Crossover Crossroads (The Kell and Maille Story)

Shawn

*****056: Shawn

Maille went to her job first thing the next morning. She felt ready and able to sing, but the artist didn't like the arrangement and the other band members were high. It was a long session, and Michael apologized profusely. But Maille was okay with it, just tired. She liked the distraction, because she found that when she was concentrating on other things she didn't have time to remember that Myndee was gone, or that Kell was away. Or to think about how she felt about Kell.

That afternoon she went to her house up the hill and stood in the completed castle room. Thoughts of Myndee permeated her being, and she fell on her knees and cried. The fresh pain was overwhelming.

Finally, she knew she had to do something about it. She went back to the furniture shops and through sniffles and tears, she chose furniture and had it delivered to her house. She went to Penny's, because that was where her mother told her to go, and bought sheets and towels and lamps and new clothes. She found that she enjoyed shopping for herself too. She'd never done it. But she did enjoy it.

She went to Myndee's grave and sat there for a while, but the thought came to her that it needn't stop there. She could easily continue the love she felt for Myndee for the other children stuck there. So she drove to the final care facility and asked the nurse on duty if there were other children there who were wards of the state, or who had no family, and was directed first to a young man, who was fourteen, and dying of a rare form of leukemia It was in its final stages and he had been through many treatments. His hair was gone, his face was splotched with brown and red lumps. His eyes were watery and blurred.

But the nurse introduced him as he stared out the window unseeingly.

"Maille, this is Shawn."

Maille stepped into the room, and her heart went out to this sad young man. His feeble arms and stilled legs showing clearly the promise he once had held. But the disease had wasted him.

"Hi." she said softly. "May I come in?"

He turned to her, and peered through old rheumy eyes. His pale, and once blue, seemed like a deep lake reflecting a stormy day. "Come in." he said and his voice was that gruff sort of changing adolescent voice she knew well form having little brothers.

She sat in the one easy chair and looked around the room. Like Myndee's room, it didn't show signs of character, no family pictures, no sports paraphernalia, no signs of personality. That made it hard.

"So, Shawn, how long have you been here?" she asked.

"Five weeks." he said looking at her now with interest.

"I 've only been coming here about three weeks." she said. "I didn't even know there were places like this until Kell brought me."

"With his Bob the Builder crap?"

"Oh, so you didn't appreciate the gag, huh?"

"Gag is right." he said and glanced back out the window.

"Kell 's not your favorite person, is he?"'

"Does that piss you off?"

Maille could tell this boy had a lot of anger and he wasn't trying very hard to suppress it. She felt her heart go out to him, and wasn't the least put off. This was a worthy distraction. She could actually be of some use here.

''No." she said. "So tell me what you liked to do before you came here."

''Nothing." he said in a challenging sort of way, and Maille watched his pale eyes survey her intently. He was testing her, she knew, to see what she'd do. If he could make her mad so she'd leave.

"Well, I know what l did before I started coming here." she said. "I sang with a band. Ever heard of Triple M's?"

His eyes perked up again. "Yeah." he said warily. "So you're one of the M's? Another celebrity." he sneered the words. "Here today, gone tomorrow. It's all a publicity stunt."

Maille nodded and rocked her shoulders around understandingly. "Yeah, we sometimes did do publicity things." she said. "Kinda hypocritical."

"You got that right. It's why Kell comes."

He wanted a rise out of her, she knew. So she shrugged. "I wouldn't know about that. But I thought we could spend a little time together. I work every day and then I hang out. Maybe I could hang out with you."

"Right. You won't be back tomorrow."

"That's more up to me than you." she said. ''Let's see. My little brothers are into computer games. Do you like say... WarCraft?"

"Never heard of it."

"Star Craft." she tossed out to him. His eyes lit up, but he stubbornly refused to rise to the bait.

"Some of the kids here have computers and TV's. Would you watch movies if I brought them?"

She noticed there was no TV in this room, and wondered if kids who were wards of the state simply waited alone to die, no one to talk to, no one to do anything with.

"What's in it for you?" he growled.

Maille shot him a look. "I can waste time, you know, be bored ." she said. "Really wreck up my very energetic lifestyle."

He had to laugh, but caught himself. "It's very boring here."

"Yeah." she glanced around and then settled back in her chair and kicked up her feet on the side of his bed. "So, do you like to sing? Do you like music?"

"Why do you want to know?"

She shrugged. "I quit my band a couple of weeks ago, but I am still singing at the studio. Backup vocals. It's an okay job. I needed something to do and it's absolutely all I know how to do." she smiled at him. "Thought maybe we'd have something in common."

"I wanted to play the guitar." he admitted giving her a challenging stare.

"Wanted to?" she picked up on the words. "So does that mean you never did?"

"I couldn't. There was never any money for a guitar."

"You lived with your folks?"

"Foster parents."

"Right. No money in that." she grinned. "I have lots of money, Shawn, and I know how to play the guitar. I could teach you."

"You won't, it's boring here, I am boring."

"I guess again, that's for me to say."

She stood up. "Well, I have to go set up my house. I just bought my first house. I bought a ton of furniture today and it's supposed to be delivered in about a half an hour. Gotta run. See ya later."

He watched her go with lidded eyes. "You won 't be back." he said, and Maille heard him and grimaced. This kid had a lot of anger. But she could do something about that.

*****