"I don't think so. He'll probably end up selling it when his business venture goes under."
"You mean the taking hunters on scouting trips or whatever?"
"No, that was just something to tide him over. He's got something else that he thinks will really strike it rich for him yet again. Any other questions dear? I've really got to go."
"I guess not. I love you mom."
"You too, Tory. Drive safely. Though it would be nice if you were to crash that car he bought you into a telephone pole."
"Ha, ha."
Lindsey got into the back seat of the car with a wave, rolling the window down and lighting another cigarette. It surprised her that her mother had responded when she'd told her that she loved her, because normally she ignored it. But with Lindsey a 'you too' was better than nothing she thought.
She stood for a moment, shivering as her mother's new car disappeared down the street. She wanted another cigarette, but she wasn't going to go upstairs and bother Tony and then come all the way back outside again. She yawned and wondered how drunk Langston had to be to have slept through all the bickering in the hall. She went to the door and opened it, stepping into the house and arming the alarm.
She went upstairs quietly, pausing to use the bathroom. She could hear Langston snoring loudly, even louder than usual in his present state of complete intoxication, but there was no noise from her room. She opened the door quietly, peeking at Tony.
He was sound asleep, curled up on his side, his arm stretched out like he was reaching for something. She was half tempted to go down the hall and take a peek at the ring he'd bought but instead she shut the door quietly and crawled into bed with him, pulling the covers up around them both. He reached out for her and she said softly "Tony?"
He mumbled something that she didn't catch and then his breathing returned almost immediately to the even breathing of sleep. It was definitely going to suck when she had to go back to school and face sleeping alone she thought.
Chapter 18
When she awoke the next morning Tony was gone. She sat up in bed with a sigh, wondering if he still wasn't feeling well. She put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, tossing her nightshirt into her overnight bag, wondering if she should bring her stuff down now or come back up for it.
Deciding that she may as well take her stuff down with her, she grabbed her bag, her purse and her jacket, slipped her feet into her shoes and exited her room. This may be the last time she saw this room she thought, but she didn't feel a bit nostalgic since she'd never liked it.
In the hallway, she paused for a minute wondering if there was anything in the room that she should take, since Lindsey had said that she wasn't coming back. But she didn't want any of the clothes in the closet, and all of her books and other possessions were at school besides her computer and it didn't look to be here. Let Langston take the clothes to goodwill, along with all of Lindsey's crap she thought. She didn't want the suede outfit that she'd worn on Christmas because it would remind her of when she'd found out that her father had neglected to tell her about his marriage.
She had a better understanding of the situation now. It was obvious that some of it at least had been her mother's doing like usual, but all in all she figured it was better to leave it behind. She didn't know how she was going to bring it up to her father about his marriage, but since she'd left him that message; she figured she had to.
She walked down the stairs, putting her bag on the floor in front of the couch. She could see that Tony wasn't in the kitchen, though she could see that a pot of coffee had been made, the pot sitting half empty. Langston was still snoring upstairs. She wondered whether she should knock on his door before they left to at least say goodbye. But he'd probably be embarrassed that he'd fallen into her mother's trap again and gotten drunk and slept with her when she pretty much had the divorce papers in hand she thought.
So she decided against it, not really wanting to face him with the stories her mother had told her about him sleeping with girls that were barely older than her. She hoped that she had enough money to cover the gas for Tony's car and the mustang both, because Tony sure as hell couldn't afford it with all the money he'd spent lately. He still had to go home, buy a new bed and replace the drugs that Eduardo had stolen.
She'd been planning on asking Langston to give her some extra cash to make sure that they had enough for gas but that was out of the question now. She'd thought about leaving her cell phone there, since she didn't want him to have to cover her bill with everything else. But figured that she'd better talk to Tony about it first, and make sure that he could afford to put her on his plan. When it came to money, Langston could certainly afford the extra $50 a month or whatever that it cost for her cell more easily than Tony could.
She dug in her purse for her phone and couldn't find it. She looked around for it on the table and the couch but it wasn't there either. She put her coat on and went outside in search of Tony.
He was outside in the back smoking a cigarette, talking on HER phone. What the hell she thought? She held out her hand for a cigarette. He handed her the pack and a lighter, listening to someone on the other end of the phone.
"I know," he finally said, watching her as she lit her cigarette. "Yeah. She's up now. Do you want to talk to her? Yeah, okay. It was nice talking to you too. Yeah, she mentioned that she'd asked you. Yeah. No, I don't. Yeah. You too. Let me give you to your daughter now."
Daughter she thought? He'd been talking to her father? She couldn't imagine her mother wanting to keep what she'd referred to as her 'boy toy' on the phone.
"Hello?"
"Tory?"
"Yes Dad."
He sighed. "I got your message."
"I um. . . I'm sorry Dad. I was upset. Mom explained to me. Well sort of. I never know how much to believe of what she says about you."
"I wanted to tell you honey. Your mother talked me out of it. Then it all went to hell and I didn't think there was any reason to bring it up. I'm not exactly proud that I was married to a woman that became pregnant with another man's child and tried to pass it off as mine."
"Mom said that it was pretty funny since the kid had dark hair and dark eyes which neither of you have."
"So she's Mom again? No more Lindsey? Are you two getting along better?"
"Sort of. We had a fight last night and both of us said some pretty mean stuff but that's nothing new. We're never really going to be close. We're not on the same wavelength."
"Nobody's expecting you to be a carbon copy of your mother honey. She tries, and she does love you."
"She tries to what? Make me miserable? Oh never mind Dad, I don't want to fight with you about this. Did you have a nice Christmas?"
"It could have been better. How about you?"
"It was all right I guess. I still miss Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's."
"Me too, sweetheart. Are you two getting ready to head back home?"
"Yeah. I hope I have enough for gas money."
"You still have the card don't you? For an emergency?"
"Yeah, but I don't want to use it."
"Use it if you need it, Tory. It's why I gave it to you."
"I know. But I don't want to put you in debt."
"Too late kiddo. It's okay. I'm so close to finally getting where I want to be in life. It's taken way too damn long, but I'm almost there."
"Are you trying to start a business Dad?"
"I'll tell you about it when I've got all the details worked out honey."
"Okay."
"So, I talked to Tony about you two coming to visit over spring break. You can take me for a ride in your fancy new car."
"Really Daddy?"
"Really, honey. I figured it was about time I spent some time with my daughter before she was all grown up. Let me know what days you have off. There's not a lot to do around here, but I'm sure we can find something."
"That's great. Thank you."
"Thank you Tory. I know I haven't been the world
's best father, but I'd like the chance to make it up to you."
"You've been a better Dad than Lindsey's ever been a Mom."
"Tory."
"Okay, okay. Do you have big plans for New Year's?"
"No. Just staying home. Trying to stay up to see in the New Year. Your Dad's getting old Tory."
"No you're not Dad."
"Have fun at your party. Tony told me that you were going to his Aunt and Uncle’s house."
"I will." She was sure it was definitely going to be a unique experience at least.
"Well sweetie, I guess I'd better let you go. Drive safely. Have a Happy New Year. Don't be afraid to call if you need anything."
"Okay Dad. I love you."
"I love you too, Tory. Take care honey."
"You too Dad. Bye."
She pushed the end button on the phone, giving Tony a look.
"Sorry," he said. "Your phone was on the couch. I picked it up without thinking."
"What did you two talk about?"
"Nothing much. How upset you were when Langston mentioned he'd been married and never told you."
"Great. Did you tell him that I felt like he didn't love me?"
"No. You don't really think that do you, Tor? Your mom, she's a different story. I can see how you might think that she doesn't love you. But your Dad was really freaking out. He thought you hated him."
"I could never hate him. Not really. It's just hard thinking that he lied to me."
"But you understand don't you? I caught part of what your mom said about his ex-wife before I fell asleep."
"I guess no one would be proud to be married to an ex prostitute."
"I don't think it's that. I think it's mostly about her trying to pass off another man's child as his."
"She must have thought my Dad was really dumb huh?"
"You'd be surprised what people believe when they want to."
"Are you feeling better? I don't have to take my car now if you don't feel up to driving."
"I'm okay. Just need to load up on caffeine again, probably smoke too much. When we get back to town I'm gonna buy a big bag of weed to take the edge off. It's a different high, but it's a high so I'll make it through. By the time you've got to go back to school the worst shit will have passed so I'll be okay."
"Are you sure?" She took his hand.
"Yep. Been through worse shit than this. I could conquer the world with you by my side." He gave her a sexy grin.
"I love you Tony."
"I love you too Tor. Aren't you going to check your messages?"
"Oh, yeah."
She dialed her voicemail, waiting impatiently for the recorded prompts to end. The message was from her mother, leaving her new number.
"So?"
"My mom leaving her new number. This surprises me since normally she would have waited like a month to give it to me. Maybe this old fart is good for her. You should have seen the plates on her new car. It said 'For my queen'."
Tony chuckled. "That's cute."
"It's not your mom who's marrying someone old enough to be her grandfather. Are we ready to head out?"
"I suppose so. Did you knock on Langston's door to see if he was awake?"
"No. I don't really want to face him with all the stuff my mom said about him."
"She may have been exaggerating."
"You know what? I don't think she was. I think that my mother was more honest with me last night than she's been in years. I think she really did care about Langston in her own twisted way and that she probably wouldn't have cheated if he hadn't done it first. It's pretty creepy though. I don't like thinking about it."
"Yeah. You gonna leave him a note at least? I found your mom's car keys in the hallway."
"He might want those. My mom is so weird. Everything is judged in her head by how expensive it is. Her Jag was more expensive than Langston's Mercedes I'm sure. But she hates the Jag and made Grandpa Loomis buy her a Mercedes."
Tony shrugged. "She's into appearances right? I think that with some people there's a point when it comes down to appearances rather than cost. You wouldn't find her living in a 5 million dollar house if she thought it was ugly. She'd choose the 1.5 million dollar house because she found it attractive."
"I guess so. I wonder why Langston didn't buy her a damn Mercedes. It doesn't make any sense. If another Mercedes would have been cheaper and she'd have liked it more what the hell? I can't imagine Lindsey keeping her mouth shut for one minute about the Jaguar if she thought it was so damned ugly."
"Maybe he bought it a surprise? Who knows? I guess we'd better get on the road. Did you bring your stuff down or do you want me to run up and get it?"
"It's in the living room. Hey. Where the hell is the Jag? My car is in the driveway. Your car is in the driveway and so is Langston's. It wouldn't have been easy for her to put it in the garage with three cars in the way."
"We might as well check the garage. Who knows what drunk people will do when they're drunk?"
She followed him back to the house, then out through the kitchen and into the garage. There was no Jaguar. Maybe she'd left it at whatever high priced bar she'd met Langston at Tory thought. Who the hell knew with Lindsey, especially a drunk Lindsey who'd been betrayed by her husband first time instead of the other way around? Well, it was up to Langston to deal with she thought.
She found a piece of paper and a pen in the table in the corner of the living room, and having handed Tony her car keys so that he could put her stuff in the trunk of the mustang, she sat down on the couch, leaning over the table to write.
'Langston, Sorry we didn't get to say goodbye. I didn't want to wake you. Mom left the keys to the Jaguar but no car, so I guess you'll have to figure out what in the hell she did with it. She told me to tell you that she's going to have the divorce papers by the 2nd or 3rd, so I guess you'll have that to look forward to. We decided to go ahead and take my car back now so you don't have to worry about it later. All the stuff in my room you can get rid of or whatever. I never really wear any of the clothes that Lindsey buys for me. I'm going to talk to Tony about putting me on his cell phone plan so you won't have to worry about paying my cell bill every month on top of everything else you're doing for me. I really appreciate everything and can never thank you enough. As soon as I can I'll cover the insurance and if I can repay you for all the money for college I'll do it. I know you said I didn't have to but it's too much to ask of you. Thank you again for everything. I'm sorry about you and my mom. I'll keep in touch. Take care Langston, and don't take any of the crap that my mom says during the divorce too hard.' She signed it Tory and left it on the table with the keys to the Jaguar.
Tony hadn't come back in so she figured he was waiting for her outside. Pulling her jacket back on, she took one last look around the living room. This was probably going to be the last time she'd see this house she thought. It wasn't the first too expensive rich man's house that she'd said goodbye to. But it was going to be the last. She was finally free, never again to be dragged to yet another new stepfather's house.
There was a smile on her face when she went outside.
Tony was leaning against his car, smoking a cigarette. "What's the big smile for?"
She took a cigarette from the open pack sitting on the hood of his car and lit it with the lighter that he handed her. "I'm free Tony. Never again will I have to deal with another stepfather who wishes I didn't exist."
“I thought you'd gotten things worked out with your mom, well at least sort of, after all that mean stuff you two said to each other last night."
"I don't know. Maybe we can deal with our differences better now. She said you too when I told her I loved her last night which is a hell of a lot more than she usually does. But at least I won't have to deal with living with her anymore."
He raised an eyebrow. "So where are you gonna live when you graduate?"
She smacked him in the arm as hard as she could. He faked a wince. "I'm gonna live with Jude of course."
He made a face. "Don't joke about that. I'm sure that he'd be thrilled to steal you away from me."
"He wasn’t even any good in bed."
"Is that the only reason?"
She smacked him again. "Yes Tony, of course it is."
"Someone's going to call the cops if you don't stop beating me in your stepdad's driveway."
"You know you like it."
"Just don't throw an ashtray at my head okay?"
"Ha ha, Tony. Are we gonna get out of here?"
"Yep." He threw her her car keys. "You going first so that I don't get lost."
"You wouldn't get lost."
"Ya never know. I'm gonna miss you."
She laughed. "Yep, those three hours when I'm a few feet away from you in another car are gonna be hell."
"They are."
She put her arms around him. "We'll make up for it when we get back to your place. Hey, we still need to stop by and check out of that motel don't we?"
"Nope. Already did it while you were busy sleeping in. You know Tor; with the way you sleep we're going to have to get a really noisy alarm system or a big dog when we move in together. I don't like thinking that someone could break in while you were alone. You'd never hear a thing."
"Thought you were going to leave me high and dry when I graduated."
"I like it when you're high, but I like to think that I never leave you dry."
"Perv. Hey, I wonder if my mom's wedding ring is still in the middle of the street or if someone already ran over it."
"I didn't notice anything when I left earlier. Let me call Aunt Lori; tell her that we're heading out."
"Okay." She lit another cigarette as he dialed, knowing that she wouldn't be able to have another for a while. Maybe eventually she'd smoke in the mustang, but she doubted it.
He clicked his phone shut when he had finished and then turned to her. "I guess Carl and Andi already had their first fight. Must have been all that frustration from going two whole days without sex."
"Wow. And they're still fighting?"
"Yeah. They'll be back together by the time we get back to town though, wanting to borrow my spare bedroom to screw." He grinned.
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