nothing except for the cold night air staring back at him. A small brush against his left leg startled Robinson as he saw a small flash run past him. Twisting his body around he saw a small child running to Emily repeating the phrase, “Mommy, mommy.”
Emily held out her arms as the little boy ran to her and quickly curled up into her lap like a cat. Emily sat there stroking the small child’s hair, while whispering tenderly into his ear. Emily glanced up at Robinson and saw a face she had seen so many times before from men; a look of fear and disappointment. In her arms she held the reason for so many lost loves and dissolved relationships. The one thing she loved more than anything was also what made men turn and go the other way. “The hell with all of them,” she thought. Looking at Robinson she felt he was probably no different.
“Adam, honey, did you get scared?” She asked the frail little boy in her arms. Adam just shook his dirty blonde hair quickly and buried himself even further into his mother’s arms.
“Its okay, baby. There is nothing to be afraid of.“
Robinson felt a tinge of jealousy watching her be so sweet and tender to her little boy. Robinson could feel Emily stealing glances up at him while she held her child, waiting to see how Robinson would respond. Robinson smiled affectionately down upon the young mother before moving in front of where she sat and bending down to young Adam’s vision.
Looking into Adam’s cherubic face he saw the reflection of similarity of Emily in the dark blue eyes, the soft, roundish cheeks, and the small, curvy nose that Adam possessed. Robinson smiled at the young boy, “Hey, Adam. I’m very glad to meet you. My name is Robinson.”
The young boy shyly turned back into his mother’s chest, pawing at her the sleeve of her thin, black sweater. Emily tried to cajole him and reposition him to look at Robinson, but the boy would have none of it as he squirmed away from his mother’s intentions.
“Don’t be shy, Adam. This is our nice neighbor,” Adam continued to be shy and Robinson stood up not wanting to force the issue of an introduction.
“I’m sorry. He gets shy in front of people.”
“That makes two of us.” Robinson said with a smile as Emily laughed at the comment.
“So I guess you are wondering what I am doing here?” She asked him with a look of worry in her face. “I have a meeting I need to get to and I have no one to watch Adam. I know its bad parenting to leave your kid at the neighbors house you just met, but I don’t have too many options and I need to go to this meeting.”
Robinson looked down at his watch with the time flashing back at him of 10:37. Paul would be at the Alibi in twenty-three minutes, if what Wayne had told Robinson was in fact true. However, there was a more pressing thought that Robinson was grappling with and that was if he should see his whole thing through. He had been down this road before, with his parent’s case, and all roads led to a dead end. No matter how much he pressed and followed the trail of his parent’s disappearance it never led to anything of note, except for his continual mental breakdowns and anguish that nearly destroyed his life. He had gone over the edge looking for his parents, obsessing over every detail and fact until Captain Ron made him stop.
Why was he going to go through that experience again? For Paul, a man he never met and who very well may not want help. This little exercise in making things right was not going to bring his parents back. So why do it? Didn’t he just have to look at the day itself and the numerous setbacks that keep coming around from the wrong address of Paul’s letter, the old man chasing him off the path, missing Paul at his apartment, and now Emily coming over to seek his help. Were these not all a way of the world conspiring to set him down another course. Shouldn’t he listen and escape the pain that he already felt.
Emily felt Robinson’s reluctance and quickly got up to leave.
“I’m sorry I came by and bothered you. I’ll figure something else out.”
She brushed by a surprised Robinson and towards the door. Robinson quickly turned around and watched her walk toward the door. As she walked away Robinson saw Adam’s small face look back at him and give him a wave goodbye. Robinson smiled back and said, “I’ll help you out.”
Emily stood in the doorway with her back to Robinson, as she spoke “You don’t have to just because you feel guilty or sorry or anything else We will be fine,” She turned around, readjusting Adam in her arms and looking towards Robinson with a look of sadness, “You probably have something better to do. I don’t want to take you away from your any plans you have.”
There it was. Emily had given him an out and now it was up to Robinson to decide. He looked at the two of them standing there in the cold of night. Here they were standing in front of him and he felt no pain. He felt only a warmth and goodness that had eluded him for so long.
“The best laid plans of mice and men always go awry.” He said with a grin that made Emily smile with relief.
Staring at her sweet smile, Robinson found no mystery in how it made him feel. In that smile he felt no pain.
Part VII
Robinson walked through the dark, dense forest. He walked slowly and carefully through the wild brush that snagged and tore at his clothes like hands clutching at him. Robinson made it to a clearing in the forest where he saw his parent’s car. He saw his parents sitting in the car, staring ahead in silence as if in a zombie like trance. Robinson began to go towards the car, yelling for his parent’s attention. They looked at him in silence before returning their gaze back towards the front of the car.
It was then that Robinson noticed a dark figure standing in the distance where his parents stared. Robinson heard the flick of a match lighting. A small glow came from the dark figures hand, illuminating his body, but his face was cloaked in darkness. The figure looked over at Robinson and crooked its neck to the side. He held his stare at Robinson before finally dropping the match onto the ground. Robinson watched the match hit the forest floor igniting a flame that sprang from the ground and took aim at his parent’s car.
Robinson ran to the car before the flame of the match had struck the car. He tried to open the car door, but to no avail. Robinson banged on the window, urging his parents to get out of the car. They sat their expressionless just staring ahead at the oncoming ball of flame.
The car went up in flames as Robinson backed away. He looked at the dark figure that held a small, silver key in his hand that he wagged at Robinson. Checking his pocket, Robinson found that he no longer had the key in his pocket. When he looked back at the car his parents were no longer in the car, but rather it was Paul now in the drivers seat. Paul pounded on the window and yelled for Robinson to help him. The flames were strong and the heat made Robinson wince. The dark figure took off into the darkness of the forest as the car continued to burn. Robinson watched Paul burn up in the fire as he covered his face from a dark cloud of smoke. All Robinson could hear was the screams of Paul shouting, “Help me. Help me.”
Robinson woke up on Emily’s couch. His eyes darted around the room and landed on Adam’s curled up body asleep on the reclining chair that sat in the corner next to the window. Robinson walked over to the window and looked out onto the apartment complex, the moonlight striking brightly upon the walkway. Robinson reached inside his pocket and took out the small key. He twisted it around in his fingers looking at the how much weight such a small item could hold.
Barkley looked on from the deep recesses of the dark, outside of the moonlight, at the small silver key in Robinson’s hand. Barkley smirked to himself, “Gotcha kid.” Mr. Cole had been right, Robinson had a hold of something to change fate. As a keeper of the gate, Barkley would not allow that to happen.
Robinson closed the curtain windows, hiding the small key upon himself, before sitting back down on the couch, grabbing the remote and flipping through the different channels. He looked at his watch and saw it was 11:15. He couldn’t even remember closing his eyes long enough to fall asleep. Sleep had just taken over his tired body, but now he was wide awake, racked with guilt. A chill went up his body when he played back his dream. He could hear a small tic tock come from his watch that sounded louder and louder with each passing moment.
Robinson grabbed the small business card that Emily had given him with her phone number on it in case he needed something. He wanted to call and tell her that something had come up, that he could not help anymore and she should come back home. The business card had Emily’s fashion boutique name emblazoned on the front- Now Wear This, an ode to Donna Martin’s store in Beverly Hills 90210. Emily was meeting a fabric merchandiser to put in an order before the merchandiser went back to New York in the morning. She said that this meeting was critical to the future of her shop. Robinson flapped the card a few times in his hand going back and forth between what to do. She said she would be an hour, two at the most. Paul would still be at the bar, right? Besides what was a couple hours? He could sit tight till she got back.
Robinson’s thoughts turned when he heard a loud hammering across the way followed by, “Yo, Rob open the door you dummy. I know you are in there.”
Robinson got up quickly and moved to the door. He opened up the door and looked out towards his door to see his friend Lewis banging on the door repeatedly.
“Robby, open up the door you pile. Stop playing around.”
“Lewis, I’m over here,” Robinson hissed, “Shut up before you wake everybody up.”
Lewis looked from Robinson to the door behind him and back again in a confused manner. “I thought you lived here?” Lewis shouted.
“I do.” Robinson responded
“Then what the hell are you doing over. Are we doing a bit right now? What the fuck-“ Lewis shook his head and gave up the Laurel and Hardy routine. As Lewis walked over he lifted up his cigarette across his body to the left and said, “Thanks for the light buddy.”
“Who are you talking to?” Robinson asked as Lewis put the grocery bag into his hands to hold and walked past him.
“I don’t know just some guy over there that gave me a light.”
Robinson peered his neck out to see who it was, but nobody was there. Robinson went back inside and closed the door.
Barkley stepped out of the darkness and into the moonlight, smoking a cigarette from his new friend Lewis. He watched the door shut and took a drag of his cigarette, blowing the smoke out as he walked toward the apartment door.
Inside, Lewis grabbed the remote control and turned the channel to a basketball game. “Awesome, they are replaying the T-Wolves Warriors game. I got a hundo riding on the Wolves. Don’t tell me if you know who won, Robby,” Lewis gulped his beer and put it down on the table “Be a dear and hand me a beer. Robby, who did you rob to get all this stuff?”
“Idiot, I told you this isn’t my place. This is-“
“Holy shit, dude,” Lewis had picked up a picture off of the coffee table and stared at it, “This is her? This is that hot chick you are always talking about. Damn, I didn’t know you grew balls to talk to her. I’m proud of-”
Adam turned in the recliner with a heavy sigh as both men looked over at him. The confused look returned to Lewis’ face as he looked back to Robinson.
“Uh, Robby, who is your friend over there?”
Robinson just wiped his face with his hands and when his fingers passed to his chin he rubbed the stubble of hair on his chin. He knew where this would lead.
“Is that her little brother that she is watching?”
Robinson kept quiet.
“Her nephew?”
Robinson slowly shook his head.
“She has a son. Shit, Robby if you don’t know how to get yourself into it.”
“It’s not like that,” Robinson blurted out “She needed help. Her boyfriend broke up with her and she had a meeting to get to so I-“
“You thought you would save the day. But who is going to save you from you?”
“I don’t need anyone to come save me!
“The hell you don’t.”
“Look, I was just trying to help her out of a jam.”
“And you put yourself right into the middle of one. I would be careful with this girl is all I’m saying. That right there,” Lewis points to Adam, “That is a red flag. Oh, and where did she have to go on a Tuesday night at 11pm?”
“Can you just drop it now?”
“No, I am just wondering where a young, pretty girl would go for a couple hours on a Tuesday night where she would leave her small kid with a guy she never talked to before.”
Robinson looked at the TV and pretended to be interested in it, hoping that his friend would stop the interrogation. Lewis, though, was on a roll.
“I think this girl is a stripper or a call girl.”
“Leave it alone, man. She had a meeting with a fabric salesman before they left for New York tomorrow.”
Lewis leaned back on the couch and gave Robinson a look of amusement, “I would love to be a girl and just bat my eyes and flip my hair and get what I wanted. It is the easiest con of them all. They can make a man do anything.”
“What are you doing here anyway,” Robinson asked, trying to divert the conversation, “You ever think of calling beforehand?”
“Call? Call you with what? Should I give you a smoke signal next time or maybe we should invest in two pixie cups and a string to get a hold of you. Seriously, I am going to buy you a phone myself because this whole writing on a typewriter lifestyle you are working with is just sad.”
The two of them stared at one another. Lewis looked down at his beer, while Robinson seethed at his friend’s comment. After a brief period of silence, Lewis tried to break the ice, “How was you first day of work, today.”
“Not bad,” Robinson retorted as he pretended to watch the game “The boss is a dick.”
“They all are Robby,” Lewis grabbed a beer and drank it, as he looked up at his friend “Sometimes your friends can be that way too.”
Robinson looked down at the chubby cheeks of his friends as a wide grin broke out on his face. Lewis knew how to push his friend’s buttons from bad to good and good to bad. It’s one of the innate abilities a person can pick up from 10 years of friendship.
Lewis and Robinson met in eighth grade when Lewis, the chubby new kid, moved into town. He instantly took a liking to Robinson who he sat next to in English class. Lewis wasn’t much for reading so Robinson would always brief him on the story or let him copy his papers for tests and quizzes. In return, Lewis helped Robinson in math and in trying to get a girl. Lewis, the outgoing fat kid, always tried to help out his shy little best friend in talking to girls or avoiding the wrong one; for Robinson was easily manipulated by beautiful women with a nice smile that would use him up and then play the friend card on him in brutal and devastating ways. Not much had changed over the years.
During the third quarter break in the game, Robinson had decided to put Adam into his bed. A small clock on Adam’s dresser stared Robinson in the face to show it was 1230, so much for a quick meeting for Emily. But more than the time rolling past him, it was the entirety of the dream that had awoken Robinson-his parents in the car, the masked man, the fire that trapped Paul- he could not shake this feeling of dread that had cloaked him like fog. He just felt his feet tapping, his fingers twitching, and the clock in his brain getting louder and louder. He looked up at Lewis who had come back from the bathroom.
Lewis sat back down and began stacking the aluminum cans that filled the coffee table into a fortress of some sort. While Lewis concentrated on his beer fort, Robinson got up and began to pace the room. Lewis took a moment from building up his fort and furrowed his brow at Robinson’s nervousness that seemed to be plaguing him all night. Lewis knew Robinson was generally a nervous guy, but never to this extreme. No, something had been troubling him all night.
“What is the matter with you? You have been acting strange all night.”
“Yeah, I don’t know. You ever get that feeling that something is wrong?
“I get it. It’s the stripper, huh. You are thinking I was right about that whole scenario.”
“She is not a stripper, and no that is not it. I just wonder about my fate; what happens when life intervenes on your plans. Its just- “ He looked down at his friend who resumed building his fort. Robinson shook his head at how he was letting this whole Paul thing take over. He sat back down and opened a beer to try and relax and let it go. It wasn’t his problem.
Lewis finished the fort and looked it over. He made a few adjustments before he was finally satisfied with his work.
“I know what your problem is, Robby. You feel like life dealt you a raw hand. And I don’t blame you for thinking that with your parents and all, but this is no dress rehearsal we are living here,” Lewis paused to finish his beer. “All we have, hell, all anyone has is that one purpose in life and its different for everyone, obviously. But it’s important to find and have that purpose or all this, you, me, everything means nothing. You remember when you were driving yourself crazy looking for your parents. Do you ever remember me telling you to stop?”
“No, you were the one that kept telling me to do it.”
“That’s right because you had purpose. Sure you were drowning, but you always came up for air when you needed it. People thought you were miserable. But I saw someone who was doing what they wanted to do. What needed to be done. Ever since you stopped you have been nothing but a sad sack of shit. Those people thought you were bad then; that you needed help or you would lose it. They said to cool it. Well, they didn’t know what I knew, and that is you needed to keep searching. Maybe you were searching for more than your parents, I don’t know, but I suspect you were looking for something more. All I know is this- fuck fate. Fate is a bullshit way to put something out of your hands and say it was divine intervention for things to happen. No, fate is an excuse. Fate doesn’t drive people off course, people drive themselves off course. Bumps in the road- Fuck it. You hit a wall- Fuck it. You have to continue on and fulfill your purpose; no matter how hard or difficult it gets. You know what happens if you don’t serve your purpose?”
Lewis looked on at his friend as he put the last beer can atop the fort. Lewis looked from the fort to his friend before giving a small grin. “It all comes crashing down.”
The cans clamored all across the floor. Robinson jumped back to avoid the flying debris, the clanking sound echoing throughout the place.
“What the hell was that?” Robinson stammered.
“The whole point. The finale. Don’t you get it? Tell me you got it.”
“I don’t get why you had to send the beer cans all over the place.”
“You didn’t get it,” Lewis said as he sat back down on the couch, upset that his gesture was not more appreciative. “No matter what you build up it always comes crashing down. Get it?”
“You are drunk. Just help me clean this up.”
“So what if I’m drunk. I just made a Pacino like speech right there. You know Robby, sometimes talking to you is like talking to my own asshole, except my asshole says valuable shit back.”
“Just sit down and shut up, okay. It’s like I am babysitting two children right now.”
The time ticked by as Robinson watched Lewis pound beer after beer with amazingly little effort. With each beer, Lewis grew increasingly loud and maniacal as he watched his bet play out between the T-Wolves and the Warriors. Lewis had put money on the hometown T-Wolves; the game growing tenser with each passing minute. Robinson had taken Adam into his bedroom to sleep there for fear that Lewis may not only wake him up, but may pass out on the kid. Robinson continually reminded Lewis to relax, however his friend would brush him off and open another beer. Lewis had worked himself into a sweat during the course of the game and Robinson hoped his friend could control himself.
“Alright Robby, this is it right here,” Lewis felt around the bottom of the beer box, but came up empty handed, “Time is winding down and its time to make a move. It’s do or die.”
Robinson thought of Paul.
“Hey, can you do me a favor and let me borrow your car? I got to go somewhere.”
Lewis looked at him incredulously “You are going to leave right now? There is ten seconds left in the game. It could go into overtime”
“I have to do something and there is no overtime for purpose, right?”
“It’s hard being your friend you know that? Can you at least get more beer while you’re out?” Lewis asked as he fished the keys out of his pocket.
“Yeah.” Robinson caught the keys from Lewis and ran out the door.
All Robinson could think of, as he ran to the car, was serving his purpose before it all came crashing down.
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