Page 37 of A Future To Remember

The stranger was still there, and I could now see his features. At the sight of him, I gasped.

Backing up, I turned the deadbolt and yanked open the door. It was heavier than I expected, so I had to yank on it twice to finally get the damn thing open, only to see Levi hurrying away.

“Levi! Hey! Don’t go!”

Fifteen or so yards away, he paused long enough to look over his shoulder at me, and I could see that he was also trembling, but not in fear like me. He was trembling with cold.

“Get in here!” I commanded, waving at him. I was in my stocking feet, otherwise I would’ve run out the door and literally grabbed hold of his arm to prevent him from taking one step farther away.

He hesitated.

I put my hands on my hips and made my voice as commanding as possible. “Dude! Get in here! It’s freezing out!”

He finally turned fully toward me, shuffling forward to stand just outside the doorway. “S-s-sorry,” he stuttered, his teeth chattering. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t. Now come inside so I can close this damn door!”

He reluctantly took one step into the doorway, and I impatiently grabbed a handful of the blanket and letterman coat he was wearing, pulling him inside before I slammed the door closed.

I didn’t say a word about finding him there in the alley, freezing his nuts off. I simply lowered my hand to his wrist and led him down the hall to the dining room. We got through the doorway, and I walked him over to a booth right at the front. Pointing sternly to it, I said, “Sit.”

He did, even though he was a shivering mess from head to toe.

The diner was chilly; no doubt Wanda had turned down the heat before she left to save on the electric bill. I had no idea where the thermostat was, so I quickly left Levi to run back upstairs, grabbing the blanket off the bed and one of the smaller space heaters, bringing them back down to the dining room.

Levi was hunched over, hugging himself tightly, his body wracked with shivers. I threw the blanket over him, layering it over the painfully thin one he was already wearing, then plugged in the space heater to the closest outlet I could find, turned it on, and blasted heat at him. I then moved to start a pot of coffee.

While it was brewing, I filled a mug with hot water from the hot water tap and brought that over to him. “Here. Use it to warm your hands while the coffee brews.”

He took it greedily and wrapped his palms around the ceramic.

“Thank you, Maddy,” he said softly. I could barely hear his voice above the chattering of his teeth.

Once the coffee was done, I poured him a mug and brought it over. “Cream?”

He shook his head and eagerly traded the mug of hot water for the coffee. Holding it to his lips, he took small, tentative sips.

I then went around the corner again and started digging under the pie case where I’d seen some single-serving boxes of cereal the night before. I grabbed a box of Cap’n Crunch and a box of Raisin Bran, and brought them, two bowls, and some milk to the table, setting the Cap’n Crunch in front of Levi.

A tiny quirk formed at the corner of his mouth as he reached for the cereal and turned it over in his hand. “I used to love this stuff.”

“Then you’ll still love it. Eat,” I ordered.

He pulled the blankets around him a little tighter and with trembling fingers did as he was told, emptying the contents into the bowl and pouring milk over the top.

While he busied himself with the cereal, I went to the coffee pot and poured myself a cup.

“We could get in trouble,” Levi said as he poked at the cereal with a spoon and I sat down opposite him to prepare my own breakfast.

“Over cereal? Are you joking?”

“We shouldn’t be in here without Wanda around.”

“Did she say that to you?”

He stopped poking at the cereal in the bowl and stared at the tabletop. “Uh, no. But still, she’d be pissed if she found us stealing her food.”

“No one is stealing anything, Levi. Wanda told me I could grab breakfast down here as soon as I woke up. Plus, that cereal will probably only set her back seventy-five cents. She’s not gonna miss it when she’s barely paying you something even close to minimum wage and not paying me a thing. Trust me, it’s cool.”