01.25.06
Chuck took Emma back to her trailer after a late lunch. She leaned up against the door, cocking her head at him. “I would invite you in, but Jordan will be home soon,” she said.
“I understand,” said Chuck. As much as he wanted to go inside with her, as much as he wanted to fall in bed with her, he understood that this was not the right time, this was not the right place.
“I’ll see you later,” he said, bending down to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and eagerly kissed him back. Chuck felt breathless and high, like his brain was being deprived of oxygen, but he didn’t really care. It was a good feeling, pleasant and tingly, warm and welcoming. Their lips parted. The stood for a minute gazing at one another, reflected visions of themselves smiling in miniature in each others eyes.
“I should go,” said Chuck. “I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
“Of course,” Emma said, still a little breathless from the kiss. “Good luck with the planning.”
“Thanks,” he said, turning away to track down Robert. “I think I’m falling in love with you,” he said under his breath, far too quietly to be heard. He just felt it was something that needed to be said.
Robert was sitting in his trailer, entertaining Will with a play by play of the last few days. He jumped up at the sight of Chuck, and wrapped him in a bear hug.
“It’s good to see you to,” said Chuck between thumps on his back. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in your fancy office in Toronto, helping the helpless?”
“I thought I could be of more help out here. Sounds like things have been pretty busy around here.”
“Yes, it has been an interesting week. The weekend will be even more interesting. Do you still have that mole?”
“I talked to him today, they are having a big meeting tomorrow.”
Chuck tried on his best predator grin. “Perfect, we are going to be there.”
“You are thinking of joining them?”
“No, I’m thinking of giving them the park.”
Animal took apart every piece of electronics he could find in the house, including his room-mates stuff. He swore up and down that he would put everything back together. He had filled up five shopping bags with collected speakers so far. Not enough. He dumped assorted textbooks, notes, binders and papers out of his knapsack and started for downtown.
The CD store was crowded, a surprising number of shoppers out on a Thursday night, looking for fresh music. Animal squeezed past the crowd and made his way to the back, where the surly cashier was gazing out over the store through his bangs with a look of utter contempt.
“Caesar, I need the speakers back,” said Animal. Caesar turned his head slightly to glare down at Animal.
“We had a deal. You can’t just take your stuff back like that.”
“It’s important Caesar. I really need them back.”
“Do I get my CD’s back?” It had slipped Animal’s mind what an asshole Caesar was. He thought quickly.
“Listen, I just found out the RF protocol I have been using causes cancer.” He pitched his voice louder so the customers could here. “If you want to give your customers cancer, that’s cool.” Some customers looked up, curious.
“What are you talking about?” Caesar asked, bending down lower to bring his face down to Animal’s level. Animal kept his voice loud, effectively shouting in Caesar’s face.
“The speakers here can cause cancer. I think if you cared at all about your customers you would let me remove them.” A small crowd had gathered around the counter.
“What’s he talking about, Caesar?” asked a customer. “Is your store making us sick?” Caesar stood up and turned to flip off the sound system.
“Fine,” he hissed at Animal. “Take them. Just be quick!” He stood to address the crowd. “There’s no problem, people, just a little technical glitch with the speakers. Nothing to worry about at all.” Animal ran up and down the aisles, collecting speakers and throwing them in his bag. With these included, he would probably have just enough. He paused at the door, seeing the new Sonic Youth CD on display. He tossed it in the bag, shouting out “Just put it on my credit” to Caesar, and rushed out the door.
That night Chuck had a meeting with all of the residents of the park. They were packed in the office, the only space in the park that afforded them slightly more room than the trailers. Chuck looked over the small sea of worried, tense faces. Word of the upcoming trouble had gone around. Chuck stood up on a chair. The quiet babble of the crowd ceased.
“Thanks everyone for coming,” Chuck started. A fine layer of sweat gathered on his brow, and his voice grew strained. “I know some of you already know what is happening, and most of you have heard the rumors, so I’ll be brief. A collection of religious fanatics want to take over the park, by any means necessary. They have been disrupting things here for awhile, and I think it’s time to put a stop to it. Me and a few others have a plan, and it’s one we are pretty sure will work, but we will need help. It could be dangerous, these are the people who blew up the barbeque, but I think we can minimize the danger. Anyone who doesn’t want be involved doesn’t need to be. The only reason we are doing this is because we want to keep our homes.” Chuck paused to collect his head. He wasn’t good at speeches, unless he was trying to sell something. Rallying the troops was not his forte. The crowd had shifted nervously at the talk of possible violence, and Chuck was worried that he had lost them. He mentally switched gears. “These people want to attack our way of life. They think we are nothing more than trailer trash, a blight on this city. I don’t believe that is true, I think we are more than that, but we need to prove it. I won’t let these zealots push me from my home, especially not now that I have just found it.” His eyes looked over the crowd, looking each person in the eyes for a beat. No one looked away. He had them. He had them all.
The next day, Malcolm and Cider tramped through the bush, Malcolm following Will’s instructions perfectly. He realized with a start that he was now officially working as a double agent. A double agent for the Black Knight! He had been watching the “Black Knight Greatest Crushes” DVD last night when Will had called, and he had been thrilled to be speaking with him while watching him on TV. Will ran him briefly through the plan, and explained how he could help. Malcolm was more than willing to take part, and sell out Cider and his crew. It just wasn’t worth it anymore.
“It’s right over here, Mr. Cider,” he said, working at keeping the obsequious tone in his voice. He pushed some overgrown branches out of the way, allowing Cider to delicately pass. Ahead of them was the tunnel entrance, looming over them like a gigantic hungry maw. Malcolm sighed slightly, happy he was able to successfully find the place. Will’s instructions had been pretty good, but he was relieved nonetheless.
“What exactly are we looking at?” Cider asked. He was not the sort of person who enjoyed a tramp in the forest. He hated having muddy boots.
“It’s a tunnel, Mr. Cider.” Malcolm walked to the mouth of the tunnel and pulled a flashlight from his pocket. Flicking it on, he entered.
“That much I can ascertain by myself. I can see it’s a tunnel, but why on earth did you bring me here to look at it?”
“Follow me, Mr. Cider, and I’ll show you.” He walked off into the tunnel, towards the trailer park. Cider paused a minute, and then entered as well, scrambling slightly to catch up to the receding light.
“This had better be worth it, Malcolm. I am not in the habit of having my time wasted.” Malcolm bit his lip, holding back the venomous reply. He was getting tired of Cider’s supercilious attitude, tired of being treated like a jerk by a jerk. Just a few more days, he thought to himself.
“I am pretty sure you will enjoy seeing this,” he said. “It might make your life a lot easier.”
They walked on in silence, before coming to the other end. Cider looked around, unimpressed. “More forest?” he said, scorn and derision in his voice. “You brought me all this way to see more forest?” Malcolm just pointed over Cider’s shoulder. He turned around slowly, and looked carefully through the denuded tree branches. The trailer park lay before him, the fences behind. It was the perfect entrance into the park. No one would see them, even if they were guarding the fences, a group of quiet moving men could take over the whole park. It was perfect.
“I’m sorry, my boy,” Cider said, looking apologetically at Malcolm. I was wrong to speak rudely to you. This is indeed something I am happy to know about. My thanks to you.” Malcolm had to hand it to Cider, he could still lay on the charm. “These trailer people will be in for one hell of a surprise tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow night?” asked Malcolm. “What are you going to do?”
Cider stared out at the trailers, sitting peacefully in gently curved rows. “I’m going to bring down such a fury on this place the residents will be tripping over themselves to leave. We are going to tear this place asunder, and leave naught but ashes behind us.” A cold glint shone briefly in Cider’s eyes. “This parks days’ are through.”
Night was slowly falling, bringing darkness to the park. Lights were lit, shining in the night, as Cider and Malcolm hurried back through the tunnel.
Friday found the park a hub of activity. A few people left, went out of town for the weekend, carrying their most important possessions with them. Most stayed. Chuck and Robert set up what can only be described as a tactical station in Chuck’s office. People came and went hurriedly putting plans into motion, taking orders, and trying to be helpful. The Japanese actuaries were nowhere to be found, leaving for parts unknown early in the morning. Animal showed up at noon, spilling out of a taxi with what looked to be hundreds of speakers, miles of wire, and box after box of unrecognizable hunks of technology. Chuck and Robert helped him load it into the office,
“Thanks again so much for helping us out, Animal” said Chuck, labouring under the weight of computer components.
“Not to be nosey, but should you not be in school right now?” asked Robert, pulling out his flask.
“On a Friday afternoon? Are you kidding? I haven’t had a class on a Friday yet. Next year I’m planning on a four day weekend.” Robert considered this.
“Are you sure you can get all of your credits that way. All of your breadth requirements from other disciplines?” Chuck looked at Robert sharply. He wasn’t sure if it was annoyance at his drinking, or surprise that Robert knew so much about the university course system. Fortunately Animal broke the silence.
“It’s now problem, I stay over the summer to take specialized film classes, and I pick up extra courses then. I’m set. So I brought all this junk, what do you want me to do with it?”
“Does it work outdoors?”
“As a matter of fact, it does.”
Cider was not used to waiting. He tried to reconcile himself to the fact that there were people whose time was as valuable as his, but it still put his water out. The waiting room was nice, as nice as a waiting room could be, filled with donated works of art, framed tourism posters, and a giant brass copy of the key to the city. An administrative assistant, possibly hired for her looks, possibly for her skill, sat at a desk, typing on a computer. Every once in awhile she looked over at Cider, as though hoping he would disappear. One less thing for her to worry about if he did. The old buzzard had been insufferably rude to her, so she was just going to leave him cooling for awhile.
The door to the mayor’s office flew open, and a laughing, jovial mayor came out arm in arm with a tall, broad-shouldered businessman. The mayor’s smile faltered at the sight of Cider, who was slowly rising from his chair. He ushered his guest quickly out the outer door and gestured for Cider to come in.
“Cecilia, hold my calls please,” he said to his assistant, who nodded assent.
He sat himself behind his polished mahogany desk, and fiddled with his papers while Cider sat himself in one of the guest chairs.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Cider?” the mayor sighed wearily. He was getting tired of Cider’s shenanigans. He had spent more than enough time on this matter, and he wished to see it completed.
“I need a favour,” Cider stated.
“Of course you do. What now?”
“I need you to keep the police occupied tomorrow night.”
“Do you really think I have the ability to control the actions of an entire police force?”
“I know you have the power to influence things. It’s simple, really. Just make sure they don’t go near the park. Have them set up different patrols, maybe outside the city more.”
“What exactly are you planning?”
Cider chose to keep his cards close to his vest. “Nothing that will concern the police. Let’s just say that after tomorrow, you won’t have to worry about that Sodom and Gomorrah any more.
“What about 911 calls? I don’t think we can control the entire system.”
“Don’t worry about the phone lines. We will take care of them.”
“What about cell phones? Can you take care of those as well?” Cider’s face blanched. He obviously hadn’t considered cell phones.
“I will just have to worry about that when the time comes. What I need to know is if you are with us or not? Can you help us or not?”
Mayor Peterson spun around in his swivel chair and looked out the window. His view overlooked downtown St. Catharines, with its’ crumbling buildings, and garbage strewn streets. More than anything he wanted to revitalize the city, and tourist dollars would go a long way to help, especially the tourists coming up from the States. Behind him he could hear the chair creak as Cider shifted impatiently, trying to see what the mayor was doing. Perhaps falling in with the Promised Ones wasn’t the best plan after all.
“I’m not really sure I’m comfortable with this Cider. Can you promise that no one will get hurt?”
“Mr. Mayor, I assure you that our plans do not include hurting people. We are just going to put a scare into them, a scare that will make them all leave of their own volition. I need to know, Mr. Mayor, can you help us or not? Can you help the city, or not?”
The mayor sighed deeply, and rubbed his face with his hands. “Very well, Cider. I will place a call to the chief of police. He owes me a favour. But I’m not promising anything. That’s the best I can do.”
“Thank-you, Mr. Mayor. I knew we could count on you. Your Christian nature shines through once again.”
“Good-bye, Cider.” The mayor didn’t even turn around in his seat. Cider quietly let himself out, leaving the mayor, still staring out at the St. Catharines skyline.
Chuck sat on his bed, and stared at the blank whit wall, still trying to decide if he was doing the right thing. Last month his biggest worry was getting a bad cappuccino, now, he was preparing himself for war, or a reasonable approximation thereof. Sometimes he felt like running back to Toronto, getting away from all of these problems, all this chaos. But he had nowhere to go, not anymore.
His reverie was snapped by a gentle tap on the door. Chuck glanced at the clock. Emma should be home by now. His smile faltered somewhat upon opening the door and seeing Robert.
“I know I’m not as good looking as the divine Ms. Emma, but you could at least pretend to be happy to see me.”
“Sorry Robert. Come on in. I am happy to see you, really.”
“You just would have been happier to see Emma, right?”
“Well, she is a good deal better looking than you.”
“Touché. I just thought you would like to know we got everything ready for tonight. We still have enough people to watch over the whole park, and we have doubled up the guards at the front gates and the tunnel. No one is getting in here tonight.”
“Thanks Robert.” Chuck paused, and tapped his fingers together nervously. “Do you think we are doing the right thing?”
Robert sat at the small kitchen table, and looked out the window. He pulled his ever present flask from his pocket and took a long drink. “I think this place is worth protecting. I think these people deserve to be left alone. Is this the path I would have chosen, maybe not, but it does appear to be the best path we have available to us.” He paused and took another swallow, grimacing slightly.
“What do you think my father would have done?”
“Much the same, Chuck. Much the same. He wouldn’t have allowed those bullies to push him around either.”
“Thanks.” Chuck reached over and deftly plucked the flask from Robert’s grasp. “I think I will join you, tonight.” A strange, cramped smile crossed Robert’s face as Chuck raised the flask to his mouth. Chuck took a hearty drink, but some caught in his throat, and a strange look passed over his face, half confusion, half relief. He choked a little, and sprayed liquid all over the floor.
“It’s tea,” he said upon catching his breath. Robert handed him a wad of paper towel.
“Yes, it’s tea,” he said.
“Why do you always carry around a flask with you?” asked Chuck as he wiped up the spilled tea.
“I like tea, it soothes my throat.” Chuck looked at him sharply. “You know what I mean, you drink from it all the time, you buy what looks like mixed drinks from bars, you bring me coffee with booze in it. I though you were an alcoholic. I was worried about you.”
“I am an alcoholic,” said Robert. “Sober over twenty-five years, like I said.”
“But why pretend?” Robert sat down at the kitchen table, facing Chuck.
“Here it is. I worked at the university, many years ago.”
“That much I know.”
“Yes, well, do you know what I did there?” Chuck shook his head. “I was a professor, a professor of anthropology.”
“Wow, I had no idea.”
“No one did, except your father. You see, I moved here to write a paper, I was going to write about trailer park residents as a sub-culture, unique onto themselves. It was going to be an ethnographic study, the first of its kind in Canada. I wanted to fit in, not be obvious as a professor studying subjects, so I pretended to be a drunk, someone washed up, on the bottom rung of life. I had some preconceived notions of people here, I’m afraid.”
Chuck nodded his head in understanding. “I think I did too,” he said quietly. “But why are you still here? You must be finished your paper by now.”
“Actually, I never finished it. When I got here I realized that my ideas were crap. I didn’t want to have anything to do with them anymore. The people here are not a subculture at all, just people living their lives, doing an honest days work.”
“Why did you keep up the routine?” Robert snorted.
“This is nothing compared to what I used to do. I have been toning it back and toning it back for years.”
“I just thought you were a drunk.”
“That was the idea.” They were interrupted by a tap on the door. Robert stood. “I believe that is who you were hoping I was. I’ll take my leave of you.” He opened the door to find Emma smiling up at him. Her mouth made an O of surprise at seeing him.
“Don’t worry Emma, I was just leaving. Good night.” She stepped aside to let him pass.
“Good night, Robert,” she called out after him. “Howdy, handsome,” she said to Chuck.
“Howdy yourself. I was hoping you could pop by.”
“Actually, I can do more than pop by, Jordan is spending the night with Melinda and Melody. I will pick him up tomorrow morning.”
“So, you are free for the whole night?” Her eyes crinkled as she smiled up at him.
“You got it. Is that bed big enough for two?” Chuck looked down at the somewhat dilapidated small double mattress.
“I guess it will have to be,” he said.
