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It was a Thursday morning, but I had time to stop by and visit after my workout before I headed to the bar. I washed up, dressed, and bought myself a sandwich at a local shop. I gave my bag of chips to the homeless guy outside. I didn’t know what his backstory was, but I had no illusions about the fact that that could have been me.
I’d been so lucky that Ace had stepped in when he did. At 16, if he hadn’t opened up his doors to me, my whole life could have swung in an entirely different direction. After the accident, I’d basically bounced around like I was in a pinball machine ricocheting off grownups who hated on me in different ways. First, my parents had smacked me around, then teachers and principals yelling about suspension and detention. Then came the officers, police officers, correctional officers, probation officers.
By the time Ace had taken me in, it had seemed as if everyone around me had already decided how my life was going to play out. Ace had been honest. He’d agreed that, to them, I was a done deal. He explained how easy it would be for me to stay on my current path. Just like my father, I could squander my days in and out of prison, ending up with a polluted life, littered with broken relationships.
Only 16, I’d already looked like a six-foot-three tattooed badass with a shaved head and a stare so angry I could practically bore a hole through steel. I’d looked tough on the outside, beyond my years, but on the inside it had stung to know that people looked at me and saw a convicted thief and drug dealer. A big part of me had felt sorely tempted to stick up my middle finger, giving everyone exactly what they wanted. If they wanted a bad guy, I could bring that, rain retribution down on them in epic proportions. Not a problem. At first, it had felt like eating shit not to, like I was sucking it up, playing by their rules while I tried to finish high school, the big guy in the back row older than everyone else.
But Ace had told me that I was smart, and that a diploma, if I could get one, was better than a G.E.D. What was more, he’d told me that the real way to prove everyone wrong would be to channel my anger and actually make something of myself. I needed to carve out my own path, be my own man, earn money without hurting anyone else.
Ace had believed in me when no one else had. I’d spent the last 10-plus years trying to prove him right. Now there I was, a successful business owner, a decade’s worth of a clean record to my name. I had him to thank.
Pulling up at Cavallo Canyon, I was glad I’d been able to talk him into moving there. The man was still spry at 80, but I sure rested easier knowing he had help seconds away. Especially when that help came in the form of Sky.
As I walked down the hall, I heard singing coming out of a room two doors down from Ace. I slowed down to listen. Sure enough, I could tell one of the voices was Sky’s.
“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue.” The door was open. Quiet, I snuck a glance inside. Sky sat on a couch beside a woman with snow white hair. The two of them were holding hands and singing together. The woman kept stopping and patting Sky’s hand, saying “this is my favorite part.” Sky would nod and smile and they’d start again.
I stood there and watched. Creepy as it may have been to lurk in the hallway and eavesdrop, I couldn’t help it. At the bar and around town, sometimes it seemed like all anyone did was snap and bite at everyone else. Online it was worse, with Twitter trolls and selfies begging “look at me” and vicious attacks on Facebook. Sometimes it seemed like everyone relished taking off their gloves and coming out swinging.
Not Sky, though. At first I’d wondered if I was romanticizing her, idealizing her into the perfect woman. But the more I saw of Sky, the more I liked her. Strolling slowly with a woman in a wheelchair, stopping to have conversations, she seemed to have all the qualities I saw so little of day to day. Kindness. Patience. Sky seemed genuinely nice. And she just happened to also be sexy as hell. Sitting there singing, I couldn’t stop watching as she tilted up her heart-shaped face and moved her lips shaped like Cupid’s bow. Even in those scrubs, I could see her generous curves just made for my touch.
“Hello there, young man!” Uh oh, the elderly woman had spotted me. I tried to slink away. “You there, listening in the hallway,” she called me out. “Don’t be shy! Come on in!”
“Sorry, ma’am.” I took a step in to offer my apologies. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Sky jumped up when she saw me, turning bright red.
“You’re welcome to sing along!” her older companion assured me. “Do you know the words?”
“Uh, no, can’t say I do.” I took a step back out into the hallway again. “Sorry for disturbing you.”
“I’ll be back in a few hours, Janice,” Sky promised, heading out to join me. Eyes wide, she poked me with her elbow. “What were you doing, spying on us?”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“You were listening to us sing! I can’t believe it.” She brought her hand to her forehead as if she wanted to hide behind it.
“Sky.” I brought my hand to hers, taking it down. She had nothing to be embarrassed about. Only then I was standing and holding her hand, so I dropped it quick. “You don’t have to feel shy. You have a beautiful voice.” I may have been exaggerating, but I couldn’t exactly say what I was thinking, that she was beautiful inside and out.
She burst out laughing. “That’s a lie. I have a terrible voice.”
“You don’t,” I insisted. “I mean, I’m not saying you should quit your job and go audition for The Voice.” She rolled her eyes at me. “But that was so nice in there.”
“She loves that song.” She shrugged.
“It’s a good one.”
We arrived at Ace’s door and I swear I felt like we were at the end of a date, me about to ask her if she wanted to come inside. Or, better yet, lean down, stroke a thumb across her jaw, tilt her head back as I sank down into a kiss. “You want to—?” I began.
“I’ve got to go check on someone.”
“Right.” I nodded, like she’d cut our evening together short instead of telling me she had something she needed to do at work before she could visit my grandfather. I needed my head examined.
“But I’ll stop by in a bit,” she promised.
I watched her walk down the hall, unable to force myself to play it cool. The woman had a glorious ass. I hated that someone else got to touch it instead of me.
“How’s our girl?” Ace asked as I entered. He must have overheard us talking.
“I heard her singing.” I sat down next to him on the couch. Just a couple of guys, both with a big crush on the same woman. Only she flirted right back with Ace.
“‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ with Janice?” he asked. I nodded. “That Sky’s a catch. I don’t know a thing about her husband, but I’m sure he doesn’t deserve her.”
“He doesn’t.”
“Is that right?”
“That’s right.” I stood up, suddenly feeling restless.
“How’re things at work?”
I shrugged. “Same old.” I gave him a little detail, pacing the room. Then I headed into the bathroom and splashed some water on my face.
Time for a change. I rifled around for some hair clippers in Ace’s vanity. I knew he had a pair. I’d bought them for him to replace the set he’d had since 1956. Running my hand through my short hair, I decided I’d buzz it down. I might even shave my head completely bald. No muss, no fuss.
I liked the feel of the clippers over my skull. Out with the old, in with the new. It was April, springtime, and I felt ready for a fresh start. When I was done, I brushed off my shoulders as best I could and headed out for Ace’s dustpan and broom.
“Get over here! You look like a shorn sheep!” Ace called me to the couch. And look who was sitting next to him. I must not have heard her come in over the buzz of the clippers.
Running my hand along my newly-cropped hair, I asked Sky, “What do you think?”
Nodding shyly, she answered, “I like it.”
“Course she’s going to say she likes it. She’
s too polite!” Ace barked. “Turn around. Did you clean it up in back?”
Dutifully, I turned for his inspection. “What a mess!” he declared.
I guess I’d failed. “It’s hard to get the back.” I felt the patches I’d missed with my fingers.
