Chapter 3
Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I'd spend the next night with Ward Meachum. He came in as I was about to close, jacket thrown to his shoulder, tie loosened, eyes gleaming like he had just won some kind of race. I could smell a trace of alcohol when he ordered his coffee.
”A good day?” I inquired as I filtered his coffee (to go). I was trying to act casual but was a bit nervous about our previous conversation.
”I hope so,” he exhaled, clearly amused.
Our phones beeped at the same time. We both dug out our cells and frowned at the system alert pushed to our phones.
”EMERGENCY ALERT: EXTREME
Category: Safety
Response type: Go indoors immediately and remain inside. DO NOT DRIVE. Call 9-1-1 for emergencies only.
Severity: Extreme
Urgency: Take action immediately
Certainty: Observed
Emergency alert in this area until 6:00 AM GTM Take Shelter Now”
I looked at him, alarmed. His jawline clenched as we stared at each other in silence. Then I remembered that Hood was outside. He had no shelter from whatever it was that was threatening us. I gulped, grabbed a dishrag from the sink and drenched it in water. It had to suffice as a makeshift breathing mask. Then I headed for the door.
”What are you doing?” Ward snapped as he was trying to step in front of me.
”Hood's out. I need the get him inside.”
”You can't go out there! Didn't you read the message?”
”He needs to get in. He has no shelter!”
I pushed him out of my way, lifted the wet rag to my face and ran out. As I turned left from the door and past the small flower shop, the sound of the general alarm oscillated in the air. I saw a few people running, disappearing into doorways. I hurried left around the corner and into an alleyway. This is where I brought all leftover sandwiches after closing. I didn't know Hood's real name, but he always wore the hood of his large gray hoodie over his head, hence the imaginative nickname. We had an unspoken deal: I brought him the sandwiches (which I would have thrown away anyway) and he did not pester the customers in front of my cafe.
I could see his cardboard and tarp shelter wedged between two dumpsters.
”Hey, you need to come with me. There's something dangerous happening. Can't you hear the sirens?” The makeshift shelter swayed erratically.
”I'm good right here,” he groaned.
”You should listen to the lady,” a disgruntled voice said behind me. Ward had followed me. He'd put on his suit jacket and was pressing his burgundy pocket square to his face. I turned back towards the huddling figure.
”I'm not leaving until you come with me.”
I hoped he wouldn't call my bluff and decide to stay. I could practically hear Ward rolling his eyes at me. The tarp rustled as Hood crawled out. He followed us, hunching two steps behind us, back towards the safe haven of the cafe.
---
There was something mesmerizing about the way Lumi took care of the homeless man she called Hood. After she locked the doors she carried a couple of water bottles to his table followed by some sandwiches. She also brought Hood a warm blanket and placed it on his shoulders. In this small, closed space his pungent smell started to emanate, but she didn't seem to be bothered by it. And apparently, she wasn't worried about the fact that she was now locked in with two strange men.
Ward watched as she pushed a button under the counter to lower the metallic security gates over the door and the windows. He could feel his insides tighten, realizing that he was now in a locked, confined space and he wasn't the one with the keys. He reached into his pockets and was relieved to feel the familiar shape of his muscle relaxants.
He toyed with the idea of asking Lumi to open the locks and then heading home. Who knew, maybe there even was no danger, but the government just wanted everyone off the streets, for some obscure reason. Tomorrow there would be news about yet another mysterious 'gas leak', and everyone would continue their lives unhurt.
Ward realized Lumi was asking him something. Something about turning off the air conditioner. He was about to answer when everything went black. The air conditioning machine died leaving everyone into a dense silence. Well, that answered that question. He became horrifyingly aware of the fact that the security gates could probably be reopened only after the power came back.
This was going to be a long night.
---
The cold, hard lights from our mobile phones swept the room creating odd angles and transforming the room into an alien landscape. The beam of light from Wards phone froze to the floor, trembling slightly. He was digging something out of his pocket with his other hand. Whatever he dug out, rattled a little in his hands, and then he strained his neck, swallowing something dry.
I noticed the takeaway coffee cup he had left on one of the tables.
”I was about to offer you a fresh cup of coffee, but I guess that's out of the question now.”
”Honestly, I was hoping for something a bit stronger than that.”
Ward looked oddly pale and sweaty in the harsh light. The trembling had ceased but he squeezed his phone like it was a lifeline.
”I'll see what I can find, but in the meantime, there's an all-you-can-eat ice cream buffet available for both of you. That stuff is not going to stay frozen long without the power. That's at least three days worth of ice cream going to waste.”
I was calculating to myself how much this power outage was going to cost me. There was more ice cream in the stand-in freezer, wich would keep cool overnight if no-one opened the door. Next month would be tough, with the additional tax payments and all.
”Ward, if you're hungry, help yourself with anything on the counter. I'll be right back.”
The stairs to the upstairs apartment were hidden behind a little kitchen area. They were steep and narrow, just like the whole flat. There was a small storage area on the right and the living quarters on the left. It was one room consisting of small kitchenette, a bed, a tiny table against the window wall with one lonely chair and a cabinet for my personal belongings. It was tiny but just enough for one person. At least the view was towards the street, not the alley.
I found the unopened whisky bottle tucked away under my kitchen sink, and the candles and a thin mattress from the storage room.
Ward was texting when I returned. His thumbs flew on the surface of the phone. He looked annoyed.
”Here, I have no idea if this is good or not, a customer gave it to me a few years ago as a Christmas present.”
The bottle had a red cap imitating a melting wax seal and a label stating it as Maker's Mark. Ward seemed contented to have it.
”Also, I put a mattress in the back room in case you want to sleep,” I told Hood. He'd just finished his sandwiches and was on his second bottle of water. He nodded and got up. I gave him a lit candle and he disappeared into the back room.
”He might steal something or start a fire,” Ward stated with a lowered voice as he slumped into the chair nearest the counter. He had the bottle opened and placed it on the table, next to the candle I'd just lit. I took out a couple of classes from the counter and he poured the honey-colored liquid into them.
”Where would he go with the loot? And he is an adult human being, not an imbecile. He knows how to blow out a candle. I hope... Maybe we should check in a while, just in case.”
”Did you have plans on where we are sleeping tonight? If this thing doesn't end soon? Do you have more of those mattresses?” He was obviously trying to hide his disgust over the idea.
”My apartment is upstairs, you can sleep in my bed while I supervise your beauty sleep, ” I stated matter-of-factly. He rotated the bourbon in his class, contemplating its complexity and tannin. Or maybe that was what you did with wines. I wouldn't know.
”How about this. You sleep in your own bed tonight and I look after the shop down here. I don't sleep much anyway.”
”But I don't...”
”I insist.”
What I was about to say was that I highly doubted I could sleep with these two men here, in my space. But I decided to leave it at that. If Ward wanted to play the white knight, I'd let him. Even if it meant that neither of us was getting any sleep tonight.