Better Late Than Never

by Ghiselle St. James

  My best friend is doing great things and I’ll be damned if I miss this one.

  Things had morphed into a new normal for us. We didn’t text as often but found we were calling each other to check in more. We used our messenger platform to send each other silly pictures and links to funny videos, and also used the webcam feature every once in a while to ensure that we saw each other in spite of the distance.

  School had become increasingly pressuring for both of us, but we didn’t feel the need to constantly talk in order to fuel our friendship. If anything, this past year has made us closer.

  Finally passing grandma, I gun it past the old woman – who I see flip me the bird once again in my rear-view mirror – and speed in the direction of Savi’s college campus. The speed cuts my journey in half and I realize I’m now about five minutes away. I’m late, but it won’t be so bad.

  Just as I think I’m clear, sirens wail behind me. I check my speedometer and curse, punching the steering wheel. Flashing my indicator on, I pull over to the side of the road with a heavy sigh. Checking the time, getting to Savannah in five minutes seems like a dream.

  The officer comes up to my window, Ray Bans shining on the bridge of his nose, and asks, “D’you know what you did back there, boy?”

  I decide not to argue or give him any lip. “I was going way too fast in a slow zone.”

  “Everybody goes way too fast in a slow zone, but that’s not what I was referring to, boy,” he corrects. “You just roughed up my momma on the road, son.”

  Realization dawns and I can’t help my response, “Seriously, dude?”

  Probably not the best thing to say…

  My one phone call to Grayson’s phone goes unanswered – of course it does, because the Universe wants me to spend a night in jail. I leave a desperate message hoping he’ll check it soon. My phone and other belongings were confiscated, and the rental car impounded (I can just see the overages putting a dent on my credit card)…all after the white trash police officer arrested me.

  Who knew that being unkind to equally rude old ladies was a punishable offense in this town?

  I wait for what feels like an entire day, but what is probably only about three hours, when I hear my name called. I get up and dust off my tux, annoyed that Grayson took so long to come bail me out, and walk to the cell gate already sliding open. When I collect my stuff, I walk outside, ready to tear Grayson a new one, but stop in my tracks.

  It isn’t Grayson I see, but a sight for sore eyes.

  “Savi,” I breathe out.

  “Grayson told me you needed saving,” she says with a smile fighting its way to her lips; succulent lips that are bold in red lipstick.

  I take in the rest of her curvy body wrapped in a tight red, off-the-shoulder dress. She is fucking sexy. And just when I think her dress is normal, she spins in her impossibly high heels and I see a big black bow at the bottom that’s all her. I bet the dress didn’t even come with one.

  I laugh because that’s all I can do with the day I’ve had.

  “My pants ripped while I was getting ready this morning. I forgot to do laundry, so I had to wear tighty-whities tonight,” I confess, not giving a damn that my embarrassment is to her amusement.

  I continue, stepping closer, “I missed my flight. I got flipped off by an old lady…twice, and then got pulled over and subsequently arrested by her son. I was sexually assaulted, I think, by one of the female police officers who was frisking me; and I think I have a date with one of the prisoners when he gets out.”

  I’m finally right in front of her.

  “All that fucked up shit, and I’d do it all over again just to stand right here in front of you to say…”

  She waits with bated breath, the air crisp and rife with so many things. I pull her close to me and she sucks in an audible breath. Putting my lips to her ear, I whisper…

  “Your stocking has a run in the back.”

  The perfectionist in my best friend squeaks, and she checks the back of her stocking where, sure enough, there is a long run in it. How long it’s been there, I dunno, but it’s worth it seeing her mild freak out.

  “Oh my God! No! How long has it been there? Oh, my God!”

  I stand and watch her fuss with it, as if doing that will make it miraculously go away. The more she messes with it, the longer and more webbed the run gets; and I’m double over laughing as I watch her try to “stop” the track it’s making down her leg. A big smile touches my lips as peace overtakes me because, goddamn it, this is fucking everything right now.

  Especially with her wearing my globe necklace.

  “C’mon, Crazy Hair. Come show me around the place.” I throw my arm around my best friend and that stops her panic for a moment.

  I’m going to have to leave this car overnight and pay a shit ton to get it out tomorrow, but I’m here with Savi, and that’s all that matters.

  “So…someone raped you in prison?”

  Yeah…that’s all that matters.

  Grayson, Becky and I end up spending a few days in Savi’s college neck of the woods, at a bed and breakfast nearby there. The place is woodsy and cozy, but we barely spend any time there. Our time here has been pretty cool since Savi’s been hired to throw a few frat and sorority parties, and we get to party for free. Liquor, loose women – for me, since Grayson’s a one-woman man now – and college boy antics.

  And that’s just on the second night here.

  Purple Prizm has become sort of a household name on this campus and around certain counties in Florida. As much as I know Savannah hates the attention, the fact that people appreciate her style and work so much that they’d hire her to do something she loves, trumps everything. I’m immensely proud of my best friend; always believed she would be a boss.

  The design of her logo makes me stand a little taller, too. The dot on the “i” in the word Prizm, is actually a prismatic globe; reminiscent, she says, of the globe necklace her grandmother gave her for high school graduation.

  The globe necklace I asked her grandmother to give her. Damn.

  I’m in her dorm room waiting for her to finish classes when I spot a book under her desk. It makes my heart pump faster and a longing stir in my gut. Reminiscence crashes into me like a freight train, and I gingerly pick up the book as if our memories are going to attack me like a bunch of Gremlins who’d been sprayed with water.

  I need to stop watching scary movies at night…not that Gremlins was scary or anything like that. Okay, it was.

  I flip through Our Big Book of Dreams and smile as I remember all the work I’d put in to make this scrapbook for her. I remember stealing a few magazines from the library and cutting out the pictures I needed; dismantling some of my mom’s Bored Wives Monthlies or whatever she called those girlie magazines; and even printing shit from the internet to put this thing together for her birthday.

  I flip another page and the note I left her when she just went off to College greets me. There was so much I wanted to say then, but I forced myself to keep it short. I thought for sure she would have torn up the note and dumped the scrapbook.

  But she’s still carrying these mementos around after all these years.

  “I require a fifty percent down payment, Shirla, no exceptions.” Savi’s on her cell talking when she enters the room and spots me.

  She’s wearing one of her floral dresses I love so much – a black, pink and white outfit with pretty printed flowers on the bodice and a big bow tied at her neck. She’s wearing the cutest leopard print flats that go with nothing she’s wearing, and I just know she did that on purpose.

  I love this woman’s individuality!

  Surprised, she stops and stares at me. “How did you get in here?” she inquires in a tone that doesn’t tell me she’s happy to see me.

  “Uh, your roommate let me in?” I answer questioningly. I’m kind of regretting not calling first.

  “Shirla, I’ll call you back,” she tells the person on the line, not waiting for them to
agree before disconnecting the call.

  “Uh, I could go…” I leave it hanging. I don’t want to go, but I’m sensing she’s not having a good day.

  “What’re you doing with that?” she asks, ignoring what I’d just said.

  “I feel like it’s pretty obvious what I’m doing with it, but I’m scared of saying the wrong thing…”

  She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, the redness in her cheeks only getting redder. If anything, it makes her even more beautiful, but I’m not about to tell her that and risk her cutting my tongue out and making wontons out of it.

  “Let’s go for a walk, Crazy Hair, before you burst a gasket,” I suggest, setting the scrapbook on her bed.

  Reaching my hand out to her, I wait for her to take it. Seconds hang between us before she does, but it’s almost like she immediately calms when our palms touch. Something’s going on with my best friend, and I’m just glad I’m here to talk her out of killing somebody.

  We walk around her campus in silence for a while. North Shore Florida University is beautiful at springtime. The trees, the birds, the flowers and the crisp air have a homey feeling to it, but it’s only a temporary replacement. People like us – Savi and me – could never call a place like this home.

  Not when you’re each other’s homes…

  I shake off my crazy thoughts and break the silence. “I’m out for the rest of the season and possibly even longer,” I reveal, not as terrified as I was when the physio first told me.

  “Oh, no, Kyle!” Savi exclaims, tears welling in her eyes. “I thought you were recovering.”

  “I thought I was, too, but the shoulder injury was gradually deteriorating. Doctors say that even if I make a full recovery, playing again would only reignite the injury, and that further damage to the ligaments could be permanent.”

  “Oh, my God. What’ll you do?” She sounds genuinely panicked and scared for me, and it makes me want to kiss her. She knows how much baseball means to me.

  “I’ve actually been pretty good in my PR and business classes in this final year,” I answer. “I didn’t know what I was doing when I switched my major to Sports Management, but I’ve actually been making strides with the various sports coaches at Duchannes, even going with them to scout out new players.”

  She’s silent for a little while and when I look down at her, she’s staring at me with amazement.

  “What?”

  “You,” she responds with a bright smile.

  “Me, what?”

  “You’re amazing,” she tells me, and it makes my head grow two sizes. “You take devastating news and turn it into something good.”

  I’m taken aback. “I-I wasn’t even looking at it like that.”

  “That’s because very rarely does the sky fall with you.”

  Yes, it does…every moment I’m away from you.

  “What’s going on, Sav?” I question, taking the spotlight away from me so I don’t go saying something cheesy.

  Savi sighs then launches into a tirade like she’s been dying to get things off her chest. School, roommate, clients, lecturers…and a job offer.

  “I mean, they make a valid point, I’ve made a name for myself out here. And Miami is a fucking goldmine for people like me. I’m practically a nobody in NC, Kyle. Nobody aside from my family and friends know that I do what I do. There are so many other successful event planners back home, why shouldn’t I go plant the roots of my business somewhere else? Somewhere where the seeds of Purple Prizm have already been sown?”

  And just like that, a light bulb goes off in her eyes as she realizes she’s answered her own questions…and the Savi and Kyle show comes to a screeching halt.

  Only because I walk smack dab into a fucking tree. Goddammit!

  “Oh, my God, Kyle!” Savi yells, while trying and failing to stifle her laughter. “Jesus, I’m sorry, but…” Snorts. “What just happened?” Laughter.

  “Oh, ha-ha, laugh it up,” I deadpan as I let her help me up. “I was giving you so much of my attention I forgot to look where I was going.”

  Yeah, that’s a believable lie to go with; not the fact that my world is crumbling with the thought of you not coming home.

  She laughs some more before hugging me and apologizing, “Aw, I’m so sorry, you poor baby. Where does it hurt?”

  Sulking, I point to my forehead. She places a warm, gentle kiss there. Tingles shoot down my spine at the touch of her lips. I touch my chest to indicate that my heart hurts and she hugs me tightly before kissing me where I pointed.

  “My ego’s bruised too, but I don’t know if that’s a kissable spot,” I tell her, genuinely sorta hurt that she laughed at me but not really.

  “Hey, I know where your ego is and I’m not kissing you there.” She holds her palm up haltingly and I waggle my eyebrows at her suggestively.

  I mean, she walked right into that one.

  “Ugh, you perv!” she scoffs, smacking my chest.

  I shoot out and grab her hand, tucking it into the curve of my arm and we start walking again.

  “Tell me about the job,” I insist, and her eyes light up as she does.

  How can I even ask her to give up a chance at her very own business? What would be my reason? That I miss her? That I’ve been in love with her since we were fifteen years old? No. I’ve been a shit best friend to her for a long time now. It’s time I do something for her.

  It’s time I set her free.

  “Take the job, Sav,” I say when we’re almost back to her residence hall.

  She stumbles a bit and I straighten her before her pretty face meets the pavement. She looks almost lost…as lost as I feel to say what I just said.

  “W-what?”

  “This is a great opportunity, Savi.” And it really is. “Your own office; a two-year contract with one of the best wedding destinations across the United States; a five-figure starting salary, with jobs that could land you over six figures? What’s not to take, Savannah?”

  She chews on her bottom lip for a while as she contemplates everything I’ve said. I know if I were to tell her not to take it without even giving her a reason why, she’d probably not follow this dream of hers. I know how Savi’s fear works…and she will only act on them if I show those same fears too.

  So, I tuck them away in the deepest, darkest corner of my heart – the fear of losing her friendship; the fear of her finding love outside of me; the fear that this distance may cancel the Kyle and Savi show forever – and I push her towards her dreams.

  Because that’s what best friends do. They make sacrifices.

  “Garçon! Another round, please!” I slur loudly in the bar Grayson just found me in.

  After walking Savi back to her dorm room, she kissed me on the cheek and thanked me for making her decision easier. I smiled and told her “that’s what best friends are for”, the words tasting like bile on my tongue, and then left her, promising to meet up for dinner.

  I’ve been in this bar ever since.

  “I don’t think you can handle another round, big guy,” Grayson interjects, passing me a bottle of water.

  “Youuu…you don’t understand, Grays,” I announce, my cousin’s name coming out like Grace. “She’s gonna leave.”

  “Only because you pushed her, bud,” he offers, but he really doesn’t understand.

  “How could I tell her not to take it, Grays? How?” I’m despondently drunk. I let her go, but it’s eating me up inside.

  “You couldn’t.”

  And there it is. Even Grayson knows that I’m no good for her.

  “Why can’t I be good for her, Grays?” My eyes mist as the alcohol works its way through me.

  My cousin lays an empathetic hand on my shoulder and I wait eagerly, as if his answer will hold the key to infinite wisdom.

  “Because guys like us,” he finally says. “Have a lotta shit to work on in ourselves before we’re ready for women like Savannah and Becky.”

  “But you got a Becky…” I’m c
onfused.

  “Yeah, I got my Becky, but it took work,” he answers. “Work that you just started putting in the moment you told her to take that job.”

  I know he’s right, but it still hurts like fuck!

  I’m about to order up another round of drinks and say sayonara to my liver when I spot someone on the dance floor. Squinting my eyes, I try to make sure what I’m seeing is right. It’s probably the alcohol drowning my system, but there, in the middle of the dance floor, with some chick in a fairy costume all over him…

  Is Cam.

  “What the fuck?” I mutter, before I stumble toward him.

  “Hey, where ya goin’, buddy?” Grayson calls after me.

  I shush him then try to subtly indicate that I see Cam, though I do a shit job at it. Grayson’s eyes widen and I see him slap a few bills on the table before he follows me.

  We’re gonna fuck this guy up!

  I near the cheating bastard and shove at him but end up catching air. Gray holds me steady, saving me from face-planting. Thank God for my knight in shining armor.

  “Maybe we should go back to our room, bud,” Grayson suggests, trying to steer me away from confronting Cam.

  “No way in hell,” I slur, shaking away from his hold and trudging over to his cheating ass.

  Said the pot to the kettle…as if I wasn’t the reason Savi cheated on him two years ago.

  I try again, and this time, I shove the shoulder of Savi’s cheating boyfriend. “What the fuck are you doing, Cam?” I spit, anger dancing in my eyes.

  Dude looks like he’s seen ten ghosts, face slackening in horror, and has the audacity to try explaining himself. “G-guys, i-it’s not what you th-th-think.”

  As if we’re blind…

  The music is too loud, so I grab him, successfully, by the collar and drag his sorry ass outside. Throwing him onto the curb, I crack my knuckles, ready to give this asshat a beat down.