Susan X. Meagher - The Legacy

by Susan X Meagher

  “That’s Baltimore. Always a surprise.”

  They went to a café and ordered lunch. While they were waiting for their meals, Noel pulled out an envelope. “I can tell you’re bothered by my neighborhood, but there’s a benefit to living in the city.”

  “Besides ready access to crack?”

  “Yep.” She opened the envelope and pulled out two tickets. “The O’s. Tonight.”

  Toni’s eyes lit up as she took the tickets and gazed at them. “I’ve never had seats this good. Never.”

  “Andy got them for us. His company owns a box.”

  “Can I date Andy instead of you?” Toni asked, her eyes so fixed on the tickets that she didn’t see the punch coming at her arm until it hit.

  ***

  That night they went to a sports bar Noel often went to with her friends. It wasn’t far from Camden Yards, and the place was jumping with Orioles fans having a meal before the game. The food was perfect for a hot summer night—juicy hamburgers and cold beer. They left in plenty of time to get to their seats and were both impressed with the tickets that Andy had been able to get for them.

  “These seats are awesome,” Toni said. “We usually decide to come at the last minute, and get the dregs.”

  “I like coming nice and early.”

  “I do too. Every once in a while we luck out and get good seats. Then we come for batting practice.”

  “You said your brother got seats the last time you came. His name’s Tracy, right?”

  Toni laughed. “No, that’s my sister. My brother is Terry.”

  “What’s with the T’s?”

  “We haven’t been able to get a good answer on that. I don’t know if our parents didn’t have a plan or if they’re ashamed of it.”

  “It’s kinda nice to have some uniformity. I know your sister works in fashion merchandising, but I forget where she lives.”

  “She and my brother both live around DC. He’s a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry, but he never has any samples, so don’t ask.”

  Noel flipped her hand in Toni’s direction. “Alcohol is my only drug. Are your siblings as close to your parents as you are?”

  Toni spent a moment hoping they wouldn’t have to talk about this stuff once the game started. Then she wasted another few moments trying to categorize the various connections, wanting to be accurate. “Kinda, but in different ways. My brother and my mom are pretty close and my sister gets along equally well with both of them. Luckily, all three of us kids get along great.” She didn’t go into the way her father treated her brother. That would make both of them look bad. If Noel ever met them she could make up her own mind about whether her father disrespected Terry or if Terry intentionally tried to antagonize him.

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but if I didn’t know better, I’d think that your mom was dead.”

  Toni winced internally, wishing she’d hidden her real feelings better. She could go for years at a time in Rehoboth without mentioning her family. They were at the Yards, in fantastic seats! Were they even going to get to watch the game when it started? She focused and tried to cut it short. “I can think of a lot of smart comebacks for that, but I won’t use any of them.”

  “I don’t mean anything bad by that. You just never talk about her.”

  Toni shrugged. “We don’t do much together. I don’t wish her ill or anything, but I don’t think either of us would mind seeing the other less often.”

  “That must be terrible. When my mom and my sister and I get together, we act just like we’re all buddies. My mom’s a real hoot. I’m sorry you don’t have that same kind of closeness.”

  “We were never close. I don’t know if it’s because I was a disappointment in some way or she just didn’t like me, but she doesn’t seem fond of me. She never has.” She shrugged again, trying to keep her expression neutral. “It bothered me a lot when I was young, but I’ve gotten over it. I wish things were different, but they’re not.”

  “That’s very mature of you.”

  “Not really. It’s self-protective. I’m pretty good at that.” Being self-protective was a lot easier when someone wasn’t trying to pull information out of you.

  Noel put her hand on Toni’s leg and brushed it across her soft skin. “You might be a little too good at that. I think you have to leave yourself exposed to be in a successful relationship.”

  “See?” Toni laughed. “That’s why I haven’t been in one before.” She knew this wasn’t something she was going to be able to brush off, so she faced the music. She took her eyes off the players warming up and focused her attention on Noel. “Is that something I should add to my New Year’s resolution list?”

  “Maybe you could try it now. It’s quite a while until the New Year.”

  “I’ll give that my full consideration as soon as I go get another beer. What can I get for you?”

  “I’d love it if you’d get me a Boog’s BBQ beef sandwich to go with a beer?” She batted her eyes fetchingly.

  “I can’t say no to such a pretty woman. Even though I’ve got to go all the way out to center field.” She held out her palm and used the fingers of her other hand to show how far she had to walk. Then she grinned and planted a loud smooch on Noel’s cheek.

  As she walked up the stairs, Toni spent a few moments hoping Noel would stop with the questions. Things were what they were and talking about her mom and dad didn’t make anything different. That was one benefit of sleeping with strangers. They didn’t know if she was an orphan or one of twelve. A one-night stand appreciated the things she was good at, and didn’t nose around sensitive areas. Emotional ones, at least. Of course, she’d never had a one-night stand touch her like Noel did. Or make her heart race the way it did when she saw her. Or weigh on her mind nearly every minute of every day. Why was this so damned hard? Shouldn’t it be easy to be with someone you liked so much?

  ***

  When Toni returned, she handed Noel her neatly wrapped sandwich along with a beer.

  “Mmm…I love these sandwiches.” Noel opened the foil wrapper and noticed a large bite missing. “This one’s defective.” She held it up in front of Toni’s face. “Will you return it?”

  “That’s the delivery charge. I was tempted to get one for myself, but I thought there was a pretty good chance of exploding.” She shifted her gaze and looked Noel up and down. “You must have a freakishly fast metabolism.”

  Noel took a bite of her sandwich and nodded. “I guess that’s what it is. I’ve never been able to gain weight, but I’m not going to complain about it since no one in the world has any sympathy for me.”

  “Does it bother you?”

  “Yeah. I know I’d look better if I could put on ten or fifteen pounds, but I can’t manage to. It’s okay now, since being thin is fashionable, but I hated it when I was in junior high and high school. I looked like one of the boys until I was seventeen.”

  “Max was kind of the same way. She was thin all over, except for the beer belly that we all teased her about.”

  “That’s weird,” Noel said. “After I left Janet, I was depressed and started eating nothing but junk. I was probably eating a thousand to two thousand extra calories a day and not exercising at all. After about a month my pants started to get tight and every ounce I gained was right in the center of my belly. I guess genetics always wins.”

  “You don’t have an extra ounce on your belly now. How did you get rid of it?”

  “I have no idea.” She shrugged. “It just went away.” She took another bite of her sandwich and smiled sheepishly.

  “I promise I’ll empathize with your inability to gain weight if you’ll empathize with my ability to gain it as soon as I sit on my butt for a few days.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep. I broke my hand a few years ago, and I gained five pounds in two weeks. That ticked me off because I didn’t change my eating habits. Just not being active all day did it.”

  “I promise I’ll empathize if the need
ever arises, but don’t go hurting yourself just to test me.”

  Toni shook her head quickly. “I’m not that competitive.”

  “Do you mind if I ask a question about your dad?”

  “No. Just wait until we stand up for the National Anthem.”

  They stood and Noel sang along, sounding so sincere and patriotic that Toni found herself singing along too. They sat back down and waited for the O’s to take the field.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” Noel said, tapping her on the leg.

  Toni had hoped the sandwich and song would deter Noel from her investigative work. No luck. “What’s the question?”

  Noel looked slightly uncomfortable, but she pressed on, “Doesn’t it bother your dad that your mom doesn’t treat you very well?”

  “I think it does,” Toni said, thinking that was the proper response, even though she’d never considered it. “Maybe that’s why he overcompensates,” she ventured. She paused for a second to let the thought settle, and it seemed right. “He’s always treated me like I’m just about perfect. My mom has always been on him about me being his obvious favorite.”

  “I meant…I thought that…he might do something a little more direct. Like intervene and tell your mom to knock it off.”

  Toni laughed and shook her head, finding the mere thought of that too funny for words. “That will never happen.” She stood up and applauded with enthusiasm when the team took the field. Chills chased up her spine to be so close to the field. But when she sat back down Noel was looking at her with that keep-talking look she’d perfected. Toni reluctantly got back to work. “I love my dad to death, but my mom is the boss. In everything. I’ve never even heard them have a fight. When she says jump his only answer is, ‘How high?’”

  “That’s…how does that…make you feel about him?”

  Toni wanted to grind her teeth, but she knew Noel would see her and ask why the question made her so tense. Trying hard to sound casual she said, “That’s my dad’s thing. It’s none of my business how he and my mom interact.” She didn’t add that she’d much, much rather be alone than have her partner ordering her around like a prison inmate.

  ***

  On the way home, Toni was proud of herself and her team. The O’s had kicked butt and she had learned how to keep Noel from probing too deeply. If Toni went on the offensive and asked question after question solely about baseball and the place it played in Noel’s life, the evening passed like a lovely dream. She couldn’t imagine having a better night with a better companion. This wasn’t hard at all.

  ***

  They’d been home about a half hour and Noel was resting her head on Toni’s thigh. She was playing with her body, slowly teasing while they talked. “I think it’s funny that I don’t know your nieces and nephews names, but I know where every sensitive spot down here is.”

  Toni’s lazy, soft voice floated down. “Why don’t you prove it? I dare you.”

  “This little spot,” she said, touching a place right next to her clitoris, “is sensitive, but it’s not nearly as sensitive as it is on this side.” She touched the other side and Toni flinched. “See?” She looked up, beaming.

  “We have gone about this in a strange way. I feel like I know your body really well, too. But I don’t know your brother’s kids names. As a matter of fact, I don’t know what your dad does for a living.”

  “He’s retired. Or, I should say, semiretired. He was a stockbroker, and he still manages a few portfolios, but only from home. I don’t know what your dad does, either.”

  “He’s a carpenter.”

  “Cool. Just like you.”

  “I’m not a carpenter. I’m a plumber.”

  Noel’s head lifted abruptly. “What? You do carpentry.”

  “I do a lot of stuff. But I’m trained as a plumber. I’ve got my union card in my wallet if you want to see.”

  “But why?”

  “Why what?”

  “I’m not sure,” she said, laughing. “Something just doesn’t seem right. Why don’t you work full-time as a plumber? My dad always says plumbers are the best paid people in the country.”

  “He’s wrong about that, but we make a decent living. I don’t do it full time because I enjoy variety. Plus, it’s very hard work. You spend a lot of time crawling under and into things, and a lot of the time you’re lying on your back working on a pipe that’s leaking right over your face.”

  “If not plumbing, what’s your favorite thing to do?”

  “I like to frame.”

  “That’s carpentry. Why didn’t you do what your dad does?”

  “He encouraged me to go to trade school and I chose plumbing. I probably should’ve gone with electricity, but for reasons I don’t remember, I chose plumbing. Being an electrician is usually a cleaner line of work than being a plumber, but I’m stuck now.”

  “Why didn’t you go to school for carpentry?”

  “Oh. That wasn’t offered at the place I went. Just plumbing, HVAC and electric. In most areas carpentry isn’t considered a trade. Don’t know why, ’cause it’s just as hard to master.”

  “So, why’d he want you to go to school at all?”

  “I think his goal was to have me be expert at something he wasn’t expert at so we could do projects together.”

  “Have you done that?”

  “Oh, yeah. We’ve done a lot of things together. We’re doing a media room for my brother over Christmas. But my dad’s a foreman for a pretty big construction company, and he likes the job security, so we never started our own gig. He wouldn’t be happy being a roustabout like I am.”

  “How did your mom feel about you going to trade school?”

  “She was thrilled,” Toni said, sarcasm dripping. “She didn’t shed any tears when I moved to Rehoboth right after I finished trade school. I don’t think she wanted people in our town to know I worked with my hands.” She made an exaggerated licking action. “Or my mouth.”

  “I thought you were from Rehoboth.”

  “Nope. Lewes, where we catch the ferry to Jersey. It’s close, but not too close.”

  “So she doesn’t like your being a plumber or your being a lesbian.”

  “Correct on both counts. But I don’t hide who I am. I would proudly display both my tool-belt and my lover anywhere in Lewes.”

  Noel gently pinched Toni’s lips. “But you’ve never had a lover to take there.”

  “Maybe that will be yet another New Year’s resolution.” She decided she’d better start keeping a log, since those resolutions were piling up faster than she could keep track.

  ***

  The next day they spent a long time looking at Noel’s photo albums. After seeing dozens upon dozens of pictures of the happy, towheaded baby, Toni said, “I’m happy you got the parents you did.”

  “I am too.” Noel spent a moment considering life as a child of a single parent who was away at sea for months at a time. Max probably would have stuck her with her parents out in Kansas or Montana or wherever she was from. She felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude that things had worked out as they had. “My parents aren’t perfect, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything.”

  “How did they feel about you finding out about Max?”

  “They were fine. I think they would’ve been okay if I’d decided to try to find her years ago, too, but that’s a moot point now.”

  “They didn’t encourage you to try to find her?”

  “No, but that’s not surprising. I don’t think I’d urge my daughter to do that if I were in their position. If she wanted to find her birth mother, I’d support her, but I wouldn’t bring it up. It’s a very personal thing,” she said thoughtfully. “April wanted to find her birth mother, but she’s never been able to. My parents tried to help her, but they didn’t get anywhere.”

  “Why do you think April wanted to know?”

  “She’s just generally curious. I don’t think she had any deep dark psychological need to find her birth paren
ts, but she was interested.”

  “How about your brother?”

  “I think he’s forgotten that he’s adopted,” Noel said, laughing. “I’m sure Andy has an interior life, but he doesn’t share it.”

  “Are you guys much alike?”

  “In some ways. As you can see from the pictures, we don’t look too much alike, but I think we’re about the same as most siblings. How about yours? Are you like them?”

  “Not a whole lot. My brother has no mechanical skills whatsoever, and my sister likes guys.” She made a funny face and Noel put her arms around her and kissed her.

  “I’m very glad you like girls.”

  ***

  Toni spent the late afternoon dawdling, clearly trying to delay her departure. Noel answered the phone and told her brother she’d call him back later in the evening. After she hung up she said, “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Andy was talking to me about what I should do with the money I made this summer.”

  “Wow. He really is your financial advisor.”

  “No, silly. He was talking about my tax situation. After I’ve paid all of my expenses, I’m gonna clear about fifty thousand from the summer, and I don’t want to have to pay tax on all of that. He suggested I reinvest some of it and I was thinking it might be a good idea to redo the bathroom between rooms C and D. What do you think?”

  “If you have the money to spend, that’s a good place to start. I’ve fixed the shower pan in there at least three times. It’d be much more watertight if you bought a one piece shower enclosure.”

  “Would you have time to do the work?”

  “Of course.” She made a lecherous-looking grin. “I’d give you a discount in exchange for services.”

  “No way. I want to pay you what anybody else would pay.”

  Toni didn’t think that real girlfriends charged each other for favors. She did little jobs for Heidi and Jackie all the time. They never even offered to pay, and she would have been insulted if they had. Why would Noel want to pay? “When does your last guest leave?”