The Ferryman (10 page)

“I wish Fortune were here,” she said softly as she looked up at the sky. At least the weather was good. It felt warm. No, it felt better than warm — it was unusually pleasant. Maybe even a little festive, like a holiday. When her gaze dropped back to street level, she noticed Fortune standing beside her. He removed his top hat and tipped it towards her with a slight bow at the waist. His eyes locked on hers and she felt chills followed by a flash of heat that consumed her whole body.

“Does she always give you the dirty work?” Fortune asked.

“Yes,” Karen mumbled. As much as she tried, she could not look away from Fortune. She felt as if she would faint if she did. He took a step towards her, reached down for her hand, and kissed it gently. His lips were soft, and Karen immediately wanted to feel more of them.

“It’s so very wonderful to see you again,” he said as he tilted his head to one side. His every movement caused a new wave of weakness to pour over Karen’s body. As she felt her face go hot, he took a step backward and glanced up and down her whole body. “You look amazing,” he said with that warm smile. The way he looked at her made her want to undress in public. Karen put one hand on her stomach and wiped her moist palm against her skirt several times. She had to pull herself together.

Karen closed her eyes, but at first all she saw was Fortune — as if she had never closed her eyes at all, and that only made it worse because the vision of Fortune was more intense than the reality of him. The desire for him overcame her, and she fought the urge to tear at her clothes. She quickly opened her eyes and stared down at the sidewalk, attempting to shake whatever was taking hold of her.

“I have work to do,” she stammered, struggling to find her voice.

“Yes,” Fortune said. Everything about him was beautiful. It was the most wonderful feeling, but at the same time Karen knew it was distracting her from what she needed to do. She wanted to give in. Her whole body was aching for her to turn off her mind, and she felt the conflict as her legs began to tremble.

“I need to work,” Karen repeated in a choked voice. She tried not to look at Fortune, but she couldn’t help it. She felt the urge to touch him. She wanted to run her fingertips over the skin of his cheeks and feel the grittiness of the stubble. She didn’t care if he was married or to whom, she just wanted him and quickly. She struggled with her desire to place her hands on his firm shoulders and rip the elegant tuxedo from his body. She’d never felt passion like this for anything or anyone. She leaned in his direction as she fought the urge to embrace him. She continued to struggle with making eye contact by staring off to the side.

“I’m here to help you,” he said in a whisper.

Karen swallowed hard. Her throat was dry, and she struggled to breathe. He was getting the best of her, and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to control herself. She finally looked over at Fortune and when his blue eyes met hers she took a few steps towards him.

“I want — ,” she stuttered. As he stepped even closer and took her by the hand, it felt like he was gently caressing her entire body. Only their hands were touching, but it felt like so much more. “I can’t do this,” she said.

“Can’t do what?” he asked benignly. He must know, she thought. How could he not know what he was doing to her? Was he doing it on purpose? He looked so innocent, so sweet.

“Are you — are you toying with me?” she finally asked in a gravelly voice.

“Am I what?” He knitted his eyebrows together and cocked his head to one side. Then he looked at Karen carefully, and Karen felt his eyes caressing her every curve. She felt the goose bumps rising on each part of her body as his eyes moved over her breasts and down her waist to her hips. Karen gripped his hand tightly and pulled him close enough that their bodies were just barely touching. Then she leaned into him, pressing her body against his. She could smell the scent of his cologne and it only made her want him more.

“Oh, that,” he said with a knowing smile just before he kissed her. Karen collapsed awkwardly as she threw her free arm around his neck, pulling him closer and feeling the firmness of his body against her. She hadn’t been kissed in a long time, and she’d never been kissed in this way. It felt good.

She didn’t know how long the embrace lasted, only that it wasn’t long enough. The sound of Fate’s voice was like being dropped naked in the snow. As soon as she heard Fate, Karen jumped away from Fortune and held her hands up, as if Fate were a police officer holding a gun on a suspect.

“Don’t worry,” Fate said coolly, “I don’t blame you. I know what he’s like. He kisses a lot of people, but it doesn’t mean anything.”

“It didn’t?” Fortune asked as he placed his hand over his mouth. Fate ignored him.

“Just be glad it was a kiss of favor and not the other kind,” Fate continued.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Fortune insisted as he dropped his hand from his mouth.

“I knew you’d show up,” Fate said politely when she finally addressed him directly. “This young woman has a job to do, so perhaps you and I should go for a walk somewhere quiet.”

“You do always know, don’t you?” Fortune said. “It’s one of the things I love about you. You’re not just another pretty face. You also know the future.” He spoke the last sentence in a breathy voice, taking Fate’s hand as he gazed into her eyes.

“You’re a flirt,” Fate said with a girlish smile. Karen’s face became hot as she watched.

“Only when the company is worth the effort.” He smiled back at his wife. They looked like an affectionate couple. Almost like newlyweds, and nothing like the unhappily married couple Karen had previously witnessed fighting.

“What a bi-polar relationship,” Karen said to herself. It was that old adage of opposites attracting, and the two clearly didn’t belong together. The relationship was completely dysfunctional. As Karen watched them bantering playfully she made up her mind to steal Fortune away from Fate.

“We won’t be back today. Finish your job and go home,” Fate said to Karen as the couple began walking away. After they had taken a few steps down the street, Fortune turned to look over his shoulder at Karen.

“I’ll help you,” he mouthed. He winked at her and then turned his attention back to Fate.

Fate and Fortune disappeared as they strolled away into a crowd. Karen stared for a few moments as she recalled the rapid series of events she’d just experienced. It felt surreal and she began to wonder if everything had happened as she remembered it. Had she just kissed Fortune? Or had she imagined it? And why wasn’t Fate angry with either her or Fortune? What a strange relationship. How absolutely dysfunctional.

While she didn’t know what Fortune saw in her, he had awakened her body to sensations she had forgotten were possible. It had been a magical experience, and Karen wanted more. On one hand, it was absurd to be thinking about the boss’s husband, but he had started it. Well, Karen thought, it didn’t matter who started it. It was clearly there, and no one — not even Fate — could deny it. Karen knew she had experienced something special with Fortune, and it was just another good reason to be rid of Fate.

As she thought about that extraordinary kiss she felt the passion intensifying in her body, and she wondered when she would see him again. Fate had said that she knew everything, and yet she wasn’t upset over the incident. It didn’t make sense. Clearly, there was a strong connection between Fortune and herself. Karen had felt it when they kissed. It was unmistakeable. The yearning had brought back memories of Claude’s father. They had been very much in love right up until she became pregnant and he left. At least, she thought they had been.

Her brain felt like an overloaded dryer with a very wet load. Karen shook her head to clear all of the tumbling thoughts. She would need time to sort out all the confusion, but she had a job to do first.

Karen glanced at the ghost sitting on the bus stop bench. She was a rotund woman of about thirty five, and she was concentrating on the approaching traffic, as if searching for someone in the crowd. As Karen thought about how to converse with the ghost, she wondered how Fortune could help her if Fate knew everything before it happened. She studied the ghost, but the kiss haunted her more than anything. Her mind was not on the task at hand. The thought of that brief encounter was enough to stir Karen into longing for Fortune again. She wanted to be near his musky scent and feel his skin against hers.

She stroked her fingers through her hair a few times as she attempted to clear her thoughts. She needed to stop dwelling on him. She had to stop thinking about his beautiful clear eyes and his soft lips or she would never finish this job. She had been doing so well up until now. This was no time for her to lose focus.

She moved forward and sat down next to the ghost. Karen pinched herself on the thigh to clear her thoughts of distraction and bring herself back into the moment. She knew herself well enough to understand it would be at least a day before she would be functioning normally again. Fortune had left a mark on her, like a secret message that only she could hear. Perhaps part of his identity was the ability to do things without Fate’s knowledge, Karen mused. The kiss had awakened more than sexual desire in Karen. She was also feeling hopeful, a sensation that had been absent from her life since Claude’s father left. Love does that. It opens the heart to more than just the other person.

“How do you know when you’re in love?” Karen asked the ghost.

The woman turned her head to look at Karen and blinked a few times. Karen wondered if the ghost needed stronger eyeglasses, despite the thick lenses she already wore.

“Did you just talk to me?” the ghost inquired.

“Yes,” Karen said as she tried to smile. “I just met a man, and it’s like my body is telling me that I need to be with him. Have you ever been in love like that?”

“Run,” the ghost said flatly as she turned to look down the street again.

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t trust your body. It will lie to you. That’s how good girls wind up in trouble.”

“I’m not worried about getting pregnant,” Karen replied dismissively. She didn’t even know if Fortune was capable of having children. Besides, she’d already experienced being a single mother and she knew that it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to a woman. The worst thing was having Fate act like she owned her.

“You should be,” the woman replied. “Because once you have a child you’re responsible for it forever. No one else will take care of a child like its mother.”

It was true in her own life, Karen thought, but that didn’t make it a universal truth. Besides, only good things would happen when she was with Fortune. She could feel it.

“Do you have children?” Karen continued with a polite smile.

“Oh, yes,” the ghost nodded as she gazed at the oncoming traffic.

“How many?”

“Five.”

“Five?” Karen repeated, surprised.

“Yes. Two boys and three girls.”

“How nice!” Karen tried to catch the ghost’s attention, but the specter kept looking over Karen’s shoulder and down the street. Karen turned to study the scenery in that direction. There was nothing but streams of cars and trucks moving down the street. They all appeared the same to her. “Excuse me,” Karen continued, “are you looking for something?”

“I’m just waiting for the bus.”

“Are you on your way somewhere important?” Karen asked.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she replied as she straightened up attentively. Karen heard the noise of the bus making its way up the street towards them. She turned and saw the massive vehicle approaching. She felt a sense of panic, wondering if the ghost was going to get on the bus and if she had to follow the ghost wherever she went. It wasn’t clear if this woman knew she was dead or why she hadn’t moved into the next life. Karen had just barely gotten started, and the ghost was standing at the curb.

“I’m Karen,” she quickly introduced herself as the bus pulled up to the stop. “Do you have a name?”

It was as if the ghost never heard the question. Karen reached out as she grasped for something to say that might keep the ghost from leaving, but after a moment she dropped her arm and felt a slight chill as she watched the scene unfold.

Instead of boarding the bus when the door opened, the ghost stepped in front of it. Karen stood up. She knew that the bus couldn’t kill the woman, so she thought that the ghost must have been suicidal. As Karen contemplated what to do next, she saw the ghost pound her fists on the windshield and begin screaming expletives at the driver. Despite her matronly clothes and prim appearance, the specter was suddenly aggressive, hurling her body at the front of the vehicle and managing to kick out one of the headlights.

The glass from the headlights shattered and exploded into the street. The sound reminded Karen of icicles breaking when they fell from a rooftop.

As soon as the glass broke the ghost’s skeleton became momentarily visible, and Karen saw the pattern of connecting bones vividly displayed. It was like a work of art, and Karen recalled her medical school textbooks explaining how it all functioned together systematically. The memory made her nostalgic for the career she had lost, but she was quickly brought back to the present by the wailing ghost.

The skeleton faded from view as the phantom continued to pound her fists on the bus and howl like a crazed banshee. Karen’s ears hurt from the shrill screams, and the scene was enough to make Karen momentarily forget Fortune’s kiss. She stood staring with her mouth agape.

“Are you getting on or what?” the bus driver shouted. It took Karen a moment to realize that he was talking to her. “I’m not keeping the door open all day with this wind. It always seems to whip around the corner here.”

Karen shook her head as she continued to stare at the spectral temper tantrum taking place in front of the bus. The driver didn’t appear to notice the phantom, but it was unnerving to watch, and Karen was dumbfounded at the violence and constant stream of expletives.

The bus door closed with a hissing sound, and the vehicle moved forward like an overweight bear through snow. As the ghost let go of the sign hanging over the windshield and jumped off the front of the bus she instantly transformed into the mousy little woman who had been sitting on the bench a minute earlier. There was no sign of anger or hostility. The ghost adjusted her glasses and smoothed the front of her pleated skirt.