Chapter 6

The boy patted his pockets. “I-I…I had some money a while ago. But now I don’t know what happened to it.”

Lizzy whirled back on Zoe and started conversing with her facial expressions. See? she wordlessly asked.

Zoe conversed back. Well, he didn’t say how much.

Oh, for gosh sakes, Zoe, just cough it up.

“What was it?” Zoe asked him. “How much?”

There you have it, Zoe; hand it over.

Oh, well, I guess…but there’s still a chance he happened to see me find it, and he’s just pretending he lost it.

For crying out loud, Zoe, he’s got a soda in his hand. You found it under the soda machine. What more proof do you want?

“My uncle gave it to me for my birthday. Aw, God, I just know somebody stole it.”

Oh, geez, another birthday kid. A’right, Zoe, pony it right now or I’m gonna snatch your purse from you, and return it.

“I even memorized that little number on the back, in the lower right corner, y’know?” he told them. “116.”

This made Zoe curious. “There’re little numbers on the back??” She unzipped, whipped it out and looked where he’d indicated.

“Son of a…” The nearsighted Zoe could hardly believe it. “I’ll be damned—116! Well…boom; there ya go, bud.”

Predictably, the young man was similarly wowed.

“How th—…” He gawked at Zoe. “How’d you do that?!” he demanded to know.

“Easy,” smiled Lizzy, giving him a friendly clap on the arm. “We’re fairy godmothers.”

Zoe chuckled. “Actually, we found it under the soda machine back there.”

He smacked himself in the forehead. “The soda machine! Freakin’ duh!…Aw, man, thank you guys! That’s…wow! Grazie!”

“Hey, no problemo,” said Lizzy-Beth. “But please, just be careful with your money, kiddo. Not everyone’s as honest as us.”

The lad’s excitement reascended. He bounded off. The girls watched him go. Then Lizzy returned to Zoe, proudly clapping her arm.

The Bold And The Beautiful

Sunday, February 8th, 2015, 1:28 p.m.

An air-walking Zoe and Lizzy claimed a table in the food court for lunch. Juniper Mall’s food court on the first floor was accented by a few restaurants on level two. It also sported a seven-foot-high fountain in the midst of it all. The opening between floors allowed the atmospheres to mingle together delectably. Lizzy-Beth and Zoe sat amongst most other dining patrons here on level one, grazing like it was feeding time at the zoo. The food court was home on bottom to an A&W, Arby’s, Five Guys, McDonald’s, Sbarro, Subway, Taco Bell and some lesser-known eateries more specific to the Juniper area. The fast food was neighbored upstairs by sit-down restaurants: a California Pizza Kitchen, Cheesecake Factory, Fuddruckers, Johnny Rockets, Panera Bread and Red Robin. Zoe sat down with her Diet Coke and a Whopper, Jr. from Burger King, Lizzy with a dish of broccoli beef and soft drink from Panda Express.

It went without saying returning the young man’s money made Zoe feel so much better than keeping it could’ve. And as her girlfriend said, they were here both to shop, and do nice things for their fellow folks. Besides, it wasn’t like they were hurting for a little coin themselves. After Forever 21 and the Sunglass Hut, Lizzy’d bought them a couple more fun ‘n’ casual outfits at Ford & Maylor and Aerie, in the form of their beloved plaid-flannel/denim combos. It was hard to have enough plannels, comfy jeans and sensible shoes, or feel that they did. Their next stop was Auntie Anne’s for some pretzel bites, to tide them over till they got to the food court.

Even with Lizzy-Beth’s words and the grand gesture she made, it was a tough sell to convince Zoe she could be a hero. It just wasn’t the way she was wired to think of herself. They’d passed a kioskist named Suzie who offered to let them try a new beauty product, and Zoe told her a secret about the ingredients in the product that could help the company make it even better. Suzie was impressed, but this was Zoe’s profession, after all. She knew all sorts of little tips and tricks about styles and creams and cosmetics and so on. Oh well, she thought. If this was her lot in life, she’d take it. There were lots of less desirable paths to have wandered down.

She sat and gabbed with Lizzy as they lunched. Their multiple bags sat on the floor betwixt their feet. The break was nice and energizing. They’d still have at least four or five hours to finish the bottom floor and cover the top. No hint of a hurry whatsoever. Which was good, because Lizzy-Beth was feeling the need of something else coming up.

“Uh-oh,” she chortled, sliding out her chair. “That stuff went right through me. Nature’s got my number!”

She trotted in the direction of the john. Zoe munched in silent contemplation. She’d become very pensive left to her own proverbial devices. She pondered her future and her salon, wondering if she could increase business by changing the name and not sending customers all the way to the end of the alphabet to find her. She too wondered, while appreciating the quirk, what inspired her folks to name their kids with izzards and zeds. Couples whose kids’ names started with the same initial were semi-common, but…’Z‘? Just a unique choice, was all. She daydreamt about spending the rest of her life with Lizzy-Beth Kessie Williams, how she adored her in every possible aspect, even if she wasn’t sure she deserved her. Lizzy was such an incredible gal, she could have any chick she wanted. Not that Zoe didn’t have her own good points. She didn’t want to sell herself short (even though she was only 5’3″). It was just that—

Something derailed her train of thought. A small child of about five zoomed past her, weaving his way through and around patrons with impressive alacrity, even for someone his age. He held the attention of most of Zoe’s fellow diners with short brevity, but Zoe noticed him for longer. She admired his exuberant zeal, natural though it came to him. Like Lizzy, she felt at a helpless loss when she saw a person of any age upset or crying; she’d rather watch kids run and play anytime. She gazed at him while chewing, an unnoticed swipe of mayonnaise on her lips. Her interest in finishing the burger waned as she let it to sit back down in its wrapper.

The five-year-old tot leapt onto the outer edge of the fountain. “Mommy, Mommy, look at me!” he announced.

That redirected Zoe’s attention. She looked where he appeared to be staring off, but saw no one. Where were his parents?

She turned back his way. Strangely, not many people nearby seemed to give the little boy’s behavior much thought. Several of them finished eating and left. The child enjoyed the spray of water fully dressed in his clothes. Zoe continued watching him, somehow all but mesmerized. He lifted one foot, standing on the other. As his foot raised, so did Zoe’s eyebrows. Although she didn’t realize it…

…Until a slow-motion moment later, before her eyes, as the boy suddenly slipped in his other sneaker…and lost his balance.

Zoe’s eyes snapped open. She felt a horrible fear strike her heart. She’d blocked out what little she could remember since that night which now seemed so long ago. But as she watched him begin to fall…back it all came, horrifically hypnotizing her.

She felt the panic assault her all over again. She felt the boy’s infinitesimal turmoil and trepidation as he realized what was happening. She felt herself in his place. And she remembered and felt the dizzying crashing effect in the back of her head, as he landed, and the impact hit him. He tumbled into the inner side of the fountain’s ledge, losing half his consciousness, and fell in with a SPLASH!

Zoe could swear her heart stopped. Petrified shock paralyzed her. She cried out the only necessary words that would come to mind.

“LIZZYYYYYY!!” she shouted, unable to look anywhere else. “LIZZY, HELP!!”

To her dismay, no Lizzy appeared or helped. Then Zoe remembered.

Oh no…she’s in the ladies’ room…

Lizzy-Beth wasn’t here. Her brother Zack wasn’t here. She was all alone.

She had no time to run in and get Lizzy, even if she sprinted as fast as she could. Her vision around the fountain went cloudy and fuzzy. Her focus was compromised, but just as with the other night at the restaurant, everybody seemed to be frozen…including herself.

But today, something was different.

The memory was murky. But Zoe took herself back, to last summer, watching herself slip, fall backwards, and…and…

The nightmare of what happened next would not let her go on. But it also wouldn’t allow her to remain frozen. Lizzy-Beth was unavailable. Somebody had to do something. Abruptly, Zoe felt herself drawn up from her chair, sending her dashing in the little boy’s direction, as if magnetized to him. Today, that somebody would be Zoe Palmer. It was up to her.

She forgot her burger, her bags, everything. She ran, willing herself with all her might for once not to submit to clumsiness. She bent her knees to help keep her own balance. With the wind knocked from him, the little boy could only kick, thrash, flail, yell. Zoe reached down, said a quick prayer—Oh, God, please let my arms be strong enough!—and pulled him up around the middle.

This undertaking uneased her. She was a small woman, 5’3″, and barely 110 pounds. But as she returned him to an upright position, she relaxed a bit. Even if she wasn’t strong enough to hoist him out of the fountain, hopefully she could just stop him from drowning.

She sat him back down on the edge. In case he’d taken any water, she gave him a few claps on the back—like her parents used to do her—before she remembered this was not her child. She asked if he was okay or choking. He was a little too shaken up to answer, but the next Zoe heard was harried footsteps running their way. She looked up.

Rapidly approaching was a fatigued woman—clearly the boy’s Mom—wearing a front Babybjörn with a sibling in it, and a pregnant belly. Zoe’s eyebrows arched at this mother of (at least) two and a half, suddenly feeling sympathy fatigue. No wonder she was so tired.

“Oh my God, Billy, are you all right?! I was looking all over for you! What happened?!”

“He, uh…he was…kinda playing on the fountain,” Zoe tried to explain, almost feeling guilty for no reason. “And-and he slipped and fell in. So, I, uh…tried to get him out. Um…I-I dunno if he hurt himself, but…I think he’s breathing.”

Zoe presumed she, little Billy, and Billy’s Mom had dozens of eyes on them, which normally would’ve made her uncomfy. She wasn’t one to draw wide spans of attention to herself. But things were a bit different in this case. The mother’s baggy eyes widened at her.

“…You saved my little boy’s life??”

“…Well, I…I-I just…I just panicked when I saw it happen. I…I dunno, Miss, uh…Mom, it…it was all kind of a blur.”

Again, this was where Zoe’s modest gene stepped in, preventing her from haughtily crowing over it all, and claiming far more credit than necessary. But even if discretion suppressed her pride, the woman’s words filled her with a sensation she’d never experienced.

Holy effing smoke…I guess I did.

They looked down at Billy. He coughed out some water. He was breathing and recovering. It finally began to sink in.

I saved this kid’s life…? ME?? Zoe Palmer, the little meek, weak pipsqueak…saved a life?!

Lizzy-Beth emerged from the ladies’ room just in time to see what happened next. The woman began crying and hugged Zoe, sandwiching her other one and a half kids between them.

“OH. Oh, my. Uh, okay…” said Zoe. “Um…lady? Your, uh—”

“Oh God, thank you!” Billy’s mother gushed tearfully. “I can’t believe it! You rescued my son!“

“O-okay,” Zoe calmed her, rubbing her back. “It’s…it’s all right, Mrs…Billy’s Mom. Everything’s fine…”

The mother turned around to address the food court diners.

“This woman rescued my son! She saved his life!”

Lizzy’s reaction at these words was imaginable. Just as before when it happened, the next moments were a blur in Zoe’s mind. She thought she recalled some other mallgoers and food court diners coming up to talk to her or shake her hand. Billy’s tear-stressed mother and her children eventually got on their way. Zoe had no idea how much time elapsed through it all.

“You, are, amazing,” she thought she heard Lizzy-Beth tell her as they retrieved their bags and left the food court. “Simply, dazzling.”

“Oh, Lizzy-Bear, I…I don’t even know how it happened. One second I was sitting there eating, next second, I…”

She shook her head, still dazed from it all. Fingers interlocked, she felt Lizzy squeeze her hand.

“I told you so,” she asserted to Zoe. “Takes one to know one. I knew you had it in ya.”

“Well, I—oh, gosh…” Zoe noticed, adjusting her sunglasses. “My lens is scratched. I guess they fell and got a little damaged.”