Jaymes came awake suddenly, his body stiff, his right arm numb. After gathering his senses, orientating himself with the surroundings, he sat up and stretched, realizing he must have cried to sleep there on Chandler’s living room floor. Standing, he made his way into the kitchen and over to the refrigerator. Opening up the fridge, he investigated to see if there was anything to drink, preferably any alcohol. Dissatisfied with what he saw, he shut the door and moved back out into the living room. Chandler lay on the couch sound asleep, snoring like a bear.
Checking the clock hanging above Chandler’s entertainment center, Jaymes looked at his watch to see if it was the correct time. Both, his watch and Chandler’s clock showed that it was a little past midnight. Not wanting to disturb his friend, Jaymes quietly exited out the front door.
The air outside was cooler as he looked around. The sky was clear as stars blinked down from a tapestry of a velvety black evening sky. Shoving his hands deep into the depths of his pockets, he picked up a steady stride as he walked out of the parking lot of the apartment complex, and onto a side street. He could not remember when the last time he was in the Tumwater area as he made his way down the residential street and to the main thoroughfare of Capital Avenue. The scent of rain teased, lingering on the wings of a crisp breeze.
Capitol Avenue extended from downtown Olympia, past the airport and converging into Old Highway 99, what was once a two-way state route. Within a few minutes, Jaymes passed the airport and stopped. He watched a single engine plane descend, landing on the runway. Across from the airport is a telecommunications center he had saved from bankruptcy, and sold to an investment firm. Crossing the street, he walked around the H-frame structure of the building. The building’s nostalgic presence always reminded him of a World War II look on the exterior.
After walking around the building and reminiscing, he headed toward the downtown area, head hung low. Thoughts plaguing him as he tried to make sense of Ellyn’s death. Chandler did not even know anything, except that she was pregnant, and what he may possibly know, he was not sharing with Jaymes. Questions began to rise in his mind like a mist of fog.
If she were pregnant, why would she not share it with me? Why would she hide it? Did she want to try to work things out with Jacob? If so, why? She hated him, and was glad to be out of his life.
The reasoning was becoming troublesome as he picked up his pace again, after having slowed down. He walked past a sports bar and grill called the Avenue where he and Ellyn used to go karaoke and dance. People were lingering outside of the bar, some staggering, others laughing as he caught a glimpse of a couple sneaking away from the crowd, engaging in a drunken passionate kiss. He could not remember the last time when Ellyn and he had visited the place.
Further up the road was a 24-hour diner. Jaymes headed into the cavern of the building where other insomniacs resided. They should call these places Insomniac Café’s, he quickly joked silently. Stepping inside, there was hardly anyone there. A waitress with a tireless expression approached.
“Smoking or non?” she said robotically.
“Smoking please,” he replied exhausted, trying to stifle a yawn. He wanted to clear his mind, to get some coffee and relax as much as possible. Checking his pockets, he found a lone cigarette in the deck he had brought to work with him from the house. He could not remember how much he had smoked. He could not remember much of anything except for Ellyn lying there, and then her at the hospital.
“Is the gas station across the way open?” he asked the tired waitress as she escorted him to his seat.
“Yeah,” she responded flatly, placing a menu on the booth’s table, she had ushered him to.
“Thank you, I will be back shortly.” He made his way back out of the café, across the parking lot and into the gas station. The attendant was a young man with tattoos on both arms. Not looking up as Jaymes stepped inside, he stood, placing aside the magazine he was reading.
“Can I help you?”
“Just need a pack of cigarettes, cheapest you have.” Jaymes placed some money down on the counter. The attendant switched out the greenback with a deck of generic cigarettes Jaymes never heard, nor ever seen. Receiving the change back, Jaymes packed the deck of smokes against the heel of his palm as he disappeared out of the gas station, back across the street and into the café. Walking to the booth where the waitress had escorted him to earlier, he slid in and pulled the ashtray over. Lighting up, the smoke was harsh as it hit the back of his throat, burning as he inhaled it into his lungs, and then exhaling it out slowly.
He slowly recollected the last time him and Ellyn had paid homage to this restaurant. Maybe that’s where I failed you, El. He took another drag of the cigarette as the same waitress approached his table. She had graying at the bangs, her long curly brunette hair was done up in a bun, and her shirt sported various stains. Her face was leathery with a continuous look of sadness that seemed to have been plastered on what may have been at one time an attractive angular face.
“Could I start you off with something?” She spoke methodically, a lilt of restlessness.
“Coffee please.” Jaymes offered a weak smile. The waitress disappeared and within a few moments, reappeared with a steaming cup of coffee, placing it before him. Jaymes picked up a couple packets of cream and sugar. He hardly mixed cream and sugar in his coffee, but sometimes, he just needed the sweetness to hide the bitterness. Just then, Jaymes’s cell came alive. He had forgotten all about his cell as he pulled it from his jacket pocket and looked at the display for a moment. The battery showed he only had a couple bars of power left before he had to charge it again.
“This is Jaymes,” he answered.
“Thank God! You’re alright. Where the hell are you, Jay?” Desiree said, almost screaming. Jaymes had to hold the phone away from his ear.
“I’m at Kathy’s Café.”
“Jesus, Jay! I have been worried sick about you. You bolted out of Georgia’s house as if your ass was on fire or something. Where the hell did you go? And where the hell have you been?”
“Desi, I’m alright…” He paused, taking a drag of his cigarette. “Chandler rescued me from Mickey’s Tavern,” he said. “He drove me out to his apartment in Tumwater, past the airport. And I left his place a bit ago.”
“Well…I’m on my way over there, you are going to be there when I get there, right?”
“Yes Desi, besides, I do want to talk with you about something that Chandler told me.”
“We’ll discuss it when I get there. God! I’d thought you had gone and done something stupid,” she said, sighing into the phone. Jaymes just then realized that she was crying as he could hear soft sobs in the background.
“Okay…Desi, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“We’ll talk about it when I get there…okay?” Her voice softened, but still held a raw roughness. The line went dead as Jaymes pocketed his cell phone, turning it off first, and finished the cigarette, replacing it with another, Jaymes took long drag.
Good, then I can ask you about what you are saying concerning Ellyn and Jacob meeting up, and Ellyn being pregnant, Jaymes vented within his mind. He shook his head for a moment as the server interrupted his thoughts.
“Are you ready to order?” she asked. He was not sure how long she had been standing there.
“Another person will be joining me in a few moments, we might order then.”
“Okay…I’ll bring another menu” The waitress said this as if it was too much trouble.
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