Heaven by Chad Taylor

Author:Chad Taylor [Taylor, Chad]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9781301854691
Publisher: Chad Taylor
Published: 2013-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

14

Robert opened his eyes.

Heaven sat by the window, staring out. The outline of her tangled hair was white in the morning light. Her wet mascara shone. The round flesh of her shoulders was polished by the shade, driftwood brown. Her dress had ridden up with walking and her knees were knocked together by the platform soles. She sat with a straight back, her hands resting on the purse in her lap. She chewed gum, her jaw rolling, the smeared make-up. The stubble.

‘Heaven.’

She looked around.

‘Heaven?’ He rubbed his eyes. She stared.

‘Bob?’ she said. ‘It’s alright. Everything’s fine, now.’

‘Are you sure? What’s happened?’

‘Nothing. It’s just alright.’

He sat up. Heaven took off her shoes.

*

‘I dreamt,’ she said, ‘of traffic lights making spots on the wet window pane. And quiet. Only the whisper of the motorway behind the hills. And I know this dream, I’ve had this dream before. It’s at the top of town, the dark and wet and silent night. I’ve had it with Stanner.’ She looked at him, meaningfully. ‘I go there every once in a while. Maybe every third or fourth time.

‘I dreamt of cards being dealt on the table in the green room. I cannot see all the hands. I don’t know how it goes for other people. It takes a long time.’ She pressed her fingers on her temples. ‘Nothing happens for a long time. And then two cards come up: a nine of hearts, and a black six.’

‘Clubs or spades?’

‘I can’t tell. But it’s a black six. Then comes two pairs and two threes. A full house, and a three, and another pair. And then there’s an interruption.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I don’t know. Someone gets a drink. Or something like that. But then the game goes on.’

‘Does the hand win?’

‘I don’t know. I think so. I can’t see the other hands. The light changes and...’ She waved her fingers before her face, fanning herself. ‘I lose track of things. The hand is consistent, though. Steady. There is always something.’ She ran through the hands as she saw them. ‘Shouldn’t you be writing this down?’

‘I’ll remember.’

She completed the list, some 14 rounds of cards. ‘And then things go... blank. It’s as if a door closes. But before that happens the card-player looks at his watch and the watch says four.’

‘Four in the morning?’

‘Yes.’

‘Is there money in front of the player?’

She shook her head. ‘I can’t see.’ She searched his face. ‘It’s not what you want to hear, is it?’

Robert disagreed. ‘The main thing is you’ve told me something.’

‘But I haven’t told you you’re going to win.’

‘That’s okay, that’s okay.’ He bit his lip. ‘I know that by 4 a.m., the cards will turn. Knowing that is an advantage. I can play within that.’ He stood up and stretched, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘So at last it came to you.’

‘Yes.’

‘Where did you go last night? To the flat?’

‘I’d never go back there.’

‘But you had to sleep, yes? To dream?’

‘I sleep on my feet.’ She thought for a moment and then blurted a laugh.

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