Alic

            by Rose Fadem-Johnston

 

            Breathe in one, breathe out two, breathe in one, breathe out two.

The water rippled in waves, the lights of buildings from across the bay were whisked up in the waters movement and then ripped to shreds on the neatly piled rocks.  The wet fingers of waves flicked onto the jutting land below and sank back again into the ever churning salty mess. 

            Breathe in and ignore your fricken legs.

She didn’t know why she had taken up running.  All she ever heard about it was the damage it did to your knees. Breathe out two. And the small hairline splits people got in their shin bones. Breathe in one. Her friends had been hinting she needed to drop a few pounds. She could sure tell she didn’t have the greatest stamina just now. Breathe. But she’d be damned if she’d run toward a wall at the YMCA.  The cement pathways of the marina may kill her knees. Knees could be replaced. At least there was something to look at. Breathe out two.

            In front of her the docked boats were just beginning to reflect the first bits of natural light.  In the gray their tucked canvas sails and eggshell sides blended in with the fog. Only the stupid little names stood out. Mary Sue. Breath in one. The Dolphin. Breath out two. Lady Natasha. Stupid names scrawled in happy bold calligraphy.  Just keep breathing. She was in a crap mood this morning.

            She could ignore her stinging lungs. It was just all those fricken cigarettes that made her body scream. Breathe, should quit, keep breathing.  Yes, and she could easily ignore the screams of her body, but she was still pissed about that money.  The image of the stacked bills, side by side by side, money she didn’t have. The bills called for attention in her mind.  Ignore the fricking legs, What the hell was she supposed to do about all the money?

 

***

 

            Alic was a sweet kid. That’s what his gran had always told him. And it was true, he didn’t like spiders or old spooky houses.  He liked the pictures clouds made and he hated snakes. He loved to feed the squirrels and to watch birds outside of his window. And he didn’t like to see people sad, or struggling, or to see blood.  He didn’t like the way blood made his fingers all sticky.  It was not sticky in the fun way that Elmer’s glue got sticky. It was just sorta goopy. 

            Alic had tried carrying little hand sanitizing packets around with him for a while.  He had stopped after a few went through the wash and bleached some speckled stains onto one of his favorite shirts. It was kinda like leopard spots. He liked it. His boss at work thought it was stupid. Alic didn’t wear that shirt now. Looking at the face of the man under his fist, Alic wished he had brought one or two hand sanitizing packets along for the job.

            The job was done well enough.  Though the sorry man still gurgled air through the blood filling his throat. The sorry man was trying to spit out the blood, but lying on his back in the path, he couldn’t force it out. So the sorry man tried to swallow it.

The job was done well enough and Alic didn’t like looking at all the blood. He grabbed the shoulders of the sorry mans jacket, and pulled him over to the edge of the path, bordered in rocks.  Alic pulled the man up with his wide hands and tossed him, face first, as far as he could towards the water.  He could hear the crack of the head on a rock, and it looked like the face was  water. That was good because if the sorry man woke up and wanted to move he would only breath the water and so he’d be dead. Which was the point.

Yes, Alic knew he’d done a good job getting to the point.  The sorry man was sorta in the water and there wasn’t much blood. The sun was beginning to come up and lick through the dense fog. It lit up the sailboats docked in the distance. Alic had always wanted to sail. He adjusted his jacket and dusted off his knees. He went over to a drinking fountain with a spigot on the side for dogs. He rinsed off his hands. Then Alic went home.  He had an egg on toast for breakfast.

 

***

 

She slid up the metal grating from the windows that went from floor to ceiling, lining the street.  She unlocked the door and moved her hand to the side, fumbling to find the light switch the refrigerators in the back were buzzing softly.  Wandering through the small tables she replaced the chairs on the tile floor and wondered if she had slept the night before two jobs and school kept her up late. Getting the promotion to manager meant she had to open ever morning. 6am sharp. She made herself a soy mocha  no-whip and waited for the first customers to drift in, watching the gray downtown streets slowly fill though the large windows.

The first to enter the coffee shop were police men. Two of them. And surprisingly awake for the hour. She put on her best smile and attempted to flutter her eyes, but the lids were still heavy and all she did was blink. Just smile.

“Good morning,” she leaned on the counter next to the register, giving the two men an ample display of her cleavage. Tits make tips, “What can I get you?”

The men walked up to the counter together, looking entirely unpleasant. Just smile.

“We’re wondering if you have seen this man.” The pulled out a photo. Shit.

 

***

 

Alic didn’t really like the boss. And he didn’t like the jobs he was given. Allways cleaning things up. He was always moping up dark stains off the floor, only to have them appear later.

HE always had to take nasty things out in the trash. Even though the bags were plastic they still felt a bit damp sometimes. Made his hands smell funny.

There was always something strange happening around the boss. Alic was always being sent to boil water and open and close the huge freezer. And the machines, all of the machines were always buzzing. Whirring. Chopping. Smashing little things. The people  were so loud.

No. Alic didn’t like his job. But when he had told his gran he had found work, she had said that whoever had hired him must be very nice.

Alic didn’t think that was true at all.

 

***

 

“Do you recognize him?”

All that money, she had owed all that money… and the cps had found her name. She yawned and stoop up straight, “Naw, he buy coffee?”

She had played poker with the man for the past few months. She was good at poker. Cards was one of the many ways she’d come up with to pay for school. He’d been good to. One of the few people to ever beet her.  But the cops were involved and that was always bad news.

Everyone seemed to owe money everywhere, and having the cops help sort it out was the last thing ‘most anyone wanted.

“you sure you don’t know him?” the man holding the blown up license photo scowled.

“Well should I?”

“Yours was the last number he called from his cell phone and from the records he’s been calling you for the past month.”  She leaned over the counter again, and looked up at the cop from under heavy lids. His partner shifted his weight awkwardly. She looked down at the photo again.

“Well holy frick!”

“You know him mam?” the cop didn’t look convinced.

“Well, yeah kinda,”  she  adjusted her voice to “cute” and began a story about a man who had hit on her once a few months ago,  who was kinda cute. She explained giving him her number expecting him never to call, and then being pestered by him to go out, but she “didn’t really want to and didn’t really have time.”

As she talked she could feel the second cop shifting weight more and more frequently.  Impatiently moving from one foot to the next.  She smiled and kept talking. She babbled about what he had been wearing and how she had thought of changing cell phones, if only because all the new cell phones were so ‘cute’ now—

“—So you only met him the once,” the partner finally cut in.  She kept her eyes on the cop with the photo.

“well, yes., but if he calls again I’ll let you know if you like…I normally just not pick up now.” 

The man with the photo leaned forward over the counter, pulled a dollar out of his pocket and dropped it in the tip jar with a wink. “That won’t be happening any time soon, but that you for your time.” His partner was already moving for the big double door, mumbling to himself and holding it open for the first real customer.

“Good luck with your case or whatever then,” she gave a little wave as the man with the photo left.  Shit. They hand found him. That was fast. They would find her. She had owed all that money. She smiled at the man standing expectantly in front of the register.  Breathe.

***

Alic swung the doors open to the coffee ship. It was already 10 in the morning, but the place was still full of people. All the little chairs were taken. People were lined up looking sullen at the register. The girl at the front looked flustered. She rushed between the cash register and the coffee machines.

The people who already had their drinks chattered loudly.  Alic preferred quiet with his coffee, but these people chattered.  The girl at the front. That was Evan. He studied her for a while and decided she giggled too much at customers and it was annoying.

Finally the line  ran out of people. Everyone had their coffee, and they each drifted past him out of the doors, talking through the din about the state of the world.

The girl, Evan, looked up. Here eyes locked with his and the smile drained from her face. Alic unzipped his jacked and walked up to the register. He swerved around the pastries and counter moving through the small swinging door. He walked back to the register where Evan stood, and stood looking down. A foot away.

Alic noticed how much taller he was then her. He noticed that the part in her hair got all messy in the back of her head. Alic sighed. It was time for work.

“should we go in the back?” he asked. Evan looked around the café. People still talked loudly. Each in their own world, but the front were shut. No one was coming in. No one was noticing her. He saw the nerves flash behind her eyes. Her breath had quickened.  “Come on then,” he let her walk in front of him. They moved into the storage room.

As the door swung shut behind she wheeled around to face him.  “I thought I told you never to where that shirt to work!” she slapped his shoulder lightly with the back of her hand.

“well I had to where something Evan. The one I put on this morning was covered in ick. Every thing was dirty Evan. Everything except this. So now I’m wherein this.”

“It’s hideous.”

“But I did it Evan. The guy who wanted to take your money…I did it.”

“I know you did. The cops already came by.”

Alic closed his eyes, his eyebrows knotted, he opened them wide again, full of concern. “The cops came here?”

“Did you put him in the water like I told you?”

“Well…kinda…enough so he wont get up.”

“Frick Alic. No wonder they found him.”

“I’m sorry Evan…Evan do I still get a raise?”

“Yeah, of course. I promised right? Don’t worry Alic. Alic relax. You’re a very good worker Alic.” Evan turned for the doors back to the main room.

“Evan?”

“Yeah?”

“Do I still have to take out the trash?”

“Yes Alic.”

“But it makes my hands smell funny.”

“Alic, I need to go, there are customers again. I don’t care if it makes your hands smell funny.  Just do it ok?”

“Fine, you’re the boss”  Alic moved for the trash bags stacked near the back door, wishing for the second time that day that he had some hand wipes.