The Silver Thread (21 page)

On Monday, Annika stopped by the hospital before work, and had Danny draw her blood for testing. Rather than spend a cold and wet day at the farm with Charlie, Talvi opted to stay home with Chivanni and get started with his massive honey-do list. The first thing on his list was fixing the roof, but until the rain stopped, he busied himself with patching cracks and holes in the plaster walls. Tuesday was a repeat, except with an even bigger mess left, if that was possible. All the old, loose plaster had to be dug out of the weak spots, which ended up leaving piles of fine dust on the floor of every room in the house.

Annika thought it best to wait until her day off on Wednesday to tackle the matter of converting Talvi’s money into American dollars and getting him legally licensed to drive. When Wednesday morning came around, he wouldn’t even let Annika take a shower. He had literally pulled her out of bed, helped her dress, and dragged her downstairs just long enough for him to brew some tea before they left. Now they found themselves in her black coupe, battling morning rush hour traffic.

“Badra’s beard, does it ever stop raining in this city?” he asked, looking out the window with a sneer. “It makes London seem dry as a bone.”

“The Pacific northwest is a temperate rainforest,” she pointed out. “It rains a lot. That’s why it’s so pretty and green here.”

“Is it like this all year?”

“No. Summer is absolutely perfect, but you have to pay for it. The rain starts around autumn, and usually goes till June. Sometimes it rains for a month straight. Sometimes longer.”

“Bollocks to that. I prefer a Mediterranean climate, myself. Say, why don’t we go to southern Italy, at least until summer begins here?” She turned to look at him, and he raised a hopeful brow. “Just say the word, and I’ll make it happen.”

“Um, I have a new job, and I’m in the middle of recording an album, sweetie,” Annika reminded him. When she glanced out the windshield she slammed on the breaks so she didn’t hit the car in front of her. Those thoughts of southern Italy were pretty distracting. She’d never been there, but she always wanted to go.

“Why don’t you let me drive, since your attention seems to be elsewhere?” he suggested.

“No. You can drive later,” said Annika. Talvi waited all of one minute before asking her,

“How about now?”

“No.”

“But it’s later,” he pointed out with a wink, and took a sip of tea from the travel mug he’d brought along.

“Talvi…” She was beginning to get annoyed with his persistence. “You’re going to drive me insane before we get to the bank. I promise I’ll teach you afterwards,
if
you stop nagging me about it.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, trying not to laugh at the pouty face she was making. “It’s just that I’ve always wanted to drive a car like yours, and now that I have the perfect opportunity, you’re making me wait. I hate waiting.”

“We all do. Join the club.”

“What club?” he asked, which made Annika shake her head and smile.

“You know, for as bad as you want to drive, I’m really surprised that you never learned how. It’s not like you didn’t have the time.”

“True, however there are an abundance of trains and taxis and busses that take you wherever you might like to go. I personally prefer a motorcycle to get around, but whenever we did get a car, Finn always insisted on driving it. After a wild bash about town, it’s much easier to let someone sober find your hotel than it is to try and navigate cobblestone streets on a Ducati whilst inebriated. I’m afraid I’ve ruined a few too many bikes that way. A private car with a driver is considerably less expensive.”

“You make a very good point,” she smiled, grateful that her husband’s days of drunk driving were behind him. “Let’s get this over with so that I can make you wait a little less longer to get your license, okay?” she said, and pulled into the parking lot of the main branch of her bank. She slung her purse over her shoulder and carried the burlap sack of gold coins to the front door, which he opened for her.

“Are those real?” he asked, looking around at the fake plastic trees in the lobby decor.

“Why don’t you go find out for yourself while I deal with this?” she said, and he walked off to one side.

“Hi there, we need to exchange this and make a deposit.” Annika said to the next available teller, setting the sack down with a soft clinking sound on the counter. An uppity looking brunette wearing a tight bun gave her a skeptical glance.

“Are those coins? Take them to the supermarket across the street. They have machines specifically for that.” She pointed towards the door.

“They’re not coins. It’s gold. And they’re rings, not coins.”

“You know, if you’re looking to pawn things off, you’re welcome to use our phonebook over there by the courtesy phone. I don’t go to those places myself, otherwise I would tell you
exactly
where to go,” she said flippantly. Annika was flabbergasted.

“You know, I have an account here and no one’s ever been so rude to me when I’ve brought you money before,” she replied, putting her hand on her hip. The woman narrowed her eyes a little and crossed her arms.

“Well I don’t mean to be rude, but it would take forever to sort those coins, and the machine across the street will do it in less time. You can bring the cash here and save everyone a lot of trouble.”

“Yeah, I get that, but like I said, these aren’t coins. It’s gold, see?” Annika said, and opened the bag. The brunette stood up and peered into the bag at the myriad of key rings filled with gold rings of all different sizes.

“What is this, some kind of April Fool’s Day joke?” she said as she picked up one of the key rings.

“It won’t be April for another week,” a male voice said in an English accent. Talvi had finished his inspection of their fake plastic trees and wandered back to Annika’s side. The brunette’s face melted from a snooty expression to a much more pliant one as she looked into his eyes.

“Wow, are you wearing contacts?” The woman asked. “I’ve never seen ones like those before.” Talvi frowned in confusion, glancing at his clothes and then back at the woman.

“Contacts? What are those?”

“They’re like glasses,” the woman explained. “But you wear them in your eyes.”

“I’ve never heard of such a preposterous thing,” he replied, and leaned seductively over the counter, gazing into the woman’s eyes until a flush spread across her face.

“Sandy, isn’t that your name?” he asked, and she nodded her head in sublimation. She reached her hand upwards to touch her shirt, brushing her breast as she searched for a nametag that wasn’t there. “Sandy, you’re such an intelligent and lovely creature. Why are you in a place like this when you could be at home in bed? I know you have a man waiting for you. Why don’t you leave early and surprise him?” he asked in that velvety smooth voice of his.

“I…I…don’t…I don’t know…” Sandy said, and shuddered.

“Take my advice. I wonder what your hair looks like when it’s come undone and falling down your bare shoulders?” he said, completely turning up the charm. Sandy seemed to be desperately searching for a pen, or a pencil, or a paperclip. Who knew what she was looking for, but she definitely couldn’t look away from Talvi’s hypnotic blue and green contact-free eyes.

“Hey Sandy, are you coming to take your lunch break?” two women called, walking towards the door. When Talvi turned around to look at them, they smiled very wide grins as they walked along.

“Oh, you look busy. We’ll just grab you a salad,” one of them said, and the other woman kept walking right into the closed glass door, impacting it with a loud thud. Thoroughly embarrassed, they bustled outside as fast as possible while Annika watched in amusement.

“I’m going to go find the president of the bank to come help you. Don’t go anywhere,” Sandy said, smoothing her skirt and sweater, and walked as quickly as possible to the rear of the lobby.

“I think that extra shake is for you, babe,” Annika said with an amused grin of her own. “I don’t know what the heck you did to her, but way to go.”

“I just showed her a few things to try with her husband when she goes home tonight,” he said with an air of satisfaction. “I’ve given her plenty to think about, so the next time you talk to her, she should be much more relaxed.” Annika was never so grateful to have such a brazen flirt for a husband.

After a little while, Sandy returned with an older woman who took a peek into the burlap sack and asked them to join her in her office. It was some time later that Annika and Talvi signed their names on various papers adding him onto her checking and savings accounts. She felt her throat close up as each account was filled to the maximum limit they could insure it for. They put the rest of the gold in a safety deposit box and let the bank president escort them to the doors with their new keys. When they passed Sandy’s desk, she even smiled at them.

“Thanks for stopping by today,” she said, and twirled her long hair which she had pulled loose from the tight bun.

“Guess who got his driver’s license today?” Annika called out to Chivanni as they walked in the kitchen and hung up their jackets. The smell of vanilla and cinnamon made her mouth water, but what really caught her by surprise was to see Patti standing with Chivanni at the stove in an old soccer jersey and sweat pants of Charlie’s.

“Oh, hi!” she said, looking up from the stove to grin at her friends. The small bottle of vanilla floated through the air and put itself back in the cupboard to her left. “I’m guessing you guys went to the DMV?”

“Yeah, and the line wasn’t bad at all,” Annika replied. “Talvi passed the exam with a perfect score.”

“I’m surprised he passed at all, since he’s such an elderly driver,” Patti said, winking at Chivanni before grinning at Talvi. “I heard how old you are.”

Annika snorted while Talvi tried to scowl at Patti, but it rebelled into a smile as he traded his empty travel mug for a glass of orange juice.

“So I have to ask, when did you get here? I don’t remember you coming in,” Annika inquired, still eyeing Patti’s clothes. She was dying to know what was going on between her friend and her brother.

“Well, I finally got fired for being late Sunday night,” Patti said, trying to be a good sport. She transferred two pancakes from the pan onto a plate hovering in the air nearby, and poured batter for two more. “But of course, my managers let me get dressed up and come in last night anyway, those assholes. After that I went straight to the bar across the street and ordered two shots of Jaeger. The next thing I knew Charlie was driving me here. So here I am.”

“What about school? Don’t you have painting class today?”

Patti trembled, wiping a few tears from her face with her spatula-wielding forearm.

“What’s the point of going? I still owe half my rent for March, and April is almost here. I lost a lot of money when I burned my hand. I’m counting on being evicted now that I can’t pay for April, either. On top of that, I’m taking so many classes this semester, that I really can’t work any sort of full time job and still have time to get my final projects done. I’ll have to drop my classes just to pay my bills, and it’s so late into the semester that I can’t get a refund. I’ve wasted all that time in school for nothing!”

Patti started to cry and Annika rushed over to hug her, while Chivanni carefully took the spatula out of her hand and flipped the pancake.

“I’ll just move in with my brother for a while, at least until I find another job. He’s so tweaked out all the time, I’ll bet he won’t even notice,” she said, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. Annika was revolted by the very thought of Patti living with her brother.

“Won’t notice?” she said irritably, letting go of her. “Of course he’ll notice! The guy’s a friggin’ crack head! He’ll pawn off everything you own in your sleep!”

“What’s a friggin’ crack head?” Chivanni asked naïvely. “Is his head really split open?”

“Pretty much,” Annika replied, feeling an uneasy knot rising up in her stomach. There weren’t too many people she downright loathed, but Patti’s scumbag older brother was one of them. “The guy sells crack and meth out of his house. If Patti moved in with him, she could go to jail for a really long time if he was ever busted, which I’m kinda surprised he hasn’t been yet. He’s such a moron.”