October 19, 2014
Upon waking, Brandon reached for the small spiral notebook on his nightstand and pulled the pen from the coil. He always had a couple around to jot down any ideas or dialogue that came to mind. Most of the ideas were crap and some became redundant, but he liked playing it safe just so he wouldn’t miss out on anything, and it also gave him the impression of being productive.
He rolled over on his stomach and wrote down the basic premise for a time travel story, where a man was selected to be part of an experiment because he was receptive to thoughts sent from the future while he slept. Once Brandon’s mind went blank, he walked down to the living area and opened his laptop on the coffee table to transcribe the notes. He was a firm believer in writing upon waking when the head was still clear from sleep.
Brandon lit a cigarette and imagined what it would look like if someone took a picture of him from the mezzanine. The smoke rising, the faceless writer hunched over his work. He snickered and went out on the balcony to finish his cigarette. The street was empty except the sidewalk seating for the Downtown Café a block-and-a-half west of his loft. He smelled coffee from the Starbucks east of him.
Brandon took the blue Maxwell House tin from the top of the fridge and scooped a few tablespoons into the coffee filter. A few more mornings and he would have a new patio ash tray. He cooked four strips of bacon in a cast iron skillet and scrambled three eggs in the leftover grease. He reviewed his notes while eating.
Elaine Goodwin had at least a dozen flower tattoos, ranging from the stargazer lilies rising from her right hip to the middle of her back to the blue irises on her left shoulder blade. However, most of them were covered by her workout pants and t-shirt.
She jogged on a treadmill next to Vanessa, who was technically her trainer for the workout. They met each other in middle school but weren’t particularly close until Vanessa started working at the gym. It was the only thing they really had in common. While Vanessa liked going out with her friends, Elaine preferred sitting in front of a computer with one of her role-playing games or reading in bed, particularly thrillers and murder mysteries. She got to see enough people as a cashier at the supermarket.
“I met someone new,” Vanessa said.
“Really? Who?”
“This guy.”
“Guy?”
“Actually, I want you to meet him. I think you’ll really like him.”
“No, I’m not doing this again. You realize you have terrible taste in men, right?”
“Because I’m a lesbian?!” Vanessa shouted.
The girls continued jogging as if nothing happened while the other members looked toward them unable to decide how to react.
“Tell me again what you want in a guy,” Vanessa said.
“Smart—”
“Nice, funny, interesting, blah… blah… derr… derr… blah. How about a guy who plays video games?”
“No, definitely not one of those.”
“Well, I didn’t see an Xbox in his apartment.”
Brandon leaned on the kitchen counter and watched his mother chop green onions for a salad. Mrs. Fair lost some weight over the last couple years but was still radiant and upbeat. Cancer was the most effective diet I’ve ever been on. Brandon regretted not being around for the surgery, but his mother insisted he stay away. He was quite squeamish and turned pale each time he walked into a hospital or saw needles piercing skin.
“Stop standing there. You’re freaking me out,” Mrs. Fair said and shot him a look.
“I’m just glad you’re doing okay.”
“You think I would ever die without you around?”
Brandon didn’t say anything.
“I’m kidding. Jesus, you’re just like your father.”
They looked out the kitchen window. Mr. Fair fiddled with the gas grill’s knobs while checking the thermometer on the cover.
“He does know that reading is never accurate, right?” Brandon asked.
“I’m not having that conversation with him again.”
“He does all that and I know he’ll take the tri-tip off after an hour.”
“How do you figure?”
“He does sixteen minutes a pound, and I saw the label in the trash.”
Lizzie walked in with a bottle of wine and went straight for the corker. She looked like a 28-year-old version of her mother. Light brown hair, tall, graceful.
“I thought you were never coming back?” she said to Brandon.
“I wasn’t planning on it, Nurse Lizzie, but then I missed you sooo much.”
“Come here.” Lizzie wrapped her arms around her younger brother and pretended to lift him. “Putting some weight on, aren’t you?”
“I weigh—”.
“I’m kidding. You look great. Ma says she wants you to have grandkids.”
“I said no such thing, Lizzie,” Mrs. Fair said.
“Don’t use the expired condoms in your room. She poked holes in them,” Lizzie said.
“I’m going to smoke a cigarette. I hear it lowers your sperm count,” Brandon said while leaving the kitchen.
The Fairs sat in the living room with quiet disappointment. It wasn’t even halftime and Peyton Manning had already thrown three touchdowns, but more importantly, the 49ers were down by eighteen points.
“The tri-tip was excellent, Dad,” Lizzie said.
“Thanks. Well, let’s hope the Broncos cover,” Mr. Fair responded.
“You bet against the Niners?”
“I thought they were going to lose pretty handily.” Mr. Fair played quarterback in high school and college and watched it as more of an analyst than fan.
“Oh, well.” Lizzie turned to Brandon. “Have you been writing?”
“Started a new project this morning.”
“Will you actually finish this project, or will you be too busy bartending?” Lizzie asked.
Mrs. Fair looked up from grading mid-term papers for her junior English classes.
Mr. Fair said, “Brandon, when I was your age—”
“You were still in grad school,” Brandon said. Everyone laughed except Mr. Fair.
“Wait, how old are you?”
The room went silent.
“I’m kidding. You’re turning 26 next month.”
“Well, I’d like to read the story when you’re finished,” Mrs. Fair said.
Brandon’s phone beeped. It was a text message from Vanessa asking him to meet her at The Cantina.
The Cantina was filled with solemn people in red 49ers jerseys and two Broncos fans who were buying drinks with their winnings.
Brandon saw Elaine through The Cantina’s windows while he and Lizzie waited for the bouncer to check their driver’s licenses. She had ridiculously over-the-top curls and a puke green-shirt, but he was fascinated by her face. She looked like no one he had ever seen but yet familiar.
“Sloppy seconds, huh?” Vanessa said to Brandon before introductions could be made.
Brandon froze until Vanessa and Elaine started laughing. He left them and his sister to get drinks from the bar.
“All the guys in the bar are pissed because the Niners lost, but even more so because you’re with the three hottest chicks in the place,” the bartender Josh Walters said.
“Hah! One of them is my sister.”
“Sorry, my bad. What are you having?”
“I need a shot for now. You want one?”
“Sure, I’ll have one.”
“Shot of Jameson for me and whatever you’re having,” Brandon said.
Sunday was service industry night and as the football fans thinned out, the place got rowdier with people who worked the bars and restaurants. Dennis joined the group and vied with Vanessa for Lizzie’s attention. Elaine and Brandon engaged in small talk.
“I really like what you did with your hair,” Brandon said while nodding and holding his laughter.
“Oh, you do?” Elaine responded. “It’s natural, of course.”
“Is it from your mother or father?”
“Grandmother on my dad’s side. It skips a generation.”
“You know, if I ask you more questions than you ask me, it almost guarantees you’ll like me more.”
“But I’ll only ever ask questions of you if I actually like you.”
Brandon nodded, and Elaine drank the rest of her Maker’s Mark.
“Hey, thank you for the drink. Can I buy you one?” Elaine asked. “You know, so we’re even.”
The Merced Review 