Chapter Two - Bruno

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 -2-

 

BRUNO

 

            A girl with blond pigtails and a large smile skipped through the dining room. She flung her hands up in the air and twirled lightly, "Oh I love it here!"

            Annabelle started making herself a bowl of cereal. I tried my best stay focused the sports page. I heard several clanks as she searched for a bowl. Ross ignored all this as he read the morning paper. I, on the other hand, am not so skilled at ignoring people.

OK focus. Baseball. Slam of the refrigerator. Thump of a milk jug. A giggle. Redsocks wins over the.. cereal pouring into a bowl. A spoons scrapping against glass. Homerun by.. A bag. A soft “Oooo.”

            I looked up to see Annabelle pouring spoonful after spoonful of sugar over the cereal. After several she picked up her bowl and stared at it with big eyes. She moved to the table and sat by Ross, eyeing it cautiously as she walked.

            I put the paper down and leaned my head on a fist and I said a silent prayer. I kept my eyes close as I heard her munching. I was getting a headache already.

            Several minutes later I heard another “Ooo!” I looked up to see Annabelle had already finished her cereal and now was looking at my coffee. “What is that?”

            I quickly scratched my mug up. The coffee inside waved dangerous close to the rim. “It’s coffee. It has caffeine in it. You wouldn’t like it.”

            “It smells so good!” she pointed out, “Can I have a sip pleeeease?”

            “No!” I glared at her.

            “Please? Bruno, please?”

            I opened my mouth to shout at her but Ross chimed in. He’s voice was calm as if he was stating the weather. “There’s apple juice in the frig, Annabelle. Try that.”

            Annabelle immediately got up and fixed herself a glass of apple juice. I watched as she quietly drank then looked at Ross. He eyes never left his section of the newspaper.

With a clank Annabelle put down the glass. It was empty and even clean. As she skipped towards the door she knocked into the table, making the salt spill. Annabelle giggled and scooped up some spilt salt in her hands and through it over her shoulder, "Gravity!" She giggled again as set the salt shaker back up right on the table and returned to her skipping around the building.

            I grumbled and slammed my mug of coffee down, "Ross, why is heavens name did you tell her she could stay?”

Ross glanced up at me from his paper for only a second then continued reading as popped another slice of sausage in his mouth. "I told you," Ross said, "If they like it here so much they are more than welcomed to stay. The rent brings good income when the tourists are scarce. Plus," Ross examined his eggs. "You have to admit, she has calmed down."

"Oh yes yes. Calmed down. Last week she was twirling on the table."

"And this week she was beside it. That seems a bit more calm to me." He made a face at his eggs before taking a big forkful and stuffing it into his mouth. Sometimes I had to wonder what was going on in his mind. Other times I'm pretty sure I don't want to know.

I shook my head but couldn't help to smile, "You're a grumpy old man about everything but these weird people who come through here."

Ignoring the comment, Ross put down the paper. "I'm going to have to meet a friend today. I might be out all day. Can you manage without me, Bro?"

"No," I said flatly, "That girl might be dead by the time you get back, and the French couple might be tied to the refrigerator so they can get a good look at it. And if any more renters show up, I'm saying we're full."

Ross stood up as if he didn't hear a word I had said, "Good. See ya."

            “Wait!” I called before he had a chance to go very far.

            He turned a looked at me. Most people would see a calm, collected face. He couldn’t fool his own bother though. Something was on his mind. He was impatient and annoyed. At me? No. I decided to see what I could get out of him. I’d ease him into it.“I’m going to work on the jeep some today. When you come back we can go through some magazines and pick out some stuff for the interior.”

            “Alright.” Ross looked at the clock on the wall.

            “And the last of the equipment for the new security system should be coming in today or tomorrow. I’ll start that as soon as it gets here.”

            “OK.” He looked at his watch.

            “Hey! Maybe we can catch who broke the first one! If they haven’t left of course. I got my money on those Canadian chicks.”

            Ross shook his head and gave me a sized-ways smirk. “You’d be wrong. It was Annabelle. She told me. Said she was practicing...” He looked up at the wall clock again, “Time to go.” He turned and was gone faster than I could say another word, which was impressive for Ross.

            I sat back down at the table to finish eating. It was nice to be able to think. It was usual for my brother to ignore things going on around him but he always seemed to be aware of everything. I had the feeling he always knew exactly where everything was and who was doing what around him. Which is why he gets so mad when I sneak up on him. I've seen him follow several conversations at once, some from across the room. It was a very impressive and slightly annoying skill.

            Ross was never in a hurry. If the building was on fire he was the type that would finish a phone conversation then put on his shoes before leaving. This morning he was anxious and in a rush. I didn’t like it. I tried to put aside that horrible nagging feeling at the back of mind. Ross was a big boy. I know, more than anyone probably, that he could take care of himself.

            I looked towards the door again when I heard light footsteps coming down the hall. I heard soft humming before I saw Tammy round the corner and walk in the kitchen. She smiled sweetly at me as she picked up a blue sweater from the back of a chair. It matched the little head band that held her hair back.

            Tammy was another resident that rented out one of our few apartments we had built at the rear of the hotel. The kitchen and rec rooms were a sort of common ground for the residents. Ross thought it would bring a sense of community. Just when you thought Ross couldn't be any more of a hard hearted, he goes and tries to be a friendly family man. Don't worry, I don't really understand it either.

            Tammy was annoyingly pretty, but only a fairly good cook. Better than Ross or myself at least. I lifted a slice of sausage at her as a toast and a thanks. She nodded as she adjusted that sweater on her shoulders, "You guys need to hire a cook. I'm getting tired of cooking eggs and sausage just as much as you're probably getting tired of eating it."

            I sighed, "Would it kill you to make a pancake?"

            She smiled again at me as she replied, "I make a pancake every morning, for myself." I snorted at her as she went on, "I saw Annabelle this morning. She said she wants to start trying to cook. I told her she may want to speak to you about it. You may want to take her up on the offer because I'll be making mac and cheese for supper... again. Or of course you or Ross could learn to cook for yourselves." She gave me a smug little smile.

            I weighed the options in my mind. I could try to talk with that girl.. that Annabelle. No. Eat mac and cheese again. Well I could always go get a pizza... again. Ross and myself could learn. Ha! I got up from the table and put on my coat, "Pizza it is!"

“Oh come. You never know. She may be good.”

“Tammy, if she makes all her food like she makes cereal we’d all go into a sugar coma.” I heard a soft chuckle as I headed towards the garage. Time to tinker.

            I suddenly felt a twist in my stomach. I steadied myself on the wall as I heard myself groan. It left as quickly as it had come. I took a deep breath before turning around and heading back towards the front. My instincts told me to run the other way, that there was something dangerous coming. But I couldn't let anything happen to this place, not when we've worked so hard for what we have. Not when this establishment meant so much to my brother.

            I heard talking as I got closer to the front desk where the customers came to check in and out. Sitting at the desk was Susie, our cheap hire for the front desk during the day. In front of her was a woman, who was dealing out several bills of cash.

            The woman had straight, black hair that stopped about half way down her back. She was looking down but I could see her eyes were almond shaped and black. She was taller for a woman. I could see the muscles of her arms. She was the type of woman that could scare most guys. Normally I would respect that but instead I hated her. A lot.

Nerves rushed through my body but I made my legs walk forward. "Hello." I didn't try to sound friendly.

            Susie looked up at me and smiled her best customer service smile. She straighten her nametag and staked some papers that were laying on the counter. "Hello Mr. Thompson! Ms. Fortune, this is Mr. Thompson. He is one of our owners."

            The woman looked around and our eyes met. Her hands jerked towards her jacket as if reaching for something. Something, I'm not sure what, made me falter and I had to take a step back so I didn't fall. I backed right into a body, Tammy.

            Tammy grabbed me by the shoulders to steady me but somehow I knew she wasn’t looking at me. We both were staring at the woman. "Ms. Fortune" was staring pass me to Tammy, her hand paused inside her jacket. A faction of a second later her hand came back out holding a wallet. She stuffed her remaining cash into the wallet. "Mr. Thompson." She nodded then grabbed the card key that Susie had put on the desk. She turned calmly and walked towards the hall that lead to the hotel rooms.

            It had all happened in less than a minute but I felt worn out. I saw Susie turn to a filing cabinet to stuff in some papers. She didn't seem to realize anything had happened. I looked around to Tammy. Tammy was looking back at me, one eyebrow raised. "What was that about?"

            I scratched the back of my neck, trying not to look too embarrassed. "I don't know...Nothing. Was nothing. I was greeting a guest.” I could feel Tammy watching me as I left. I felt silly. It was a good question. What WAS that about?

            I made my way back towards the garage. I best place to think is under a car with a wrench in the hand. For some reason I didn't feel like I wanted to be in such a vulnerable position so I ended up tiring out the dashboard instead. I felt better already.

            It was short lived. I heard someone come through the door behind me. I didn’t need to turn around to know that Tammy had followed me. Her perfume cut through the smell of the garage like a skunk’s stench cuts thought your car windows.

            “What is it?” I asked without turning to look at her.

            “Are you OK?”

            “Yes. Can’t you just let a man work?” I played with some wires which were now sticking out were the radio used to be. I tried my best to look like I was doing something.

            “Look. I’m trying to be nice here. You looked sick.”

            I finally turned to look at her. She actually looked concerned. I felt guilty but I also wanted to tell her to mind her own business. “I’m fine, really.” I hesitated before adding, “Thanks.”

            Tammy gave me a small smile before turning to leave. I hated everything about her looks, from her perfect hair all the way down to her pedicured toes. But she was nice, and more normal than any other tenants we had around. I guess that has to count for something.

            Several hours passed. I didn’t actually do anything constructive; unless you call stripping a car constructive. I worked in my own little world until Annabelle walked in with large plate of cookies in one hand and several napkins in the other. She was still in the PJs that she had worn early that morning the only difference was she now had her blonde hair sticking out of two pigtails on either side of her head (sickening right?) and headphones hooked around her shoulder.

She walked straight over to me and held out the napkins, “Wipe your hands and you may have some cookies!”

I scowled at her but the smell of the cookies made me comply. “Mmum.. Where’d oo get these?” I asked, my mouth half full of cookie. A quick look at the corny wheel shaped clock on the wall let me know that it was already way past lunch. No wonder I was hungry.

Annabelle grinned widely, “I made them! Cooking is fun! Tammy says I can start making more meals if you guys agree to eat them!” she didn’t wait for an answer. She turned, or twirled more like, and bounded out of the garage.

I found myself standing and staring dumbfounded at the door. Did I really just put something my mouth that Annabelle MADE? And did I really say “Mmum?” I looked down at my hand which steal held two and a half cookies. They were calling my name, telling me to eat them. Once again, I obeyed the cookies. What a strange day it’s been.