“I’m going to go get my manager,” the girl said.
“This chick is going to make us miss our entire movie,” Amy grumbled, pulling her phone out to text something into it. “It hasn’t started yet,” she said after a minute.
Another tall, middle-aged woman walked up, her salt-and-pepper hair in a high bun. A big smile spread across her face as she stopped in front of us.
“Samantha tells me you have some questions about our butter?” she said in greeting.
“No, I ordered a popcorn with no butter and got one with butter and—”
“No butter!” Sarah screamed, she grabbed for the popcorn but I intercepted her. I picked her up, holding her to me as she made loud distressed sounds and kicked out in my arms.
“My niece has special needs. We ordered popcorn with no butter for her. Please go get it,” Amy said to the woman.
I grabbed out my wallet and threw it on the counter. “I’m going to take Sarah over there,” I said as I walked out of the crowd.
“It’s okay, angel, aunt Amy is getting it,” I whispered over and over again, as she continued to thrash and whimper in arms. People cleared from our path, gawking as they passed.
I sat Sarah on my lap, giving her squeezes until she calmed down. “Do you want to do gymnast breaths?”
“One,” she said, breathing in shallowly.
“Two,” I said, breathing in deeply and gesturing with a hand for her to do the same.
As we finished breathing to ten, Amy walked up with two big tubs of popcorn and stopped a few feet away. “You still want to go see this?” she asked as we stood.
“I think so,” I said, leaning down to Sarah. “Do you still want to go to the movie angel?”
“Yes movie,” she said.
“Okay, let’s do this then,” Amy said, tilting her head toward where the theaters were. She lifted the two big tubs of popcorn. “They gave us one for free.”
“Wow, how generous,” I said, dryly.
“It’s all yours, Jamie. Peter already got us one. You said you’re trying to gain weight,” she said, lifting the basket up sporting a small, amused grin.
As we walked in the theater, a golden retriever flew across the long black movie screen, his cape billowing behind him. ‘Space Pup Returns, Coming May 4th’ lit up in big letters.
“See, still previews,” I said as we scanned the dark theater.
“There he is,” Amy said, pointing. Walking halfway down the aisle, Amy stopped in front of her husband.
Peter looked up from his phone on his lap. “Oh, hey honey, I was just texting you,” he said as he stood.
“Hey Peter,” I said, reaching over to give him a hug.
“Hey Jamie, Sarah,” he said, giving me a pat on the back and waving at Sarah. He motioned past him. “Here, go on in.”
“Thanks,” I said. I made my way down the aisle first so Sarah would be sandwiched between me and Amy. We pushed down our velvet seats and sat down.
Sarah smiled at me, shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth. I picked up a piece of the non-butter soaked popcorn and examined it for a minute before popping it in my mouth. Whatever the girl had poured all over the popcorn, it sure tasted like butter. It tasted like butter and salt exploding in my mouth.
I cringed a little, but after a minute, I scooped up a handful of popcorn and shoveled it into my mouth.
The movie started with a loud trumpeting sound. Sarah bounced up and down in her seat, popcorn flying out of the bucket in her lap and going in all directions.
I grabbed the bucket and placed it at her feet.
“Candy,” she demanded.
“Shoot.” Leaning over to look at Amy, I whispered, “Did we get candy?”
Amy nodded and kept her eyes on the screen as she pulled a bag of candy out of her purse. She opened it, handing Sarah a couple, but keeping the bag.
Sarah gobbled up all the candies in record time. “More,” she said to Amy.
“You know the deal, Sarah,” Amy said.
Sarah kicked out her legs and refocused on the movie.
The movie started with a racing scene: a small man was on top of a horse, gripping the reins, then the camera panned to the horse’s feet thundering down the track.
Sarah’s eyelids were wide, the lenses of her eyes reflecting the movie. I focused on the plot and felt myself being drawn into the plot as the racehorse tripped mere feet after crossing the finish line. I shoveled handfuls of popcorn into my mouth, my gaze never once wavering from the screen.
The protagonist, a preteen boy, turned to the jockey and yelled, “Dad! They’re going to kill Lucky!”
“Oh, son.” The boy’s father pulled him into a hug. “Sometimes an animal’s injury is just too great and the vet needs to put them down.”
“Not the doctor, Dad! He said Lucky could heal but never race again. Mr. Jones and Mr. Hamilton are going to kill Lucky so they can get twenty million dollars from their insurance! Please, Dad, you have help him!”
“I’ll help him, son,” the jockey said.
A tear crawled down my cheek. As the jockey went to guard Lucky Stars until the doctor and police got there, more tears spilled from my eyes. For the rest of the movie, my face was wet with fresh tears.
And at the end, when Lucky Stars raced again, winning the Kentucky Derby, I was positively sobbing. I stuffed yet another handful of popcorn in my mouth, and when I went for another, my fingers scraped the bottom of the bucket.
A hand touched my elbow.
Wiping my face on the shoulder of my shirt, I turned.
My sister was leaning over Sarah, who was still completely captivated by the movie.
“Hey, you okay?” Amy whispered.
“Yes,” I whispered back.
“You sure? You’re a little bit… loud. Go to the bathroom, I’ll keep an eye on Sarah.”
“I’m sorry.” I laughed, wiping the tears away with my hand. “Yeah, maybe I should go to the bathroom.” Standing, I stepped over each of their legs in turn, and then walked up the aisle. At the trash can, I threw away my now-empty, large, popcorn container.
In the bathroom, my reflection stared back at me. I looked like an absolute mess. Red splotches covered my pale face and gathered at the tip of my nose. I washed my face over the sink, scrubbing at my cheeks.
“Did you watch a sad movie?” the elderly woman at the next sink over said.
I tried to grin at her. “Yeah.” I grabbed a handful of paper towels and dabbed my face with it.
“Which movie was it?” she asked as she pushed down the lever for the paper towels.
“Um, it was called Lucky Stars,” I said.
“The kids’ movie?” she asked. “I saw that with my granddaughter. It had a happy ending.”
“Yeah, I’m a sucker for a happy ending. Have a nice day,” I said and rushed out of the bathroom as fast as I could without running.
I waited outside the theater as the doors opened and people started pouring out.
A couple walked by me with a pair of young kids. The man leaned in close and whispered to his wife, “That’s the woman who was bawling.”
I quickly looked away from the couple, fixing my gaze on a ‘Space Pup Returns’ poster. The golden retriever had a tongue lolling out of his mouth as he flew superman-style through the air.
“Hey Jamie,” a voice said from beside me.
I turned to see Peter step up beside me, he smiled but his gaze quickly turned to the Space Pup poster. “Amy took Sarah to the restroom; she says she’ll meet us here. So… how’s everything going with you?”
“Fine, just suffering some minor humiliation for bawling my eyes out at a kids’ movie,” I said, trying on a smile for him.
He shrugged. “I doubt anyone noticed.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I appreciate the kind lie, thanks. How’s everything going for you? How’s life at the firm?”
“Very busy. I’m sure Amy told you that I’ve made junior partner, so, definitely been great,” he said.
“Yeah, congratulations. That’s huge, right?”
“I suppose,” he shrugged, though there was a hint of a smile on his face. “So, Sarah has class with Patrick’s daughter? That’s quite a coincidence.”
“I know,” I said.
“And Amy says Patrick asked you out?” he asked, his lips fighting what I knew was a smile.
I shot a glare toward the women’s restroom.
“Kind of. Not really. We’re sort of becoming friends,” I said.
“That’d be interesting, if you dated Patrick. I’d love to see how people reacted to that. It would be like the two opposing sides of Amy’s life coming together. She’d probably love you to come to the club sometime,” he said.
“Uh-huh. But Patrick and I are not dating. And no offense, but I don’t think the country club is really my scene,” I said.
Peter was definitely smiling now. “No, I don’t suppose it is.”
“Excuse me, Peter. I think I’m going to go check on Amy and Sarah, they’ve been gone for a long time.” I patted his arm as I passed on my way back to the bathroom.
Just as I reached the restroom, Amy and Sarah came out. “Hey, I was going to meet you back at the theater. Didn’t Peter tell you?” Amy asked.
“Yeah, you were taking so long I decided to check on you.”
“Oh, yeah sorry, there was a long line,” Amy said as we turned and continued walking toward Peter and the exits.
“Did you like the movie, angel?” I asked as I leaned down to kiss Sarah on the head.
“Yes. You cried,” she said.
“Yes, a lot,” I said, taking her hand.
Amy cleared her throat. “So what time is this barbeque? I think Peter wants to pick up a host present on the way.”
“Shoot, I didn’t even think of something like that. What are you thinking of getting?”
“I’m going to leave that up to Peter. Patrick’s his friend. Do you know what time the barbeque is?”
“Um, I think Patrick said the barbeque would be at five-thirty,” I said.
“Five-thirty? You mean five minutes ago?” Amy checked her phone, nostrils flaring.
“Calm down. It’s casual. You know, I think I’ll call Patrick and ask if he wants me to bring anything. Oh, and I should probably tell him that you’re coming,” I said.
“Hmm, maybe that’s a good idea,” Amy snapped.
“That’s me, always full of great ideas,” I said as I pulled out my phone. “Need a great idea? I’ll give you seven, one for every day of the—”
“Oh my god Jamie, just call him,” Amy said.
Day Two: Five Thirty-five
I grinned as I peered down at my phone, and thumbed through my contacts to ‘Patrick Kelly’. I offered my other hand to Sarah, who took my hand only to use it to twirl herself around, again and again.
“Hey there,” Patrick answered in a low voice. I could almost hear his smile when he said, “I knew it was you because ‘Sexy mom’ popped up on my screen.
“Ha,” I said, turning away from where Amy hastened ahead to Peter.
“So, I’ve been meaning to ask you… do you and Sarah like steak?”
“We love steak,” I said.
“Good, because we already have a couple steaks on the grill. You ladies heading our way?” Patrick asked.
“Yeah, we are. So… weird coincidence, I think you know my sister and her husband.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Amy and Peter Smithson? They’re members, or whatever, at the same country club as you.”
“Oh.” The cheerful tone had disappeared. After a short stretch of silence, he said, “Bring them along. It’ll be great to see them, too. We’ve got plenty of food.”
I paused, confused by his hesitation. “Are you sure? Because we can totally sit this one out.” Sarah finally got dizzy twirling around my hand and I grabbed her with one arm, holding her weight.
“No, really, that’s the opposite of what I want. I’m sorry. The grill distracted me. Please, come. And bring them too, it’ll be great.”
“If you’re sure. Is there anything we can bring?”
“Just yourselves,” Patrick said.
Sarah broke away from me and I spun round to see her running over to where Amy and Peter were deep in conversation. When they both turned to her, I turned back and said, “Okay, but if you think of anything, just text—oh, shoot! Are the kids in the pool? I completely forgot to bring Sarah’s swimsuit. I might have to take a quick trip home and be there a little later,” I said.
“No problem, Sarah can wear one of Kay’s,” Patrick said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Okay, that works, thanks. Are you going swimming?”
“I will if you do,” Patrick said, the smile returning to his voice.
I breathed out a laugh. “Probably not tonight,” I said.
“Alright then, I’ll see you real soon,” he said.
“Yeah, soon,” I said before hanging up.
When I walked up to my group, Peter immediately turned to me. “What did he say?” he asked, his gaze intent on mine.
“He said you guys are welcome to come. He’s got plenty of food and we just have to bring ourselves,” I shrugged.
Amy stepped toward me, lips pursed and said in a low voice, “Peter wants to run by a liquor store to pick up a host present, but I was thinking I could go with you and watch Sarah while you get ready.”
“I’m ready,” I said, then following her gaze, I glanced down at my ripped jeans and ‘The Rolling Stones US Tour T-shirt’. “This is what I’m wearing. Did you guys want to grab your suits?”
Amy frowned. “No, definitely not. How about you follow us to the liquor store, then we’ll follow you to Patrick Kelly’s house.”
“You probably know the way better than I do,” I said.
Amy shrugged. “Either way. Would you mind texting me his address?” she asked.
“Sure.” I scrolled up to the text and forwarding it to her.
“Well, let’s not waste any more time,” Peter said, glancing at his watch.
Sarah did a cartwheel as we walked through the lobby toward the exit.
“Sarah, don’t do that,” Amy said in a low voice with a hand to her chest. “There are a lot of people around.”
“Not here, angel,” I said, rushing forward and grabbing her hand. “Did you know we’re going to Kay’s house to go swimming?”
Sarah jumped up and down and squealed. Then she asked, “Do you want to go swimming in the pool, Mom?”
“Probably not tonight. How about you, do you want to go swimming?”
“Yes!” she shouted.
“Well, you definitely can. Let’s get to the car,” I said. When I looked up, Amy and Peter had already left the lobby and were waiting outside, locked in what looked like a tense conversation. I tried not to disturb them as I exited the theater, but they immediately looked over.
“Hey guys, I feel really bad. I totally changed plans on you and it seems like it’s stressing you out. We could still cancel if—”
“No, really, let’s get going there. We’re already late,” Amy said.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Definitely,” Peter said as he pulled out his keys. They turned to the parking lot, Amy’s arm threaded through Peter’s.
“Peter is parked over here, we’ll pull around to you,” Amy said over her shoulder.
“Okay,” I said, heading the other way.
By the time I got Sarah in her car seat and gave her my phone to play with, Peter and Susan had already pulled up in his sleek gray sports car. When I pulled behind them, Peter sped ahead. He weaved through the traffic, and by the time we exited the movie theater parking lot, having followed him by cutting off three people, I stopped trying to keep up. A few blocks up, Peter stopped dead, waiting for me.
Sarah’s game blared out, playing the same chord of music over and over. “Angel, if you don’t
turn your game down, I’m going to take the phone away.”
“No take the phone away!” she shouted as her game music decreased.
“Thank you,” I whispered as I caught up to Peter’s car.
He slowed his pace and after a few minutes pulled into a strip mall I’d never been to before. The strip mall was lined with upscale boutiques and salons. We parked in front of a small store. The windows were frosted and bare, except for a decorative silver logo that read ‘The Scotch Cabinet’. Peter got out of his car and entered the store, only to exit a minute later with a wooden box.
He rushed back to his sports car, pulling out of the spot and barely waiting for me to pull out of mine. We drove deeper into the southern coastal neighborhoods I had never visited before. As we weaved through neighborhoods, the houses bulked up so large only two of them could fit comfortably on a block.
Peter turned down a road lined with heavy, reaching oaks. We came out along the beach, where the few houses were separated from each other with stretches of sand dunes.
“Look how pretty it is out here,” I said to Sarah. When she didn’t respond I said, “Isn’t this neat? Kay lives on the beach.”
Peter parked in front of a sprawling one story house, behind what I recognized as Susan’s car. I parked between two cars a little way down the road.
“This is beautiful!” I said to Amy as I exited my car.
The roof slanted out at all angles, interspersed with dormers, in a long low cottage-style house. Windows stretched the length of the house, giving the illusion that the house was made of glass.
Peter and Amy waited by the walkway as I helped Sarah exit her door. Sarah rushed up to join them and the group turned and headed up to the large wooden door.
The door opened and a woman’s head popped out, her brown curls bouncing as she smiled at us.
“Oh, wonderful!” she exclaimed. “Come in, come in.” She pulled the door open wide, and I got a good look at her. A huge smile spread across her gorgeous heart-shaped face. She wore a long silky maxi dress that cinched at her waist, and was barefoot.
“I’m Carrie, Patrick’s sister-in-law. Are you Jamie and Sarah?” she asked.
“Yeah—”
She crossed the distance and hugged me. “You are exactly how I pictured you. I’ve been talking to your friends, and I absolutely love them. They are so sweet.” She pulled away and looked at Sarah, “And you are adorable. How old are you?”
The Fourteen Day Soul Detox, Volume Two Page 4