Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2017 10:14:06 -0700
From: Samuel Roe <samuel.d.roe@gmail.com>
Subject: "The Navigator" Chapter 5, by Cynus

Disclaimer: "The Navigator" is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of
characters to people alive or dead is purely coincidental. Please consider
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     Chapter 5

     "You need me to do what?" Chelsea asked as they stood across the
street from Mom's Diner. She stared at Silas like he was crazy, but he
hoped she'd do what he asked anyway.
     "I need you to go in there and ask to use the restroom, and then tell
me if a man named Ian Drake is inside," Silas replied, anxiously watching
the windows of the diner for any sign of Ian.
     "Wait, Ian Drake . . ." Chelsea said thoughtfully, "Is he a relation
of yours or something?"
     Silas cursed under his breath at his failure to think things
through. He hadn't considered the possibility Chelsea might know Ian, and
from the tone of her question he realized she just might. But the more he
considered her, he realized where he'd gone wrong. He'd said he was in town
visiting family. If he'd just said 'Ian', that might've been the end of
it. Then again, Chelsea had already proven herself trustworthy. She had
already helped him out of one mess, and she might not even hate him for
lying to her the day they met, if she ever found out.
     But he needed another lie and he needed one quick, because he wasn't
about to do something which could jeopardize his position even more, no
matter how much he liked Chelsea. "Um, he's my second-cousin," Silas said
with only a slight hesitation, then started rambling and hoping an excuse
would tumble out of his mouth which would satisfy Chelsea's
curiosity. "We're actually visiting his family and it's his birthday soon
but I don't know him very well. I need to work out the details of a
surprise party my family is planning on holding for him at the diner and so
I need to ask some questions of his staff." He paused and looked at Chelsea
with eyes full of hope, holding his breath knowing the strength of his lies
could run out at any moment.
     "Oh? A surprise party!?" Chelsea said, clapping her hands together in
excitement. "I love surprise parties! That's very exciting. Sure, um
. . . What do I say if he's in there?"
     "Well don't ask for him," Silas replied, horrified by the thought. He
shook his head and shuddered. "You'll know it's him if you see him. He'll
look a lot like me, but older. Just peer into the back while you stare at
the menu board or something, and then excuse yourself to use the
restroom. Once you're done come back out."
     Chelsea nodded and started forward when Silas reached out and caught
her arm. "One more thing, Chelsea," Silas said anxiously, "Don't mention my
name, whatever you do. Remember, this is supposed to be a surprise."
     "I got it," Chelsea said with a nod. "Don't you worry about me,
Drake," she added as she pulled her arm away, "I've got this."
     He watched her go before returning to his hiding spot, crouching
behind a car parked on the side of the road. He began holding his breath as
soon as Chelsea walked into the diner, and then let it out as he watched
her walk toward the restroom. He heard a car door open from further down
the road, and he glanced up nervously until he saw it was a woman in a
black hooded jacket that was getting out of her car and not Ian.
     He ignored her and returned his focus to Chelsea, waiting for her to
leave the restroom and head his way. He felt a tug on the leash wrapped
around his left hand, and he glanced at Adelaide to see she'd noticed
movement somewhere in the distance. Assuming it to be either another dog or
a housecat, Silas ignored Adelaide and resumed his surveillance of the
diner.
     "Silas Drake," a feminine voice said from a few feet away. His blood
went cold, his muscles tensed and prepared to run. He turned slowly as he
rose from his crouch, staring into the eyes of the hooded woman. Jenny, the
waitress from the day before, stood in front of him with a look of profound
concern.
     Silas was about to bolt when Jenny said, "Wait!" He turned back toward
her, surprised by the urgency in her voice. He saw something in her eyes he
couldn't identify, though he was sure it was something close to
empathy. "Please don't run," she pleaded. "There are things you and I need
to talk about."
     "Why would there be?" Silas said neutrally as he hesitated, though he
kept one foot turned and ready to propel him forward should he decide to
make a break for it. "You don't know who I am."
     "I know your brother, Silas," Jenny said with a calm and nurturing
voice. "Ian was beside himself when he came back yesterday. He had to have
his assistant come in early to take over the rest of his shift. Why did you
run?"
     "If you think I'm going to tell some random waitress my whole life's
story just because she thinks she knows who I am, you've got another thing
coming," Silas said, glancing nervously at Chelsea who was walking back
toward them. She was still on the other side of the street, but it would be
less than a minute before she reached them. "I don't have time for this,"
Silas said to Jenny.
     "Look, you can come in and talk for a minute. Ian is off today, and I
don't start my shift for another twenty minutes," Jenny said with pleading
eyes. Silas watched her for a moment, already beginning to shake his head
when Chelsea joined them and gave both of them a questioning look.
     Silas waved Chelsea forward and replied, "Some other time, perhaps."
He was angry, and he didn't even know the source. He definitely didn't want
to talk to Jenny about everything going on. He'd come to the diner to
investigate the environment in which Ian worked and lived, but he had been
hoping for a completely different crew who didn't know who he was, and
Jenny sat near the top of the list of people he didn't want to talk
to. "Chelsea, let's go. I got what I came here for . . ." He turned his
back on Jenny gently hooking Chelsea's arm before walking away.
     "He said it was like seeing a ghost, Silas," Jenny blurted out, and
Silas stopped, hearing the desperation in her voice. "He thought he would
never see you again. He said he wrote letters to your house for years but
never got a reply. He tried calling but they changed the number. He
searched for you on Facebook and otherwise but your name never
appeared. The one thing he didn't do was go home because he knew he wasn't
welcome." Silas listened to every word, his eyes widening further and
further as he heard the first true words about what really happened, and
all in the tone of a mother who seemed to be desperately clinging to a
child she thought was dying. It was like hearing his own mother's voice the
time he was in the hospital for pneumonia, or hearing his father cry out
for him to not run into the street when a car was coming. He turned back
toward Jenny. Her whole body shook as tears streamed down her
face. "Please, Silas," she begged. "Don't walk away."
     "How do you know?" Silas asked, his voice deathly calm. He was in a
state of shock as he pushed all of his emotions away, not wanting to face
them. Not yet. He couldn't face them until certain what she'd said was true
and he wasn't just imagining things. "Why would he tell you any of that?"
     "I'm his mother-in-law," Jenny replied, wiping the tears away from her
face with the back of her hand and smearing her mascara. "I'm also the one
who held him yesterday when he came back in, panting and worn out after
chasing after you. I'm the one who sat him down with a fresh cup of coffee
and held his hand as he trudged through all of those years he spent out on
his own. He's like a son to me, Silas, and that makes you family as well."
     That was it. The one thing she could say that would make it all fall
apart. He met her eyes, fury filling his own as his hands clenched into
fists. Adelaide fed off his anger and started to growl, sensing that
something had just snapped within her boy. "I have no family!" Silas
growled, pointing down at Adelaide, "Except her. She's the only one who has
stood by me. The only one who never abandoned me. She is the only one who
has cared enough to do everything in her power to make sure I was alive."
     "Silas . . ." Jenny began, but he cut her off with the deadliest glare
that he had ever given anyone.
     "If it was like seeing a ghost, then maybe I am one to him," Silas
roared. "And I'll stay that way! I owe nothing to Ian. Nothing! He left me
alone to fend for myself against our parents, and I'll never forgive him
for that. Ever!"
     He turned on his heel and started walking away, not even noticing that
Chelsea had stopped to console Jenny and wouldn't be following. Silas would
have preferred it that way, anyway. At least then Chelsea wouldn't see him
cry.

     ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

     Silas watched from the end of the dirt road. It was close enough that
he could make it down as soon as she arrived at the bottom of the hill. He
knew she'd have to come home eventually, and when she did he wanted a
chance to make things straight with her, before she had a chance to
overthink it and assume he'd been trying to take advantage of her for
nefarious reasons. Chelsea rounded the corner, walking slowly. Her eyes
were downcast and he could see her mood in her steps. She was definitely
upset, and he'd caused it.
     "Go get her," Silas commanded Adelaide, and he unhooked the leash from
the collar to let her run free. Adelaide sped down the hill, reaching
Chelsea in under two minutes, and Chelsea was obviously surprised when she
crouched down and Adelaide began licking her face. Chelsea then looked up,
all the way up to the top of the hill where Silas stood at the side of the
road, waving.
     It took longer for Chelsea to climb the hill than it had for Adelaide
to race down it, and Silas waited for nearly ten minutes for Chelsea to
make it to him with Adelaide excitedly leading the way. When Chelsea neared
him she slowed her pace down even more until she stopped ten feet away from
him and looked up to meet his eyes.
     "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth," Silas said neutrally. It was
another lie. He wasn't very sorry at all, though he was sorry the truth had
hurt her in the crossfire. That had never been his intention, but he did
what he had to for survival.
     "No you're not," Chelsea said evenly, "But I get why you didn't. I
know that you're not living with your parents here and visiting Ian's
family, but I still don't know why you're here at all. Jenny didn't
either."
     "So you had a nice long talk with her, did you?" Silas asked with an
annoyed shake of his head. "Did she tell you any more lies about my
brother?"
     Chelsea gave him a hard look and shook her head firmly. "Drake, or
Silas, whatever you want to be called, you've been through a lot and I get
that, but you've got to stop assuming the worst all the time. Pessimism
gets you nowhere in life."
     "I don't know about that, Chelsea," Silas replied with a roll of his
eyes. "I've been to fifteen states over the past two years. Seems to me
like it's gotten me pretty far."
     "You're a . . . you're a . . ." Chelsea stammered, her face flushed
red with anger.
     "Asshole? Jackass? Douche bag?" Silas asked tauntingly. "Any of those
fit?"
     "I don't curse," Chelsea replied in a huff as she crossed her arms
over her chest.
     Silas shrugged and whistled for Adelaide who returned to his side a
second later. "Sorry I couldn't help you figure out what to call me. I
don't do Christian very well."
     "Screw you, Drake!" Chelsea spat. "I know you've been hurt in the past
by religious folk, but you can't assume we're all cut from the same
cloth. Some Christians may have hurt you, but I didn't. And I'm not the one
who left a woman crying on the side of the road when all she wanted to do
was help you. Why do you have to be a jerk to everyone around you? All I
want to do is be your friend!"
     Silas met her eyes and saw her determination in there. He had
underestimated her again, and there was some truth in what she said. She
did want to be his friend, and she had only been kind to him so far, except
for now, and he deserved to be treated this way for how he had acted.
     "I do what I think is necessary to keep me alive," Silas replied,
crossing his arms over his chest defensively. "How can you fault me for
that?"
     "Jenny was trying to help you, Drake! I am too!" Chelsea replied. "You
wouldn't have to work so hard to keep yourself alive if you'd just let
someone in."
     "What happens when it all gets turned upside down, Chelsea?" Silas
asked with a smirk. "What happens when your parents find out that you spend
your time with a gay homeless kid? Are you going to stand by me then? No,
and I wouldn't ask you to. I'd ask you to sell me out to protect
yourself. It's what I would do in your shoes."
     "I don't believe that," Chelsea said with a shake of her head. "Your
heart is too good. If it wasn't then you wouldn't have the loyalty of your
dog," Chelsea added with an emphatic nod toward Adelaide. "You're a lot
better than you give yourself credit for."
     Silas thought his eyes might pop out of their sockets from
surprise. "You're serious?" Silas said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You
really think you know me that well? You've known me for two days and spent
at maximum a few hours with me. You really think you know how I'd decide in
a crisis?"
     "You were going to pay for that dog collar and leash by trading sexual
favors with the cashier, weren't you?" Chelsea asked, and Silas took a step
back under her piercing gaze. "I see a lot more than you think I do. I see
a lot more than most people think I do. You're a good person, Drake. You've
just forgotten it behind all this pain you've built up. You don't think you
deserve to be happy, well let me tell you one thing I know for
certain. Everyone deserves to be happy."
     "I'd love to hear how you figured that out about Adam and me," Silas
muttered, "We cut that conversation off as soon as you walked through the
door."
     Chelsea shook her head and grinned. "That one's simple, actually. A
man doesn't turn the shade of red that Adam was unless he's embarrassed
about asking someone out, or embarrassed about being asked out. Judging by
the difference in your age and his, and giving him the benefit of the doubt
that he's not some creep, it was easy enough to tell who had asked
whom. What with you being short on change, I ventured a guess and your face
just confirmed it."
     "You sly girl," Silas said, chuckling dryly. "Maybe I could trust
someone as smart as you, who stuck by me even when I was sinning in the
eyes of her church. The question remains as to whether or not you're strong
enough to be my friend."
     Chelsea grinned broadly and said, "Wait right here. I've got something
for you." Silas watched in bewilderment as Chelsea turned around and ran
back down the hill. He looked down at Adelaide who seemed just as confused
as he was about the strange turn of events. He waited until Chelsea exited
her house with a large bundle tucked underneath one arm. As she neared him
he realized it was an open bag of dog food, partially rolled up to keep it
closed.
     She handed the bag to a shocked Silas and said, "You may be a jerk,
Drake, but Adelaide isn't. I'm sure if you don't have money for a collar
and leash then you probably don't have any for food either. You must have
your own way of feeding both of you, but my parents won't miss the
bag. I'll just open the new one and tell them our own dog has been eating
more lately."
     Silas looked down at Adelaide then back up at Chelsea with a wide-eyed
stare. "Thanks, Chelsea," he said, "I really don't know why you're being so
nice to me but . . . This really will help."
     "How about you repay me by meeting me tomorrow morning?" Chelsea asked
with a sly grin. "We're off school tomorrow for some teachers' conference
going on in Denver. When would you be available?"
     Silas chuckled as he looked down at Adelaide and then shrugged, "I
could make it as early as eleven. It's a long walk to and from camp."
     "Then eleven it is," Chelsea said with a wide smile. "I'll meet you up
here, and then we can all go for a walk together. How does that sound?"
     "You're not going to try to convince me to go talk to Jenny and Ian?"
Silas asked, raising an eyebrow. "I would have assumed that would have been
on the agenda."
     "Only if you want me to," she replied without hesitation. "I told you
that I want to get to know you. Stop making assumptions, all right?"



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