This Much Is True

by Anna Albo

  “Go away. Leave me alone,” I shrieked.

  “I’m sorry. If you open the door, we can talk about this. It’s not what you think.”

  “Go away,” I said, pounding my fists against the door. I kicked it for good measure. I ran the shower and the bathroom sink tap to drown out any noise, but it didn’t really help.

  “I won’t leave until we talk. I don’t want you to hate me.”

  I cocooned myself into a ball and rocked back and forth in the far corner of the bathroom and covered my ears. What was I going to do? I wanted to leave, but with no phone and no way out, I was trapped. Panic set in. My heart picked up beats and my body shook uncontrollably. I threw up again. My throat was burning and I didn’t think I had anything left in me to throw up.

  I pulled myself up to the sink and splashed water on my face. I was teetering back and forth and gripped the counter, afraid my legs would give out. At least I had silence for a few minutes.

  “Emma, it’s Grandpa.”

  Hearing Grandpa’s voice made me cry harder.

  “I just got here and I found out what happened. Honey, you need to come out, okay? We want to make sure you’re all right.”

  “I do not want to talk to Dad. No, no! Grandpa, they were . . . together.”

  “I know, but let’s talk about it.”

  “No. I can’t.”

  “We’re all a little worried about you. If you don’t want to talk to me, you can talk to Wendy or Zach.”

  Zach? I moved closer to the door. “Is Zach here?”

  “It seems we all got here within minutes of each other. It was quite the scene. Do you want to talk to Zach?”

  I pressed my cheek to the door. “Grandpa, did he know about them?”

  “Based on his reaction, I’m going to say no. Should I go fetch him?”

  “Yes,” I said, sobbing all over again.

  I leaned up against the door and waited. Every part of me felt like it was breaking and when I heard Zach’s voice, the crying intensified.

  “Em, you okay? Can I come in?”

  I unlocked the door and peeked out to make sure he was alone. There he was, his face looking pained. I grabbed his arm and pulled him into the bathroom and shut the door behind him, making sure it was locked again. I then threw my arms around him holding on for dear life.

  “I didn’t know,” Zach said, hugging me tightly.

  “How could they?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, rubbing my back. “They claim they didn’t have sex . . . if that helps.”

  “But they were in her bedroom. Getting dressed.” I wiped the image from my head. “Please make everyone go. I can’t face any of them. Will you do that?”

  “Do you want me to go too?”

  “No, you stay. You’ll stay, right?”

  “Yes, of course. Give me a few minutes.”

  He left and I splashed more cold water on my face and took a few deep breaths. I kept picturing Dad sitting on Genie’s bed, his phone in hand. I could only guess he couldn’t find it in time or maybe he panicked. Genie and Dad! My stomach gurgled again.

  A few minutes passed before Zach returned. “Your grandfather is still here. He wants to make sure you’re okay. I don’t feel right kicking him out.”

  I nodded. “It’s okay as long as Genie and Dad are gone.”

  “Wendy left too.”

  I looked at Zach, my eyes locked on his. “For sure you didn’t know? You’re not lying to me?”

  “I promise I didn’t know. If I had known, I would have stopped it.”

  “What am I going to do?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

  “I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out. It will be okay.”

  “What if they are . . . together? What if they love each other? I can’t deal with this. I don’t even want to think about it,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Let’s get you out of the bathroom. Maybe you’ll feel better if you talk to your grandfather.”

  “What about Genie? She’s going to come back!”

  “Don’t worry about Genie. I’ll take care of her.”

  I massaged my temples. I didn’t want to leave Grandpa waiting. I left the bathroom with Zach close behind. But when I exited the bedroom, I heard voices coming from the living room. It wasn’t until I got closer that I realized it was Dad. He and Grandpa were arguing.

  “Why are you here?” I asked, my voice rising.

  Dad stopped talking to Grandpa and turned to me. “Emma, please let me explain.”

  I covered my ears with my hands. “No!”

  He reached out to touch me but I moved out of the way. All I could think of was him and Genie. Zach pulled me behind him.

  “Paul, I asked you to leave,” he said.

  “With all due respect, Zach, Emma is my daughter and I’d like to speak to her.”

  “I don’t want to talk to you,” I screamed.

  “Emma, we can fix it.”

  “You were having sex with her! And if you didn’t, you were going to.”

  Grandpa grabbed Dad’s arm when he tried to get closer to me, even though he would have to go through Zach first. “Paul, this is the last time I’m going to ask you to leave,” Grandpa said. “You’ve done enough damage today. Leave the girl alone.”

  “Kiddo, just hear me out.”

  I couldn’t take anymore. I grabbed my jacket, threw on my boots and ran out of the apartment. I took the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator. It wasn’t until I was outside that I realized I didn’t have my phone or any money. I didn’t even have a pair of mitts. Just my keys that I’d stuffed in my pocket when I got home.

  “Emma, wait,” Zach said. He was running after me. He didn’t have a jacket on or anything.

  “I can’t be there. I need to go.”

  He stepped in front of me and I stopped. “Where are you going?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Do you have money?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t have anything but my keys.”

  He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and put two twenties in my hand. “Do you have your phone?”

  “No.”

  From another pocket he slid out his phone. “Take this. When you want to come home, call me on your phone. I’ll make sure I find it. I’ll come get you. I promise no one will be at the apartment. I’ll even leave if you want me to. Okay?”

  “Yes. Go back. You don’t even have a jacket on.”

  “You’re going to be okay? I don’t like you being alone,” He said, fighting off the chattering of his teeth.

  “I need to clear my head. I’ll be fine. Go home before you freeze to death.”

  He hesitated, but jogged back to our building. I then set off for the nearest warm place. It was a fast food joint. I took Zach’s phone and called a cab. The only place I could think to go to was the tennis club. The entire cab ride I tried to sort my thoughts, but all I could hear was the chiming of Zach’s phone. I took it out to mute it and that’s when I saw the text from Genie.

  Genie: I’m so sorry. I’m freaking out Zach.

  Me: This is Emma. I have Zach’s phone. Go fuck yourself.

  She didn’t send another text. I silenced his phone anyway.

  I got to the club and didn’t see Ben around which made me happy. Seeing him would piss me off even more. I went to the office and shut the door. I paced back and forth. When had this disgusting thing started? I then thought of Meredith and all of Genie’s interest in her. And what if Dad and Genie were serious? What if they got married? This was the most twisted situation I could dream up. Then I thought of Thanksgiving. Were they having sex with me and Zach down the hall? I shuddered at the thought.

  Ben burst into the room without knocking. He barely acknowledged me as he took a seat at the desk and started playing around on the computer. His hair was wet from a shower and the scent of his cologne left a trail behind him. I then remembered he had a Saturday workshop that was done for the day.


  “I signed up ten members today. All referrals. Since Marc started advertising these classes, membership is up ten percent. If we can keep the momentum going, this place could turn itself around.”

  That’s when he looked at me. Maybe he saw my blotchy face or puffy eyes. “What’s wrong? You look like shit.”

  “Nothing,” I said, collapsing on the only other chair in the room.

  “Not that boyfriend again. Dump him already.”

  “It has nothing to do with Zach.”

  “Did your dog die?”

  “No. My best friend was fooling around with my dad.”

  The smug smile evaporated from Ben’s face. “What did you just say?”

  “My dad and best friend. Probably having sex. Doing the nasty. Screwing around. Fucking. Do you want me to draw you a picture?”

  “Genie?”

  I looked at him and saw something I hadn’t expected? Shock? The color seemed to literally drain from his face.

  “Does it matter?”

  He took a moment to recover. “No, I guess not,” he said, his voice barely a whisper.

  “So if you don’t mind, I could do without any of your smartass remarks.”

  “How old is your dad?”

  “He’s thirty-five.”

  “And your friend?”

  “Twenty-one. Why is this your business?”

  “You brought it up. I’m just asking questions. Some friend you have.”

  “Tell me about it,” I muttered. “Some dad, too.”

  “How did you find out?”

  “I found them together.”

  “Like going at it?”

  “You know, this conversation is over. I’m actually pretty upset.”

  “I would be too,” Ben said, recovering from the shock. “Your dad is only thirty-five?”

  “Yes.”

  “The lady who used to bring you to matches wasn’t your mom?”

  “No, that was my grandmother.” Then something hit me. “You remember that?”

  “Vaguely.”

  “That’s a really odd thing to remember.”

  “I have a photographic memory.”

  “I’m three years younger than you. How would you remember me and my grandmother?”

  “I remember a lot of people.”

  “Really? Who was ranked number one ahead of me?”

  “Angie something.”

  “No. Melanie Peters. She even went to the same tennis academy as you.”

  “Why don’t I remember her? A redhead?”

  “Her hair was light blonde. So much for that photographic memory of yours.”

  He smirked. “It’s photographic most of the time. Look, I made you forget all about your dad boning Genie.”

  I groaned. Yes, I’d forgotten for all of two minutes. “Zach was freaking out too.”

  “I guess I’m surprised that Genie would do this.”

  “Me too.”

  “I’ll be serious now. How are you really?”

  “Not great. It’s all complicated.”

  “If you want my two cents, it’s really shitty what Genie did. And I know he’s your dad, but he’s no better. Who does that?”

  “Genie gets what Genie wants,” I spat.

  Ben’s face mellowed. “Look, I’ll keep the secret. Don’t worry about it getting out.”

  “I’m supposed to trust you? That’s hilarious.”

  He got up from the desk and came over to me. “I’m really not a bad person. I know you’re upset right now, and the last thing I want you to worry about is me telling the world about your dad and Senator Walker’s daughter.”

  “Stop saying it! I can’t even bear hearing it.”

  “Do you want a hug?”

  “No,” I said quietly.

  “I’ll give you one anyway,” he said, and put his arms around me.

  I didn’t like this but at the same time it was comforting. Who would have thought that Ben Morrow could have an actual nice bone in his body? I felt some tension slip away. The nice thing about Ben was that he wasn’t connected to anyone. He had no horse in any race. I rested my head on his shoulder and sighed.

  “You should dump that boyfriend of yours. He gives you nothing but grief.”

  “Why do you keep harping on that?”

  “Because he doesn’t make you happy.”

  I broke the embrace and took a step back. Ben looked at me, his expression seemed sad. “He’s always been there for me,” I said.

  “I don’t know what’s going on between you, but you haven’t been happy in a while.”

  “Sometimes things happen.”

  Ben took my hands into his and squeezed gently. “Before I left for Florida, I used to go watch this up and coming fifteen-year-old. Everyone was talking about her. Coaches were fighting over her, all of them trying to get her family to let her go to Florida. She’s lucky they declined, but I digress. I watched this girl play and she was pretty damn good. But she kept letting some chick named Melanie Peters get in her head, but she was better than Melanie. She could easily have hit number one in the state. Maybe even the country.”

  What was he doing? My blood went cold.

  “And this girl was beautiful on the inside and out, but she didn’t let anyone see it.”

  “Ben, I have a boyfriend.”

  “I know, but you can’t blame me for trying.”

  “You’ve been such a jerk to me. I don’t get this.”

  “I guess I’m used to a girl falling for me. I don’t know what to do when the roles are reversed.”

  I let go of his hands and smiled meekly. “I’m flattered but I love Zach.”

  And there it was. What I’d always felt. A video he’d taken when he was a freshman trying to be one of the guys, when alcohol and whatever else he was doing at the time clouded his judgment. That wasn’t the Zach I knew.

  “He’s a lucky bastard. I would have killed for you to show me some attention back then and now too. I hope he’s good to you.”

  “He is. And he always has been.”

  “If you ever dump him . . .”

  “I’m going to New York with him this fall.” Yes, that was all but decided now.

  “Okay, stop pouring salt in the wound.”

  I pressed my lips together. This had come out of nowhere and now I kind of liked him, as a friend only. “Can we still work together? Maybe try to be friends?”

  “I’d say we’re friends. Remember, I’m keeping a secret for you.”

  I hugged him. “Thanks, Ben.”

  He kissed my cheek. “If you break up with him—”

  “Stop,” I said and smiled.

  “I don’t give up easy.”

  “No, you don’t. I have to go. There’s something I need to do.”

  I grabbed my jacket and flew out the door.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  Zach

  I was pacing our empty apartment when the text had come through. At first I’d thought it was Emma, and I’d be ready to bolt out the door to get her, but red hot blood rushed to my face when I saw the name.

  Genie: Zach, do you have Emma’s phone?

  I’d spent nearly an hour kicking people out of the apartment and having a heated argument with Paul. If it hadn’t been for Henry, Emma’s grandfather, I may have decked Paul. He kept apologizing, insisting nothing had happened with my sister, but I couldn’t help but think exactly what Emma was thinking: if she hadn’t come home early, dialed Paul’s number, what would have happened?

  As for Genie, I was furious. She’d crossed a line. A huge fucking line.

  Me: Yes.

  Genie: Is she there? Can I come back? I want to get a few of my things. I’ll stay at the house tonight.

  Me: Come now.

  I left the front door open and was standing in the hallway, my arms crossed over my chest and my eyes trained on her.

  “Zach, I feel terrible,” she said, her face blotchy and her eyes bloodshot.

  I didn’t move, just stare
d. She swallowed hard. Normally, she’d use her sarcastic quips, but this was not the time for that.

  “How long have you been fucking Paul Andrews?” I asked.

  She set her purse down on the floor and eased out of her jacket, like the action might set off a bomb. “I didn’t have sex with him. Ever.”

  “Really? How did the two of you just fall into bed together?”

  “Does it really matter now?”

  I took a few steps closer. “Yes, it matters. I’d like to know.”

  “It was all innocent,” she said, her voice taking on a pleading tone. “He was in town, wanted to hang out so I invited him over.”

  “Hang out? Genie, he’s nearly fifteen years older than you!”

  She bit down on her lip and gave a pathetic shrug. “We went out a few times, nothing serious.”

  “And why would you and Emma’s dad go out a few times? Exactly what do the two of you have in common? You see, I thought he was the only one who liked old things.”

  She massaged her temples. She didn’t have the upper hand for once, and she didn’t know what to do. “It wasn’t a big deal. And today, we got to talking, then the next thing I knew, we were kissing.”

  “In your bedroom!”

  The large vein in my forehead was throbbing. I had to cool my jets.

  “It got out of hand. But we stopped.”

  “Because Emma came home,” I said, my hands balled into fists.

  “Yeah, probably,” she admitted. “I’m not proud of that.”

  “Of all the guys in the state of Minnesota, you hook up with Paul Andrews. There was no one else?”

  “He’s a nice guy. Handsome and smart.”

  “And Emma’s dad. And potentially my future father-in-law. How was that going to work, Genie? Or should I call you Mom?”

  “Cut it out,” she said, showing the first signs of defensiveness.

  “I’m being quite serious. I can picture it now. Family dinners with my father and brother-in-law who happens to be the same fucking person!”

  “You’re jumping to a lot of conclusions here.”

  “Great. I’m happy to hear it. Then I guess you’ll never see him again.”

  She gave me a cold stare. “You aren’t going to tell me what I can and cannot do.”

  “You’re right. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice yourself because I tell you to. But when I tell Mom and Dad what you did, well, I can’t guarantee what will happen then.”