Disclaimer: The OC and it's characters are the property of Josh Schwartz and Fox. I am just borrowing them.
Roadside Attractions
"We're here," Kirsten said quietly.
Ryan's eyes snapped open and he was thankful for her rescue from memories he had thought were locked away. His eyes blinked a few times trying to adjust to the sunlight. They drove past a sign that said B & L Nurseries Next Right. Just after the sign, Kirsten turned the car to the right and before them were a couple of huge warehouses, delivery and semi-trucks and rows of plants as far as the eye could see. And curiously, to the right of the first warehouse was something that looked like a giant watering can; a giant watering can that was a couple floors high. It even had windows. Ryan blinked again to be sure he wasn't seeing things.
"Is that a giant watering can?" he asked incredulously.
"Looks like it to me," Kirsten said with a smile.
Ryan shook his head at her answer and asked, "And you don't find that a little bit odd?"
"Oh, sure I find it odd, but not unusual. There are several of these old roadside attractions in California. All over the country, really. You've never heard about them?"
"Well, I did hear about some Paul Bunyan and Babe statues somewhere, but I guess I never really thought I would just see one out in the middle of nowhere."
"We're not really out in the middle of nowhere. Remember, you've been asleep. Anyway, this place was probably small mom and pop plant farm at one time and they built this to attract customers. There are people who write books about this stuff."
"Cool." Ryan continued to gaze at the unusual building as Kirsten looked for a parking spot, turning in his seat to get a better view.
Kirsten parked the car and opened her car door. "Come on sleepyhead. I've got some work for you to do."
They walked towards the first warehouse, looking around for signs telling them where they should go to purchase plants but there were none to be found.
"How do you think they built that spout? I didn't see any supports." Ryan asked as they walked.
Kirsten, preoccupied with finding someone to help her, asked absentmindedly, "Spout?" Realizing what Ryan was talking about, she said, "Oh, the watering can spout. You know, I don't have a clue. Maybe we could ask someone?"
"No, it's okay." They had more important things to do than find out about a silly spout on a giant watering can. He didn't want to cause any more delays in their task.
Frustrated with not finding a sign that would lead them to the right entrance, Kirsten opened the next door they came to and stepped in. Moving to the side to allow Ryan to enter, she noticed him glance back over his shoulder at the watering can before entering. He was obviously fascinated and she remembered that he had mentioned an interest in becoming an architect. She would have to find someone to show him around the building. If not, when they got back she would definitely talk to some of the architects she knew about explaining how the thing was built.
Inside the building there were many people busy processing plants for shipment. Directly in front of them was one young man with his back to them, watering some of the plants and his head, bobbing to the music in his headphones. Kirsten approached the man, who was now playing air guitar and asked, "Excuse me. Can you help us?" He continued to play his invisible guitar and bob his head. Ryan and Kirsten exchanged amused looks. Kirsten tapped the man on his shoulder, causing him to jump and spin around, just missing both Kirsten and Ryan with the water spray. Kirsten waited for him to calm down and remove his headphones before she said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. We are here to pick up some lilies-of-the-valley. Can you help us or can you get someone to help us?"
"Yeah, um, we don't really sell to the public," said the young man casually as he turned back to the plants and replaced his headphones.
Ryan raised he eyebrows in surprise at the man's rudeness and then cut his eyes in Kirsten's direction. He watched as anger began to surface on her face and he took a step back, because he knew this man was going to regret not helping Kirsten Nichol Cohen.
"Excuse me!" she said as she tapped him again on his shoulder, holding on to the hose so that he would not get them wet. The man turned around and with an air of exasperation pulled his headphones off again. "Look lady, I told you--"
Kirsten--who had no intentions of letting him continue to be rude--cut him off. "No, you look, pal. We called here about an hour and a half ago and were told that you had what we want. As a matter of fact, we were told that you had quite a lot them and we expected the plants to be ready and waiting on us. Now, I would appreciate it if you would find someone who can help me, do it yourself or get your boss out here so that I can have this conversation with her."
Ryan noted with admiration the sound of authority in Kirsten's voice. She could be quite intimidating when she was not happy. After living with the Cohen's for six months he knew exactly why Kirsten was successful at what she did. In some strange way it made him feel safe that she had this inner strength and he knew that she would fight just as hard for her own family. Unsure of what to do and feeling more that a little intimidated, the young man with the earphones stood for a few seconds staring at Kirsten.
"Randy, I've got this," a friendly voice said from behind Kirsten and Ryan. They both turned around to see a good-looking man in his late thirties approaching them. Then his face turned into a wide grin, "Kirsten Nichol, is that you? I can't believe it."
The anger left Kirsten face and she smiled as she recognized the man before them. "Tim? Tim Stanton? What are you doing out here?" He pulled her into a friendly hug, and as he released her he said, "It's been a long time."
"About 17 years. Yeah, 17."
"I saw Jackie a few years back. She told me you had gotten married and had a boy. This must be him, right?" Tim gestured toward Ryan who had been standing to the side watching. "He looks like you."
His assumption caused Kirsten to pause, but realizing Tim was waiting for an answer she blurted, "No…Well, yes." Kirsten struggled to find the right words.
Ryan looked down at his feet and shuffled uneasily. He prepared himself for the uncomfortable silence he knew was coming as Kirsten tried to find the correct "PC" words to explain that he was just a boy whose mother had abandoned him and they had taken him in as a charity case. That her real son was at home, in school, and that someday Tim could meet him.
Tim gave Kirsten a puzzled look and he chuckled as he said, "Kirsten, either he's your boy or he's not." He tried to wink at Ryan, but the boy would not look at him.
Glancing in Ryan's direction, Kirsten noted that he had his head bowed and was almost certainly feeling awkward. Turning back to Tim she said, "I have two boys. The one you heard about is not with me today. His name's Seth, and this is Ryan. He offered to help me today; otherwise he would be in school with my other one. My mom passed away a few years ago and we are planting flowers at her grave today."
Ryan lifted his head and looked at Kirsten. Had she really said he was her son, without any back-story? Just that he was her son, not even the usual word "foster" placed before it.
Tim frowned sympathetically. "I sorry to hear that. That's hard to lose your mom."
Ryan felt his chest tighten and thought of his own mother who was not dragged away unwillingly by some disease the doctors could not cure. She had walked away. Losing a mom does suck. He and Kirsten had something in common.
Tim extended his hand to Ryan and said, "Nice to meet you, Ryan. I've got lots of stories on your mom here. Give me a call if you ever want to use them to get out of trouble?"
Ryan grinned shyly as he said, "Yeah, I just might take you up on that."
"Oh, no you won't. He's lying, I was a good girl," Kirsten gave her friend a warning look. "Yeah, right. I'm sorry, but I'm thinking some of your college memories must be a little blurry."
"Okay, enough fun information." Kirsten clapped her hands together, effectively ending the conversation about her errant youth. She would like it to remain in the past and not undermine her parenting of Ryan and Seth. "Let's talk plants. We came here to pick up some lilies-of-the-valley," she said firmly.
Tim said "Oh, yeah. My new secretary got that call and Randy's right, we don't usually sell to the public, but in your case we'll make an exception." Tim instructed Randy to find someone to pull several lilies-of-the-valley and to make them good ones. Randy left to do as his boss had asked. "Now, Kirsten. You and Ryan here come back to my office and let's talk about old times." He extended his arm in the direction of his office and the three of them headed in that direction.
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Got an example to set here." She nodded her head sideways in Ryan's direction. Now she remembered that Tim, although a nice guy, never did catch a clue.
Ryan smiled to himself at Kirsten attempt a changing the subject and covering of her misdeeds. He wondered what she would think of him if she knew that he had probably done all of the things her friend was talking about and maybe even worse. Well, stealing a car was worse, wasn't' it, and he felt sure she had never stolen a car. In an attempt to give them time to catch up he offered, "If it's okay, I'll just look around." Then he turned to Tim and asked, "Can I take a look at that giant watering can out front? That's what it is, right?"
"Oh, yeah. The farmer that owned this place built that in the 40s. His son works for us. I'll see if I can get him to take you on a tour while your mom and I catch up. How's that?"
"Sounds good, thanks." Ryan nodded his appreciation and added to Kirsten. "Call me when you need some help."
Tim led them into his office and then called for someone named George over the intercom and Ryan assumed George must be the farmer's son.
"I think I have a budding architect here and he's interested in the spout-- how it was built. Can George explain that to him?" Kirsten asked as she smiled at Ryan. Both she and Sandy felt it was important to encourage his interests and natural curiosity, hoping it would grow into a faith in his own future. They only had a couple of years of influence on this boy they had agreed to parent and she was darn well determined not to screw it up. Even if he didn't always believe in himself and his future, she would let him know that she did.
Approximately 15 minutes later, Kirsten was at the door of the watering can. She saw George standing in the center of the room and asked, "Where's Ryan?"
"Let me try." Kirsten tried to hide the worry in her voice. Why hadn't he answered? Moving towards the base of the spout, Kirsten called up, "Ryan? Ryan? Are you okay?" When he didn't answer she added, "Can you hear me? It's Kirsten, we're getting a little worried?"
Somewhere distantly Ryan heard his name. He shook his head to clear it of the voices. As he had crawled into this small, cramped room it had felt familiar. He had been in a place like this before, when he was terrified, looking for any place to hide. His hiding place had been just out the back door, next door to the neighbors yard and into an old doghouse that was no longer used. It was a hiding place that had served him well when he was able to escape the jerk of the month's anger and until he grew to big. Sitting in there with his legs stretched out, listening to them call his name, he was safe for a little while and maybe they would be too messed up to notice when he slipped back into the house. Someone was calling his name again but the voice was different, not his mom's voice. No. He shook his head again.
"Ryan James Atwood. I am coming up there right now. What are you doing?" Worry tinged Kirsten's voice as she struggled to climb the ladder in the spout. Just as she reached the top and peered over the rim she saw Ryan sitting, arms wrapped around his knees. The position of his body gave her the impression of someone hiding. "Ryan," she said softly. "Ryan, it's Kirsten, sweetie." She saw him shake his head as though trying to wake him self and he turned his gaze towards her but didn't really seem to recognize her.
"Hey, what's up? You okay?" she asked with great concern. Shaking his head once again, he looked directly at her.
"Yeah, um, yeah." He ran a shaky hand through his hair. "Sorry, I must've zoned out for a minute. Uh, just trying to get a handle on how they put this thing together."
Something about that place had caused Ryan to "zone out." She saw the shaky hand and the fearful eyes. Maybe it was claustrophobia, she didn't know, but he was definitely frightened. "Come on, sweetie. Do you need help getting down?"
"No…thanks, I've got it" He made his way towards the ladder.
George helped Kirsten as she emerged from the spout and stepped off of the last rung of the ladder. "How's that boy? Did he curl up and fall asleep?"
Ryan jumped from the ladder and stood beside Kirsten. "I, uh, just got caught up in how it was built," he said unconvincingly. "I sorry if I worried you."
"It's alright, boy. It was a nice break from work. Just wanted to make sure you were okay."
Kirsten put her hand on Ryan's back and guided him towards the door. "Okay, let's go. I've got the plants and they are loaded in the Rover. It's time to get on the road, again." For the first twenty minutes of the ride Kirsten's thoughts had wrestled with themselves over how to bring up what had happened. Knowing that she would be waiting until the twelfth of never for Ryan to bring it up, she asked awkwardly, "So, what did you think of that watering can? Did you figure out how they support that spout?"
"Yeah, no, not really."
"I thought that's what you were doing up there? What did you find out?"
"It's really cool. George told me that a long time ago the farmer had it fixed up as a playhouse for his daughters."
"Really? Sounds like fun. What was that room at the top for?"
"I don't know. George said his sisters used it to hide when they didn't want to do their chores."
"Hide, huh? Sometimes when I was little I wished I had a place to hide." She glanced in his direction, attempting to make eye contact or some small connection that would let him know that she understood. But he was looking at his hands and just nodded his head in agreement.
"Yeah, hiding places can be a good thing. Maybe I'll make sure my kids have one," he said sadly.
Kirsten thought she might have trouble breathing. Of course, a hiding place would be important to a boy who got his ass kicked, even on Christmas. She reached across the car, took his hand and squeezed. "You're kids won't need a hiding place and you won't be needing one ever again."
Turning to look out the window, he hoped she was right and the car once again fell into silence.
tbc
