“What are you doing here?” a hammered Tyson asked Master Gooway as he stepped into the town bar, Cece’s Slingers. Gooway was old but he emitted a youthful, powerful aura. Each movement he made felt as if it had a purpose to it.
“I was looking for the town drunk, and I believe I have found him,” Master Gooway answered calmly as he pulled up a chair next to Tyson.
“And why were you looking for me?” Tyson asked, kind of scared, kind of offended.
“I need you,” Master Gooway said staring into the souls of Tyson’s eyes, “for what you know. For what you have done.”
Tyson jumped to his feet, “I have no idea what you’re talking about!” he yelled defensively.
Master Gooway chuckled to himself, and patted Tyson’s seat, encouraging him to sit back down.
“Relax, I just need some advice and there is nobody better to go to for advice than the town drunk,” Tyson slowly slunk back into his chair not taking his eyes off the old man, “You are invisible to people who try to ignore and forget you out of their lives. But you hear everything. You see everything. You are the wisest man in Pointe Place.”
A slight smile crept up Tyson’s face. He took a sip of his Jim Beam bourbon. It had been a while since he’d gotten a compliment, “Well, tell me what you need,” he said.
“I am trying to find somebody,” Gooway explained, “I don’t know what they look like but they should be in their 20’s now.”
Tyson looked around the bar. It was a Monday morning, and nobody was there but them and the bartender, busy cleaning shot glasses from Sunday night.
“Well whenever I need help finding something, I go to the library,” Tyson drunkenly advised Gooway, “they’ve got so many resources there. Books, computers, and the Librarians are great!”
“Of course. Thanks for the help,” Master Gooway threw Tyson a twenty, “A token of my appreciation.” He gave Tyson a wink and left.
"That's it," he spoke to the koi swimming by. "It's time to bring the garden to the people, or the people to the garden."
ReplyDeleteSo he gathered small seedling pots, and separated some larger plants, and transplanted them. He stood gazing over his projects.
For the rest of the evening, as the sun was going down, he labelled the pots for delivery to the residents. By 3 AM he had delivered to Anna, Arizona, and Brendan a "Flaming Katy"
to Caris, Cleo, and Joseph a "Panda Plant" to Letitia, Luca, and Pierre a "Crown of Thorns" he thought they all needed a little light and interest in their lives.
To Eliana, Marie, and Violet a Burro's tail because, well, he couldn't really explain why.
He thought Tyson, Don Tom and Apollo along with Ollie needed a bit of Aloe Vera.
Finally, Maple, Master Gooway and Violet would receive a larger sampling of Jade Plants. For some reason, Jack thought that they needed a Bonsai variation - they needed a hobby to calm themselves.
After acting unnaturally sociable and sweet for an interminable 15 minutes, I finally got George to reveal to me what unit Pierre Leclerc lives in.
ReplyDeleteI smashed the up button and faced our building’s two elevators, eagerly awaiting my arrival to the fourth floor.
As the doors opened, I looked up into the face of Master Gooway. He was an older, wise man that I knew of but had never had a conversation with.
I had already prepared myself to speak to one new person, Leclerc, but now I might have to speak to two. I repositioned the beanie on my head and offered him a nod as I entered.
I began to tap my foot impatiently to the beat of the elevator music. I heard a small sigh from Master Gooway before the music suddenly cut off.
I swiftly looked up at Master Gooway, shocked by the lack of the incessant music that has defined each one of my elevator experiences.
Two seconds later, the elevator suddenly halted, our bodies being thrown into each other before we both hit the floor and were suspended in darkness.
The tornado warning sounded.
I began to panic and I dug around in my bookbag for my phone. Once the flashlight was on, I frantically searched around for the elevator’s emergency button, hoping George wasn’t preoccupied and could help us.
When I turned my flashlight onto Master Gooway, he appeared surprisingly calm.
“Don’t worry child, we are not going to die today,” he said. “It is not my time yet.”
I eyed him from head to toe until I could determine that he was being genuine.
“How can you be so sure?” I asked.
“I know that we will not die today the same way I know that I will find my son, the same way I know that we were meant to be on this elevator together, and the same way I know that you and Leclerc will work together to solve the death of Mr. Evans.”
I was dumbfounded. Figuring out other people was my job.
“...Your son...you said he’s missing?” I asked.
“He’s not exactly missing...more like he was never found,” Master Gooway said.
“I can help! I’m good at finding people!” I exclaimed.
“No child, calm down. Everything is under control, I have it handled now. If I ever need help, I will reach out but you need not worry. Plus, you have much more important cases to focus on. Working with Leclerc is the key,” he said.
“Why are you smiling so hard?” I, once again, asked.
“Well you’re going to take my picture aren’t you? For the wall of new people you meet?” he asked with a knowing glint in his eye.
I simply nodded, grabbed my camera and snapped a pic. I turned off the flash on my phone and leaned back into the wall of the elevator, my mind spinning over this new encounter as we were plunged back into darkness.