Waiting On the Rain

by Caudia Connor

  It was winter, but she’d known the sun was out, felt the warmth on her face as she walked beside Blake through the park. She’d been happy to be out with him, her hand on his arm. They used to eat lunch in a park near the UN almost every day. Lately he’d started taking lunch with his coworkers in an adjoining building.

  “Oh, my gosh, you should see the flowers. There’s already so many more than there were just last week. Yellow and pink and red.”

  She didn’t know yellow. Or red or pink, but she nodded, smiled and let him talk and narrate as he’d done nonstop since the day he opened his new eyes to a whole new world. Like her, Blake had been blind since birth and the joy in his voice was palpable. She couldn’t imagine all he was seeing for the first time.

  His sight had been blurry at first and a harder, slower recovery than either of them had expected, but it had worked. His employer had given him the time off for the surgery, then more for recovery. And she’d had enough vacation time to take off two weeks to be with him full time.

  “It’s not at all like I pictured. Just the people. There’s so many more, so close together, but not touching.

  They paused at a stone railing and Blake went on. “Oh, Ava! You should see these kids. The boy on the end there,” he pointed with their joined hands. “He’s got the rhythm with his arms but his feet are all over the place.” He laughed, and as they stood there, laughed again.

  Ava smiled. “What’s he doing now?”

  “He’s—” He broke off with a bark of laughter.

  “Is that the cutest thing you ever saw?” A female voice on Blake’s other side asked.

  “It really is. Look at the one in the red jacket?”

  The two of them laughed.

  Ava smiled. “Now what’s he doing?”

  “Oh, he tried to do a spin and landed on his ass—and, there he goes again.”

  Ava stared at nothing, tried to picture. Tried to see the humor.

  Blake chatted it up with the other viewer and Ava gradually stopped asking questions and listened to their byplay. It was enough to hear his enjoyment. To be outside with the chilly spring air biting at her nose and the sun warming her back.

  She hadn’t thought she’d find love. Maybe because she was blind, or maybe just because. Then, in her late twenties, she had. She and Blake had so many shared experiences, growing up blind. And they were the same in a lot of ways, in that one major way. And then they weren’t.

  She didn’t have that in common with Luke, and yet she felt…happy when she was with him. Happier than she’d been in so long. Maybe that’s why he scared her so much. Luke took the time to explain things in a way Blake hadn’t been able to. And then he hadn’t wanted to.

  The car she was riding in came to a hard stop, bringing her back to the present. “Are we there?”

  “No.”

  Bob was a driver of few words.

  “Almost there?”

  “No.” The car started moving again and she drew her bag closer to her chest. She pulled up the guide on her phone. Put the direction on speaker.

  “We are going there,” Bob spat, then mumbled something else under his voice.

  “Okay. Thank you.” Dread was creeping in.

  “Rerouting,” her phone said in a cheerful computer voice.

  “I’m going to the YMCA,” she told Bob in a pleasant voice. The impulse to be pleasant and courteous to a person driving you was instinctual. They did, after all, hold all the power. They had your life in their hands, literally.

  She loosened the grip she had on her phone and tried again to refresh the maps app. Even if it did refresh and read out her current location, she wouldn’t know where that was. The town had changed a lot in twenty years. There was no way to know if she was where she was supposed to be.

  “Can you tell me what street this is?”

  He answered her, said something she assumed was a street name but she didn’t catch it. Didn’t understand him or it wasn’t familiar. Nothing was familiar. She missed the constancy of the New York subway system where she could count stops and hear the announcements.

  How long had she been in this car? How long was she going to stay in this car? Without audible navigation, he could take her anywhere. He could be driving her out of town and she wasn’t familiar enough with the area to know.

  And she thought she could move to a foreign country? But in the city, even Italy, she’d be on foot, there would be landmarks. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so lost in New York. “Excuse me, I’d like to get out.”

  “We’re not there.” The car didn’t slow.

  “That’s okay. I want to get out here.” Were they speeding up? “Please. Excuse me,” she said again, more forcefully. “I want to get out here.”

  “I can not stop here.”

  Why? She wanted to scream. She couldn’t see why he couldn’t stop. She was at his mercy and she didn’t trust him. Maybe an overreaction, but she had a bad feeling and she believed in trusting her instincts. She swiped her finger over her phone, ready to call for help. Her hands were shaking. What would Bob do if he heard her telling Siri to call the police? And what would she tell them?

  “Stop and let me out right now,” she said more forcefully, unbuckling her seatbelt. “I want you to stop. Right here. Just stop right here.”

  “Okay, lady. Okay. Fine.” The car made a tight, fast turn, slamming her into the door. She was just about to make the call when the car stopped short, throwing her forward. She already had her bag and phone and didn’t hesitate. They could be in the middle of a busy road for all she knew, but at this point she’d take her chances.

  The relief she felt standing on solid ground was short lived. She had no idea where she was. She smelled the exhaust from the car and heard the Uber drive off, leaving her in the quiet unknown.

  Using her cane, she continued with a slow, shuffling step, moving away from where she’d just exited the car. After two small steps she paused, listened, moved her cane in wide arcs out in front of her and felt nothing. A new panic bubbled up and she questioned those instincts she’d followed.

  She took another two steps, feeling with her cane and finally hit something. Cautiously stepping forward, she reached a step up, and checking with her cane didn’t feel another.

  She counted ten steps straight ahead before she reached a wall, assuring herself she hadn’t been let out on a narrow median. She took a calming breath, then turning, she walked in one direction, feeling the drop off on her left, the wall continuing on her right. She counted twenty steps, then thirty and still didn’t come to a door of any kind.

  The sun was out, she could feel its warmth on her face, the heat coming off the brick wall under her hand, but she had no idea how long she might have to walk to reach a place of business. She pulled out her phone and tried again for location services. Nothing. Tried again and got an audio response.

  “This app is not responding.”

  Okay. She should call someone. Not her parents, not her brother.

  She asked her phone for the time and tried to estimate. If she was home, she would just walk to the subway. If she was home in New York chances are the app would work. There would be a coffee shop, a souvenir shop, bistro, restaurant, something, every ten feet. And people. There were always other people.

  Maybe her sister-in-law. She would keep a secret if she asked her to. “Siri, call Connie.”

  “Calling Connie.”

  She listened to three rings before it went to voice mail.

  “Hey, Connie. It’s Ava. Give me a call when you can. Thanks.” She ended the call and went to the next person she could think of. “Siri, call Hannah.”

  Her pulse grew faster with every unanswered ring. Her next option was to call the police but she could just imagine her mother’s reaction to her getting dropped off at home in a police cruiser.

  “Hey, pretty lady? Looks like you need some assistance.”

  “No. I’m fine.” Her right hand tightened on the handle of her c
ane as she hung up and tried Connie again.

  It seemed unnaturally quiet except for the footsteps getting closer. Where were all the people? The cars? The cabs?

  “Hey, baby.” Closer this time. There was more talk, she couldn’t make out what they were saying, but heard the low rumble of laughter that followed. The feet, multiple feet, approached. And she was a sitting duck.

  21

  Luke walked into the barn and was nearly run over by his nephew, Mitchell. “Whoa, little guy.” He caught him around the waist which made him squeal and kick.

  He was just about to put him down when he saw Stephen jogging down the barn aisle from the office. Luke opened his mouth to say sorry. He didn’t think he’d hurt him but—

  “Damn, that kid’s fast. Thanks, man. I thought I’d closed that door all the way.”

  Luke watched Stephen take his son, still kicking up a fuss, and toss him over his shoulder.

  “Little troublemaker is determined to get into one of these stalls. And to be honest I think he’s going for the horse shit, not the horse.”

  “Well.” He was still staring at his brother-in-law, not seeming the least bothered by his son’s crying. His sister’s chocolate lab bounded in from somewhere and came to his side. He gave the dog’s head a rub.

  “Hey, I was just talking Hannah into running out for some lunch with me and this hellion. Want to come? Or I could bring you something.”

  “No, thanks. I can hold things down here.”

  “Thanks, man. I’ll just go whisk my wife away for a bit. We’ll be back in an hour.”

  Luke moved on down the aisle, checking the swing of each lower stall door. He’d noticed one was off kilter but couldn’t remember which. Hannah and Stephen hadn’t been gone ten minutes before the office phone was ringing. Figuring he wouldn’t know the answer to anyone’s inquiry, he let it go to voicemail.

  When the ringing started up again and didn’t stop, he stepped in, picked up the receiver from the wall. “Freedom Farm.”

  Ava closed her eyes in relief. “Hi, could I please speak to Hannah?”

  “She’s not here. I can take a message, but… Wait. Ava?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hey. It’s Luke. What’s up?”

  “Nothing I… I just needed Hannah. I um…”

  “Ava, what’s going on?”

  “I’m fine, I just… I’m in kind of in a bind right now. I was wondering if…”

  If what? If Hannah could come pick her up? She didn’t even know where she was.

  “Ava what’s wrong?”

  Luke’s voice had gone hard, demanding. And right about now she wanted someone hard. Someone take charge. It didn’t make her feel good about herself, but feeling capable wasn’t really a priority at the moment. “I don’t know where I am. I can open Maps but… I don’t know. I don’t know what it’s saying. I don’t know this street.”

  “Okay. Can you do a screen shot? And send it to me?”

  “I think so.” Luke repeated his cell number three times and she put it in. Then she went through the steps, going back to Maps, taking a screen shot.

  Luke was saying something else but she didn’t hear. Her attention was focused on another voice to her right. A male voice. Talking to her?

  “Hey!”

  The voice came again, closer this time, followed by male laughter.

  “Is there somewhere you can go and wait?” Luke asked. “A shop or anything?”

  “I don’t know.” Her voice was shaking and now that she was talking to someone the tears were coming. “I—”

  “Ava who’s that? Who are you talking to?”

  Her hands were shaking so badly it took a few tries to get the screen shot.

  She heard what she thought was a car door slam through on Luke’s end and a car start. He was coming. She took another deep breath. “Okay. I think I got it. I’ll have to hang up to send you the picture.”

  “Okay. Send it and I’ll call you right back from my cell.”

  The call ended and she felt immediately alone. She managed to get the text sent.

  “Hello, madame.” The voice drawled out, dripping in fake courtesy. “Could I be of assistance?”

  “No, thank you.” She tried to estimate how far away Luke was. She thought she’d been in the Uber somewhere between fifteen and twenty minutes. But she didn’t know if she’d been getting closer to Luke or farther away.

  “No? You look like you could use some help?”

  “No. I don’t.” They knew she was blind. The cane was a dead giveaway and useless as a weapon. She looked in the direction of the voice but it wasn’t close enough for her to gage the height. And he’d said, I, not we, even though she could feel there were at least two, maybe three. And one was moving slowly around to her other side. A line of sweat rolled down her back.

  It was hard to read intentions when you couldn’t see a person’s eyes, couldn’t read their body language. But her instincts were screaming. Their hostile intentions dripping from the fake concern in their voice layered over their obvious glee at finding an easy target.

  She couldn’t run. Didn’t know if there were any other people around to call to. And if they were hunters, if she were the prey, looking weak, looking vulnerable, would only draw them in.

  Why hadn’t she let someone drive her? Stupid. She knew better. Knew this town didn’t have the same resources as the city. Maybe her parents were right to worry, maybe—

  Her phone rang in her hand but before she could answer it, it was knocked away. She instantly grabbed her wrist where a hot sweaty hand had touched her.

  “Looks like you’ve got a call. Why don’t you let me answer it for you?”

  It kept ringing. He wasn’t going to answer it.

  “This is a nice phone, don’t you think?”

  She followed the sound of the ringing as it flew from her left to her right.

  “Sure is a nice phone.”

  “Give me my phone,” she said in her most assertive voice. Don’t let them think you’re afraid. Keep the appearance that you’re in control. “That’s my boyfriend calling,” she said without thinking. “He’s on his way.”

  “Oh, yeah? I got a car. I can take you wherever you want to go, baby.”

  His insincerity and body odor permeated the air.

  A man yelled from across the street and she thought maybe she was going to get some help. The men around her stepped away but no-one came to her rescue. There was yelling, cursing, and she prayed Luke came fast. She could still hear the men nearby. Minutes passed. It felt like hours. Then she heard them mumbling to each other, coming close again.

  “Hey, Baby. I’m back. You miss me?”

  “I’ll hold your bag,” another, new voice said, and ripped it from her hands.

  She stepped back and recoiled at the feel of a body at her back, the scent of cigarette smoke and sweat.

  Where had he come from? How many were there?

  She was helpless. She couldn’t run. She couldn’t fight. Her parents had warned her about this very danger. Had told her not to put herself in this position. But here she was.

  Ava felt a hand on her shoulder and tried to jerk away, raw fear pounding her ears. Then she heard the low roar of an engine coming fast, a screeching halt, and a door slamming.

  “Hey! Get the fuck back!”

  It was Luke. In an instant, the hand on her shoulder and the body belonging to it were gone. There was a grunt. The sound of a body falling to the concrete of the sidewalk and her bag dropping beside her foot.

  “Hey man, no foul. We were just helping.”

  “Like hell,” Luke said then the only sound was grunting. Pounding and grunting and… crying. There were curses, some Luke, some strangers, and the sickly sound of flesh and body slamming against the pavement near her feet.

  “Luke?”

  She didn’t hear him answer and huddled against the wall, trying to stay out of the way. Praying Luke wasn’t overwhelmed by their numbers. Did he hav
e weapons? A gun? She should help. What could she do to help? A body knocked into her, sending her sprawling to the ground on hands and knees. She scrambled up, backed away as far as she dared.

  It went on and on, seemed to go on forever, before she heard other voices, then sirens.

  “Hands on the wall!”

  That command from a male voice was repeated by a female. She didn’t know if they were yelling at her but she reached out for a wall. She only felt air.

  For a second she felt what she thought was Luke’s hand on her arm then, “Hands on the wall,” again and the hand was gone.

  “Luke?”

  “You okay, ma’am? Can you stand by the car?”

  She didn’t move, but took a step forward, reaching out for Luke. “Luke?”

  “Stand by the car, ma’am!”

  A gasp of surprise escaped when she felt a firm grip on her arm.

  “Don’t touch her!” Luke yelled. “Keep your hands off of her!”

  Then the hand on her arm was gone and she heard Luke curse.

  “On the ground! Hands behind your back!”

  Then more sirens, more cars screeching to a halt and car doors slamming. She stood there, frozen in place, nothing to ground her.

  “Just stand right there, Ava.” Luke’s steady voice came to her, giving her something. Wishing she could touch him, that he could touch her. But she could tell by the direction of his voice that he was no longer standing.

  There were other voices now, talking over each other, some close, some several feet away. Some coming through a radio. There was a call for an ambulance.

  She heard a woman’s voice, one she hadn’t heard before. “That’s the one who was helping. Those are the ones giving this lady a hard time.”

  “She’s blind,” someone else said. “They were messing with a blind girl.”

  “I started to come over then this guy came up. He beat the hell out of them, that’s for damn sure.”