Page 122 of I Am the Messenger

He protests, sitting forward. "Oh no, Ed, I could never do that. Never! I've got a lot to do here, and you young folks should be alone down there. You know," he says, "to get up to some mischief."

"Come on, Bernie," I say. "We'd love to have you."

"No, no, no." He's adamant. "I can't."

After another minute or so of arguing, I give up and head back down to the cinema. When I sit next to Audrey again she asks where he is.

"He didn't want to interrupt us," I tell her, but as I make myself comfortable in my seat, the back door opens and Bernie stands there in the light. He walks slowly down toward us and sits on the other side of Audrey.

"Glad you could make it," she whispers.

Bernie looks across at both of us. "Thank you." His exhausted eyes blink with gratitude, and he faces the screen, alive.

Maybe fifteen minutes later, Audrey finds my hand on the armrest. She slips her fingers onto mine and takes them. When she softly squeezes me I look across and discover that she holds Bernie's hand as well. Sometimes Audrey's friendship is enough. Sometimes she knows exactly what to do.

Her timing can be perfect.

Everything's going fine until the reel needs to be changed.

Bernie's asleep again. We wake him.

"Bernie," says Audrey quietly. She shakes him a little.

When he wakes up, he jumps from his chair and shouts, "The reel!" He moves quickly toward the aisle, and when I turn to look up at the projection room, I notice.

There's already someone in there.

"Hey, Audrey," I say. "Look," and we both stand and fix our eyes on the window. "There's someone up in the room." It feels like the air holds its breath around us until I finally get moving. I push past and head for the aisle.

At first Audrey doesn't know what to do, but soon I hear her feet behind me. I run up the aisle with my eyes gripped to the shadow in the projection room. It sees us, and its movements quicken accordingly. It exits the room almost frantically when we're halfway to the cinema door.

Out in the foyer, I can smell tension among the stale popcorn and carpet. The smell of someone been and gone. I head for the Staff Only door. Audrey's right behind me.

When we get to the room, the first thing I see is Bernie's shaking hands.

Shock flows down his face.

Across his lips to his throat.

"Bernie?" I ask. "Bernie?"

"He gave me an awful surprise," he says. "Nearly knocked me over as he was running out." He sits down. "I'm fine, Ed." Soon he points over at a pile of reels.

"What?" says Audrey. "What is it?"

"The one on top," Bernie answers. "That isn't one of mine."

He goes over and picks it up. He studies it. There's a small label on it with scuffed lettering. It says one word: Ed.

"Should we put it on?"

I remain still for a while but answer yes.

"You better get down to the theater," Bernie suggests. "You'll see it much better from there."

Before I go, I ask a question I have a feeling Bernie can answer.

"Why, Bernie?" I ask. "Why do they keep doing this to me?"