Water Tower Poet

Calvin’s truck stalled as he pulled up to the stop sign just east of the water tower. Another man might have found the irony in the fact that he had just finished working ten hours in the town’s auto shop fixing other people’s cars, but Calvin was in no mood for irony. Not after the way Susan had just dropped in on him at the shop and started giving him hell about their future together. When he suggested they save the conversation when they could talk alone, she threw a can of motor oil at him and said they never spent any time alone. She always turned downright malicious whenever Cassie came into the conversation.

Calvin turned the key in the ignition several times and had to wave a couple of cars around him before it finally got started again. As he let it idle for a moment, he glanced up at the tower and smiled. There was a select group of townspeople, mostly former teachers of his who were convinced he and Cassie were the most lethal combination to ever hit junior high, who believed he and Cassie were responsible for the graffiti that still adorned the water tower today.

After easing his truck home, Calvin left the garage door open. Cassie would be by later and would need the ladder. It hung neatly on its designated spot on the wall over shelves with carefully organized tools, some cans of spray paint, sorted alphabetically by color, and an industrial strength flashlight. It was the neatest garage in town, Calvin was sure. He felt lucky that his father allowed him to park his truck there.

Upstairs in the shower, Calvin tried to scrub the grime from his face, his hair, his fingernails. But it always seemed he missed a spot somewhere. Sometimes he wondered why he bothered since he was only going to return to work the next day.

As he walked back to his room, wearing only a towel, his father passed him in the hallway.

“Left the garage open,” he grunted in Calvin’s direction.

“Yeah, Cassie’s coming by later.”

Calvin tried to move past him into his room, but his father blocked the hallway with his large frame and stared him down. Calvin swallowed hard and drew himself up to his full height so he could stare back. “Don’t know why that little hellion can’t use the front door like a normal person,” his father snarled.

Calvin hitched his towel up and dodged around his father.

“Because you make it very clear she isn’t welcome in your house,”

Calvin tossed back over his shoulder.

“So it’s okay to sit on my roof and drink beer ‘til all hours of the night?” Calvin shouted back through his now closed door, “Apparently so!”

It wasn’t his best parting shot ever, but he considered being practically naked a disadvantage in verbal combat.

He yanked off his damp towel and threw it on the floor. He took satisfaction at the thought of the damp spot on the carpet and the mildew that would form. He shoved a few car magazines off his desk and tipped over his laundry basket, knowing it would drive his father crazy, but Calvin made it apparent with the first rent check that as long as he was paying for the space, he could keep it in any condition he wanted. His father’s jaw clenched at this, and Calvin knew he was wondering if it was too late to ask for a security deposit.

Calvin rummaged through the pile of laundry on his floor and pulled on a pair of old jeans. The jeans were wearing thin in several crucial spots and had holes in several more. They were so faded and trashed that Susan refused to be seen in public with him when he wore them. Cassie saw them for what they were though—familiar, comfortable. She probably remembered when he bought them.

At the thought of Susan, Calvin kicked one of his sneakers across the room and flopped onto his bed, face down. After a minute, he flipped over and made a mental note to wash his sheets next time he did laundry. As if he didn’t have enough to worry about without developing a fondness for fresh smelling sheets. It was only a matter of time before he became his father. He shoved his hair out of his eyes and knew he had reached a moment of decision. Either grow the ponytail he’d been threatening his father with since he was fourteen, or get a haircut. Right now, it was just kind of shaggy looking.

Calvin stared at the ceiling for a while and tried to let things like clean sheets and haircuts dominate his thoughts, but they just swirled around with the millions of things he didn’t want to think about—just minnows in a pool of sharks.

As Calvin pulled a clean T-shirt over his head, he heard the ladder fall against the side of the house. He pulled a six-pack of beer out of the mini-fridge he kept in his room and pushed up the window that overlooked the garage roof. Cassie was already at the top of the ladder grinning at him.

Her hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail with frizzy little brown curls popping out everywhere in response to the humidity. As they settled down and leaned back underneath his window, Calvin figured Cassie must have changed into her shorts and tank top at work because she still smelled strongly of the greasy burgers and fries that the diner was infamous for. The food was guaranteed to give you heartburn, but since it was the only place in town open past eight, it managed to do a booming business.

Cassie grabbed a beer and took a couple of sips.

“Susan looked like shit tonight when she came in for her shift.”

Calvin just nodded and stared out into the neighborhood.

“You two fighting again?”

Calvin shrugged. When weren’t they fighting?

“Yeah, something like that.”

Cassie looked at him questioningly. She probably knew there was something more. She had a freaky way of being able to read his mind.

But evidently she decided to let it go for the moment.

“Come to think of it, you look like shit yourself.” She reached up and pushed the hair out of Calvin’s eyes and gave him a playful shove.

“I haven’t been sleeping well.”

It was the indirect truth.

“Since you two are on the outs again, maybe now we should go for it.

Make our escape.”

Cassie was staring at him, hope all over her face. She had the prettiest blue eyes, and he hated to see the hurt that crept into them every time he told her no.

They’d been planning to run away together since they were twelve. The plan was devised after the time they got caught trying to blow-up Mrs. Black’s lawn gnome with a homemade concoction they’d seen on a MacGyver rerun. It didn’t matter that it hadn’t worked; they both got grounded for a month. Cassie snuck out and asked Calvin to run away with her. Back then, they planned to go to Florida where they’d get jobs at Disney World. Over the years, each time they got caught in trouble, the plans evolved to California, then Alaska, New York, wherever. The destination didn’t really matter. They’d just be two best friends on the road together leaving their Podunk town and families behind.

Cassie had become more insistent over the past couple of years making it clear this was no longer some childhood fantasy, but something she really planned to do. She said that if she was going to be stuck waiting tables the rest of her life, she at least wanted to do it where adventure was a possibility. And where the food didn’t make her sick just to smell it.

The more Cassie insisted on leaving, the more Calvin insisted it wasn’t the right time. They had to save money or get a reliable car. For the last few months, he wasn’t ready to leave Susan, despite their constant fighting. He often found himself wondering what was keeping him there. Perhaps staying with the certainty of a life he already hated was better than the uncertainty of a life out in the world with Cassie.

Calvin decided to ignore Cassie’s pleading eyes for the moment and fumbled around for a new topic. He used his beer can to indicate the water tower.

“Think anyone will ever ‘fess up to painting the tower?”

Cassie stared at him a moment before turning to look at the tower and shrugging.

“Not after seven years. Besides, whoever did it was probably just passing through. No poet could stay for long around here. They’d suffocate.”

Calvin just shook his head and took a long gulp of his beer. It had been a long standing debate between them about the state of mind of the water tower graffiti artist when he or she had decided to climb the water tower in the middle of the night and spray paint the words the only forever across the back of the tower. Cassie was inclined to believe the anonymous person was a poet. Calvin tended to believe that someone got stoned one night and thought they would spray paint some really deep thought on the tower but forgot what it was halfway through.

“It makes me sad just looking at it. A line of poetry without a poem. It doesn’t fit in here.”

Calvin finished his beer and reached for another. “It makes me sad that this damn town is too cheap to paint the water tower in seven years. Besides, it’ll be dark soon and then you won’t have to look at it anymore.”

He popped open the can and avoided looking at Cassie.

“What the hell is your problem?”

“Look, I can’t go with you, okay, Cass?”

“Why not? We’ve both got money saved now and you assured me last week that my Bug is running better now than when it was new. And don’t give me any BS about Susan just because you’re too much of a wuss to get the hell out of here.”

It was true. Calvin looked down the street to where Cassie kept her VW Bug parked in front of her house. He went over every inch of that car and saw to it that it was running great. He only charged her for parts and almost got fired when his boss found out she didn’t pay for the labor. Fortunately, there weren’t many mechanics looking for work in town, so Calvin still had his job. Between the two of them, they’d managed to save a couple of thousand. Surely enough to get them by for a while, if he could just get up the nerve to go for it. His savings could also get him and Susan moved into an apartment in town.

“I’ve been thinking Chicago lately. It’s like only an eight-hour drive from here. We could be gone by the weekend.”

“It’s too crazy, Cass. We need jobs, a place to live.”

“We do that when we get there. Come on. We could be gone by morning!”

Cassie reached out and grabbed his arm. He felt her desperation as her nails dug into his flesh. For a moment, he saw himself flying down the road alongside Cassie, her orange Bug purring like a kitten, nothing but adventure ahead and forgotten problems behind. He could sell his truck to his cousin, clear out his savings account and not even bother to say good-bye to Susan.

Calvin’s eyes locked with Cassie’s and for a moment he thought he saw something else flicker behind the need to escape. She licked her lips and leaned toward him ever so slightly. Her hand slid to his thigh, and he shivered despite the heat. For a moment, he felt the desire to kiss Cassie full on the mouth, something he hadn’t done since a mutual experiment at the age of eleven. She leaned closer and her breast brushed up against his arm.

He closed his eyes and watched the fantasy vanish, knowing he couldn’t. Like it or not, his future lay in this dumpy little town. He was surprised to feel the weight in his stomach lift at this thought. He opened his eyes and met Cassie’s confused ones. He watched her grin slowly fade as if she knew what he was about to say.

“I can’t, Cass. I can never go to Chicago with you. Susan’s pregnant.” Cassie let go of him and turned to stare at the water tower. She said nothing. Finally, she threw her empty beer can down on the front lawn. The sun was almost set when she stood and walked towards the ladder. Before climbing down, she turned to look at Calvin. He couldn’t see her eyes clearly in the twilight, but he was afraid they held hatred. She stared at him for a long moment.

“There is only one forever, you know. And you only get one crack at it.” With that, she disappeared down the ladder.

A minute later, the ladder was lifted from the side of the house and he heard her banging around beneath him. He climbed back inside his room so he wouldn’t have to watch her walk down the street towards her own house.

Calvin awoke to the sound of his father banging on his door and screaming about the beer can on the front lawn. The sun was up, but just barely, as Calvin blearily stumbled out on the lawn in his bare feet. He retrieved the offending can and dropped it in the trash barrel. Looking up the street, he noticed Cassie’s car was gone. He knew when he called her house later, her mom would tell him she packed up and left in the night. And there would be just a bit of relief in her voice, a sense of peace, under the pain and worry. An echo of his own. He hoped she’d find her forever, wherever she ended up. He saluted the water tower and turned to go in the house.