Average Joe and the Extraordinaires (10 page)

Chapter
19

Occupado

It was
actually chilly out, so much so that Joe had to grab a light jacket.  He didn’t
wear it for long though.  He gave it up to Melissa when she let out a little
sneeze.  September was coming to a close and the moon overhead was getting
fuller and fuller.  Tonight it was about four-fifths complete.  Nevertheless,
it was quite beautiful.

Joe
picked up a pebble that was the shape of the overhead satellite and chucked it
at the window.  After that, there was only quiet.  Joe picked up another
pebble, this one a little bigger than the first.  He chucked this one more softly. 
Only quiet answered back.  Joe whispered to himself.

Joe: “I
hope he isn’t sleeping in there.”

He was
out of options, so he picked up a bigger rock, this one roughly the size of his
thumbnail.  He threw it underhanded like a softball, and as gently as he could.
 As the rock left his hand, the window was opened up about halfway.  The rock
sailed in effortlessly and Joe could hear a quiet curse inside the house. 
There was some scuffling and Joe heard a few voices.  He thought he heard Kate,
but wasn’t quite so sure.  After a bit, Mod finally poked his head out of the
window.

Mod:
“Joe?”

Joe: “Who
else would it be?”

Mod: “I
was hoping for Dianna Agron or Lea Michele, but I’m forced to settle for you. 
Why must the heavens be so cruel?”

Joe:
“Very funny, but I’m here for a reason.”

Mod:
“That reason being…?”

Joe: “I
need your help.  Could you go grab a few blankets for me and meet me by my
car?”

Mod
yawned, and didn’t seem to comprehend what Joe had asked of him.  He stared
blankly at Joe for a while.

Mod: “You
didn’t kill anybody, did you?”

Joe
couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, so he opted to answer.

Joe:
“No.”

Mod:
“Okay fine.  Cuz I’m not helping with that, no matter how cool we are.”

Mod
closed the window and went bumbling through the darkness of the house.  Joe
walked back to his car and sat on his hood as he waited for Mod to return.  All
in all, it took Mod a little over three minutes.  He came out of the house with
a bundle of blankets in his arms, wearing red-tinted glasses and a fuzzy red
robe that was a darker shade of red than his hair.

Joe:
“What the heck are you wearing?  Isn’t it a little too dark for sunglasses?”

Mod:
“Listen, Ungrateful Joe!  If I wasn’t rudely awakened from my sleep, maybe I’d
have taken a little time to doll myself up.  As it stands, you’ll just have to
put up with this and like it; otherwise, my blankets and I will be going back
inside.  Now why do you need this stuff?”

Joe: “Just
put them in the backseat and see for yourself.”

Mod
looked at Joe warily and then peeked into the back seat.

Mod: “Who
are they?”

Joe:
“Friends.”

Mod:
“I’ve known you for six long years and I’ve never seen you with these girls.  I
would’ve remembered them, especially the blonde one.”

Joe: “I
met them recently and they need my help.  More specifically, they need a place
to stay.”

Mod:
“Umm…”

Joe: “I’m
not asking for them to stay here, but I don’t have any room at my place
either.”

Mod:
“Then where are you taking them?”

There was
silence and Joe simply stared at Mod.  Mod looked at Joe and lifted his eyes
and head as he made a realization.

Mod:
“You’re taking them to the clock tower, aren’t you?”

Joe:
“Yep.”

Mod: “I
wouldn’t exactly call that place livable.”

Joe:
“It’ll do.”

Mod:
“Well, they’ll need more than these blankets.  Wait here while I grab them some
sleeping bags.”

Joe:
“Thanks, Mod.”

Mod shook
his head and handed Joe the blankets.  He disappeared into the house and
returned shortly after with two sleeping bags rolled up in each of his arms. 
Joe popped open his trunk and placed the blankets and bags inside.

Mod:
“There are snacks wrapped up inside the sleeping bags.  There’s chips,
crackers, cheese, juice, some veggies, some apples, and some gummies.”

Joe: “Mod,
I really can’t thank you enough.  You really came through for me and them
tonight.  Seriously, thanks, man!”

Mod
smiled and lazily answered back.

Mod:
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Joe: “I
just have one more favor.”

Mod: “Joe,
I’m tired and getting sleepier by the second.”

Joe:
“Sorry, I know.  Just please don’t tell Kate about this!  Please promise me!”

Mod:
“What!? No Joe!  I can’t believe that you — you didn’t?  You aren’t, are you? 
And with her?”

Dahlila
and Melissa were inside the car giggling as if they could hear the conversation. 
Joe suddenly felt very embarrassed.

Joe: “No,
no, no!  Never.  I’d never do that to your sister.  Now just promise me.  There
are very important reasons for why she can’t know.”

Mod: “Joe,
if you’re cheating on my sister I’ll—”

Joe: “For
the last time, NO!  Now please promise me you won’t tell her.”

Mod:
“Don’t worry, I won’t.”

Joe:
“Thank you.”

Mod: “I’m
going to bed.  If you want something else, make sure to call Santa Claus,
because the next time I hear a rock or a knock against my window I’m calling
the cops.”

Chapter
20

Home
Sweet Clock Tower

The drive
there went quickly enough.  It was even easier getting into the tower at this
time of night.  The only company that the three of them had was a blinking
traffic light and that was a mile down.

Joe
brought the girls in from the back entrance.  He couldn’t tell one from the
other thanks to the bundle of stuff each held in front of them.  Only when
their heads poked out to the side to see where they were walking did Joe see
who was who.  He decided to help lighten their loads once they reached the
stairs.  He took the sleeping bag from Melissa and had her carry the folded
blankets as he had originally intended before the girl declined.  She was
adamant about pulling her own weight, a virtue that was taught to her from her
dad, by her telling.  That was all fine and dandy, but Joe didn’t want her to
trip and break a leg.  He wouldn’t have that at all.  He liked the little
girl.  She was very sweet.

Melissa
looked up at the long stretch of stairs going towards the rooftop, and Joe
followed her gaze.  He could see nothing but black after the halfway point
until the very top where a small sliver of blue light could be seen.

Melissa:
“Wow, it looks much bigger inside than outside.”

Joe had
always thought that too, especially when he walked the winding steps.  The
climb had always taken so long and his thighs would always burn, and his ankles
were seldom not sore once he reached the top.  Outside the tower didn’t look
very tall at all, despite that.

Joe:
“Maybe there are double the stairs.”

Melissa
giggled at that and Dahlila shook her head in disapproval.  They weren’t going
to go up the stairs tonight, however.  It was much too dark for that and Joe
was getting sleepy.

Joe: “The
room you gals will be at is through this door here, so we’ll skip the stairs
for now.”

They
walked through the small single door and into a room that was nothing but
shadow and moonlight.  Joe was used to daytime strolls here.  It had been quite
some years since he had seen the inside of the tower at night, and it was very
striking to see.  Pale blue light poured in over the long oaken benches that
sat, black as night, near the front of the hall.  The light came from the five
large windows that surrounded the room.  The windows were set high up,
unreachable by unaided human hands.  There was mostly empty space, especially
if you discounted the benches.  A large ornate tapestry that strongly smelled
of dust took up most of the room’s space.  The tapestry had some sort of coat
of arms on it, with a spear, vines,
and that thing that Julius Caesar and
the Little Caesar guy wear on their heads
, Joe had concluded.  The girls
looked to and fro, surveying their new digs.

Joe:
“There’s a lot of space here as you can see.  That’s why I figure it’d be a
good spot to sleep. Plus, there’s no wind.”

Melissa:
“But it’s so cold in here.”

Joe
couldn’t disagree with that.  It was always colder inside the tower than outside
it for some odd reason.

Joe:
“Yeah, it’s always like that.  Sorry.”

They put
their sleeping equipment on the floor and Joe continued the tour.  He pointed
up to the front, where an altar sat with a woman’s face on it.  They all walked
towards it.

Joe: “I
think this used to be a church or something.  There’s a statue of some famous
wise woman up there.  I never figured out who she was, but the description
under the altar says that she brings out the potential in men and helps them
reclaim their destinies.”

Dahlila:
“She looks tough.”

Melissa:
“And beautiful.”

Joe
nodded his head in agreement with both accounts, and continued on.  He led them
to the front hallway, near the front door, along with the coat closet.  He
warned the girls never to use the front door.

Joe: “If
you have to leave, use the back door.  You don’t want to be seen in here, and
the front door leads right to the streets.”

He then
walked them through the tiny kitchen where the slivers of moonlight filtered
through an overhead vent.  The kitchen was still very dark regardless of the
moonlight, and Joe loudly called himself stupid for forgetting to bring any
flashlights.

Melissa:
“I still have mine!”

Dahlila
looked over the old appliances and wiped dust off the stove and blew it from
her fingers and off into the air.

Dahlila:
“Does any of this work?”

Joe: “I
doubt it.  The tower doesn’t get power, and I’m sure they turned the gas off
too.”

Dahlila
made a face as if she smelled something rotten.

Dahlila:
“I guess beggars can’t be choosers.  Draft up the papers, we’ll take it!”

All three
of them laughed at that.  Afterwards Joe felt a yawn trying to escape.

Joe:
“Well, this is it for now, I guess.  It’s not the best, but it’s peaceful
here.  That’s why me and Mod like it, but we’ve never slept here overnight.”

Melissa:
“What about the top?  You haven’t shown us what the view looks like yet.”

Another
yawn crept up, and this time Joe couldn’t stifle it.

Dahlila:
“He can do it some other time.  Come on, let’s set everything up for bed.”

The
little girl looked as disappointed as Joe had ever seen her look.  She didn’t
look sad per se, just a little less happy.

Joe: “No,
it’s okay.  I don’t mind, Dahlila.  Come on, follow me.”

That
perked Melissa right up.  She gave Joe her flashlight and he led the sortie up
the winding staircase, with both girls not far behind.  Once they neared the
halfway point, he looked back after he heard Dahlila say something to Melissa.

Dahlila:
“Why’d you lug that up with you?”

Melissa:
“Oh, I forgot that I had it in my hands.”

Joe
looked and saw that the girl was carrying her sleeping bag.  Dahlila eyed her
suspiciously.

Dahlila:
“Mmhm.”

At the
halfway point Melissa spotted an open window that was just beyond her reach. 
Joe turned down her request to be lifted into the large windowsill because he
felt it was too dangerous.  Dahlila seconded his decision.

Joe: “I
promise you’ll have an even better view at the top.”

They
continued on to the top, and once more — like before — his thighs burned, but
this time his ankles didn’t hurt quite so much.  It was here that Joe lost the
attention of both girls.  They gaped up at the insides of the four pale blue
clock faces that glowed with the moon’s light.  Their own faces glowed with
that same light.  After that Melissa put down her sleeping bag and inspected
the other gears and machinery.  He figured she’d have long enough to do that
later though.  He wanted to get to the coup de grace.  He needed sleep sooner
rather than later.

Joe:
“Okay, gals, this way please.”

Melissa
smiled up at him, obviously excited by all the mechanical wonders around her,
and took Joe’s hand.  He led her up one more level of stairs to the southern
clock face and they looked out of it.  The wind was blowing coolly, just as Joe
had said, though it wasn’t even half as chilly as the altar room downstairs. 
It was a nice night.

Melissa
wanted to climb a little higher, and this time Joe obliged her.  This
windowsill was much bigger than the one below, and there was enough space for
her to stand on the inside.  She stood transfixed by the goings on outside and below,
and then by the stars.

Melissa:
“I think I’m going to sleep up here.”

Dahlila
sighed.

Dahlila:
“You knew you were going to sleep up here, you little sneak.”

Melissa
smiled and shrugged while Joe laughed.

Dahlila:
“Greeeaat!  Now I have to go get my sleeping bag.”