Lethe's Cipher: Part 2

Heading down to the Oakwood Street Inn was one of the best suggestions Detective Lyons had ever gotten from his partner. Lyons wasn’t sure if it was going to be a very useful one, but it was certainly worth the trip just to see Ted’s friend Leo, not to mention Popeye.

Oakwood was an East Boston shelter housed in an old yellow brick factory building. They used to make furniture there back in the 1890’s. Lyons walked in through the kitchen and found an army of kids wearing yellow tees and unloading boxes full of dried and canned food. The shirts read “The Gate : Dorchester MA”.

Besides Lyons, the only person in the room over twenty was a tall skinny man with enormous biceps that actually bore the word “Popeye” on one and an anchor on the other. To make sure these were visible, he wore a sleeveless shirt. This was how Huss had described the day shift manager at Oakwood, and there was no mistaking him for anyone else.

“Andy Till?” said Lyons. “My name is Bill Lyons, Boston PD? My partner Sergeant Huss says he’s friends with you.”

“Sure.” said Popeye. “Solid character. Helps out a lot in off hours. What can I do for you?”

“We picked up a man named Ted who sometimes stays here. He’s about…”

“Yeah Ted. I know Ted. What did he do?”

“Hang on… is there only one Ted that ever comes through here?”

“I don’t know, but there’s only one you could be talking about.” Andy ran his palm over his shaved head as if there were hair to smooth. “He’s off, right? Pockets full of Bible verses? Really irritable?” He drew closer to Lyons and lowered his tone of voice.“Listen, are you harassing him? Because Ted has a lot of friends here.”

The detective paused. Popeye’s shifting demeanor said a lot. Lyons was used to the people at shelters and halfway houses stonewalling the cops. Usually, they just refused to give out information without a court order of some kind, which was after all exactly what they were supposed to do. Lyons knew that.

However, he’d never encountered such a person going on the offense, as though they were protecting a gang member. Someone else might bristle at the implied threat, but Lyons was curious more than anything and was willing to overlook the attitude to find the source.

“No Andy, I’m not harassing him. Like I said, your friend is my partner and if you know Huss you know he doesn’t put up with that shit, whether it’s from me or any other cop. Personally, I think Ted is harmless, but he’s in a bit of trouble and I need your help to understand what he’s gotten himself into, even if he’s only stumbled on it.”

Andy stepped back and folded his big arms across his chest. “What trouble?”

“He was found asleep in the car of a missing woman. If he’s got friends, then maybe you can tell me if he has family. Even a last name would be helpful.”

“I don’t know his full name or any of his family. If he had any, maybe he wouldn’t be on the streets.”

“He said something about a Brian. Do you know anything about Brian?”

Andy shook his head. One of the kids called for him.

“Is it alright if I go?” he said. “You should talk to Leo. That’s Ted’s best friend. He’s here today. Leo!”

A stubby man wearing a US Navy stocking cap and salty beard came ambling over. His uneven walk betrayed a permanent injury to his right leg. He’d been helping the kids, though it was clear he was more resident than volunteer.

“Leo.” said Popeye. “Do you know if Ted had a friend named Brian? This cop’s a friend of The Huss and he wants to know.”

“Oh yeah.” said Leo as the shift manager disappeared.

“You work with this kids?” said Lyons. “What the hell is The Gate anyway? A kind of cult or something?”

“Heh, nooo.” said Leo. His voice indicated amusement but he didn’t really laugh or smile. He didn’t look at the detective either, preferring to stare at a flickering fluorescent tube in the ceiling. “When I was a kid we had the First Congregationalist or East Baptist. Now they all have to have some kind of name like the Gate or the Passage or the River. It seems you’ve gotta go down some road or through some door, like they’re going to see the Wizard. Well, gets the kids interested, I guess. And the kids come here for us so it’s cool, you know.”

“Are you a church goer, Leo?” said Lyons.

“Use ta.”

“We found Ted with pages full of Bible verses and Mr. Till says that’s normal for him. Is Ted a religious man?”

“Heh, heh. Noooo, no. Not at all.” Leo shoved his hands in his pockets and smiled. “Ted walks around like that because he’s trying to disprove every goddam sentence in the book. I think some preacher type must’a hurt him bad when he was a boy.”

“So you know about his past? Can you tell me about someone named Brian?”

“Brian is imaginary. Heh, well sort of.”

“How is anyone sort of imaginary?” said Lyons.

“When he’s sort’a there and sort’a not. Ted says Brian comes to talk to him and then he forgets what Brian says. Sometimes he forgets who Brian is. But Brian is always there. If you ask me, it’s a real person Ted’s got mixed up with his own imagination. I think Brian’s dead, but that’s just if you ask me. I don’t know nothing else.”

“And the bears in the castle?”

“The what?” said Leo.

“Something he said. Forget it.”

“Yeah Ted says lots of crazy shit, even for a crazy man.” Then for the first time, Leo looked the cop in the eyes. “But that don’t mean he’s done stuff. He’s hurt no one.” Leo poked a finger. “And you got no right to pick him up just for all the nonsense that comes out his mouth.”

“Now I didn’t say…”

“There’s something very special about Ted and no one around here is going to let you take away that special thing.” Leo raised an eyebrow and paused. Lyons wasn’t going to break the silence. He needed to hear the special thing. “Ted, he finds stuff. Like this one time, some lady hit me with her car while I was just walking across the street. Ted found her and she came and paid for the hospital.”

This was worth the wait. Lyons was glad he met Leo.

“How did he find her Leo?”

“I dunno.”

“What could he have done to make her come around? Don’t tell me you don’t know. Of course you don’t; you weren’t there when he did it. I’m asking you to use your imagination. You know Ted. You said he does this all the time.”

“I’ve just seen him do it. Can’t say I ever knew how.”

The man’s gaze returned to the flickering light.

“What, is he magic? How does anyone persuade someone to do anything? Hypnotism? Come on, Leo. Are you going to tell me you haven’t seen Ted get rough?”

Popeye came running out of nowhere, asking Leo for something he really needed help with. It was as if Leo had some sort of tell that signaled trouble. Maybe he did, and if so there was something more going on here. Lyons really wasn’t sure what to make of that. He’d never encountered anything quite like it, not in a place like this.

The cop gave Leo a light slap on the shoulder and walked away, saying, “Thank you both for your time.”

He left wondering if he’d ever see Leo again.

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This was part 2 of an ongoing story. Thanks for reading! Part 3 is on the way. You can read part 1 here:

Part 1.

And if you liked it, maybe check out my other project, “Feeble As Frail.” Here’s the links:

part1
part 2.
part 3.
part 4.
part 5.
part 6.