The Tribuo - 63. Part V, chapter 16

- XVI -

We were sitting outside, and I was amazed when I didn’t feel like I was going to freeze to death. The weather felt surprisingly nice for the end of December. The sun was shining, there was no wind, and it finally stopped snowing. It wasn’t warm or anything like that -- the snow on the ground wasn’t even trying to melt; but it wasn’t awfully cold either.

“…and that's how the tradition was born,” Russell finished his wild story about why people put angels on top of Christmas trees.

I laughed so hard that I managed to snort coffee out of my nose. The story was hilarious. Russell grinned and drank his coffee.

“I know you,” he said finally, and I stopped laughing.

“I don’t think so,” I said just like before. “I would’ve remembered you.”

“I saw you at the cemetery back in October,” he said calmly. “You were with some bizarre-looking guy. I thought he was your bodyguard or something. And you had two roses in your hand.”

“One rose,” I blurted out before I could think, and he smiled at that. “Oooh,” I breathed. “You are sneaky!”

“I can be,” he agreed. “Who do you have at that cemetery?”

“A friend,” I said unwillingly. “But I don’t remember seeing you there…”

“I saw you on my way out,” he finished his coffee. “I just finally figured out why you looked so familiar. It was bugging me all morning. Small world, huh?”

“I’d say,” I nodded.

I couldn’t believe that he remembered me. I was about to say something else, when his phone rang.

“Yeah,” he said after several seconds that it took him to get his phone out of his pocket. “Hey! How’s the headboard? Totaled, huh…” he laughed. “Yeah, I know… You went where? Oh, him… Yeah, I know…” he frowned. “What?! Are you serious? Jesus…” he closed his eyes briefly. “When? I see…”

“I’ll be right back,” I said when he opened his eyes. “Want more coffee?”

He nodded and handed me his cup.

“Thanks,” he muttered. “No, not to you,” he laughed into the phone. “I am at Starbucks…”

I walked away, thinking that I had to figure out what to do next.

LEX

I gave up on trying fixing the damn headboard. It’s dead, I thought, let it go. I didn’t realize that the stupid thing was so fragile. I mean, the damn headboard was metal, all right? I didn’t expect it to fall apart so easily. Granted, there was some serious shaking and pulling involved, but still… Oh well, forget it.

I looked at the clock. 11:15. I kicked the mutilated headboard away and thought about Jess again. Damn, I have to talk to her… Suddenly, I had an idea. I grabbed my car keys, and soon enough, I was driving to Landley’s apartment.

I got there fairly quick, considering the road condition. I rang the doorbell, thinking about what exactly I wanted to say to him right now. The door opened and it wasn’t Landley. It was some tall, skinny guy who looked like he just woke up.

“Hey,” he muttered when he saw me. “May I help you?”

“Is Paul here?” I asked, and the guy stopped rubbing his eyes.

“Oh, I guess you don’t know, huh…” he said.

“Know what?” I frowned.

He stepped outside without putting on his shoes, and pulled a cigarette out of his pocket.

“He is in the hospital,” he said finally.

I blinked. Hospital?

“I came back this morning and the door was unlocked and all,” he continued. “I thought that we got robbed or something…” He took a deep drag on his cigarette. “Then a neighbor of mine came by, and he said that apparently, there were cops and ambulances here yesterday… And they brought Paul out on a stretcher. Some crazy shit, huh?”

“Yeah,” I said slowly. “What happened to him?”

The guy snorted.

“Stupid son of a bitch managed to OD on his shit finally,” he said, and suddenly, I was very cold and the weather had nothing to do with that. “I called the hospital after I talked to the neighbor… They said he’d be okay, but they want him in there for a couple of days, just in case… They still don’t know who called 911. Weird, huh?”

“Yeah,” I muttered. “Weird…”

“Are you a friend of his or something?” He narrowed his eyes. “ 'Cause you don’t look like someone who’d be friends with him, you know? You look too clean.”

“I know him from school,” I said automatically.

“Oh, I see,” he took last drag on his cigarette and flicked it away. “I told him that he’d end up in some deep shit,” he shrugged. “But he just flipped me off. Want me to tell him that you stopped by?”

“No,” I shook my head. “It’s fine. Nothing urgent.”

“Cool,” he nodded. “I’m going inside, I am cold.”

“Yeah, sure… Thanks, man!”

“No problem. See you around.”

He went back inside and closed the door. I stood there for a couple of minutes, trying to figure out what to do. Finally, I went back to my car, got inside, and called Russell. I told him about Landley, and he just muttered, “Jesus.” Then he said, “Thanks.”

“For what?” I frowned.

“No,” he laughed. “Not to you. I am at Starbucks. Get this, a friend of Jess’ old roommate showed up last night… Rayne something. And Jess was in one of her 'Hostess of the Year' moods, so she told the girl to stay at our place for a couple of days. So we are at Starbucks now, since she was dying for coffee.”

“Is Jess there?” I asked and he snorted.

“No,” he said seriously. “I am here, remember? Jess wouldn’t go anywhere with me unless it was my funeral.”

He was right, I had to admit that. For some strange reason, Jess couldn’t stand the mere sight of him. Puzzled the hell out of me.

“I might stop by your place today,” I sighed. “I need to talk to Jess.”

“Do it later,” he said. “I’m gonna take Rayne back to the apartment pretty soon. I was planning on helping you pick out a new headboard, since I was the one who broke it and all…”

I laughed. Yeah, he was the one who broke it, all right. Well, I guess that with Landley in the hospital, Jess wouldn’t be able to get hold of whatever crap she was using. Oh, God Almighty, I really hoped that Russell was wrong and she wasn't doing meth… Finally, I decided to wait with the pep talk. One or two days were not going to change anything, after all.

JESS

I almost finished cleaning when Rayne came back.

“I come bearing gifts,” she announced solemnly, and I laughed.

I felt so good right now that it felt unreal. I had enough crystals to last me for at least four more days, and she bought me two cartons of cigarettes. Life was magical.

“Want some cake?” she called from the kitchen.

“No, I am okay,” I yelled back, shoving the vacuum cleaner back in the closet.

“Coffee?” she came into the living room.

“No coffeemaker, remember?” I asked, and blinked when she demonstrated a decent-sized French press. “Oh my God… Yeah, coffee will be great!”

She laughed.

“Coming right up,” she nodded, and suddenly, I had a very strange feeling.

I know her, I thought in astonishment. Jesus Christ, I know her! How… Why… I had no idea how or why, but the 'I-know-her' feeling wouldn’t go away.

“Hey, have you ever hung out with Coleen while she was still here?” I asked, thinking that maybe that was it. I probably saw her with Coleen a while ago, and that’s why she seemed so familiar.

“No,” she shook her head. “I haven’t seen her in a long while… We went to school together, but then I had to move, and we only kept in touch through e-mails and stuff.”

Okay, so much for that theory. Am I hallucinating? I guess that’s possible… But no, I am not hallucinating, dammit!

“Do you take cream or sugar?” she came out of the kitchen once again.

“No,” I said thoughtfully.

“Okay,” she nodded and ran her fingers through her hair.

That was when it hit me. I must be hallucinating, I thought after she disappeared in the kitchen again. It was that gesture and something else… I frowned, trying to figure this shit out. Her eyes, I finally realized. Oh, Jesus Christ, no way! I shook my head, trying to get all those insane thoughts out of there. Yeah, right… I knew that if I got something stuck in my mind while I was 'energized,' it was going to drive me crazy until I went through with it. That was one of the side effects of the damn crystals. It was worse than some annoying song getting stuck in your brain.

We drank coffee, smoked outside, she had some of that cake, and I couldn’t stop thinking about the whole thing. I suppose this is how people go crazy, I thought bitterly. Finally, around five or so in the evening, I couldn’t handle this anymore. I made up some lame excuse, went into my room, and dialed the number that I still remembered by heart, absent-mindedly biting my fingernails while waiting for him to answer. I had no clue what I was going to say to him.

Finally, there was a click on the other end of the line, and I took a deep breath.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey…” I muttered. “Listen, I need to…”

“I am not here right now. Leave a message if it’s important. If not, then either call me back or leave me alone.”

Dammit! His damn voicemail! Well, crap. Fine, might as well leave him a message. I waited for the long 'beep.'

“Hey,” I said quickly. “It’s me. Listen, there is something I need to talk to you about…” I sighed. “Crap, I don’t even know how to explain this, but… Damn… Okay, call me back, okay? Some weird shit is happening and… I don’t know, I am probably seeing things. Anyway, call me back when you get this, okay? Oh, merry Christmas and all, I suppose… But seriously, call me when…”

Another long 'beep' shut me up. I turned off the phone and stared at it for a minute or so. Why the hell did I just do this? What if he will call me back? What am I going to say to him? “I am seeing things”? Great, just great. I threw the phone on the bed, feeling really frustrated. Finally, I decided to refresh my energy with just a touch up of magic that was hiding in my drawer, knowing that would help a ton.