Whiskey Tango

by Alison Beamon

  “Your neighbor?” He asked and she nodded her head without looking up.

  He sat beside of her then and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She could not take that at the moment and stood up so quickly.

  “Don’t touch me.” Walking away from him, she desperately needed space between them at the moment. There was so much going on in her mind. When she passed by the drawings on the table she felt the tears pouring. Then she saw Elsa at the door and went to let the dog in. Elsa was right beside of her she imagined the dog could since something was not right. It was all she could take. Sitting in her kitchen floor she hugged the dog to her and cried. Jon stood in the doorway behind her not knowing what to do.

  London heard the doorbell ring and she got up. She tried to clear her face to make it as normal as possible. The visitor was Casey. Her friend knew all about her friendship with Paul. The moment she opened the door she was hugged by her friend.

  “I tried to call.” Casey said as she put a fraction of space between them.

  “I’m sorry.” London said not really sure why.

  “I saw it on the news.” Casey saw Jon at that moment and London felt her tense. She knew all about him too.

  “What the hell is he doing here?” Casey asked and London did not know what to tell her.

  “I don’t know.” The admission did not help.

  “That son of a bitch needs to be in jail.” Casey all but shouted at Jon. He did not say anything.

  “Casey, please, I can’t take it at this moment. He is here and I don’t know why, but I am okay with it. So just stop, please.” Casey had known her long enough to know that she could not take anymore. Nodding she pulled London against her again.

  “Do you want to go to the hospital?” Casey asked her and she knew that was not something that she wanted to do. It would have helped if she felt like she had a right to go to the hospital. That was a time for family and she did not want to intrude.

  “No, he needs his family right now.” That was something that she felt might do her some good as well. However, she had not told her father about Jon. That would not be something that he would take well. In her mind at the moment she did not know what she thought Jon was. It did not matter. Nothing mattered at the moment, but Paul.

  Her cell phone rang and she went to pick it up. She did not recognize the number.

  “Hello.” She said really not knowing what to expect.

  “Hey, London.”

  “Shayla.” The girl could not hide the sadness in her voice. She resisted the urge to ask about Paul. A part of her was scared what the girl might say.

  “Can I come back to your house?” Shayla asked and she wiped a tear away.

  “Of course.” London did not turn to look at Casey or Jon, she knew they were behind her. It did not matter at that moment.

  “Mom said Dad is going to be in surgery for a while, she said I could come back to your house if you said it was ok. She can call me an Uber.” The thought of that innocent girl in a car with a stranger scared her.

  “No, Shayla, I will come get you. Can I talk to your mom?” She heard the girl call out to her mother. Then the other woman was on the line.

  “Hello.” There were so many emotions in that one word. London heard the fear and the concern the loudest.

  “I will come and get her. I don’t like the idea of her riding with a stranger.” She hoped that her voice was not as sad as the other woman’s.

  “Paul gave me your number a while back, in case I needed to get in touch with him and couldn’t.” The woman said and she realized she did not know her name. Paul had always just said my wife.

  “That’s fine, I don’t mind. What hospital are you at?”

  “Mercy General.” The call ended like that and she made her way to her purse. Jon and Casey were still standing there. Neither one of them spoke.

  Casey looked like she could kill Jon and he simply looked at London. There was concern on his face.

  “I am going to get Shayla.” She said looking from one to the other.

  “I will drive you.” Casey offered, London shook her head.

  “I will be okay.” She said as she hugged her friend. It felt good to have a friend as good as Casey. Her friend did not like it but did not argue. London watched as Casey drove away, then she turned to Jon.

  “It will not work on me.” He said to her and she wondered what he was talking about.

  “What?”

  “I am driving you to the hospital.” He said and she shook her head. There was no way she wanted to be in such a closed space with him.

  “I don’t need you.” She was going to finish with something like ‘to drive me’, but those words froze in her throat. At the moment she did not want anything to do with him.

  “Your car or my truck?” He asked and she wanted to scream at him.

  “Jon.”

  “You are wasting time here.” He said his tone very calm, too calm in fact. The tears threatened to spill over again as she thought about how scared Shayla must be.

  “Your truck.” Because she did not want him driving her car. She did not like it when he opened the door for her and helped her inside. She was upset not incapable. When he backed out of the driveway she told him which hospital it was. His truck had four doors and a full back seat. She was glad that way she could sit with Shayla if she needed her too.

  “Do you love him?” Jon asked as he drove the truck. She thought about that question for a moment. The feelings she had for Paul were very different from the ones she had for Jon.

  “No, not like that.” That last part slipped out, and she did not want to have to explain it.

  “Like what?” He asked, she looked at him but he was looking at the road.

  “He is my friend. I care about him, but I am not in love with him.” Jon met her gaze for a moment and then he was looking out the windshield again.

  At the hospital she saw Shayla and her Mom. They were standing with a small group of people, just to the side of the hospital entrance. There were police officers in that group. Shayla saw them and came running over to her. She hugged London and then rubbed her belly.

  An action that London was very used to and comfortable with. Then she was hugging Jon and he rubbed her back. Shayla’s mom came over to them then.

  “Can we talk?” She asked London and then they moved away from the rest of the people.

  “I am Kate by the way.” She was glad that the woman had supplied that.

  “Paul always just called you his wife. I did not even know your name.” London smiled but Kate did not return it.

  “The surgery is pretty scary and I just don’t think Shayla needs to be here right now. I tried to get her to go to my parents, but she wanted to be with you.” Kate tried a smile, but it died pretty fast.

  “I said some pretty bad things about you, when Paul first told me you were his neighbor. Shayla absolutely loves you. I think I was jealous, he spent more time with you than he ever did with me.” London did not think that was saying much, Paul came over a lot, but he never stayed long.

  “He told me about the pictures and I am really sorry for all of that.” It was not her fault, but London did not say it.

  “I thought they were for publicity. So I am sorry.” London placed her hand on Kate’s, she just wanted to let the woman know that she did not have any bad feelings toward her.

  “All of that is water under the bridge, please don’t think about it again. Will you please keep me updated? Paul was the only friend I had there for a while. I really am worried about him.” Kate hugged her then and she was glad. The woman cried on London’s shoulder and she let her. When she looked for Shayla she saw her with Jon. They were playing Rock Paper Scissors, she sent him a small smile. She was glad that he was distracting Shayla.

  “Yes.” Kate said as she pulled away from London.

  “You are welcome at my house anytime. If you need to get away from here or anything, feel free to drop in.”

  Kate s
miled and was about to say something when a nurse came out of the hospital and called for Kate. London did not miss the fear in Kate’s eyes. Jon and Shayla came to her then and Shayla took her hand. Jon simply stood next to her. He did not make an attempt to touch her.

  “Is my dad going to be okay?” Shayla asked after they were back in the truck and Jon was driving them away. London was seated in the back seat behind Jon. Shayla next to her holding her hand.

  “I don’t know.” London admitted.

  “My Mom won’t tell me either.” Shayla said and it hit London in the heart. That child was scared and she could not get anyone to answer her.

  “She is scared right now, Shayla, and she really doesn’t know.” London did not want to say too much about Kate. It was her place to tell her daughter what she wanted her to know.

  “My Mom didn’t want to like you.” Shayla said and London could imagine what her mother had said.

  “Because of your pictures. She said only trashy people would act like that.” That would not have been something that she would have said to her daughter. Well that was not an honest thought, she did not know what she would say to her child. Maybe she should start thinking about that.

  “I told her that it wasn’t your fault. That a bad person wanted to hurt you and he did. Then she asked Daddy, and he said it was true. That you were a very nice person.” London met Jon’s eyes in the rear view mirror. She wondered what if anything Shayla’s words meant to him. Would this sweet innocent child make him see that what he had done was so wrong? The damage of it would be felt for years.

  “Thank you, Shayla, for standing up for me. You are a really good friend.” Shayla looked at her and smiled.

  “What was his name? The man that hurt you? I don’t think I have ever heard you say it.” Shayla’s question had her looking in the mirror again, Jon met her eyes only briefly.

  “Whiskey.” London heard herself say and Jon looked at her again. Then he was right back to driving. That was the man that had hurt her. He had been her friend.

  “Like Jack Daniels?” Shayla asked and that made London smile.

  “Yes, I guess so. What would you know about Whiskey?” London asked the smile on her face genuine.

  “Well I know that it is bad. Why would someone name a kid Whiskey?” That made her laugh a little, to a child that would be a plausible question.

  “It was a nickname. His friends call him Whiskey.” She did not want to continue with this line of questions. However it seemed to keep Shayla’s attention off of her dad. They were pulling up outside of London’s house.

  “Did you call him Whiskey?” Shayla asked as she undid the seat belt. She was opening the door. London looked in the mirror and met Jon’s eyes. He was waiting for her answer.

  “I did, but not anymore.” London opened the door and got out of the truck. When they went inside Shayla ran to let Elsa out. She wondered if the girl ever missed the dog. Then she was heading for the dining room table. London watched as she shuffled through the sketches. Whatever it took to keep her mind off of her dad. Jon stood next to her and she wondered what he was thinking.

  “I am sorry, London.” She did not ask him what for because at the moment she did not care. Shrugging she went to sit with Shayla at the table. He could apologize until he was blue in the face and it was not going to change anything.

  “What if you put this one and this one together?” Shayla asked as she passed two sketches in her direction.

  “That could work.” London admitted really seeing the potential in the design.

  “I might have to hire you when you get out of college.” The compliment made the girl smile. The smile was only there for a second and there was a look of sadness.

  “Do you think my dad is going to die?” That question caused her heart to slam to a stop. She saw the fear in Shayla’s eyes. This little girl was dealing with so much and London was not sure how to help her.

  “I think he will be fine.” I hope he will, she added mentally. She did not want to give the girl anything to worry about.

  “Why would somebody shoot him?” London looked to the door way and saw Jon. He was just standing there, she brought her attention back to Shayla.

  “I don’t know.” That was the truth, she did not think that anyone could know why people did what they did. At that moment she was wondering why Jon was in her house. What was she thinking?

  “I am tired, can I lay down?” London took her hand and led her to the guest bedroom at the top of the stairs.

  “There is a television if you want to watch something. I will be downstairs if you need me.” Shayla hugged her and she wrapped her arms around the girl.

  “Thanks, London, I love you.”

  “I love you too, Kid.” Then she watched as Shayla made her way to the bed and laid down on it.

  Giving the girl some privacy she went back down stairs. Jon was sitting in the den watching television, but she did not want to go in there. Instead she headed to the back porch. Elsa was nosing around the back yard and so London simply sat and watched her. So many thoughts raced through her brain and she wished she could just stop them.

  Worrying about Paul was at the top of that list. Her hand rested on her middle and she absently rubbed it. The door behind her opened and she knew it was Jon. He did not say anything as he came to sit in the chair next to hers. The one that Paul always sat in when he came over.

  “Are you okay?” He asked and she kept her eyes on the dog. She did not want to look at him. The more she was around him the weaker she seemed to get. Her hand moved slowly on her stomach and she paid it no attention.

  “Not really.” There was no need to lie. Not all of her issues were related to Paul. Some of her worries belonged to that man right there and she wasn’t so sure she wanted to tell him.

  “Do you want me to leave?”

  “Not really.” Because at that exact moment she didn’t want him leaving. His presence did give her a little comfort.

  “Why?” Where to begin, at that moment she just wanted to be honest.

  “I don’t want to be alone.” The idea that she would have to deal with that small child alone if something happened to her father was scary. So having him there meant she would not have to do that. He reached for her hand and she moved it.

  “Don’t touch me.” Her words were soft, but she meant them. There was something about Jon’s touch that made her forget everything and she could not deal with that either. He put his hands together in his lap.

  “I don’t know what to do.” The words seemed to be torn from inside.

  “Me either.” Her cell phone rang and she thought it was the hospital.

  ‘Hello.”

  “He pulled through the surgery, and they are going to keep a close eye on him all night.” There was so much in Kate’s tone. London could hear the relief.

  “How is Shay?”

  “She is resting right now, but she will be so happy to hear that.” London had to admit that she would be happy to tell her that.

  “The nurse is coming in, I will call back soon.” Kate ended the call and London dropped the phone in her lap. The relief washed over her.

  “He is out of surgery and they are going to watch him close tonight.” London heard the relief in her own voice. She was just so happy that he was alive.

  “That’s good. I get a chance to apologize to him.”

  “For what?” London honestly had no idea what he had done to Paul.

  “Hurting his friend.” The look in his eyes touched her. Shaking her head she wondered if he really believed that was what he had done.

  “I don’t think he cares for your apology.” There was no reason to beat around the bush.

  “Probably not, but then you don’t either.” Rolling her eyes she looked out to where Elsa was rolling in the grass.

  “It doesn’t change anything, Jon. Why would you think it could?” The result of his actions still haunted her. She pretty much became a hermit because of what he ha
d done.

  “I heard you.” His words were quiet. She looked back to him then.

  “What?”

  “That night in the bed. The day we rode my motorcycle. I heard you.” She knew exactly what he was talking about.

  “So?” That was not something that she wanted him to believe that she felt anymore.

  “You said you loved me.” That she had and still did, but she did not want him to know that.

  “And you still tried to destroy my life?” There turn it on him.

  “That is not a denial.” He argued softly.