Chapter Two:





"Absolutely not." Steve declared in a no-nonsense manner when Claire brought up Leon's situation to him later that day. Claire
was right about him not being too delighted when he walked in and saw Leon sitting on the couch.
"WHY not?" Claire demanded.
"Because he needs to learn how to stand on his own two feet instead of running to his friends whenever life doesn't go his way."
Steve said with a superior tone in his voice. Almost as if he were talking about a son, rather than a friend. "A man, that's what he needs
to be."
Claire sighed and just managed not to roll her eyes. If she showed any signs of frustration or annoyance, it would make Steve's
temperamental balance tip right over to the dark side.
"Well, Steve, what do you expect him to do?" she asked him. "Sleep in his car? Remember when we drove across the country
to visit your grandfather? You remember how uncomfortable that was?"
Steve let out a condescending chuckle and shook his head. "Oh, I don't think Leon will have to worry to much about that. He
doesn't HAVE a car."
Claire raised her eyebrows and her mouth opened but no sound came out. "He doesn't have a car?" she repeated.
"No." Steve replied as he opened a can of beer. He took a long swig before wiping his mouth off. "The man rides a damn
motorcycle for Christssake."
At that, Claire's heart fluttered. A motorcycle? How long had it been since she'd been NEAR one of those things? Steve saw
the excited look in her eyes and he shook his head, simutaneously smashing whatever hopes Claire's mind had begun to conjure.
"I know what you're thinking--and I don't want you anywhere near it." he said. "This place is bad as it is. I don't need you getting
hurt for one ride on a piece of junk metal."
"You don't understand, Steve." Claire defended helplessly, remembering her prized Harley. "Your soul never wore biker
leather. It's hard to understand what kind of thrill you get when you ride one of them."
"I would think you get enough thrills around here without your bike." Steve smirked before patting her knee and disappearing into
the bathroom.
Claire stared at him in disbelief. Why couldn't he understand the needs SHE had? She did the best that he could when Steve
complained about his, why couldn't he try to do the same? She gazed at the clock beside the bed and sighed. It was almost time
to pull her casserole out of the oven.
Before she could get up though, Steve returned and plopped himself down in the arm chair across from her. He stared evenly
at her before looking down at his hands thoughtfully. "He can stay for a little while." he told her, then quickly raised his hand. "But
I'm telling you, if he does one thing to get on my bad side he's outta here like that."
"Really?" Claire asked, surprised. "He can stay?"
"Yeah, yeah." Steve replied as if bored with the subject. "Just make sure he's grateful."
"He is. Thank you, Steve." Claire said.
Steve waited a moment before cocking his head to one side. "And? Don't you love me?"
Claire supressed a groan as she stood up and started towards him. "Yes, Steve." she took the can of beer out of his hand, took
a long gulp herself before handing it back to him. "I love you very much."
She left the room and walked down the hall to see Leon sitting on the couch. He had turned the TV off and was staring into
space, his facial features arranged in an intense pensive expression. She hesitated and stared at him for a little while. He looked
so deep in thought she hated to disturb him. Slowly, she crept up to him and just barely tapped his shoulder when he whipped
around and stared up at her.
"Oh, um, did I bother you?" she asked, jumping back from his abrupt movement.
Leon shook his head quickly before replying, "No."
Claire smiled and started to sit next to him when the bedroom door opened and she quickly changed direction and sat on the
settee across from him. She heard Steve's footsteps before seeing him appear from the hallway, buttoning up his shirt.
"I'm going out." Was all he simply said.
"Where?" she asked, turning so she could face him.
"OUT." Steve repeated and stopped in his tracks. He looked from Leon to Claire then leaned over the back of the couch and
gave Claire a long, hard kiss on her mouth.
He got up and cast a scornful look at Leon before leaving the apartment.
Leon squirmed uncomfortably. "I take it he's not too happy about me staying here?"
"He's not thrilled with the idea, no." Claire said lamely. "...But I am. I'm glad you're here."
"Really?" Leon asked, his eyes lighting up. His eyes were a recherché type of blue that Claire had never been able to name.
"Yes, really." She replied.


"Do you arm wrestle, Leon?" Steve asked, slurring slightly as he walked through the door the next morning.
Claire lifted her head from her hands and breathed a heavy sigh. He wasn't lying in some motel room with some prostitute or freezing
to death in the gutters. Her relief turned into anger as Steve sat down next to Leon, his eyes looking fierce, challenging. Leon
gave Claire a quick sideways glance and then shrugged nonchalantly.
"I did some with a couple of guys in the Army..." he trailed off.
"Great." Steve said before he could continue. He settled his arm on the table, knocking over a glass of orange juice. Claire
clenched her teeth and grabbed for the wash rag near the sink.
Sopping up the juice before it could drip off the table, she cleared her throat.
"Uh, Steve? Where were you? You were gone all night." She said.
"I was out with a bunch of guys." Steve replied distractedly. Leon linked his hand with Steve's, his posture taking on the usual,
defensive arm-wrestler stance.
"Let's do two out of three." Steve said. "GO."
The two began, their muscles tensing as their arms fought to take the other's down. Claire could see that Leon was holding back
because of Steve's obvious drunkeness. Claire pressed her lips together so that they turned a pale white.
"With some guys?" Claire said.
"Yeah, we stayed out a long time." Steve said, straining against Leon.
"Why didn't you call?" she queried. "I was worried."
With that, Leon pinned Steve's arm to the table. Steve bit his bottom lip and growled in a low voice.
"Again." he ordered and Leon shrugged, returning back to his defensive posture.
"Steve?" Claire pressed.
"I don't know." Steve replied. "There weren't any phones where we were."
"That's lame. Every place has telephones. They have ever since 1976 when they were invented. It's very hard to find a place
without one." She said.
"Look, honey, not now." Steve said, waving her away with his free hand as if she were nothing but an annoying bug.
"Well, then WHEN?" She demanded, slamming her hand down on the table. "I stayed up all night waiting for you to come home.
I was scared to death."
"Yeah, you look like it too." he replied carelessly.
Claire felt taken aback. If she had dark circles under her eyes and wrinkles in her forehead it was because of all the sleepless
nights Steve went out, leaving her alone at the apartment.
"You--you--" Claire stammered.
"Look, Claire, go to sleep if you're so tired of everything." Steve replied. He mumbled something that Claire couldn't hear, but
apparently Leon did. Steve suddenly yelped as Leon gripped his hand in an anaconda death clasp and slammed his arm down
into the table.
"Eeeh.." Steve groaned, clutching his hand and grimacing in pain. He then held his head in his hand and stood. "Boy, that went
right to my hangover. I'm going to bed now."
Frowning deeply, Claire spoke up tensely, "What about work, Steve?"
"What? Oh yeah, call the construction site and tell them that I won't be coming in today, will you hon?" He said just as he walked
through the door, shutting it before she could get a word in edge-wise.
Claire dug her fingernails deep into the table and sighed heavily, letting out all the tension that had mounted all through the night.
She stared fixedly at the bedroom door, as if she could stare long enough to make him come out and talk to her. Or force him
to. Leon was gazing at her curiously and she finally turned to him and forced a smile. "Steve can be so rambunctious after a night
out with his friends."
"He goes out a lot?" he asked, not believing her false air of negligence.
"Yes. He does." Claire said as she poured herself some orange juice and took a sip. Then she grabbed some toast and started
to butter it. "Sometimes he has a little too much to drink, you know, but who ever said that was a bad thing." The wheels in her
mind were practically flying off their spokes as she thought of a way to gracefully slip out of this conversation. She bit into her
toast, chewed about a thousand times and then swallowed. It felt like clumps of cement going down and then stuck like tape to
the sides of her stomach. "I'll bet you've done a lot of that stuff when you were in the army, huh?"
Leon stared at her for a few moments before surrendering. "Well, I can't say that I haven't." He told her. "I think it's cool you
don't make too much of a fuss about all of this."
'Sometimes I wish I could...' Claire thought desperately. 'I wish I could have the old Steve back.'
She closed her eyes as a terrible dread came over her. Steve wasn't going to come back. He was too far gone. Why hadn't
she seen it when she had the chance to escape?