"I"m gonna go get Lily, Cainy boy," she whispered to me.
Gosh, I loved it when she called me that. I have no idea why. It was a stupid childish name but oh man, how I loved it. And she never spoke it where anyone else could hear it.
None of the new ones had seen Lily between her naps and baths and such. Sherry was apparently excited to make a debut of her.
Lily had been detained in the kitchen with Marissa and Kay for the stories as they finished the dishes. Sherry wasn"t sure if they"d be too gory or upset her. I was just as excited as her. I knew everyone would fall in love with her just like we did.
She came back carrying the girl in her arms, on her hip, her tiny frame barely able to handle even Lily. It was quite comical to look at. But also sweet. I glanced around to get the reactions which were comical as well.
You couldn"t resist all that blonde hair and bashful smiles. They gasped and oohed and ahhed. Lillian"s was by far the best. The sweet womanly tears started to gather in her eyes but she dammed them back and smiled widely.
"Lily, this is the new people that are gonna live with us," Sherry started and went around the room with the introductions.
Lily was a perfect little specimen. She smiled and waved her fingers at them and tucked her face shyly into Sherry"s neck when someone cooed at her. Our own little Shirley Temple. Since she"s been taken care of and Sherry brushes her hair regularly, which she wasn"t getting before, her hair has started to curl at the ends making her even more precious and doll looking.
Sherry put her down and she ran right to Merrick"s arms, outstretched for her. After Sherry sat back down I decided to go get ready for work. I still work at the diner/coffee shop. It"s a good cover to get things from the grocery store and be seen out in public. Soon the convenience store we live under will no longer be used or needed.
We"ve started tilling the ground for our garden. We decided to put it under a tarp cover with holes cut in the top for sunlight. It"s the only way to keep prying eyes from the sky from seeing the garden and coming to investigate but still let it get rain and sunshine.
It"s a good plan. I"m pretty sure it"ll work out fine. We put it out behind the shed. In fact it"s time for another grocery store run. End of the week. That"s how it goes these days. For the past few weeks we"ve been doing these end of the week store runs, preparing for when the need warehouses come and it"ll be a lot harder to shop.
I tell Jeff and Miguel as much before I head out. We agree that all the ones that can go will go in the morning. So far we have three sleeping rooms full of food. It won"t be enough. It won"t be near enough. But it"s a start.
I glance back to survey the crowd before I head up the stairs and see Lillian, throwing back her head and laughing at Lily. I smile and decide that I"m happy with our new guest.
Breaking New Ground
Chapter 4 - Lillian.
I lay in the dark, in a new place, in my new room, alone. It"s late but I can hear talking in the hall. It"s a quiet place. You can hear everything. It"s hot. It"s too dark. It"s small.
It"s perfect.
What luck to find them. Sherry and Merrick and the rest. If I could see the ceiling I"d be staring at it. I wonder if it too is concrete, just like everything else.
I decide I"ve laid here long enough. I should have fallen right out but I can"t. My mind wont be still. I climb out of my pallet. I"m wearing Sherry"s t-shirt she loaned me though the sleep pants are a little short and crack my door open.
The people I heard talking are in the hall. Jeff and Miguel. At least I think that"s their names. They see me peeking and the severely handsome one speaks.
"Hey. Sorry. Did we wake you? Lillian, right?"
"Yes. No, you didn"t wake me. I couldn"t sleep anyway."
Marissa pops her head out of a door, grabbing Jeff"s arm.
"Miguel. That"s enough planning for one night. Please let Jeff come back to bed now," she said pleadingly, even as she"s pulling Jeff towards her through the door.
Miguel chuckles.
"Ok. Ok. I guess I need my own Sheila, so I can have someone to jerk me from my duties too!" Miguel yells as Jeff laughs and slips in the door, shutting it behind him without looking back.
Miguel rolls his eyes and turns back to me.
"Want to rock up to the kitchen for a bit? I make a mean cup of hot tea," Miguel said and I was fairly certain I understood what he was saying so I nodded and followed him down the hall.
Miguel isn"t very handsome. He"s kinda nice looking but too rugged and sharp to be handsome. Not that I care what people look like. He seems really nice though. And has a nice smile.
"So. I heard the bloke say you guys have been living in an abandoned house?"
"Yes. We found a three bedroom we"ve been staying at for about two weeks. We usually can"t stay somewhere for very long. Things haven"t been too bad until we started seeing those things all the time. The flying things?"
"Markers."
I decide I"m totally in love with his accent.
"Yeah, those. Then one night a Lighter showed up so we figured we better move since Mitch.e.l.l didn"t get a chance to kill it. That"s when we headed this direction." Then I thought about what I just said and felt my face pale. "Oh G.o.d. I can"t believe I just said that. How cold of me."
"No it"s not. It"s a Lighter. They aren"t human anymore love. Well, I guess that doesn"t matter. They don"t have humanity anymore is more like it. Like the Keepers do. Most of the Keepers have more humanity than most humans I know."
"Yeah. Mitch.e.l.l is really great, for sure."
"Did I hear my name?"
I turned to see Mitch.e.l.l, he saw us right as we rounded the corner into the commons room, as everyone called it.
"Yes, actually," I said surprised at my relief to see him.
I had barely seen Mitch.e.l.l since we"ve been here. He kinda took over the protector role of me since his charge and my husband died. I"m not sure how I feel about that now. I thought Keepers didn"t love. Couldn"t. But now, seeing Merrick and Jeff so happy and even intense in their relationships, it"s making me question Mitch.e.l.l"s intentions.
What if his being so nice and sweet, all the touching and consideration has to do with more than being Keeperly?
"Hey, Lillian. How ya setting up?" Mitch.e.l.l asked and came to stand beside me.
"Ok. This place is great. A nice hideout." I wasn"t sure what to say.
I still felt out of it.
"Yeah, it is," Miguel agreed. "All we got are little rooms and swag beds, but it"ll do, right? Me and my crew came here because of the flyer too, a few months back," he said then poked his hand out to Mitch.e.l.l. "Names Miguel. We didn"t get a chance to introduce ourselves earlier."
"I"m Mitch.e.l.l. Nice to meet you. I"m Lillian"s Keeper. Well..."
"It"s ok, Mitch.e.l.l. He was my husbands Keeper. He died," I explained.
"I see, I"m sorry. I lost my wife a year ago as well. I know how it is."
"Oh, I"m sorry. Yes, it"s rough." I didn"t know what else to say now either.
"Well, I"ll be in the kitchen if you still want that tea," he said winking and smiled, already walking to the kitchen.
"Thank you."
"So how are you really? You cleaned up nicely," Mitch.e.l.l said, looking me over.
He"d always been sensitive to my moods. He was always there for me. Good thing he wasn"t in the room earlier when Polly went off on me. He would have let her have it as he"s done on many occasions for my sake. I just can"t fight her. Not on that. Not over Michael. It"s seems so contradictory and I just let her do it to me every time.
"I"m ok. I"m just so tired and not able to sleep."
"Come here," he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the couch.
I go willingly. I know what he"s gonna do. He sits and pulls me down next to him, putting my head in his lap to scratch my head.
"How are you?" I ask after I get situated.
"I"m fine. It"s weird being here, especially finding Merrick and Jeff and the rest of them."
"Yeah. Weird is a good word for it. It"s a nice place though. Perfect for what we need it for."
"Yeah. I hear they"ve had some trouble, but things are better here than they were for us. We made the right choice coming here. Don"t worry. Everything"s going to be ok now."
"I know," I decide to go ahead and bring up the subject we"re avoiding, about Keepers, uh, dating. "So can you believe Merrick and Sherry? I wonder if they had something going on back at the warehouse."
"Merrick used to watch Sherry. He wasn"t supposed to, we"re only supposed to watch our charge but...anyway. He was struggling with it all back then. I guess it worked out for him."
"Looks like it. They look happy. It"s nice that people can still find each other, even with all this going on." I wince at my words and wish I could take them back.
I"m not trying to provoke him into a confession but it"s looks like I am now. I try to hurry and change the subject.
"So, I overheard they are making a store run in the morning. I think I should go with them."
"Lillian. You know how I feel about that. I don"t like you going places where I can"t...keep an eye on you."
"I know. But ,Mitch.e.l.l, you aren"t my Keeper. I"m not a Special. Besides I won"t be by myself. Cain and a few others are going. I need to do what I can to help."
He stops scratching and starts to run his fingers through my hair and on my neck, almost absentmindedly. He"s done this so many times to soothe me, it feels second nature.
"I know I"m not your Keeper, but I still feel responsible for you. But I also know you. You won"t feel good until you"ve done something to make yourself useful. I"m not...in a position to make you stay so..." He sighed, giving in. "Please be careful."
"I will. Thanks for looking out for me, I appreciate it but you don"t have to. I"ve told you this before. I don"t want to be a burden to you just because Michael"s gone."
"Lillian. That"s not what you are to me." He was silent for so long, I wondered if he"d say more or leave it. Eventually he spoke again. "You may not be a Special, but you are special. Don"t forget that. I will always be here for you, not because I have to, but because I want to."
"Thanks Mitch," I said and squeezed his knee.
"You"re very welcome, Lil. Now sleep," he said as he resumed scratching my head.
And I did.
The next morning, everyone was bustling around getting ready for the store trip. I had fallen asleep on the couch, on Mitch.e.l.l"s lap, for the whole night. My neck stung with a kink but I pulled myself up slowly so as not to wake him.
He was so sweet. We both feel asleep last night and he"d stayed with me. I could see how uncomfortable it was. His head laid back awkwardly on the back of the couch. I smiled and silently thanked him for always thinking of me.
I turned after laying the afghan on Mitch.e.l.l and ran right into Miguel. He grabbed my arm to keep me from falling.
"Oh! I"m sorry."
"That"s alright. I got no qualms about catching the pretty ones," Miguel said and winked, releasing my arm.
"Thanks." I looked around. "So, everyone is going on the run?"
"Just about. Everyone that can go, at least. We got a lot of stocking up to do before the need warehouses screw it all up for us."
"Yeah..." We slowly walked to the hallway together. "Well, I can go, I guess. If you need me."
"You don"t sound so sure."
"Well, Mitch.e.l.l doesn"t want me to," I admitted softly.
"Well, then. I wouldn"t go. Those Keepers seem to know what they"re talking about. If he doesn"t want you to, he must have a reason."
"Hmm. Ok. Makes sense."
"So." He leaned on the wall beside me. "You"re pretty young, ay?"
"Yeah." I ducked my head and tucked my hair behind my ear to cover my blush. My age has always been a sore spot for me, since I had been married so young so I try to joke. "But I can legally drink and rent a car."
He laughed and nodded.
"True. So. Coming with? Jeff and I could always use another pair of hands."
He looked at me expectantly.
"Um." I glanced at the couch where Mitch.e.l.l still slept. Then spotted my sweet tour guide, Cain, in my peripheral, coming from his room in the hall. He smiled at me and punched Miguel"s arm as he walked by. "I don"t think so. Next time. Definitely."
"Ok. Maybe, uh, we can talk more later? When I get back?"
"Sure," I said and smiled.
You couldn"t deny how nice he was.
"Alrighty, then. See you later, Lillian," he tipped his head to me playfully.
"Miguel," I said and did the same.