Broken Sky

by Saurav Dutt

  As the waiter scurried off into the distance, Andie couldn’t help but force a laugh as Ben flashed a cheeky glare. ‘You always try to get back into my good books, don’t you?’ she sighed as Ben took her hand in his, stroking it gently as he stared into her eyes. ‘How are you settling into the new house?’ he asked as he focused on the curls of her dark brown hair and

  eyes. ‘It’s difficult of course..thanks for helping moving the stuff’ Andie sighed ‘but Peter is finding it difficult to adjust to the new school..it’s not easy for him, maybe I thought it would be’

  ‘I was like that when I was eight too’ Ben grinned to himself. ‘He’s ten..’ Andie shook her head ‘don’t tell me you’re one of those people who forgets everything about a woman after the first two or three dates, y’know after he’s slept with her?’

  ‘Hmmmm’ Ben replied, scratching his chin, ‘I think we slept together after about seven or eight..’ he chuckled as he stared at the whisky glass placed before him. ‘Anyway..’ Andie rolled her eyes ‘he’s just off a cold, missed a few days already and he’s getting it from his teachers for skipping class’

  ‘He’ll catch up’ Ben smiled ‘he’s a bright kid, I can sense it..I gotta nose for these things’

  ‘How would you know, you’ve only met him once..’ Andie frowned as she gripped his hand ‘he hasn’t asked about Sean yet, which I guess is a good thing..but eventually he’ll figure out his father isn’t gonna come back’

  ‘When is the divorce going through?’ Ben asked as he took a stiff gulp from the glass ‘’cause the sooner Peter realises he ain’t going back to Long Island the better it is for us’

  ‘You have no tact do you?’ Andie complained as she bit down on her lip ‘it’s gonna take time, everything will take time-including us. It doesn’t give me much hope when you don’t return my calls and disappear for days on end’

  ‘In New York, seven weeks is a long time to be with someone straight down the line..’ Ben replied ‘but there’s no need to exaggerate, you know how it is with my work, things can get busy..when you bought me, you bought the whole package y’know what I mean?’

  ‘Exactly. Seven weeks and I still don’t know what you really do’ Andie sighed ‘you deliver roses to my work but I couldn’t do the same to you, I don’t really know what you do for a living’ she added, staring at the giant steak landing on the table beside them, listening to the hissing sizzle of the bubbles of heat popping delicately on its surface. ‘You know how it is in these times..’ Ben grumbled as he stared down ‘I’m an economic adjuster..helping people out these days, business is never bad’

  ‘Uh huh’ Andy frowned ‘I guess economic adjusters don’t keep regular hours then..’

  ‘What else you wanna order..’ Ben paused ‘the salad is especially good here’

  * *

  ‘Hey sport..’ Ben piped up as Peter ran into the drawing room, throwing his rucksack onto the couch as he fell to the floor in front of the television ‘how was your day?’ He heard the front door slam as Andie marched in; her shoulders slumped forward. ‘He knows how his day has been’ she grumbled, standing with her hands on her hips at the doorway ‘rather than studying, behaving himself, he’s starting fights, acting the fool’

  ‘Mom he started it’ Peter grumbled watching the flicker and buzz of the television screen ‘I’d kick his ass again if I had to’ he added with a cheeky smile. Ben arched an eyebrow as he began to guffaw loudly, barely able to contain his surprise. ‘What a kid you got here Andie’ he chuckled as his cheeks began to redden ‘I think you’ve got a future prize-fighter on your hands’

  ‘Don’t encourage him’ Andie snapped ‘Peter where did you hear that kind of language, who told you it was acceptable? You won’t use that word again in this house again, do you hear me?’

  ‘Dad uses it all the time’ Peter replied dismissively as he leant back against the foot of the couch. ‘Well that’s him. Your dad only knows how to use words like that, nothing else..’ Andie shot back ‘but we’re not in Long Island now and you have to behave yourself, do you understand me? You’re in school to learn, not to start stupid fights and have to stay after class’

  ‘Dad told me to stick up for myself’ Peter shot back ‘that’s all I was doing Mom, he hit me so I hit him back. And nobody believes me’ he grumbled, rapidly flicking over the channel.

  ‘Well…’ Ben interjected ‘I believe ya buddy. Never let anybody walk over you. I was raised in Queens, on my block I used to get bullied all the time by these boys..one day though I stood up to the leader-some fat schmuck-and they never bothered me again..not after the black eye I gave him..’ he exclaimed, patting Pete nonchalantly on the back. ‘Don’t encourage him’ Andie scowled ‘you’re just as bad as Sean’

  ‘When is Pop coming back?’ Peter asked as he turned his head to look at his mother, briefly exchanging a glare with Ben as he stared up at her. All three of them remained silent as the fizz of garbled sound from the television filled up the room like a filthy odour.

  ‘Well…’ Ben coughed as he rose from the armchair ‘I guess I’ll be going now babe, see ya later?’ he paused as he stared down at Peter ‘it was good to see you again kid..um…maybe another time we can do something on the weekend or…uh…somethin’..like that..y’know every so often I can get tickets to see the Yankees, anythin’ ya want kid..’ he grimaced. Peter blinked at him and casually returned his attention to the television as Ben stared hard at Andie.

  ‘This whole bonding thing..’ Ben sighed as Andie walked him slowly to the door ‘it’s a lot tougher than I thought. I mean I used to be tough as cheese as a kid, but this kid of yours is about as accessible as an 18th century virgin with a chastity belt’ he quipped as he stepped out into the damp late afternoon air, swatting aside raindrops as the light drizzle fell. Andie stuffed the house keys into her pocket as she watched Ben light up a cigar. ‘I know what you’re trying to do, trying to support him and everything’ she offered ‘but taking his side like that makes me look like an idiot in front of him..it completely undermines me..you should have seen what he did to that other kid..pretty much damn near broke his front teeth and split his lip’

  ‘I still think the boy needs to stand up for himself’ Ben replied as he chewed on his cigar ‘you’re from Massachusetts Andie…I’m from Brooklyn..Sicilian…nobody pushed me around when I was a kid. The day I came home with a busted lip from school my old man kicked my butt just for not standing up for myself. He wouldn’t feed me until the next day I went back into school and gave that punk kid a lesson he wouldn’t forget. Nobody messes with a Grazziano that’s what my old man said, and nobody ever did after that’

  ‘Save the macho bullshit’ Andie shook her head ‘you sound like my old man, even my mom, Sean too, that’s exactly what they would have said. The last thing Peter needs is to come here and get lessons from you in the art of school yard brawling’

  ‘Y’know Andie…’ Ben grumbled as he inhaled the smoke into his lungs ‘I’m not sure I like all these comparisons you’re throwing about with me being like your ex..we’re nothing alike…he sounds like a jerkoff…look at me, me, I have class. Look at how I dress, the cigars I smoke, the restaurants I take you to. I saw one picture of that bum you were married to and he looks like a goddamn mechanic-we ain’t nothin’ alike’

  ‘I’m sorry…’ Andie smiled as she gently kissed his cheek ‘I don’t mean to compare..but remember one thing Ben, he’s no ex like you put it, he still is my husband, legally of course but that’s just how it is until things get finalised…I guess he’s not out of my system just yet’

  ‘That’s why you need to get your lawyer onto his ass and get him to sign those papers’ Ben sighed ‘otherwise how the hell are we gonna get married, huh babe?’

  ‘Ben…’ Andie grinned ‘I hope that was a joke..one marriage is enough right now, I don’t need another’

  ‘Sure thing’ Ben chuckled as he kissed her lips ‘and don’t worry about the kid, he’ll know what to d
o. And he’ll come round to the idea of me around, I know he will. I used to be just like that’

  ‘I don’t think so’ Andie replied as she embraced him ‘my little Peter didn’t start smoking cigarettes when he was eight years old’

  Ben laughed as he walked slowly towards his car and waved her goodbye. As Andie turned to walk towards the door, she noticed Peter staring through the window curtains, his face solemn, agitated and expressionless. As she smiled at him, he looked down, a solitary tear trickling from his eye to the bottom of his lip.

  *

  The sound of the mobile phone rattling on the bedside table shook her awake. She tried opening her eyes but her eyelids felt as if they were nailed shut. Still it continued to buzz and rattle against the wooden surface of the table until she finally tumbled over to her side and saw its familiar white glow illuminate her bedroom. She was convinced it was Ben and snatched at it as she put it to her ear.

  ‘For Chrissakes Ben, I don’t know what time it is but this is just ridiculous..’ she hissed as her head slumped back down on the pillow. All she could hear was the breathing of a male voice and a faint whimper as her mind tried to collect its thoughts.

  ‘I’m guessing Ben isn’t the name of your postman…’ grumbled a voice on the other end ‘but then again maybe it is’

  Andie tried to collect her thoughts as she stifled a yawn. ‘Sean….’ she sighed as she listened to the crumbling static on the phone line ‘is that you?’

  ‘You’ve shacked up with somebody else already?’ replied the voice, smooth as silk, gently caressing each word with a quiet intensity ‘it’s me Andie…it’s two in the morning, I’m mildly drunk and I thought I’d see how my wife is doing, I guess I needn’t have bothered, you’re doing just great without me..’

  ‘You could have at least called at a normal time’ Andie yawned ‘what do you want Sean? This is ridiculous, this is harassment. You said you wouldn’t bother me, look at the goddamn time…do I have to change the number again?’

  ‘Don’t be a child..’ Sean replied ‘that’s the thing about being married, you know each other’s habits. I lied… it’s actually just past midnight and I’m not drunk. I know how long it takes you to get to sleep so I thought I’d call’

  ‘Well I was in a deep sleep’ Andie replied as she adjusted her face on the pillow and shut her eyes ‘now please, what do you want?’

  ‘How’s my son doing?’ Sean grumbled ‘since you’ve moved you haven’t contacted me, nothing. I haven’t even heard his voice in almost a month. Now that is what I call ridiculous Andie’

  ‘New home, new location, new job-what do you want me to say?’ Andie replied through gritted teeth ‘I was going to call you, if anything to find out what you’re doing about those divorce papers-not only are you making me and our lawyer pissed, but you’re running up his tab-now just get on with that and we can sort out visitation and all the other stuff. But now is not the time, let me sleep Sean’

  ‘I’m not signing the papers’ Sean announced with a chuckle ‘I’m not signing them until we talk, until I see my son, until I see how my son is being raised without me there. And until I see the asshole you’ve recruited to be his surrogate father..’

  ‘I’m hanging up the phone’ Andie scowled ‘if you’re gonna speak like that we have nothing to talk about, nothing at all’

  ‘I’ll cut you a deal’ Sean replied ‘I’ll come there to Manhattan and bring the papers, and we’ll sign them together right in front of each other. No politics, no wasting money with the post and couriering, just husband and wife becoming ex husband and wife’

  ‘Call me tomorrow’ Andie groaned ‘I’ll see how I feel about it then’ she added as she terminated the call. She stared up at the ceiling and glanced back at the phone, half expecting it to ring again but it remained perfectly still. She could hear Peter coughing in the other room as she felt a jolt of adrenaline surge through her body. She lay there, letting the anger simmer down before she realised she wanted to see him, see exactly what Sean looked like, how he was doing and then she realised, deep within her stomach, that the very thought of seeing him again excited her.

  * *

  ‘He’s trying to do the typical macho male bullshit thing…stamp over the territory like the new sheriff in town’ Ben hissed as he slammed his hand against the sides of the armchair.

  ‘Be quiet will you, Peter just went to bed’ Andie whined as she stroked her hands through her hair, letting the strands fall down her face.

  Ben tapped his foot as his fingers unfurled a cigar pack before he noticed Andie glaring at him. ‘Sorry..force of habit’ he apologised as he looked out of the window ‘this is getting a bit too much for me’ he shook his head, clasping his hands together as he stared towards the ground. ‘I feel like I’m competing with somebody already, and you of all people are inviting this headache right here to Manhattan. After you tried to run from him no less’

  ‘We weren’t running from anybody’ Andie snapped ‘we wanted a new start; we needed to get away from the house. It wasn’t healthy for Peter to hear us and see us arguing like that’

  ‘Arguing..’ Ben laughed ‘you call that arguing? Sounded like 12 rounds with Tyson to me’ he leant forward.

  ‘He never hit me’ Andie retorted ‘I don’t know what gave you that idea..he was…physical…he could be threatening but he never hit me or Peter. He’s not that kind of person’

  ‘Y’know you seem to be pretty defensive about him’ Ben frowned ‘I’ve seen this kinda thing before…some fool beats up on his woman, she leaves him, then he turns back on the charm and she’s mush in his hands before it happens again and again…I always thought those women were-what we call in the old country-cafone-but I never thought when I met you that you were anything like that. Don’t fall for the whole violin routine’

  ‘You have to understand he is Peter’s father’ Andie explained ‘with the whole move and our new relationship, I’ve lost track of everything and clearly he needs his father around or at least to see him. I think that’s normal, it doesn’t make me crazy’ she added as she leant back into the couch.

  ‘Where does that leave us then?’ Ben asked as he forced a smile.

  ‘It means that you have to be understanding while we ride this out. I thought you said you could do that. Until the ink is dry on the papers this is just a complication we have to deal with’ she added.

  ‘Well I don’t like it’ Ben growled as he rose to his feet, grabbing at the overcoat folded by his side ‘I should knock out his teeth just for what he did to you. What’s he gonna do now, buy you a glass of champagne and try to worm his way into your pants?’

  ‘Petulance doesn’t suit you’ Andie frowned ‘and that’s the kind of remark I’d expect from him, not you’

  ‘Well you can’t blame a man for trying, can you..’ Ben smirked ‘so when is Romeo coming to town-and I mean this in a spirit of harmony of course, but where is he staying?’

  ‘He’ll be in a hotel’ Andie said ‘but he will be in this house when he visits, after all his wife and child are here..that’s the black and white of it. When you got with me you knew about all this baggage and all the things in the background and you said you were alright with it’

  ‘I am’ Ben shot back ‘it’s just that I know men, I know what we’re capable of’

  ‘As do I’ Andie smiled ‘and the best part is that they don’t know what women are capable of-that’s what makes them men.’

  Chapter Three

  Her lips were bone dry and she shuddered as the chill from outside brushed past her cheekbones. She inhaled the mist escaping from the hot cup of coffee as she put it to her lips, and leant against the café counter as the hot liquid snaked down her throat. ‘They won’t get my coffee ready so quickly, they only do that because you’re prettier than I am’ Pollard complained through his thick lisp as his bug shaped eyes scanned her unblinking face.

  ‘Listen Pollard’ she paused ‘if you want people to take you seriousl
y you have to try to act the part. Notice how I just went up there, I walked like I just stepped out of a limousine-he took one look at me, I sounded like one of these Park Avenue stiffs and I got my espresso here faster than a hiccup-just like that. Don’t ask for anything, you demand it, you even expect it-and then it’s yours’

  Pollard listened in bated breath as she leant back into her seat, wrapping her fingers around the cup. ‘So what you’re saying is I have to just act like I own the joint?’ Pollard asked. ‘No’ she frowned ‘just have a way about you, a sort of substance, something that doesn’t tell them you’re a bum-first thing you can do is lose that hat-it’s doing you no favours’

  ‘How’d you get so rich anyway?’ Pollard lisped back as he began to strum his fingers impatiently across the counter surface ‘two days that bowler hat’s been doin’ nothin’ but collecting dust-and now you got a handbag full of quarters and dimes’

  ‘Sometimes you run into a bit of luck…and then you just run..’ she smiled back.

  Her expression soured and the grip on her cup loosened as the hot liquid pissed out of her cup and onto the table surface right in front of her. Her eyes gazed off into the distance and the lines around her face seemed to wrap tightly around her cheeks like gauze. ‘Pollard you dumb son of a bitch..’ she murmured ‘where are my goddamn suitcases?’

  Pollard swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he stared off into the distance. ‘But you said to follow you straight away…’ he tailed off as she slammed the cup down on the counter. ‘Pollard, you idiot...’ she hissed ‘how could you be so stupid to just leave them there on the sidewalk? You know my whole goddamn life is in there’ she snarled, her eyes fixed on the sidewalk across from the café. The plastic cup slipped out of her hand as she leapt up from her seat.