I started to eat again. He smiled, nodded, and looked around. I thought he was acting quite nervous, but I attributed that to his approaching me. Maybe, despite his good looks, he wasn’t that experienced when it came to girls. And yet I didn’t sense any shyness. Ava used to say we could smell it.
“So, are you from San Francisco?” he asked.
“No. I’m going to visit an elderly aunt of mine. I’ve been promising her I would for a long time.”
“That’s very nice of you. In this country, the elderly are often put on a shelf and forgotten. Until they can be declared incompetent or something and their children or grandchildren can get control of whatever wealth they still possess, that is. I just fought one of those cases recently. I kept the wolves at bay, but I had the feeling it wasn’t going to be too much longer before I could do nothing more for the poor old lady.”
“How long have you been an attorney?”
“Nearly fourteen years now,” he said.
“You don’t look that old.”
“Believe me, in my profession, that is not an advantage. Everyone wants to treat you as if you’re a naive kid just learning the ropes. Even the court clerks and security people treat you with less respect. I was thinking about growing a beard. What do you think? Would it help?”
“Probably not, unless it was gray,” I said, and he laughed.
“You don’t have school or anything right now?”
“I have a break,” I said.
He nodded. The waitress brought him his coffee, and he sipped it and then looked around. “I’m always amazed at how many people are out and about during dinnertime. Most of these people aren’t travelers. I can tell. This is a night out for the local yokels, but it’s not much different in San Francisco. Kitchens in homes might disappear soon.”
“Are you married?”
“No. Came close, twice actually, but lost my courage at the last moment.”
“Why does it take courage to get married?”
“You’ll see when you get close,” he replied. He smiled and leaned toward me. “When you get married, you can’t be selfish anymore.”
“Why do you want to be selfish?”
“We’re all selfish until we have to compromise to keep someone’s love,” he replied. “Wow, listen to me. I sound like I know what I’m talking about. Most lawyers think that they can elaborate on any subject. Talk, talk, talk. We hammer words into people’s ears like carpenters trying to build houses out of verbiage.”
I laughed. Should I be so relaxed so quickly with a complete stranger? I immediately wondered. Wasn’t this exactly the sort of thing Moses the truck driver had warned me about? But if I didn’t trust anyone, how could I survive alone in the world? All my life, I had been overprotected. As a young girl, I believed my father had the power to keep everything evil and harmful away from us. Like most young people, I had lived in a rose-colored bubble. Everything bad happened to other people, older people, perhaps. Really terrible things didn’t usually happen to us ever, unless they involved the Renegades, vampires who didn’t obey the territorial rules and were dangerous to us. Of course, there were sick children, but our amazing family never experienced illness. Like my sisters, I attributed our good health to how our housekeeper and cook, Mrs. Fennel, fed us with her magic herbal potions and recipes.
The more protected you were when you were younger, the more vulnerable you were when you were older, I thought. To me, that made sense. If we lived in a world without dangerous bacteria and then traveled to places where dangerous bacteria were common, we wouldn’t have the natural immunity that the people who lived there had. If that was true for germs, why wouldn’t it be true for deceptive, dishonest, and violent people? We didn’t have the skills and perception to recognize the signs and the clues when we were as young and as inexperienced as I was. As long as I was with Daddy, I didn’t need those skills. I had no choice now that I was on my own. I had to grow up fast, very fast, almost overnight.
“So, what about you?” Keith asked. “Do you have a steady boyfriend?”
“Not anymore,” I said.
“Oh, so you live in Heartbreak Hotel, huh?”
“Something like that,” I said.
“Is that the real reason you’re heading for San Francisco?” he asked. “I don’t mean to pry,” he added quickly. “If it is the reason, you’re probably doing the right thing. A change of setting is refreshing. You’ll meet new people, see new things. Can’t hurt to be able to forget. When I broke up with my girlfriend, I took an immediate vacation and went to the Greek islands.”
He finished his coffee and looked at his watch.
“I guess I have to get on the road,” he said. “About three hours to go. On a bus, it will be more like four and a half. With other stops along the way, maybe even five,” he warned.
I nodded in agreement with my own thoughts. How foolish it would be to pass up this good luck. Besides, I was nervous staying there, being in one place too long. I couldn’t help watching the front doors, anticipating either Ava or even Daddy walking in and heading for me. I wasn’t yet far enough away for them not to smell me out. Daddy might even be able to hear my voice.
“So, do you want a ride?” he asked, now sounding a little upset that I wasn’t jumping enthusiastically on his offer.
“Okay. Thank you,” I said. I realized that he hadn’t asked me my name. However, I imagined he had heard Moses say it. He did say he was eavesdropping on us.