The Blueprint

by Jeannette Barron

  An image of the band, Village People, flashed in Kim’s mind and she started to sing under her breath, “It’s fun to stay at the YMCA.”

  Lily glanced over, saw what was coming, and choked on her sandwich.

  Kim slapped her on the back and tried hiding her mocking smile. She whispered, “This should be fun.”

  Tall and handsome drawled, “Well, aren’t the two of you cuter than a couple of speckled pups.”

  “Yeah, they look like puppies,” agreed short and skinny.

  Kim’s smile faded. She glared at the little guy with scruffy blonde hair sticking out from his hard hat and asked, “Did you just call us dogs?”

  “No…. What I meant….You’re not dogs… You're puppies,” sputtered short and skinny.

  “Zip it!” growled tall and handsome. He tucked his thumbs inside the edge of his tool belt, shook his head, and sighed. “Ladies, I’m real sorry about my brother, Ed; he’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer, if you know what I mean. My name’s Jimmy.” He removed his hat, revealing dark cropped hair which emphasized the blue of his eyes against high cheekbones, a thick brow, and crooked nose. His big hand felt like sunbathed concrete when they shook and exchanged further introductions. At his touch, both women’s heart beats fluttered. Lily looked away and Kim matched him smile for smile.

  “Nice tool belt,” Kim teased. “I’m just guessing that the two of you are working on the library expansion and aren't students.”

  “You’d be right. We’ve noticed the two of you out here enjoyin' your lunch and wondered if you wouldn’t mind some company.”

  “That depends on your brother’s manners,” challenged Kim. “I’m a little sensitive to the whole dog metaphor.”

  Ed whined, “It was supposed to be a compliment.”

  “Ed, go get our lunches.”

  As Ed sulked away, Jimmy removed his tool belt and sat. “You’ll have to excuse Ed. He gets tongue tied around beautiful women. He’s wanted to walk over here for days to meet you, but he wouldn’t do it without me.”

  “So you weren’t as interested in meeting two beautiful women?” Kim asked, feigning hurt feelings.

  “No. No. That’s not it at all. He just told me today. And the truth is I’d noticed both of you weeks ago. I’d much rather eat lunch with two ladies than some sorry old construction workers. Look over there. Those jerks are watchin' us right now.”

  Five guys with legs dangling over the second story ledge were looking right at them. Kim hopped up, waved, and blew kisses as whoops of laugher and catcalls accompanied their returned greetings.

  Jimmy smirked, “Well ladies, it appears you have five more admirers.”

  “Should we invite them over?” Kim asked Lily.

  Grabbing her stuff and checking her watch, Lily said, “Oh, look at the time. I should get back to work.”

  “No you don’t. You have twenty minutes. Stay. I’ll behave myself.” When Lily didn’t stop collecting her things, Kim reached for her wrist and begged, “Please, I’ll be good. I promise.”

  Lily sat back down and returned her full concentration to her turkey sandwich, while Kim flashed her best all’s well smile for Jimmy.

  Pretending to ignore their exchange, Jimmy changed the subject. “So how do you two know each other?”

  Kim answered, “We grew up together and now we’re roommates.”

  “So you lived in the same neighborhood.”

  “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

  “So where’d you grow up?”

  Ed returned with their lunches and weaseled a spot closest to Kim, forcing Jimmy to move or be sat on. Lily was glad for the interruption and hoped Kim would take this opportunity to dodge Jimmy’s question. It turned out that little brother brought with him all the help required. Ed opened his cooler and everyone but him pinched their noses at the noxious smell that escaped.

  “What the hell you got in there, road kill?” Jimmy bawled through cinched fingers.

  Ed answered, “It’s just the egg salad Mom made last week.”

  “That shit’s over seven days old. You can’t eat that. You need to bury it.”

  “But what am I going to eat? It’s all I brought.”

  “Ah, hell.” Jimmy closed his lunch box and stood. “You’ll have to excuse us ladies, but I need to run out and get my little brother some grub. I hope we can try this again real soon.” He shook their hands again and then walked off towards the parking lot with his brother trailing behind. They could hear Jimmy utter, “Smooth. Real smooth, Ed.”

  Certain they were out of earshot, Kim faked her best swoon. “Isn’t he dreamy?”

  Lily laughed, “If you say so.”

  “Lily, if he comes back another day, would you mind if I claimed him?”

  “He’s all yours.”

  Jimmy and Ed Rogers returned and joined them for lunch day after day. Kim used her people powers to extract pertinent information from Jimmy, learning that he graduated from college a couple of years ago with a degree in Industrial Engineering and hoped to work his way up in his dad’s construction company to the position of foreman. Ed, just out of high school, skipped college and jumped right into the family business. As Jimmy saw it, he held two jobs, construction worker and babysitter for his brother. There were five siblings in all, the oldest, a sister, married with two little ones, and two more brothers who fell in age between Jimmy and Ed, who also worked for their father.

  Lunches were passed listening to Jimmy entertain them with outrageous stories of his childhood adventures with his brothers and cousins. Injuries inflicted or endured were most often the theme. "I've had my nose broken three times and each time a different brother was responsible," he began on their third shared lunch break. "The first time it was my brother, Steve's, fault. All of us were out explorin' the woods behind my parents' house when he decided to roll head first down a rocky hill. He'd tell you he was pushed, but that's baloney. He rolled a couple of times and then the lucky bastard slid the rest of the way. The only damage done was to his pride, because once he reached the bottom with not so much as a scratch on him, he couldn't get back up. Did I mention that Steve wasn't very smart?" Ed snorted in agreement. "See, he kept trying to crawl up through the loose gravel rather than use the bigger rocks for hand and foot holds. He looked like he was surfin' on his stomach and gettin' nowhere fast. So I slid down the hill and tried coachin' him up by showin' him where to put his feet and hands. I was below him givin' orders when his foot slipped, crashed into my face, and broke my nose."

  Ed chuckled.

  Jimmy grabbed his unopened can of soda, shook it, and returned it.

  "Hey!" Ed whined.

  Jimmy ignored him and continued his story. "By the time we got home, I was covered in blood. My mom caught sight of us and came running out of the house yellin' for my dad to start the truck. 'Jimmy's been shot! Jimmy's been shot!' Once she calmed down enough to hear my explanation, you know what happened?"

  Kim and Lily answered together between bites, "What?"

  Jimmy smiled. He had his audience's full attention. "My mom grounded me for a week. She said I should have known better than to put my face so close to my brother's boot."

  Aside from the congenial time the four of them spent together, the obvious reason Jimmy and Ed showed up daily was because of little brother's crush on Kim. Jockeying for the closest seat to her, Ed offered special treats his mother had prepared and did his best to be clever and charming like his big brother. Unfortunately for Ed, his attempts at wit often sounded like insults. When Kim wasn’t flirting with Jimmy, she was chastising Ed.

  Lily sat munching on her lunch and watching the fireworks. The three of them put on such a good show that she often found herself eyeing the clock, anticipating the next performance. She wasn’t sure if Kim was making any romantic progress with Jimmy, but it certainly wasn’t for a lack of trying. So she wasn’t all that surprised to return home one evening to find a beat-up truck blocking her space under the carport, and
the owner under her sink.

  Kim stood leaning against the counter in her shortest shorts and tightest top chatting away. When Lily walked in, Kim called, “Welcome home, roomy.”

  “What strange man did you bring home tonight, ---roomy?”

  Kim shot her an angry look and mouthed, “Very funny,” and out loud added, “It’s just Jimmy. He’s come to fix our sink.”

  “Does he know what he’s doing under there?”

  Jimmy pushed himself out from under the sink revealing the chiseled face that went with those long hard legs and well-worn cowboy boots. He winked and drawled, “Darlin’, this ain't my first rodeo. Somebody hand me that wrench.” Kim jumped into action, handed him the tool, and returned to her alluring pose. Jimmy crawled back under the sink and continued, “It looks to me like your landlord didn’t have your garbage disposal hooked up right. I’d say he’s either not much of a plumber or looking for a reason for the two of you to keep callin'. Not that I could blame him.”

  Absorbing every bit of his compliment, Kim said, “I invited Jimmy to stay for dinner as our thanks for fixing the sink. I thought we’d order pizza if that’s all right with you, Lily.”

  “Works for me,” Lily answered and then mouthed, “Do you want me to leave?”

  Kim mouthed back, “No it’s okay. You can stay.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, stay.”

  Lily was tired and gladly acquiesced. “I’m going to go get changed out of my work clothes; let me know when the pizza arrives.”

  “You bet,” Kim called as Lily retreated to her room.

  The dinner bell rang an hour later; Lily left her room to find Jimmy sprawled out on the cowboy couch with a beer and Kim talking away while serving up pizza. Lily curled up on Fido with a couple of slices and watched the show. Half melted lit candles covered the milk crate they used for a side table and a radio played soft music in the background. It was amazing how little was needed to set a mood, and Kim was definitely doing her best to provide a romantic stage. But still, Lily noticed that Kim seemed a little off. Her smile wasn’t as genuine and the conversation wasn’t as fluid. Either something went wrong while Lily was hiding in her room, or Kim was crazy nervous and it showed. Jimmy, cool and calm as always, let Kim administer to his every need while he gobbled down most of a pizza.

  Lily didn’t want to be drawn to him, but she had to admit he painted a seductive picture; a handsome cowboy on her beloved cowboy couch. In the novels she read, the hero rode a horse. Close enough. He radiated confidence that was hard to resist. When he was around, she felt both excited and scared. She reminded herself friendship before boys that was the rule. Besides, it would never work out anyway.

  Like a satisfied king on his throne, Jimmy took a long swallow of beer, patted his full but firm belly, and declined a treat from the headless clown cookie jar. “Who does your decoratin'? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a place with so much personality... or where the furniture has names.”

  With an exaggerated giggle, Kim answered, “You should invite us over to decorate for you. I’m not doing anything this weekend. I could take you shopping at all of our favorite places.”

  Lily cringed. She tried to will Kim to look at her so she could give her the settle down, your being way too obvious look, but Kim’s hopeful gaze was glued to Jimmy.

  He didn’t skip a beat. “Actually, I’m kind of between homes right now. I inherited some land from my grandparents a couple of miles outside of town, and I’m gonna build myself a house on it. For now, I live in an old trailer on that land. And it doesn’t need to be decorated, it needs to be incinerated. I’d like to have my house far enough along to move in in the next year or so. So for now that’s where all my time and money goes, except, of course, when I’m lucky enough to spend time with you two charmin' ladies.”

  Kim sighed with pleasure at the hundredth well-played compliment of the night. And if Lily had had a pillow, she would have nailed her with it. It was time to wrap things up before Kim made even a bigger fool of herself. Using her favorite excuse, she said, “Well, look at the time. It’s a school night for me, kids. So I think I’m going to clean this mess up and head back to my room. Kim, don’t you have a final this week?” Lily reached for the pizza box and avoided the glare searing her back.

  Jimmy popped off the couch and stretched. “Yeah, I should be goin'. I have to get an early start tomorrow so I can swing by my parents’ house and pick Ed up. He’s going to be so pissed when I tell him where I’ve been tonight. If you couldn’t tell, Kim, he’s madly in love with you. He’s a good kid, but he says the stupidest things when he gets around you. I guess that’s what happens when you fall in love.”

  Lily snorted and then coughed to hide her amusement. Kim didn’t look amused.

  Everyone helped clean up and Jimmy was escorted to the door. The phone rang and Kim ran back inside to answer it. Lily still needed to get her car under the carport. Grabbing her keys, she followed Jimmy outside.

  While exiting his car parked across the street, Ben saw Lily miss a step and tumble into the arms of a great big cowboy. He overheard the cowboy say something about her needing to learn how to hold her liquor and they laughed as he placed her back on her feet.

  Lily noticed Ben staring at her with fists clenched and something snapped in her. She was sick and tired of that man giving her dirty looks. It had been months since their breakup, and he still couldn’t be civil. If Ben thought she was hooking up with other guys, she thought, why prove him wrong?

  Jimmy reached for his door handle, but turned when Lily called for him to wait.

  She leaped into his arms causing him to stumble backwards into his truck. She whispered in his ear, “Hold me like you want me.”

  “That shouldn’t be too hard to do.” Jimmy answered, enjoying this turn of events.

  “I want to make that jerk over there standing next to the Camaro think we’re a couple. Rub my back or something.”

  “I’m happy to assist. Would you like me to kiss you as well or will roamin' hands be enough?”

  “We might need to do some kissing if he doesn’t leave. I can’t see him." She peeked over his shoulder. "Is he still there?”

  “No. Unfortunately, he went inside. But, you’ll be happy to know that I think your friend was plenty pissed based on the force of the kick he gave his tire.”

  They were still standing in a semi-embrace when Kim swung the door open. Her face morphed from excited to hurt as she surveyed the scene. Lily noticed her roommate’s warring emotions and knew she had a lot of explaining to do. Kim recovered, faked a cheerful final good-bye for Jimmy, and stormed inside.

  Lily chased after her, but was greeted coldly by her roommate’s locked bedroom door. “Kimmy, please open up. It’s not what you think. Ben pulled up in his car just as Jimmy and I were walking out. Jimmy was just pretending to be into me to help piss off Ben. That’s it. I promise. Nothing happened. Please, talk to me. I hate it when you’re mad at me." She rested her head against the closed door and mumbled, “Shit, shit, shit.”

  The door flew open; Lily stiffened, preparing herself for a hard right jab, harsh words, or both. But instead, Kim stood vibrating with excitement.

  “I figured it out,” Kim explained.

  “You what?”

  Emphasizing each word, Kim said, “I... figured... it... out!”

  “What could you have figured out in the last two minutes other than believing I'm a traitor and you hate me?” Lily stepped back and leaned into the opposite wall. Based on the glimmer in Kim's eyes, she didn't think she was in trouble anymore, but she also didn't think the explanation would be rational.

  “The universe is trying to tell you something.”

  “The what?”

  “The universe is talking but you won’t listen,” Kim clarified. Despite the confused look on her friend's face, she continued in earnest. “Remember that history paper that disappeared your senior year in high school?”

  �
�Yes. “

  “I took it,” Kim admitted.

  “You what?” Lily slid down the wall and rested with her knees bent to her chest. She’d seen that look on Kim’s face before when she was trying to apply some of her psychobabble to real life, and she knew it would take all of her strength to follow along. Better get comfortable, this could take a while.

  Kim joined her on the floor. “I took it and threw it away. I wanted to see what would happen. We were talking about Karma in one of my classes and I wanted to see not only what would happen if I did something bad, but what would happen to my victim.”

  “It was awfully nice of you to include me in your experiment. But maybe next time you could leave me out of it. Or perhaps,” added Lily with a sneer, “I should do some experimenting of my own. This is finals week, right?”

  “Whatever. You don’t have an evil bone in your body. Don’t you want to know what happened?” Lily rolled her eyes and Kim took that as a yes. “Well, I broke my wrist two days later falling on some ice, and you won the History Department award.” Lily shook her head, befuddled. Undeterred, Kim asked, “Didn’t you get an extension on that paper and rewrite the whole thing?”

  “I think Mr. Dawson felt sorry for me, so he gave me another week to finish.”

  “And my guess is that the second paper was better than the first. And that the second paper is what helped you win that award.”

  “What does any of this have to do with the universe?” Lily asked.

  “I think the universe is trying to make up for your parents and your sister leaving you. I think good things keep falling into your lap to make up for it, but you’re not paying attention.”

  Lily stared past Kim. This was a topic she would not discuss even with her best friend.

  Kim got the hint but pushed forward anyway. “Look, some terrible stuff happened to you when you were a kid, but some good stuff has happened to you as an adult. You won a full ride to college. You found a great job with a boss who treats you well and stays out of the way. This roach trap we live in should have fallen down six months ago, but I think it stays glued together just so you’ll stay. And that old cheap car of yours keeps puttering along despite all the horrible noises and smells it makes. You also have to admit that most of the guys you’ve dated, by anyone else’s standards, would be keepers.”