Eli's Town

by Amy Cross

  “When we were in your house,” I continue, “we saw... I mean, it was like you hadn't been there for years. There was dust everywhere, and blood in the bathtub.”

  “Blood?” He frowns for a moment, but the smile quickly returns. “Oh, of course! That was from when I cut myself shaving.”

  “In the bathtub?”

  “What can I say? I'm not the world's greatest shaver. Look, see here?” He turns his face to one side, allowing me to see several small cuts in the stubble around his chin. “Come on, there's no point standing around here when we have the whole of this lovely town at our disposal,” he continues. “Why don't the three of us go and get something to eat? And don't worry about the cost, it's all on me. After all, it's not every day that someone from the family comes to visit! Hell, I thought you'd all forgotten about me!”

  ***

  “Life's good,” Eli says a short while later, as we sit in the diner at one end of the town square. He takes a moment to suck a little more milkshake through a straw. “I know you were probably worried about me, but the truth is, I think I finally found my groove, you know?”

  “Your groove?”

  “My fit in this town. My place. Every man needs to find how he slots into the world around him, else he's gonna end up drifting through life. Hell, you remember what I was like before, don't you? All reserved and withdrawn, like I knew I was a freak.”

  “I wouldn't say you were a freak,” I reply cautiously.

  “Well, I would!” He laughs, before tapping the side of his head. “I wasn't right up here, you understand?”

  “And now you are?”

  “And now I am!”

  I watch as he tosses the straw aside and tilts his head back, pouring the last of the milkshake into his mouth. Even though I have absolutely no doubt that this is Eli, I still can't get over the fact that he seems to have changed so much. More, in fact, than I ever thought anyone could change. The last time I was in Tulepa, years ago as a little girl, Eli was almost a recluse. He didn't leave the house much, he didn't seem to have any friends, and he spoke so quietly, it wasn't easy to hear a word he said. Now, however, he's wearing a garish yellow shirt with a red bow-tie, and he's knocking back milkshakes as if there's no tomorrow. On top of that, everyone in town seems to know him; on the walk through town just now, he was constantly greeted by passersby, almost as if he was the most popular guy around. Even now, the waitress is already bringing another large milkshake to our table.

  “So,” Eli says after a moment, “do you -”

  He stops suddenly and burps, which seems to amuse him.

  “Do you want another?”

  He grins at me, and then at Tatty.

  “I'm good, thanks,” I tell him. “I haven't finished my first.”

  “I'm good too,” Tatty adds, glancing at me with a hint of concern in her eyes.

  “I can't get enough of these,” Eli continues, sliding the empty glass away as the waitress sets a fresh milkshake in front of him. “Something about the protein, I guess. They know me so well in this place, they know whenever they see me coming through the door, they need to make sure the milkshake machine is working properly. One time, it stopped doing its thing, and I swear there was damn near a panic in town.”

  I force a smile, even though I feel distinctly uncomfortable.

  “You don't like that I've changed?” he asks suddenly, with a hint of concern in his voice.

  “I... It's not that, I just -”

  “It was no good,” he adds, interrupting me. “The way things were before, I mean. I know you were young when you came before, Holly, but you must remember how miserable my life had become. I used to have to grit my teeth just to step out the front door, I thought everyone was looking at me and thinking about me being some kinda freak. And to be fair, they were!” He takes a sip of milkshake from his fresh glass. “I swear, I used to sweat so much whenever I came into town, and I used to hear people whispering behind my back. There's no need to try telling me I'm wrong, 'cause I know I'm not. They all thought old Eli was the town weirdo. It's a vicious circle. You start thinking you're a freak, then you start acting like one, and on it goes.” He glances over his shoulder, and several people in nearby booths wave at him. He pauses for a moment, before waving back at them and turning to me. “See?” he says with a proud grin. “Everything's changed.”

  “I'm just glad you're doing so well,” I tell him. “We were... Well, I was starting to worry about you when I couldn't track you down this morning.”

  “I can be a hard man to find,” he continues. “Always running around on crazy errands.”

  “We...” I glance at Tatty for a moment, before figuring that I might as well tell Eli the truth. “Actually, we kind of broke into your house to take a look around.”

  He pauses, before nodding slowly.

  “I'll pay for the window,” I continue. “I just had to check that... I mean...”

  “That my dead body wasn't in there?” he asks, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “Unloved and forgotten, rotting away with flies and maggots everywhere?”

  “I was worried.”

  “And I appreciate that,” he replies. “I wouldn't have been the first reclusive old man to fade away like that. Hell, I'm damn near seventy, and that's the kinda age a man can get forgotten if he doesn't have kids of his own. People do get forgotten, you know. Not everybody on this planet has the privilege of being remembered once they're older.” He pauses again. “To be honest, I'm touched and a little surprised that you cared enough to make the effort. Don't worry about the window, I can fix it myself. I might even leave it broken for a while, to remind myself.”

  Sitting back, I pause for a moment, genuinely struggling to work out how this outgoing, gregarious man can be the same man I remember from my childhood.

  “There's something I wanna...” He pauses, and for the first time he seems a little uncomfortable, before finally he turns to Tatty. “I don't mean to be rude, young lady, but would you mind if I speak to my niece alone? There's some sensitive family business to discuss, and I'd rather not have outsiders hear about it. You know how people gossip in a town like Tulepa, don't you?”

  She stares at him, before turning to me. “Sure,” she says cautiously. “I mean... Yeah, I guess, I could go...”

  “I'll be fine here,” I tell her. “Thanks for all your help, though.”

  As she gets to her feet, it's clear she doesn't want to leave, but at the same time I guess she understands that I might need to talk to Eli about a few delicate matters.

  “Remember what I told you,” I continue. “About the cramps and the bleeding? They're perfectly normal.”

  She nods, as if she's a little embarrassed. “See you around, maybe,” she mutters, taking a step back. “Thanks for everything. Maybe I'll catch up with you later, before you go.”

  “Definitely,” I tell her. “I'll come find you.” I wait as she heads to the door, and then I turn back to Eli. “That poor girl,” I continue, keeping my voice low as I take a sip of milkshake. “I can't believe no-one had talked to her about the things she was going through. I've got half a mind to report the local doctor for incompetence, I can't believe what he told her about her own body!”

  “Don't worry about it,” Eli replies dismissively, taking another sip from his glass. “People muddle through eventually.”

  “But -”

  “I know what you all think about me,” he continues, with a hint of grit in his voice now. “I know it's not much different to how people here in Tulepa used to think. I'm weird uncle Eli, I'm difficult uncle Eli, I'm the guy you took turns worrying about once a year. To be honest, when people stopped coming to check on me a while back, I was kind of relieved, but I also took it as a sign that I needed to change my life. I honestly didn't expect any of you to show up again, but now... Here you are.”

  “I thought Karen and Scott were coming each year,” I tell him. “Mom thought the same. If we'd known no-one was checking on you -”


  “Don't worry about it.”

  “We didn't forget about you.”

  “It's fine.”

  “No, it's not,” I continue, reaching across the table and putting my hands on his. “You're family. Seriously, Eli, I hope things can be better from now on. I hope we can come to visit more, and that maybe you'll even come to Thanksgiving or Christmas at Mom's a few times. I really think she'd like to see you again.”

  “Oh...” He seems a little awkward now. “I think I'm pretty much rooted in Tulepa these days. Leaving, even for a short vacation... I honestly don't know if I'd function anywhere else now. I like it here too much, and at my age even a short trip can be tiring. Don't let this happy demeanor fool you, Holly. Underneath it all, I've got all the same aches and pains you'd expect. If you're a doctor, I guess that means you're not blind to the hundreds of little horrors that come with an aging body.”

  “But are you really happy just sitting around in Tulepa?” I ask.

  “Not everyone's built for exploring the world,” he points out, finishing his latest milkshake and leaning back with a satisfied smile, as the waitress approaches with yet another for him. It's almost as if she spends half her time worrying about Eli's needs, and he never has to call for her attention; she comes whenever she's needed. “Some people are happy just finding a space for themselves in their hometown, and sticking there. I almost feel like Tulepa's my town now, like these are my people.” As the waitress heads away, he starts sipping from his new glass. “You guys don't have to worry about me anymore. Old Eli's got himself sorted now, and life is good.”

  “I can see that,” I reply, forcing a smile as I take a sip from my glass. It's great to find that Eli's doing so well, but at the same time, I can't shake the feeling that something around here still doesn't feel quite right.

  “I doubt you can see it,” he continues, “but Tulepa is the most wonderful town in the whole goddamn country. Honesty, life here is perfect. Everyone, and I mean everyone, gets looked after.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Tatty

  “There you are!”

  As soon as I step through the front door, I find Mom waiting for me, as if she's been loitering in the hallway all this time. I guess that's better than coming home to find her sitting blankly in the kitchen like a forgotten puppet.

  “Hey,” I reply with a faint smile, pushing the door shut. “I just came home to get a new battery pack for my camera.”

  “Is your new friend not with you?” she asks.

  “Holly? No, she found her uncle so she's talking to him.”

  “She found Eli? Well, that's nice. I guess now she can be on her way.”

  “I guess.” After hanging my coat on the hook, I head toward the stairs. Mom's sudden attentiveness is a little creepy, but I figure I shouldn't be ungrateful. “I'll be out most of the afternoon. Like I said, I just need to sort my camera out.”

  “Jordan Swinton dropped by to see you earlier,” she says suddenly.

  Stopping, I turn back to her as a shiver runs through my chest. “Why?”

  “He said something about... I didn't quite understand, but I think he said you owe him a date tonight?”

  “As if,” I reply, horrified by the idea.

  “He's a handsome young man,” she replies, with that sickly sweet smile that annoys me so much. “Well-mannered, too. Any girl would be so lucky to have a boyfriend like that.”

  “He's a creep,” I point out. “He's, like, five years older than me. He's a dirty old man, which is quite an achievement at his age.”

  “Sometimes a little experience is a nice quality in a boyfriend.”

  “Seriously?” Staring at her, I genuinely feel as if my dear mother might have finally lost her mind. “Jordan Swinton is, like, a complete deadbeat. Why are you actively encouraging me to hang out with him tonight? Shouldn't you be, like, grounding me and telling me I can't go anywhere near him?”

  “Oh, honey...” Smiling, she comes over to the bottom of the stairs and puts a hand on my shoulder in a totally unnatural manner that feels rehearsed. “You're getting old enough now for boys to start taking an interest. You're hitting that time of life when changes happen -”

  “Mom...”

  “You should embrace it,” she continues. “You're a very fetching young lady, Natalie Sutton, and if your flower is starting to open, it's your duty to turn toward the sun.”

  I stare at her, trying to work out if she really said that.

  “Live a little,” she adds with a grin. “Do what young ladies do.”

  “I don't want to have this conversation,” I tell her, turning away.

  “Humor me,” she replies, gripping my shoulder firmly. “Natalie, I really think you should go and hang out with Jordan tonight.”

  I turn back to her. “He wants me to go to Eli Denton's house.”

  “And is that a problem?”

  “It's like he's not even trying to disguise what he's after,” I continue. “It's like he's openly admitting he wants to get me alone. You do realize what his end plan would be, right? 'Cause it sure won't be sharing a bottle of soda and watching the stars.”

  She smiles. “You're not a child anymore, Natalie.”

  “Exactly, so I can see through guys like Jordan Swinton.”

  “What are you scared of?”

  Sighing, I realize that she's doubling down on the weirdness. “I'm not scared of anything,” I tell her, “I just want to spend my evening doing the same thing I do every evening. I want to go through all the photos I've taken during the day, I want to update my journal, and I want to read a little, maybe even do some writing. Believe it or, not I'm pretty busy.”

  “None of that sounds very exciting.”

  “It's what I want to do.”

  “At your age,” she continues, “you should be getting out and about, you should be making your father and I worried. Instead, we sit down here fretting about when you're going turn into a normal teenager.”

  “Well conversations like this,” I reply, carefully moving her hand away from my shoulder, “really won't help.” Turning, I make my way upstairs, but I can tell she's watching me. “Not everyone has to be an angry rebel,” I call back to her as I head to my room. “Some of us are just happy bumping along unnoticed. Don't worry, though. If I ever want to get a leather jacket and a brain piercing, I'll be sure to let you and Dad know. I guess stranger things have happened”

  Once I'm in my room, I set my camera down and start swapping out the batteries. I swear, even by Mom's usual standards, that conversation was extremely uncomfortable. It was almost like she's trying to push me to go hang out with Jordan and get involved in a bunch of inane, stereotypical teenage hijinks. I mean, does the woman not know me at all, has she not noticed the fact that I much prefer hanging out alone? The thought of drinking beer and smoking in the shadows somewhere is not enticing. Hearing footsteps nearby, and then the creak of the door swinging open, I sigh as I realize that she's come to bug me again.

  “Sorry,” I mutter, “I'm too busy to talk right now. I just need to change these batteries, and then I'm gonna slip into some fishnet stockings, climb down the drainpipe, and go smoke meth with a bunch of devil-worshipers. Is that okay with you?”

  I can hear her coming closer, but I guess she doesn't know how to respond. After slipping new batteries into the camera, I take the old ones and start setting them into the charger. The first three are no problem, but the fourth sticks slightly, so I have to twist it around and try forcing it in against the edge of my desk. This, actual work with an actual endgame in sight, is how I like spending my time.

  “I was also thinking of getting pregnant,” I continue. “I know I'm young, but what's the problem? I'll try to make sure I know who's the father, but I can't promise anything. You know what teenagers are like, right? We're all the same, we all just wanna go out and have mindless fun and -”

  I let out a gasp of pain as the battery pack slips in my hand and drops to the floor, in the proce
ss letting my hand slam into the desk's edge.

  “Damn it!” I hiss, crouching down and grabbing the batteries. “Mom, I really don't have time to be snarky with you now. It takes too much energy and, in case you hadn't realized, it's yet another cliched way of living that I really don't fancy.” I get to my feet and slip the batteries into place, and this time they all fit perfectly. “I'm sorry,” I add, picking up my camera and placing the strap around my neck, before turning to her, “I'm just really boring and -”

  I freeze as I see that Mom and Dad are both right behind me, and Dad's holding a black bag up, as if he's about to place it over my head.

  “Um...” I take a step back, bumping into my desk. “Are you guys okay?”

  “Yeah,” Dad says, with a broad smile that somehow doesn't quite seem to fit with the concern in his eyes. He's still holding the bag up. “We're great, honey. And soon you'll be great too. Everyone in Tulepa gets looked after, and now it's your turn.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Holly

  “I'm afraid she's out,” Tatty's mother replies with a smile. “You just missed her, she went bounding out the front door with her camera about five minutes ago. She did say, however, that if you dropped by this afternoon, I must tell you she said goodbye and good luck.”

  “Oh,” I reply, unable to hide a hint of disappointment that I won't get to see Tatty before I leave. There was so much I wanted to say to her, and I can't shake the feeling that she's floundering a little in Tulepa. Still, I really have to get going, and despite the weirdness here, I guess she's not actually in danger. “Well, that's fine,” I continue, “I just wanted to thank her again for all her help.”

  “I'll be sure to let her know,” she tells me. “Natalie can be such a friendly girl, she often goes out of her way to help strangers.”

  “She's a good kid,” I tell her, before pausing for a moment. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out a crumpled pack of sanitary towels. “This might seem really weird,” I continue cautiously, holding them out, “but could you give these to her? I feel like she could use them, and the local store apparently doesn't have any in stock.”