Part 21 (1/2)
Chapter 26.
The door opened.
”Come in,” Lucy invited quietly. ”And take your shoes off. The carpet is too nice to ruin.”
”I always take my shoes off,” Tony muttered with a frown, looking incredibly guilty. His mother had driven that discipline into him. If he ever ventured into the living room with his outside footwear on, his mother would unleash unholy h.e.l.l. He slipped out of his shoes and moved past the TV and bed, towards the small table where Lucy sat and another chair waited. Two cans of beer were opened and waiting.
Tony pointed to the beers. ”Figured I was coming, did ya?”
”I guessed.”
”You're pretty good at that.”
”The best I know,” Lucy dipped her head, but there was no smile on her face.
Tony sat heavily, sized up the room and reached for a beer. He fondled the cold Molson for a moment. ”What's your name?” he finally asked her. ”Is it really Lucy?”
She shook her head slowly. ”I can't tell you my real name. If I did... your head would explode.”
Tony sighed and drank. ”So who do I owe my formal apology to?”
She smiled then, and the room lit up like a star had just exploded. A smile that would thaw any freeze the longest winter had to offer. ”Lucy is fine.”
”Lucy, then. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost it back there. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I'm sorry for ... for swearing. I'll try to do better.”
While he spoke, she watched him over the rim of her own beer. Her dark eyes glittered.
”That was nice,” she finally said. ”I believe you.”
Another sigh left Tony. ”Good.”
”You don't like apologizing, do you?”
”No.” He tossed his head to the side. ”Who does?”
”True,” Lucy agreed. ”Necessary sometimes, though. As is the truth I have to tell you now. We no longer have any of your time left to let things go their natural course. Other pieces are in action.”
”You said 'your time' again,” Tony pointed.
”Time is,” Lucy's eyes strayed to the closed curtains of her room, ”a human measure. A mortal one. You made it. You abide by it. It's yours.”
”A mortal measure?” Tony's nearly squeezed shut with the question.
”Mmmhmm.”
”So... you're not...” he shrugged, ”human?”
Lucy removed her toque. She shook her hair loose. It looked wonderful in the dim light of the room.
”What are you?” Tony whispered.
Her eyes strayed then, thinking on how to answer the question. Thinking on what she could tell this... man.
”I'm the help,” she finally said with a tight lipped smile. ”And that's good enough for now.”
”Another one of those words that'd make my head explode?” Tony inquired good-naturedly.
”Can't chance it. Not here. The drapes are too nice. And I like the carpet too.”
The carpet was maple beige and thicker than most hotel carpets he had seen. She was right. It was nice.
”So, why are you here?” He finally asked.
”To help you.”
”How you gonna do that?”
”For one, setting you straight about everything. As I said, things are moving very quickly now. We have to move with it. There are those who don't want Frank to be found. They want him to stay missing.”
”Alright. Fine. So, why do we have to find Frank anyway?”
Lucy drew breath, and Tony knew right then she was going to let him have it. The punch to end all punches. She knew she had to give it as well. The moment she got aboard the blue Mustang, she had known she would tell all. At least, he was accepting that he was in Alberta. That was a big start.
”You've been following the news?” Lucy asked him.
”You asked me this before, I think,” Tony said. ”Yeah. A little. Why?”
”What's happening in the news?”
”Aren't you supposed to be telling me something here?”
”I'm getting there,” Lucy told him with infinite patience, despite the urgency inside. ”So, what have you been hearing?”
Tony shrugged. ”Same old s.h.i.+t. Stuff, I mean,” he smiled an apology then. ”Politics. Sports, robberies, people getting killed.”
”What was the last news story you heard? Can you remember?”
”Ah...” he shook his head. ”No. Sorry.”
”It's ok,” she said. ”Let's watch some TV.”
She turned it on. The channels flipped until she got what she wanted: CNN. She backed up and perched on the edge of the bed. Tony watched her move the whole time in silence. He noted her cheeks were shaped like little apples.
The news announcer was a familiar face to millions, but one that Tony could not place. He didn't watch the news all that much. He could not be bothered. And the news was so d.a.m.n depressing anyway. Today was no exception. A pickup had nailed a five year old kid on a motorbike (stupid f.u.c.king parents had actually bought the kid the bike, so they could make home movies). Some woman swimmer had been resuscitated after being hooked out from under lake ice for forty five minutes. A power man had been zapped by a fallen cable for ten thousand volts. Five German peacekeepers in the Middle East had been badly mauled in a car bomb blast.
Nothing. Same s.h.i.+t. Only thicker.