“Maybe you should come over.”
“Great. I’ll meet you there.”
Joey followed Samantha home after texting Mel that it was a boy. She couldn’t get over how excited she was and how much she was looking forward to meeting him in person. The visit had really changed her outlook. She was ready to start handing out cigars.
She walked into the house with Samantha and took her in her arms.
“This has got to be the coolest thing that has ever happened to me,” she said. “This little guy is going to be such a stud. It’s going to be awesome.”
Samantha backed out of the embrace and looked at Joey with a touch of sadness in her eyes.
“Babe? What’s wrong?”
“Dee really wanted a boy.”
“So I heard.” She sank on the couch.
“I don’t know. I feel like this should be her baby boy.”
“Well, in a way it always will be.”
“I don’t know how to say this.”
“Say what?”
“I don’t feel right sharing him with someone else.”
“You mean as in me, don’t you?”
Samantha nodded.
“Babe, nothing is going to bring Dee back. And I’m not trying to replace her. I’m not her. But I am someone who cares very much about you and that unborn little boy.”
“And I know that. But it still feels wrong.”
“What? Why? How?”
“I think I tried to move on before I was ready.”
“Oh, no. Don’t do this. Samantha, please.”
“I’m sorry, Joey.”
“Samantha, think about what you’re saying.”
“I know what I’m saying.”
Joey lowered her face to her hands, unable to find the words she desperately needed.
“I think you’d better go now,” Samantha said.
“This is bullshit!” Joey stood. “Kicking me out isn’t going to bring her back. Nothing is. She’s gone, Samantha. I’m here. I’m living and breathing and here.”
“Good-bye, Joey.”
Joey stared at Samantha, anger and sadness welling inside her. Samantha held the door open and Joey left, feeling like she’d left her soul behind.
Chapter Nineteen
Joey was on the phone before she’d even buckled her seat belt.
“Hello?” Mel answered.
“Meet me at Spirits. We’re drinking.”
“When?”
“Now.” She hung up and fired up her truck, fuming at how insensitive Samantha had been. Joey had been patient when she wasn’t ready for sex. She’d worked hard to overcome her own fear of the small child growing inside her. Where did Samantha get off kicking her to the curb once Joey had finally settled in to a committed relationship and being a parent?
The parking lot was practically empty, for which she was grateful. The last thing she wanted was to talk to anyone but Mel, who walked in shortly after Joey.
“What’s going on?” Mel asked.
“You want a shot, too? Or just beer?”
“Give us a small pitcher and a couple shots of Cuervo,” Mel told the bartender, then looked at Joey. “What the fuck is going on?”
Joey took her shot and swallowed it, then ordered another.
Mel picked up the pitcher and glasses and moved to a booth. Joey followed after she’d downed her next shot.
“Trouble in paradise?” Mel asked.
“She fucking dumped me.”
“She what? She dumped you? Did you like freak out at the appointment or something?”
“No! That’s just it. Damn, Mel. You shoulda been there. That was the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced.”
“Are you shittin’ me?”
“No. Okay, so like first, we hear the heartbeat. No lie. You can actually hear its heartbeat. Sounded kinda like a washing machine, but whatever. It was totally cool. Then she did the ultrasound.”
“The what? Was something wrong?”
“Heck no. The ultrasound is how we got to see the baby.”
“You could see it? What did it look like?”
“Like a baby. We saw the head and the arm and the belly.”
“And you thought this was cool?”
“Totally! And then we saw his little wee-wee.”
“His what? Did you just say wee-wee?”
“What do you want me to call it? His dick? He’s just a baby.”
Mel shook her head and laughed. “Okay, so you saw it. So it’s a boy.”
“I was totally jacked! I was thinking how we could take him surfing and teach him to play football and—”
“Hold on there, daddy-mama. You were really thinking like this?”
“I was. I can’t explain it. It suddenly became so real and so exciting.”
“Okay, okay. I don’t get it, but okay. So how did we end up here?”
“Dee wanted a boy.”
“Yeah. So?”
“Well, apparently she feels like she’s not being fair to Dee for letting me near the little guy.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Tell me.”
“She really said that?”
“Pretty much.”
“Joey, don’t get pissed, but do you think maybe you’re more scared than you thought and you misunderstood something she said? Maybe you twisted it in your brain to give yourself an out?”
“No chance. I begged her to let me stay.”
“Damn, buddy. That sucks. I wonder if it’s hormonal or something. Maybe she’ll settle down.”
“I don’t know, Mel. She seemed pretty intent.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Let’s just shoot some pool and drink some beer. Maybe I’ll forget about her.”
“I’ll rack.” She got up, but turned to Joey. “What are you gonna tell Brenda tomorrow?”
“Who knows? Maybe I’ll fucking tell her I quit.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I. You know what a pain in the ass she’s gonna be? She’ll be all self-righteous and shit. I’m sure I’ll hear ‘I told you so’ about a million times.”
“It is gonna suck.”
“Yeah. Well, she’ll have to find out on her own. I’m sure as shit not telling her.”
“You know she’s going to ask about the appointment.”
“I’m sure Liz has already called her. Hell, they probably already know I’m single.”
“Maybe.” Mel racked the balls and handed Joey a cue stick. “Maybe she’ll have the decency to keep her mouth shut.”
“Yeah and maybe pigs will fly.”
They shot a couple of games of pool and drank some more pitchers. Finally, at ten o’clock, Mel set her cue stick on the table.
“We need to get out of here.”
“Maybe I’ll just stay here and do shots and blow off work tomorrow.”
“And maybe you won’t. Get up. I’ll follow you home.”
“I’m not drunk enough.”
“Not a good attitude. I know you’re hurting. But drinking isn’t gonna make it better. Time should, though. Let’s go.”
Joey drove carefully the few blocks to her house, grateful to have Mel on her tail. She waved good-bye as Mel drove off and let herself into her house. It felt terribly empty and she felt unbearably alone. She stripped to her boxers and undershirt and climbed into bed.
Memories of the past few weeks played through her head. Things she and Samantha had said, things they’d done. It all culminated in the sheer joy she’d felt when she’d found out they were having a boy. She’d never felt such excitement.
And Samantha had taken that away from her. She’d taken her current happiness, as well as her imagined future joys and crushed them. Joey wiped away a tear just before she passed out.
*
“Hey, loverboi!” Brenda called as she approached Joey and Mel the next day.
Joey and Mel exchanged glances, before Joey turned to Brenda.
“I assume you
mean me?”
“Who else?”
“Who else, indeed?” Mel said under her breath.
“What do you need?”
“Your girlfriend needs you.”
Joey’s heart skipped a beat. Maybe Mel was right and the previous night had just been a hormonal mood swing. She fought to keep her excitement from showing.
“How so?” she asked.
“One of the little rugrats threw a toy through the wall. I need you to go patch it for her.”
Joey felt nauseous. She shouldn’t have allowed herself to imagine, even for a minute.
“Can’t someone else go? We’re busy.”
“Too busy for your lady? Bullshit. Come on, I’m doing you a favor. It won’t happen again. Get your ass over there.”
Joey looked at Mel, who shrugged. Joey didn’t want to go, but was still determined not to give Brenda the satisfaction of knowing she and Samantha had split. She grabbed some spackling and tools and drove to the day-care center.
“Oh, wow. I didn’t know she’d send you,” Samantha said when Joey arrived.
“She thinks she’s doing me a favor. And I’m not going to be the one to tell her you dumped me.”
“Joey, about that…”
Joey stood, head cocked, and waited.
“I really am sorry.”
“You don’t know the meaning of the word. Now where’s the hole?”
“I suppose it will take a while before you can forgive me.”
“You didn’t just take you away from me, you know,” Joey whispered harshly. “You took him, too. So no, I don’t plan to forgive you any time soon.”
“I wish it didn’t need to be this way.”
“It doesn’t. This is a choice. Your choice. It sure as hell isn’t mine. Now, do you mind? Let me do this and get out of here.”
Samantha led her down the hall to the playroom. Joey looked everywhere she could to keep from admiring the swaying hips under the yellow cotton dress. She clenched the bucket of spackle tightly, feeling the handle biting her skin.
“That’s a lot of spackle,” Samantha said when she pointed out the small, fist-sized hole.
“Better too much than not enough. I certainly don’t want to have to come back.”
“Would you really rather I tell Brenda and Liz?” Samantha asked.
“I don’t know. I wish they didn’t have to find out at all.”
“It’s a small town.”
“I’m aware.”
“Well, I’m certainly not going to go out of my way to say anything to them.”
“Whatever. They’ll find out. It doesn’t really matter who tells them. Either way, Brenda’s gonna be all kinds of smug, and I’m going to want to rip her face off.”
Joey went to work filling the hole. Samantha lingered.
“Don’t you have something you can do?” Joey asked. “Like tell me where the paint is so I can touch this up?”
“It’s out in the shed.”
“Fine.” She finished with the spackle and retrieved the paint. She was relieved to find Samantha gone when she returned. She knew that painting over the wet spackle might not have been the best job she could do, but she just wanted to get it done. She quickly painted and put the paint away, not bothering to clean her brushes. She’d do that later. She just needed to get away.
She pulled up to the jobsite less than an hour later.
“That didn’t take long,” Brenda said. “What’s the matter? Did you get performance anxiety? Or maybe being around all those kids freaked you out. You’d better get used to that.”
“You sent me to do something. I did it. Now I’m back.”
“You’re losing your touch, Scarpetti. Married life must be getting to you.”
Mel stepped over and took Joey’s arm.
“Come on. I need your help over here.”
Joey allowed herself to be led away, resenting Samantha more with each passing moment.
*
“So are we surfing today?” Mel asked as they loaded their vehicles at the end of the day.
“I don’t feel like it.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Go shoot some pool.”
“It’s a little early.”
“It’s happy hour. And when did you get so fucking pious?”
“I’m not pious, Joey. I just don’t want you to keep drowning your sorrows. You’ve got to go on.”
“I will when I’m ready. Are you coming with me?”
“I guess.”
They parked next to each other and entered the lively tavern. Mel went to the bar to get the pitcher while Joey put quarters on a pool table so they’d play the winners. When Mel returned, they grabbed a booth by the pool table and poured their beer. Joey chugged hers and reached for the pitcher before Mel had even sipped hers. She just stared at Joey.
“Damn! You’re worse than an old lady,” Joey said. “We used to get shitty all the time. What’s with you?”
“It used to be for fun.”
“Who says it isn’t now?”
“Whatever.”
“Well, well, look who’s off leash this afternoon.” Brenda slid into the booth next to Mel. “Does the little woman know you’re here?”
Mel looked from Joey to Brenda and back. She slid as far away from Brenda as she could and downed the rest of her beer.
Joey took a deep breath but didn’t say anything.
“What the fuck? No smartass remark?” Brenda laughed.
“Why don’t you back off a little?” Mel said.
“Why? What’s her problem?”
Joey drained another glass that Brenda had refilled from the pitcher.
“What the hell’s your problem, Scarpetti? You look like a fucking lost puppy.”
Joey tried her best not to allow herself to be baited, but her whole body was a mass of tension and she so desperately wanted to unwind on Brenda.
“Seriously, what’s up? You and the missus having trouble?”
“Damn it, Brenda! There is no fucking missus, so would you just shut the fuck up!”
“Hey, I was only messing around. I know you’re not married or anything. I’m just giving you grief.”
“I’m not sure you understood what she said,” Mel said quietly.
Brenda looked at Mel, confusion etched on her face. She looked back at Joey.
“What? What didn’t I understand?”
Joey got up and stormed off to the bar, where she ordered another pitcher.
“You wanna tell me what the fuck’s going on?”
Joey turned to look at Brenda.
“You won, okay? Does that make you fucking happy? You won. Samantha dumped my ass.”
“Oh, man. I don’t know what to say.”
“Bullshit. Go ahead. Gloat. Tell me you told me so. Get it all out of your system.”
“No. I’m sorry, Joey. I really am. I mean, yeah, I never thought it was a good idea, but you seemed so happy. Like your life finally had meaning. I hate to see you like this now.”
“What? Are you fucking kidding me? Is this a joke? Because it’s not funny. I’m not laughing.”
Brenda signaled for two shots. She handed one to Joey.
“Salud, my friend. May the pain lessen soon.”
Joey drank the shot, but had nothing left to say. She stood, hunched over the bar, lost in her misery.
Mel walked up and tapped her shoulder.
“Hey, Joey, we’re up. You ready to own the table for a while?”
Joey walked back to the table and took a drink of beer. Her world grew fuzzy, taking the edge off the pain for at least a little while.
Chapter Twenty
Mel finally convinced Joey drowning her sorrows wasn’t the answer. Instead, they spent their afternoons on their boards catching waves. Joey even admitted it was a better means of escaping. The week passed quickly and Friday after work, Mel walked up to Joey.
“Hey, why don’t we get out of town for a couple of days?”
> “Where will we go?”
“Santa Brigida.”
“Seriously? What’s there?”
“Have you forgotten our last trip there?”
Joey wasn’t in the mood for another orgy. “What else is there?”
“They’re having a beach volleyball tournament this weekend.”
“I don’t know.”
“Buff, scantily clad women bouncing around in the sand. What’s not to know?”
“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Mel.”
“Don’t fool yourself. This is as much for me as it is for you. I need to get out of here, too. And we could both use a little action.”
“Whatever happened to Tiffany? Somehow I thought you two would get it together.”
“She’s too young.”
“Is there such a thing?”
“Funny. No, I mean, she’s just starting college, Joey. That was like a lifetime ago for us. She’s into things that mean the world to her, but aren’t that big of a deal to me.”
Joey nodded.
“Want me to see if she wants to go with us?” Mel asked. “It might spice things up a bit.”
“I think I’d rather find some new blood. I think that would be best.”
“Suit yourself. I’ll be at your place in a couple of hours.”
“Are we bringing our boards?”
“Not in the Z28, my friend. We’ll rent some there.”
“We’ll look like tourists.”
“Then maybe we won’t surf. Whatever. We can decide that when we get there.”
Joey showered, dressed, then stuffed some extra clothes and toiletries into an overnight bag. The idea of a change of scenery was growing on her. She had just finished packing when Mel pulled up.
She hurried out to join her. They turned the music up and rocked out to eighties music. The drive was uneventful and much nicer than their previous road trip.
“Has it really only been a month since we were here last?” Joey asked as they pulled into Flannel’s parking lot.
“Just over.”
“Damn. It seems like forever ago.”
“A lot has happened since then.”
“No fucking kidding.”
There was a nice Friday night crowd in the bar. Women were dancing to a live band, while others shot pool or just lined the room enjoying the scenery or stalking their prey.
Escapades Page 18
