and I wanted the seconds to close in already so he would just take me in his arms. The anticipation of feeling his skin on mine again made my stomach flop after its standard flip.
“Lighten up, Charlie, you’ll live longer!”
We had been “arguing” for a solid hour about whether or not it would be wise to go to the recreational room for the crew’s card game. Charlie had instantaneously decided it wasn’t, while I had decided the opposite. He also decided he hated himself for accidently mentioning it at all.
“I won’t even bother you guys. I’ll be a silent cheerleader, I swear.”
He sighed. “It ain’t you I’m worried about.”
I tugged on the sleeve of his shirt and jumped up and down. “It will be fun. Come on!”
He grinned down at me and shook his head. “No more spending time with Polo.”
He tangled his arms around my waist and lifted me into the air as though I were no more than a paper sack. I was glad the melancholy that had gotten hold of him earlier had only been temporary. He now seemed restored.
“Gotcha.” His voice was hoarse in my ear. “You can run all you want.” He laughed. “I like chasing ya.”
I laughed and protested but still let him carry me all the way to a smaller set of doors labeled Rec Room. From underneath the sliding doors, smoke billowed in small tufts. It almost sent me panicking until I recognized the smell the roasting tobacco generated. The door to the Rec Room stuck so badly that even Charlie had trouble opening it, but it effectively blocked the noise of poorly selected rock music blaring from a radio and the voices of excited men blathering about the day’s events.
When I walked in, I was hardly stunned to see the dirty look Reid gave Charlie and me, but I was in such a good mood I let it roll off my back. What did surprise me slightly was seeing Ben Walden there at the folding table with the rest of the guys. Seeing him there so ordinary, the head of a mild criminal enterprise, with a cigar in his mouth and playing cards in his hand, was quite comical. He was entirely out of place wearing a crisp button down and what looked like a very expensive watch. Meanwhile, the guys were still wearing their soiled work clothes and were mostly dirty and unshaven.
“We were beginning to wonder when you kids would show up,” Ben said. His gaze lingered on me, though for a moment I saw his eyes dart at Charlie questioningly.
Reid mumbled something to Yuri that I couldn’t hear, but I was almost certain it was inappropriate. I tried to pretend I didn’t feel extremely awkward by staring at my feet. At this point, my shoes were graying from the dirt and beginning to fray at the ends.
“Hey, hey, hey! You guys are just in time, we were about to start a new game!” Polo slapped the table, causing Reid and Yuri to groan simultaneously.
“Knock that crap off, Polo!” Yuri smacked him upside the head and picked up his fallen plastic chips from the floor. I noticed Polo had the least amount of chips and hoped they weren’t taking advantage of him too badly.
Charlie shook his head and grabbed two folding chairs from the side. From what I could see, the recreational room wasn’t much more than some tables and chairs with an old television and DVD/VHS player hooked up in the corner. Both were dusty and looked unused. On the wall there was a relatively new dartboard and a decent stereo system, blaring music.
I sat in the seat Charlie offered, and the men continued their conversation as though I wasn’t even there. I was immensely grateful for this exclusion, because if they could speak freely around me then maybe it would help me feel less awkward. After a moment I realized this was an unrealistic expectation and concentrated on avoiding Reid’s glare while trying not to spend too much time staring at Charlie.
Yuri took the card deck and split it into two halves, shuffling it expertly. I tried not to look impressed, but when the most extensive card playing experience you have involves War and Go Fish, it’s easy to be impressed.
I watched with quiet fascination as he threw the cards out like so many small Frisbees. My only protest came when I realized that for each rotation of the circle he had included a place for me.