Billy waited another minute before the cruiser’s spotlight went black and the rotating blue lights faded. The cop pulled back onto the road, driving away. In the welcome darkness, Billy started the ignition and cringed when the motor roared to life, howling into the night like the ferocious beast it was. He looked at Jimmy. “Thanks for trying to help,” he told the mutt, “but next time, let me take care of it…or we’ll both end up in jail.”
Sighing heavily, Jimmy lay back down in the passenger’s seat.
⁕
Billy and Jimmy pulled into their driveway to find Sophie sitting alone in her car. Billy shut off the roaring Honda and knocked on her side window, making her jump; it was a reaction that seemed a bit extreme to Billy. “Sorry,” he said through the glass, “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He then laughed, thinking she was kidding for leaping out of her skin. But he quickly realized she wasn’t kidding. “Are you coming inside?” he yelled.
She shook her head, but didn’t roll down the window. “I’m listening to music,” she yelled back.
Billy paused in the silence. What music? he asked himself, shaking his head. “Whatever,” he said, before heading for the house. “Come on, boy,” he told Jimmy.
The dog followed but looked back at Sophie every step of the way.
⁕
Billy’s dad was half asleep in his recliner, watching the tail end of a late movie. “Where have you been?” he asked, indifferently, and yawned.
“At Vicki’s,” Billy said.
“Jimmy too?”
Billy nodded. “I think he likes her more than I do.”
The old man laughed.
Billy pulled his check from his wallet and handed it to his dad. “I’m not sure if I should ask Arlene about it, but…” He shook his head. “I think some of my pay’s missing.”
The old man studied the check and grinned. “It’s not missing, Billy,” he said, “it’s been taken by the government.” The grin turned to a cynical chuckle. “Welcome to the world of paying taxes, son. It sucks, doesn’t it?” His face turned serious, almost angry. “Now you know what it feels like to help pay for people who’d rather stay in bed and sleep than go to work and carry the same weight we do.” His grin returned. “It makes you think about the world a little differently when you have to help pay for its problems, doesn’t it?”
Billy nodded. It was a hard slap of reality. I never got taxed cutting grass, delivering newspapers or washing dishes, he thought and headed to his bedroom—where he could rewind every second of his night with Vicki and then text her until he and Jimmy passed out.
Chapter 10
By midweek, Billy approached his mother. “Mom, can I borrow a few bucks until I get paid again?”
“For what?” she asked, not paying any real attention to the request.
“Flowers for Vicki,” Billy blurted, excited and leery of her response at the same time. “I should have brought her some on our first date, but I didn’t think of it at the time.”
His mom looked up and grinned. “It’s nice that you want to bring your girlfriend flowers, Billy, but I’m broke until Friday. Go ask your father.”
His heart sank. “But Mom…”
“If it can’t wait, then you need to ask your father for the money.” Smiling again, she grabbed her purse to go to work.
Billy shook his head and headed for his room to weigh his options.
That afternoon, Billy caught his dad in the driveway, tinkering under the hood of his truck. Billy took a deep breath and approached the old man. “Dad, can I borrow a few bucks until pay day?”
His dad came out from under the hood and looked at him, wiping his greasy hands on an old, dirty rag. “What do you need it for?” he asked, setting his eyes upon Billy.
Billy’s mind raced. “Ummm…for gas. I’m almost on empty.”
The big man smirked; it was the same stupid grin his mother had just worn. “How much do you need?”
“Twenty bucks,” Billy said reluctantly.
“Twenty bucks?” his dad repeated, reaching for his wallet. He pulled out a crisp green bill and extended it toward Billy. “That ought to get you somewhere.”
“Thanks, Dad,” he said, snatching the money out of the man’s massive hand.
“You know this bank’s closed until the loan’s paid in full, right?”
“I know, Dad. I know. You’ll get it back on Friday.” Billy turned to leave when he caught his father’s smirk again. Shit, he thought, Mom must have told him about the flowers. But the thought left him as quickly as it came. He was already spending the twenty dollars in his head. Fifteen bucks for the flowers and I’ll throw five into the gas tank so I’m not a liar. He smiled widely, already picturing Vicki’s excited face and the kiss that was sure to follow.
⁕
Billy stepped into Nick’s Pizza and looked up at the giant plywood menus. “Vicki will definitely want a pizza,” he thought aloud, “but what kind?” He half shrugged and looked down to see his mother hard at work.
“Let’s get going on that Streamline Realty Group lunch order,” she yelled, managing the small pizza shop like a seasoned football coach.
And the place runs like a machine, Billy thought. His mom was tough but kind and had high expectations of her staff, especially when it came to customer service. As there wasn’t any real competition in town, the shop did a high volume of business. Prices were good and the quality of food even better. From the dough to the sauce, the ingredients were fresh. They even baked their own sub rolls for their famous meatball hoagies. Although his mom would never cheat Tony a penny—no discounts or freebees—she made it up in the absurd quantities she served: overstuffed sandwiches, loads of pizza toppings, and salads with extra dressing thrown in.
With a smile, Billy caught her attention and quickly placed his order. “Large tuna sub, with provolone, toasted.”
“That’s different,” his mom teased.
He grinned. “And a small cheese pizza,” he added.
Her right eyebrow jumped. “Hungry today?” she asked.
He shook his head. “The pizza’s for Vicki. I’m bringing her lunch.”
The heavy-set woman smiled. “So to go then?”
Billy nodded. “Yes, please.”
“I thought you were broke?” she said.
Billy smirked. “Dad just let me borrow twenty.”
“What about the flowers?”
Billy nodded. “I need to pick them up after I leave here.”
“Lunch and flowers…that’s a lot to ask of twenty dollars,” she teased. “You must be swinging by the cemetery for the flowers.”
Billy chuckled at her twisted sense of humor. “We’ll see what this lunch costs me,” he said, “and whatever’s left will go toward the flowers…and some gas for the Honda.”
“Gas too?” she said, whistling. “Someday, you need to show me how you do it.”
Billy shook his head, trying not to blush.
She laughed and gestured toward the dining room. “Mark’s over there. He was giving me a hard time about not seeing you for a while.” Billy’s mother played the role of mom for lots of the town’s teenagers—Billy’s friends, as well as others who frequented the shop.
Billy opened the sliding glass cooler and grabbed two bottles of iced tea from a rainbow of different soft drinks. “I’ll go see him,” he said, exhaling deeply.
From the moment he entered the small dining room, Mark yelled out, “Look who’s here! My long, lost friend William Baker has come to have lunch with me.”
Billy shook Mark’s hand and took a seat across from him. “Well, not quite,” he admitted.
Mark looked at the two bottles of water. “Vicki?” he asked.
Billy smirked. “I’m meeting her at the park.”
“A picnic,” Mark teased, “how sweet.”
Mark laughed. “Will you stop,” he said. “I was just messing with you.” He studied Billy’s face. “She seems like a great girl. I’m happy for you guys.”
“Vicki’s not like any other girl,” Billy said.
“How do you know?” Mark asked, grinning. “It’s not like you’ve been with anyone else.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Actually, I don’t.”
“I can’t stop thinking about her and when I do, even for a moment, I get excited all over again…because I realize we’re actually together.” He shook his head. “Between you and me, I still can’t believe she’s with me.”
“You’re not the only one who can’t believe it,” Mark said, laughing.
“Gee, thanks.”
“Relax,” Mark said. “Don’t go getting all sensitive on me.”
A grin replaced Billy’s scowl. “What do you say we hook up on Saturday and…”
“Can’t,” Mark answered. “It’s Nathan’s send-off party. He’s heading off to boot camp next week.”
“Oh yeah, the party I wasn’t invited to.”
“Yup, that’s the one.” Mark worked a mischievous grin into his face just to torment his old friend.
“Whatever,” Billy said, smiling. “Lunch on Friday then?”
Mark nodded. “I’m always here, bro.” He matched his friend’s smile. “By the way, I ended up going to see that stalker movie all by myself.”
Billy cringed. “Sorry about that,” he said. “How was it?”
“Besides the brief nudity, it sucked,” Mark said.
They both laughed.
“Oh, and you just missed Charlie. He was in here a little while ago.”
Billy was taken aback. “Charlie was here?” he asked, his mind sent into a spiral. “That…that’s good.”
Mark nodded. “Yup, it looks like his heart’s finally on the mend and he’s decided to come out of hiding.”
Billy was at a loss for words. “That’s good,” he repeated. “I’ll have to go see him soon.”
“He was asking if I’d seen you…if we’d talked recently.”
Billy’s eyebrow rose.
“I know,” Mark said. “I thought it was strange too.” He shrugged. “I just figured he’s been out of commission for a while, so I didn’t bust his balls too hard.”
“That’s good,” Billy said for a third time, trying to avoid the topic any further. “Well, I have to run, bro.”
Mark smirked again. “That’s right, you have a tea party to get to.”
Shaking his head, Billy stood, shook Mark’s hand again and headed for the counter to grab the small pizza box and a warm sub wrapped in orange paper, sticking out of a thin brown paper bag.
When he took out his wallet, his mom shook her head. “I got it, money bags,” she whispered.
“Thanks, Mom. You’re the best.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls,” she joked.
He shrugged. “Well, definitely one other girl,” he said.
She laughed again. “Go have fun,” she said, before returning to the frantic orchestra she conducted. “Where are we with that Streamline Realty Group order?” she barked.
As Billy stepped out of the place, he laughed. Mom has such a loud, obnoxious voice, he thought, knowing it was just another souvenir from her years of playing general on the lunch rush battlefield.
⁕
Vicki had told Billy to meet her at the park at noon. He had no idea what the day promised, but he didn’t care. She’s going to be there and that’s all I need to know.
When he first spotted her, a wave of pure joy washed over him, making him feel giddy. He actually giggled. Vicki was seated on a blanket that she’d spread out on the ground. There was a wicker basket—obviously filled with goodies—as well as plastic plates and cups. “So we are having an official picnic,” Billy said aloud, a statement he would have mocked not so long ago. He pictured Mark’s face and chuckled. But now, he thought, I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon. He hurried to her.
Juggling the pizza and tuna sub in one hand, he proudly handed Vicki a small bunch of flowers with the other.
She was taken aback. “That’s so thoughtful of you, Billy,” she finally said. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”
He smiled, pleased with her reaction. “But not as beautiful as you,” he said, kneeling on the blanket and giving her a long kiss.
“Thank you,” she repeated, once they came up for air.
They quickly settled into their little corner of the world and began picking away at their lunch. “You never talk about your family, Billy,” Vicki said. “Why?”
He shrugged. “Because I’d rather talk about you and me,” he answered honestly.
“But your family is who you are or at least where you came from. And I want to know everything I can about that.”
He shrugged again. “My sister, Sophie, and I have been close ever since I can remember. She’s been acting strange as hell lately, but there’s nothing she wouldn’t do for me and that’s definitely a two-way street.”
Vicki squeezed his arm, clearly touched by the sentiment.
“My mom’s the coolest person ever. What you see is what you get with her.”
Vicki nodded. “My dad’s been taking me and Barry to Nick’s Pizza for years,” she said. “I’ve always loved your mom.”
Billy smiled. “Me too.”
She squeezed his hand tighter.
Billy took a drink and stared off into space for a moment. “And then there’s Jimmy,” he said with a smile, “who’s been more like a brother to me than a pet.”
Vicki smiled. “He’s easy to love, that’s for sure. You must have some funny memories, growing up with him by your side.”
“I do,” Billy said, nodding. Suddenly, he was filled with excitement over the mental pictures he was anxious to share. “Each winter, Jimmy knocked down every snowman Sophie and I made, before we were ever finished. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure we ever finished building a complete one.”
Vicki laughed.
“Once, we got as far as putting on the carrot nose before I heard Jimmy rounding the house and picking up speed. The big oaf sounded like a train, chugging along at full speed. Then, like a football linebacker, the crazy mutt barreled the snowman over into a cloud of white powder.” Billy laughed. “I remember standing there, holding the snowman’s two stone eyes and wondering why Jimmy loved to torture me.”
Vicki laughed harder.
“I’d yell at him, but the funny dog just tilted his head toward the sky, snapping his jaws like some demented piranha, trying to eat as many snowflakes as he could.”
“Those are great memories,” Vicki said.
Billy nodded, still entranced in the past. “At Christmas time, Jimmy always drank from the tree stand and dried out one pine tree after the next, turning each one of them brown. Although he got yelled at by everyone in the house, it was like he couldn’t help himself…like he had some awful thirst that needed to be quenched, regardless of the consequences.” He chuckled at the fond memory. “At night, Jimmy and I would lay on the couch, hypnotized by the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree. The ornaments were like our family album, telling our history. From the painted pine cone I made in first grade to the ornaments my mother bought at every place we visited throughout New England...” He shook his head. “There was so much for me and Jimmy to look at.” Billy looked up to find Vicki staring at him and smiling. “What?” he asked.
“You’re just cute, that’s all,” she said. “I love when you tell a story and get all excited. You look like a little boy.”
He shrugged. “When our family took down the tree each year,” he added, “most of
the ornaments were lying on the floor behind it and many of the branches were snapped in half.” He laughed. “Christmas tree stands are definitely Jimmy’s favorite watering hole.”
Vicki laughed along with him until they sat in the quiet for a few moments. “What about your dad?” she asked, breaking the silence. “I don’t think you’ve ever talked about him.”
Billy’s eyebrow rose. “There’s not much to tell, I guess. He’s always on the road, working, and…” He stopped.
“Do you have a problem with him?” she asked, studying his eyes. “Daddy, son kind of stuff?”
He laughed. “Not really.” He thought about it. “My old man isn’t perfect by any stretch, but he’s always been there for me when I’ve needed him.”
“Well, that’s good.”
“It is,” Billy agreed. “There was this one time when Jimmy got hit by a car and I thought I was going to lose him…” As Billy shared the details with Vicki, his mind completely returned to that fateful day. He could still feel every emotion as strongly as he’d felt them back then.
⁕
Billy was around ten years old and had just returned home from a week at summer camp. Jimmy was so excited to see him that his body was nearly folding itself in half from his wagging tail. As cars whooshed by between them, Billy screamed for the dog to “stay!” But the excited mutt bolted out into the street, sprinting toward a long-awaited hug from his master. Billy remembered how he’d closed his eyes tight just as the car’s front grille was inches from Jimmy’s torso. All at once, there were screeching tires, a loud thump and a pitiful whimper—and then everything went quiet. Billy could still feel the panic that had welled up inside of him; how his feet felt like they were chained to the sidewalk. No matter how badly he’d wanted to, he couldn’t move. And he couldn’t breathe, making him feel dizzy and nauseous. Finally, something released inside of him and he managed to run to Jimmy’s side. The dog was wheezing terribly, struggling to take in oxygen.
A half hour later, the vet came out from behind a swinging door and reported, “There’s some internal bleeding and it’s bad. We could operate and try to save him, but it’s going to cost twelve hundred dollars.”
The Changing Season Page 19