It was surreal to move from the noise of New York to a town like Fairbrooks. Ten years ago, if someone had told her to move to Montana, she would have laughed in their face. It wasnât so bad here, though, and sheâd certainly been to worse places.
BJâs was quaint, a little country bar with all-wood furnishings, purposed to look as though theyâd been trees mere days ago. She sat at the bar, nursing a vodka soda, dipping her finger into the condensation accumulating into a puddle at the base of her glass and tracing little patterns around the swirls in the wood.
Early afternoon, and the bar was pretty dead. A few day-drinkers here and there, the clack and thunk of a game of pool, and a guy staring at his phone, drinking alone while picking at a salad, trying and failing to not look at her.
She knew it was him, beyond a shadow of a doubt.
After all, how many guys in Montana had a halo?
Itâd be easy to get him over to her. Sheâd caught him looking at her a few times, would wait until he looked away, only to look at him in return. Of course, heâd look back at her just as she turned away. The third time it happened, she met eyes, lingered enough to offer just a little grin before turning back to her doodling. A gimpy guy with gray hair approached her and drunkenly lobbed a charmingly gauche line, and she laughed and and patted his arm and told him how much he was âjust like her grandfatherâ. The man looked a little put out then moseyed on.
Lifting her chin, running a hand through her thick hair like obsidian rapids, she took a drink and pretended not to notice Mr. Halo approach.
Cute guy. In good shape. Letâs see what your opening has to offer.
He pretended like he was waiting on the bartender for a second, then spoke without looking at her. âThat was pretty slick. Awfully nice of you to let him down so easy.â
Nice voice. He didnât have a twang in his accent, which was good, because she never found country boys very endearing. And was that a little east coast sheâd heard?
âThird one today. I just love getting hit on by guys old enough to be my dad.â
The halo guy grinned. She liked his hair, how it was kind of a mess but not. Normally, she wasnât a fan of beards, but his was trimmed to appropriate shortness. And he smelled nice. Lot of guys she met thought charm was a substitute for hygiene.
And those shoulders. Wow. Please donât be an idiot, halo-face.
âOnly if your dad had you really late in life. Tom is seventy. Nice enough guy, but when he drinks, he thinks heâs twenty again.â He offered a hand. âAvi. Or Aviton.â
She shook his hand. His skin was dry, cool but not cold. Calloused fingers, but not scratchy. It was obvious he took care of himself, but probably not the type of care where he needed to spend more than fifteen minutes in front of the mirror. His faded jeans and navy blue long-sleeve looked like they should have been retired a year ago, and he wore them like they were old friends.
âIâll stick to Aviton. âAviâ means âfatherâ in Hebrew, after all, and givenâŠâ
ââŠthat all your hopeful suitors have been over half a century oldâŠâ
âExactly. Iâm Lisa.â
âPleasure. You new in town?â
âWhat gave it away?â
âThat look like youâre wearing a new shirt for the first time and still deciding if you want to return it or not - and your lack of a tan.â
She rolled her eyes. âYeah, pale east coast skin. When I actually try to get some sun, I just burn.â His sleeves were pulled up, and he had some very ruddy forearms. She could see the muscles tense under his skin like braided snakes when he moved his fingers.
âEast coast? What part?â
âNew York.â
âNever been. Closest I got was when I ported in Rhode Island.â
âPorted? Ah, a Navy boy.â
âYep. Dirty sailor, going port to port.â
âWell, you do have that sailor swagger.â
âOnly after a couple drinks,â he said, and then lifted his glass, finished his drink, and ordered another whiskey sour. Simple drink order, falling into a conversation easily, able to respond: even if she hadnât been there on purpose, sheâd probably have given this guy at least a small chance.
âHey, mind if I sit? Maybe itâll keep the old guys off you.â
She nodded, sat up primly, and he joined her. Not too close, not pressing into her space, but not afraid of her. And no corny douchiness â well, not yet, at least.
âSo what brings you to Fairbrooks?â And she told him. It was disarming how well he listened, responded here and there, and just let her actually talk. Maybe she told him a little too much. Not anything thatâd give her away, but the basics: grew up as a suburban Jewish princess, came to Montana because she didnât want to feel like a princess anymore, and heard that the Fairbrooks County University had a good cosmetology program.
âCosmetics?â he said. âWell, maybe you can do something with my hair.â
She shook her head and inspected him a little closely. âI wouldnât do a thing with your hair. I love it. Itâs totally not fair. I spend way too much time getting my hair like this, and you probably run wet hands through it, and it looks fine. Itâs testosterone that gives guys good hair, you know. Same thing that makes boys stupid gives them good hair and skin.â
A little dig. Playful, but prompting a reaction.
He laughed, rubbed the back of his neck a little, and looked away. âOh, I know about stupid.â She knew a lot of guys who would have bristled. âBut yeah, I have a few blessings. Hair being one of them. Beard being the other.
âWhat made you decide on a career in makeup?â
She lifted her eyebrows, grin sharp and clever. âWondering how high-maintenance I am?â
âThought never crossed my mind. Just curious.â
âUh-huh,â she teased. âWell, as much as I do enjoy looking nice and helping other people look nice, Iâm trying my hand at cosmetology before I decide whether or not I want to get into cosmetic dermatology. Blemish removal, skin conditions, Iâve always been interested in that kind of thing. But before I throw myself head-first into a career I may end up hating, I want to be sure. I figured that trying out the beautician side of things would be best before taking the plunge.â
âAdmirable. Seems pretty specific, though. Not your typical âI want to be an astronaut when I grow upâ.â
Lisa shrugged. âNot at all. Personal reasons. I, uh, have â or had â very severe eczema when I was younger, and it was really hard to cover up. A lot of the treatments they had for it didnât do shit, either. Eventually, the doctors had me getting a lot of injections to treat it, and they nearly got rid of it, but it took a couple years for the treatments to take effect. So I figured Iâd work in a field where I could help other kids like me. Plus, lot of doctors in my family, and I was âforbiddenâ from pursuing my dream career.â
âWhich was?â
She winked at him. âAstronaut.â
He laughed.
âBeing covered in painful rashes made a lot of my childhood a living hell, though. âLisa the Leperâ was a particularly nasty nickname I got.
âTalking to a military guy, though, I guess that sounds pretty silly compared to what you had to go through.â
Mr. Halo shook his head. âNot at all. I did what I did, but I made peace with it. Lot of my buddies saw a lot more than I did. Youâre fine. And I understand childhood cruelty. Hey, I got picked on a lot too. Five six and skinny all through highschool made me an easy target.â
âFive six?â
âDidnât hit the six foot mark until I was in my twenties.â
âAh.â
She was distracted by how good natured he seemed. A little too good natured. Maybe unrealistically so?
Who the hell are you, Mr. Halo? A little bit of paranoia crept up her spine. Was he just playing her, as she was playing him? Did he have some kind of angel-sense-thing that let him know what buttons to push? Was he on to her, to why she was here?
No, no. Calm down. Uncle said he doesnât know who he is. Some kind of amnesia when he fell. Thatâs why he was important to Uncle, after all. Heâd said Avi was a blank slate.
She cleared her throat. âHey, um⊠Iâm sorry if this is, like, rude, butâŠâ She lowered her voice. âAm I crazy, or do you have a halo?â
His eyes widened and he leaned back. âYou can see it?â He almost whispered.
âYeah, of course.â
Paranoia evaporated at the look of genuine shock on his face. So he really wasnât aware, then.
âIâve always noticed. Noticed everyone who had⊠something different about them,â she continued. âEver since I was a kid. My parents thought I was just being silly, or playing pretend, when Iâd run up to them and say, âMama, Daddy, did you see how the mailman has snake eyes? Is he a snake?â, or, âwhy does that girl have bug wings?â. Theyâd laugh and tell their friends, âwhat an imagination Lisa has!â
âBut itâs not very cute to play pretend when you hit highschool, so I just stopped mentioning it. I see it, though, strange things about people here and there. Two weeks here, and youâre the third Iâve noticed. Iâve just never â well, you seem a lot nicer than a lot of guys I meet, and you didnât seem like the type whoâd freak out, so I thought Iâd just⊠ya know. Ask. Sorry if that was inappropriate or anything.â
Oh, the little lies we tell.
He shook his hand like he was refusing another helping of dessert. âNo, no, no. Donât even worry about it, youâre good. Itâs something only a couple people have ever noticed, is all. Thatâs why I was a bit surprised. Iâve always had it, and I have no idea why.
âMy parents did the same thing yours did, ya know. I asked my mom why I had a halo once, and she hugged me and said, âbecause youâre my handsome angel.â So I just stopped bringing it up.
âAnd truthfully, I donât think it fits me. Iâm not exactly angelic. Unless angels drink too much.â
There is such a thing as too much honesty, Mr. Halo. âWell, Jesus turned water into wine.â They chuckled a bit. She bit her lower lip. âCan I touch it?â
He laughed, causing him to sputter on his drink a little.
âWhat?â she said.
âOh, nothing. Nothing. Just⊠never had someone ask to touch it.â He recovered, and leaned the top of his head forward. âHave at it.â
She touched it with her finger tip. The moisture from her drink on her skin was immediately gone. Her whole hand felt overwhelmingly warm, and the warmth spread through her entire body like warm sunlight, except instead of coming from the sun, it felt like it was coming from inside of her chest. She pulled back her finger like itâd been bitten.
âWow.â
âTried lighting a cigarette on it once. No dice.â
She made a face, and he rolled his eyes. âHey, now, donât judge me. And I quit two years ago.â
âAre you a lefty or righty?â she asked.
âLefty,â he said.
She snatched his left hand in both of herâs, turning it over and inspecting his fingers. âHm. No yellow stains, your fingers donât smell like smoke... good.â She released her grip, and he pulled his hand back. âYouâre not a liar, and I like that.
âSo,â she asked. âBet you have some great military stories.â
He shrugged. âTraveled to a lot of different countries. Loved most of âem. But it wasnât all fun and games.â
So they kept talking, and he never lingered on the military for too long, for which she was grateful. She liked a man in uniform, but some of them could go on forever about it. Sometimes she wanted to talk about non-military stuff, and not have to decipher a bunch of military terms.
The conversation was easy. He always had a response, and always let her continue if they spoke at the same time. Sure, she could see how his nice-guy routine could eventually get old, but he never seemed uptight.
When he said he should get home, and she said she should finish unpacking, he paid for their drinks without making a show of it and she pretended not to notice. They left, and he even held the door. She usually thought that kind of thing was overdoing it, but it seemed to fit him well. It was like a programmed response, not like he was trying to be annoyingly chivalrous.
Thank God! Last thing she wanted was to deal with someone from Arthurâs court, she all the dainty little fluff. It surprised her how many guys liked that shit.
She realized, not unhappily, that she was actually intrigued and starting to like talking to him. She kind of wanted to talk to him again.
Hey, nothing like a job you enjoy doing, right?
He said goodbye, and that it was nice to meet her, and she was confused for a moment. Sheâd thought theyâd hit it off, but -
âHey,â he turned to her. âWhy donât we go to dinner some time?â
The sheer gentle confidence of the question was a nice surprise. She stared for a bit, then smiled.
âYeah. Yeah, sure. I think Iâd like that.â She looked up, her shoulders drooping, and groaned. âI have been dying for some decent Indian food.â
âBlackfoot or Cherokee?â he asked, tilting his head. She stared at him.
âIâm kidding,â he said. âMasala is a pretty good place. Theyâre geared towards the locals mostly â you know, people who may have experimented with curry in college that one time â but what they do, they do well.
âYou free tomorrow?â
âSure. Want to meet there?â
âSounds good. Five-thirty too early for you? Come in after six on a Friday, and the wait is excruciating.â
Nodding, she turned to leave. âItâs a date.â She looked over her shoulder and waved at him. âSee you soon, sailor boy.â She didnât wait to watch his reaction but felt his eyes follow her.
Guilt was something she didnât feel a lot of, but now she did. Just a bit. It wouldnât feel great if he found out the truth. But, Uncle always said that guilt was a lot easier to deal with if you had fun while being guilty. And if she was trapped in an apple tree with failure below and betrayal above, she was sure as hell going to enjoy eating the fruit in the meantime.
Fairbrooks Gazette Blotter
August 29th, 2020A woman called Fairbrooks County Sheriff's Office requesting animal control. She reported a wild lynx in her back yard attacking her dog. When animal control arrived, they found the dog and the lynx sleeping next to each other under a tree.
August 29th, 2020Local man called to report that his pet lynx had escaped confinement.
August 31st, 2020A group of three college students protesting at a Michael Smith political rally were arrested after attempting to throw a bucket of black paint on the senatorial candidate. Mr. Smith did not press charges, but expressed confusion about what they were protesting.
September 1st, 2020Woman called police at five in the morning, claiming a group of "young hoodlums wearing gang uniforms" were trying to break into the coffee shop across the street. The suspects told police that they were employees and that their key to the store wasn't working. They were wearing their work uniforms.
September 1st, 2020Couple calls police on their neighbor, who is seen in the yard and streets with a bow and arrow, shouting about hunting a "black dog" that had come to "take his soul." Police arrived and calmed the man, who appeared intoxicated.
September 3rd, 2020Man called the local police when he heard someone trying to break into his house. When police arrived, they were greeted by the man's wife who complained about how her husband didn't wake up when she was knocking on the door, so she crawled in through a window.
September 3rd, 2020Two arrests made after local police received an anonymous call about a fight happening in an alley on Lilac & Main. Three men were assaulting a fourth man. Two suspects still at large. The man being beaten was found with a backpack filled with marijuana and methamphetamine.
September 5th, 2020Couple calls local police when they hear a gunshot coming from their neighbors house. Police arrived and found the neighbor dead, apparently having shot himself. Words written on the wall read, "You won't get me, you son of a b-." The man had previously had law enforcement called on him when causing a public disturbance armed with a bow and arrow.