"Tina Wainscott - Dreams of You [rtf]" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wainscott Tina)

"Rita, the answer to that is yes and no. I did, but it's not what you think. I met up with an old friend who needs some help. That's all I'm saying, so don't ask any more questions. Thanks, Rita."
The next morning Adrian reluctantly slipped out of his thick terry robe and into brown corduroys and a brand new undershirt beneath the faded black sweatshirt. He ruffled his fingers through his hair, mussing it slightly. As he passed the hall mirror, he did what he'd promised himself he wouldn't do: look. Cringing, he rubbed his beard and studied himself. Well, he fit into the homeless class all right. Except for the hopelessness. Even when he had been on the verge of homelessness, and too young to do anything about it, he had never lost his hope. Even when Elio had kicked him around some and his mother never said a word to stop him, Adrian harbored only hatred and a fierce desire to free himself as soon as he could. He had never lost hope. Only his pride. With a smirk, Adrian realized he was losing that now, too. He shook his head, and left.
Adrian got a little taste of hopelessness as the hours of the morning slipped by with no sign of Nikki. He roamed all over, stopped for lunch at McDonald's, then roamed more. Dave hadn't seen her all day, though he'd said that wasn't unusual. Then he'd asked why Adrian has missed the Wednesday Bible class. Adrian wanted to tell him that it wasn't his soul he was worried about, it was his head. He made up some other excuse instead, finding all this necessary lying coming a little easier each time.
By late afternoon, his feet ached. He'd run into Seamus, who spoke so highly of Mama Jam's Jamaican beef patties that he bought six for both of them. Seamus wolfed his down within seconds; Adrian had watched him work those dirty fingers deftly to shove them in his mouth. Losing his appetite, he'd given Seamus his three as well.
Now, grumpy and hungry, Adrian wandered over to a makeshift bench that faced the port of Palm Beach to watch a barge come in. He rubbed his fingers down his face, letting his body relax for the first time in hours. But within a few minutes he was tense again as a man sat down beside him. He was in his sixties, with a large belly and grizzled gray beard, and he nodded silently at Adrian as he settled onto the bench perched atop two halves of a green oil drum.
Adrian felt instantly uncomfortable; not out of fear, but for some other reason he didn't feel like delving into at the time. Still, he didn't get up right away. The strange sense of social obligation seemed terribly out of place.
"New 'round here, aren't you?" the man asked, though he kept looking ahead at the incoming barge.
"Just passing through."
The man nodded. "I thought that too, when I first got here. That was ten years ago."
Adrian looked at him, a clammy feeling in his stomach. All he wanted to do was get up and leave, but the words came out unbidden. "What happened?"
"Ah, it's a long story, you probably don't want to hear it. Used to work on a ship. Much bigger than that thing over there." He pointed to a large, steel ship in the distance. "I was the captain," he said proudly, raising his shoulders. "Captain Charlie. Made a lot of money, had respect." He looked down at himself with a melancholy smile. "Hard to believe now."
Adrian was already leaning over the bench, but something in the man's voice made him sit back again. He reached in his pocket for his lighter and fired up a cigarette. Charlie's eyes lit up, and with the speed of a ferret, he was holding the gold lighter in his liver-spotted hands.
"Nice lighter." Charlie eyed Adrian. "Where'd you get something like this?"
Adrian retrieved it, hiding it in his pocket. Stupid move, Wilde. Nash. Get a Bic. УFriend gave it to me. A long time ago."
"Oh." Then Charlie's eyes widened again as Adrian dropped his cigarette after two drags and stepped on the butt. "No! What are you doing?"
Despite his rotund appearance, Charlie could move if he had to. Apparently, he did, because within a second he was down on his knees reaching for the cigarette with one hand and holding Adrian's sneaker with the other. The cigarette was flat, but Charlie tenderly fingered it until it was oval at best.
"How can you waste a whole cigarette like that?" After patting his pocket, he turned and asked, "Can I have a light off that pretty lighter of yours?''
Adrian lit the squashed cigarette for him, holding tight to the lighter this time. Another mistake. Bums didn't waste cigarettes or liquor, not for any reason. He'd have to save his lighting up for private moments, and leave the gold lighter at home.
"So, what happened? When you were the respected captain?"
"I made a stupid mistake. Got drunk one night and rammed the ship onto some shoals. They fired me, but good. My wife divorced me in shame, and I left town." He shrugged, taking a deep drag off the cigarette. "Not much work for a drunk sailor these days."
"Maybe you should get off the booze," Adrian said, not feeling much pity for the man now.
Charlie turned to him, his watery gray eyes stern. "I haven't had a drink in ten years, since that night. All it takes is one mistake in that industry, and you're gone. I tried everything I could, but I just couldn't make ends meet. Now I have nothing. But I tried. Once, I had it all."
Adrian sat there, letting the man's pride settle in the chilly air. Even a man like that had pride. It surprised him. And once, he'd had it all. Adrian shivered, realizing that's where he was now. Could something happen, something devastating that could ruin his career in one swift moment of poor judgment? He thought of Stan's urgency in returning to New York City to talk to Calvin Klein. Nah, they would wait. Still, Adrian stood, feeling uncomfortable. He slipped his hands into his pockets and started walking away. Then, he turned around, pulled out the lighter, and tossed it to the man. "Good-bye, Charlie."
"And that horrible car was right there behind my van in the alley! Can you believe that?"
Ceil leaned over the formica table, absorbed in Nikki's story about Crackers's accident. She fingered the chopped strands of her bright red hair. "Are you sure it was the same car?"
"No, that's why I didn't take a rock to the windshield. I couldn't wait around for the driver, either."
Cell's gray eyes widened. "Why not? I'd have spied on the car," she whispered conspiratorially. "You want me to spy on it?"
Nikki waved her hand. "Nah, it's gone now."
"And what about that guy, Arian?"
"Adrian," Nikki corrected.
Sometimes, though Ceil was in her mid-thirties by her own best guess, she acted like a young girl. The young girl she had never been able to enjoy being, because her stepfather molested her. Then her mother had kicked her out of the house when Ceil finally gathered the courage to tell her. It had been one hell after another for her, ending with the state taking her children after her husband deserted her for a young waitress. Now she lived at the Lord's Shelter, where Nikki had found her this afternoon. "So, what happened with him?"
"Nothing! He's probably gone by now." Nikki glanced around the Seashell Diner. There was no one quite that handsome anywhere in sight.
Ceil smiled, looking up at her through her red eyelashes. "You like him, don't you?"
"Ceil!" Nikki said, then lowered her voice when she realized how loud it was. "I don't like him. I mean, he was nice, but that's all. Things like that don't happen down here. Besides, I can't trust anyone."
That's all Ceil knew about Nikki: that she was hiding from something or someone, and that she lived in her van. Sometimes Nikki even let Ceil drive it around when the cops harassed her. Because of Ceil's appearance, they seemed to think she was a hooker. Nikki hoped not.
"Is he cute?"
Nikki rolled her eyes, not wanting to talk about the mysterious stranger anymore. "No, he's not cute." At Ceil's surprised expression, she added, "He's handsome. He has these gorgeous brown eyes that seem to pull you in when he looks at you." She thought of how gently he'd handled Crackers, how he'd carried him ten blocks to the animal clinic. "And he's noble."
"What's noble?" Ceil asked, still smiling dreamily at Adrian's description.
Nikki frowned, saddened that Ceil knew nothing about nobility and chivalry. "It's being good and tender."
УOh. Did you kiss him?'' Ceil asked with a mischievous smile.
Nikki threw a wadded napkin at her. "Stop it!"
Ceil broke out into a fit of giggles, nearly knocking over her root beer float. When she finally settled down, her face sobered. "You're too pretty to be down here, Nikki."
Nikki leaned forward. "So are you."
Ceil blushed furiously, highlighting every red freckle on her face. "Get out of here!"
"I'm serious." Nikki had already vowed to bring Ceil with her when she left this horrible place that had become her home. With an emotional overhaul, Ceil might be all right.
"Has the puppy pooped in your van yet?"
Nikki whirled at the sudden change in conversation, but was glad to be off the subject of Adrian. "No, he's been very good. Poor thing, though. You should see him limping around with that cast on his leg."
Ceil hunched over, digging in her dirty parachute bag that used to be white. Then she proudly brought out three bottle caps: Arizona tea, New York Seltzer Water, and a white, flat one. She picked up the Arizona one.
"This was raspberry flavored. Very good. A little boy left half of it at the mall yesterday. It was still cold when I took it out of the garbage. Kids leave the best food. Remember that. Follow a big family, and you're set for food for a week. Fanny Farmer's was giving out free samples of their butter toffee. Yum! You should come with me sometime. There's all kinds of goodies at the mall."
"Maybe sometime."