Chapter 2

Nathan stepped off the streetcar at the corner of Exchange and Elderberry. On the corner he noticed a small grocery with a rack on the sidewalk containing bunches of gladiolus blooms. He grabbed one, carried it inside and had it wrapped in some butcher's paper. Paying for his purchase, he proceeded down Elderberry looking at the house numbers. He stopped at number 213.

It was a 1920's vintage bungalow in white stucco and with a detached garage in back. A maroon Dodge Caravan was parked in the driveway. Nathan headed up the walk and rang the bell. Iris opened the door. "Come in," she said.

He scanned her. Iris wore a long, mid-calf length dark velvet skirt that was slit to her knee and a voile blouse.

Nathan walked in and took off his hat. He regarded her dining table, set with three place settings. He presented the flowers. "Oh, they're lovely," she replied. "You didn't need to..."

"My mother told me I should always bring something when I'm invited," he replied.

"Your mother raised you well. Katie -- can you bring me the blue glass vase from the pantry? Thank you, dear."

Iris carried the flowers into the kitchen and arranged them in the vase. "Lovely ... Nathan, the lasagna is in the oven and I'm making a salad. Please, make yourself at home. Feel free to put on some music -- if you can find anything that's your taste. Here -- let me take your coat."

Nathan handed her his coat, hat and stick. He ambled to a cabinet and began reviewing her collection of compact discs. "Holy..." he exclaimed.

"Something wrong?" Iris called from the kitchen.

"Look at all this stuff from the eighties. Queen and R.E.M. of course ... but Devo ... Depeche Mode ... The Cure ... Talking Heads ... Thompson Twins..."

"I'm sorry if there's nothing more current. I listened to those bands when they were fresh. If you can't find anything you like then never mind."

"Oh, no," he replied. "I love this stuff. No one else seems to ... I'll put on Queen at the lab and everyone tells me to turn it down."

"Queen? They're classic."

"You don't have to tell me." He continued to flip though her collection. "No metal I see ... no Metallica or Megadeath..."

"I never cared for that style." She approached him drying her hands on a towel.

"No Robert Palmer ... Seems to run to the alt-rock and syntho-pop genres ... You said you listened to these when they were fresh. How old must you have been? About Katie's age? You had sophisticated taste."

"Lord no," she replied. "You flatter me. How old do you think I am?"

"You look to me to be thirty, thirty-one."

"I was fourteen when I got hooked on these," she replied. "I'm thirty-eight."

"Thirty eight..." He regarded her. "You take care of yourself."

She smiled. "Thanks ... truth is, I do. I stay out of the sun ... never smoked..."

"It's a filthy habit," he replied.

" ... and, ageing gracefully runs in my family. My mother is seventy-two and she doesn't look a day over fifty. So I'm lucky to have good genes." She gestured. "So, what are you going to play?"

"Then you had sophisticated taste for a fourteen-year-old. It's been ages since I listened to Bonnie Tyler."

"Go ahead. I like Bonnie Tyler. I like all of them."

"Maybe I can borrow a few of these. I'd love to rip them and put them on my iPod."

"Certainly," she replied. "Take as many as you like. I don't listen to them very often."

Nathan switched on her stereo, extended the tray to her CD player and dropped in a disc.

"Please, sit," Iris said. "Would you like something to drink? I have some beer ... we're having wine with the lasagna. How about a mixed drink?"

"I wouldn't know what mixed drink I'd ask for."

"In my opinion, the best before-dinner drink is a classic, dry martini. There's something herbal about the gin that mixes with the salty and bitter olives. It's my favorite. Can I mix you one?"

"Sure."

"I'll mix one for me, too."

Nathan watched as she carried a cocktail shaker to her refrigerator. From the freezer she took a number of ice cubes and dropped them into the shaker, followed by four olives. This she carried to a server. From it she retrieved a couple of bottles.

Holding the ice cubes in her palm she smacked them with the back of a heavy utility spoon to crack them. These went back into the shaker. On picks she impaled two olives each and set them into cocktail glasses. Then, she measured the spirits, poured them into the shaker and affixed the strainer cap. "This needs to sit for a bit to get chilled and melt some of the ice -- makes the martini more mellow."

"Shaken, not stirred," Nathan remarked.

"Actually, a martini should always be stirred," she replied. "That goes for any gin drink."

"You seem to know what you're doing."

"I do. I tended bar when I was in graduate school."

"Graduate school?"

"Yes -- I have a PhD in Lit and Education." She poured the contents of the shaker into the two glasses and handed him one.

"Thank you. Do you teach?"

"I used to. Now I'm an assistant principal."

"At Katie's school?"

"No -- at the high school."

"The one Katie will attend?"

"Most likely."

"That will make for an awkward situation for her."

"I suppose it will." She held up her glass. "Cheers."

"Cheers." Nathan sipped the drink. "It's strong."

"A martini is a strong drink."

"It's very tasty. What goes into one?"

"Gin and dry vermouth. Anything else is NOT a genuine martini."

Katie approached Nathan. She carried something with her and then held it up to him. "Who is this?" Nathan asked, regarding her fist-sized, dingy and worn plush toy bird.

"Chickee," replied Katie. "Chickee says hi."

"Hi to Chickee."

"She has had Chickee since she was five," Iris remarked. "They are inseparable."

"I see..."

"Mr North..." Katie started to say.

"Call me Nathan."

"Nathan ... If you're not a vampire..."

"I'm not, Katie."

"Then why do you dress like one?"

"Katie!" Iris exclaimed. "That's not a polite question."

"It's all right," Nathan replied. He looked into Katie's eyes. "Why not dress like one?"

"Because it's weird."

"I've heard that before. I dress like this because I like dressing like this."

"Oh ... Do you like vampires?"

"I can take them or leave them. Do you like them?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed.

"She's into the Team Edward nonsense," Iris explained.

"Do you mean the Twilight stuff? Isn't she a little young?"

"I'd never permit her to watch any of those movies ... but her friends are all Team Edward and Team Jacob and talk about it all the time."

"I'm not overly familiar with the Twilight mythos," Nathan replied. "I don't think I like the premise. I believe it glosses over the dark side of vampires ... if they really existed, that is ... which they don't."

"What's the dark side?" Katie asked.

"Vampires live on blood. What happens when you take all the blood out of somebody?"

"They die."

"That's right. Whomever a vampire picks as his victim is someone's loved one."

Katie looked at him and chewed her lip. "Oh..."

"It's clear she never thought of it that way." Iris drained her glass. "Excuse me, but I must check on dinner. Katie -- why don't you go wash your hands before dinner?"

"'kay..."

"Nathan -- what dressing do you like on your salad?"

"I'm not fussy."

"We have Italian, Ranch and Blue Cheese."

"Blue Cheese is my favorite."

"Mine, too."

Nathan took a seat at the table. Iris pulled the cork on a bottle of Chianti, carried to the table and filled his wine glass. She began pouring some into hers.

"You're a single parent," he remarked.

"Yes ... I've been divorced for four years."

"I'm sorry..."

"It was for the best ... really."

Katie sat in a chair adjacent to Nathan's. She set Chickee on the table.

"Katie," her mother said, "you know Chickee isn't welcome at the table."

"Aww..."

"Put her away."

"Awwwww..."

"Katie," Nathan said, "maybe Chickee would enjoy a little trip before dinner."

"A trip where?" Katie asked.

"A trip to the other side of nowhere ... don't worry -- we'll make sure she comes home." He slipped his hand into his pocket, located a quarter and palmed it. "Now, watch this..." He picked up his napkin, wrapped it around the plush toy and set it on the edge of the table. "Push down," he said and Katie pushed. "Don't you feel Chickee going into the table? That's where the other side of nowhere is."

"Chickee isn't going anywhere."

"Hmmm..." Nathan regarded her. "We need something. Something to make the magic work. Something from right here..." He reached toward her ear, produced the quarter he had been palming and handed it to her. "It's a magic quarter."

Katie's eyes popped and she turned the coin over in her fingers. Nonchalantly, Nathan lifted the napkin containing Chickee, held it over his lap and let the toy drop, catching it between his knees. "Put the quarter here," he said pointing to the edge of the table. Katie complied.