White Collar: Knock on Wood
Chapter Six: The Fool
"Now that's just rude." Neal complained.
Getting a late start to the day Neal had put a bowl of cereal on his kitchen table. After pouring some milk into it he'd turned to place the milk container back in the refrigerator. Turning back he discovered Sparkles up on the kitchen table happily lapping the milk out of the cereal.
"That's disgusting, Cat. You use your tongue as toilet paper and now you're dipping it in my breakfast?"
Sparkles didn't pay any attention to Neal's complains or commentary on her feline habits. Neal walked over and put his hands on Sparkles to pick her up. Never stopping drinking the milk Sparkles gave Neal a deep warning growl. Neal let go of the cat.
"Fine, keep it. I don't want it anymore anyway."
Continuing to enjoy the milk Sparkles ignored Neal. Sighing heavily Neal went over to the box of cereal and ate a few dry handfuls straight from the box. Breakfast didn't really settle well on Neal's stomach. Setting the box down he wandered out onto the patio for some fresh air.
Although he usually sat at the small table outside this time he went over to short wall that acted as a railing around the high patio. Resting his crossed arms on the top of the stone wall Neal looked over the city. Neal continued to stare out at the city with unfocused eyes as his mind raced. He rubbed at his anklet with his foot.
"Peter's never going to let me go." Neal suddenly muttered to himself. "Even when my sentence is up, he'll watch me like a hawk, and it's not like I can just go out and get an honest job..."
Increasingly agitated Neal's heart started racing painfully once more. Despite the cool morning air his skin was beginning to bead with sweat. With his thoughts still stumbling over each other Neal gripped the wall and hauled himself up onto the ledge. Sitting on the edge of the building he looked down at the sidewalk far below.
"I need to face facts, Peter is never going to trust me." Neal continued babbling quietly. "One day it is going to come down to me or him. I have to get away from him...but I don't have anywhere to go."
Leaning further over the dangerous height Neal silently contemplated what the rush of free fall might be like. He didn't think much about the painful stop at the end, if anything he figured that it would solve his problems. Closing his eyes he bunched his muscles up to leap from the deadly height.
"Neal, please don't..."
"Kate?"
Neal opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder back towards the apartment. He could have sworn he'd heard Kate's voice. When he didn't see anyone he turned back to his view of the city. Suddenly realizing what a precarious position he was in Neal scrambled down off the wall and back onto the safety of the patio.
"What the hell am I doing?"
Neal rushed back inside and started a search for his cell phone so that he could call Peter. Unable to find the phone he picked up the jacket he'd worn to Josephine's. Going through the pockets he didn't find his phone, but he did come across a deep blue card with gold trim. Flipping the card over he stared at the man hanging upside down from his ankle that was printed on it. It was the Hanged Man card that Josephine had attributed to him.
"She must have slipped it in my pocket while I wasn't paying attention."
Feeling a little more grounded Neal gave up on looking for his phone. He tossed the tarot card onto his kitchen table where Sparkles was almost done with the milk. Noticing that he was sweating Neal stepped into the bathroom and into the shower. The cold shower water helped wake him up and cleared his thoughts.
"Neal?"
Neal jerked at hearing someone calling his name. He closed his eyes and hoped that the sound would just go away.
"Neal?"
"Stop it!" Neal cried as he clamped his palms down over his ears.
"Neal, you in the shower?"
"Mozzie?" Neal asked hesitantly.
"Yeah." Mozzie responded from the far side of the bathroom door.
"What are you doing here?"
"Your door was unlocked so I invited myself in. Neal, there is broken mirror everywhere out here. That's bad luck you know."
"So I've been told."
"You finish your shower, I'll clean up the glass."
"Thanks."
Neal didn't stay in the shower long. He wanted to get out quickly to go make sure that Mozzie really was in his apartment. Wrapping a towel around his waist he opened the bathroom door just enough to peer out. Sure enough Mozzie was in the adjoining walk in closet with a dust pan cleaning the shards of mirror off the floor.
"Thanks, Mozz."
"No problem."
Neal stepped carefully past the glass that still remained and grabbed a pair of black slacks and a white button down shirt. He retreated into the bathroom once more and got dressed. Uninterested in messing with his hair he just combed it back and let it do whatever it wanted. When he came back out into the main room Mozzie was petting Sparkles who was still on the kitchen table. Purring loudly Sparkles weaved and rubbed against Mozzie's hand.
"I didn't know you liked cats." Mozzie said.
"I don't. It's not my cat, it belongs to June's granddaughter. I can't seem to keep it out of the apartment."
"Cats are naturally attracted to people who are indifferent towards them."
"Clearly. Mozzie, what are you doing here?"
"Peter asked me to drop by."
"Peter?" Neal repeated suspiciously. "Now he has you spying on me?"
"I'm not spying for the Suit." Mozzie said defensively. "He said you weren't feeling well, he's worried about you."
"I'm fine."
"You don't really look 'fine'. You look like you've been ridden hard and put away wet."
"I didn't get much sleep last night."
"I can tell. Hey, what's this?" Mozzie picked up the tarot card on the table. "Ah, the Hanged Man. You know this card kinda reminds me of you."
"I've been hearing that a lot lately." Neal sighed.
"I've always identified the most with the Fool."
"The Fool?"
"The Fool doesn't know where he's going or what he's going to do, but that's doesn't matter because the important thing is to enjoy the moment and the journey. He's open to all possibilities and doesn't take the most trodden path."
"Sounds about right." Neal agreed. He looked around the small apartment. "I need to get out of here, do you want to go for a walk?"
"Sure." Mozzie shrugged.
Neal picked his house keys up and headed for the door. He slipped on a pair of shoes. Opening the door he noticed that Mozzie wasn't following.
"Are you coming?"
"You're going out like that?" Mozzie asked.
"What do you mean?"
"It's been years since I've seen you step out without a tie and jacket, or at the very least a silk vest and hat."
"It's my day off."
"Yeah, but you still never go 'casual' these days. You're not even wearing socks, and although your hair would work well for the a wind blown model on the cover of a romance novel, it's not your usual style."
"Do you want me to change?" Neal sighed.
"No. I was just making an observation."
"Thank you for your commentary on my appearance, but I don't think I need to take fashion advice from a man wearing all synthetic fibers."
"Laugh all you want, this shirt never stains."
Neal managed a smile and Mozzie brightened as well. Sparkles jumped down off the table and bolted out the open door and back over to June's side of the house. Mozzie and Neal headed down the stairs as well and out into the midmorning sunshine. It really was a beautiful day and Neal felt better being outside. He walked towards his favorite park that was only a few blocks away.
"Neal, slow down." Mozzie complained. "For every step you take I have to take two."
"Sorry."
Neal made a conscious effort to slow down so that Mozzie could easily keep pace. Mozzie started rambling about some new hacker that was terrorizing government web sites and uploading porn onto CIA servers. Neal listened to the story without comment as they walked through the well planted park. As they neared the fountain in the middle of the park a high pitched beeping stopped Neal in his tracks and forced him to take a step back.
"Damn it, Peter." Neal snarled angrily.
"Neal?" Mozzie asked in concern as he turned around. "What's wrong?"
"Peter's tightened my leash. I've always been able to walk through this park before."
"Why can't you now?"
"My anklet went off, it's a warning that tells me I'm at the end of my range."
"I don't hear anything."
"That's because I backed up."
"Neal, we're barely half a mile from Junes." Mozzie pointed out.
"That just proves Peter doesn't trust me."
"Step forward again."
Neal hesitated to comply with Mozzie's request. He hated the sound the anklet made, it drew unwanted attention to him and reminded him that he was still a ward of the state. Mozzie encouraged Neal to step forward with a hand gesture. Hanging his shoulders in defeat Neal walked up to Mozzie. The anklet remained silent.
"I could have sworn I heard it." Neal said.
"Neal, is there something you're not telling me?"
"It's nothing, I'm just a little stressed. Peter and I were up late working on a case."
"What case?"
"Nothing. Just an extortionist."
"What kind of extortionist?" Mozzie pressed.
"She was..." Neal hesitated to tell Mozzie the truth. "She was fortune teller."
"A gypsy?" Mozzie asked in alarm.
"She's just a scam artist, Mozzie."
"Don't be so sure."
"Mozzie..."
"You didn't mess with her crystal ball did you?"
"Maybe." Neal admitted.
"We need to get you and your apartment cleansed. I know just the thing."
"Mozzie, don't be ridiculous."
"Neal, don't you get it? You've been cursed."
"No I haven't. There is no such thing."
"Until 1916 Westerners didn't believe that Panda Bears existed either." Mozzie pointed out.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"If black and white bears that eat wood exist...anything is possible."
