The Hollow Root - Chapter 29
First time? Here’s the table of contents:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8
Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28
The morning was crisp in North Falls. The sun was rising over the distant mountains and showering the town with a bright light that begged residents to come outside with the false promise of warmth. The ground was covered in a light dust of snow and the windows had the extra sheen of frost. It was another winter morning like so many winter mornings in North Falls. A town that had grown accustomed to its place in the world being rather small and only meaningful to itself. The town itself was home to only a couple hundred residents but all of them collaborated on making it livable.
Vaino sat at the window of his small shop. Holding a round cup of an herbal tea he had been working on developing for some kind of market. It was a fresh day with fresh hopes. He drew in a big sip of the tea and let it sit on his tongue so the flavors could all be experienced. He felt it was missing spruce tips. He noted this for the next time he collected herbs to add just a touch of spruce tip. His shop was not yet open and he was taking his morning to collect data on his potential market. He watched as the baker hurried about pulling rolls, pastries and bread from his oven and shelving it on racks near his ordering window. Vaino thought how simple and wonderful this baker’s life felt. A distinct purpose to rise and create things of beauty for his customers. Vaino thought about how he wanted to be a baker for his clients. To take the raw dough they entered with and shape and mold them into something artistic and useful. He drew another sip of his tea and continued to look out the window on the cold just waking world. This is when he saw Kavin strolling down the street with his typical swagger.
“What an ass” Vaino said before opening the door.
“Kavin! How are you? Always good to see you up this early my friend.” Vaino said waving in Kavin’s direction with a painful smile on his face.
“Hey Vaino! How is the store coming along?” Kavin said without breaking his stride.
“Oh you know starting a business is always an uphill climb.” Vaino said still waving.
“Yeah that’s great! Good work and see ya later buddy” Kavin said as he walked out of sight and around the corner of the street.
“Fucking prick... I mean...” Vaino muttered before taking a deep breath to center his thoughts.
He stood at the threshold of his shop for several more minutes breathing in the cold air and letting the bite hit his throat. Vaino felt alive. These mornings always made him long for what his life could have been without Kavin’s intervention. The bite of the cold reminded him of a mortality he felt had been stolen from him. Vaino wasn’t fully certain of his powers, after all Kavin barely knew about his own.
“Vaino when do you open? I can’t wait to learn from you!” a woman shouted from the corner as she was walking past with two children in tow.
“Soon! You will be the first to know” Vaino said lifting his cup to suggest a salute.
That was Mrs. Edgewood. She was a mother of two and her husband spent far too much time in the lumber mill for her liking. Vaino knew her husband was having an affair with a fellow mill employee named Bill one evening when he saw them sharing glances knowingly at a town hall. No one else really picked up on this but Vaino could always tell what people didn’t want him to know. Mrs. Edgewood also knew deep down that there was something she could never give Bill. She didn’t dare investigate though. She was always worried that if she found out what his secret was, she would then have to do something about it. She found it far more useful that they had a don’t ask don’t tell policy about their lives away from each other. Vaino couldn’t help but encourage her gentle flirting and not so subtle advances whenever she would seek his attention.
“Vaino! Vaino!” A meek voice rang out.
Vaino turned towards the sound to see Silas running towards him. Silas was a young man who didn’t seem to really fit with the town. He was not a simple child, and he had desires he didn’t have enough information to understand. Vaino saw some bit of himself dancing behind Silas’s eyes. Silas’s parents had helped the boy get a job at the mill and he was only able to keep that job based on that connection. Silas was not the best with his hands, but he made up for this with a mind like a steel trap.
“Vaino, I don’t have much time I gotta get down to work, but I wanted to let you know I hung up the flyers for ya. A bunch of the ladies around town seem interested. How many did you need to sign up for you hire me?” Silas’s words tumbled out in his excitement.
Vaino rolled his eyes a bit and took a sip of his tea. “Ten. If you bring me 10 customers I will hire you as an assistant.” Vaino said taking another long sip of tea and trying to seem more important than he felt.
“Okay, 10... Got it. Vaino thanks for giving me this chance. I... I just... no one really believed in me and I know I can do more than saw planks.” Silas’s eyes brightened as he looked eagerly at Vaino.
“Sure. Go get those customers and we can get this thing off the ground.” Vaino said dismissively.
Silas turned with a huge grin on his face and ran towards his day job. He had finally found hope of a different direction. Vaino was his big ticket to a better life. A life he didn’t even begin to understand. That day at the mill, Silas was lost in dreams of a life working beside Vaino. Traveling, speaking and learning from him until he could branch off on his own. Silas didn’t care about helping people like Vaino did. He wanted the fame, he wanted the fortune and all the hedonism that came with it. Silas imagined the parties, the sex, the violence he could get away with if he just found a way to being more than some poor mill worker.
Throughout the week Silas would take every moment of free time to sell the town on signing up for Vaino’s wellness trainings. He never focused on learning about crystals, natural remedies and ancient superstitions but instead learning about why people took interest in them. Silas didn’t care where they came from or even if they were tactics Vaino himself would use. He studied each town person like a puzzle to be solved.
A young woman he had known from school named Molly was his first real test. He found her at the general store, lingering by the soap display wondering which scent might appeal most to her. He and Molly had flirted on several occasions but never followed through. For several months he had noticed her becoming more and more isolated in the small town. She seemed reluctant to speak with anyone and seemed distant at work.
“Molly, it has been ages, and I hate to be so forward but you look... lonely and troubled.” Silas approached with what he hoped was a concerned expression.
“What? uh... do I? That’s so...” Molly took a deep breath “You’re right, I just feel like I need something more than what North Falls has.” She released her shoulders slightly as she decided to be vulnerable.
Silas tilted his head to the side to show compassion just before gently placing his hand on her shoulder and meeting her eyes. “Molly... Molly, I get it. I go to that mill every morning and wonder is this it? Is this life? There’s got to be something more than this right?” Silas said noting that there was a new slight glisten in her eyes.
“I just don’t think I’m meant for this place. I want to go to a city... any city. I just... I just don’t know how to do that... you know?” Molly said in a hushed tone as she placed her hand on the one Silas had on her shoulder.
“Molly, it’s okay. I’ve felt the same. In fact I’m planning to leave and set out on my own. I’m going to make it Molly. I’ve been working on the side with Vaino. He is teaching me so much... you... you could learn too! I could introduce you to him sometime. Maybe we could even leave together.” He winked, mimicking what he’d learned from watching Cary Grant movies.
“Together... with me? You would go with me? I... we barely know. Excuse me... What does Vaino teach you? That could get us... me... out of here?” Molly stammered confused by her own desire to run away with the idea of running away more than the idea of running away with Silas.
Two days later, Silas convinced old Henrik the blacksmith that his joint pain was clearly the result of his low masculine energy and that he needed Vaino’s help discovering his primal energy. By Thursday, he had the baker’s wife believing that sound baths would cure her insomnia. Each conversation built his confidence. He found he had a gift for seeing what people were desperate to hear and giving them just enough hope to open their wallets. By week’s end, he had his 10 customers and a growing sense that he was meant for something far bigger than sawing planks.
“Vaino! Vaino! I have 10 sign ups!” Silas shouted as he rapped on the door to the not yet opened store.
Vaino was inside adjusting a small picture of a tree on the wall and trying to determine his layout. He found the news a bit disappointing as he had underestimated Silas’s ambition. He rose and walked to the door trying to think of a way to delay the process a bit more.
“Silas, you’re back and that is just a fantastic start.” Vaino pulled his head up and stiffened to take on the posture of a lecturing professor. “This was simply the first piece of you becoming my assistant. Getting customers is only step one, those customers need a space fitting of their healing and recovery. We need cedar planks... good quality ones mind you. I’m tight on my budget though and cannot afford such luxury, but you work at the mill don’t you? I’m certain you could find a way to get them for me. With what I would save on the lumber it would really open my budget to hire on your help. So can you do it?” Vaino turned away from Silas and began touching the wall longingly as though he was feeling the cedar that would soon be its facade.
“Oh... cedar planks... yeah I guess I could grab some from work... they don’t let us have those so I guess I’d steal them.” Silas’s jaw tightened as he tried to hide his frustration.
“Oh don’t steal them Silas... no no I would never ask you to do that. Just get them however you see fit.” Vaino said waving his right hand in the air as though Silas could pull the planks from it “Now I need to go take care of the books and other business affairs.” he continued.
“Oh... okay.” Silas’s voice deflated.
Silas turned and walked towards the tavern at the center of town. His head was low and he was trying to push down the pain he was feeling. Rejection was normal for Silas but he still had trouble finding a place to store it. He walked into the tavern and sat at the bar next to a man he had seen about town but never taken a moment to really interact with. The man was laughing with the bar tender and buying rounds for just about anyone who showed the slightest interest in him. Silas figured this mark was a great way to find a free beer so there he was on the stool next to him. He sat silently waiting for the man to finish a story. Plotting his hook to convince this man to pay for drowning his feelings.
“... and that’s when I stole her skin...” The man said laughing and slapping his knee.
“You stole her skin? Is that a metaphor for something?” Silas said to the man.
“You bet your ass it’s a metaphor for something. Thing is you gotta figure out what.” The man said, “I don’t think we’ve met, you can call me Kavin, I hate my first name so don’t bother with it. Also you don’t have a drink, let me fix that... Bartender only the finest swill for my friend... hey friend what’s your name?” Kavin sounding very inebriated.
“Si... Sam. My name is Sam.” Silas caught himself, thinking it might be best to avoid a real name with someone he was hoping to swindle out of an evening of drinks.
“SiSam huh... that’s a weird one, but what’s in a name. Bartender the SiSam needs a fucking drink, and as a matter of fact I need one too. Bring two of your shittiest and side cars of something that says rum on the bottle” Kavin said before slapping Silas on the shoulder.
“Wow you sure are generous Kavin. Thank you very much.” Silas said accepting the embrace.
“You don’t know the half of it boy. What do you do here?” Kavin said sobering his speech slightly.
“I... I do what everyone does. I work at the mill.” Silas regretted saying his real job immediately, but found Kavin oddly captivating.
“The mill huh... that job can be a killer.” Kavin said while he continued to gesture at the bartender for quicker service.
“Yeah I... I don’t want to work there, just nothing else to do.” Silas said.
“Well where do you want to work? What do you want to do? Maybe I can help” Kavin said with a devious twinkle in his eye.
“I... I don’t know... I want to... I really want to work with Vaino I guess. There’s something about him... I want to be like him I think.” Silas said feeling unsure if he should continue down this path of honesty.
“VAINO! That prick. I mean sure kid he’s special. Tell ya what Vaino and I go way back. Some say I made him who he is... “ Kavin said laughing at the idea that anyone liked Vaino.
“You... you know him? I’ve been running errands for him for weeks and he keeps giving me new tasks once I finish one. I don’t think he will ever live up to his word.” Silas grabbed his beverage from the bartender, his voice growing bitter.
Kavin raised his shot glass and held it towards Silas. “Well SiSam you met the right person tonight my friend. I’ll help you sway that dumb prick. Cheers” Kavin said clinking his glass with Silas and downing the contents.
Silas coughed at the harsh rum as it passed down his throat. He looked at Kavin for a second. He could tell there was something about him as well. Something made him different than normal folks in the town. Silas sensed power and he needed to have some for himself.
The two drank and spoke for hours that evening. Silas would leave the tavern feeling emboldened and ready to tackle the world. He had an in to working for Vaino and a new connection to this Kavin person. Things were finally moving in a positive direction for Silas. As he stumbled back to his parents guest house Silas thought to himself how great the lights looked when they were blurred by his intoxication. He tried to remind himself that Kavin told him to meet him the next day to plot how to get him into Vaino’s good graces. He pushed his mind saying you can forget everything but not this, I need to follow up on this. Silas’s head hit the pillow and soon he was transported to a new day. He rose with a hangover accompanied by excitement for the future. Slowed by his current mental and physical state he got ready to go and find Kavin to plot his next move. He dug through his clothes and found his least worked in pants and a shirt his mother bought him for a funeral once. Silas looked in the mirror and genuinely liked what he saw. He sauntered out of the door with a newfound hope. As he walked down the street he saw Kavin walking in the opposite direction. Excitedly he waved his hand in the air and shouted “Hey Kav!”
Kavin picked his head up and squinted looking at the boy. His memory had been wiped by drinking enough alcohol to drown a small battalion. Kavin genuinely had no idea who this person was and he took issue with being called Kav by a stranger.
“Fuck off” Kavin said waving his hand dismissively at Silas. “I’m sure we had fun but I don’t remember you and you don’t look worth my time. Now kindly go somewhere else” Kavin said as he walked quickly away.
Silas felt his jaw fall open. His feelings swirled and built behind the dam he had built to keep them out. Anger, fear, rejection, pain, all building into an enormous wave pushing at the barrier. Silas was again rejected, forgotten and discarded by someone he thought could help change his life. He watched Kavin walk down the street and pop into some store’s back shop. Silas would not forget this slight. Silas put everything he had into keeping the dam intact and vowed under his breath that he would ruin Kavin.