Stories Beneath Our Skin (4 page)

"Spiders are sacred in a ton of religions," Goose told Liam. "In some places, he's a trickster god and sometimes, she's a seductress."

"
Yeah, well here they're fucking creepy." Deb started swiping at the ceiling.

"
Stop that." Ace got between her and the wall. "Give me a second, I got it."

In one athletic hop, Ace stood on the desk
, which wobbled ominously beneath him. He waited for a few seconds, head cocked, then reached out and gently tumbled the spider into his cupped hand.

"
Ugh." Deb took a step backwards. "Seriously?"

"
I can't believe a spider freaks you out, after everything else you've seen." Ace laughed, holding his hand steady as he leaped neatly off the desk. "Get the door?"

Liam propped open the front door with thinly veiled amusement. He watched as Ace walked to the edges of the parking lot to a little strip of grass. Kneeling down, he set his hand into the greenery. He didn
't get back up right away. In the neon midnight lights, he looked out of place. Too serene and almost... prayerful.

"
Could've just left it on the pavement." Liam said quietly under Goose and Deb's bickering when Ace came back in.

"
Could've. Didn't." Ace picked up a second piece of pizza and handed it over to Liam. "How about you eat your next one instead of dissecting it?"

"
Tastes better this way." Liam started in on the pineapple. He didn't really need a second slice, one usually did him, but it gave him something to do with his hands. "What else do you rescue besides kittens and spiders?"

"
Apparently, smartass wannabe English professors."

"
Hey--"

"
I like it!" Goose snapped his fingers at Liam. "That's it! You're the Professor. Totally fits."

"
Classier than Goose," Deb agreed.

"
There is nothing classier than the Goose." Goose waggled his eyebrows. "Anyway, you've been renamed, kid. From here on out, you're the Professor to me."

"
Uh, do I get a say in this?" Liam hadn't ever been the nickname type, but this was a very temporary situation. Let them call him what they wanted. It was better than "kid" at least.

"
Nope. That is not how the power of nicknames work," Goose said sagely. "They get attached to you, and then you carry them around until the sun dies out."

Liam left not long after
, and he had to suppress a smile when Deb and Goose sing-songed together, "Good night, Professor."

"
Night." He waved over his shoulder.

Ace said nothing at all, but Liam could feel those light blue eyes on this back all the way out the door.

Chapter Three

Liam filled the grey empty space between leaving St. Francis and arriving at Great Sin with gossipy afternoon DJs and indie rock. It was dangerous, that in-between time, a transition that gave Liam too much time to think. At college, he'd relished the brief quiet periods when he could really let his mind wander, but since he'd come home, his head had become an unsafe place to linger in. Maybe it was the waiting, patient grief or the biting sharp edges of memory that caught at him while he worked. Maybe it was that for the first time in his life, he wasn't striding toward something. There were no grades to be earned, no projects to finish, no damaged past to outrun. Standing still for the first time in four years, all the things he hadn't wanted to deal with came washing back in.

He rolled down the windows, letting in the pounding heat that pooled sweat under his arms in a breath. It didn
't quite drown out Brandon's hands hard on his wrists or his mother's acid kiss glancing over his forehead. He cranked the radio and sang along.

So intent was he on not thinking that he almost didn
't notice Ace and a wafer-thin slip of a woman going at it the parking lot as he pulled in. It was only when he'd gotten out of the car that their fight actually registered, shaking him out of his self-involved funk.

"
You can't just leave him here every time you want to run off to Atlantic City," Ace growled.

"
You always assume the worst of me!" the woman shouted, tears streaming down her face. "It's a job interview! How else am I supposed to find a way to keep us fed without begging stuff from you all the time?"

"
What kind of place is interviewing at seven o'clock on a Friday night?" Ace stepped closer to her, fury radiating off of him. "Why do you even bother lying to me anymore?"

"
I do have an interview! A secretary job. In a dentist's office!"

Liam was just debating if he should sneak by
, when a shift in the shadows caught his eye. Standing right behind Ace was a small boy with dishwater blond hair hanging in his eyes. He was watching Ace and the woman with one finger stuck in his mouth. Knot tightening in his gut, Liam went the long way around the fighting duo to squat down next to the kid.

"
Hi," he said softly. "My name's Liam, what's yours?"

"
Cole." The boy looked wary, shoving his finger further into his mouth.

"
That's a nice name. How old are you?"

"
Four and a half," Cole mumbled.

"
Wow. That's awesome. You know, it's kind of hot out here, huh?" Liam waited for the boy to nod. "You want to come inside and have some water?"

Cole shrugged, eyes glued to Ace
's back.

"
Go ahead," Ace said gruffly, not turning around. "Go with Liam and get some water."

"
Don't tell him what to do!" the woman shrieked. "Damnit, Ace! I'm his mother!"

"
Hey, I bet Deb has a treat in her desk," Liam cajoled. "You know Deb?"

"
Uh-huh." Cole brightened. "She has lollipops."

"
Awesome, what's your favorite flavor?" Liam stood and started walking, gratified when Cole trailed along beside him.

"
Grape."

"
Yeah? Mine's lime because I like the color."

"
But it's all sour." Cole wrinkled his nose as Liam propped open the door.

"
Hey, it's the Cole-bean!" Deb said merrily when the boy trotted inside. "How's things?"

"
Okay." Cole pointed up. "This is Liam."

"
I know, he started working here last week. Kind of dorky, huh?"

"
He likes lime."

"
Ew." Deb laughed and opened her desk drawer fishing in it. She produced a grape lollipop, apparently already well versed in Cole's preferences. "You want one, Professor? I've got green ones, but I think they're apple."

"
No, thanks." Liam watched Cole unwrap the lollipop. His small sneakers were newer than the rest of his clothes; originally white, someone had drawn Spiderman on one and Superman on the other in bright marker. Not a hard guess on who had done that.

"
Hey, you want to draw with me?" Liam offered as Cole withdrew his finger to put in the lollipop. "We can sit here and talk to Deb while we work."

Before Cole could make up his mind one way or another, Liam brought out the markers and sketchpad that had become a part of his daily routine. Sometimes he passed the time while Gene napped by illustrating some of the stories Gene had told him or trying to capture his likeness. During down time at work, he
'd already done a dozen passes at Deb and Goose. She had an unusually strong jawline that was difficult to capture, and Goose's curls could keep Liam busy for hours. He bypassed all those pages, ripping out a few loose sheets. Shoving flash books and magazines aside, he made a clear space on the low table in the waiting room and sat on the floor.

"
That's a lot of colors." Cole's hand hovered over the markers.

"
Think we can use all of them in one drawing?"

By the time Ace came back in, they
'd made a reasonable attempt at it. Cole's erratic lines had strayed to the edges of the paper more than once, but the table was already deeply scarred from years of service. The splash of color was a marked improvement.

"
What're you working on, buddy?" Ace slid to the floor next to Cole. He looked worn out, a few lines gathered at the corners of his eyes, but he had a smile on when Cole glanced up at him.

"
Making a spaceship," Cole said gravely. "Gonna fly to Mars. It's closer to the sun than Earth and super hot."

"
Really?" Ace traced the edge of the drawing. "So how are you going to land without melting?"

"
I've got a magic wizard in the spaceship." Cole shrugged.

"
Good backup plan."

"
Want me to cancel your appointments, hon?" Deb asked.

"
Yeah, guess you'll have to. Damn." Ace shook his head. "I had Alex coming back in for that last session on his back too."

"
I've got back-to-back piercings after eight." Deb frowned. "Maybe I could move 'em around?"

"
Do you just need someone to watch him for a few hours?" Liam pulled out the much-abused black marker and started shading in a wall. "I don't have anything scheduled, and we're doing okay here. If we get walk-ins, I can do the sketches tonight and book them for tomorrow."

"
Are you sure?" Ace rubbed a smudge of marker off Cole's cheek with a spit-dampened thumb. "I mean, he's not really any trouble and he's already had dinner."

"
It's fine." Liam shrugged.

"
Can I have the blue?" Cole held out his hand, and Liam plopped the marker into it.

"
You know I'm right down the hall if you need me, right?" Ace said to Cole.

"
Uh-huh." The boy didn't even look up from the drawing, and Ace snorted.

"
Guess I know where I stand." One hand braced on the couch, Ace levered himself up. "Thanks, Professor."

Coloring occupied Cole for a surprisingly long time. He was an intense kid
, and the longer Liam sat with him, the more he saw Ace in his features. Their noses had the same strong jut, and their eyes were a matched set down to the slight droop of the lids. Liam would bet that when Ace didn't have dreadlocks, his hair would fall in a thick sweep over his forehead just like Cole's.

"
I've got juice boxes for the kids." Deb announced and plonked down one in front of both of them.

"
I can't get a glass?" Liam asked as he peeled the straw off Cole's box and pierced the thin aluminum for him.

"
It'd be so much less entertaining." She tapped Cole's drawing. "What happened to the spaceship?"

"
We landed, and it exploded. Now we have to meet the aliens," Cole explained. The aliens were questionable purple and green blobs with zigzag antennas. "They're nice."

"
I always thought aliens might be." Deb glanced at Liam. "He's Ace's nephew, by the way."

"
Oh." Liam concentrated on his own juice box, neatly sinking the straw inside. He didn't want to analyze the relief that had flooded through him. "So the woman outside?"

"
Ace's sister. Named Joy. How's that for irony?" A customer came in, the electric chime summoning Deb back to her desk. "Let me know when he gets tired. We've got a few blankets stashed in the back. The tables make pretty good beds in a pinch."

Pressed into service not an hour later, the blankets proved to have a faded Smurf pattern on them. When Goose sauntered in at nine, he ducked his head into Liam
's room and grinned when he spotted Cole's hair sticking out of the top of white and blue fleece.

"
Hey there, little dude." He murmured, coming in to tuck the blanket a little closer. "Didn't know he was gonna be here tonight."

"
Wasn't suppose to be, I don't think." Liam shrugged. "His mom had an interview."

"
Yeah, right." Goose pulled a face. "She's always looking for a reason to drop him here, and Ace loves the kid too much to say no. Joy had him when she was like eighteen, and I don't think she ever grew up much past that. Never has any money 'cause it goes up her nose. Don't tell him I said that. Probably kill me for talking shit about her. She loves Cole, though. Tries her best when she remembers. Her best just sort of... sucks."

"
Good thing he has Ace then."

"
You got no idea."

"
No. I guess I don't," Liam lied.

Liam passed the time drawing a spaceship. He made it fat and thick
, like a Looney Toons rocket, and added some bulbous stars with a winking moon in the background. He'd never really gone through a space phase as a kid, but he'd always liked Marvin the Martian's overwrought plans and centurion helmet.

"
He do okay?" Ace strode in around midnight, a small Spiderman backpack thrown over one shoulder. "Didn't get upset or anything?"

"
He was fine. We drew a little, talked about literature, and drank the fruit of the vine." Liam smiled. "Most cultured and mature night I've had since I started working here."

"
Hilarious." Ace didn't rise to the banter. "Thanks. For looking after him."

"
It's cool. He's a good kid."

"
Yeah." Ace slid his hands under Cole and picked him up.

"
M'tired." Waking a little, Cole rubbed his face over Ace's t-shirt.

"
Yeah, I know buddy. We're going home now." In a practiced move, Ace had blanket, backpack, and kid well in hand.

Something about the way Ace ran a soothing hand over Cole
's back pulled at Liam and left him aching. He suddenly wanted to be anywhere else but in the little shop with its paper-thin walls. He said a hurried goodnight to Deb and walked out into the steaming night air. Without much choice of destination, he wound up back at the house, pacing the floorboards until he was tired enough to pass out on the couch.

***

"I guess it just struck a chord with me," he confessed to Gene the next morning over oatmeal. "Remember when you'd pick me up on those weird late nights? I'd stand on the sidewalk with my blanket."

"
And your stuffed moose. You'd never let me carry you though, even when you were asleep on your feet. Always too independent for your own good." Gene thumped Liam's knuckles with a spoon. "You know, I'm beginning to like the sound of this boss of yours."

"
Yeah, he's a decent guy."

"
How decent?" Two salt and pepper eyebrows waggled at Liam.

"
What?" The penny dropped. "Gene!"

"
I'm not allowed to ask?"

"
No! No, you can't just..." Liam buried his face in his hands. "It's weird!"

"
Why? If you were interested in a woman, I'd be allowed to ask."

"
No. No, you wouldn't. And I'm not interested."

"
Could've fooled me." Gene dipped his spoon into the oatmeal. "Sounds like your type."

"
I don't have at type, and if I did--"

"
I did see that one boy, I remember." The oatmeal was unsweetened, judging by the wrinkle in Gene's nose. "What was his name? Benny?"

"
Ace isn't anything like him," Liam said fiercely. "Nothing."