Sometimes I envied that.
“I think you’re doing the right thing,” she said.
“Thanks. It’s going to be an interesting few days, that’s for sure.”
“Yup, can’t wait to be a fly on the wall.”
“Ma, you’re not coming.” I’d meant that more as a question, but it came out more like an order.
“Why not? I got to support my kid, don’t I? I wouldn’t be a good mother if I didn’t.”
I zipped up my suitcase after tossing a few more things into it. “You are not coming to support me, and you know it.” I heaved the large, overstuffed bag off the bed and carried it downstairs. “I don’t need you there, messing around and making things harder for me.”
She beat me to the bottom and floated there waiting. “I won’t make things harder. I’m planning to help.”
I sat the bag down in the kitchen as Jake came up the stairs. “I’m heading out. Oh.” He pointed to my bag. “I could have brought that down.”
“How ‘bout you get the other one? I’d appreciate that.”
He climbed up the stairs as I ignored my mother.
“Come on. It’ll be fun. Maybe I can drop a few things here and there. You know, make his wife see? That way she’ll believe he’s there.”
“He’s probably going to be there, and you will not drop a few things here and there. Seriously.”
“Meh. I look at it as a scientific experiment.”
“Great.” I clicked the button on the garage door opener for my side of the garage. The dogs followed me out. “Puppies, stay in the yard, please.”
They rushed out the garage and ran laps in the front yard while I got the car ready to go.
Ma sat in the passenger seat. “You got any good books on tape? I haven’t read a Harlequin in years.”
“I’ve got audiobooks, yes, but not any romances.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t listen to romance. And besides, you’re not planning on being in the car with us the whole time, are you?”
“I figured I’d drop in now and again. You know, Bust Mel’s chops. I haven’t done that in a while. I could use the laugh.”
Dear God. My mother made my hair fall out sometimes, but trying to tame her was like trying to tame a wild boar. “I need you to chillax over the next few days, okay? Go hang out with Buddy. Go to Italy. I don’t care. Do something, but just don’t make things harder for me than they already are.”
“Why you got to always be such a fuddy dud? You gotta live a little. Enjoy yourself. You only live once.”
“Yeah, and from the looks of it, that once is an eternity.”
She flicked her hand under her chin, an Italian hand gesture that wasn’t meant to express love and kindness. I laughed and said, “Love you too,” as she shimmered away.
The puppies tried to get in the car. “I’m sorry, babies, Mama’s going without you this time. Daddy’s taking you to see your friends.”
Beanie, the black one, jumped on my legs while Pony, the tan one, ran for his ball he’d left in the yard. The puppies were siblings we’d rescued from the shelter at two months old. They were a year and a half already and without any kids at home, spoiled rotten.
I didn’t have a problem with that, either.
Jake came out of the house with my other bag and two reusable grocery bags. “I packed you some snacks.” He handed me the bags.
I snuck a peek inside them and kissed his cheek. “You’re so sweet.” He’d made a snack bag for me and one for Mel, each filled with chocolate, salt, and gooey items, even though he had been ready to leave just a few minutes before. He’d packed the perfect driving foods, too. “I need to run. I told her I’d be there at 5:30.”
He kissed me goodbye, wrangled the puppies into the house, and watched me as I pulled out of the driveway.
Mel’s garage door was open, and two heavy suitcases, as well as two regular sized ones, sat in front of her car. I put the car into park, clicked off the ignition, and popped the hatch, thankful for the removable third seat. Otherwise we’d have to tie her stuff up on the roof, and we’d never get that done for the return trip. I had no idea why she needed so much for a quick trip, but Mel was traditionally an over packer.
I walked in through the garage door and made myself a cup of coffee. When Aaron came down in a pair of boxers and a t-shirt, I quickly covered my eyes. “Oh my gosh, sorry. I forgot it was so early.”
He laughed. “It’s not a big deal. You’ve seen me in my swimsuit. What’s the difference?”
“There’s a lot of difference. Please, put some clothes on.” I peeked through a crack in my fingers and then immediately closed my eyes when I realized what I’d done. “Seriously. This is awkward.”
He sighed and walked back upstairs. I heard him mumble, “Women,” along the way.
Mel came down a few seconds later singing Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”, loudly and entirely off key. I’d been quiet thinking the kids were asleep, but remembered they were going to spend time with their dad.
She bebopped into the kitchen, and I nearly spit my coffee out. “What in God’s creation are you wearing?”
She glanced down at her attire. “The perfect retro 80s outfit, that’s what.”
Mel wore a hot pink sweatshirt, torn at the top so it draped down over her shoulder with a black tank top underneath, a pair of large plastic hooped earrings with hot pink beads, a faux pearl black and pink beaded necklace, ridiculously huge beads, a pair of hot-pink capri leggings, and a black tutu styled tulle skirt. She’d tied her long jet black hair up into a big, poufy ponytail on the top of her head.
“Seriously?”
“I figured it was appropriate. We’re going to see your friends from the 80s, right?”
“Mel, it’s 2019. I sincerely doubt my friends from the 80s are still wearing that. In fact, I don’t recall any of my friends from the 80s ever wearing anything like that in the first place, except one, and she had her own style, so she was able to pull it off. Otherwise, Buffalo Grove was more of a preppy look kind of town.”
“Girls just want to have fun.”
“Good grief, and that’s the wrong singer anyway.” I pressed my thumbs into my temples. “It’s going to be a long drive, isn’t it?”
Aaron came back down in a pair of sweats and the same t-shirt. “This better?”
“One hundred percent,” I said. “And a heck of a lot better than what your wife’s wearing.”
He caressed her shoulder. “I think she’s hot.”
I stuck my finger in my mouth and pretended to gag.
Mel flipped me the bird.
“Hey, be nice.”
“That was me being nice.”
I shifted my eyes to Aaron. He just shrugged and poured himself a cup of coffee.
Even though they’d been married a few years already, it still tickled me to see the two of them together like that. Mel was my best friend, and she deserved a man that treated her as a priority like Aaron did. He loved her, it was obvious, but he also loved their life together—her kids, her crazy, dead-seeing bestie, and all the drama her bestie’s dead mother brought to the table–both Mel’s and mine, too. As Fran would say, he came from good stock. And that he did.
“How’s Jake feel about you hanging with the guy that—”
I cut him off. “How would you even know he’s the guy that, you know…”
Mel giggled. “Popped your cherry? Isn’t that what we called in our youth? I tell him everything.”
“Some things are meant to be left between friends, Mel.”
“Yeah, because you don’t share my stuff with Jake.”
She had a point. “Still.”
Aaron held onto his wife’s waist. “You’re not really going like that are you?”
She grumbled something about him not being any fun, and she regretted marrying him—which we all knew was a lie—and stomped upstairs to change.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“You’re welcome. You have no idea what it’s like in this house.”
“Oh, trust me. I do.”
* * *
We made it to Buffalo Grove in reasonably good time, which was surprising given the fact that Mel had to stop to use the bathroom six times. She ate all of her snacks in two hours, mine in the next three, and was hungry every hour on the hour after that.
“I can’t help it,” she’d said. “I have this thing about being in the car for too long. I’m afraid I’ll have to pee, and we won’t be close to a rest stop, and I’m worried we’ll get stuck in a snowstorm and starve.”
“It’s May.”
“It could happen.”
I called Tim and let him know we’d made it and that we had just checked into the Sheraton on Lake Cook Road.
“You hungry?” he asked. “We could meet at Lou’s.”
My mouth instantly watered. I hadn’t had Lou Malnati’s pizza in years. Their deep dish topped my list of best pizzas ever. “When can you meet?”
“How about thirty minutes?”
“We’ll be there.”
Mel stretched on the bed. “I’m tired. That drive was brutal.”
“Seriously? You’re like a dog. You didn’t do anything but sleep, eat, and pee.”
“I know, and it’s exhausting being lazy.”
“Good grief. Freshen up. We’re meeting Tim in thirty minutes.”
She rolled onto her side and off the bed. “Oh, fine. ‘Bout time I met the infamous Tim Friese anyway.”
I changed into a pair of capris and a short-sleeved shirt and dabbed some face freshener Emily gave me for Christmas onto my cheeks. I tossed my hair around with a brush, but it didn’t make much of a difference.
I hadn’t been back to the old stomping grounds in a long time, and so much had changed. It was still familiar, but different, and it brought back a flood of emotions and memories I hadn’t thought of in years.
Fran popped up in the back of my car. “Ah Madone, did you see? Another one bites the dust.”
“It’s been gone a while now. I think they sold the company and most of them closed down.”
Mel acknowledged my mother with a hello even though she couldn’t hear or see her. “What’re you talking about?” She asked me.
“Dominick’s. It was the main grocery store chain in town.”
“Italians owned it. They had good meat. I used to go to them when I couldn’t get to the Heights to Salvatore’s. Ah, I missed Salvatore’s. The best chicken gizzards in the state they had.”
I repeated Ma’s comments to Mel because I knew she’d think it was disgusting.
“Ew. Did you eat those?”
“All the time. They were yummy with grilled onions and the special sauce my uncle used to make.”
She gagged. “I don’t even want to know what the special sauce was.”
“No, you probably don’t.”
She flipped around and stared at the empty-to-her backseat. “That sucks though. I hate it when I can’t get good meat.”
I just shook my head.
Tim met us at the front entrance to Lou Malnati’s. I introduced them, and Mel had to open her big mouth.
She gave him the once over, twice. “Oh, I can totally see it.”
“See what?”
“The George Michael resemblance.”
My eyes darted to Tim’s. “I never said that.”
He laughed. “Everyone else did, but not so much these days. I think it was the hair.”
Mel’s lips curved into a seductive smile. “It’s a whole lot of other things.” She’d all but growled out that one.
“Oh, for the love of Mike, stop it.”
The two of them laughed.
“I like her,” he said.
“He’s got a good taste,” Mel said.
“You two are exhausting.”
The hostess sat us at a corner booth, and we ordered a deep-dish Chicago Malnati classic. I knew the slab of sausage would land me a severe case of agita, an Italian/American slang term for heartburn, later, but I didn’t care. The stuff was entirely worth it.
Mel checked out the restaurant. “It smells fabulous in here. I’m starving.”
I wasn’t sure how that was possible after she’d eaten practically everything that wasn’t attached to the car on the ride up, but I kept my lips zipped.
“The pizza’s great,” Tim said. He flicked his hand by his left ear.
I ignored Brian floating behind him and kept him engaged as best as possible. “So, have you talked to Sue anymore?”
He sipped his beer. “I haven’t talked to her, but I talked to Olsen. Said she’s a wreck.”
Brian floated from Tim to me. “She is.”
I blinked. “I feel horrible for her.”
“I know. She’s a really nice woman, and they’ve got great kids. It’s going to be hard for them.” He chugged the last part of his beer while Mel stared at him in awe.
I kicked her under the table and gave her the stink eye.
She ignored me.
“I’m surprised you’re here,” Tim said.
“Makes two of us.”
“How weird was it that you texted me right after I got the news? Like fate or something.”
“I know, right? Strange how these things happen.” That was a bald-faced lie, but I preferred it to say, blurting out that his spirit showed up just before I’d dropped my robe to take a bath.
He tipped his bottle of beer to his mouth and took a swig. “What’d he say?”
“Who?”
“Come on, Richter, I’m not stupid.”
Mel snorted. “I like how he’s calling you out and using your maiden name to do it. Kind of ironic, isn’t it?”
“Shh. Let him talk.”
“There’s this thing called the internet, and if you get on it, you can find out just about anything about anyone.”
The server brought out our appetizers, and Mel dug into the fried mushrooms. “You’re so busted.”
Tim laughed. “Is he here now?”
I sighed, and I glanced to his right and nodded slowly.
Tim’s head jerked back and forth, and then he shifted his body in the seat to check out behind him.
“You’re not going to see anything,” Mel said. She bit into her second mushroom, and the breaded coating fell off the bottom half into a large lump on her plate. “Happens to me all the time.”
“That’s annoying,” he said.
“You have no idea,” she said, with a mushroom stuffed into her mouth.
“That’s so freaking cool though. What’s he doing? Where is he?”
I pointed to his right. “He’s laughing at the moment.”
“Tell him Sue’s going to call him in the morning. She wants him to cater the get-together.”
Tim owned All Ways Catering and Deli, a favorite local spot in Elk Grove, and not too far away from Buffalo Grove. Even though my taste buds were heightened with excitement for the coming pizza, the thought of a tasty, authentic deli sandwich stuffed with fatty meats and cheeses made my mouth water. That kind of good stuff wasn’t available in my part of the Atlanta suburbs. I relayed the message.
“I figured. I’ve done most of their parties and business lunches, so I’ve already been thinking about it.” He rotated his body to face his right side. “Does he know what happened?”
I shrugged. “He thinks so, but there’s an issue we’re looking into. That’s why I’m here.” I didn’t think it was my place to say anything about Brian’s son or the alluded to accusations regarding his business partner.
“About that,” Brian said. “I need to talk to you.”
I excused myself from the table and plucked my cell phone from my purse. Any time spirits wanted to chat in public, I pretended to be on my cell. Seemed like the easiest way to handle things and kept me from looking like I was talking to myself.
I walked out the main entrance and stood on the sidewalk near the first row of parked cars. “Did you r
emember something else?”
He shrugged. “No, but I don’t think we have a lot of time. I need you to talk to Sue tonight, and then I need you to do something with Dan.”
“Do something with Dan? What does that mean? Tonight? And what am I supposed to say to your wife?” I adjusted my shirt, stretching it down over the top of my pants. “She’s going to think I’m a crazy ex-girlfriend, and she won’t take me seriously at all.”
“I think she knows about you. Like Tim said, the internet’s a wealth of information.”
“She’s Googled me?” My shoulders went back all on their own. I hated how I felt and quickly adjusted my ego. “Interesting.”
“I don’t think she knows I know.” He shook his head. “Everything’s so hazy. It’s like I can kind of remember things, but they’re like a confused dream.” He floated back and forth like he was pacing. “I think she found it last week. If I remember right, it came up on the family computer when I got online recently.”
“The haziness is common. Hopefully, it’ll be clearer soon.”
He furrowed his brows, and a long, crooked indention formed at the bridge of his nose. “I don’t really know what to do here. I just have this gut feeling something’s going to happen to Bradley, and I need to stop it.”
I leaned my head back and stared into the blue sky and prayed. Okay, it was more a whine than a prayer, but I talked to God, so it was kind of the same. “Why me? Seriously, God. There are tons of people like me in the world. Why’d you pick me for this one?”
Brian laughed. “I guess I’m the one that picked you.”
I shrugged. “Challenges create growth, right?”
He nodded. “I think she read about what you did for that couple in Georgia. That might make things easier for you.”
Brian referred to a young mother who’d called 9-1-1 just before her own murder. The operator heard her screams and the gunshot over the phone, but no one knew where she was, or who she was. Every death is hard, but that one hit me harder than most. The outcome was a complete surprise to all of us, and had I figured it out sooner, I wouldn’t have taken the physical beating I had. I’d learned a lot from that poor girl’s death, and I’d become a better person because of it. “Let’s hope. What do you want me to do? Should I involve Tim?”
The Favor Page 3
