Fort Lupton (5 page)

“
That would be nice,”
Sophia said. “Do you want a ride home?”

“
Nah,” Charlie said. “We
live in the other direction from you. Plus, I can take the
bus.”

They turned up
15
^th
Street and walked a few blocks to a cheap paid parking lot.
Sophia unlocked her car.

“
You sure you don’t want a
ride?” Sophia asked. “It’s no problem.”

“
I’m okay,” Charlie said.
“It’s nice to walk for a bit after getting off work. Clears my
head.”

“
I bet,” Sophia
said.

“
Plus, I spent a lot of
years on the streets,” Charlie gave her a bright smile. “It’s nice
to roam a little before going home.”

Sophia smiled and got in
the car. Like Aden had taught him, Charlie waited for her to start
the engine. She waved to him and took off out of the parking lot.
Charlie waved and started up 15
^th
Street.

He walked at an even pace, not too fast, not
too slow. The night was cold, but not icy. He zipped up his warm
jacket. At the stop light, he opened his backpack and dug around
for his hat and gloves. He was so focused on what he was doing that
he didn’t notice the young men who came up behind him. When the
light turned, they pushed past him to cross the street. Charlie
tugged on his hat and started across the street. He pulled his
gloves on as he went.

He continued up
15
^th
Street and past the big Hyatt Regency across from the
Convention Center.

“
Heya, Charlie!” one of
the bellmen yelled to him.

Charlie waved and kept walking. The bellman
often came into Sam’s on his dinner break. Charlie remembered the
bellman from when he’d been a street kid. The bellman wasn’t as
nice to him then. Charlie smiled to himself. It was nice to be on
the other side now. He had a job. He had a family. He had a warm
house, a Castle no less, to go home to. Charlie felt pretty
rich.

Charlie continued up the
street. He’d planned on going into the Pavilion to get something
nice for Tink, but he’d stayed at work. Everything looked closed.
He stopped on the corner of 15
^th
Streetand Glenarm and
wondered if he should chance that something might be open. Tink was
very upset about Blane. Charlie had wanted to get her something to
cheer her up. Charlie bit his lip and looked at his watch. She’d
probably rather that he got home before she had to go to bed. Proud
of himself for making such a good decision, he promised himself
he’d go tomorrow before work.

He kept walking up
15
^th
Street. He was walking past the darkened entryway to a
parking lot when he heard something that sounded like an outbreath.
He sensed more than saw movement. He ducked and missed a baseball
bat flying toward him. Charlie took off running.

Five young men followed close behind.
Charlie ran as fast as he could. He crossed Colfax and entered
Civic Center Park. They caught up with him in the park. One of the
men reached out and grabbed him. Charlie and the man fell. Charlie
tried to roll to get the man off him, but the young man held on
fast.

“
Dis is for my brother,”
one young man said.

He raised the baseball bat and Charlie
tucked his knees and head. The blow was hard and hurt like hell.
Charlie screamed.

“
For my brother,” another
man said before he started kicking Charlie.

“
You neva shoulda told no
body ’bout no whores.” Another man kicked Charlie.

“
Dem whores wanted it,”
the young man with the baseball bat said.

The man on the ground with Charlie tried to
make him untuck, but Charlie held on fast. Charlie knew how to take
his beatings.

But this was worse than anything he’d ever
experienced.

These guys wanted to kill him.

These guys were going to kill him.

Charlie kept his head down and the blows
rained down. His mind slipped and he was thinking about Tink. She
was so beautiful, especially in the morning or late at night. Out
of nowhere, he saw Sandy’s face. She was laughing at something he’d
done. He felt so loved, so happy. He tried to say something.

“
I love you,” Charlie
said.

“
What is it, son?” Aden’s
voice came out of nowhere. “Charlie?”

Charlie opened his eyes. Aden’s hands were
bloody and his breath was ragged. His face was swelling from being
hit. Charlie’s eyes fixed on Aden’s torn work shirt. They were lit
up by the red and blue dancing lights of a police cruiser.

“
Love you,” Charlie said,
and passed out.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday night — 11:43 p.m.

“
So you’re in the hospital
again.”

Charlie wasn’t sure where the voice had come
from. Wearing a hospital gown, he got up from his hospital bed and
looked outside his room. There was a man standing at the end of the
hallway. The man wore torn blue jeans and a faded T-shirt. His hair
was deep chestnut. Charlie couldn’t tell how old he was — older
than Charlie that’s for sure.

“
I’ve never been in the
hospital before,” Charlie said.

The man grinned.

“’
Cept that one time,”
Charlie said. “But that was because of Sandy. She wanted me
to . . .”

The man laughed.

“
Want to take a walk?” the
man asked.

“
I think I should stay
here,” Charlie said. “My sister will be here soon
and . . .”

“
Sandy?” the man asked.
“She’s here.”

The hallway faded away. Charlie was lying on
a table. There was a man standing over him shouting orders to a
woman who was handing him tools.

“
He’s regaining
consciousness,” a woman near his head yelled.

Charlie felt like his entire body was on
fire. He tried to scream but there was a tube down his throat.

“
Put him under,” the man
standing over him said. “Now!”

Charlie was standing in the hallway
again.

“
I didn’t see her,”
Charlie said.

The man laughed.

“
Dad,” Charlie
said.

“
Yes, son,” Mitch Delgado
said.

“
I was just checking to
see if it was you,” Charlie said. “Am I dying?”

“
I doubt it,” Mitch said.
“But I wouldn’t know.”

“
Where’s Sandy?” Charlie
asked.

“
Waiting,” Mitch said.
“Crying. O’Malley’s there. Tiffanie.”

“
Tink?” Charlie
asked.

“
Tink?” Mitch asked.
“What’s a Tink?”

“
My girlfriend,” Charlie
said.

“
Everyone’s there.” Mitch
nodded. “The Oracle too. She says she warned you.”

“
Delphie?” Charlie asked.
He thought for a moment before he nodded. “She told me that some
people were mad at me for testifying.”

Charlie thought for another moment.

“
Yeah, I guess she did
warn me,” Charlie said.

“
You didn’t listen?” Mitch
asked.

“
I’m sixteen.” Charlie
grinned. “I think I’m invincible.”

Mitch laughed. The scene changed. They were
sitting in City Park under a big tree. A band was playing jazz
music. Charlie knew there should be people here, but it was oddly
empty. He squinted to look at the band stand. It was empty. He
looked at his father.

“
I loved coming here to
listen to music,” Mitch said. “Do you mind?”

“
Can I wear something
else?” Charlie asked. He gestured to his bare behind. “The grass is
chaffing my ass.”

Mitch laughed. He snapped his fingers and
Charlie was wearing jeans and a ragged T-shirt. He realized he
looked almost identical to this man, his father. Charlie grinned
and Mitch gave him a near identical grin back.

“
I loved you, Charlie,”
Mitch said. “Most of all.”

“
What about Sissy?”
Charlie asked.

“
I love your sister,”
Mitch said. “But a daughter is different from a son. I wanted to
see you grow up.”

“
Just me?”

“
Both of you,” Mitch said.
“I . . . You can ask O’Malley.”

“
If you loved
us?”

Mitch nodded.

“
I know you loved us,”
Charlie said.

He looked down at the ground and marveled at
how real it all felt. A warm summer breeze brought the fetid smell
of goose poop to him. Charlie grinned.

“
How? How did you know I
loved you?”

“
I remember,” Charlie
said. He looked at Mitch. “I remember how much you loved
us.”

“
You do?”

Charlie nodded.

“
You’re mad I’m dead,”
Mitch said in a matter-of-fact way.

“’
S more complicated than
that,” Charlie’s words slurred. “Sorry
I . . .”

“
It’s the drugs,” Mitch
said. “They’re having trouble keeping the addict under
sedation.”

Charlie nodded and swallowed hard.

“
Complicated?” Mitch
asked.

“
I just wanted us to be a
family again,” Charlie said. “I wanted Sandy to move back home and
you to not die and Sissy not to be sick
and . . .”

Charlie nodded.

“
You remember being
happy,” Mitch said.

“
I remember being loved,”
Charlie said. “Drugs. When I was high, I remembered being
loved.”

Mitch nodded.

“
Am I dying?” Charlie
asked.

“
Not yet,” Mitch
said.

“
Brain damage?” Charlie
asked.

Mitch shook his head.

“
Cool scar?” Charlie
asked.

Mitch laughed.

“
I’m dying, aren’t I?”
Charlie asked.

“
It’s touch and go.” Mitch
looked out to the lake. “If you ask me, I’ll tell you that you’ll
be fine. But I’m not a doctor.”

“
Seth always says you were
a . . .” Charlie said.

“
Bloody optimist,” Mitch
and Charlie said together and laughed.

“
You know Jake?” Charlie
asked.

“
Jacob Marlowe,” Mitch
said. “Didn’t know him in life, but I know of him now.”

“
How?”

“
O’Malley,” Mitch
said.

Charlie nodded.

“
What about him?” Mitch
asked.

“
He has these kind of
dreams,” Charlie said. “But he sees his dead mother.”

“
Celia?” Mitch
asked.

“
How did you know?”
Charlie asked.

“
I knew her.” Mitch
smiled.

Charlie nodded, and they sat for a while
listening to the music.

“
If it’s any consolation,
O’Malley comes to this lake when he’s in between,” Mitch
said.

“
Am I in between?” Charlie
asked.

Mitch shrugged.

“
Would you go back?” Mitch
asked.

“
Yes.”

“
It’s going to be months
of pain,” Mitch said.

“
Yes.”

“
You’ll have to leave the
city,” Mitch said.

“
I’d go back,” Charlie
said.

“
You’ll have to deal with
doctors and recovery and a whole bunch of bullshit you aren’t very
good at,” Mitch said.

“
I can learn,” Charlie
said.

“
I can spare you all of
it,” Mitch said.

Charlie scowled at Mitch. He stood up and
walked away from the tree they’d been sitting under. He ran into
Mitch.

“
What did I do?” Mitch
asked.

“
You’re not my dad,”
Charlie said.

“
Why do you say that?”
Mitch asked.

“
My dad fought like hell
to stay here,” Charlie said. “I remember it. Every day, every
moment of every day, he fought. His last breath. He fought for his
last breath. My dad would never tell me not to go back.”

“
I want to spare you all
of that,” Mitch said. “I want to . . .”

Charlie squinted at the man. For the
briefest moment, the man aged into his father before death.
Shriveled and bent, Mitch gasped for a breath. A moment later, he
was young and healthy-looking again.

“
You’re
my
son,” Mitch said. “I
would spare you all of that.”

“
It’s my life, Dad,”
Charlie said. “I have to live the good and bad of it.”

Mitch sniffed at Charlie repeating something
he used to say. Charlie smiled. They were standing outside Denver
Health. They started walking toward the operating room.

“
You’ll be with me,
right?” Charlie asked.

“
I’m with you or your
sister all the time,” Mitch said.

Charlie laughed.

“
What?” Mitch
said.

“
You’re with O’Malley all
the time,” Charlie said. “You’re only here because he
is.”

“
Guilty as charged,” Mitch
laughed.

He held out his arms and they hugged.

“
I’ll be there any moment
you say my name,” Mitch said. “It’s going to be hard.”