The Price of Penny

by T. C. Rybicki

  I remembered that situation a little differently. What had I told Penny the night before? “I’m an obnoxious drunk. I don’t like myself when I drink.”

  I grabbed the aspirin and swallowed them down with a water bottle. Wayne found my travel mugs. He had our coffee ready to go. “Feel better?”

  “No, I feel like shit. I’m really sorry about how I acted. I have to be the worst friend in history. I brought you over here, got drunk and ridiculed you in front of a bunch of people I hardly like.” I took pause to see if he had any response to my lame apology. It wasn’t good enough. I swore I’d never treat him like that again.

  “Go on, there’s more I assume.”

  I took a deep breath and poured my heart out to the guy. He had to know how important he was to me. I never meant to hurt his feelings or treat him poorly, ever. He let me run my mouth a good five minutes before he let me off the hook. “No biggie. You were an ass. I’ve witnessed it before. Let’s get out of here. Mom’s waiting.”

  I almost forgot my phone. I needed to send Xavier a quick message and ask him to smooth that Amberlie thing over. He knew how to handle those types of things, seeing how he was the most offensive bastard out there, but still maintained a squeaky clean image. I put my phone to rest as soon as the guests arrived. I left it by my bed on the charger all evening. I realized it was turned off when I picked it up, so I hit the power button. I’d send the message when I got in the car.

  Right before we pulled out of my spot, the phone came fully to life. It buzzed and dinged in between my fingers. I missed several messages from various people. A few were regrets about not being able to stop by because I’d sent a few group text invites. My eyes froze over the majority of the unopened messages. She’d even called once. Penny. Penny. Penny. I groaned. “No. Seriously, fuck my life.”

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Penny tried to reach me last night.”

  “Part of her clinginess?”

  “No, that was an outright lie. She’s not clingy. I potentially could be and she must have noticed because she told me she needed a break.”

  “Well, we’ve got a little time considering how you drive. What did she say?”

  I scrolled through.

  I’m sorry, Chet, was first. Hey, are you mad? Please say something. I can’t sleep, were a few more. She left me a voicemail, the first one I ever got from her. I held the phone to my ear.

  “So yeah, you are mad since you’re ignoring me. I guess I can’t blame you. My mood swings are notorious. I truly am sorry. Mummy called. She wanted to say again how much they enjoyed getting to know you. Daddy says you shake hands with integrity. I knew he analyzed how you shook his hand. Anyway, she thought you might still be with me, and I told her the truth about how I acted. She brought something to light. I over-react. Well, there was a lot more said, but you don’t want to hear how Mum and I go at it, but she was actually wise for a change. I bet this is going to cut off, so . . .” then the message tone blared in my ear. I didn’t know what else she had to say.

  I typed X a quick message, sat my phone down and started out of the garage. Wayne asked what I said to Penny.

  “I didn’t. I had something else I needed to take care of. I have no idea how I should respond to Penny. I blew it.”

  “How? It seems like you two had a miscommunication of sorts. She wants to talk, so you call her or text her and work it out. No big deal.”

  Wrong. Wayne was so wrong. It was a huge deal. Penny needed to trust me. She was so guarded when it came to her heart. I tried to explain these things to Wayne. “Man, I get it. You drank too much and made a mistake with that girl. She doesn’t have to know about all that. You said it yourself, she only wants to be friends right now. You didn’t cheat on her.”

  He was right, but I felt like I did. I honestly felt like I betrayed her. “You don’t understand, Wayne. I didn’t tell you everything.”

  “Then tell me, why’s Penny so fragile?”

  “She just is. So how will it look when I tell her the first thing I did when we had a disagreement was grab the first warm body I encountered and take her to bed with me? I don’t even remember a damn bit of it, including her name. She’ll think I’m a giant tool.”

  “A huge tool and I still find what occurred astounding. I have all my female encounters memorized.”

  I cocked my eyebrow. “All?”

  “Okay, so it’s only two ladies that reluctantly agreed to give me five minutes of their time. One chick in high school that knew I knew you, so I totally let her use me. The other one was in college. I found her term paper on her hard drive after she thought she permanently deleted it. She was eternally grateful. They are both still magic memories.”

  “Okay, let me ask you this. One day, what if you meet someone you’re really serious about, will you tell her about those magic memories?”

  “Um, yeah, I guess I will. I think it’s the relationship code. It works both ways.”

  “Agreed. So if I convince Penny to give us a try, I’m going to have to be honest with her. I won’t keep secrets from her, even if they’re unflattering. I think I should get it out in the open right now.”

  He thought I should wait, but I knew her better. There was a lot to learn about Penny, but I’d studied her pretty closely those four times we were together. He told me to do what I thought was best, but he reminded me what I’d said. “Both ways. What if she has a tawdry past that’s even worse than yours? Would it matter to you?”

  “She doesn’t.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I do. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she has zero past. I have a strong suspicion Penny’s a virgin.”

  “No way, isn’t she like 25?”

  “Yep. It’s a long story.”

  “Well, we’re ten minutes from the church, how much can you tell in that much time?”

  I told Wayne the story. I wasn’t sure if I should at first since Penny entrusted me with it, but he was my closest confident and I knew he’d never betray me.

  “Wow, poor Penny.”

  “I know.”

  “That still doesn’t make her a virgin. She went to college, she’s a single lady and you say she’s hot, so.”

  He was right. I didn’t know for sure and I truly didn’t want to pressure her into such a personal conversation so soon. She could barely handle us having dinner together. I was going to have to baby step the whole process with her or she’d bolt. I pulled up at Wayne’s church. He invited me in.

  “Come on. Mom misses you. It might help with your decisions.”

  “God doesn’t care about my relationships. Plus, I’d feel like a huge hypocrite going in there today.”

  He reminded me his church was all about compassion and forgiveness. “No one judges you here. You know that.”

  I slightly nodded my head. I’d changed my mind. I told him I’d meet him inside after I parked in the lot. I did need some motivation, perhaps an inspiring message would help. I was pretty sure I would drive to Penny’s next or at the very least, call her. I had to do this right. I was also sure she didn’t give too many second chances or even if this instance called for one, but I was not ready to give up on her. There was still so much to learn when it came to Penny.

  I sat at the table with my feet propped up. My files were scattered everywhere. The aroma of sweet Italian sausage and herbs circulated the air. I started the crockpot when I woke up. It had been a miserable night’s sleep. I might need a nap soon, but I had to get my week planned. Skipping Friday didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. Now I had to figure out how to make up for those missed sessions on top of an extra caseload at the clinic. It made me think my day off was a giant mistake.

  I distracted myself from work by picking up my phone every five minutes. He hadn’t responded in well over 15 hours. I guess he was done with me. I kept repeating inside my head; it was for the best. We truly were different, but I still felt like crap the way I handled it. He genuinely
appeared hurt that second I jerked away from him. He’d been a perfect gentleman all evening, and the truth was he wasn’t pushing me at all until he mentioned kissing me. That shocked and if I was really being honest, thrilled me at the same time. His threat to grab me up and kiss me like crazy sent a charged volt of electricity all over my body. I was still tingling when I made it inside to the safety of my home. Friends don’t kiss wildly. He said sometimes they do. It made it all too real for me how much experience Chet had in the sexual realm. Even Maggie said he would expect something from me. She wouldn’t stop asking if I’d taken the leap and actually kissed him. I got her text after Mum’s long phone call.

  Well, did ya?

  I didn’t need her to say anymore. I knew what she meant.

  No, he’s gone and I’m going to sleep. Night, Mags

  Ugh . . . we’re discussing this later. Love ya

  I didn’t want to discuss it with her. I’d already hashed this out with two different therapists. The one on campus was a joke. She was convinced I’d been a victim of abuse and kept trying to unlock the repressed memory. The last time I saw her I became incensed.

  “No one’s ever abused me in any way, shape or fashion. For the last time, I just can’t be intimate!” I even saw the gynecologist about it last year and she referred me to someone a little more reputable. I had been skipping out on my appointments recently. I hadn’t gone in almost three months and I was supposed to be going monthly. I tried to concentrate with my student goals for the week. I wasn’t going to be stuck doing this before bed tonight. I had no idea what I intended to do with my afternoon, but I refused for it to be work related.

  After two long hours, I was satisfied I was fully prepared. The soup should be done soon. I thought about calling Maggie and Keats over for some company. Mum and Dad were leaving early, they’d already called me to say their goodbyes. We’d be going up to their place soon for Dad and Aunt Shar’s combined birthday celebration since they were born a week and two years apart. I had gone straight from my bed to the food prep and then my files so I opted for a shower next. I checked my phone one last time. I really needed to stop doing that. I was hopeless.

  I changed my mind after getting in the bathroom and started the bath instead. Once my hair was tightly twisted on top of my head, I slipped into the scented waters. This day might turn out into a full me day, like Friday was supposed to be but never quite worked the way I planned. I smiled at the memory. Dinner out was pretty fun despite the various embarrassments. Chet seemed to handle my sister’s antics with ease. I liked that about him, he was very adaptive to any situations. Wonder if playing various roles had trained him for that? Penny, stop thinking about Chet, I said to myself.

  So much for peace and tranquility, Pepper was at it again. She always wanted to go out at the most inconvenient times. She’d bark until I dropped everything to let her outside, so she could run to the back and bark some more.

  I grabbed my plush purple towel. Maggie and I were so stereotypical sometimes. Our bathroom was decked in pink and purple, a girly dream come true. I always shut the door or Pepper would make herself at home in the bathroom with me. I could do without a dog drinking my bathwater. The second I pushed the door open, something was amiss. Pepper wasn’t at the kitchen door begging to go out. She was barking viciously at the front door. A strange feeling came over me. I tried to distract her, but she was intent on whatever seemed to be disturbing her world. I’d never had any trouble at this house, but there was that one lady down at the end of the street that swore she caught a man looking in her bedroom window about a month ago. I got a neighborhood watch flyer about the instance, but blew it off.

  I tightened the towel against my chest and tiptoed to the nearest window. We had dark panels, so I was sure I could take a peek without anyone knowing I was. I kept waving one hand at the dog hoping to quiet her down. I loved her dearly, like she was own child but she was insolent and rarely minded me. Pepper continued to whine and bark. My eye only needed a sliver of separation in the drapes. Imagine my shock when another set of eyes were pressed against our window pane. I screamed so loud, said panes rattled and I lost my towel, but only Pepper was flashed. I closed the curtains abruptly.

  The dog managed to get louder, I scrambled to pick up my towel just in case I was about to experience a home invasion. I still needed to retain my modesty. Just as I turned to run for the kitchen where my phone sat on the table, I heard my name, “Penny! It’s me!”

  I didn’t even need the “it’s me” part, no one else said my name like that. Seriously, Chet came out of nowhere again or he was indeed a peeping Tom.

  “Penny, please open up. I really need to talk to you.”

  “Just a minute.”

  “The sooner the better, some woman keeps walking by. I think she’s taking down my plates.”

  Crap. I bet Mrs. Rosenthal was out doing neighborhood watch patrol. I had no idea how long Chet had been camped out on my porch. I probably had been in the bathroom twenty minutes.

  I unlocked the door, but barely cracked it. “Wait. Don’t come in yet. Give me a second to run and get dressed. Promise you’ll count to ten before coming in.”

  Chet didn’t answer, just started counting out loud. I bolted for my room. I swore I heard the front door slam at six. Hopefully, I was hidden behind the wall before he cheated and made his way inside.

  I jerked on sweats and a hot pink, work tee that had a picture of giant lips with the caption “Let’s give them something to talk about.”

  He made himself comfortable on our couch with Pepper’s giant head in his lap. I watched a mix of expressions sweep across his face. I knew he was staring at my lips, not my real ones, the one screen-printed across my boobs.

  “You cheated. You didn’t count to ten first.”

  “My curiosity got the best of me, sorry. I didn’t know you make it a habit of answering the door naked.”

  “I was not naked, I had my towel. You better not have peeked.”

  “You have my word.”

  I interrupted him, “Good. Now, I know you’re a true gentleman.”

  “That I’ll never tell anyone else how amazing you look in only a towel. That’s my memory to savor all to myself.”

  I tried to swipe at him, like I’d done a few times before, but he was faster than me. “Hold that thought until you hear me out. Then you just might want to slug me for real and I’ll gladly let you.”

  I couldn’t imagine what he meant by that. I was the one that acted like a childish brat the night before. However, I was still caught up in the fact he might have seen me in a towel. I couldn’t get past it. “If you’re serious, then what color was it?”

  “Huh?”

  “My towel.”

  “Oh, it was purple, but not just any purple. It reminded me of a billowy cloud just as the sun is setting after a spring rain.”

  “Are you for real?”

  “Of course, I take my colors seriously. Look, Penny. I have to tell you something. I’m not proud, but last night was a bit of a mindfuck. I thought we had a great time with your family and then you pulled away and acted miserable, almost like you couldn’t stand me again.”

  “I tried to call. I said I was sorry.”

  “I was upset. I shut my phone off.”

  Well, that made me feel a little better since I thought half the night he was never speaking to me again. He drove over just to talk, so I was thinking last night could be just a memory and we didn’t even need to dwell on it.

  “So you do accept my apology?”

  “Of course, but I need you to accept mine now. Please, Penny. I screwed up. Maybe Wayne’s right and I don’t know the first thing about handling rejection.” I didn’t think I rejected him, this was still just a friendship thing, but Chet seemed so wound up. I was a bit clueless. “I got smashed, I had a party at my place and I woke up with a woman I hardly know.”

  I felt that strange burn again, this time in the back of my eyes. We were friends. I di
dn’t date. I told Chet, no dates, but that really was the last thing I thought he’d say to me. I found it absolutely necessary to hide the fact that his confession really bothered me.

  “I have no idea why you’re telling me this or why you need to apologize. We aren’t and never will be together. However, if you want total honesty, I don’t understand how you’re satisfied with those sorts of empty encounters, but it’s none of my business.” I changed the subject quick. “I made tortellini soup. I need to put on the French bread. Would you like a bowl?”

  “Wait. That’s it? I mean, it smells kinda nice in here, but I’m not so sure I can eat right now. My stomach doesn’t feel so great.”

  “Did you eat anything today, Chet?”

  “No, but I had communion.”

  I was on the way to the kitchen, but did a 180. “What? You went to church?”

  “Yeah, it a spur of the moment decision, but Wayne’s mom only gets one Sunday off a month. He never misses with her and they wanted me to come. I wasn’t going to at first because of my frame of mind after what I did, but I feel better after joining them. You not kicking me out is a plus, too.”

  Chet said I was confusing, I thought he was way worse, at least today. I turned on the oven to preheat. I also switched off the crockpot and let Pepper outside. Chet stepped behind me while I stared out the window for no reason. I usually didn’t watch the dog, but this time I found it necessary to stare at anything else other than the man that had followed me into my kitchen. He touched my shoulder and I recoiled. I pictured him touching that other woman only hours before. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help myself.

  “Is she really pretty? Is she an actress?” I could’ve added model or singer, but I already sounded desperate enough asking what she looked like.

  “No, not exactly and no, she’s a college student. I don’t know if she has a job.” He tried to touch me again, but I shrugged him off and opened the door. I called Pepper back inside. He wanted to talk about it in a little more detail but I stopped him again.

  “I told you it’s not my business.”