8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Tolly

T olly could hardly believe that by tomorrow he would be able to pass as a normal human, with identification and a history, however falsified. Apparently, it was much easier for a criminal to accomplish such things than other people, so for once he did not mind that Leigh was a gangster. It made the possibility of starting a new life seem that much more attainable.

Leigh wanted him to stay. Now Tolly needed him to want him to stay forever.

"All right, Smiley, you and me need to have a chat," Alvin said the moment Tolly and Leigh joined him at the café, passing Tolly a cell phone Leigh had requested. "Next time Leigh pulls a stunt like that and leaves before telling me the whole story, you give me a call. My number and his are already in there for ya."

Tolly accepted the phone gratefully, though he had no idea how to use it.

"Play with it later," Leigh said, meaning he would show Tolly how to use it later, so Tolly put it in his pocket. "Thanks, Al. And I didn't want to tell you what your old man requested until I'd had time to process it myself. Right now, we need to talk strategy, unless you want to fish me out of the river sometime this week."

"Cary is here," Tolly said, seeing the other man at the café counter with his laptop again. He must never go anywhere without it. "Why is he not sitting with you, Alvin?"

A sigh left Leigh at the interruption, causing Tolly to smile in apology—though perhaps Leigh was more concerned with Cary's presence, since he worried about other snitches. Tolly did not think Cary was one, however, not if Alvin loved him so.

"He wanted to keep working," Alvin said. "Dad likes his partners to stick together so someone's always watching the other's back. I told Cary we were getting Leigh's new partner papers. Why lie? And that Dad has you both working on something big. You're his bodyguard, right? But why do you need all this anyway? You running from something?"

"Not your business," Leigh said with a growl.

"I don't want anyone getting you into more trouble, even if he is this cute."

"I will not bring Leigh trouble," Tolly said. "I wish to help him out of it."

"Tolly's getting out of a bad living situation, okay?" Leigh offered a not-quite lie. "He's not running from the law or anyone who's going to make our lives more complicated."

Alvin seemed satisfied with that. "Just checking. I like you, Mystery Man," he said to Tolly. "I'm just protective of my boy. We go back a long way. Used to skip rope in juvie even."

Leigh snorted. Tolly would have to ask about juvie later, since it kept coming up.

"Also, gotta ask—are you wearing Leigh's clothes?" Alvin scanned the dark gray sweater Tolly wore with a playful twist to his smirk. "Were you wearing his clothes yesterday?"

"Shopping is next on our agenda," Leigh said. "That dicey situation Tolly left, he left quickly , got it? Now can we stop with the twenty questions?"

"Fine, fine. You two shouldn't be out and about much, though. Hit the strip mall on Eighth to avoid prying eyes. And don't worry about Long John's creds. I'll bring them by tomorrow after they're done. Now, you gonna get me up to speed on all this Moretti business or what?"

"Please, keep me informed on what you decide and what you need of me," Tolly said, "but perhaps now would be a good time for me to make good on my promise. I shall go introduce myself to Cary."

"Wait, what?" Leigh reached across the seat to stop him.

"I will be all right. If you love him so," Tolly said to Alvin, "I am sure he is a fine man to know."

He thought Leigh and Alvin looked fearful as he headed for the counter to meet Cary. Surely, being afraid of one's heart's desire was no way to live. If Alvin could not "take the plunge" as people said, then Tolly was happy to do so in his stead.

Cary seemed preoccupied with his computer and did not notice Tolly's approach. Holding back to better read him, what Tolly noticed was the way he tugged at his ear like he had the other day.

Then Tolly saw why. Cary had a tiny, high-end hearing aid in his ear. He was deaf, or partially so. One of the first films Tolly ever saw explained hearing loss and the technologies created to help, and he had his first experience with sign language, instantly choosing to learn it since he knew the difficulties someone without hearing or a voice had to face. He had always been drawn to tales that focused on communication barriers, since his kin communicated quite differently than humans normally.

Tolly wondered if Alvin knew about Cary, but regardless, this knowledge gave him confidence in fulfilling his task.

"Hello," Tolly said, speaking aloud but also signing with his hands in fluid motion. "I am Tolly. We did not officially meet yesterday, but you are Alvin's partner as I am Leigh's."

Cary was at first disinterested at the sound of Tolly's voice, but when he glanced up, he froze as he saw the signing that accompanied the words. "You were with Hurley. You sign?"

"I know many languages." Tolly continued to use his hands as he sat on the stool beside Cary. "But I have always thought this was a particularly beautiful way to speak."

"Most people wouldn't call a handicap beautiful," Cary spat.

Defensive. Tolly understood Alvin's trouble now.

"It is merely a difference," Tolly said, ceasing his signing for fear of offending the man. "Differences do not make us ugly, even if we have a hard time telling ourselves that." He certainly did some days, but when Leigh looked at him, he thought perhaps now he was beautiful like he had always wanted to be.

"Did you want something?" Cary asked without looking at him. "Alvin and I are only partners coz his dad doesn't like loners earning targets on their backs. He'll love you for ending that trend with Hurley, but I don't care who you are."

He had his cell phone beside the laptop with headphones plugged into it and took one of the earbuds to place in his empty ear.

"I merely wished to say hello while Leigh and Alvin talk," Tolly said. "I do not want anything from you. You like music? I love music. May I ask what you are listening to?"

Cary made an effort to ignore Tolly for a span before his expression scrunched. "Look, it's tinnitus, okay? Hearing loss as a kid so there's this ringing all the time I need to drown out. Sometimes that makes it hard to hear people, but I'm not…. I don't need to sign."

He was embarrassed. Someone must have made him feel like his condition was something to be embarrassed about . "You know how, though, I can tell, and it is easier to hear and understand people if they sign for you while they speak."

"Why do you care?"

"Because Leigh and Alvin are my friends, and I wish to be your friend too. For that to happen, we need to understand each other."

"Are you for real?" Cary slid his eyes to Tolly without turning his body fully.

"I am hardly a figment of your imagination."

For a brief but important moment as Cary coughed a surprised laugh, the reticence slipped from his face.

"What was the first song you ever heard?" Tolly asked.

"You mean really heard and paid attention? ‘You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' by The Righteous Brothers."

"Good choice." Tolly loved the deep, resonant vocals in that song. "Does Alvin not know about your… handicap?"

"I don't broadcast it. If people notice, I just play my music louder, so they think I have wireless headphones."

"Why? Alvin would not adore you any less if he knew."

"Alvin adores me?" Cary said with a scoff.

"It is obvious by the way he looks at you. Do you not notice?"

Cary glanced at Alvin and Leigh's table, and in that moment, Alvin darted his attention away as if he had been taking another longing glance. "Guess I didn't. Who are you exactly? Hurley's partner, fine, but you don't work for Sweeney."

"I am Leigh's bodyguard."

" You're a bodyguard?"

"I am stronger than I look," Tolly said. "Would you like to know the first song I ever heard?"

There was a pause, and Tolly knew Cary might easily dismiss him now and end their conversation. When instead he pulled his hands from his keyboard and turned to face him, Tolly knew he had accomplished something profound.