Love Octagon

by Felicia Rogers

  “Sure. But I think you left your slippers and tutu at home.”

  Kevin wasn’t sure what was driving him to push Candace’s ex, but he couldn’t stop now. It felt good to be able to speak his mind. Right now, he didn’t care if the guy knocked his teeth out. At least since they were on the same level, man to man, he could fight back. It was a wonderful feeling.

  After the week he’d had, not able to say anything to anyone. Sucking everything back just to keep peace. Trying to keep his thoughts to himself so he could be a good little husband. Now this was the fun stuff. The testosterone was flowing.

  Kevin shrugged past Rick and headed to the front yard, beckoning him with a crooked finger. “Come on, twinkle toes. Let’s see how light you are on your feet.”

  Rick strutted out to the yard, and Kevin struggled to keep from laughing. The man resembled a hobo Santa Claus.

  Candace’s ex took the first swing, which Kevin ducked and dodged easily. When Rick took the next swing, he twirled on his toe and became dizzy and fell to the ground. Before receiving a face full of dirt, Rick caught himself on one hand.

  Kevin actually felt sorry for the guy. He was reaching down to lift the poor pitiful soul off the ground when Candace screamed. “Rick! What’s happened to you? Kevin! What did you do?”

  Kevin dropped his supporting hold on Rick and caused him to fall forward, his teeth hitting the ground with a resounding thud. Kevin cringed at the pain the fall must have caused.

  “Oww. That hurt!”

  “Kevin! Why did you let go?”

  “Because you screamed at me.”

  “So?”

  “So, you startled me, and I dropped him.”

  “Fine. Get out of the way, and I’ll help him up.”

  Candace pulled and tugged, but Rick was like a beached whale wallowing about on the ground. Or like a turtle stuck on its back. It was no use. She couldn’t get him up. Kevin had to walk to the stoop and conceal his head in a bush to hide his laughter at the spectacle.

  When Rick rose up on two feet, he shook his fist at Kevin’s face. “I’ll get you for this.”

  “Don’t worry you already have. Your spawn delights in making me miserable.”

  A glint entered Rick’s eye, and too late Kevin realized he should have kept the information to himself. Now, he’d just made his life worse.

  “What are you doing here, Rick?” Candace asked.

  “Well, I came to get the kids. Don’t you remember? Two days for you, then two days for me.”

  “Yeah, I remember. But I thought I had a few more hours. We were going to go shopping when the kids got home from school.”

  “Nope, afraid not. The paper you signed in front of the lawyer and judge gives me every other school holiday. And since this is a half a day of school, I reckon they’re having a holiday. And I want half of it.”

  Candace was visibly angry. “Well, I say it ain’t a holiday and you have to wait until this afternoon.”

  “Well, I say it is a holiday and I’m taking them now.”

  “That’s going to be mighty difficult since they’re still at school,” said Candace with her arms crossed over her chest.

  “Then I’ll just go pick them up there.”

  “Over my dead body.”

  “That can be arranged.”

  Candace’s arms fell to her sides as she stood toe to toe with Rick. Getting up in his face, she said, “Are you threatening me, Rick? Because if you’re threatening me, then you’ve violated the custody agreement again.”

  “Well, I think being married to a twerp is a violation of our agreement. I didn’t divorce you so you could go move in with someone like him!” Rick pointed a shaky finger in Kevin’s direction.

  “You didn’t divorce me, you lout. Or don’t you remember?” Candace took some calming breaths. Her tone changed, becoming eerily calm before she spoke again. “Now look, Rick. You’ve done run up your blood pressure and you’re shaking. You can just let the kids stay with me until you calm down.”

  Unintelligible curse words flowed freely.

  “Watch your language, Rick Fisher! This is a family household.”

  “You got that right. One family, two families, three families, and on and on it goes.”

  “What are you trying to insinuate?”

  “I’m not insinuating anything, my dear. What you’re doing ain’t…”

  Before Rick could finish his sentence, Shannon—meek little Shannon—snuck up behind Rick and whacked him on the head with a metal garbage can lid. Rick fell to the ground in a slump.

  Candace rounded on her. “Shannon! What did you do that for?”

  “What? He was going to hurt Kevin. I had to do something.”

  “So? You didn’t have to hit him that hard. And besides, couldn’t you tell the fight was over?”

  “Yeah, I can see that now. But when I went to get the lid it wasn’t over. I hated to waste all the energy and not get to use it. He might have still hurt Kevin. I saw a gleam in his eye.” Shannon twisted her head to the side and did a weird eye twitch like she was trying to show how the gleam had manifested.

  Kevin frowned. “Hello? Don’t I get a say in this?”

  “Yes, dear,” answered Shannon.

  “I just have to say I think I could have held my own. I wasn’t doing too badly before Candace ran out here.”

  “Yes, of course, dear.”

  “You’re patronizing me.”

  “No dear. I would never do such a thing.” Shannon glanced at Candace and gave a sly wink. In return, Candace rolled her eyes.

  Kevin felt like screaming. These women were going to drive him insane.

  Heading back into the house, he left Candace to take care of her semi-conscious ex-husband. But before he made it completely inside, Randi came around the house carrying a water hose.

  “Hold on! I’m coming!”

  The water came on, blasting him full in the face. Kevin placed his hands in a defensive posture. “Randi! What are you doing?”

  “Oh! Wrong one,” she said, moving the position of the hose so the water landed on Rick instead.

  Candace, who was getting caught in the crossfire, yelled, “Randi! Turn the water off.”

  The water woke Rick up. Coming to, he muttered curse after curse. He made it abundantly clear he wasn’t happy.

  Karen chose this moment to pull up in the driveway with the kids. An angry Rhonda emerged from the van, took one look at her father, then walked up to Kevin and sucker punched him in the gut.

  “That’s for beating on my dad!”

  Kevin, who was hunched over trying to gather his breath, said, “I didn’t lay a hand on him!”

  “I don’t believe you,” she answered.

  “Well, it’s true. Shannon beat him with a trashcan lid, and Randi hosed us both down,” said Candace.

  Rhonda didn’t seem to care about his words or her mother’s explanation of the facts. She went to her dad’s side, helping him to his wobbly feet.

  The rest of the kids filed out of the van and gawked at the sight of the two wet men who resembled mud wrestlers. At this moment, Martha came through the front door. A frown dotted her brow. She didn’t ask what had happened. Instead she began to give orders.

  “Kevin. Get inside and clean up. Everyone else put your stuff where it belongs and get back in the van. You have five minutes to complete your tasks or you’re not going. You want to go, let’s go. You don’t want to go, stay here. It doesn’t matter to me either way.”

  The kids scurried away to do Martha’s bidding. Kevin rushed inside and changed, not exactly sure why. He didn’t want to go shopping, but he was afraid of the ramifications if he tried to weasel out of the family excursion.

  Kevin hurried, but he must have been over the five-minute deadline because when he opened the front door of the house, Martha was backing out of the driveway.

  With a burst of energy, Kevin ran to catch the moving vehicle. Leah opened the door for him and he jumped inside, sitting
and buckling in as Martha sped down the highway.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The fifteen-passenger van held everyone except Shannon, Dana, and Candace’s two kids. Rhonda and Todd must have left with their father while Kevin had been inside changing.

  Kevin sat in the back, unsure why he’d been asked along. Normally the father was in charge of discipline and control of the household, or at least it had been so in his own family. As a child, when his family went on a trip, his mother would drive and his father would sit in the passenger’s seat, pull down the visor with the mirror, and stare at the children in the back. It was if he was daring them to move, or breathe for that matter.

  But as the children surrounding Kevin grew louder, Martha called them down. When Kitty cried because Parker pulled her hair, Leah tapped his hand and told him to stop. When Billy and Pierre started roughhousing, Karen made them be still. Kevin felt like a third wheel, or maybe a sixth wheel.

  “Are Shannon and Dana coming too?”

  Karen and the rest stared at him like he’d sprouted two heads for asking such a question. “Well, I was just curious. I didn’t want anyone to miss the family fun.” Had they noticed his tone of sarcasm?

  Kevin saw Martha’s expression in the mirror. She’d noticed. And apparently she wasn’t pleased by the tone. But at the moment, he didn’t care. He would probably care later. But for right now, he enjoyed his moment of anger.

  No one answered his question. In fact, no words were spoken for the entire trip. When they arrived at the mall, all the kids filed out with their mothers, and Kevin stood at the back, waiting for his marching orders. The whole pack made it to the mall doors without even realizing he wasn’t tagging along.

  Kevin adjusted his tweed sport coat, placed his hands in his pockets, and casually strolled toward the entrance. Once inside, the crowd jostled him. It pushed him along, until it stopped at the sports store.

  Yep, this was where he wanted to be. The male hormones oozed from the place. Ah, this was what had been missing. This was like a Bass Pro and a Cabela’s all mixed together. The huge store jutted out from the town mall. It was the biggest sports store in the state.

  Kevin’s eyes widened. Where to start? Then it hit him. First, to the fishing gear. Then to the camping section.

  Kevin visited each manly area in the whole store, taking in deep breaths of air. He filled his lungs with the scent of leather, plastic, and gun oil. His journey around the store ended when he reached the hunting section. He picked up a double-barreled shotgun and adjusted the weapon on his shoulder. He peered through the sights, and who did he see—Angela.

  She was arrayed in full camo. A pistol was grasped in her hand as she stood in the indoor firing range. As she fired the last shot, bells, whistles, and alarms pervaded the air. She came out of the range, a huge grin spreading across her face.

  “Thanks, Gary,” she said, handing the discharged weapon to a man outside the door.

  “Nice shooting, Angela. Hey, are you free tonight? Maybe we could grab dinner or something.”

  Kevin waited to see what Angela would say. They weren’t technically dating and he had no claim, but still he didn’t want her to say yes to this Gary guy. So he waited.

  Before Angela answered, she glanced up and saw him staring at her. “No, Gary. I don’t think I can.”

  “Well, that’s okay. I had to ask. That is the best shooting I’ve seen, and I’d sure be proud to have you on my arm.”

  Angela sent him a genuine smile. “Thanks, Gary. If I wasn’t already spoken for, I might have taken you up on the offer.”

  “Oh, so you have a beau?”

  “Yeah. Well at least, I think I do. It’s complicated.”

  “Ain’t it always,” Gary agreed. “Well, I have to say he’s a lucky guy.”

  “Thanks, Gary. Have a nice day.”

  “Okay. Sure.”

  Kevin stared at Angela as she sauntered toward him. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Shopping.”

  “Oh. I thought maybe you were following me.”

  “No.”

  “Darn,” she said with a wink.

  Kevin pointed toward the shooting gallery. “That was some fine shooting you did in there. I had no idea.”

  “There are lots of things you don’t know about me, Kevin Smith.”

  “Yeah. That’s becoming more and more apparent.”

  When Kevin didn’t say anything more, she explained further on her own. “Just in case you want to know, I’m an only child, and my dad is an avid hunter. He taught me how to shoot.”

  While Angela spoke, she began to strip.

  “Angela! What are you doing?” Kevin whispered.

  “Oh, it’s okay.”

  “What?”

  She must have seen his expression because she giggled. “Kevin, I’m not really undressing. Darrell had me put this camouflage suit over my clothes while I was shooting just to advertise. I have to give it back.”

  “You know what?”

  “What?”

  “You’re something else.”

  “She sure is,” said a voice from behind him. A man of great height and girth joined them. Turning to Angela, he added, “Angela, you were great out there. Like a real pro. Did this little lady tell you she’s a championship skeet shooter?”

  “Darrell, please.”

  “No, now let me sing your praises. Any man would be lucky to have this here lady. But for some reason she keeps pushing everyone away. We think she has a feller in mind and she ain’t telling.”

  “Is that true, Angela? Do you have a ‘feller’ in mind?” Kevin said, kidding her.

  Under veiled eyes, Angela stared at Kevin. “Maybe.”

  The middle-aged man named Darrell studied the two of them. After a moment, his eyes grew big and round, and he said, “Oh.” The camo suit clutched in his hand, he walked away from the couple leaving them alone.

  “When were you going to tell me?”

  “Tell you what?”

  “That you were a champion skeet shooter?”

  “Oh, that. Darrell exaggerates. I’ve won a few trophies. Which hardly makes me a champion.”

  “Trophies?”

  “Please don’t make a big deal out of it. I’m just like every other woman.”

  “No. I don’t think so.”

  “Have a lot of experience, do you?”

  “Unfortunately, yes.”

  Angela raised an eyebrow, and Kevin changed the subject. “So, what have you been up to?”

  “You mean since yesterday?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, mainly I’ve been trying to do a few fun things before I have to go back to work.”

  Kevin found a bench in the store, and they sat down together. He swiveled his body sideways on the seat so he could stare at her, “Like what, exactly?”

  “Well, let me think. Yesterday I visited my parents, and we watched old movies. You know the classics, like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. I just love action flicks. Don’t you?”

  “Yeah.” This woman was too good to be true. Action movies. Hunter. Fisherman.

  “And this morning I saw an old school buddy at the park, and we made plans to go whitewater rafting tomorrow morning. Hey, you should come.”

  It was on the tip of his tongue to accept when he felt his phone vibrate. “Excuse me,” Kevin said as he walked a short distance away, pulled the phone out of his pocket, and placed it up to his ear.

  Kevin heard Angela mutter something about throwing his phone away. He understood her feelings.

  Kevin answered, “Hello?”

  “Where are you?”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Kevin was silent. The only noise heard over the phone was the scanning of merchandise and the echo of voices from the mall intercom. When Kevin still didn’t speak, Dana asked again, “Where are you? I’ve been waiting in our secret spot for over an hour!”

  “Our secret spot?”

  “Yes, our
secret spot. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten?”

  “Well no, not exactly. I just got busy.”

  “So, have you given them the slip?”

  “What?”

  “Kevin, for goodness sakes! Have you lost them yet?”

  “Them who?”

  “The family!”

  “Oh yeah, sort of.”

  “Great. So if you sort of lost them are you coming to meet me at the shoe store or not?”

  The shoe store? “I’m not sure. I might be there in a while.”

  “Fine. I’ll stay close by.”

  Kevin hung up the phone, walking back over to a patiently waiting Angela. “Is everything okay?” she asked before he had time to sit back down.

  “Oh, yeah. Everything’s fine. I just have a new deadline.”

  “Huh?”

  “I mean, I’m supposed to meet somebody. But don’t worry. I told them it might take a while.”

  “Sure.” She flipped her hair in a flirty fashion, winking at him, she asked, “So, what do you think about tomorrow? Do you want to come?”

  The attitude change was funny, in a cute sort of way. Kevin studied her with renewed interest, but he didn’t know what to say. Finally deciding to start with, “Well you see, I do but…”

  “You can’t.”

  “No. I don’t think I can.”

  Angela dropped her head. Her hands, which rested in her lap, fidgeted. The corner of her lips tugged downward.

  “Listen, Angela. This is not because of you.”

  “Of course not. It’s never me. Let me guess: it’s you.” She waved a dismissive hand, took a deep breath, and added, “You don’t have to explain.”

  “I wish I could explain,” Kevin muttered under his breath.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Continue.”

  “I was just going to say, I understand. I know I’m boring and plain. I would much rather you just tell me now than to get my hopes up that you might actually like to go out on a date again.”

  Kevin gave her an incredulous stare. “You’re joking right? Boring? Plain? You’re probably the most exciting person I’ve ever met!”

  “Really?”

  “Most definitely. But I still can’t go out with you right now.” Angela started to interrupt but Kevin stopped her, “Listen something is… I can’t explain it. Just trust me when I say, I would love to take you out. But right now is...” He stopped talking and watched her face.