The Bridge Over Acheron - 1. The Bridge Over Acheron

Jay moved his car up a few inches and then resumed his search of the airwaves. He was stuck in the three-hour purgatory known as rush hour. Like all the other victims of the trans-county commute he was resigned to his fate. The radio stations knew this and crammed as many commercials as possible into their broadcasts. The disc jockeys, aware of their captive audience, tried their hands at hosting talk shows. There was no music to sooth the savage beasts. It was not necessary. All the savages were anesthetized by exhaust fumes.

Jay finally settled on a station where a doctor was talking about childhood obesity. She explained that being fat led to being teased which led to low self-esteem. This made the children hate themselves and often led to self-destructive behaviors. Jay raised an eyebrow. It had not worked that way for him. He had been a fat child long before it was an international crisis. He had been the ugly boy with braces and unmanageable hair. He had been teased like the woman on the radio described but his response to it was far from the described norm. It had not made him hate himself. On the contrary, he had learned to think of the children who teased him as worthless brats.

By the time he was in middle school he was known for getting into fights and winning them. The only reason he was not expelled was his grade point average. When he went to high school many of his old classmates came along like unwanted baggage. He continued to fight with his enemies and it only got worse when it became known that he was gay. Jay never denied it. He saw no reason to. Because of his behavior he was constantly in the dean’s office. Finally his parents sent him to a different school and forbade him to start even an argument.

He did not know anyone at his new school and made no effort to know them. This was the beginning of a pattern that would dominate his life for years. He learned to stay out of sight and out of trouble. Like a shadow he passed though the school unseen. He followed directions and found it easy to live by other people’s rules. After high school he went to college. While most students reveled in the freedom of dorm life, he lived as if someone was always watching him. He faded into the background and slowly worked his way through school and into a drab gray cubical. He followed the patterns of normal society and it earned him a seat in a car on the congested interstate. It was almost seven o’clock and the disk jockey droned mercilessly about the latest news.

Jay tuned out the voice. He did not care about the news or even his own situation. Somewhere in the back of his brain something told him he should be outraged. It was a part of his old self that had not died despite being buried deep inside his numb brain. Jay looked around at the other motorists as they dragged themselves forward in first gear. Most of them stared ahead like zombies. A few showed some signs of frustration. One man was red in the face and looked on the verge of road rage. Jay wondered how it felt to care.

As they approached an off ramp at seven forty-five the exhausted motorists began checking their watches. They suddenly were becoming aware of the amount of time they had spent on the road. Only the detour signs seemed to wake them from their trance as cars funneled onto the street. Jay grimaced at the sight of the unfamiliar clogged intersection. The traffic report had undoubtedly warned him about this but he had not paid attention.

The cars inched their way forward at a snail’s pace into unknown territory. He hoped that if he followed the crowd he would somehow find his way home. As he waited for a light to change he observed his new environment. His eyes settled on a car parked by the curb. It had its hood open and an unhappy driver standing in front of it and talking on his phone. As Jay approached he turned the radio down. He could barely hear what the driver was saying.

“I’m sure it’s the battery,” the driver explained, “It was already acting weird the day of your party and then I didn’t drive it. I just need someone to give me a jump.”

Jay watched as disappointment washed over the man’s cute face. Their cars were now side by side and traffic had once again come to a halt. The man with the dead battery finished his conversation and put his phone away. Seeing that he had nothing to loose Jay called out, “Dude, you need some help?” pretending that he had not heard anything.

The other man’s face brightened immediately. As they hooked up the jumper cables Jay noticed that the light had already turned red for a second time and no one had moved at all. “This will start it up, but you’ll probably run out of gas by the time you get to the end of the block.”

“I was just planning to run it for a few minutes. I’m not planning to go anywhere until later,” explained the man. Then added, “Why don’t you pull over. Come inside and have a beer or something.”

Jay took the stranger up on his offer. A few minutes later they were in the kitchen of a third floor apartment. The tenant introduced himself as David and offered Jay a drink. Jay gladly accepted knowing he would not be able to drive any time soon even if he wanted to.

David’s home felt surreal to Jay. As they moved to the living room he observed that there were only the necessary pieces of furniture. The only decoration was a painting of one of the planets. There was nothing to suggest that someone was actually living in the home. It felt like a waiting room. As they talked the reason became apparent. David had recently moved across the country. He gave no reason for moving. Jay became more confused when David told him that he had no home or job waiting for him when he left. He had just become tired of his life and decided to move. This was not even the first time he had done this.

Not understanding David’s motives Jay changed the subject.

“What are you planning to do tonight?” he asked.

“Going out.”

“Out where?”

“Probably the West side.”

“What’s out there?” asked Jay surprised by the obvious lack of planning.

“Bars, clubs, and stuff.”

Jay could not get any more information than that. David was not sure what exactly he wanted to do so the conversation drifted from subject to subject until traffic cleared up. The last leg of Jay’s commute was relatively quick. He was happy to be home until he started to empty his pockets and found that his phone was missing. He remembered having it with him when he left work. He searched the car but the phone was not there. He went back inside and thought for a moment. The phone had almost certainly slipped out of his pocket in David’s apartment. He picked up the phone in his kitchen and called the cell number.

The phone rang but no one answered. Jay hung up the receiver knowing that David was probably out doing whatever he did on the West side of town. With a sigh of resignation he went to his refrigerator and pulled out a left over chicken breast and green beans. He ate slowly and then went to bed.

The next morning he was up early brewing strong coffee. Despite his eight hours of sleep he needed the coffee to stay awake. The monotonous rhythm of his life was constantly threatening to put him to sleep. His army of large coffee mugs was his only defense. He took a tumbler of the life sustaining liquid and got into his car. The interstate was jammed as always and the radio squawked like a dying chicken. Jay thought about the cell phone and about David. At work he tried calling the phone and reached his own voice mail.

At the end of the day he tried again. This time David answered. The phone had been on his couch all day. Jay was relived when David said that he could come over and pick it up any time. He left immediately and was once again stuck in Friday traffic. Ironically, the one day he wanted to get some place quickly was the one day that everyone seemed to have left work early and clogged up the roads.

When he finally arrived at David’s home Jay was sure that David would be gone. It had taken Jay an hour and a half to get there. He was pleasantly surprised to see the door open. David was ready for a night out. He was wearing low-rise jeans low enough to border on indecent and a tight black long sleeve t-shirt. His hair was styled to show of his fashionable spiky cut.

He gave Jay a big smile as he let him in. Somewhere in the back of the apartment music was playing but only the bass was audible by the front door. It gave the sparsely furnished apartment a pulse and made it feel alive. David led the way to the living room where Jay’s phone lay on the table. The floor vibrated slightly under them compelling them to walk to its beat. In the fiery light of the setting sun the room looked less bare. Jay hesitated to look at the lone picture on the wall. It seemed more dimensional now. The planet depicted in it looked round and smooth.

“You like it?” asked David.

“Yeah. What is it?” asked Jay.

“Its Uranus. I have a few others like it. Wanna see?”

“Sure. Do you have all the planets?”

“No. I got them from an artist who paints astronomical stuff. I just got my favorites,” David explained as he led the way.

“So you like astronomy?” asked Jay.

“Yeah. I don’t know much about it though,” David answered leading Jay into a small bathroom.

There was a large picture of Venus on the wall across from the shower.

“I think Venus was the goddess of beauty. That’s why I put it here,” David explained with a smile.

Then they went on to the bedroom. It had only a bed and a dresser for furniture. Both were black and felt too heavy for a room with only one small window. Above the headboard was a painting of Pluto in cold lonely shades of blue. David pointed out another painting over the dresser. It was a patch of night sky with bright cold looking white stars.

“Well, that’s it,” said David sitting down on the bed, “You got any plans tonight?”

“No, not really,” answered Jay impressed with how good David looked sitting on the bed.

“You want to go clubbing?” he asked.

“I probably shouldn’t,” answered Jay with out a good reason.

He found it hard to break old habits. David seemed to read his mind.

“Why not? It not a school night,” he teased in an almost childlike voice.

“I know. I just normally stay home and relax.”

“A change might do you good. At least go out for a drink with me,” insisted David as he slowly got up from the bed.

Jay finally gave in. He agreed to go out for a drink but insisted on driving his own car. When they got to the bar, Jay’s apprehension dissolved. It was small and not crowded. There was a TV, a pool table, and an open area where a few of the patrons were dancing.

“Is this where you spend your Friday nights?” asked Jay.

“I come here from time to time, but I usually go to some of the places up the street.”

“What’s up the street?” asked Jay happily drinking his beer.

David tensed up and hesitated unsure of what to say. The bartender answered for him, “gay bars.”

Jay almost laughed at the worried look on David’s face.

“If you want to go to a gay bar its fine with me,” said Jay.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’m gay.”

David smiled relieved that he had not made an enemy. They talked for a while and then went to another bar. It differed little from the first except that there were fewer women in this one. They had another drink and danced to a few songs. Jay felt lucky as other men watched them. David knew some of the men in the bar and introduced Jay to them. He was enjoying himself and would have stayed longer but his body was trained to sleep from nine to five. Feeling exhausted he thanked David for a good time and went home.

When he reached his apartment it was midnight and Jay could hardly keep his eyes open. He collapsed on the bed with a vague awareness that something in his environment had changed. He was too sleepy to investigate and already half dreaming of David. As he slipped into a deeper sleep he wondered what David was doing.

The next morning Jay awoke to bright sunlight and an eerie silence. Feeling disoriented he looked at the clock. It was eight thirty. Somehow that made him uneasy. Normally his neighbors would have woken him by seven at the latest. They habitually fought late into the night and started again in the morning. When he had first moved in, he had almost called the police several times. It had sounded like he was living directly under the seething bowels of hell. Eventually he had gotten used to the noise and accepted that whatever went on overhead was none of his business. The sounds of dishes breaking and bone hitting floorboards became part of the rhythm of life. Now the absence of these sounds seemed ominous. Jay tried to remember if any noise had woken him at night. It had been dead quiet.

Jay walked to the bathroom wondering what had caused this change in his world. After using the toilet he glanced up at the ceiling. There had always been a crack in the plaster but now there was a dark stain around it. He stared at it trying to identify the deep burgundy color. It had dried in places turning a dark brown. It looked like blood. Jay did not want to believe that but he could not think of anything else that would have produced those colors.

After a few minutes of nervous thought he called the apartment manager. The manager went upstairs to check. He knocked on the door but no one answered. Then he got the master key and went in. He found his tenants dead on the bathroom floor with a gun laying between them.

By Sunday the police had finished their investigation and all was quiet again. Some of the residents had heard shots fired early Friday afternoon. It was unclear who shot whom but it was most likely a murder suicide. The manager had promised to send someone to fix Jay’s ceiling on Monday. Until then Jay would have to live with the bloody crack. It seemed to look down on him like a squinting eye. If he stood still it seemed to breath like something alive that had invaded his home. He wished he had called the police during the neighbors’ many fights. There was a chance that he could have saved them.

That afternoon he gladly went out to buy some groceries. He was grateful for the distraction but it did little to lighten his mood. He spent the afternoon in front of the television. Not wanting to cook he picked up his cell phone to order a pizza. He discovered a new number in the phone. He smiled for the first time that day realizing that it was David’s number. He liked David and had been hoping that they would become more than just casual acquaintances. The thought was an island of relief in his depressed state. He considered calling the number but decided not to. He would only complain if he did.

For the next two nights the guilt and horror of what had happened on Friday impregnated his dreams with dark images. The Monday morning sunrise was a welcome sight. The day brought back some of the regularity that he badly missed. He found the congested interstate a comforting return to normality. His cubicle was a gray sanctuary from the vivid reality that was breaking through his sense of security. The day seemed to pass too quickly. He dreaded going home not sure if the hideous stain would still be there. As he maneuvered onto the interstate an idea occurred to him. When he was comfortably parked in his lane he took out his phone and called David. With the awkwardness of someone who’s social life was limited to office parties, he asked David to join him for dinner. David happily accepted his offer.

Once Jay arrived they settled on a small Chinese restaurant. As they talked about the weather and the food Jay tried to be cheerful but could not completely hide his feelings. When the waiter left with their order David took Jay by the hand and demanded to know what was wrong. Jay told him about the suicide as he looked at the gentle hand that held his. He noticed a thick white scar near the wrist. It seemed strangely out of place there. As soon as Jay looked at it David pulled his hand away putting the focus back on the conversation.

“So the blood actually came through your ceiling?” he asked with a grimace.

“Yeah, that was the worst part of it. It’s like having a tombstone in your home. It makes it real. They were young…” he let his voice trail off.

“Life’s short,” answered David looking out the window, “That’s not always a bad thing,” he added speaking mostly to himself.

“But they could have lived. They were young. I should have called the cops about the fighting,” Jay protested.

“Youth doesn’t always equal happiness. Anyway, it’s a person’s choice to take his own life. Sometimes people die unexpectedly. You can’t always fight the reaper.”

Jay was about to argue but before he could say anything their food arrived and their thoughts turned to more pleasant things.

“So, did you like the places we went last week?” asked David.

“Yeah, that was fun,” answered Jay smiling at the memory.

“I know you’re probably not up to it today but do you want to go some place next weekend?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Just can you do me one favor?”

“Sure. Anything.”

“Leave the business casual at the business.”

They both laughed. Jay remembered how out of place he looked last time they went out. David wanted to go clubbing this time.

As they finished eating Jay noticed that David was looking at something in the distance. Jay followed his gaze out the window and saw a graceful bridge. It spanned one of the streams that flowed through the West side of town.

“That’s the Acheron Creek Bridge. Isn’t it? Those are some nice arches,” commented Jay.

“It’s the tallest bridge in the county,” said David still looking at it, “one hundred and eighty feet.”

Jay was about to ask him where he learned that when the waiter came to clear their plates. After paying the bill Jay drove David home. The streets were less congested now and Jay was happy to avoid the usual commute in its full six o’clock glory. He parked the car and walked David back to his home. David gave Jay a lingering hug before they parted.

As he drove home Jay tried to analyze his new friend. It would have been easy to dismiss David as a superficial party animal but there were some characteristics that did not fit. For example, the interest in astronomy and knowledge of mythology were uncommon for the modern followers of Bacchus. David seemed to know things that never even crossed Jay’s mind, like the height of a random bridge. He was mysterious. He seemed to have come from nowhere for no reason. He had sinister scars from unknown battles. Jay wanted to know more about him.

When Jay got home he found the bathroom ceiling fixed. The new plaster was a spotless white. The ghastly wound was gone. Only a faint groove remained where the large bleeding crack had been. Jay found it easier to sleep that night and easier to shower the next morning. The old stain began to feel like a bad dream that no longer existed to the waking mind. The memory faded with uncanny speed, stamped out by the rhythm of the daily routine. Jay happily let the unseen forces of habit and conformity take control and numb his brain until Friday.

He waited until exactly five o’clock. Then he broke away from cubicle life. He changed his cloths in the bathroom. As he combed his hair in front of the mirror he saw in his reflection someone he did not know but instinctively liked. The young man in jeans and t-shirt looked more real than his nine-to-five self. On the road he found himself strangely aware of his surroundings and for once in a long time he felt his heart beat.

David seemed to approve of his efforts to look fashionable. After looking him over David gave Jay a hug. David was wearing a tight tank top and a butt-hugging pair of jeans. He seemed to get more sexy every day. Jay noticed that he was wearing a watch with a thick band on one hand and a leather cuff around the other wrist. They seemed unusually large on his small wrists. Jay wondered if the cuff was there to hide his scar. David asked Jay to wait in the living room as he rushed around taking care of a few things. Jay told him to take his time but David ran around franticly as if he wanted to escape from his home as soon as possible.

As David tossed something into the trash can Jay got up to tell him not to hurry. David took of the leather cuff and began to wash his hands. Looking over his shoulder Jay could see two long scars that were like the bite of some awful fanged monster. David ran his fingers over them gently before drying his hands and replacing the cuff. He nearly jumped when he saw Jay standing by his side. The look on his face was like that of someone caught naked. Then he smiled regaining his composure quickly.

They went out to eat first and then to drink. They went to a noisier more crowded bar this time. It made Jay uneasy until he had a few drinks. Just as he was starting to relax David took his hand and led him down the street to a club. Jay had only been to two clubs in his life. The pounding music and flashing lights made him dizzy at first but he soon found comfort in the moving mass of people. He let himself lose track of space and time as David danced closer and closer to him. The rhythmic rubbing of their bodies was enough intoxication for Jay but David continued to drink. His graceful movements became uncoordinated but he continued his struggle to move to the beat.

When they finally left at Jay’s instance it was two in the morning. David was drunk and tripping over his own feet. He pulled his car keys out of his pocket and went to the driver’s side of his car but Jay stopped him. David handed the keys over gladly and collapsed in the passenger’s seat.

“You could get us killed driving like that. You know that?” said an annoyed Jay.

“Sorry, babe,” answered David, “I should have thought of you.”

Jay was surprised by the indifference in the strangely sober voice. He did not say anything more until they got to David’s apartment. Jay walked him home. He seemed to have regained some of his former grace during the short ride. He asked Jay to spend the night but Jay refused. He was tired and wanted to sleep in his own bed.

“I really don’t feel comfortable. I barely know you,” he recited the clichéd movie line.

“Please,” begged David as tears began to form in his eyes, “We don’t have to do anything. I just don’t want to be alone.”

The look of desperation confused Jay but he held his ground. “I gotta go home. I’ll talk to you tomorrow OK.”

David did not answer. He planted a trembling kiss on Jay’s lips. They parted without another word.

On the way home Jay was bothered by the look on David’s face. He wanted to blame it on the alcohol but there was something much deeper and sadder in it. The desperate way in which he asked Jay to stay was disturbing. It did not make sense. He thought of the way David had been in a hurry to leave the apartment. He remembered the strange scars. They were frightening yet inexplicably familiar. The cuts had been deep and painful. Jay stared at the mute black asphalt trying to think of what could have made them. Then he remembered something he had seen on television. The scars were like those made with razor blades.

The thought chilled him to the bone. As he fumbled with the heater he tried to explain the scars some other way. His mind did not want to accept that David could have cut himself. These things did not happen in his regular ordinary world. A part of him wanted to go back and ask questions but some other force kept him moving towards home. He tried to convince himself that David was asleep safe under Pluto’s blue gaze. Jay wanted to go home and close the door on reality but he knew that it was impossible. The real world had quite literally torn a hole in his safe apartment and left a bloody stain. No amount of plaster could hide the truth.

Jay slowly got off the freeway and got on going the other way. In the starlight he embarked on a surreal late night version of his morning commute. The reasonable obedient part of him screamed at him to turn around but for once he did not listen. He drove faster, fighting off the urge to go home. He needed to know that David was safe.

He retraced his path to the apartment and ran to the door. He knocked but nothing stirred inside. He rang the doorbell and called David’s name but no one came to the door. The apartment stood silent as a crypt. Jay pounded on the door violently.

He tried telling himself that David was in a deep sleep. Jay knew it was a lie. Looking back at the parking lot he saw that David’s car was not where they had left it. He ran back down the three fights of stairs. He checked the rest of the lot on foot but the car was not there. He tried to think of where David could have gone. Out of breath he sat down on the curb and looked up at the sky. As he thought of the places they had been together the stars seemed to look down on him like a million eyes daring him to fight fate. As the lights began to go on in neighboring apartments Jay remembered the bridge.

He jumped up and got in his car. He raced towards the bridge hoping that his sense of direction was not crippled by lack of sleep. His heart pounded furiously as he stopped at a light. It seemed that they all were turning red just to slow him down. By the third one he just stopped to look both ways and continued. By the fifth block he could see the bridge ahead of him. As he approached the next intersection he could see a car parked on the bridge. He was closing the gap quickly now. He was only a few lights away when his car suddenly died. Turning the key he frowned at the gnawing grinding sound that emanated from under the hood. Just two blocks ahead he saw David get out of the car.

Jay tried to revive his car but it would not move. It was like a nightmare where some unseen entity was holding him back. Jay turned the key again as David closed the door and took a step towards the edge. Jay finally gave up on the car. Whatever evil had a hold of him could have the car. He got out and started running. Seeing David put his hands on the waist-high concrete railing, he ran faster. He went through the last intersection without looking for cars. Nothing mattered to him now except the sight of David pulling himself onto the ledge that was meant to protect him. Jay screamed David’s name as misfortune grabbed at his feet. He fell hard ripping his pants. Then he was back on his feet calling to David. Jay could not take his eyes of the man who was now hesitating on the thin concrete line between life and death.

Jay ran faster than he ever had in his life but the distance seemed too long. David turned to look over his shoulder in slow motion as Jay called his name. He was only a few feet away when their eyes met. Then Jay was on the ledge. He guided David back to safety. Jay had won this battle but he knew that there would be many more. He looked into David’s eyes and knew that it would be worth his every breath.

© 2007 jfalcon

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