Double Mocha, Heavy On Your Phone Number

by June Kramin

“Oh yeah.” He used a tone that made his mother stop walking.

  “What happened?”

  “Imagine the worst.”

  “Okay.”

  “Now add some more.”

  “You can’t be telling me she made a pass at you.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m telling you, only add some more again.”

  “Are you serious? Didn’t she know you were Ellie’s boyfriend?”

  “That’s why she did it. Apparently it’s her favorite pastime. I caught on before it got too far, but damn.”

  “Poor Ellie. She’s a stronger woman than I am. I don’t know if I could forgive that.”

  “And she did, twice.”

  “Twice?”

  He nodded. “I think if we talk anymore it should over a beer while we pack up at Gramps’s house.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Chapter Forty

  Bix’s mother stopped and picked some boxes while Bix ran for Leinenkugel Berry Weiss for her. She wasn’t a big beer drinker, but he knew she liked that flavor.

  They talked as they packed up pictures. Sue was sad for Ellie when she learned what she had gone through with her fiancé and family.

  “You’re sure it’s not too soon to move in together? I can talk to your father.”

  “I’m not doing it because of that, Mom. You know I could afford to rent a place. Yes, I admit it’s a little soon, but it just feels right. I love you for worrying, but don’t. I know her well enough to know how to handle her.”

  “Handle her? A live-in girlfriend is nothing to ‘handle,’ young man.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Do I? You still haven’t told me what happened between you and Ginger. I thought I’d be expecting my first grandchild by now.”

  “I didn’t want to speak ill of her. It just didn’t work out.”

  “And you’re sure you’re not on a rebound?”

  “No. Absolutely no. I don’t want her back. It’d been over long before that anyway.”

  “I don’t want you hurting this girl.”

  “Not gonna happen. I know it seems like we’re rushing into this, but we’re not.”

  “If Gramps hadn’t died, you’d be moving in?”

  “Maybe not right now, but yes, I think we would be.”

  “Think?”

  “Know, Mom. Know. Why the T.F.D. here?” When she looked at him with a blank expression he said. “Third effing degree.”

  “Watch your mouth,” she scolded him, and then took a sip of beer. “I’m your mother. Worrying is what I do. You have my blessings, not that you need them. I like her.” They heard the door open and close then the stomping of shoes. “Please stay,” Sue begged.

  “I have dinner with Ellie’s brothers in an hour, Mom. Do you need me to stay?”

  “No, I’ll be fine. I didn’t want you storming away again.”

  “How’s packing coming along?” Bix’s dad asked when he entered the room.

  “Just fine,” Sue said. “I wanted to start with the pictures. Are there any that you’d like?”

  “I’m not much for old pictures, Sue. Take ’em for the kids. You find the key for that safe?”

  “Not yet. I know your mother had an old jewelry box somewhere; I haven’t come across it yet though. I thought the key may be in there.”

  “Maybe I can take a torch to it. He has one out in the shop.”

  “Just give it another day, Dad. Damnit. What’s your rush to clean this place out?”

  “You may be on a break and in between jobs but I’m not. I have two days this trip to figure out what to do with everything.”

  “Everything you can sell you mean.”

  “That’s right. I didn’t have your cushy city life. I worked this farm from the time I was walking. What’s here is mine. I earned it. Think what you want, but I was here when the geezer needed me and a strong back. Not when he needed a buddy to play card games with him.” He motioned his hand to the magazine table with a couple of the games they had recently played on it. “I’ll be listing the house with an auction company in the spring. You can stay till it sells.”

  “I’ll have everything out by Tuesday. That soon enough for you?”

  “That’s fine.” He returned his attention back to Sue. “I’ll be out in the shop.”

  He walked out and Bix sat down hard on the couch. “How could he not give a shit at all?”

  “I’m not going to make excuses for him. Let’s do what we can while we can. Come help me in the bedroom. If we can find that key, maybe we can keep your father from burning the place down.”

  They had already spent a day searching the office with no luck and had temporarily given up. With the will at the lawyers, they weren’t in a panic about it.

  After rushing to the bedroom, Sue checked the dresser drawers and pulled everything out from under the bed while Bix searched the closet. Still no jewelry box. “I know he couldn’t have gotten rid of that box. It was a collector’s item in itself.”

  Bix pulled a few shoeboxes off a top shelf. “Maybe there will be something in here.” He popped the top off of one. It was packed with receipts. A second held shoes. In the third were old letters. “Look at these, Mom.”

  She took one and looked at it. “They’re letters he wrote Grandma when he was away at war. I’d like to take these.”

  “Do, before Dad burns them.”

  “Come on. Keep looking.”

  “Maybe the jewelry box is in the safe.”

  “Then we really need to find that key.” Sue looked around the room and her eyes fell to top of the antique armoire. “What’s that up there? That glass. It looks like a fishbowl. Can you reach it?”

  He reached up and grasped it by the lip and pulled it down. It was filled with marbles in a variety of sizes. He took a large one out and studied it. “I wonder if they were his when he was a kid.”

  “More likely your father’s.”

  Bix poured the contents onto the bed. His mother spread them out and they both saw it. A gold key. “Holy crap.”

  “Go get your father. I don’t want to be accused of taking anything out of there.”

  “Fuck him.” Bix took the key and walked towards the office.

  “Bartholomew Ian Xander, don’t you dare use that language and don’t you dare open that up!”

  “Don’t you dare use that name,” he scoffed back, mocking her tone. “If I had found this days ago, the safe would already be open. No big deal.”

  They heard the door open and close again. Bix didn’t stop from his task. His mother walked over to her ex-husband, trying hard to avoid another fight between them. “We found the key. You can leave the torch there. Bix is opening it up now.”

  Together they walked into the office. Bix was standing in front of the safe holding a plain white envelope.

  “What is it, dear?”

  He turned around and held it up. “It has Ellie’s name on it.”

  “Ellie’s?”

  He could only nod.

  “What’s in it?” his father asked.

  “I’m not opening it. It’s for her!” He had to refrain from adding “dickweed.”

  “What else is in there?” His father hurried over and Bix quickly seized a jewelry box that sat on top of a stack of envelopes in various sizes.

  “Whatever is in here is Mom’s. It’s heirloom stuff. It should be split up among the girls. I won’t have you taking it to a pawn shop for a quick buck.” He held it away and waited for a fight.

  His dad ran his hand down his face. “Fine.”

  Bix offered it to his mother and she hugged it to her chest. Right now, the contents could wait. Bix pulled the next envelope out. It had his name on it. “What the heck?”

  His dad reached in and picked up the stack of smaller envelopes and flipped through the names. “It’s all the grandkids.” He gave them to Sue and pulled out the larger manila envelopes. He took them to the desk and started opening them up.

 
“It’s stocks.”

  Sue walked over and looked over his shoulder at them. “Old AT&T stock. I bet they’re worth something.” Bix was walking out of the office when Sue called out to him. “Where are you going?”

  “Dinner plans with Ellie’s brothers, remember? I’ll help you pack up more stuff tomorrow.”

  “I can help her,” his dad said.

  “Whatever.” Bix put his coat and boots on and left the house.

  “Give him time, Bart,” Sue said.

  “Time? It’s been over twenty years.”

  “But you haven’t made much of an effort at getting to know him. Let him get used to the idea of you being in his life again.”

  “He’ll hate me no matter what I do.”

  “If that’s the attitude you’re going to have then that’s all there ever will be.” She leaned down to kiss his cheek, but he turned his head and caught her on the lips.

  “I’ve missed you, Sue.”

  “This is not the time or the place.”

  “It’s the first place we ever made love. If this isn’t the place, where is?”

  Chapter Forty-One

  Bix had his first beer finished before Nick and Nathan showed up. He was early, but he wanted to leave the house. He thought about going to the hospital to give Ellie her envelope, but he figured he could spend more time with her later. Holly was really breaking the rules letting him visit her. He was grateful for that. Whatever the envelope held, it could wait another couple of hours.

  “See there, Nick,” Nathan said as he slapped Bix on the shoulder. “He wasn’t too chicken to show up after all.”

  “Is this the brotherly hazing ritual?”

  “Not if you’re buying,” Nick said as he took a stool next to Bix.

  Bix motioned the bartender over. “That I can handle.” After they got their beers, they wandered over to the pool table.

  “Any good at nine ball?” Nathan asked.

  Bix shrugged. “I suppose I can hold my own.”

  They played two rounds of pool while they got acquainted. Ellie’s brothers had moved four hours north to Walker after purchasing a resort there. The tourist and fishing industry had been good to them.

  “We kept trying to get Ellie to move up there. Walker is a nice small town. There are four or five coffee shops there. If that’s what she wants to do, she could still do it there.”

  “She didn’t want to go?”

  “No. She’s not one for change I guess. Seems pretty content just sticking around here. We needed something new. If you don’t farm these parts, there isn’t a lot else going on.”

  They had a few more beers over burgers. “You look in rough shape, my friend.,” Nick said to Bix. “You all right?”

  “Just family bullshit. Sorry. I don’t mean to be a downer.”

  “The will reading not go so well?”

  “Went as I expected.” He reached for his coat that was hanging on a hook outside the booth. He pulled out the two envelopes and showed them.

  “He left something for El?” Nathan asked.

  “Yup.”

  “What is it?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll let her open it later.”

  “What about yours?”

  “I figured I’d open mine with hers.”

  “Is that it for inheritance? I mean, I don’t want to sound cold or anything. You just hear these stories about these old farm sites.”

  “He left me the tractor and what was in the shed.”

  “What was that?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Huh?”

  “There’s a lot of out buildings. I’ve only been in the barn and the shop.”

  “What are you waiting for?” Bix just shrugged. Nick got out and pulled at Bix by the T-shirt. “Let’s go snoop in the shed.”

  They bought a six-pack from the bar before heading out and drove together in Nathan’s truck. Bix wasn’t the most comfortable with the idea of drinking and driving, but he wasn’t about to play mother hen with Ellie’s brothers, either. They grew up here and knew all the back roads.

  “No one is gonna pull us over. The sheriffs never take the dirt roads,” Nick insisted.

  They approached Gramps’s farm from the back, which is where the shed sat. Bix didn’t want to drive past the house if his dad was still there. “This is it.”

  “Looks about ready to fall over.” Nathan laughed.

  “Probably its fate anyway. Dad will sell the place and I’m sure it’ll get tilled up and farmed.”

  “Well let’s get your loot outta there before it falls in,” Nathan said, with a hearty laugh and a slap on Bix’s back. He took a flashlight out of the glove box and they walked over to the door.

  “Got a lock on it,” Nathan said, shining the light on the door.

  “Amazing my dad hasn’t tried to check it out,” Bix said as he took a long swig of beer.

  Nick picked up an old milk can that was sitting off to the side as a decoration. “You care?” He held it up, asking Bix for permission.

  “Be my guest. I guess it’s mine so it’s not breaking and entering.”

  It took four tries, but the old lock finally gave out. Nick removed it and pushed the door open. Right away, something flew over their heads and they ducked. “Jesus, Joseph, and Mary I hope that was a bird and not a bat,” Nick said.

  “Pussy hates bats,” Nathan said as he gave Bix a jab.

  “Up yours,” Nick replied. “I’m pretty sure I heard your ass scream like a girl.”

  “Hey,” Bix said. “Don’t go giving girl screams a bad name. That was a much higher pitch.” Nathan gave him a friendly shove through the door then searched for a light switch. He found an old box and lifted the lever up. Six four-foot double tube fluorescent fixtures flickered to life and the men stood with their jaws hitting the floor.

  “Fuck me,” came out of Bix’s mouth.

  “I think I’m in love,” Nate said.

  “Buddy,” Nathan said, joining in. “Forget my sister. I think I want you.”

  They walked slowly to the three vehicles. A blue ’53 Chevy Bel Air, a black ’66 Corvette Stingray, and a red ’69 Chevy Camaro with white rally stripes down the hood. They were rendered speechless at the immaculate condition of the vehicles. They walked around each one, only able to whistle and occasionally say, “Holy shit.”

  Bix climbed in the Corvette and the other two men picked one and followed suit. Finding the key in the ignition, Bix started it up. It purred like a kitten. He gave it a rev and once again said, “Fuck me.”

  Ellie’s brothers started the ones they were in as well. He could hear loud hoots of laughter as they each gunned the engines. Bix finally turned his off and walked around admiring it for several minutes. Nathan ran out for the beer while Bix and Nick hopped up on a workbench and continued to admire the vehicles.

  “You had no idea there were here?”

  “Not a clue. He drove an old eighties Chevy POS truck for crying out loud. I just don’t get it.”

  “Some guys are eccentric about their car collections. Apparently yours was partial to Chevy. I wonder if he had plans to fix up the truck.”

  “It’s not that kind of truck. It was a work truck. Rusted out to beat hell.”

  Nathan joined them and gave them each a beer. “So. You running away with me?” Nathan asked, lifting the beer to his mouth. Before he made it, Nick hit the top of Nathan’s bottle with his own beer and it foamed heavily, spilling out the top. Nathan put his mouth over it trying to save what he could.

  “You asshole.”

  “He loves me,” he said to Bix, who laughed, wondering what he missed out on by not having a brother.

  “What are you going to do with them?”

  “Keep ’em I guess.”

  “They’re probably worth a fortune.”

  “Probably, but I couldn’t just sell them. Gramps must’ve loved them and he gave them to me. If he wanted them sold off, he would have given them to my old man.”
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  “I know what one my sister is gonna have her eye on.”

  They all said together, “The red one,” then laughed.

  “So she can drive the Camaro,” Bix said. “She’ll look good in it.”

  “Really, dude. I’ll have to take the ’Vette off your hands. That’s a real chick magnet and you don’t need it. You have my sister.”

  “Sure. You only like me for my hot cars,” he teased, pretending to wipe away a tear.

  “We liked you before the hot cars, fucktard. Now we love you.” It was Nathans’s turn to smack Bix’s beer with his. Bix hurried to try to save what he could as well.

  Bix hopped down. “Come on. I want to go see Ellie. We’re pushing it for time even if you are doing the nurse, Nick.” He pulled out his cell phone. “I gotta snap a couple of pictures and show her this.”

  “She’s gonna crap,” Nick said. “Ellie was more into that than we were. I think it was ’cause of — ”

  Nathan elbowed him and he stopped talking.

  “I know about Tony. It’s all right.” Bix snapped the pictures and they walked out.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Ellie’s brothers were too excited about the cars to leave Bix alone with her right away. They carried on about them for a half an hour. Bix finally removed the envelopes from his jacket and held them up. He cleared his throat and waved them hoping her brothers would get the hint.

  “Oh, right. I guess you should do that,” Nathan said. “We’ll go see Nance. Come on.” He pulled Nick by the shirt. “Oh hey, numbnuts,” he shouted to Bix from the doorway. “Cancel that mover. We can help take care of your stuff.”

  “You sure? You guys are sticking around for a while?”

  “What else we gonna do? The resort is closed for the season. I know where you live. Give us a call when you’re ready.”

  “I appreciate it. Thanks, guys.”

  “You can thank me with one word,” Nathan said.

  “Let me guess. Stingray?”

  “Yes!” Nathan pulled his elbow to his side then walked away playing the air guitar.

  “They are a couple of nut jobs, aren’t they?” Bix laughed as he took Ellie’s hand.

  “Couldn’t have gotten through my childhood without them. What’s with the envelopes?”