingertips over my jaw. He looked me in the eyes as he reached for my arms, asking permission to continue the inspection. I nodded and he inspected my arms, my legs, my back, my stomach, until he was satisfied.

  “Let me run you a hot bath. It will relax your muscles. Did you take something already?”

  “Yeah, I did. Thank you.” He got up and started the water in the bathtub. Even the sound of it made me begin to relax. I walked into the steamy bathroom and he leaned against the counter.

  “You look more beat up about it than I do.” I made light of his intensity.

  He ran a hand over his growing Mohawk and blew out a breath. “Yeah, I always thought Owen was overreacting but this shit is no joke.”

  I laughed and scooted him out of the bathroom. “Yeah, but they’re married, it’s different.” And as I closed the door, through the splice I could see a very hurt Falcon on the other side.

  I laid in the tub, the water had gone lukewarm a long time ago. So many things ran through my head. What was the deal with this unclaimed property thing? My luck? There was some unclaimed debt and they wanted me to pay it. And of course, there was Falcon. I loved him, I did, and finally I had mustered up the courage to tell him. And I would be lying if I said that marrying him hadn’t crossed my mind. But he was a guy. Guys didn’t get to that point this fast, did they? Then again, Falcon wasn’t your typical guy. But there was no denying that look of hurt on his face when I basically claimed that Owen and Nellie were different from us because they were married.

  I finally got up the strength to get out of the tub since it was now cold and I resembled dried fruit. I got dressed, combed my hair out and brushed my teeth. I realized that there was no noise on the other side of the door. No TV, no radio, no
techo 80’s music, nothing.

  I walked out and he sat on the edge of the bed, doubled over, his hands made into tight fists on either side of his head. He popped up to a sitting position as soon as he knew I entered the room and reached out his hand to me.

  I took it and he never let go, moving to my usual spot. He pulled me onto the bed, lying against him.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked him as he snaked his arms around me, squeezing me even tighter.

  “I just love you, and I don’t want you hurt,” He took a deep breath and when he exhaled, the warmth beat down on my neck making me shiver. “And even if you’re not my wife, it doesn’t make me worry any less.”

  I’m sure he said something really profound, but for the life of me, all I could hear was ‘my wife.’

  Chapter 25

  Reed

  There’s just something about lawyers’ offices that give me the heebs. And I think they all shop at the same Law ‘R’ Us furniture store. It only sells cherry wood cabinets and brown leather chairs with metal rivets. Maybe they have a leather trashcan so I can puke.

  The placard on his desk said Allen Boudreaux, Attorney at Law, and I knew that I was getting a one way ticket to Hell for saying this, but he looked exactly like that mumbling guy on King of the Hill. I swear; if he says daggone something, I’m out.

  He sat down with a file and had his assistant make copies of my driver’s license and birth certificate. He studied them for a minute like they were gonna tell him a story. He smiled back at me and he had something green along his gumline—gross.

  “Ms. Wolfe,” he began, “We were informed that there is unclaimed property in your name. Specifically, a house and some kind of reward money in the amount of ten thousand dollars. We have researched and investigated and we can find no other claimant. So,” He handed me an envelope with keys and a check, “Here are your keys to your home, the cashier’s check is in there too. I just need you to sign these papers saying that you have the keys and the check and are taking possession of the property.”

  “Wait, wait, wait, wait, how did you find me?” And why don’t you brush your teeth?

  “We have been looking for you for quite some time but recently one of my P.I.s found that you gained employment here in town. We tracked the records and sent the letter to the address listed on your tax forms.”