Page 84 of The Sound Of Us

Chapter 46

Eli

By lunch time I’ve served probably five thousand cappuccinos but not one to Axel.

Each time I looked over to their stall, he’d been busy with swarms of children grabbing picture books or answering questions from the Senior’s softball club about some autobiographies they were interested in buying. Axel answers them patiently, sometimes needing to tell them that he unfortunately can’t get to read every book they sell, he’d never get anything done, even though he wishes he could just sit and read all day.

Lip reading comes in handy sometimes.

I spot Frank and his buddies just past noon, sauntering around with packs of beer. The way they act, I’m sure they were troublemakers as teenagers. Even now, they act like overgrown schoolboys looking for trouble. Still, the people milling around greet him with pats on his back and some even stop for what looks like easy conversation.

I don’t know how or why Axel ever ended up with someone like that.

Around three p.m. I hand out the Benson Bookworm Award to a little six-year-old boy who’d read three hundred and eighty-five books this past year. That’s more than a book a day. I don’t think anyone was more impressed than me.

Finally, around five p.m., just as the park starts to clear out, Axel gets a break and the townspeople have finally gotten tired of free cappuccinos.

Frank is in close proximity to our stalls, facing mostly ours. He looks drunk, as do his friends. Mrs. Dalton sends a disgusted look in their general direction.

I watch him carefully from this distance and I know it’s the worst kind of eavesdropping, but I’m not even sorry.

“Like a fuckin’ corpse, I’m not even kidding,” he tells his friends who laugh their heads off.

“What’s it called where those psychos want to fuck dead people?” another one asks between what looks like belches.

Each of them speaks, but I can’t make out some of it. From the looks of it, they don’t manage to find the word necrophilia.

Frank, whose mouth is in my direct line of sight, has no trouble shit-talking Axel. “Looks like I need to find me another hole to keep me happy,” he says with a sneer in Axel’s direction. I don't get every word but from the body language, their facial expressions and Frank's surprisingly clear enunciation, I'm able to sufficiently gather the jist of the conversation.

Axel has settled on the grass, cross-legged with a little girl and he’s reading to her from a book.

And then it clicks. I’m like a corpse. I’m not any good with this type of thing.

If I could have summoned up demons to help me rip this pathetic human being to shreds, I would have.

My eyes move back to Axel. He’s pointing at the book and smiling. His shoulders shake slightly, so perhaps he’s laughing. The little girl points to the book too, with a smile on her face.

I’ll take Axel away from that fucking bastard.

I follow their conversation closely. “And what about that deaf cunt, huh?” Frank carries on. I sneer. That deaf cunt is fucking your husband so fucking good.

“Coming round offering Axel lifts to work and making it like I’m not good enough to take care of my bitch.”

The friends sneer in my direction, as if I’m not only deaf but blind too. I glare back at them, but they’re stupid enough not to realize that I can read nearly every word spewing out of their fucking mouths.

“You should keep your eye on that man of yours,” one says.

Frank laughs. “That man of mine doesn’t even know how to add two and two. He’s too stupid to cheat. Besides, he’s a church boy. He’s not gonna go to hell just for some deaf dick.”

I’ve had enough. I don’t even care about their insinuations about me and Axel. If I could, I’d scream it from the tallest tree in this park.

I swing out of my chair. Mrs. Dalton slows me down with a worried expression. Her eyes bounce between me and Frank. “Don’t ruin it for Axel,” she says. “Just be patient.”

Her worried eyes dilute some of my fury. I give her a clipped nod, grab two cappuccinos, and walk over to the bookstall.

Axel looks up at me just as a young woman steps close to us. She gives me a nervous smile and says hello in sign. I greet her back.

“Amy, you done, honey?” she asks the little girl. Axel stands with the child and hands her over to the woman.

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