Life After Death
"Piss off, man! I'm trying to drive here!" Vince swatted Eyeball's hand away as Eyeball laughed and had another go at putting his finger in Vince's ear.
Eyeball had been at it the whole way back to Ace's, annoying Vince from the back seat by covering his eyes or sticking his fingers in his ears or up his nose. I rolled my eyes at their childish antics but had to laugh. Eyeball sure is inventive when it comes to finding new ways to irritate his buddy. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought they were brothers. There was always this sense of sibling rivalry between them.
I wondered if Eyeball ever annoyed Chris like that.
We pulled up at Ace's at around two in the morning. I climbed out of Vince's Studebaker cold, tired and starving. Vince would be taking Eyeball home, and he offered to drop me home as well, but I didn't trust him. I thought he was more likely to drop me out in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully, Ace saved me by saying he'd take me.
"Which car are we taking?" I asked Ace as Vince and Eyeball turned out of the drive. I looked between the '49 and his '32 pickup, both parked on the front lawn.
"I'll take you later." He stepped up onto his porch and booted his front door open before going inside.
"But..." I rolled my eyes and growled, thinking nothing could be more urgent at this hour than dropping me home so I could eat and sleep.
Still, I followed him inside to see him rummaging through the fridge and stacking his arms with all sorts of produce.
"You like mushrooms?" he asked.
"Yeah..." I replied curiously.
He stacked a punnet of button mushrooms on top of his armload and then walked across the kitchen to dump it all on the bench. Out came a frying pan and a sharp knife, and soon bits of food were being thrown onto the heat.
I stood next to him, watching, slightly amazed at what I was seeing.
"You're cooking..."
"Don't be so surprised."
His knife skills were actually better than mine. He sure could dice an onion fast.
"Sorry, I just never... imagined you... doing all this."
He shrugged. "I've always cooked. It's not like I ever had a mother around to do it for me."
He tossed the pan a couple of times and soon dumped a perfect omelet onto a plate and handed it to me. "Forks in there," he pointed.
I grabbed some cutlery from the draws and then sat at his table to shovel the food into my mouth, not caring if I ate like a half-starved, feral animal. The omelet smelled amazing and tasted even better. The egg was slightly runny in the center, creating a sauce to accompany the vast number of vegetables that were swimming around my taste buds.
"You look like you're enjoying it," he said, sliding his plate onto the table before taking a seat.
"It's delicious." I finished and politely belched into my hand. "And filling. Thank you."
As I watched him eat, I kept thinking back to what he'd said about his mother. I wanted to ask – I really, badly did. I'd been curious about her since the last time she came up in conversation when Ace drove me to my old place in Hutt. But he had seemed so reluctant to talk about her that I didn't know if I should dare to ask.
"So why..." The words had been sitting so close to the end of my tongue that they fell out without my meaning to. "Sorry... don't worry."
Ace stared at me as another fork load of food disappeared into his mouth. I was sure he knew exactly what my question would have been, and I blushed, feeling embarrassed about intruding into his personal business.
"She hated my old man," he said suddenly.
"Oh..." Now I really felt bad.
He finished his last mouthful and then pushed his plate away and leaned back in his chair, stiffly folding his arms. "He wasn't good for her. Hell, he was ten years older than her, knocked her up when she'd barely left high school and then spent the next six years fucking around on her.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."
"I can't blame her for leaving, Cass, and I can't blame her for not wanting to take me with her. Why would she? I was the mistake that fucking ruined her life." Ace grabbed a packet of cigarettes off the table and lit one up.
"You don't have to tell me any more."
"The last time I saw her was a few years back. Hadn't seen her for over half my life, and you know what she did when she saw me? She ran. No 'Hi Son, how you been,' nothin'. My own mother saw me, and she just fucking ran without looking back."
"God... that must've been awful for you."
"But I understand why she did that. When she looked at me, all she saw was my old man. And she couldn't bear it."
"But Ace, that wasn't fair on you. She's your mother."
"Yeah, she is. And if she ever needs anything from me, I'll be there for her. If anyone ever touches her or says a bad word about her, I'll fucking beat them to a bloody pulp. She had it rough with my old man, and now she's free to live the life she always wanted. I'm not gonna take that away from her. I don't need her anyway."
"When my mom 'ran away' from me I was never that forgiving."
"But you didn't need her either – not really – and I bet she knew it. Sounds like she was miserable."
"She was."
"And now she's not. So just let her go."
I looked at Ace and smiled as I saw some truth in what he said. For the first time since her death I found reason to feel happy for her. Happy that she was no longer living a nightmare. She was free and at peace. And maybe, if there really is a heaven like most folks think, maybe she's with my dad. It was a warming thought. I smiled at Ace again, this time thankfully. He'd given me a sense of closure that I never thought was possible.
"You want me to take you home now?" he asked.
"Yes please."
-2-
The four hours sleep I got that night were the best I'd had in weeks. Months maybe. My resentment for my mother seemed to have left me, and I was beginning to look ahead and appreciate the people I did have. Rose and Violet mainly; they were always there for me, no matter what it was I needed. I wasn't sure if Chris was still mad at me, but I decided to count him in anyway. And Ace... well, most of the time, it was hard to know if he was doing things for my benefit or for his.
I walked to work, looking forward to spending the day with my two favorite people in the world. But when I arrived to find the front door of the diner still locked, I knew something was wrong. They were usually well into prep by that time.
I walked around to the back of the diner, crossed the back street, and jumped over their little white picket fence. I softly knocked on the door, calling their names, but got no answer. A chilling feeling ran down my spine. I turned the knob and pushed the door of their quaint little house open to see Violet sitting at her dining table, silently staring at the floor.
She glanced up at me with her big blue eyes, reddened from a lack of sleep. Her face was ghostly-white and she looked like she'd aged ten years overnight. Her mouth opened and then closed again like she couldn't bring herself to utter the words. My stomach sunk with despair. I dropped to my knees and wrapped my arms around her tiny waist, drenching her apron with tears.
Rose and Violet stood side by side for eighty years, barely ever leaving each other's company. Eighty years! And now... Violet stood alone.
I called Ace and told him that our plans were off for the night and maybe even for the week. Violet needed me, and I was going to be there for her.
The funeral came and went, and Violet wasn't coping. She'd aimlessly wander around the house, forgetting where she was and what she was doing. Violet's daughter didn't seem to be one for patience; she wanted to take her mother with her, back to her hometown in Nevada the very next day. It all seemed to be happening so fast. The other two waitresses and I begged the daughter to let us continue running the diner, but she wouldn't have it. I knew the truth; it was evident - she wanted Violet to sell up so she could get her hands on the money.
So, the diner and their little home across the way were left in the hands of an agent to sell. The daughter wanted the place I was living in too, but luckily for me, Violet managed to convince her to let me keep it, at least for a while.
I got one last goodbye hug, and then Violet was whisked away out of my life.
I walked through the front door of the pool hall, looking around for any familiar faces. I saw two – Joe who, as usual, was staring at me from under his heavy eyebrows from behind the bar, and Eyeball who was standing nearby and chatting amongst a group of guys I didn't know. I walked to the back of the place and slipped into their usual booth to wait.
"I heard your old lady kicked the bucket," Eyeball said as he slid into the booth across from me. He'd brought a beer and a bowl of salted peanuts with him and took a handful and cupped them into his mouth.
"Just when things seem to be going well for me, it all falls apart," I said.
"Wanna drink?"
"No thanks. Ace told me to meet him here. We're supposed to be... you know... and so I need my wits about me."
Eyeball relaxed back in his seat and stared at me in thought before rolling a few more peanuts into his mouth. "So, what's with you and Ace, anyway?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
He smirked. "I mean, what's happening with you two? Jesus, you've been flirtin' with each other since day one and-"
"Woah, woah – are you kidding? I barely even like him. In fact, I borderline hate him."
"Bullshit you do."
"With the way he treats Chris I can barely stand to look at him."
"Yeah, well, Ace wouldn't give Chris half the trouble if he'd learn to watch his mouth."
"Wow, you sound just like Ace – always blaming Chris. 'Oh, but Chris provoked me,' he says, 'what could I do but hold a knife to the kid's throat and almost kill him?' That's what's bullshit, Eyeball."
"Chris told Ace to go fuck his mother! You think he's just gonna ignore that shit?"
"He said what?"
"And he knows just as well as anyone that you don't go near talking about Ace's mother – especially like that. He was just askin' for an ass-whipping, and he almost got it."
I gaped him in shock. I couldn't fathom Chris uttering such words, yet there was no reason for Eyeball to lie. I still thought Ace had no excuse for doing what he did, but Chris had kicked a bull in the ass and it'd come charging. I was a little disappointed in Chris for not telling me the full story. It had skewed my view into being very one-sided when they both played their parts.
"So... you were there?" I added. "You were there, and you stood and watched as Ace nearly killed him? What kind of a brother are you?"
The color from Eyeball's face drained before my eyes and, suddenly, he wouldn't look at me. His gaze dropped to the table, and I could almost see the memories of that day playing out in his mind.
"Sorry," I muttered. "I shouldn't have said that. I wasn't there to know what happened. Maybe there was nothing you could've done."
"No," he said, still staring at the table. "I could've tried to stop Ace. But I didn't. Dunno why. Guess I never thought he'd actually... do it."
"I think Ace has had to let go of a lot of hate. Maybe that day it all came crashing back down on him. Maybe it wasn't just Chris he was angry at. I dunno."
We sat there for a few moments with our thoughts and then Eyeball grabbed another handful of peanuts to chew on. "Still think you're in denial," he said with a sly smile.
"Oh, shut up." I snatched a peanut from his bowl and threw it at him. And then I grabbed a small handful and tossed them into my mouth. "And anyway," I said, still chewing, "Ace's already got a girl."
"Who?"
"Actually... I'm not supposed to mention her. Woops."
"You talking about Antonia," he said, leaning into the table to whisper. "You know about her?"
"Yeah. We... crossed paths once."
"Well, Ace hardly even sees her. And if Diego ever found out Ace has been... I mean... has been with his niece, he'd hang him by his balls."
"She's Diego's niece? Are you for real?"
"Yeah. And she ain't worth the trouble. Ace knows it – he's just gotta stop letting his... I mean, he's gotta make his brain do the thinking. God, it's hard talkin' around girls sometimes."
Just then, Ace strolled into the bar with Vince tailing him. He cuffed some unsuspecting guy over the back of the head and then looked in our direction.
"Shit..." I said, averting my gaze.
Eyeball glanced over his shoulder to see his buddies heading our way. "What's the problem, Cass?" he asked, his grin growing to the size of east Oregon.
"Don't you dare say a word," I warned him.
"Why? 'Cause you know it's true?"
I stole another glance at Ace. He was like nobody I'd ever met before. Cool, cunning, calculating, daring, intelligent and always in control. He had dreams bigger than any stretch of my imagination, and he had the balls and determination to make them a reality. And damn was he fine. I mean, it was hard for me not to notice those cunning, pale blue eyes that spoke danger, his solid shoulders, and he could whip that shirt off any...
Ace's eyes met mine as he neared our table, interrupting my stray thoughts. I guiltily looked away and noticed that my cheeks were burning hot.
"Hey, Cass, how you doin'?" he said, patting me on the head and messing my hair a little.
"I'm OK."
I slid over to make room for him to sit, and Eyeball did the same for Vince. I moved over a little more to get as far away from Ace as possible.
"You sure you're up for this?" he asked me.
"Of course," I said, avoiding all eye contact with him.
"This should be a hoot," Vince muttered under his breath.
"Oh, shut up, Vince," I barked.
"I'd even put money on you fucking up."
"Hey," Ace said, pointing a firm finger at Vince, "watch your fucking mouth. She's gonna do just fine tonight, aren't you Cass?"
I gave him a small smile of appreciation. At least somebody seemed to have my back. Maybe I could count him in on my side after all.
