Читать книгу Twenty-Four Shadows - Tanya J. Peterson - Страница 11

Chapter 4

Isaac felt Reese’s warm breath on the back of his neck. She was snuggled against him, and she felt good. He wanted to lie like this indefinitely, just enjoying her presence amidst the silence of the room. He pretended to be asleep to avoid shattering the moment. When she began to slowly run her fingers along his upper arms, his shoulders, and his chest, the stupid goose bumps betrayed his state of consciousness. He heard Reese giggle. “I know you’re awake.”

Isaac rolled onto his back and in one swift motion hooked his arm around his wife and pulled her against him. He opened his eyes. “Hey, you’re already dressed.” He opened his eyes wider. “Did I oversleep? Please tell me I didn’t oversleep. I don’t want to be late for work.”

Reese kissed him. “No, you’re not late. I just woke up extra early to get a jump on the day. Max will bring Elise by before he leaves for work, and I want to be ready. You have plenty of time.”

“Oh. Good.” He closed his eyes. He had so much to get up for, so many good things in his life, so why did he have no motivation to move? Why did he want to hide away here forever? He felt Reese begin to run her fingers gently through his hair. The goose bumps returned, but even they seemed half-hearted.

“Honey, are you feeling okay? I was hoping that your headache would be better this morning. It didn’t go away, did it?”

Isaac opened his eyes and gave her a crooked grin. He raised his eyebrows. “Since when do I let a little headache stop me? It didn’t stop me from doing the mattress mambo with you last night, did it?” Reese laughed, then nuzzled his neck and nibbled on his ear. That gave him something to get moving for. “Wanna dance again?”

Reese rolled over to lie on her back beside him. She laughed again. “Absolutely. But not right now or you will be late for work, Dominic will come barging in here looking for us, and Max will be left standing outside with the baby and eventually he’ll have to wander off to find someone to babysit her.”

Isaac sighed. “Yeah, all of that would be bad. Save the dance for me tonight, though.” No longer thinking solely of mattress dancing, he continued right into the topic of Max. “I’ll quit belaboring this, I promise, but I just feel so awful for Max and Elise. I know you can’t answer this, but how could Gretchen do this? I didn’t think they had it that bad. I mean, they had issues, yes, and they weren’t as compatible as you and me, but still.” He sighed. He looked intently into his wife’s eyes and implored, “I love you so much and I want us to be together for always and forever.”

“You got it, bud.” She kissed him. Only reluctantly did he eventually pull back so he could force himself out of bed to get ready for work.

A half hour later, he entered the kitchen ready to fake enthusiasm for the tasks of the day. The last to join the party, he made his presence known by plopping down on the blanket with Dominic and Elise. “Hey, Tiger! Looks like you’re taking good care of the baby this morning.”

“I am! She likes me. See?” He snatched up the stuffed elephant resting on the blanket and danced it in front of Elise, making it talk to her and eliciting squeals of delight.

“Wow. She does like you! But of course she likes you. You’re very nice to her, and Mommy told me that you’re very helpful. Elise knows that. You’re a good person, Dominic.”

“Thanks, Daddy.”

Max chimed in. “Your dad’s right, little man. You are a good person. Thanks for helping take good care of Elise.” Max looked at Isaac, then at Reese. “Thank you guys, too.”

Isaac spoke before Reese had a chance. “Don’t thank us. You’re our friend. Elise is special to us. We wouldn’t just let her go to some babysitter, Max.”

Max shook his head. “What is it with you and babysitters? Did you have some sort of a traumatic experience with one when you were a kid or something?”

Isaac shook his head and smiled. “No. Nothing like that. It’s just stuff you hear in the news, stuff about awful things happening. And articles in parenting magazines make me think that it’s best to avoid babysitters when possible.”

Max countered, “First, those stories are in the news because they’re anomalies. The vast majority of babysitters and daycares are good so they’re ordinary and not newsworthy. Second, you read parenting magazines?”

Isaac shrugged. “Reese leaves them in the bathroom. They’re just convenient to read when I’m in there.”

“TMI, dude.” He stopped and appeared thoughtful. When he resumed, he addressed Reese. “But, uh, I could maybe benefit from reading some of those. Would you mind if I, um, ever took a look at some since, um, you know, I’m kinda a mother and a father now?” He looked down and sighed.

Isaac stood up and approached his friend. He slapped him lightly on the back. Reese spoke. “You got it, Max. Whatever you need, we’re here.”

Max sighed again. “I appreciate it. And now I guess I need to get to work.”

“Yeah. Me, too.” Isaac kissed Reese, Dominic, and Elise, said good-bye to Max, and left for his job. He had a full plate ahead of him today. In addition to playing catch-up from yesterday, he had to scramble to finalize arrangements for several upcoming end-of-season special event nights plus work on the plan for beefing up some of the promotions for next year’s baseball season. He didn’t mind the workload. He loved what he did. He especially loved the busiest time of year, the summertime. More often than not, he was present at games, coordinating the special activities that took place between innings or mid-innings. Even though he was working, it was a fun family activity, too. Reese and Dominic usually came, and it was fun to see his son fall in love with baseball. Isaac loved the sport, too. He had played through high school, but he didn’t go on to the college level, at least as a player. Working as a mascot for the Conifers kept him connected to the game. And now here he was, still part of it all.

By the time he reached his destination, he was glad he was up and moving and ready to work. A part of him was still dragging, but part of him wasn’t, and that’s the part he would focus on. As he walked into the building and headed toward his office, he was intercepted by his boss, the general manager of the front office. “Hey, Aubrey. Good morning!”

“Morning, Isaac. Can I see you in my office?”

“Yeah, sure. Just let me get settled in, and I’ll be right there.”

“No. I mean now. Right away.”

“Uh, okay.” For whatever reason, he felt conspicuous as he walked behind Aubrey toward her office. She didn’t attempt to talk to him, and the silence was incredibly uncomfortable. He was cognizant of the sound of his pant legs sliding past each other; the noise was at odds with clacking keyboards and the rhythmic clunk of the copy machine in the distance. He stared at Aubrey’s over-sprayed hair as she bustled ahead of him. Had something terrible happened? When they reached her office and he stepped inside to find Seth, the human resources manager, already present and sitting in a chair at a small conference table, Isaac’s stomach lurched before it plummeted, and his mouth became dry. What was this about?

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

“Have a seat, Isaac.” Seth gestured to a chair. Rather than looking at Seth, Isaac looked past him to the mural of a baseball field that filled the entire wall.

Unable to say anything, he simply sat, lightly holding his hand against his tie to keep it in place as he lowered himself. He looked from Seth to Aubrey, who was now seated across from him.

Aubrey began. “How was your day off yesterday, Isaac?”

“Uh, kind of difficult. Helping a friend through a terrible event isn’t actually a fun day off.” Perplexed, he looked from Aubrey to Seth and fell silent.

“I’m sorry to hear about your friend, but while it was a noble reason to take the day off, I’m afraid that you didn’t actually have the luxury of taking a day off.”

Isaac furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

Aubrey shifted in her seat in a way that made her look, not uncomfortable, but more in command of the situation. “Don’t pretend that you don’t know what this is about, Isaac. We had a conversation a while back. You have missed far too many days of work. You’ve exceeded sick time, allotted vacation days, and the extra time off in the form of unpaid leave days we extended to you. You knew that you had maxed out. Yesterday was the last straw. We can’t have an employee we can’t count on to be present. We’re terminating you.”

Isaac shook his head rapidly. He willed himself to keep his emotions in check. “No. I don’t understand. At all. This doesn’t make any sense. Is this a joke?” He looked into Aubrey’s eyes, hoping to see a glimmer of playfulness. When he didn’t find it, he continued to stare at her, silently imploring her not to do this.

Aubrey nodded to Seth, who leaned forward slightly and slid a manila file folder across the table. “Isaac. Don’t play games. I’ve printed out your employment record over the last six months and highlighted the days you didn’t work. As you can see, your absences are excessive. If I printed reports dating further back, the pattern would be the same. Because of the skill you bring to this team, we’ve tried hard to make adjustments; that said, we simply cannot continue to do so.”

Isaac swallowed hard. Reluctantly, he pulled the folder toward him. The noise of it sliding on the table sounded to him like death, like a paper towel being dragged across a flat surface right after someone had used it to squish the guts and the life out of a poor, unsuspecting bug. He swallowed again, looked at the people across from him, and then slowly opened the file. Bright highlights indicated the days he had missed work, different colors indicated different reasons. There was the information, but it couldn’t be true. He hadn’t missed this much work! He hardly ever missed work.

He began shaking his head again. The temperature in the room felt as if it were over a hundred degrees. Sweat poured out on his head and under his arms while his chest constricted painfully. He couldn’t breathe. He loosened his tie just enough to help the choking sensation ease up a little. “This isn’t right. I mean, I see the information, but are you sure you aren’t mixing me up with someone else? I haven’t missed this much work. I haven’t. I—”

“I’m sorry, Isaac, but you have,” Aubrey interrupted. “And yesterday was one too many.”

“But—”

Seth shook his head slowly, and Aubrey held up her hand. “No more ‘buts,’ Isaac. You’ve had enough chances. Yesterday was the last straw. We’re letting you go.”

No. This couldn’t be. It just didn’t make any sense. He didn’t miss work like they were accusing. He didn’t. He came to work. He didn’t miss. He was confused. Heavy guilt joined the rest of his thoughts and feelings, stomping from his mind down to his heart and kicking hard against it. What about his family? The room was slanting and spinning, nauseating him. He didn’t know how to convince them or change their minds, but he needed to. His stress level was rising rapidly, and he was struck across his entire forehead with one of his searing headaches. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened them, he took off his glasses so could see better and tucked them carefully into his shirt pocket. To make himself more comfortable, he slid down in the chair a little into a bit of a slouch and crossed his right ankle over his left knee. He studied the two people who sat across from him looking so somber. He extended his arms, palms up, and then shrugged. He grinned broadly. “Hey, c’mon, guys. What the heck? It’s me!” He thumped himself lightly on the chest. “I ain’t got a clue what y’all are talking about, but surely we can make this right.”

Aubrey and Seth looked at each other. Isaac laughed. “That was a funny look y’all gave each other. Did it mean, ‘What were we thinkin’? We can’t fire Isaac, because he’s awesome!’ If so, I like that look. Whuddya say? Can we work somethin’ out?”

Aubrey and Seth stood. Seth reached over and yanked the file back, and then, tersely, he spoke. “Isaac. It’s over. You’re fired. I’ll walk with you to clean out your office, and then I’ll take you outside.”

Isaac jumped to his feet. “Whoa! You’re seriously doin’ this? After all this time? We’ve given you so much. We’ve done a really good job. We’ll keep doin’ great things. Ya know what I’m sayin’?”

Again his former employers exchanged glances. Aubrey flatly responded, “We?”

“Yeah!”

She exhaled sharply. “Isaac, I don’t know who you mean by ‘we,’ but ‘you’ are fired.” To Seth, she said, “Take him to his old office to clean it out.”

Seth touched his arm, but Isaac jumped away. “No. No no no no no. Don’t take me to my office. I don’t need anything. I don’t want any o’ that stuff. And don’t walk me out. I’m goin’.” He marched out of the office and down the hall. He paused, threw his hands in the air, and to the people he could see in the cubicles, he shouted, “Be careful! Aubrey an’ Seth make stuff up about ya just to get rid of ya! They fired us. We’ve been fired!” He didn’t wait for a response or a reaction but instead rushed out the door. When he reached the parking lot, he stopped short and pivoted around. He wanted to do something for old times’ sake.

He darted over to a brick column and hid behind it. He ran his hand gently up and down, smiling at the sandpaper-like sensation. The times that he had worn the mascot costume, he had rubbed this column for good luck so he would do stupid things the right way instead of the wrong way. It had been a silly superstition, he knew, but baseball players were notorious for their ridiculously weird superstitions—like those pitchers who wouldn’t step on the chalk lines when coming in from the field to the dugout—so why couldn’t the mascots have them, too?

He looked left, then right, then peered around the column to see if anyone was nearby. Satisfied that the coast was clear, he trotted to the side of the building, flattened himself against it as much as possible, and inched along toward the door that led to the cavernous locker room area. He heard some players, probably gearing up for practice, so rather than walking out in the open, he continued to slink along the wall until he reached his destination: the little room that held the mascot costume. Of course no one was in there. Swiftly, he donned the tree. He inhaled deeply and reveled in the familiar smell of reticulated foam penetrated by sweat tamed by Endbac disinfectant, a scent he associated with fun and love and hard work and team spirit and belonging. Then, no longer hugging the walls, he rushed back outside and onto the empty baseball field. Knowing that players and coaching staff would soon emerge, he didn’t have much time. That was okay, though. He just wanted to have a little bit of fun before he had to go away from this stadium and this team forever. Too bad he couldn’t have Dominic with him. He halted for the briefest of moments to swallow a painful lump. Undeterred, he ran to the pitcher’s mound, pretended to throw a pitch, ran like lightning to home plate, and swung an imaginary bat at his imaginary pitch. Home run! He danced to first base, twirled to second base, cartwheeled awkwardly to third base, and ran to home, sliding when he was only halfway there. That wasn’t very good for the costume, but why should he care anymore? He jumped and cheered and hooted and hollered and didn’t notice security guards approaching until they were almost on top of him. Oops.

He scrambled toward the parking lot. His legs moved faster than the tree trunk allowed, so he crashed hard onto the ground. Fitting, he thought, because his employers just felled him like lumberjacks felled real trees. He didn’t want to be dragged into the building to face anyone again, so he wriggled out of the costume as quickly as he could, tossed it toward the approaching security guards, and ran for his car. He dug the keys out of his pocket, unlocked it as soon as he was in range, jumped in when he reached it, and screeched away, tires spinning on loose gravel.

Once he slowed down and began to breathe normally, he realized that the radio was on. He shook his head. Of course it was on this stupid station. He punched the buttons until he found the country station he was looking for, then rolled down the window and sang and jammed to the music. Traffic was good this time of the morning, so it didn’t take him long to reach the REI store. He loaded up on supplies: a large backpacking pack, a CamelBak hydration bladder and water filtration system, a bedroll and small tent, fire starting supplies, dried food items, and proper hiking boots and clothing. Since the people who worked there all knew him, he was able to use their back room to change and to put his stuff together.

Properly equipped, he was ready for his big adventure. His heart pounded with excitement, and his cheeks were cramping because he couldn’t stop grinning. He bounced on the balls of his feet as he admired himself in the mirror. The little trips he usually took were fun but confining. Now, though, now the restrictions were gone and he could use his own legs to take him anyplace his own mind could imagine. He massaged his cheeks as he continued to mull over what he wanted to do. He didn’t have a set agenda. He simply knew that he wanted to wander freely in the great outdoors he loved so much. When he left the store, he looked at the car he had parked in the lot. Why take it? He was on a hiking expedition, not a road trip. He pivoted and re-entered the building. “Yo, Cameron,” he shouted over to his friend behind the counter.

“Back already? What did you forget?”

“Nothin’ man. I was just thinkin’ that since I’m goin’ hikin’ and stuff that I won’t be needin’ my car. Wanna use it instead of takin’ the bus everywhere?”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Why not?”

“Um, is there a title or an insurance issue?”

After thinking it over for five full seconds, he shrugged, grinned, and said, “Probably not. Why don’t you have it for a while?” He shrugged out of his backpack, fished the keys out of it, and tossed them to Cameron. “Enjoy!”

“Well, if you insist, Isaac. Thanks. I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it.” He saluted Cameron and, with a spring in his step, headed out the door for good.

He didn’t really have a plan, but he thought he might get to the north side of Portland and follow the Columbia River east. The sizzling heat didn’t feel oppressive the way high temperatures sometimes could. Quite the opposite, it felt liberating because he was going on a big adventure. He made it through the city and had walked about an hour going east along I-84 when a pickup passed him and pulled to a stop. He wasn’t really planning on hitching a ride, but he wasn’t planning anything at all one way or another, so he figured hell, why not? He jogged up to the truck, leaned forward on the door, and poked his head inside the open window. The driver said, “Hey there. It’s a scorcher today. Hop in if you’d like a ride.”

Opening the door and climbing in, he extended his hand and said, “Thanks, man. My name’s Jake.”