The Sight--Chapter 2 (standard:mystery, 2266 words) [2/4] show all parts
Author: SoLikeCandy	Added: Mar 19 2001	Views/Reads: 2898/1981	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Chapter 2 A mysterious old man watches Ruth--and Will makes his move...comments are welcome!

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

think about Will. 

When she saw him on the first day of class, she’d guessed him for a big
cocky White boy jock. However, after listening to him talk about the 
material covered in class, her opinion changed. Will had a quiet 
intelligence, an easy manner of expressing himself that impressed Ruth. 
He seemed like one of those guys that played football in high school 
and read Brave New World before practice, the kind of guy that went to 
sports bars with his buddies on Fridays and poetry readings on 
Saturdays. The female students in 20th Century Lit fawned over him. The 
funny thing, and one of the most attractive things to Ruth, was that 
Will either didn’t care or didn’t notice. He would just return 
greetings and waves from girls with a polite and modest nod, and place 
his three books for the course—all of them in one massive hand—on the 
desk and sit down, eagerly waiting for class to start. 

Will Paxton was an incredibly tall Nordic looking creature with broad
shoulders, hands that looked like they could crush soda cans as flat as 
paper, hair the color of wheat and electric blue eyes that sparked when 
he smiled. His voice was deep and masculine, and it rumbled just a 
little when he spoke, loud enough to catch everyone’s attention but not 
overpowering or intimidating. He and Ruth had the habit of engaging in 
more than one “intense dialogue” within the class discussions they had 
on various texts. The professor often joked about the verbal boxing 
matches they had that sometimes dominated the hour long block. 

Will came into the store early one morning, looking for the latest issue
of Rolling Stone. His hair was tousled from the breeze and he ran a 
hand through it, smiling at Ruth, making small talk and asking her 
opinion on the reading assignment for the day’s class discussion, Anais 
Nin. 

“You know you’re completely wrong,” he said, smiling with those perfect
pearly teeth, “and I’ll prove it to you. Come to the library with me 
after class tonight.” 

Ruth and he shared a happily adversarial relationship in class, but
rarely spoke on campus outside of casual hellos and the occasional 
conversation at parties to which they were both invited. Of course, 
asking him out on a date always went through her mind, but the idea of 
bringing him home had its obvious drawbacks, what with his blue eyes 
and blonde hair, and her father’s aversion to White folks. 

Nevertheless, the potential situation was intriguing. “Oh yeah?"  Ruth
asked.  "How will you manage that?” 

Will’s smile faded a bit, and he ran a hand through his hair. “Well, I’d
show you some articles about Nin and her father.” 

“You could e-mail them to me,” she said wickedly. 

Will pretended to ponder this. “Yes, I could do that. But then how would
I buy you dinner afterwards?” 

Ruth’s heart skipped a beat at the proposition, but she quietly laughed.
How juvenile. Couldn’t he have come up with a better line? 

“Alright,” she said. “Tell you what. We’ll make a game of it. If you can
prove me wrong, I buy you dinner. If I’m right, you have to buy me 
dinner.” 

“Seems fair enough. Pick you up at six tonight.” 

“Hey,” Ruth said, “you don’t have to.” This really was turning into a
date, wasn’t it? she thought. 

Will started to back away toward the door. “Well, if you insist on this
being a date, I guess I do have to pick you up. I’ll call you before I 
come over.” 

He flashed her another disarming smile and began to walk out. Ruth stood
there, grinning and wondering how he’d find her number. She’d never 
given it to him before. 

“You’re in the directory, right?” he called behind his shoulder. “Don’t
worry, I’ll find you.” 

The old man pretended to read the newspaper on the table. He looked at
the headline: “LOCAL COLLEGE RATED BEST IN STATE”. He sipped his water, 
pulled his battered old felt fedora down on his head, sipped again. He 
pushed his spaghetti from one part of the plate to another. It was 
cold. He hated spaghetti, but he supposed the waitress expected him to 
order something other than water. He looked at his watch again, and 
again at the door. The couple walked in, arm in arm, both carrying 
backpacks, laughing and laughing. He knew her face—had studied it for 
years from afar, watching her become a young woman—and smiled. Her 
soft, bushy hair bounced and brushed against her warm brown skin. Her 
eyes crinkled just a bit when she laughed. The young man she was with 
did not look familiar. He was very tall, with piercing pale blue eyes 
that looked like he had something to hide. He did not like this young 
man. 

The waitress came to his table. “Everything alright, mister?” He nodded
and smiled. Angie doted on him whenever he came to the diner. “Do you 
need anything? How’s the food, good enough? Doesn’t look like you’ve 
touched it at all.” 

He put a hand up and made a kind gesture of dismissal. “Fine,” he said,
“thank you, Angie. But, please, more water, if you could.” 

“Whatever you want, mister.” She flashed a smile, took his glass and
walked away. 

He hoped Ruth would choose a booth close to his. She and her man sat
down in the booth beside him. Good. Perfect. Ruth and her man were very 
animated, talking quickly and laughing. The old man loved her laugh. 

“Well, her affair with Henry and June Miller doesn’t prove anything
except that she was a freak,” Will said. “Wrong,” Ruth replied. “Her 
affair with Henry was just like the one she had with her father. Nin 
gravitated toward older men, and Henry was quite a bit older than she. 
She wanted sexual freedom, but she also wanted security and 
familiarity, and to be scolded for her incestuous behavior. Thus, her 
affair with Henry. Sex and discipline were one in the same, read her 
stories on Bijou. Typical father/daughter fixation. June was just there 
because Henry wouldn’t have it any other way, and Anais figured it 
would be fun.” She sat back, pleased with herself. 

“I’ve never read the Bijou stories,” Will said, frowning. 

“You should have read them for last week, doofus, two of them were
assigned.” Ruth leaned across the table and punched him playfully. 

Will feigned injury and frowned again. “Now, look what you’ve done. I
should go home and put ice on this.” 

“You’re not getting out of buying me dinner that easily,” Ruth said.
Will looked at her mischievously. “Then I’ll make you something at my 
place. We can always eat later.” 

Ruth’s eyes widened. So did the old man’s. He knew that boy was no good,
trying to get her to his house...but he couldn’t say a word. Damn. 

She opened her mouth, tried to say something, closed it again. “Only if
you want, Ruth,” Will said, trying to soften the blow. “I mean, I 
didn’t mean it that way. I mean, well, you know, if you wanted to come 
to my place...but it’s no big deal if you don’t....Jesus, I AM a 
doofus.” He offered a sheepish smile. 

The old man sat forward. Ruth noticed this, and thought it strange, like
he was listening to their conversation. He quickly sat back, took his 
wallet out and laid a $50 bill on the table just as the waitress came 
back. 

“Thank you, Angie, you’ve been attentive and kind, as always.” She
laughed. 

“And you’ve been generous, as always. Your bill’s only five dollars!” 

“Well, dear, you deserve it. Go buy that lovely red dress at the store
down the street. It would look perfect on you.” With that, he stood up, 
touched her shoulder lightly, and left. 

He passed Ruth’s table, and his eyes met the eyes of the young man. They
gave each other a quick, strangely knowing glance. 

What a sweet old man, Angie thought. Kinda strange, though. She had
admired that dress in the store window on the way to work this morning, 
but hadn’t mentioned it to him. Weird. 

He walked down the street swiftly, pulling the hat over his eyes. The
sun still bothered his eyes, even now, when it was slowly sinking 
behind the buildings to make way for evening. He thought he would get 
used to it, but it was so strong, so bright. He sensed he’d frightened 
Ruth. He didn’t want to frighten her. But that boy she was with was up 
to something, he knew it. He also knew that the boy had some idea of 
who he was. Play it safe, man, he thought to himself. Find her 
tomorrow, and watch from a distance. 

Back at the diner, Ruth had managed to speak. “How about...we just stay
here and eat?” she asked nervously. “We’re already here.” 

“Yeah,” Will replied, “right. Good idea.” 

Good Lord, this man moves fast, she thought. Nothing wrong with him...he
was damned attractive; she silently congratulated herself for being 
good looking enough to catch the eye of such a beautiful man. So, he 
wanted her in bed, so what? It had been 9 weeks since the semester 
began, and she’d been eyeing him just like the rest of the giggling 
girls in the class, though significantly more discreetly. They’d known 
each other for a while. But, they didn’t talk much outside of class. 
Better to get to know him more, make sure he wasn’t a clingy type, or 
some sort of psycho. Make sure you like him. She smiled at him again, a 
bit coquettishly, and they ordered when the waitress came. Be a good 
girl, Ruthie, she thought to herself. Morals dictate that you at least 
wait until the third date for any fun games. 

“So, I'm a little behind on things in the class, and I think I need
help...would you like to get together next weekend?” Will asked when 
the waitress left. 

“I’d love to,” Ruth said. “You read my mind.” 

“In a matter of speaking,” he said cleverly.


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