The Denver Cereal

by Claudia Hall Christian

  Everyone stood in stunned silence. Before anyone could say anything, Mike poked his head into the hallway from the stairs. Whistling for Scooter and Sarah, Mike sauntered toward Jill’s apartment. The dogs trotted up the stairs in answer to Mike’s whistle. Mike looked from Jill to Mr. Wilson. He put a hand on Mr. Wilson’s baseball bat.

  “Mr. Wilson?”

  “Nice to see you, Michael.”

  With a nod, Mr. Wilson returned to his apartment.

  “Trevor?” Mike slipped off his jacket and tied it around Jill’s waist to cover her bare behind, torn jeans and underwear.

  Jill nodded.

  “You okay? Spaced out?”

  “No,” Jill said. “I’m here.”

  “Huh,” Mike said.

  He guided her into the apartment. Settling her on the couch, he went to get her a glass of water. When he returned, she was writing out her list on a pad of paper.

  “For someone who was almost raped, you seem very . . . together,” Mike said.

  “Raped? Oh, yeah, I guess so.” Jill flushed. “I should change. Ah, crap, my feet are bleeding.”

  Getting up from the couch, she went into her bathroom. Mike helped her rebandage her feet, and then she went into her bedroom to change.

  “Do you ever think things happen for a reason?” Jill asked from the bedroom.

  Mike stood in her bedroom door.

  “Sure.”

  “I stayed with Trevor, married him, even, because I thought he would never leave me. I wanted something permanent so I would never ever be alone. “

  “Like after Mom and Dad died?”

  Jill’s eyes welled with tears. She pulled a T-shirt over her head. Before she could pull on another pair of jeans, Mike pointed out the scratches on Jill’s lower back where Trevor’s fingernails had torn her flesh. She turned to give him a soft smile.

  Speaking in a whisper, she said, “I knew he cheated, but I thought he needed me too much to ever leave. He was so demanding — I need this book, pay for my school, I want this car, make my dinner, fuck me now . . . I . . .”

  Mike hugged his little sister.

  “Then he left and took everything. Just like that. He’s gone. And . . . I didn’t die or fall apart or starve or . . . Every terror I lived with since I was nine years old, every single one, never happened. None of them. I . . . I realize that I’m a lot stronger than I thought.”

  “You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met,” Mike said.

  Jill smiled.

  “So Wonder Woman, are we moving all this stuff to your apartment at the Castle?” Mike asked. He gestured around the apartment.

  “Not today.”

  ~~~~~~~~

  The first thing Jacob noticed was the silence. Not quite alert and not quite unconscious, he scanned his immediate environment for sound. Nothing. He felt tiny fingers pressing his eyelids apart.

  “Katy,” Jacob whispered.

  “I knew you were in there,” Katy said.

  He opened his eyes and found her face about an inch from his face. He attempted a smile. Katy patted his cheek.

  “I’m not supposed to be here.”

  “Where’s here?”

  “Psshft. Mommy says this is called a ‘hospital.’ That means a house for sick people. I was in a hospital but I still don’t remember being sick.”

  Jacob smiled and the little girl laughed.

  “I wanted to know if you would be my daddy,” Katy said. “No one will tell me so I thought I would just ask you myself.”

  “I’d be honored to be your daddy,” Jacob said.

  “No matter what?”

  “No matter what. Pinky swear?”

  Katy held out her pinky and they shook pinkies.

  “Katherine Marlowe Roper!” Jill scolded from the doorway of the room. “What are you doing here?”

  “But Mommy! I didn’t touch any of the white gauze!”

  Katy seemed to fly through the air when Jill lifted her from the bed.

  “Hi,” Jill said.

  Holding Katy in her arms, she leaned over to kiss him. His left hand cupped her face while his thumb caressed her bruised cheek. His concerned eyes asked the question, but Jill shook her head. Her eyes flitted to Katy. Jacob smiled.

  “We haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “Where am I?” Jacob asked.

  “You have a private room. It’s funny, because there’s been a whole bunch of people here — your family, my family, people from work, the police, your entire hockey team. This is the first time you’ve been alone. Well, not quite alone.” Jill looked at her daughter. “You are in big trouble, Little Missy. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

  “Oh,” Jacob said. “Don’t be too mad. She’s very sweet.”

  “He’s going to be my daddy,” Katy said.

  “KATY!”

  “We pinky swore,” Jacob said. “Plus she’s a Marlowe.”

  “In honor of Celia M . . . Oh.” Jill blushed. “Sorry. You don’t have to . . .”

  “Oh, honey . . .” Jacob’s energy evaporated. He closed his eyes, and then opened them. “I want to be her daddy. Sometimes . . . things . . . defy . . .” He let out a breath. “Explanation.”

  She thought he was unconscious again when his eyes popped open. His eyes shifted to look at Jill, and then he said, “Are we engaged?”

  “Do you see a large diamond?” Jill held up her left hand as a joke but he was already out.

  “Are you going to marry my daddy?” Katy asked. “Well that’s perfect!”

  Katy clapped her hands together and Jill laughed.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Thursday night — 7 p.m.

  Mike looked down the Castle’s dining room table at his brother, Steve, and Steve’s wife, Leslie. They were as silent as Megan, Tim, and Candy on the other side of the table. Jill was at the hospital for her first official “date” with Jacob. Delphie was entertaining Megan’s kids and Katy in one of the sitting areas. The clinking of silverware echoed in the formal dining room.

  Valerie slipped her hand into Mike’s. He turned to look at her. She had lost weight this week. Tonight, her beautiful black hair was held back with a simple band. Her face was makeup free. When she smiled, he felt the same heart-constricting feeling he had felt the first time she smiled at him.

  “Okay,” Steve said. “Since no one’s going to do it, I’m going to. Frankly, I’m sick to vomit of the secrets in this family. Mike and Val invited us here for dinner, and we’re acting like church mice.”

  “What secrets?” Candy asked. Her dark eyes blazed a “shut up” to her brother.

  “Your secrets,” Steve said.

  Candy bristled.

  “Meg’s secrets.” Megan’s head jerked up to look at Steve.

  “Hell, my own secrets,” Steve said. “Fuck, did you know how abusive Trevor was? Anyone?”

  Every head shook from side to side.

  “Trevor almost raped her and Jill was like same shit different day,” Mike said. “Our baby sister sat in Walgreens praying for her child’s life because that fucker wouldn’t let her go to the hospital. Why? Because she couldn’t afford it. It makes me furious.”

  “Me too,” Megan said. “I . . . I had no idea.”

  “We are all we have. Our parents are gone. We don’t have grandparents. No more secrets,” Steve said. “It’s time to put it all out there on the table.”

  “We’ll start,” Leslie said. “We can’t get pregnant. I have endometriosis and . . . we’ll . . .”

  Everyone’s head turned to look at Leslie.

  “We’re good candidates for IVF. We’re healthy, don’t drink or smoke. The doctor thinks we’ll be successful but . . .” Steve stopped talking. He looked at Leslie, and then nodded. “We can’t afford it. We wanted to ask if maybe . . .”

  “We’ll help,” Valerie said. “If you prefer to borrow the money, we can do that as well.”

  “I make good
commissions on my painting and Val’s contract was extended for another year,” Mike said.

  “You’re not driving anymore?” Candy asked.

  “I only drove so I could drive Val when she was in town,” Mike said. “See, there’s a secret.”

  “We could be together and no one would know,” Valerie said.

  “We’d love to help you guys have a baby,” Mike said. “Just if that’s all right with you.”

  “Thanks,” Leslie said.

  “We’re not married,” Tim said.

  Megan’s eyes went wide and she shook her head.

  “We got pregnant before we got married, then didn’t want to . . .” Tim caught Megan’s look and stopped talking. Megan’s face was bright red.

  “Ah, shit. Who cares?” Mike asked.

  Megan’s red, ashamed face turned to her little brother. Mike’s warm smile brought tears to her eyes.

  “You guys were so young, and I got pregnant and . . .”

  “You and Tim raised us,” Steve said. “I don’t give a crap. I can’t imagine Jill cares.”

  “Jill knows,” Tim said. “I told her when Trevor divorced her.”

  “I’m gay,” Candy spit out in the middle of the conversation.

  When everyone turned to look at her, she seemed to dissolve into the chair. Steve kicked her under the table.

  “Tell them or I will,” he said.

  “I’ve been dating a girl for . . . a long time.”

  “She lives with her girlfriend, Jazmyne,” Steve said. “Has for the last four years. Jazmyne is a firefighter and a terrific person.”

  “I’m going to hell.” Candy’s face dropped with sorrow.

  “Well, we’ll be there to keep you company,” Tim said. “Are you happy? Do you love her?”

  Candy nodded.

  “Then we’re very happy for you,” Megan said. “We just wanted you to be happy.”

  “Mike broke my nose,” Steve said. “Remember I went to Hollywood the summer after college? I was on this tour of the stars’ houses when I saw Mike and some girl walking down a hill. I mean, I hadn’t seen or heard from Mike in two years. Then there he was! So, I followed them. They cut into the backyard of this house. I . . .”

  “He caught us in a delicate position,” Valerie said. “In our own backyard, but delicate none the less. Mike hit him on a reflex.”

  “You DID get a new nose,” Candy said. “I KNEW it!”

  “Yeah,” Steve said. “Valerie arranged for the surgery.”

  “I could have killed him. I . . .” Mike said. “I went to treatment about a week later. I have a secret.”

  “Your secret studio is in the carriage house of this house,” Candy said. “We all knew that. We thought it was because you were friends with Jake.”

  Mike looked from face to face and everyone nodded.

  “We also know you’re the artist who painted the ‘unknown Denver artist painting’ at the Denver Art Museum,” Tim said. “Well, we guessed. Now that I’ve met Val . . . It’s her, isn’t it?”

  Valerie nodded.

  “I gave it to a friend who said it was too good to be owned by a single person,” Mike nodded toward the ceiling. Everyone looked up to the clouds, blue sky, and sun that adorned the dining room ceiling. “I’ve done a bunch of the work here, too. I’ll show you around when we finish dinner. I actually have another secret.”

  Valerie’s head turned to look at him. Her eyes puzzled. Mike slipped his hand into his pocket.

  “Jake paid a guy to find this for you,” Mike said. “He ‘just figured’ you’d like it back some day.”

  He opened his hand, and there lay Valerie’s original diamond engagement ring. Valerie screamed. Covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes welled with tears. His eyes held the question again. She nodded. He slipped the diamond solitaire onto her finger.

  “Thao at the Art of Gold cleaned it up and fixed it. She said we could update it, but I thought you’d want to . . .”

  Valerie kissed him quiet.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Details! We need details!

  Friday morning, 8:07 a.m.

  “Sorry I’m late,” Jill said. She scooted into the booth next to Sandy at Snooze. Every Friday for the last two years, she’d met Sandy, Heather, and Tanesha for breakfast at Snooze. “I had to take Katy to school. She’s still a little sick so she’s slooooowwww.”

  “Jill?” the waitress asked. “Are you all right? Oh my God! I saw the news . . .”

  “Hi, Chantel,” Jill nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks.”

  “I . . .,” the waitress started speaking, then realized the women were staring at her.

  “Sorry, I can’t really talk about it,” Jill smiled.

  The waitress made a sympathetic face and touched Jill’s arm. “I’ll just bring some coffee.”

  “Thanks, Chantel.”

  “Hey, we’re buying your breakfast,” Tanesha said. “So you can actually eat this time.”

  “It’s a bribe,” Heather said.

  “Bribe?” Jill asked. The waitress set a cup of coffee and a glass of water in front of Jill. “Thanks.”

  “You can’t talk about Monday, right?” Heather asked.

  “Criminal proceeding and all,” Jill said.

  “We want every single detail about Sunday night with His Hotness,” Tanesha said.

  “And your date last night,” Sandy added.

  “Oohh a date with His Hotness!” Tanesha said.

  “We want to know what really happened on Monday, but . . .”

  “Sorry,” Jill said.

  “You can talk about the edges. The paper said Jacob came . . .”

  Sandy trailed off as the owner of Snooze, Jon Schlegel, came up to the table. A tall, thin man, he had to bend over to set a pineapple upside down pancake in front of Jill.

  “Hey, Jill, this is our way of saying that we hope you’re okay.”

  “Thanks, Jon. With a little luck, everything will work out.” Jill pushed the plate-sized pancake to the middle of the table. “We’ll share it.”

  “Well, good luck,” Jon said. “I wanted you to know that you’re always welcome to work here.”

  “Thanks Jon,” Jill said. “My feet are pretty messed up. I can’t work anywhere for a while. Even Pete sent me home.”

  “Just so you know,” he said.

  The moment Jon turned his back, the women dug into the pancake with gusto.

  “How did you have a date with Jake Marlowe last night?” Heather asked. “Isn’t he like, in the hospital?”

  “Mm-hmm” Jill swallowed a bite of delicious pancake. “He stopped taking pain meds mid-day so he could talk to me. He had someone from Sasa Sushi bring dinner for me. He had . . .”

  “Cereal,” the women said in unison.

  “Exactly. Cap’n Crunch. He wanted me to try sushi since I haven’t had it before. He had a bottle of sparkling rice wine for me . . . um, sake? I think it’s called. It was really good . . . nice.”

  “I told you,” Sandy said. “Sasa is fabulous. Did you have the chocolate lava cake?”

  “Yep, we shared one.” Jill blushed.

  “And?” Heather prodded.

  “He’s in a hospital. We just talked,” Jill said. “The nurse put Jake to sleep around ten and I went to the Castle to get Katy.”

  “Uh-huh,” Tanesha said. “And blushing girl, what did you and His Hotness talk about?”

  “Sex.”

  Heather and Tanesha screamed with laughter.

  “Details! We need details!” Sandy said.

  ~~~~~~~~

  “I’m sorry, Jake. I wish I had better news.”

  Dr. Lionel Smuyth had been Jacob’s orthopedic surgeon since he fixed Jacob’s knee in high school. Jacob asked him to come to review his situation and help him determine options.

  “Your entire shoulder girdle is held together with more metal than bone. Your shoulder blade is . . . Well, time will tell.”<
br />
  “What does that mean, Lionel?” Jacob asked.

  “Long term?” Dr. Smuyth went back to the X-rays. He held up X-ray after X-ray then reviewed the MRIs. “I’d replace the head of your humerus. When your bone fills in, you’ll need surgery to reattach all of these tendons. The surgery notes say they found all the tendons and tucked them away. They may be available when you’re ready.”

  “How long before I can work?”

  Dr. Smuyth’s eyebrows shot up at Jacob’s question. His eyes were kind, but Jacob’s stomach dropped when Dr. Smuyth’s usual bright smile fell. The doctor picked up Jacob’s right hand.

  “Tell me what you feel,” Dr. Smuyth said.

  He ran a capped ballpoint pen over Jacob’s hand.

  “I can feel that,” Jacob said.

  Dr. Smuyth shook his head.

  “You have sensation, Jacob. And that’s really a miracle.”

  “You’ve never sugar-coated anything for me, Lionel,” Jacob said. “What is going on?”

  “You’re having a neck fusion tomorrow.”

  “Lionel.”

  “I don’t feel confident in the innervation in your arm,” Dr. Smuyth said. “I won’t say ‘never,’ but you have a long way to go before you’ll swing a hammer with that arm.”

  “Long way?”

  “I’m not going to give you a doctor hex, Jake. Don’t ask me for dates, times, and exactly what will happen. We have to take this one step at a time. You have two broken transverse processes in your neck. Two!” Dr. Smuyth shook his head like he couldn’t believe the question or conversation. “Tomorrow your neck will be fused. If everything goes well and by some miracle you take it easy, you should be able to go home on Monday or Tuesday. Then it will be six weeks, at least, before your neck heals. Your bone may have filled in enough that we can replace the head of your humerus and reattach your ligaments. Then, maybe, you’ll be able to start rebuilding strength in that arm. But . . .”

  “That’s six months from now?”

  “At least. Every step depends on the success of the last step. Any infection, slow healing, bad guesses, not to mention surgeon foul-up . . .” Dr. Smuyth returned to look at the X-rays. “This is a vicious injury, Jake. You’re lucky to be alive.”

  “I’m not ungrateful, Lionel. I know how lucky I am.”

  Jacob closed his eyes for a moment, trying to formulate the thought or question in his mind.

  “You’re saying that these injuries . . . just like that . . . I’m not going to be normal again.”