Love, Greater Than Infinity (Book 1: New Adult Romance) Page 13

  Teddy stared into the waxed windows. He knew that if he passed through the mortal portal of the storefront glass and into the third dimension world, his own reflection in the window would confirm his success. If not, he would likely end up passing through a wormhole that led between dimensions into the unchartered dark matter of the universe. Teddy took a deep breath, placed his palm through the glass, and concentrated hard on his destination.

  Infinity, Infinity, Infinity…

  Immediately, he felt a jarring gravitational force sucking him through the window and into a dizzying hallucinogenic whirlwind. He saw a burst of light before being thrust through a jarring vacuum of blackness that jolted him to a stop. He whipped back and forth, forward and backwards, off-balance and racked with cosmic jet lag. When Teddy recovered from the vertigo shellshock, he glanced around. He wasn’t exactly in the middle of the universe. Instead, he was inside a restaurant, only now, it was neither empty nor deserted. But it wasn’t exactly a fresh, inviting European café either. Oppressive neon lights cast down a sickly hue of urine yellow over the restaurant. Tangy, pungent odors—a clumsy combination of cigar smoke and maple syrup—saturated the air. The ping, ping of metal utensils reverberated against porcelain and amplified the general feeling of chaos.

  The mortal portal worked; it had planted Teddy smack in the center of Infinity’s twenty-four hour diner, which to Teddy’s dismay, wasn’t exactly Grandma’s Sunday best kitchen.

  Infinity was clearly the hefty woman behind the bar, shoveling out the scrambled eggs and hash browns, and dumping out whole cups of coffee into empty mugs of the keepers seated at the counter. Teddy stared at her. She was an octopus of a woman, slinking up and down the counter, lifting up empty plates, replenishing them with comfort food, fielding orders by calling back into her kitchen, and dispensing quick wit and sugar-coated wisdom out both sides of her mouth.

  “Oh, baby, it’s a good day. A good day. The universe is churning with goodness and I’m feeling strong. Real strong,” Infinity sang out.

  She didn’t even need to look up at Teddy before crying out, “Greetings, Teddy, baby. Mama’s been waiting for you.”

  Infinity pushed her flabby arms between two patrons hogging the counter and bullied open a spot for him. “Boys, make room for Teddy. We got a brand new guest at Mama’s Diner, and he’s gonna need a seat to shake off the effects of gravity.”

  Teddy wobbled over to the counter, unable to make good use of his legs and uncertain about what to expect or how to explain what he needed. Sensing his hesitation, Infinity waved him closer. “C’mon, now, sweet pea. No need to be shy. Infinity already knows everything. It’s that cute little Irish girl of yours. Am I right? You’re here about her rotten scoundrel husband that she married, aren’t ya?” Infinity leaned forward, resting her overflowing bosom onto the counter. “You wanna know if it’s all gonna work out in the end, don’t ya?”

  Teddy was speechless. It was impossible to say anything, formulate a sentence, when the person on the other end of the conversation knew you better than you knew your own thoughts.

  “Where’s my toast?” shouted a scrofulous old man, ridden with a nasty case of mange. “I’ve been waiting for three decades for my toast.”

  “Ahhhhh, shut your trap, Winston. Can’t you see that Mama’s busy?”

  Infinity winked at Teddy with friendly persuasion. “Now, c’mon, Teddy. You best speak up. I don’t got all day.”

  “I’m just here about the ring.”

  “The ring?” Infinity pulled her bosom up from the counter. “The ring?”

  Teddy nodded. It wasn’t the answer she wanted.

  “You’ve come all this way to talk to Infinity about a ring?” Infinity’s gleeful jabbering simmered to a low boil.

  Teddy nodded again. Infinity turned back to the kitchen to retrieve two coffee pots—one for each hand. “Well, sit down and have some coffee,” she directed. “Bet it’s your first time you’ve actually tried the real stuff…How ’bout some fried chicken and a side of short stacks?” But before Teddy could refuse, she hollered back into the kitchen, “Frankie, I need another order of them wings.”

  “And a side of wheat toast!” Winston yelled out.

  “Don’t be making demands,” Infinity snapped at the scabby old man. “You’ll get your toast when it’s damn good and ready. Otherwise, you can go back where you belong—hungry.”

  The scabby man lowered his grumbling breath into his coffee mug.

  “Sorry, baby,” Infinity turned back to Teddy. “These keepers gotta be shown who’s boss.”

  “He’s a keeper?”

  “Sure, baby. You’re not the only renegade refugee in the Universe.”

  Infinity poured Teddy a steamy cup of brew. Teddy paused, taking in its deep rich aroma. “Man, that’s what real coffee smells like…?

  “Yep… best kept secret of the spatial world, baby. Don’t go spreading the word around, or keepers will be fighting to come here, and you’ll get me into a whole lot of trouble.”

  “Look… I don’t want to bother anyone or cause trouble. I just need to know about Gracie’s ring, and I think you’re the only person who can help me.”

  Infinity waved her hand into the air like she was swatting away Teddy’s words. “Honey, I know all about it. Don’t waste your breath.”

  “But that ring was given to Gracie by her father. It was stolen and I need to get it back.”

  “I can’t tell you about that ring.” Infinity started down the counter, signaling the end of their conversation.

  Teddy rose from his stool and moved after her. “Why? Don’t you know who stole it?”

  “Of course, I know,” Infinity chortled, her seismic guttural laughter seemed to shutter the entire universe. “I also know why you want it, Teddy. And it’s not right. You want that ring to prove a point. To show that cute little Irish girl of yours that you’re real. Maybe even show her that you care. That’s crossing the line, sweet pea. Coming here without permission is bad enough…”

  “Look, I need that ring,” Teddy insisted. “It’s Gracie’s only memento of her father. It doesn’t belong to anyone else except her. And she deserves to have it back.”

  “That’s some fast talking, baby, but I wasn’t born yesterday, you know. My business is keeping the universe in order, and that means giving keepers a place to rest when they need it. You see all these patrons? Half of them are keepers who shouldn’t be here, but somebody’s gotta care for them,” Infinity suddenly pulled closer to Teddy and lowered her voice, “and that just so happens to be me. But that doesn’t mean I’m in the business of helping them communicate with their assignments.” Infinity’s voice suddenly rang out across the entire diner. “Now, who needs more coffee?”

  A dozen hands raised up their empty cups in unison.

  “Look, I need that ring,” Teddy protested, trailing behind Infinity who inched along the counter and refilled coffee mugs. “And I’ll wait here as long as it takes until I find out who stole it.”

  “Well, you gonna be hanging out here forever, Teddy. Because that’s how long I’m gonna be here.”

  “Whatever it takes,” he said, stopping in his tracks.

  “Really, whatever it takes?” Infinity rotated her mammoth octopus body towards Teddy. “Well then, why not just saunter out that door and go meet up with that Irish girl of yours in person. Face-to-face?”

  Her suggestion silenced Teddy—cold.

  “Yeah, you know exactly why. Because it’s not part of her Destiny, and you’d be giving up your post as her keeper. You’d just be some stranger to her with no family, no history, and no ability to help her when she really needs it most. And guess what? You’d have nobody to turn to when things don’t go the way you hoped.”

  Teddy had thought about it—vaguely. He knew that if he successfully crossed over into the spatial world, there was a chance that he might not be able to find his way back. But Infinity was right, and the thought of meeting Gracie face-to-face and bein
g unable to help her—or worse, being unwanted by her—made him physically sick. An overwhelming sense of nausea invaded Teddy’s entire being. He thought that he had felt mortal emotions before, but this was nothing like he had ever experienced. Gravity pulled the blood down out of his face and his chest constricted with a violence that forced him to lean against the counter for support. He suddenly realized that life as a mortal in the lower dimensions would be a lot tougher than he had ever thought.

  “Look… You’re a good kid, Teddy,” Infinity eyed his suffering. “And good kids like you don’t belong in a joint like this. Look around you,” she waved her tentacle arms through the air, coffee pots dangling out of each hand. “The keepers here…? They’re in need of a break. They’re trying to put themselves back together. Maybe I know what to say. And maybe I don’t. But you? You know exactly want you want. But that doesn’t mean I’m the one who’s supposed to help you get it.”

  “It’s just a ring,” Teddy stressed.

  “No, it’s much more. You know it. And I know it. Your little Irish girl needs you to be her keeper, not her boyfriend.”

  She lumbered out from behind the counter and through the tables of the diner. “Now, hold them cups up high, boys,” Infinity called out into the restaurant. “I can’t be reading minds all the time.” Hands lifted their mugs into the air and Infinity refilled each cup with endless amounts of the thick brown java.

  Teddy had heard it all before—from Lou, Blue Hair, and now Infinity. He was growing tired of being reminded that he wasn’t allowed to feel what he felt for Gracie.

  “So what if I do care about her more than I should. So what if I do love her,” Teddy suddenly called out. All the patrons in the diner stopped their chatter and stared at him.

  Teddy lowered his head in resignation. “I just don’t see how a little more love in this world hurts anyone.”

  “Shhhhhhhhh…” Infinity warned. “What if the Council hears you, huh? You’ll lose your Irish girl forever. Then what?”

  Teddy looked around the diner, searching out the listless gazes of all dejected keepers. Posing as unassuming mortals and seeking shelter at Infinity’s diner, they were all there because they couldn’t cope witnessing the senseless, endless suffering in the lives of their assignments.

  He suddenly mounted a bar stool and called out across the diner. “I don’t see how a little more love in this world hurts anyone. Can someone please tell me how a little more love in this world hurts anyone?”

  “Doesn’t hurt me,” a man replied with a pearly beard and a one-eyed distant gaze.

  “Me neither,” a hunchback man called out, deep in the corner.

  “I could use a little more love,” another man rejoined with a toothless grin.

  “Me, too,” said a depressed women with sullen eyes. Teddy gazed at her familiar face. It was Evelyn, Mrs. Harris’s keeper, who had abandoned her post after Mr. Harris’s death. She made eye contact with Teddy with mutual understanding before digging back into the oatmeal she had indulged in for the past ten years.

  “Hey, Infinity, you serving up love on the menu tonight?” Winston barked.

  “Shut up, Winston,” Infinity snapped. “How’s that for lovin’?”

  “It’s just love. That’s all,” Teddy petitioned Infinity. “And it’s just a ring. Please—”

  Infinity glanced at Teddy. He held her gaze. She was chewing on his request, long and hard. But before she could respond, a pain seized her lower back. She doubled over, sending one of her coffee pots crashing to the ground. Several patrons rushed to her aid, but she fended them off.

  “Leave me be. I’m fine. I’m fine,” she insisted, contracting her gelatinous body back into its proper form. “Earthquake in India. Lots of suffering,” Infinity winced. “Mama’s gonna have a rough day.”

  She swung her unctuous bosom and jelly caboose behind the counter. She was drained and visibly tired. There was nothing more to say. Teddy had come with a genuine heart and a simple request, and he had been denied. It seemed like the whole universe was against him, and there was no way he could force something that wasn’t meant to be. He moved to the door, preparing his exit, wondering how he would deal with the fact he had failed Gracie—again.

  “4845 North Kenmore.”

  Teddy glanced backwards. Breathing heavy, Infinity sat propped up on a stool. Her high-octane energy was now only a muted glow. “Right across the street from your girl,” she confirmed. “Kid by the name of Chavez. The oldest boy of the family. You’ll find your girl’s ring there.”

  Teddy smiled with appreciation. “Thank you.”

  “Only love…” she eyed him, solemnly, “is greater than Infinity.”

  All the patrons stared at him in silence before slowly losing interest and starting up their idle chatter.

  “If you want to get back,” Infinity advised him, “be sure you go the same way you came.” Then, she oozed off her stool and headed back into the kitchen. “Oh…and you better hurry, baby,” she turned with a final warning. “You don’t have much time.”

  Teddy watched Infinity disappear into the kitchen through a set of swing doors, but he didn’t register the concern in her face. He only thought about finding Gracie’s ring and returning it before morning’s end. Then, it would prove to her—without a doubt—that he was there, guarding over her. And that he loved her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  A keeper may not alter the consequences of predetermined events

  Teddy knew all about 4845 North Kenmore. It was the rental house across the street from Gracie’s apartment building, filled with a few single parents and a whole brood of unruly teenagers who loitered around the nearby convenience store on the weekends. They bought cases of beer and cartons of cigarettes, and polluted the neighborhood yards with their trash. Some of them even discovered how to get up on top of the roof of Gracie’s apartment building where they smoked pot and dared each other to jump across the four-story gap to the adjacent building’s rooftop. But an even better way to display teenage bravado was to break into your neighbor’s apartment.

  Teddy slipped back into the higher dimensions through the French café on the corner—the same mortal portal that he had visited Infinity’s diner, and the building adjacent to 4845 North Kenmore. It was early dawn. Infinity was right; Teddy had to hurry if he expected to get Gracie’s ring back to her before she awoke. He moved through space and time without the effects of gravity weighing down his legs or the effects of mortal emotions weighing down his soul. Everything felt lighter and easier, and Teddy was even more determined than ever. He scanned the names on the house’s intercom panel. “Chavez” was the top button, and he guessed there were three floors of apartments—one family per floor. Teddy passed through a rickety screen door into a dim hallway. There was a young Hispanic boy playing with a locomotive engine along the creaking boards of the staircase. It was unusual for such a young child to be playing alone so early in the morning, and he glanced around for his mother—or even his keeper.

  “Hi,” he suddenly said to Teddy with casual indifference, as if the boy was used to seeing plenty of activity, both keepers and mortals, coming in and out of that screen door. Teddy guessed the boy was about five years-old, still young enough to see and hear keepers, but old enough to be indifferent either way. The boy raced his train engine over and over the same wooden step, preparing to spend another day alone, entertained only by the inventions of his imaginary world.

  “Hey, what’s your name?” Teddy asked him.

  “Sergio.”

  “Sergio, huh? Well, Sergio, you know where I can find Enrique Chavez?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yeah? Where?”

  “He’s my brother.” The boy mimicked choo-choo sounds while running the train engine along the baseboards. It was an old toy train with chipped enamel paint and jammed front wheels, and the rest of its box cars had been lost long ago.

  Suddenly, two girls threw open the front door of the apartment, three flig
hts up, and shuttled down the stairs like little nocturnal creatures accustomed to navigating the dangerous stairs in the dimness of dawn.

  A heavy voice barked down the staircase. “I want you back here in fifteen minutes. You here me?” It was a masculine teenager’s voice, but it had the authority of an adult.

  The two girls with silky brown hair and olive skin turned towards the voice in deference. “Yes, Rico,” they sing-sung in obedience.

  “Only a dozen donuts, you hear me? And don’t forget the gallon of milk. And take your brother with you, too.”

  In unison, the girls sprinted down the stairs towards the certain freedom offered by the rising sun.

  “Is that your brother?” Teddy asked Sergio.

  “Yeah, up there?” The child pointed his train to the top floor.

  “Who are you talking to, Sergio?” the girls asked.

  “Nobody,” Sergio answered, lowering his head and slowly learning how to ignore the keepers in the higher dimensions.

  “C’mon on,” the taller sister said, holding out her hand to Sergio. “Rico’s said you gotta come with us to get breakfast.”

  The girls whisked the child away, leaving behind his toy train on the edge of the stairs. Teddy followed Sergio’s directions up the stairs. Each landing was dirtier than the next, littered with flecks of lead paint and dead insects. Teddy quickly realized the only light bulb illuminating the entire hallway was the one that Sergio was playing under on the ground level.

  Teddy entered the third-floor apartment. It was a tiny two-bedroom apartment that smelled of burnt pots and pans and wet laundry. The blinds were drawn, coloring each room with a flat musty mood, and dead plants cluttered the windowsills. The TV was on, spewing out manic cartoons; it mesmerized a boy, lounging on the couch. The boy was about seven or eight years-old—likely too old to see Teddy.

  “Pablo, check on your mother,” the teenager commanded from the kitchen. “See if she wants something for breakfast.”