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 Faith Robbins shifted in the bed, somewhere between awake and asleep. It was late (or early, depending on your point of view), and she knew she wasn’t sleeping even though it sure felt like sleep. She didn’t like being in bed by herself, even though she had only been sharing one with Jake for a little more than a month. It felt too right and too comfortable, she missed him. A phantom voice told her to relax, that they had all the time in the world to share a bed. He’s only in the other room, Faith. Don’t be such a baby. She adjusted again, and opened her eyes (were they open this whole time?) and saw the semi dark ocean sky. The bedroom Jake’s uncle (this was his father’s brother, an uncle Jake had always known about) had given them was right on the beach, only a screen patio door separated the sand from the tile floor. It was wonderful. During the day it wasn’t too hot, and at night it was as perfect as you could get. Faith loved California. Born on the wrong coast, she smiled, still wondering whether or not her eyes had been open this whole time. The alarm clock read 2:45. Jake was in the other room, writing away, writing about the last month of school and all the crap that was thrown at them. Faith was aware of it all, Jake had told her everything. London, however, he didn’t need to tell her about. London had found her. It was almost the exact moment Jake told Hector to let Faith and Megoth know the truth. Faith was in her apartment just off campus, Trish was out doing some shopping. Faith was searching the internet for a good recipe for a nacho/chili dip for a party that never got to happen. It happened in flashes. First, it was the ocean, below her, expanding in every direction with no end in sight. She tasted the salty, harsh Atlantic air. She felt the cold all around her, the wind rushing in her face. She smelled the damp, moldy leather of the trench coat, the sour smell of body odor and sweat. Then, FLASH, she was up in the gray clouds, falling again. Trish had found her curled up in a fetal position, tears streaming down her face, slowly sobbing. And then Jake was gone for three weeks on that stupid island. She could have killed him for that. Kelly wasn’t much of a help when questioned. What really happened? Who was the man in the mask? Why did he capture me? Were we really teleporting across the Atlantic in short bursts? Kelly had nothing really to say, the scar of Mercy dying never far from his mind. She saved me, didn’t she? She saved me from that mask? And… the thought of Jake being responsible… she knew that wasn’t true. It was the demon Reggie, the mask from another dimension. It did seem a little too fantastic, until she remembered she did still have a laser sword that Megoth had given her, and from then on kept it close to her. The people at the airport had given her a strange look when they x-rayed that bag. So she was bombarded with what she called a truth bullet, Jake went away for three weeks to determine if he still had his powers. She knew there was a reason she always liked him, but she had no clue to what extent. Graduation day now made perfect sense, looking back on it. Well, as much sense as that day could make. Faith’s mind drifted to kissing Jake, but they were on top an orange mountain being applauded by a tribe of super intelligent billy goats. They were then flying. She saw herself flying in Jake’s arms, and she felt herself flying. She was then Jake, looking into her own eyes, and then she had turned around and looking into the demon eyes of Reggie. She sat up, eyes darting around the room. It felt like she had just been standing on reality and someone pulled the rug. Her eyes didn’t need adjusting, and again she felt as perhaps they had been open the whole time. Why the hell did he decide to write that stupid paper right now? Jake had said he was writing it in his head the whole trip, and was ready to get all the stuff he wanted to do out. Faith understood, to a point. Why not write it in small bursts? Jake had smiled at her. Not the way I work, hon, when I’m ready, it’s all or nothing. All or nothing. But now they only had four weeks left in California and he was writing the stupid paper for the last two. And only at night. During the day, it was hanging out with Kelly or Mitchell and the mall, the beach, one forgettable day in TJ. She reflected on the San Diego trip so far, and was surprised how much she really did love it out there. Her parents had never traveled further west than Hershey Park, and they got to go to Disney for her brother’s Bar Mitzvah. Instead of having a party, he wanted to go see Mickey. So they went. Faith wanted a princess theme for her Bat Mitzvah. Jake was invited, but didn’t go. He wouldn’t have made a good princess. Her father visited her thoughts. Wonder what he would think of his little girl in California? Wonder what he would think of everything. She knew that she was now part of a very small group of people that knew the fantastic did exist, that life maybe isn’t so gray and boring. That people can, and do, fly. Her father only met Jake once, and that was graduation day. He would have liked him, she thought, and Jake, him. They would have talked about football and agreed that the Giants were robbed in the playoffs. Her dad never saw those playoffs. She had wished he had known how to fly. The last boyfriend he had met was Harry. Harry didn’t know who the Giants were. Faith smiled at the look on Harry’s face when her dad had asked him which football team he liked. Harrison had tried, he really did, and said the Mets. Her brother almost choked on a spare rib. Mr. Robbins’ tired to be nice and gently inform Harrison that the Mets were the baseball team. But Harrison’s face turned red and he had to excuse himself. Faith had gone after him, holding back a giggle herself, but it had turned into another argument. Which had turned into an argument about sex. Wonder what dad would think if he found out me and Jake had sex? She smiled at that thought. She hoped her father did know, and she felt that while she didn’t wait until she was married like she had promised him, he would approve. Maybe a little angry, but, deep down, approve. It was the first week in California, she was planning it all along and shocked the hell out of Jake. I’m ready, she had said. For what? Bed? No, silly, I’m ready. It took another couple of seconds before it registered. Are you sure? I’m ready. It wasn’t a good experience but it wasn’t a bad one, which she had heard was pretty much par for the course. The second time was a little better, the third was awful. Jake’s uncle and father almost walked in on them. It was bad enough trying to hide the condoms in the trash (the wrappers were a bitch to conceal) without them knowing, but this time they almost had walked in. They hadn’t done it since Kelly had arrived. Faith didn’t know when they’d get a chance to do it again, but she wanted at least one time to do it down on the beach, to stay out there the whole night and have sun wake them up as it rose out of the ocean. That would be a perfect night. The clock read 2:58. She has felt almost two hours of thoughts go by in ten minutes, and still didn’t know if her eyes had been open or closed this whole time. She heard the sound of a screen door open, and the muffled footsteps she knew. Kelly’s room was right next door, he was probably walking outside to have a smoke. The screen door closed, two more footsteps, the snap of a match followed by the smell of sulfur. She heard him breath in, and then out, cigarette smoke billowing into her room. She slightly coughed. “Oh, crap, Faith, I’m sorry…!” She sat up. “No worries, I can’t sleep either.” “Want me to put this out?” “No, hold on, I’ll join ya.” She pulled a robe from the chest of drawers and wrapped herself in it. It was a bit chilly out there. She slid open the door and felt the sand squish between her toes. She swore that the sand in California was smoother than NY sand. Jones Beach sand sucked. “You can’t sleep either, Kelly Rose?” “Yes, and no. I had a dream. Didn’t want to go back to sleep.” “About Mercy?” “How’d you guess?” “A girl knows.” “Right. Well, even if you could read minds, you wouldn’t be able to get into mine.” “I don’t need to read minds to know that it was about her and not, say, Trish.” “I don’t want to talk about her.” “Did she talk to you?” “She hasn’t talked to me since we broke up—“ “I meant Mercy.” “Oh. “No.” “She talked to me once. That night, of the snow storm? The night we all hooked up? Excpet Megoth and Sandy, that is…” “Who knew he was fucking my sister.” “I knew.” “Oh jeez. Was I really the last to know?” “Yes.” “So what did she say?” “Your sister? She told me not to te—“ “Mercy.” “Oh. She was in my dream, but I couldn’t see her. I could hear her, she said that I should look after Jake, that he needs me. She told me to protect him.” “Really? She never talked to me. Most of the time she’s just standing there, smiling.” “Naked?” “Sometimes. But she spoke to you, hunh? Figures. I think, once in a while, that maybe she’s not dead.” “Kelly, I feel the same way about my dad sometimes. That all of a sudden he’s going to wake up out of a coma somewhere in New Jersey, that he was able to get out of those burning buildings alive. That’s not going to happen. I know he’s dead, the same way Mercy is.” “Faith… I know. But. Still.” Kelly puffed one last drag and crushed the butt on the brick of the house. He tossed it into the trash. “Jake still writing?” “Yeah. Fourth or fifth night in a row. He’s got to be done soon.” “I think he’s up to the part where he goes to the island.” “Hopefully, that’s the end of the story.” “Is it? I saw it as the beginning. Well, Faithy Faith, I’m gonna go try and sleep and not think of Mercy or Trish. Good talking to you, hon.” Kelly gave her a hug and she hugged him back. He smelled like cigarettes, but it wasn’t all that unpleasant. “I think he’s very lucky, Faith.” “Oh yeah?” “Yeah. G’night.” “Good night yourself, Kelly Rose.”    
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EVERYTHING JAKE is TM & (C) 2000-2011 by Mike Rosenzweig. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
