Prosperity<A BTP story version>

Behind the ‘Pyre

        Prosperity, Nevada was a small city tucked somewhere off of Highway 95 between Beatty and Indian Springs. So small there was just a single sign that indicated the turnoff. You couldn’t even see the lights from the road.

The town didn’t have many streets or occupants for that matter. A few fast food restaurants and offices, but houses and apartment buildings made up the bulk of the structures, most of those housed people who commuted to Beatty, Indian Springs or even to the not-so-distant city of Las Vegas.

        It wasn’t a very big apartment. Two bedrooms, each furnished to the preference of its occupant, two styles as unlike as the two sides of a coin. A living room, decorated in a mishmash of the two styles that just fit. The kitchen was likewise designed.

        “What do you have in mind for today, sister dear?” Alasia Teal stood by the stove, filling the air with the mouth-watering aroma of bacon. Her roommate pranced into the room, long black hair swaying back and forth. She hummed, carefully applying her bright red lipstick.

        “Nothing much,” Maia Cillegna replied. “Dad asked me to come into work for a few hours today, but he promised me I could be off tomorrow if you’d like to do something.” The man she called Dad wasn’t her real father, her own father had died years ago. Alasia’s father had unofficially adopted her then.

        “ I’m not certain what I have in store. How about I get back to you on it later?”

        “Good deal.” Maia scooped up a handful of bacon on her way out the door, also brushing a kiss on her sister’s cheek.

        Her high-heels clicked steadily on the tiled floor of the hallway as she made her way to the elevator. She rode down alone and made her way out to the street. An upbeat tune played in her head, adding a bounce to her stride as she walked to the club where she worked. It wasn’t too far away from the building the sisters called home so driving was unnecessary.

        This meant she was able to enjoy the sunshine that poured down from the cloudless sky. In some ways, the small town charm was nice, but it was a drag that shopping options were so limited. Maia nodded at the bouncer of Vain Glory, the club they both worked.

        “Good morning, Miss Maia.”

        “Good morning, Carl.” She pecked him on the cheek before slipping through the door he held open for her. The inside of the club was cool and dark, with lights positioned so that they added a romantic theme to the small tables that were scattered throughout the cozy interior. It wasn’t so much a dancing and partying club as it was a meeting place for the higher class of people.

        “Thanks so much for coming in, Maia.” Jeanor Teal smiled thankfully at her from his booth tucked away in the corner of the club. “I know you probably had a date planned.”

        “No biggie.” Maia smoothed her short black skirt and straightened her matching corset top, making sure the dark red ribbons were lying flat. Taking a deep breath and straightening her shoulders, she picked up her pad and quickly got to work.

        Alasia Teal shimmied on a pair of blue jeans and gently slipped a T-shirt over her head, careful not to muss her blond curls. Deep green eyes, like a vibrant forest, scanned the neat room. Books marched in alphabetical order on the cherry shelves, taking up an entire wall. Shoes also stood in a line along the trunk that rested at the foot of her bed, pairs carefully matched together and making it a simple task to slide on a pair of flip flops as she was headed out. Swinging her small purse onto her shoulder, she made her way outside, taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

        Free days for her meant that there wasn’t much to do. She could go visit her mother at her psychiatry office or go see Maia and her father at Vain Glory. With a job that only required her to work a day or two out of the month, she had a lot of free time on her hands. Savvy investments in the stock market meant that she wasn’t hurting for money, at all really. None of the members of her family were. They all worked to pass the time and to keep people from looking at them oddly. It wasn’t a broadly published fact, but Jeanor was the founder and also the owner of Prosperity. He owned all the businesses and the land that all the schools, libraries, and apartment buildings sat on. It was nice being the daughter of a rich man, but it didn’t mean that she didn’t understand what responsibility and hard work were. Alasia shook her head to clear it before she could take a lengthy trip down memory lane. She’d be locked away there for hours if she allowed herself that vanity.

        Her mind made up and her strides now with purpose, the young woman turned down the road towards her mother’s office. The receptionist smiled delightedly at her when she walked inside.

        “Lacey, it’s so great to see you.” ‘Lacey’ was Alasia’s nickname, “Your mother isn’t with a patient right now if you’d like to go on in.”

        “Thanks, Stacey. I appreciate it.” Making her way past the large couches she walked down the hallway lined with serene images captioned by equally cheesy words like happiness and hope. As if just reading a word could make you feel better. The heavy oak door to her mother’s office was ajar so she slipped inside as quietly as possible.

        “Hello, sweetheart,” Kayce Teal greeted without turning around to see who it was.

        “Cat ears strike again, huh?”

        “They can’t ‘strike again’ if they are always there.”

        “But they aren’t always there, sometimes those cat ears of ours work much better than others.”

        “Very true. So what brings you here to visit me today?”

        “Can’t a girl come visit her mother when she pleases?” She rolled her eyes, the same color as the woman seated across the desk from her when Kayce just looked at her. “I’m just bored, okay? You haven’t given me anything to do in a while and I’m starting to get worried. When things get quiet and I start to get bored it usually means that there something going on that we don’t know about and it usually turns into some big trouble for us.”

        “Well, you and I haven’t been in town for more than a couple months. We’ve been lying low so they can’t have found us yet. All new employees and your father has everyone in his pocket.”

        “Just because they’re in his pocket doesn’t mean that their minds can’t be read. You know how easy that is, it just takes a touch and all the secrets come spilling out.”

        “I know, Kitten, but none of the employees know who your father really is, nor do they know who you and I are either. We’re human here, safe for the time being. If you have worries you should take them up with your father.”

        “He’ll just send me to you. I’ve been getting the parental run-around for years now, Mom I know how it works. “

        “And you also know how your fathers gets about his schemes. He’s excited about owning a town again; it’s hard to do in this day and age.”

        “I know I know. “

        The sky hung heavy with clouds as a young man sat on the tailgate of his Dodge pick-up off of the side of Highway 95. His green eyes, filled with sadness, glanced up at the sky and then down the empty highway before burying his head in his hands. Wayne’s broad shoulder shook with his struggle to control his emotions.

        “It should have been me.” He whispered in a voice that was flavored with a Southern accent. Anxiety twitched beneath his skin as he took a deep breath. After the 25-year-old sat on the back of his Sweptline he slowly climbed off and walked around to slide behind the wheel. With a tired sigh he shifted into first and started down the road once more.

        The desert lent no escape for his thoughts, no scenery to make him wonder or in any other way draw him mind away from the thoughts in his head. A small green sign appeared in the sign that read “Welcome to Prosperity.” Eager for the interruption, he pulled down in that direction.

        The landscape didn’t change for ten minutes, and then small neighborhoods started to appear. Not long after that, apartment complexes began to show, turning in to businesses that were occasionally interrupted by fast-food restaurants. Another ten minutes had him leaving civilization behind. Wayne had to quickly brake as the road ended with a sign at cliff’s edge.

        With a puzzled grunt, he turned around to drive back to one of the gas stations. The young man topped the tank off and went inside to pay.

        “You’re not from around here, are you?” The clerk asked him.

        “What gave it away?” He drawled. Taking the money she smiled at him.

        “I can just tell.” She, a pretty little girl in her lower twenties, looked at him from beneath lowered lashes as she put the money in the drawer, then tried to subtly straighten her shirt and make the nametag labeled ‘Annie’ more visible while she waited for the receipt to print out.

        “Perhaps you can help me with something…” Wayne made a point of eyeing her nametag along with the package it came with appreciatively, “Annie. You wouldn’t happen to know where the best bar is.”

        “The best place to go is Vain Glory but they’re really particular about who they let it. If you can’t get in there you can always try Ray’s. A little rougher but it’s the only other bar we have.  Most people prefer to make the drive to Vegas.” She smiled sheepishly. “None of them are open this early but I get off in a few minutes if you’d like to wait.” Wayne’s lips curled up in a smile.

        “I ain’t got anything better comin my way, babe.  I’m Wayne Lawson.” He winked at her and walked out to his car to grab a smoke while he waited.

        Maia sighed in relief as she sat down and put her feet up on the chair across from her. Working as a waitress was fun, she got to meet so many people. She also adored her high-heels but being up for so long was killer on a girl’s feet, made her breaks that much more welcome when they arrived.

        “Letting the blood get back in those toes of yours, Feathers?” Maia’s tired eyes, a light blue that appeared they could truly freeze with a look, lit up as the athletic figure that slid in the chair next to the one she was currently using as a footrest. With slim, tanned fingers, an acute opposite to her own porcelain pale skin, her sister grasped her shoes and moved them over so she could slide into place. The only similarities they shared were in age, both appearing about twenty-two but Maia was the winter to Alasia’s summer. Maia’s style ran more towards skimpy skirts and form-fitting tops while Alasia was comfortable in jeans and a tank top with some random cryptic phrase splashed across the front.

        “Don’t you know it.”

        “How’s work going?”

        “Same old, same old, just the regulars came in today.”

        “Is Daddy still here?” The dark-haired young woman stared at her. “What?”

        “You’re how old and still calling him ‘Daddy?’”

        “Hush you; it’s like how they say that we never stop being our father’s little girls. It’s not like he’s my daddy in the sick way.” Alasia shuddered. “I don’t even want to go there on that account.”

        “Yes, he’s here, probably back in the his office crunching numbers.” Maia wrinkled her nose as the barkeeper waved to get her attention. “Back to work for good little waitresses.”

        “You’re good?” The girls laughed.

        “Sometimes.” With that the shorter young woman rose to her feet and tied on her apron. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“If not, I know where you sleep.” Alasia also rose, careful to push the chairs back where they belonged, before winding her way through the tables of the club/restaurant for the select few allowed admittance.  She smiled and waved at several of the regulars and ducked down the hall that led back to the restrooms, the stock room and also to her father’s office.

        Jeanor Teal sat behind a large oak desk, chewing his lips as he stared at the glowing screen of his computer. He had short, sandy blonde hair that had a tousled look to it that was probably from him running his hair through it in a fit of confusion.

        “Bits and bytes confusing you again?” Jeanor jumped in his seat, nearly knocking over the glass of red liquid that sat perilously close to the keyboard. He turned blue eyes to look at her.

        “You frightened me, Kitten. And yes, I keep trying to get all these numbers in this spreadsheet, but whenever I attempt to key in a function I keep getting this error message.”

        “May I?” He wordlessly stood and motioned her to sit in his chair. “Daddy,” she began, keying buttons and clicking the mouse in a familiar fashion as she spoke. “I wanted to ask you something.”

        “You wanted to talk to me about the wisdom of all of us being together right now.” When she raised an inquiring blonde eyebrow he continued. “Your mother told me of your concerns when you left her earlier.” Jeanor, who didn’t look like he could be her father, more like an older brother, gently covered one of her hands with his own. “Times have become so technologically bound nowadays that most people are losing touch with their families except through links made of ones and zeros. I don’t want my family to lose the bonds that we have created over time. Perhaps owning a small town is an odd way to do it, but I wanted to find some way that would be memorable and tangible for all of us to keep close at hand even as we separate to follow the different paths life hands us as we’ve done in the past.”

        “I only hope that this doesn’t turn into a memorable moment where we look back on this town as the mistake that took one or several of us from this life forever.” Alasia rolled her hand over so that she could squeeze his hand. “We will always be a family and the way we have grown through the years together will always cement our relationships to each other like none of the ties made in these times will ever be.  I love you, mom and Maia with my heart and my soul and won’t ever forget any of you. I’m finished.” Regaining her feet, she headed towards the door.

        “Don’t forget to find love elsewhere as well, my dear. The man who’s meant to love and care for you for the rest of eternity is still out there waiting for you, don’t give up on looking for him. Maia has her flings but the man out there for you will be yours wholly as I have been for your mother.” Alasia was silent for a moment, merely gazing down at her feet as she listened, then she looked at him.

        “I haven’t given up. I’ve felt what it’s like for a little while and can still remember. He’ll find me in time for sure.” Jeanor’s eyes widened in surprise at this announcement.

        “Who was it then?”

        “When the earth shakes as he walks in the room it’s obvious that’s what it is.” She braced a hand on the door, pushed it open, and walked out.

        Wayne sat on the couch in Annie’s apartment; an unlit cigarette hanging from his lips as he watched the sun began its journey downward towards the horizon. He heard the sounds of Annie stirring in the bedroom, she was probably wondering why he wasn’t by her side, but that wasn’t anything like him. Without a word to her in farewell, the young man quit spinning the lighter through his fingers and snuck out, soon finding himself on the sidewalk by his truck. A glance down Main Street revealed the glowing lights of a sign that simply read ‘Ray’s’ in the fading light of the dusk. Smiling for the first time, he started in that direction.