THE LEGACY – CHAPTER 12
Being covered in purple paint had actually proven to be a benefit for Gary. When he had gone charging into the Sorority house carrying a fire extinguisher and covered in purple paint, the girls just passed it off as some Fraternity prank, and didn't panic. It also disguised him sufficiently so no one could give an accurate description. He finally returned to McGinty's and passed on to Marissa what had happened at the school. It would be hard just waiting for Ruthie to be accessible, but neither of them saw any other option.
There was no word from Teressa the next day, but even if there was, Gary was way too busy to talk. He was on the go from the first minute to the last; if he didn't know better he'd almost swear the paper was punishing him.
He started at seven in the morning at the farmer's market, keeping a guy from buying some peaches that had been contaminated in shipment. Unfortunately that meant he had to deal with the irate buyer and the irate seller, neither of which believed him until he found all the dead mice that had eaten some of the fruit.
Then he was at the middle school where he stopped two kids from breaking another kid's skull as they tried to give him a swirllee. Of course the assistant principal saw him leaving after he had sent the boys back to class, and gave Gary the third degree as to what he had been doing there in the first place. Gary figured he would still be there if a fight hadn't broken out and distracted the principal long enough for Gary to make his escape. Then he was off running again; trying to keep a family from buying a boat that was going to blow up when they tried to move it. As he was headed towards the slip, which was in Burnham Park harbor by Meigs Field, he wondered idly if the paper was punishing him. He had gotten a vague but insistent feeling now and again, that whoever controlled the paper put him in contact with unpleasant people when he had been unpleasant. Kind of giving him a taste of his own medicine as it were. Now Marissa said he was just being paranoid when he talked about this possibility, but Gary honestly did wonder. Could it somehow manipulate the situations so that the people he saved were less inclined to be gracious or polite because of earlier instances in their day; after all someone got him the newspaper a day ahead of time, so minor tweaking like that was certainly in the realm of possibility. Gary walked into McGinty's an hour later, flustered and angry. The first person he saw as he headed towards the bar was Teressa. "Any news" he asked as he waved for Brent to bring him a beer.
"Sorry Gary, all I can tell you is that the music stopped after about ten hours, so at least she's painting, God only knows how long she'll be though."
"Doesn't she sleep?"
"Camden, not while she's inspired, I saw her work fifty four straight hours once."
"This is driving me crazy, I want to make things right, but she won't let me get close."
"I know you do Gary" Teressa could tell that there was something more here than an employer/employee spat, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Then a thought occured to her, it was absurd but insistent. Maybe, she thought, the problem was that Camden and Gary weren't employer/employee. The very idea infuriated her, and even though she told herself how unlikely that was, the idea refused to go away.
Gary just nodded and the girl wandered back to the kitchen to check on an order. He was looking over the bar when a voice behind him asked "anything new today?"
"Geez Marissa, just make me jump out of my skin why don't ya" Gary groused while Marissa giggled, it wasn't often she caught her partner completely unaware.
"As a matter of fact there is something new, I now own a boat."
"A boat, what are you gonna do with a boat?"
"I don't know, do boat things I guess."
"Well if you don't know, why'd you buy the thing?"
"Because it was the only way to keep a family from Oshkosh from getting blown up."
"What, you had to sail out to save them, that's what the Coast Guard is for."
"I know that; no, they were gonna buy the boat and it was gonna blow up when the fired up the engines in the harbor."
"Why didn't you just tell them that?"
"I did, several times and in several ways, but they were still gonna buy the stupid thing and the seller was getting ready to club me with a wrench, so I just bought it."
"Do I even want to know how much it cost?"
"Just twenty bucks."
"Twenty, come on Gary, you couldn't buy an inflatable boat for twenty dollars."
"No, but twenty bucks was how much I put on 'Sailor's Pride' in the third at Gulf Stream."
"Sailor's Pride huh."
"I did catch the irony. Now I just need to have the thing fixed and then I can sell it, or give it away, whichever."
"You don't want to keep it, cruise the lake or something. Maybe take Toni out on a moonlight sail, it is a sailboat; right?"
"Yeah, it's a sailboat, but I'd be lucky to get ten feet without killing myself or someone else."
"So learn, you could use a hobby."
"Like this thing would ever let me have time to learn to sail or to cruise somewhere" he said, waving the paper around. "This thing hates me anyway."
"Not again Gary, please. For once and for all the paper doesn't hate you or punish you or anything like that, it's simply your attitude that dictates how you deal with what's inside."
"You really believe that?"
"Yes Gary, I really believe that; change your attitude a bit, and I'm betting that things will be better."
"OK Marissa, I'll try, but if tomorrow is horrible, you owe me."
"What will I owe you?"
"I'm not sure yet, I'll let you know."
Marissa just smiled at her friend and went back to her desk. As she sat, she ran her fingers over the painting that Ruth had given her. It still amazed her at times how thoughtful the girl had been. She also thought that if Gary was correct, unlikely but possible; he deserved to be punished for what he had said to her.
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Ruthie was exhausted, she had been up for 47 straight hours, but the painting was done. She looked at it, her eyes almost refusing to focus. 'Dammit' she thought 'I think it's the best work I've ever done'. The reason this didn't please her was because of what she had decided to do with it. She had made this decision before she had ever started, and she wasn't going to back off it now; no matter how it had turned out. She had been aware of her fellow students coming and going, and working again once she had absorbed the music enough; but all of that had been peripheral awareness, flees jumping on an elephant for all it had distracted her. She was hungry, tired, paint spattered and feeling hollow inside. That was what she hated about painting the way she did, she poured all of her emotions out onto the canvas, but when she was done, there was nothing left inside her; 'Comfortably Numb' as Pink Floyd would put it. Moving as though she was eighty, she cleaned up her studio, leaving her painting up and uncovered to dry and shuffled off to her dorm to shower and eat and then sleep. Gary's secret was still inside her, but now it didn't burn the way it had, she didn't care and didn't want to help him in any way, at least that's what she told herself.
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The next day, Gary tried to change his attitude and face the day more positively, hoping that it would translate to an easier day with the paper. Opening the door to his loft and seeing Cat was probably the highlight of his day because as far as he was concerned, everything went downhill from there. As Cat sauntered in, Gary just stood in his doorway and thumbed through the paper. "Oh great" was all he had to say.
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Miles Stephens was late; he was always running late these days. Between Cynthia having a tough time recovering, and the new baby; Miles was felt like he was always running or exhausted or both. Now he was late again. He was going to run little Julie by his sister's so Cynth could get a little rest. He left his house with Julie in her car seat and everything she should need for the day, but when he got to the car he realized that he had forgotten his presentation. He set the car seat on the car and ran back inside. He emerged with his briefcase, his mind already turning over what he would say to the people from the DeLeat Company. Absently he got in and started up the engine, there was something nagging at his mind, but he figured he was so foggy from lack of sleep and that it was nothing. Rapidly he backed out of his driveway, only to hear a loud thump from the rear of the car. He couldn't believe it; some moron had just hit his car with a snowball. He paused for a second, still not quite believing what had just happened when 'THUMP', another one hit the BMW. This was just too much, on top of everything else, he picked up a heavy flashlight from under the passengers seat and got out to talk to this Kerry Wood wanna-be.
"What the hell's the matter with you buddy" Miles said as he exited the car.
"Your daughter" the man replied.
"Yeah, what about her?"
"She's on the roof of your car" was the man said and Miles stopped. Sure enough, Julie was still sleeping in her car seat on top of the BMW, just a little angel in the snow. Miles just took a deep breath as the enormity of what had almost happened hit him. He turned to thank the guy that had warned him, but he was already gone. Carefully, as though he was handling glass, he pulled the car seat and it's cargo off his roof and strapped his daughter into the back seat. Slowly and carefully, he headed off to his sister's.
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Mrs. Steinwalter had lived in the neighborhood for almost all of her 68 years. She knew it and loved it, but lately things had started to change, and not for the better. People didn't know their neighbors anymore, and didn't watch out for each other anymore. Mrs. Steinwalter had even started locking her doors at night, something she had never done before. Kevin and Angela both had asked her to move somewhere else, Highland Park and Elmhurst had both been suggested, but this was the only place she knew, and she thought it a bit much for children to be telling their mother where and how to live. So she had stayed and watched the neighborhood change.
She was walking back from the market on the corner. She had picked up a roast and some new potatoes from Mr. Cho the grocer. Her Eli had fought in the Pacific during World War II, and would probably have some things to say about her taking her money to an Asian shopkeeper, but Eli wasn't there, and Mr. Cho was a pleasant man. She usually didn't buy a whole roast because it was just her, but Kevin and Marcy and their boys were coming over for dinner. She knew Kevin would bring up moving again, well, she figured she'd listen and shake her head just like always.
She was thinking about putting her son in his place for his cheek at giving her advice when someone called out to her "got some spare change lady"? She turned and looked, there was a youngish man (she figured him to be no more than twenty five) who looked miserable and near to frozen. Mrs. Steinwalter felt sorry for the lad, but she had never been one to put up with pan-handlers.
"I'm sorry young man, but I don't."
"Sorry to hear that lady" the man had said, pulling out a knife "I don't believe you".
Mrs. Steinwalter should have been afraid, but she wasn't. This was mostly due to the fact that she simply refused to believe that this was happening on her street in her neighborhood. The young man was waving the knife and moving towards her warily, almost stalking her when another voice said "move it along punk".
The young man in front of her whirled around andMrs. Steinwalterlooked up to see another man, a little younger than her Kevin, carrying a baseball bat and glaring at the man with the knife. "Time for you to get lost" he said.
The younger man just gave a feral grin "you gonna make me, pops".
"If I have to, yeah" the other man said, with a chilling smile of his own. "I've had a really bad couple of days and beating the snot out of a little creep like you would help me work out a couple of issues."
The grin on the younger man's face faltered, this guy wasn't acting right, the dude was supposed to be scared; not looking like he was wanting to fight. The kid with the knife straightened a bit out of his crouch and shook his head, like he was trying to reset his brain or something. He caught a blur of movement out of the corner of his eye, then the lights went out.
Mrs. Steinwalter just looked at the little man on the ground. That was a nice roast that Mr. Cho had sold her, and three pounds made a nice impact. The other man put his bat down and took the knife and threw it down the storm drain by the sidewalk. "Thanks for your help ma'am" he said, smiling politely. He was polite and handsome Mrs. Steinwalter thought, maybe she should invite him for dinner as well, after all Angela might be there and she was needing someone to help her get over the divorce.
"No, thank you young man; if you hadn't distracted him, I wouldn't have had the chance to hit him. Master Chung said to go for right behind the ear, and it worked just like he said it would."
"Master Chung" the man asked looking a bit confused.
"Oh I take self defense classes twice a week down at the corner dojo; it gives me something to do besides knit."
The man gave her a wide grin "I'm sure it does ma'am" he said. And with that he picked up his bat and jogged off in the other direction.
Mrs. Steinwalter started back towards her home, she had noticed the wedding ring on the man's finger, so asking him to dinner wouldn't have done at all. As she climbed her front stoop, she reluctantly admitted to herself that maybe, just maybe Kevin had a point. She resolved to listen a bit harder tonight while he was going on about moving.
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Dean Fenton had been trying to get Melissa to go out with him for almost three months. Both in their mid twenties and never married, they worked at Bartuzie and Burkes law firm, she was a legal secretary and he did investigative work for them. She had been reluctant to agree, she said, because she was getting over a long term relationship that had ended badly. But his persistence had finally paid off and she had agreed to lunch at 'Terriers', so long as they went dutch. Since pay-day was three days away, that had been fine with him. They had ordered and were just starting to open up to each other when there was a commotion from near the kitchen.
Dean just looked at Melissa and shrugged, some people just had to add drama to their lives he mused. She just shook her head and quirked an eyebrow, indicating that she was pretty much in agreement with him. That was what he found so scary, that they could communicate so well without words, almost as though they truly knew what the other was thinking. As the waitress brought their salads out, the commotion resumed. Dean could see a man in his mid to late thirty's yelling at the staff in the kitchen.
"I don't care if it gives a unique flavor while keeping the lettuce green longer, you just don't put peanut oil on food like that, people are allergic to that kind of thing." The man started yelling more about peanut oil as the maitre D was struggling to throw him out, but Dean wasn't listening 'peanut oil' he thought to himself, why was that important.
Almost before he was realizing what he was doing, his hand shot across the table, and grabbed Melissa's just as she was about to but her first bite of salad in her mouth. She looked at him, eyes wide, not understanding why he had grabbed her.
"Didn't you tell me once that you were allergic to peanuts" he asked quietly.
Still a little scared, she just gave a brief nod. "Did you hear what that guy just said" he asked her "he said the lettuce had peanut oil on it."
Now her eyes were wide with fear; Dean released her hand and she put the forkful of salad back in the bowl. "Sorry" he said, looking a bit ashamed "I didn't mean to startle you".
Melissa took his hand in both of hers "thank you" she said "if you hadn't, I might be dead now". She leaned forward, and gave him a brief kiss. She almost laughed at how furiously he was blushing and thought to herself that maybe she could finally get over Steve and the emotional damage he had done to her.
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Mike Veldman hated walking past the Milner's house. The Milner's were nice enough and Samantha was pretty cool he thought, well for a girl, he amended; but he hated the Milner's dog. It was a huge, hairy brute name 'Sweetums', which Mike thought was the biggest load of BS he had ever heard. If there was anything sweet about this behemoth that looked like a cross between a Rottweiler and a Saint Bernard, neither he nor anyone not named Milner had ever found it. All the guys on the street hated that dog, and the dog seemed to hate them right back.
Mike was walking home late because of that old bag Mrs. Kettlesmith. She had been so sure that Mike was the one shooting the spitwads that she had made him stay after school and clean gum from under the desks, which was just really gross. What stank about the whole thing was that it had been Kenny Prothro that had been actually doing stuff, Mike had just kept quiet about it; rotten old bag.
He was just thinking about getting home and somehow talking his way out of the extra chores that him mom would heap on him for being bad in school, when he heard a loud, snarling growl, and the sound of running feet. He turned towards the growl and saw the Milner's dog racing towards the fence, without his lead. Everyone, Mike included, knew that without that lead Sweetums could clear the fence with ease. He knew he should be running, but his feet seemed frozen to the spot, as though he was standing in wet cement. Suddenly he felt himself being grabbed and lifted into the air. Someone had a hold of him, and was running away from the Milner's dog. Sweetums did indeed clear the fence easily Mike saw. It was a little tricky to see because of the twilight and being bounced along on some stranger's hip. He felt the guy pause for a second and saw him drop a package of hot dogs on the ground before he sped up again.
Suddenly Mike was flying through the air again, and he thumped down in the Thurman's front yard. He looked up to see Sweetums pretty much inhaling the hot dogs, then looking up to find his main course for the evening.
Mike turned to tell the guy to run, but saw that he had a gun in his hand. The stranger was sighting along the barrel just as Sweetums was starting in their direction. Mike saw his finger tighten on the trigger, but instead of a loud bang (Mike had shot 22's in the Boy Scouts) he just heard a high pitched pop.
He looked back and saw Sweetums take two steps, and then drop to the ground. Mike looked back at the man with the gun "did ya kill him" he asked.
The man just gave him a hard look, then answered "no I didn't kill him, it's a tranquilizer gun, he'll just sleep for a while." The man came over and helped Mike to his feet "you OK getting home" he asked.
Mike just nodded, this was gonna make the coolest story when he got to school the next day. He headed off towards his house, his mind back to figuring out how to talk his way out of the extra chores, when he turned back to thank the guy with the dart gun. But the man was gone. Shrugging, Mike walked up the driveway and into his house.
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Gary walked into McGinty's just bone tired. Four big saves and scattered all over the city; yep, the paper hated him. He sat down at the bar and waved to Crumb, who pulled Gary a beer without asking. On the big screen, the Bulls were in the process of being routed by the Pacers, typical Gary thought as he sipped his beer.
"How'd it go today Gary" Marissa asked.
"Oh just swell" Gary answered sarcastically "I nearly got stabbed, beaten and chewed up by a dog the size of a Clydesdale. Oh, and I got tossed out of a restaurant and my wife won't be home till Saturday. How was your day Marissa?"
"Not bad, Brent found a guy willing to fix your boat for free, he just wants a recommendation and three free meals, and Teressa was looking for you."
Gary perked up at this, if Teressa was looking for him then maybe there was news on RC. He turned around and scanned the bar, looking for the girl.
"One more thing Gary, Ruth's brother was in today, but he left rather abruptly, you might want to avoid him for a while."
"Yeah Marissa, I'm not surprised he's upset. Thanks for the warning."
As he was finishing his beer, he saw Teressa. He walked over to her while keeping an eye on the bar; it surprised him how well they had done with this place. "Marissa said you were looking for me."
The girl didn't look up "her studio's open again, which means she's finished and probably catching up on her sleep right now, but she should be there tomorrow, it's Friday, and she's always in her studio on Friday."
"Thanks Teressa" Gary said, and he turned to walk away.
"I don't know what happened between the two of you" she said "but I've never seen Camden this upset before. Her brother came by looking for her, and then came back after he had visited her in her dorm. He said that she cried for about twenty minutes. You've been like a father to me Gary, but if I find out you've done anything to hurt her, I'll turn you in in a second."
Gary just sighed "It's nothing like that Teressa; I just said some things I shouldn't and made some very foolish accusations without thinking, I could never do anything like what you're suggesting, hell Toni would kill me herself if I did."
Teressa just nodded, but as Gary headed towards his loft he realized that she hadn't looked at him once. As far as he was concerned it was just the capper on an awful day.