Chuck had messaged me as I was pulling into town. He was taking a shower but would leave the door ajar, and I should just come on in when I got there. It felt a little strange, but there wasn’t room for me to argue on the matter.
When he had said that he was in a hotel a fairly traditional image had come to mind, and I was a little surprised when he provided a building number. The complex I found myself in was a maze to drive around, and I had to guess that this was one of those extended-stay places. Strange, given he said he was only planning to be here a few days. But maybe it was just the best deal at short notice. I eventually located the right building and pulled myself, my bag, and my coat out of the car. It was late March; crusted snow hung around in the shade up here. I found the door of the first-floor room and checked the room number against my phone. The door was standing slightly open, so it must be the right one. I checked the number again. Hesitantly, I pushed my way in.
“Hello?”
There was no reply. I strained but couldn’t hear a shower. Doors that I guessed led to the bedroom and bathroom stood closed. Chuck was probably still getting dressed. I made my way down the corridor and found a living-room-cum-dining-room-cum-kitchen at the end of it filled with light coming in from a large balcony. I dropped my coat and bag on a chair, taking in the two laptops, occasional item of discarded clothing, and the two-day’s-worth of takeout boxes that would have covered every meal that wasn’t coffee since he rolled into town. The couch didn’t look too comfy, but it would do if I ended up crashing here tonight instead of making the five-hour drive home again the same day.
I stretched and checked myself in the mirror, trying to straighten my top and combing my fingers through my hair in a hopeless attempt to de-frizz it.
“Hey.”
I felt myself jump and turned to see Chuck coming in from the balcony. I guess he’d had longer to finish up his shower than I’d thought.
“Hey. How’s it going?” It had been a couple of years, and I had changed a few things up since he had last seen me. I felt like he was busily appraising my new style while pretending not to be. But my mind has always tended to assume such things.
“Pretty good,” he said, but preempted it with a long sigh that suggested that wasn’t entirely true. “You?”
“Yeah. Pretty good.” I realized I had used the same sigh.
He smiled. “It’s good to see you. You ready to head over there?”
“Sure. Who’s driving?”
“I don’t mind.”
“I can, then. I know you get plenty of time in the car as it is.”
“I thought you didn’t like the smell of smoke in your car.”
“I thought you quit.”
“Yeah. I started again.” He half laughed and glanced at me, as if worried I was judging him. I probably was.
“Well, I guess we’ll take your car then.”
Chuck’s car was a lot like any of his living spaces.
“Anything important in this footwell?” I asked, peering in at him.
He laughed. “No.”
I got in, trying to ignore the rustle of empty cigarette packets and cardboard cups as I stamped them down to make room for my legs. He started driving with his knees, his hands busy with the first cigarette of the trip.
“You got the address?” he asked.
“Why would I? Only contact I’ve had to this one is through you.”
He produced a sigh of mock annoyance. “God, Alex, do I have to do everything?”
I smiled at him and raised an eyebrow. Then tried not to brace too much as he pulled his phone out of his back pocket, only half watching where he was driving as he navigated out of the complex. I distracted myself by trying to remember whether this was the same car he had last time I had seen him or not. Light debris covered most of it, but it still seemed like it might be a little tidier than I remembered. It felt like something had changed, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I could hazard guesses at what was going on in his life, but it wouldn’t do much good. The years had taught me that it would take him a while to get there, but he’d share eventually. Then I realized what was different.
“You’re wearing a seatbelt.”
“Hmm?”
“Does that mean that things are going…better?”
He let out his nervous chuckle again. “It’s a newer car. You can’t turn the alarm off.”
“Really?” It was always a little hard to tell if he was joking.
“Yeah. The old one would stop after a while, but this one just keeps going until you put the belt on.”
“I think that’s intentional.”
“Yeah. I called the manufacturer. They seemed confused. Said you couldn’t turn it off. There is a work-around, but it’s something you have to do every time you start the car, and…” he trailed off and shrugged.
“Things still not good then?”
“I mean…”
“How’s Maggie?”
“She’s fine. She’s at home.”
“Okay.” He didn’t seem interested in continuing, so I looked back out the window. I immediately regretted it. A flashing sign at the corner offered a biblical dinner theater that I guessed was styled after Medieval Times. This town seemed to be equal parts tourist trap and religious amusement park. A parody of all that any holy text had ever claimed to represent. A little down the road another sign advertised the “Great Spirit Buffet” offering “New & Native American Cuisine.” I doubted that it was authentic.
“This place doesn’t seem real.” I said as we passed a mock castle with a dragon’s tail sticking out of it.
“Right? I haven’t been getting out much since the first day. Research and phone calls mostly while I waited for you to get here. Odd to see it in the daylight.”
“Does seem strangely appropriate.”
“How so?”
“Oh. I don’t know. Coming back already felt a little surreal.”
“Glad to have you back though. Especially on this one.”
I tried to laugh. “We’ll see how it goes. I’m just here for the day.”
“Yeah. We’ll see.”
I held back a scowl. “How much can you tell me? You were a little vague on the phone.” He pulled off the main strip and down a side road, leaving what passed for civilization here behind us once more.
“I hadn’t got here then. Word had just come down that they needed me, and that was all I heard. Seemed convenient that it was only one state over from you.”
“Sure.”
“It’ll be good to get your take on it.”
“Right. So, what else can you tell me?”
“I think you should see it.”
I opened my mouth to question that, but he pointed a little way down the road and I saw two patrol cars parked outside a house. I adjusted myself and prepared to meet new faces that probably wouldn’t care about me, but might still be assholes. This wasn’t the kind of work you could talk about to just anyone. I had hoped that we could discuss it a little more first, but I should have expected Chuck’s flair for the dramatic and wanting to hold off. There would be time later.
I was first out of the car when he pulled up behind the patrol cars, but hung back until Chuck was out and flicking his second cigarette into the road. They’d want to see him first. I fell in step two paces back and one to the side, using my six feet in height to pretend I was his bodyguard and hoping the flowing clothes didn’t make that look implausible.
“Hi folks,” he said to the two officers who looked particularly bored. They must have been guarding this empty house for two or three days at this point. They nodded at him. Either he’d been down here a few times already, or they knew him by reputation. Always hard to say. I followed him past them and they didn’t react.
It was depressing to see a house like this so close to the affluence of the main strip. It looked like it might go down if you pushed it just right. Money always had a weird way of flowing in very specific directions through towns like these.
Chuck held the door handle. “Just like the good old days,” he said, turning to give me half a smile that seemed to make him sad.
He pushed his way in and it all came flooding back.
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