Friday Night Flights

by Susan X Meagher

  “The odds are not good,” Casey said, “but my mom seriously wants one for bread, even though she says she doesn’t. Maybe I’ll build one for her.”

  The pizza got cold, as well as limp, quickly, and they didn’t talk much at all while they rushed to beat the droop. But they’d eaten so quickly they each had a half pint of beer left.

  “I could go for another slice,” Avery said. “They need tiny little pizza pans for people who want just a few more bites.”

  “When I go out for pizza with the guys from work, we always order an extra for the table.” She laughed a little. “Most of them are still in their twenties and believe they can eat whatever they want. They’d better cut that out or start buying bigger pants.”

  Avery thought of Janelle again, wondering if she’d started to stress-eat or if she’d truly never lost her pregnancy weight. Even though she was a jerk, struggling with a large weight gain wasn’t anything Avery wished on her. “Uhm, I can tell you’re not interested in talking about Janelle, but I had some thoughts after seeing her, and I’d like to…clear the air?”

  “The air’s not clear?”

  “No. It’s not clear at all.”

  She must have looked very serious, because Casey gulped down the rest of her beer, like she was prepping herself for bad news.

  Avery reached over and covered her hand, holding it for a few seconds. “When you and I first ran into each other at the Greenhouse, I had brief, but very unpleasant memory of how Janelle used to tease you.”

  “Bully,” Casey said, with her eyes narrowing. “She bullied me until I pushed her up against a locker one day and told her to knock it off or I’d beat the crap out of her.”

  “You did?” Avery knew her mouth had dropped open, but she was truly stunned.

  “I did.” Her jaw was set, eyes narrowed. But then her features softened slightly. “She didn’t tell everyone?”

  “She didn’t tell me,” Avery said. “That’s something I would have remembered.”

  “Huh. She swore she was going to call the police,” she added, with her features further softening as she actually laughed a little at that. “She acted like I’d pulled a knife on her.” Her smile grew slightly, making her look satisfied with herself. “She never called me Van Dope again, though, so it would have been worth being hauled down to the station.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Avery said, squeezing her hand before letting it go. She wanted to hold onto that strong, sure hand, to clasp it close until she was sure Casey knew how bad she felt, how ashamed of herself she was.

  “I don’t have any memory of you actually calling me names, you know. You’re not responsible for your friends being jerks.”

  Avery gazed at her, sure her suspicion showed clearly in her expression. “Do you honestly believe that?”

  “What? That you’re not responsible for your friends?”

  “Yeah. Exactly that.”

  She was quiet for a minute, then shook her head. “No, I don’t really believe that.”

  “Neither do I.” When Casey’s gaze met hers, she said, “My grandmother used to say ‘Know me, know my friends.’ It took me a while to figure out what it meant, but it’s often a hundred percent true.”

  “I think your grandmother was right.” She stopped and gave Avery such a sad look that her pulse quickened. “But I wish she wasn’t.”

  “So do I,” Avery said, on the verge of tears. “I hung out with Janelle because we both had the same goals, academically at least. But I knew she was mean to you and to anyone else she felt superior to. Hanging out with a cruel person was just an inch away from being cruel myself,” Avery stressed, “and I want you to know how sorry I am for having done that.”

  A ghost of a smile flitted across Casey’s features. “What should you have done? Decked her when she was being a jerk?”

  “I think there’s a happy medium. I should have told her off the first time she did it, and distanced myself permanently if she did it again. But I didn’t do that.” She took a deep breath and told the whole truth. “I didn’t draw a line with her because it didn’t really affect me much.”

  She could see a flash of pain infuse Casey’s eyes, with her own sense of shame getting heavier by the second. “That’s the part I’m sorry for. For not being empathetic to you and the other kids Janelle picked on. I see now that she just had horrible self-esteem, and was trying to knock other people down so she felt like she was on a higher step than they were. But it’s wrong in every way, and I was an unfeeling coward for letting her get away with it.”

  “Kinda harsh,” Casey said, pulling the last quarter of Avery’s beer over and downing it.

  “Not harsh enough. Everyone has their faults, but you can’t just look at the positive traits of your friends or your relatives or your public servants, for that matter. You’ve got to acknowledge their worst parts, and decide if you support that person. If someone had asked me if I’d like to hang around with a bully, I’d have thought they were crazy for even asking. But I ignored Janelle’s bullying because I could slough it off, since I didn’t actively participate. That’s something I’m going to feel awful about for…forever,” she realized.

  “Jesus,” Casey grumbled. “You hung out with a jerk, Avery. That’s not a hanging offense.”

  “I’m not saying it is. But I’ll never be the person who has always stood up to bullies. I screwed up, and I can’t unscrew that flaw in my character. I can only promise myself that I’ll never do it again.” She gripped Casey’s hand again and looked into her eyes. “I swear I’ll never let things like that slide. I won’t be a passive participant.”

  “Thank you,” she said quietly. “I don’t need much protecting now, but an awful lot of other people do.”

  “I know that. I really do know that.”

  “Thanks,” Casey said. Her chin was tilted down, and she shifted her gaze so it met Avery’s. “That night at the Pub, I would have blown you off if your mom hadn’t been there. I’m very good at acting like I don’t see people who’ve hurt me.”

  “I’m so glad my mom was there.”

  “I am too. I was surprised by how much I liked talking to you, but I certainly didn’t trust you. That took me a few months. After we met up again, that is. I hung in there, just waiting for you to do something cruel.” A small smile grew brighter. “I’m very glad I waited around.”

  “And just how long would you have waited if Lisbet hadn’t been in the picture?”

  “Ten…fifteen minutes. Tops,” she said, playfully trying to pull the bill from Avery’s hand. But she gave up very quickly, stood, and held the chair as Avery got up.

  Having Lisbet was fantastic in a hundred different ways, but the fact that the baby had kept Casey in the loop might have been one of her greatest, and hopefully most enduring feats.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  On the first day of April, Avery reached for the doorknob of her parents’ house, looking up when it opened to Casey’s smiling face, which was mirrored by Lisbet’s. “Your mom’s making meatloaf,” Casey said. “She knows I can’t resist.”

  “I feel very welcome,” Avery said. “Two friendly faces smiling at me puts a good spin on a busy day.” She reached for the baby and hugged her tightly. “I love my sweet girl,” she said, kissing her while she babbled, still just hitting her consonants hard, with no indication she was ready to try for actual words.

  Her mom’s voice rang out from the kitchen. “If there are two baby sitters out there, one of them could come in here and make a salad.”

  “I’ll let you have a minute with Lisbet,” Casey said. “I’ll take kitchen duty.”

  “It takes a village,” Avery said. “Every kid should have at least four adults keeping an eye on her.”

  “Only four?” Casey asked, hurrying to the kitchen to lend a hand. “I think six is about right.”

  ***

  Casey and Kathy were in the living room with the baby, with Avery and Ken cleaning up after dinner. Casey was meeti
ng some of the guys for a beer, and she went into the kitchen to say goodnight, finding Avery leaning against the counter, texting.

  “I thought you were helping,” Casey said, whipping the phone from her hand and placing it on the counter.

  “She’s texting with her girlfriend,” Ken said, with Avery taking her dish towel and snapping it against his arm. “She’s as bad as she was in junior high.”

  “Is she on the phone with Faith again?” Kathy called out.

  “She’s my assistant,” Avery said. “We’ve got a million things to accomplish.”

  Kathy entered the room, lightly holding Lisbet’s hand. She grabbed the phone, blocking Avery from getting it back. “She’s asking if you’ve ever been to Egypt, honey,” she said, batting her eyes ingenuously. “Is that part of your summer program?”

  Avery was clearly not angry, but she did look a little embarrassed. “I like her, okay? Forgive me for making a friend.”

  “Oh, I think it’s cute,” Kathy said, wrapping her free arm around her waist. “Except for Casey, I haven’t watched you form a new friendship in years. But your father’s right,” she teased. “You’re exactly like you were in junior high. Although you were talking on the phone back then, not typing constantly.”

  “So? Have you been to Egypt?” Casey asked, slipping the phone from Kathy’s hand to give it back to Avery. “Your buddy wants to know.”

  “I haven’t, but if I could tag along with Faith and her friends, I’d sign up in a minute.”

  “Her husband’s not going?” Kathy asked.

  “Nope. He doesn’t like to travel. Faith has developed a network of friends who either don’t have partners or have ones who don’t like to travel. They’ve been everywhere,” she said, sighing. “Wouldn’t it be fun to travel with a group of friends?”

  “Not really,” Casey said, with both Kathy and Ken agreeing. “It’s a pain in the butt just to get my co-workers to decide what bar to hang out in on Monday nights.” She checked her watch. “Tonight I’ve got to hightail it over to Rhinebeck to act like I’m sampling beer for work.” She ruffled Avery’s hair, then did the same to Lisbet. “See you soon. Don’t text so much your fingers hurt.”

  Lisbet looked up at Casey with an expectant expression.

  “Got to go, baby,” she said, waving.

  Lisbet looked like she was about to cry, with her lip sticking out for a second. She pulled her hand away from her grandmother, then squatted down like she was going to crawl. But she changed her mind and kept much of her weight on her feet, while putting her hands in front of her. While they watched this new tactic, she rocked forward, shifting more weight onto her hands. Then she spread her feet a little wider apart, then stood all on her own—no pull-up this time. She wobbled a little for a second, looking slightly drunk, still staring at Casey. Then she yelled at her, nothing decipherable, but clearly expressing her displeasure with her attempts to leave.

  “Do you want to go with me?” Casey asked, starting to back up.

  Avery got into the game, squatting down next to the baby. “Casey’s going home, Sweet Pea.” She pulled her phone out, saying, “It’s movie time. Let’s put one foot in front of the other, sweetheart.”

  “Come with me,” Casey said, bending over and taking a few more steps back.

  “Go slow and keep taunting her. That sounds meaner than it is,” Avery added, laughing. “I’ll have to find a way to edit out my voice so she doesn’t think I’m a jerk when we watch this years from now.”

  “Come on, Lisbet,” Casey said, extending her hands. “You’ve got this.”

  She stuck her little hands out, kind of robot-like, and took one step. Everyone in the room held their breath as Lisbet’s eyes got big when she realized she was going solo. Then her other foot lifted and touched the ground, toe first. As her heel lightly settled onto the floor the other foot lifted, then she knocked off another three quick steps before falling headfirst into Casey’s arms.

  “You did it!” she yelped, fighting to stop herself from crying. “You really walked!”

  “My baby girl’s turning into a big girl right before my eyes,” Avery said, reaching up to wipe her eyes as well. She turned the phone around, clearly showing the tears. “Lisbet, when you’re a little older and you watch this, I hope you can see how crazy we all are about you. You are one well-loved baby.”

  Casey kissed Lisbet’s cheeks, then gave her a robust hug. “I’m texting Ben to tell him I’m going to be late. I can’t leave when this little slugger learned to walk just to keep me here a little longer.”

  ***

  That Saturday afternoon, Casey was at Avery’s house, babysitting while Avery was meeting with a writer all the way down in Peekskill. She had to travel a lot to meet with the people she was rounding up for the summer, but she seemed to get a real surge of creative energy from the whole process.

  Lisbet was sleeping, taking an abnormally long nap, so Casey wandered around Avery’s room, looking at the piles of short stories that had been pouring in. Avery had put out a call for submissions to all sorts of places, and was about to stumble from the weight of the response. But she had two interns in the city who helped pick the ones with potential, leaving Avery and Faith a smaller pile to get through.

  They already had the big name writers for June, July and August, so they were now picking the second and third stories for each program. It didn’t seem like it would be that hard to pick six stories, but Avery really labored over the process. Casey’s admiration for her had grown even stronger when she’d seen what care she took in making the piles into smaller categories. Looking at the titles she’d written on 3x5 cards, she smiled. “Four stars; Three stars; Promising; Close—needs mentoring; Can’t Be Fixed.” Knowing Avery, she was going to figure out a way to get the people from at least two of those last three groups some help. She might not get it done this year, but she’d get it done. If there was one trait she had that never faltered, it was her tenacity.

  Avery came home while Lisbet was still down. She came up the stairs quietly, not even making the top step squeak the way it normally did.

  “How’s it going?” she asked when she entered the room and shut the door. Then she walked over to the baby monitor and listened carefully while she kicked off her shoes.

  “Good,” Casey said, letting her gaze linger while Avery took off her sweater. She wasn’t dressed up like she sometimes was, but she still looked really good, with a pair of slim-fit khakis and a tailored navy blue blouse with a geometric pattern. No matter what she wore, her breasts strained the seams of her clothing. Casey was sure that was temporary, but she was going to miss those full breasts when Lisbet finally stopped nursing. She’d never get to touch them, but just knowing they were there was pretty nice. When Avery looked up, she switched her attention to her phone, and started to make a note. “Hey, want to give me a hand?”

  “Sure.” Avery walked over to Casey, who was sitting at the desk. They’d gotten a little more comfortable with each other, and it wasn’t odd to have Avery stand next to her and casually drape an arm across her shoulders. Well, it might have been casual for Avery, but Casey’s skin tingled where that warm flesh touched her own. “What are you doing?”

  “Typing up a list for Tara,” she said. “Since she doesn’t have any pregnant friends, she’s flying blind. I thought I could make a list of all of the stuff you used a lot in the last year.”

  “So you don’t want the goofy stuff I got at my shower? Like the very expensive dress Lisbet grew out of by the time she was a month old?”

  “Just the important stuff,” Casey said, with her thumbs hovering over the keyboard. “I don’t think she’s having a shower, so she’s got to buy everything.”

  “No shower? Doesn’t she have friends?”

  “Yeah, she said she does, but…” She shrugged. “Her friends seem clueless. I’m going to take up a collection at Baby Brewers so we can buy her something big like a stroller or a crib.”

  “Of course
you are,” Avery said, gently stroking her hair. “I would expect nothing less.”

  Casey could feel her cheeks coloring from the compliment. “I feel bad for her. She thinks this is going to be a no-brainer.”

  “I can help out, too. Rebecca from work only took about half of Lisbet’s things, since she had a family shower and a work shower. Ask Ben if he’d mind my passing on the infant seat he lent us. That was a lifesaver. Oh, and the knockoff floor chair I found at the resale shop. Lisbet’s chubby legs can barely fit into it now.”

  “Thanks,” Casey said, thinking Avery was every bit as generous as she was. She was just a little quiet about it.

  ***

  The next morning, Casey tried to think of reasons to get up. She had things to do later in the day, but it was just ten a.m., and her dad was making a racket outside. She had no idea what he was doing, but she could tell he was using a gas-powered machine to do it. She let herself daydream about what it would be like to have the kind of relationship where they worked together on a project, but that wasn’t going to happen, and she tried to push the thought from her mind.

  Her phone rang and she picked it up. “Hey buddy. What’s going on?”

  “Baseball tryouts for a traveling team. Ghent. Benji asked me to invite you. We’ll come by and pick you up.”

  “Right now?”

  “About twenty minutes. Why? You busy?”

  “I’m free until two. I’m still in bed, though. I’d have to shower and get some breakfast.”

  “Seriously? You’re just waking up from last night? Damn it, Casey, sometimes I’m so jealous of you it makes me crazy.”

  “Don’t be jealous of me.” She laughed. “Well, I’m pretty awesome, so it makes sense that you would be. I’ll be ready in fifteen,” she said, hanging up before he could call her names.

  ***

  As soon as they got to the field, Benji ran off with a kid he knew from school, leaving Ben and Casey to sit in the stands and watch. “Well, this is fun,” she said. “Watching from such a distance I can barely tell which one he is.”