Stories Beneath Our Skin (11 page)

When Cole first appeared in front of him, Liam almost mistook him for a char
acter in the movie in his sleep-deprived haze. It took him a few heart-stopping seconds to wake up enough to process.

"
You okay, kiddo?" He rubbed the grit from one eye.

"
Nightmare." Cole had wrapped his comforter around himself in a cocoon.

"
Want me to wake up your uncle?"

Cole shook his head, clamoring up onto the couch next to Liam.

"I wanna watch TV," Cole declared.

"
It's boring adult stuff," Liam warned.

Cole rebundled himself, a determined set to his chin. He didn
't protest as the heroine made a passionate declaration and everything dissolved into a slow dance number. Apparently any television was better than being asleep.

"
A half hour and then back to bed," Liam determined.

About twenty minutes in, Cole started leaning heavily against him, eyes at half-mast. Liam figured he could lift him up if it came to that. There were only a few more minutes left of the movie anyway.

He woke up with the sun in his face.

"
Fuck." He smeared a hand over his eyes and struck a post-it note affixed to his forehead.

Bagels in the kitchen. Eat one. Got everything covered. -A

There were bagels on the counter along with fresh cream cheese. Apparently not all of Ace's grocery run had been macaroni. Liam ate half a bagel over the sink, still barely awake. The stove clock said ten, and he groaned. Late again after barely being around the day before. Guilt twisted his breakfast into knots.

He didn
't bother showering, just threw on reasonably clean clothes and ran his fingers through his hair. It wasn't like Gene cared what he looked like. He drove with the window down, catching the last of the morning's cool air.

"Good morning,"
Gertrude said brightly when he came in. "Your friend said you'd be late today."

"
My friend?" Liam took the sign in sheet and found Ace's signature sprawling comfortably a few lines up. Of course. Ace had said he had it all covered. "Oh."

"
He brought me a coffee." She pointed to the Styrofoam cup with a bemused smile. "Wasn't that nice of him?"

"
Yeah." Liam choked back a laugh. Apparently, Ace knew all too well how to get by gatekeepers that gave his hair, metal, and ink the side eye. "He's a regular prince."

Unable to help himself, Liam eavesdropped at Gene
's door before going in. He couldn't make out the exact content of the conversation, but Gene was laughing about something in his wheezing way. When he did go in, he found Ace sitting with his feet propped up on the edge of the bed while Gene did origami folds on one of the street fair flyers.

"
There you are." Gene grinned when he came in. "Ace told me you actually slept in this morning. Could've knocked me over with a feather."

"
Stayed up too late watching movies." He took the other chair, folding one leg under the other. "Looks like you didn't miss me too much though. Thanks for swinging by."

"
My pleasure." Ace elbowed him gently. "You let me get my beauty rest staying up with the tadpole, so you totally get a few extra hours in the morning."

"
I think I fell asleep before he did."

"
Eh, details. He slept, you slept, I slept. It's a good thing."

"
I used to leave tapes in the VCR for Liam." Gene winked at him. "Boy never could stay in bed all night. Told him to wake me up if the house was on fire. I was always finding him on the couch in the morning, static in the background."

"
Why tapes?" Ace asked, glancing between them.

"
We didn't have cable." Liam shook his head. "Or any movie released after 1975. I was the only kid in school with a Bogart impression."

"Television is overrated,"
Gene said smugly. "You turned out smarter for it."

"
I want to hear this Bogart impression." Ace raised an expectant eyebrow.

"
No way."

"It was good,"
Gene cajoled.

"
Not happening." He folded his arms across his chest.

"
Aw come on, Professor." Ace leaned in, the sweet scent of mint curling into Liam's nose. "I'll give you extra points if it's not Casablanca. Unless you don't remember any..."

"
I was born when she kissed me
." He deepened his voice, remembering the way he used to carry his body with all of Bogart's casual tension. "
I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me.
"

"
What's that from?" Ace blinked, the faintest hint of a flush gathering on his cheekbones.

"
A Lonely Place
." Liam cleared his throat. "It's not a very nice story. But I like that line."

"
So do I."

Gene coughed once, wet and harsh. Ace fell back into his chair, looking as dumbstruck as Liam suddenly felt.

Chapter Eight

"Hey. My mom will be by in a few to take Cole. Would you mind waiting with him?" Ace paused in the doorway to Liam's room, still tying the laces on one boot while balancing on the other. "I've got to go in early and help Deb with the last of the advertisements for the fair."

"
They aren't done yet?" Liam set aside his book.

"
Great artwork takes time. Anyway, I can get them to the copy shop tonight. They'll be ready for tomorrow morning. Can you wait with Cole or not?"

"
I can. He in the living room?"

"
Nope, already outside on the steps. He's psyched about seeing Grandma apparently. We're too dull for the likes of him." Satisfied with the knot, Ace let his foot drop. "She bakes."

"
Hard to compete with homemade cookies."

"
Right?" Ace laughed. "I shouldn't even try. She should be here any minute, but I've really got to haul ass. Thanks."

"
Yeah, no problem."

Cole was actually sitting on the step with his small blue suitcase propped up beside him. A few army men waged war against a fluffy dandelion, spraying the seeds over the neglected lawn.

"See you later, bud." Ace dipped down to ruffle Cole's hair. "Be good for Grandma, okay?"

"
Okay."

"
What're you playing?" Liam asked, sitting on the step behind Cole.

"
Evil invaders from outer space." Cole bonked one of the army men on the head with a dandelion.

"
Who's winning?"

"
The good guys."

"
Oh yeah? What do the aliens sound like?"

"
I dunno."

"
How about this?" Liam picked another dandelion and put on his best robot voice. "Surrender fools! We will prevail."

"Like that,"
Cole agreed with just a hint of a smile. "Keep doing it."

Liam was midway through an epic villain monologue when a shadow fell over the steps.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," she spoke softly, the hem of her linen dress dusting over the pointed gun of an army man. "You must be Liam."

"
Yes, hi, sorry." He got up, wiping the dirt from his hand before offering it to her.

"
No need to apologize. I'm Elaine. It's nice to meet you."

Liam never would have picked her out of a crowd as Ace
's mother. Her face was worn with age, and her faded blonde hair showered down to her waist. Cole embraced her legs, pinning the delicate lavender tie-dye dress to her legs and revealing a pair of sensible brown sandals. Even her handshake was featherlight. How this woman made of watercolor and cotton produced two children filled with metal and sharp-edged bone was a mystery for the ages.

"
Nice to meet you, too."

"
You must be a very generous young man. Not many would offer up their home to someone they've only known a few weeks." She didn't let go of his hand, turning it palm upwards. "You've got a very strong heart line. Not surprising."

"
Um." Her fingers glided over his palm, leaving a peculiar tingling in their wake. "That's good?"

"
It is. Hmmm... don't let your past hold you back. It's clinging to you hard, but you can shake it loose." She squeezed his hand gently then released it. "Ready to go, baby?"

"
I'm not a baby." Cole scowled.

"
You'll always be my baby," she said mildly, winking at Liam. "Your uncle and your mother are still my babies, too."

"
Can we have spaghetti for dinner?" Cole headed toward the car as he asked, suitcase rumbling over the sidewalk.

"
Say goodbye to Liam first."

"
Bye!" Cole waved and then tapped impatiently on the trunk until Elaine popped it open.

The house buzzed with silence when he went back inside. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a container of leftover rice and beans. There were all sorts of
Tupperware stacked inside, markers of dinners Ace had made or had thrust upon him. There was juice, too, that Liam remembered at the last second to pour it into a glass rather than swig from the bottle.

Dinner duly consumed, he collected his things and headed out to the shop. He wasn
't actually due in for another hour, but it wasn't like anyone would kick him out. Since Ace had moved in with him, the formal schedule had melted away. Apparently no one else had ever paid much attention to it anyway, as Liam found his new approach of showing up whenever he wanted to totally uncontested.

To his consternation, the shop was actually locked up when he arrived. He knocked, but no one rushed to open the door. Annoyed, he leaned against the acid green wall t
o wait. Fifteen minutes later, Deb pulled into the lot and Ace climbed out of the passenger seat.

"
We're meant to be open now," Liam groused.

"
Copy shop took longer than we thought." Ace tapped impatiently on the trunk, and Liam smothered a laugh at the unconscious echo of Cole. "It was worth it though. We went for glossy postcards instead of the flyers."

"
Guy told us it would take three days." Deb rolled her eyes, stretching as she got out. "I flashed him a twenty and voila! Whole thing cost way more than we should have spent."

"
If it gets us three new customers, it paid for itself." Ace lifted a box out of the back. "Get the door."

"
What's the magic word?" She jangled the keys.

"
Professor, kneecap her."

"
Are you crazy? She could turn me into a pretzel." Liam held up his hands. "Just tell the lady please."

"
Yeah, Ace. Say please." She winked at Liam.

"
Either open the goddamn door or take the box," Ace growled.

"
Well, with an attitude like that, it's amazing that you never get laid," she teased, but opened the door. Liam slipped in after her, holding it wide as Ace brought the box inside.

"
How many did you have made?" he asked, when the box cracked down hard on the coffee table.

"
Only some of them are for the street fair. I figured it'd be good to have some out on the desk and give some to Goose when he goes to local concerts." Ace pulled a pocketknife out of his shorts and tore into the box. "And when the college fills back up in the fall, we can dump a whole bunch at events there."

"
That's more than he's thought about marketing since this place opened," Deb said wryly.

"
I got you some very nice business cards, and there were those t-shirts. Even if they were ugly as hell," Ace pointed out, slicing open the last of the tape. "And we have that running ad in the local paper."

"
We have a local paper?" Liam frowned. "Wait, you mean that collection of coupons that gets sent around every few weeks?"

"
There are actually articles in it." Deb took out her bottle of nail polish remover and a handful of cotton balls. "I think the whole thing is run by one guy with a press in his garage and a grudge against every local politician."

"
These came out pretty great. Take a look." Ace put a handful of glossy cards into Liam's hands. "What do you think?"

The gaslamp Liam had sketched onto his resume had been recolored to emit a thick red light that fell onto the blocky lettering of
Great Sin Ink
.

"
That's mine." He ran his thumb over the picture.

"
Yeah, figured we'd put a little of everyone's stuff on it." Ace plucked the card out of Liam's hand flipped it over and put it back. "See?"

The back did sport one of Goose
's psychedelic imps stealing into a building that could have come straight off the wall in Ace's room. The store's contact information was printed next to it, including a website that Liam remembered as remarkably sketchy from the glance he'd taken at it before applying.

"
Shouldn't you be on the front? I mean, it's your place."

"
Nah. No one is going to look at the front if all the information is on the back." Ace clapped Liam's arm. "We tried to figure out something for Deb, but she can't draw for shit."

"My one failing," s
he said dryly, scrubbing at her nails with the cotton ball. "What do you think, Professor?"

"
I like it. It looks really professional." It did, in its own graffitied way.

"
Good. Might as well keep that one. We'll bring a few handfuls with us tomorrow." Ace hefted the box up again. "I'm going to store this in the back by the copier if anyone is looking for them."

"
Got it." Deb cracked open a bottle of bright blue polish, waiting for Ace to be out of earshot to say, "I swear to God that little sketch of yours must have magic powers."

"
What do you mean?" Liam slid the card into his pocket, where it settled against his thigh.

"
Nothing." She started painting one dagger long nail, pointedly not looking up at Liam.

"
It's not nothing--" Liam started, but the door swung open and Goose trudged in. "What's wrong with you?"

"
Nothing." Goose walked past them both, hands shoved deep in his pockets and his head hanging low, a picture of cartoon despondency.

"
Well that's most definitely not nothing." Deb watched him go. "You gonna take care of that?"

"
Me? Why me?"

"
Because Ace has an appointment, and I'm terrible at comforting people." She stroked the black brush over her thumbnail, studying the effect of the blue gloss. "If someone doesn't listen to him, then he'll start playing that throbbing dubstep stuff that drives Ace up the wall. Believe me, we don't want the two of them going at it."

"
They fight?"

"
Once a year or so. Epic shouting matches. Like a married couple blowing off steam. Then they don't talk for a day, and then they go get drunk together and then we open hours late because when they get drunk alone together, they always decide to go camping. And they get lost in the woods. Which we want to avoid, so off you go."

Liam rubbed a hand over his eyes and tried to remember why com
ing in early had seemed like a good idea. The heavy smell of incense bombarded him as he cracked open Goose's door. Goose was slumped in his chair, hat cast aside for once to let his dense black curls spill every which way.

"
What happened?" Liam asked, perching on the edge of the table.

"
Man, if I knew I would tell you. She leaves me this voicemail right when she knew I'd be asleep. I mean, maybe other people are awake at six a.m. in the damn morning, but everyone knows I don't get up with the sun."

"
Frankie?"

"
Who else?" Goose shook his head. "Tells me that she's busy this weekend with the whole street fair thing, but would I mind stopping at the bar on Tuesday night. Because we have to talk. How the hell is she going to dump me when we've never even gone out on a date?"

"
Why do you think she'd do that?"

"
What else does
we have to talk
ever mean?" Goose planted his elbows on his knees and dropped his face into his hands. "It just figures. I finally got enough to move back out of Mata's house and set up on my own. Got a car, a job. Can't have the girl, too, I guess. Just not enough room in the cosmos for that much happy Goose."

"
Maybe it's something else. I mean, she's got a lot going on in her life. Maybe she needs your help with something."

"
Nah, you've seen how Frankie gets people to help her. Food bribery. Works every time. I'm telling you, dumpsville."

"
Maybe not. I think she likes you, at least a little. She hasn't said anything this far, and you flirt with her pretty hardcore."

"
Flirting is one thing." Goose shrugged. "Its relationships that freak her out."

"
What about you? Do you do relationships?"

"
Sure. Hell, I was married for six years."

"
What? Really?" Liam gaped.

"
Don't sound so shocked." Goose's lips twitched into the threat of a smile. "I'm not exactly undesirable to the ladies. Olivia and I started dating in our senior year of high school, got married a few months after we graduated. We were crazy about each other."

"
So what happened?"

"
Liv got a job offer in Kansas when she finished college. We sold all our stuff and moved down there." He shrugged. "It was a nightmare. I missed my family, my friends, and I couldn't find a job for months. I apprenticed in a parlor out of desperation, but the hours were the opposite of hers. It put too much strain on us. We separated, and I moved back home with Mata. Good times had by none."