Chapter 3 The Date
Marie

Warm golden light spilled through the green plaid curtains as Marie slowly opened her eyes. She tried to turn but was tangled up in sheets. She felt James bite her toes before jumping off the bed and scampering down the stairs. The woman next to her stirred and images from the preceding night carouseled through Marie's mind.

"Good morning, June," she whispered. The body next to her stirred and then rolled over a bit.

Marie untangled herself and slipped out of bed, gingerly walking across the room on her long legs. She picked up a yellow dress off her old wicker chair and slid it over her head, then tied her hair up in a messy loose bun, before making her way down the steep, creaking stairs of her farmhouse.

"Alright, James, I'm coming," she said when the cat started dancing around her feet. Marie made her way to the kitchen and prepared a bowl of food for James, then started a pot of coffee for herself.

Marie put her hands on her hips and looked around her kitchen, the favorite part of her old farmhouse. It was filled with old natural wood that she had spent days cleaning and refinishing. Contrasting against the orange wood grain were at least a dozen plants, some hanging, others on windowsills.

"Okay, gang, who's thirsty?" Marie said to the room. She filled up a watering can with a long spout and made her way around, watering the pothos, spider plant, snake plant, and various other species. Every one was a shining example of a healthy plant. She went out to her back door and filled a much larger can from the cistern on her back porch to water the elevated planter filled with herbs.

Still barefoot, she followed the worn path from her back steps to the chicken coop.

"Good morning, girls," Marie said with a grin. She stepped into the enclosure and collected four eggs. "Thank you, Bertha," she said with a laugh.

Marie was frying the eggs in a cast iron pan when June came down all sleepy-eyed and struggling with the steep stairs. "Coffee?" she asked.

"In the pot, you know where the mugs are," Marie said as she flipped an egg. "Sleep well?"

The older woman made a beeline for the coffee pot and poured a cup. "Yeah, I was exhausted."

Marie laughed. "Yes, I imagine you were. Before you sit down, would you mind collecting some chives from out back? There are scissors there on the kitchen table."

"Umm, chives?" June asked.

Marie smiled and looked back. "Long skinny plant, just cut a few pieces off and bring them in here, please."

June nodded and went outside. Marie chuckled — that woman is fifteen years older than me and can't identify a chive.

June was fun, but that was the extent of it. She was a middle-aged closeted lesbian whose husband often traveled for work. She said it was an open secret that he cheated on her, so she didn't feel bad about her infidelity. Marie said she didn't care, but if he ever turned up at her house looking for June, he'd be greeted with the barrel of her rifle. June made a face and laughed like it was a joke until Marie showed her said rifle. She didn't mention she hadn't shot it since high school.

They met at the video store. When June returned "Desert Hearts," Marie made the calculated bet and simply said, "Did you enjoy that?" A few hours later they were having coffee in a corner booth at John's Cafe.

June came back in with the chives. Marie chopped them up and handed her a plate of eggs and toast.

Marie took June's hand across the table, bowed her head, and said, "Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts. Thank you for this beautiful day. To my beautiful hen Bertha, thank you for the eggs. Thank you, ground, for the chives and the honey and all what's coming up. We eat what you give and we give back what we owe." She tapped the table twice with her free knuckle and picked up her fork.

When she opened her eyes June was looking at her with a grin. "What?" Marie asked with a laugh.

"What was that? I mean, I spent a lot of time in Sunday school, and I don't remember anything about praising the ground and tapping the table."

Marie took a bite. "It's just something my grandmother did. She was really into folklore."

"Back in the bayou?" June asked, taking a bite. "Oh wow, that's good!"

"Yep. Acadiana. Lafayette."

They continued eating and between bites June asked, "This place is incredible, how do you keep it going all by yourself?"

Marie smiled coyly. "Well, that's simple — my lovers all do chores. After breakfast we need to go tend to the beehives."

June glanced at the honey she was about to pour on her toast from the small crock. "Oh, ummm."

"Don't worry, it won't take long. I have to go to work soon anyway," Marie said.

"Okay," June said, fear in her eyes.

***

Marie felt it before she saw him. It was kind of like familiarity, but also like a compass needle. She glanced to her left and saw the back of Ashton browsing a wall of VHS tapes. She immediately felt the same uneasy feeling she'd felt when she first saw him, standing there apologizing after kicking over that table, and now complicated by that ritual. It was funny — Marie had probably seen this guy a dozen times in the last year, but until Friday night he was just another random customer. Now he was on her radar. But what was he?

There was only one way to find out.

"Sorry, it's always checked out."

Ashton quickly spun around in his Led Zeppelin T-shirt with the box for Clerks in his hand. "Oh… hey, Marie, right?" he said.

"Yep, we have fifty copies of Mrs. Doubtfire and one copy of Clerks. Go figure."

Ashton set the box back on the shelf. "Yeah, I've seen that one, pretty funny. The guys at The Tower keep talking about how off the rails this movie is. They were like, 'It's like we all got together and made a movie about the dumb shit we're always talking about.'"

Marie nodded. "Yeah, that's what I heard. I told the boss we should get another copy, but they never listen. So where's your friend?"

"Garrett? He's working tonight over at the One Stop."

Marie smiled. "How about you, working anywhere?"

Ashton stood up taller, his pride obvious. "Oh yeah, been working since I was thirteen actually — had a paper route, and now I stock shelves at Bub's."

Marie chuckled. "Paperboy! I can just picture you cruising around on your bike, with your bag, slinging the news."

Ashton smiled, shaking his head. "It was serious business. People relied on me for the news!"

"Okay, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to pull some strings — I'll put a hold on Clerks for you and call when it comes back in." She bit her lip. She knew she was taking a risk, but she couldn't help it.

"Maybe if you like…" Marie started walking along the wall of movies, her eyes reading the titles as they panned by. Ashton followed behind. "Interesting films, you'd like. Ah-ha." She picked up a black and white box that featured a woman with a smoking gun on the cover. "Have you seen this?"

Ashton took the box, and there it was — a flicker of stillness that spoke volumes. "The Crying Game? Umm. I don't think so. But I know the joke."

Marie smiled. "Everyone knows the joke, but hardly anybody actually watched it. It's actually a very good movie."

Ashton set the box back on the shelf. "Yeah, the guys said—" Ashton crossed his arms and took a deep breath and looked around. "I'm not into gay shit."

Marie thought for a moment she'd overplayed her hand. "Whoa, buddy, I never said you were. This is a really good movie for people with the intelligence to look past the shock value. It's got action, intrigue, romance." She pointed over to a poster of Jim Carrey's face. "The guys are why we have twenty copies of that bullshit, and one copy of Clerks."

Ashton laughed. "I can't stand that guy. Yeah, Fire Marshal Bill for three minutes is funny, but a whole movie of that crap? Okay, it's a good movie." He picked up the box and turned it around.

"If you don't like it I'll rent you something else." Ashton nodded and picked up the clear plastic VHS box. Now Marie had one more card to play. "So are you watching that today?"

Ashton shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I didn't have anything going on."

She bit her lip again. "I get off at nine. You want to meet up for supper? John's Cafe? You can give me your review?"

"I umm, umm," Ashton stuttered and took a tiny step back.

"Relax, this isn't a date or anything, just wanted to talk about the movie, and the other night actually. But if you have a girlfriend it might be a bad idea."

"I don't… I'm not seeing anyone." He took a step closer. "The other night?" Ashton asked.

"Yeah, there's some… loose threads that need knotting."

Ashton smiled. "All right, sounds good." He followed Marie up to the counter. Some kids parked their bikes and went stomping back to the video game room, screaming about Super Metroid.

Marie handed him the tape. "Okay, see you a little after nine." Ashton smiled and started to walk out. "Oh, don't forget — be kind and rewind."

***

John's had always been open late; in fact it was barely ever closed. The Sunday 9 p.m. crowd was light, and Marie had no problem spotting Ashton in a corner booth with a Coke. The fake 50s poodle-skirt vibe was gone this time of night. Fuzzy country music played through 70s speakers mounted to the walls, and cigarette smoke wafted over from the smoking section.

"Hey," Marie said as she sat down. She had changed out of her yellow Circus Video shirt and now wore a fitted tank top.

Ashton smiled. "Hey, glad you could make it."

Marie rolled her eyes and smiled. "I invited you. Anyway, what did you think?"

Ashton sat forward in the booth. "It was a fantastic movie, amazing performances, cinematography was outstanding." Ashton laughed. "Okay, I wish I could understand them better — sometimes the accents were thick, and I didn't know much about the IRA and all that, so it was very interesting."

A waitress came by and dropped a menu. "What can I get you to drink?"

"What the hell — Coke, grilled cheese, side salad, and a big plate of fries," Marie said, handing back the menu.

"I'll take a burger and fries," Ashton said. Once the waitress was gone, Ashton asked, "Are you a vegetarian?"

Marie smiled. "Oh, no. Why? Because I ordered a salad?"

"You're like a hippie chick, you know?"

Marie laughed out loud. "Hippie chick? Yeah, I guess I can see that. I promise I don't have strong feelings about the Grateful Dead. But listen — how did you feel about the movie? The big secret?"

Ashton tilted his head. "It was really dramatic — I mean, I guess. I had heard — Fergus seemed very real, like I could see his arc." Ashton paused and took a breath. "The way she said…"

Marie leaned in closer. "Said what?"

"After he hit her, she said, 'I can take it.' That was…"

"Well, what do we have here?" Ashton and Marie looked up to see Rick and Jake walking up. There was an odd moment, like it took an extra half second for his smile to appear. He pushed his thick tinted glasses down the bridge of his nose and looked at them. "So, um… sorry I was stoned the other night. Remind me of your names."

"I'm Garrett's friend, Ashton."

Rick let out a goofy laugh. "Ash, Evil Dead, right." He leaned down closer to Marie. "And the young lady?"

Marie felt physically repulsed and drew back a bit. "Marie." Rick was close enough that she could read the small print on all the threadworn patches sewn to his jean vest. Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, KISS, Metallica.

"Marie, how beautiful," Rick said in a cheesy French accent. Jake laughed.

"Dude, can you stop being so lame," Jake said.

"Ahh, oui oui, monsieur, lame? Moi? Mais non!" Rick turned back to Ashton and Marie. "So how's it been going?"

Marie wrinkled her nose. On the surface it all seemed real, but to her it felt staged, like they were playing characters of themselves. "Fine," Marie said.

Rick nodded and turned to Ashton. "So, Ash, the other night — you fell down kind of hard, didn't you? You okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine, just tripped I guess," he said.

"Yeah. Tripped." Rick stood up tall and looked around. "So where's your other friend, Jess?"

Marie smiled. "You remembered her name, and forgot ours?"

Rick seemed to blank for a microsecond, then the smile returned. "Hey, THC levels, babe. Who knows what gets stuck in my gourd and what floats by."

"Our food is coming," Ashton said.

"Please excuse us. Have a good night, girls," Rick said with a big smile and started walking off.

Ashton scowled. "Girls?"

"Relax, dog, just messing with you. You're cool!" Rick said over his shoulder. They took a booth on the opposite side of the restaurant, in the smoking section.

Marie visibly relaxed after their plates were set in front of them. "Okay, that was weird."

"He called me a girl?" Ashton said, mock-wounded, but Marie could tell he was covering up with a joke he didn't feel at all.

She smiled. "Relax, dog, you're cool. But I wanted to talk to you about something. Do you remember, during his dumbass ritual — do you remember what really happened?"

Ashton bit into his burger. "I… I know I didn't just fall. You grabbed me, didn't you?"

Marie nodded. "You know how you knew the note was in the jacket pocket? I know things sometimes too. But usually about people, not objects."

Ashton's eyes opened wide. "I'm not sure I follow."

Marie shook her head. "Yeah, I know. I just want you to know." She pulled a fry off her plate and didn't eat it, just turned it over in her fingers, examining it.

Ashton crossed his arms. "Okay then. What do you know about me?"

"I knew I had to pull you out of that circle," Marie said, and finally ate the fry.

Ashton took a deep breath and shrugged. "Okay, what the hell. After you pulled me, when I fell — I saw something like a vision. Like I was seeing what a bird flying by would see. There was a devil dancing in a circle of black-robed people, and across from them, three people in white robes. But I felt it — evil, and more than anything, hate."

Marie nodded but didn't say anything. She took a few bites while Ashton watched her, and eventually he threw up his hands. "Are you going to say anything?"

"A few of us get together at my house sometimes and do things." She saw Ashton's face open with surprise.

Marie shook her head and rolled her eyes. "It's not an orgy, knucklehead. It's not weird… well, okay, it's a little weird, but I think you'd fit in." She watched him turn it over in thought, the same way she'd turned the fry over. "No pressure, but if you want to understand more about the things I think you already guess about yourself, this would be a good place to start."

Ashton didn't answer right away. Across the restaurant, Rick's laugh cracked out too loud, and Jake's laugh came a half-second behind it, like it was catching up.

"Yeah," Ashton finally said. "Maybe."