Part 6

"He did ride the metro bus a lot," Risa finally managed to say. She brought her hand up to dab at the corner of her right eye. It was an odd feeling to cry again. When her father left over 6 years ago she promised herself that she wouldn't cry again. She vowed to adopted her mother's stern resolve and to attack her problems head on.

"There is no backing down Risa," her mother would say, "Your father chose to leave us, so we must make our own way forward."

Her mother was strong and steady, like a bulwark along the shore that protected high priced beach houses. The ocean would come endlessly every day and smash against that bulwark, threatening to destroy the homes, but the bulwark never gave in. It would brace against every storm, every surge and every wave. Her mother had protected and raised Caleb and her with furious determination.

"You must be strong now. For the both of us". Her mother's tone had changed since Caleb's disappearance.

Her mother would not believe that Caleb had run away. Her conviction and absolute certainty that Caleb was abducted had even rubbed off on Risa. This truth, the believe of a kidnapped, was all that may have kept her mother's sanity together. Her mother had survived the exodus of one man she loved, she could not bear another.

Risa exhaled deeply.

"I know I'm being ridiculous," she began, "but Caleb came down here often. As much as he could it seemed." She forced a smile. "I know there isn't much I can do that the police or private investigators haven't already done, but..."

"But what?" Risa thought dejectedly. She looked up at the clerk again. He opened his mouth to say something and then snapped it shut quickly. He looked nervous and unsure, but his eyes seemed to ache with compassion for her situation.

"The reason I came down here," Risa started, "was to see what Caleb really liked to do. I wasn't a very good sister you know," she shook her head sadly, "I didn't look out for him as much as I should have."

"His...disappearance...isn't your fault you know." The clerk said slowly. His words were unsure. He had put the statement together carefully but recited it with trepidation. He said the words gingerly, much like the movements of an injured man who was trying to get out of hospital bed for the first time in weeks. Much like that injured man had to relearn how to gain his balance in order to walk again, the clerk was careful not to make her tear up again.

"I know," she said softly, "I'm just mad that I never even came down here with him before. He had asked me a few times to come with him. But I always said no."

"Well you weren't missing anything exciting!" He said gesturing to the empty store. He was trying to cheer her up again. This time, Risa offered him a smile. He exhaled sharply. He had been holding his breath worrying that he had said the wrong thing again.

"I found the name of this place from his room," she opened up her palm to show the crumpled piece of paper with the store's name on it, "this must have been his favorite place."

"He would browse the shelves for hours," the clerk said as he scanned the wall holding all of the comic books. "Caleb didn't talk much though, he'd ask some questions here and there, but mostly kept to himself. Like most of the guys who come in here."

"He didn't really talk much," Risa agreed. "He was real smart. You could always see that he was thinking about something important, he just never wanted to share it with anyone I guess."

The clerk nodded. Risa could picture her brother walking slowly along the wall shelves, browsing at each comic with a quiet intensity. He would fold his arms across his back to limit the temptation to reach out and leaf through every comic book on the shelf. Occasionally he would need to reach up and push his glasses back into place, squinting as he did so.

"This is a pretty neat place, have you worked here long?" Risa asked, wanting to get the image of her brother out of her mind.

"Um, for a little while," the clerk was ambushed by the sudden turn in the conversation to topics that involved himself, "about a year really. I had a friend who worked here before, and got me the job when he graduated from State."

"Do you like going to State?"

"It's OK," he seemed to be relaxing a bit, "I mean, its here, its close to my family and everything. But I had hoped to go out East for college."

"Me too." Risa added glumly. "What was she doing here?" The question tumbled around again in her head.

DING

The bell to the door rang out like the morning alarm clock waking both of them from a strange dream. The clerk had looked up towards the door and had a telling look of disappointment on his face. Risa turned to look towards the door. Three young men came spiritedly into the store. There pimply face all smiles as if they had just shared a good joke.

The all abruptly stopped near the front when one of them notice Risa and quickly nudged his friends. All five stood transfixed for a moment. The newcomers seemed stunned that a person of the opposite sex was in the store. "It must not happen often" Risa assumed.

The moment passed and the three moved over across the room, still talking but adopting more hushed tones. Risa wasn't sure but it seemed that one of them had winked at the clerk before muttering something to his companions. She turned back to face the clerk. He had his hand in his hair again, slowly moving his fingers to comb at the strands.

"I should go," Risa said. Normally she would have simply turned and walked away, but something held her feet in place. It was as if her body wanted an response before it would let her leave.

"I don't know how I could be of any help," the clerk stammered, "but if you need anything, I...". The clerk didn't finish the sentence. He looked like he wanted to say more but didn't.

Risa was reminded of the last drop of water that would cling to a faucet once you've turned off the water. That last drop of water would hang, suspended on the lip of the faucet defying gravity, refusing to drop into the sink. The clerk wanted to say something but hung onto his words.

"What's your name limo driver?" Risa asked with a smile.

"I'm...my friends call me...I go...I'm" he stuttered then stopped himself. "August. My name is August."

"Thank you for your help August. I'm Risa".