Safe With Me, Special Edition

by Shaina Richmond

  “I wondered about that,” I said. “It makes sense. Maybe she was, like, a month pregnant when she got kicked out of the house and she was still pregnant and didn’t want to be seen at the funeral.”

  “Or maybe she was giving birth that day, or had to stay home because she had a baby to take care of? Or she was on bed rest or something?” Corbie said. “Do you think she looks like she had a baby?”

  “Why? Because of her weight?” I asked.

  “No.” Corbie’s mouth hung open. “Why? You sayin’ she’s fat or somethin’? I think she looks good!”

  “No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, granted, she’s not skinny like a lot of girls around here.” I looked at Joan, who smirked. Then I turned back to Corbie. “What did you mean?”

  “I mean, like, stretch marks and stuff. And don’t most women have weird….” Corbie’s voice trailed off as he spoke. He glanced sheepishly at Joan. “Like, I’ve always heard you can tell a woman’s had a baby if her nipples are dark.”

  “I’ve heard that,” Joan said, “but I don’t think it’s true for everyone.”

  “Well,” Michael said, “what about stretch marks then?” Michael stared at me. “Yes, I’m talking to you. We know you’ve seen her naked.” Then Michael turned to Joan. “What about you, Joanie girl?”

  Corbie snickered and looked down at the table.

  “Damn you!” Joan gritted her teeth and slapped Michael’s arm.

  “I’m sorry.” Michael reached across the table and rubbed Joan’s hand. She smiled, although it looked reluctant.

  To take the pressure off Joan, I answered. “No, it would surprise me if she’d ever had a baby. I haven’t seen any stretch marks on her at all.” I was reminded of her soft ivory skin. It was perfect and flawless all over every inch of her body. I thought it best not to discuss her lovely pink nipples.

  “She could afford a good plastic surgeon though,” Corbie said.

  “Yeah.” I said.

  We came to the consensus that the guy who showed up at Susie’s door a few years earlier was the guy who’d gotten her pregnant when she was 14. We had no explanation for her money, unless she’d sold the baby for millions of dollars, which we found unlikely. We still had no plausible explanation for her trip to spend two days in a very expensive hotel in Vancouver. Corbie thought she might be a call girl. I hoped with every ounce of my being he was wrong.

  I held out for the Mafia wife theory. It was unbelievable, but a hell of a lot better than ‘call girl.’

  Joan

  Wednesday, October 20, 2010

  There he sat across the table from me. Tyler Campbell. Broad-shouldered, out-of-this-world sexy Tyler Campbell.

  Sweet, funny, funnier-when-he's-drunk Tyler Campbell.

  I felt bad about poor Tyler getting roped into talking about Susie with the rest of us. We really shouldn't have taken advantage of him when he was drunk, but Corbie was relentless. I often wonder if he's the one really in love with her.

  The long eye-lashed, long haired Native American closed his eyes; his elbows were on the table, palms against his forehead. “You guys promise you won't tell her I said anything? Fuck, she'd be pissed.”

  He'd openly beaten himself up for days about our conversation late Saturday night.

  “Calm down, Ty. Nobody's gonna say anything. Right?” Corbie asked. He looked around the table, his gaze settling on Dan.

  “Geesh! Have a little more faith in me than that. She'd get mad at me, too.” Dan said just before he shoved fries in his mouth. He had just gotten a buzz cut and it actually made him look kind of hot. I'd never seen a haircut make so much difference in a guy's looks. Instead of one of his checkered, preppy, button-downs, he wore a tight plain black t-shirt, making his light blue eyes pop while also showing off his pecs.

  Okay, I gotta stop looking at Dan Lafferty, of all people. What in the world has gotten into me?

  I know who I'd like to get into me - Michael Rollins. Oh, Michael...

  If these guys could read my mind they'd either run off screaming or lock me in a room and take turns with me.

  It was kind of nice having Susie gone for a week. I mean, naturally, I missed my friend. But I loved it when I had the guys all to myself. I even got Tyler to dance with me on Saturday night. He wore one of the sexiest fragrances I'd ever had the pleasure of inhaling. I danced as close to him as I could just so I could smell it. I only came to his chest but he bent his head down closer to my ear as we danced.

  If he had made a move on me I'm not sure what I would’ve done. It's not like he and Susie were officially dating.

  Okay, I know what I would've done, and I know it would've been a stupid, drunken mistake for both of us. But besides dancing with me, there was no indication he was interested in me. He must have found reasons to say Susie's name a hundred times that night.

  Another one caught in her spell. Better him than me.

  Kate Burnette tried to get Tyler's attention all night. It was hilarious to watch him repeatedly blow her off. I could tell she was pissed when Dan offered to take the body shot Tyler had so casually ignored. That was a few days before “makeover Dan” came into being. She might change her tune if she saw him today.

  Who the hell invited her, anyway? That bitch. It was obvious what she was trying to do. She's so dumb. I hope I've never acted that dumb. She's still mad at Susie for stealing Troy so she's trying to steal Tyler.

  Yeah, good luck, you horse-faced skank. And by the way, Susie did you a favor.

  Tyler sat up straight and looked at me. “She's really coming back today, right?

  “I guess so. I don't have any more information than you do, I promise,” I said.

  Susie was two days late coming back from her mid-term break trip. We all assumed it was because her flight was delayed. It was frustrating that we all had to pretend we didn't know where she went or how she got there. If one of us slipped up, she'd find out we all got nosy the night before she left.

  Tyler made no effort to conceal how much he missed her, at least to me and Jacinda. We had a long talk with him on Saturday while the rest of the guys watched football in the other room at Corbie's house.

  During that same conversation, I almost confessed my brand new crush on Michael.

  Speaking of whom... I looked around the Cellar. I thought he was supposed to meet us.

  Michael and I had an intimate moment on Friday night before going out for Roger Lee's birthday. Corbie picked me and Michael up and drove us to Tyler's house where we took a few shots before going to the bar. Corbie and Tyler went upstairs to look up a used car part on eBay. Somehow, Michael ended up next to me on the couch. He listened to me talk about Caleb, one of Tyler's roommates who I dated over the summer. I wouldn't have gone inside that house if Caleb hadn't gone away for the long break.

  Michael was so sweet. He said I didn't deserve to be treated the way Caleb treated me. Somehow we started cuddling on the couch. He smelled so good, probably even better than Tyler. He rubbed my back, sweetly calling me 'Joanie', and 'Joanie girl.' Mmmm... He had always been an affectionate guy in a platonic way but I could no longer keep myself from feeling a bit more-than-platonic toward him.

  He mentioned some girlfriend once in a while, but as far as I knew none of us had ever met her. She went to a different college. There were no pictures of her on his Facebook page either, and he didn't show a relationship status. I had looked at his profile about a hundred times since Friday. Susie once told me Michael didn't date white women. I wondered if that was true or if she didn't want me to have him for some reason.

  He was the first black guy I'd ever had a major crush on. Why should it matter that I'm white? I found it kind of weird and old-fashioned of him.

  The fact that Michael hadn't slept with Susie made me like him even more. I was tired of feeling like second in line with all the guys we knew. It seemed like they all wanted her, whether they wanted to admit it or not. I knew she'd slept with Tyler, obviously. But I often wondered about
Corbie. He became obsessed with her anytime we dug up new information. I was surprised Tyler's jealousy didn't kick in, but then I realized he probably kept his mouth shut because he wanted to get as much info from Corbie as possible.

  Susie and Dan had a connection I could never figure out. She told me many times that Dan held a special place in her heart. I used to judge her for it, but Dan with a makeover... damn. Maybe Susie knew he was hot all along and I had just never noticed.

  Someone told me a long time ago that the friends you make in college are the ones who stick with you the rest of your life. I totally believed it. I could see me still talking to all of them in twenty years. I could even imagine Corbie or Tyler being the best man at me and Michael's wedding. The thought of it made me smile.

  “So we really don't know why she's taking her sweet time coming back?” Corbie asked.

  There was unanimous head shaking all around the table.

  Corbie sighed. “Alright. She's supposed to be back soon. Please, nobody slip up and start singing 'Take Me Home, Country Roads.'”

  I wanted to laugh but I could tell he was dead serious.

  Tyler drunkenly told us on Saturday night he had snooped through Susie's stuff and found airline tickets to go to Vancouver and then to some small airport in West Virginia. Many beers later, Michael downloaded the mp3 to that John Denver song on his phone and set it as his ring tone. He listened to it over and over and started making up his own words to the song, mostly about Tyler missing Susie, or about them taking too long upstairs the night before she left. I was sure he did it just to get a rise out of Tyler but it was hilarious. It had been a running joke ever since.

  Dan turned to Corbie. “It's Michael you need to worry about. He's been humming that tune for days.”

  “Shit.” Tyler shook his head. “I'm pathetic. I'm never drinking with you guys again.”

  “Don't worry,” I said. “It's not the first drunken confession around here. You're so much fun when you're drunk!”

  Corbie and Dan laughed.

  Tyler smirked. “Great.”

  A few seconds later, Dan looked up at something behind me. “Look who it is.” He mumbled, covering his mouth with his hand. I was glad he didn't make me watch him chew the fistful of fries he'd just stuffed in his face.

  I turned around in my chair. Michael and Susie walked toward us, smiling and laughing. He reached around her just for a second and squeezed her shoulders in his friendly, Michael way. Thankfully I wasn't jealous of her friendship with Michael.

  But still, my heart sank a little bit. My time as the only girl was about to end. Sure, Jacinda was around a lot, and sometimes Lisa Yeager hung out with us, but Susie was the glue that held the group together. I felt like it was my turn to be the glue while she was away.

  I looked across the table at Tyler. He put his hand on the table and leaned forward in his chair. I almost expected to see drool form at the corners of his mouth.

  “Hey guys.” Michael said.

  He’s so cute. I love his bald head.

  Michael’s hand was on Susie's back. “Look who I found wandering around outside. She's here all the way from..... wherever the fuck she's been for the past week!”

  Susie wore a brown corduroy jacket and jeans. Her hair was damp like she'd just taken a shower.

  I groaned quietly - hopefully inaudibly.

  Corbie stood up. “Welcome back, hon.”

  “Hey Corb,” she said.

  He wrapped his arms around her and gave her one of his famous bear hugs he didn’t know he was famous for.

  I was impressed with Tyler's reaction. He used to look tense if another guy touched her. He'd either gotten over it or he didn't think Corbie was a threat anymore. Or maybe he'd gotten a lot better at hiding his jealousy.

  Tyler stood up while they hugged. She practically tore herself away from Corbie and ran to him. He embraced her with the sweetest, most painful look on his face. They didn't say a word to each other. He pulled her against his chest. The dark red flannel shirt he wore looked soft as she cradled her cheek against it.

  I was so jealous. But I felt better when I looked up at Michael and he smiled at me. When he sat down beside me I caught a whiff of the same wonderful cologne he wore on Friday night. I so wanted to re-live that night.

  Tyler and Susie stood there hugging until Michael cleared his throat. Their embrace had become a small spectacle to other people in the food court. Tyler unglued himself and sat back down with a big grin on his face.

  Corbie got up from his chair to Tyler's left and walked around the table to sit to my left. I thought it was nice of him to make room for Susie next to the guy who'd missed her so much.

  Dan stayed in his chair, holding a cheeseburger. “Hey!” He put his hand up to his mouth as he spoke. “Sorry, I'm really hungry.”

  “It's okay.” She reached down and put her arms around him as he sat. She pressed her cheek against his. A big smile spread across his face when her boobs touched his shoulder.

  She let go of him and stepped back from his chair. “I like your new look.”

  “Really?” Dan's hand went up to his mouth again.

  “Oh, yeah! You get a new haircut?” she asked.

  “I noticed that too,” I said. “It's the hair and the shirt. This is a really good look for you, Dan.”

  Susie nodded, then waved to me and mouthed 'Hey.' I waved back.

  She sat down next to Tyler. They stared into each others eyes like they might start humping at the table.

  We spent the next few minutes telling Susie what she missed in class. I don't know why we bothered. She spent the whole time looking at Tyler like he was a juicy sirloin steak and she hadn't eaten in three days. She didn't even try to stop him when he put his arm around her. I was surprised she let him do that. She usually didn't like any guy to mark her as his territory in public. I wondered if the advice I'd given him a few weeks earlier had worked. They looked like a couple.

  If she doesn't make it official with Tyler, she's crazy.

  I decided right then and there if Susie stupidly got rid of Tyler, and if the Michael thing didn’t work out, I'd try to hook up with Tyler - sloppy seconds or not. All it would probably take is a bottle of tequila.

  Less than five minutes after she'd arrived, Susie and Tyler both stood up at the same time. They gazed at each other in silence for a few seconds before she spoke. “We have to...” Her voice trailed off as she looked around the table.

  “Yeah, I have to go help her with something.” Tyler smiled and put his hand on her back.

  “Whatever.” Michael shook his head. “We know you're gonna go fuck like dogs. Just try to make it to the house first.”

  Dan and Corbie laughed. I chose to stifle my reaction.

  Susie glared at Michael. I saw her cheeks get red. Tyler's lips formed a line and he looked down at the floor. Then he looked up. His eyes met Corbie's and they both started laughing.

  “Come on.” Tyler started walking, guiding Susie along with his hand rubbing her back. He was still laughing.

  “Bye y'all.” She turned away with Tyler. We watched them practically run to parking deck exit.

  Michael put his hand on my shoulder. “What's wrong, girl?”

  His touch sent a shot of warmth through my body. “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “You have a sad look on your face.”

  Maybe if I tell him what's wrong he'll l put his arms around me again. I sighed. “It's just that it's kind of nice when Susie's gone. You guys like her more than you like me.”

  At once, the three of them shook their heads and said “No.”

  “That's silly, Joanie girl. You know we love you.” Michael put his arm around my back and pulled me closer.

  Oh damn. My body went limp against his.

  The guys went on for a while, telling me how much they cared about me. Michael seemed to enjoy holding me close. It was the highlight of my day, for sure.

  And then we heard the soft strumming of a
guitar... a familiar song. Michael pulled away from me to reach for his phone. I almost fell out of my chair.

  “Damn it!” Corbie leaned across the table, glaring at Michael. “Good thing that didn't ring when she was here!”

  Michael silenced his phone. “Look, Corbie. She might not even know the song. I got to it before the words started.”

  “Just change your ring tone,” Corbie said.

  “You know what, man? You need to stop diggin' around her business.” Michael hit some buttons on his phone. “Okay. Changed. Now leave me the fuck alone.”

  Tyler

  Wednesday, October 20, 2010