CHAPTER TWO
Gravity seems to push harder than usual. Allison tells herself that isn't possible, but she feels it dragging at her shoulders and bowing her back. She enters her room and is relieved that all of her things are still in place. Well, as far as she can tell; it's a mess as usual. Her hands seem very far away as she places her books on her desk. She shuts the door against all the weirdness of the empty condo, the note, the absence, but it is creeping in under the door. It doesn't feel safe in here anymore. She hoists her purse, carefully locks the front door and sets off randomly. She just can't be in that emptiness any longer.
Initially she aims for the golf course, but remembers it is far too early to sneak in without being spotted. She changes direction and turns towards the Waffle House. Not being alone seems like a good idea right now. Somewhere well lit, full of people, not all empty and strange.
It seems perfectly normal to find Bender sitting at the counter, as if they had agreed to meet there. She slides onto the next stool and says, "The world's an imperfect place."
"Jesus, you scared me, Allison." His coffee is half sloshed onto the counter.
"Sorry. I forget people don't see me."
"You here for dinner?"
"I really don't know what I'm here for." The unreality of her situation rolls over her in a fresh wave. "To meet you, I guess."
"You're here to meet me? I didn't know I was coming here until half an hour ago. I decided to grab something on the way home from Smokey's."
"I'm in trouble, Bender."
She explains the empty condo, the note, the way the emptiness started coming in under her bedroom door.
"You can live with me," he says when she is finished. She must look at him strangely as he quickly adds, "I've got my own place now. You can stay with me in my apartment."
"I don't think that would be legal or something. I'm a minor."
"Well, you can stay tonight at least. You don't want to go back there alone."
He's right, the idea of sleeping in all that echoing blankness is intolerable. It turns out Bender now has a car in addition to his own apartment, a 1976 Ford. She buckles herself in and they drive to the condo.
Bender accompanies her upstairs and looks at the note as she gathers toiletries and a change of clothes.
He lives in Milton now, close to work.
"That's why I can afford a car and an apartment. You weren't kidding when you said it's good money. I didn't realize how much the old man was making." He looks at her sideways as they stop at a red light. "I'm saving up to go to Northbrook Tech."
Allison is surprised. It seems as though Bender really was listening that night. They are silent as they cruise into Milton and into the smell of the paper mill. She's glad she knows that you adjust to the smell quickly.
"It's not much," he says as he scoops a dirty shirt off the couch and removes a plate with the remains of a sandwich on it. It really isn't much, a basement studio, living room and kitchen combined, in a small apartment building. She sees the edge of an unmade bed through the open door and assumes the hallway leads to the bathroom. But it is lived in, full of Bender's things, not empty. He's furnished it from a thrift store apparently, everything is old and slightly worn, but not badly so. All in all, a nice first apartment for a bachelor.
"I didn't think to ask, are you hungry? Do you have money? Did you want something at Waffle House?"
"Something to drink would be good. Do you have any herbal tea?" She sees the look on his face and quickly says, "Water would be great."
When Allison wakes at dawn, she doesn't know where she is at first. She smells the mill faintly and coffee more strongly, hears Bender moving around quietly in the kitchen, then remembers everything. She walks into the living room rubbing her face. He's making a sandwich when he hears her and turns.
His face lightens and he says, "Morning. I'm on my way to work, just making my lunch. I left a key and a couple bucks there for you. There's eggs, or some ham for sandwiches. You can make OJ if you want."
He'd insisted on sleeping on the couch and it's still covered with a cocoon of sheets and a blanket.
She is not a morning person and it takes a while for her brain to adjust.
"Okay, thanks." Thinking some more she asks, "Where's the bus stop? I need to get to school."
"Take that money, you can call a cab. The bus doesn't go into Shermer. You want to come back here after school, or call me from your place?"
This is all a little much first thing in the morning.
He seems to realize this. "Doesn't matter which, I'll be off work by the time school is over." He looks at the clock. "I'm late. See you." He gives her shoulder a squeeze and is gone.
Dr. Hashimoto folds his hands carefully and regards Allison, then pushes up his big black glasses. "We'll have to call child welfare and get you placed in a foster home until we can contact your aunt."
Allison looks up from the pile of tiny shreds of styrofoam in her lap. She has been slowly destroying an empty cup. "Please don't make me go to a foster home. You can send me to my aunt right away."
"We need to do some paperwork first. Considering your age, you can probably stay in your current home for a day or two, if I push the point."
"I can take care of myself," she rushes to assure him. His mouth creases under his mustache and he looks like he's going to say something. "I mean, I can do it for a few days. Just until the paper stuff is done."
"I'll talk to the authorities and send for you in seventh period."
Brian is all incredulity at her story, which sort of helps but sort of makes it worse. It's nice to know he cares and is outraged on her behalf, but it also makes it that much harder to cope with, feeling the full intensity of the craziness. He wants to cover the topic from top to bottom during lunch.
"Brian, I'm feeling bad enough already. Let's talk about something else. Have you heard from Claire or Andy?"
"Claire called last night, actually. She said she had a funny feeling about you and tried your house but no one answered."
"That's pretty weird. It must be the meditation."
"You know I don't believe in all those healing crystal, meditation, yoga things you do."
"I can disappear in plain sight. You know I can. You've seen me do it."
"Okay, yes, I've seen you manipulate others psychologically with body language cues. It's not supernatural." She gives him a look. "It's not! There is always an ordinary explanation for that stuff!"
"Explain why Claire thought of me last night."
"Coincidence."
"It's the meditation, it's opening me up. I'm transmitting. I made Bender appear." She explains the serendipity of the encounter.
"It's all coincidence!" He's quite worked up now. At least they are thinking about something other than the fact Allison's mother abandoned her in a most callous way. She is still so shocked she can't encompass any pain.
When the bell rings for the end of lunch she says, "Brian, don't count on me this week. I probably won't be able to walk home with you. Let's wait and see where my aunt and uncle live, and all that."
She learns that she will indeed be allowed to stay in the condo until the paper work is finished. Her Aunt Selma and Uncle Jim have agreed to take her. She's never met them, her mother being on bad terms with them, but they live right here in Shermer so she doesn't have to change schools or anything. Initially, she thinks she'll do that, stay in the condo, but when she opens the door onto the barren living room, she can't wait to get to Milton and Bender's apartment. She packs a bag for a few days, then calls Bender.