by Moore,Mia
Oh man! He was really in bad shape if he was going to Barry for advice.
“You pick up the booze and I’m in.”
“K. See ya in a half hour.” He clicked off and then hit the button to call his house. He’d let Peter know he might not be home tonight.
***
It was almost eleven thirty and now there were TWO Barry’s facing him. He snorted and grinned. Was the world ready for two of him? All night Barry’d been telling him about his love life—the hot women he’d met and what he planned to do with them. Even drunk as he was, he could tell… Barry wasn’t gettin’ any. If he was, his mouth would be flapping like a whippoorwill’s ass with details.
He pursed his lips and exhaled loudly. Abby. What the hell... There was no one else he could tell. It might be a relief to get it off his chest.
“Abby’s screwing around on me.” His lips were a straight line, eyes narrowed looking at his buddy.
“No way! Are you serious? C’mon, not Abby.” Barry’s eyes were golf balls almost riding on his cheeks.
“The damn boyfriend was at the hospital when I got there tonight. Can you believe it!” He sighed and looked at the dirty, worn carpet between his feet.
“Of all the goddamn nerve! You decked him, didn’t you? Please tell me you did.” Now Barry’s eyes were narrow, his puffy fingers forming fists. Not a thought to how he’d done the same thing to Claire.
“I chased him out and got a good look at his car. They work together. Don’t worry, I’m not finished with that prick. His little black Honda’s about to get keyed. Maybe I’ll slash his tires for good measure.” He punctuated his plans with a loud snort.
“Attaboy! I’ll help!” Barry weaved as he stood up. “Wanna’ ‘nother?”
“Sure. I ain’t goin’ to work tomorrow. Serve that prick Carl right. I got plans.”
Chapter 13
When Glen stormed out of the hospital room Abby flopped back in the bed, wincing as a sharp pain jolted her arm like a bolt of lightning. Slowly her memory had been returning in fragments. She remembered her last day at work and lunch with Claire but that was it. She shook her head.
What the hell was THAT all about? Glen marching in like some Neanderthal, kicking her boss out? What was HE so mad about? It was her lying here for three days in pain, barely missed dying and no flowers or even a card from work. It took THREE days for someone from the office to actually visit her, to see how she was doing! Yeah, it made her mad too but his reaction was waaaay over the top.
She wished that Esther had been there to see it but she’d been moved. She’d taken a bad spell and was now in palliative care. Esther could have made a joke of it. The way it was now was just so crazy. The strain of the car accident and hospital visits, were obviously taking their toll on Glen. The way he acted was so out of character.
“Hello?” It was Claire’s voice.
“Claire, come in. You’re just what the doctor ordered. I’m so glad to see you.” She watched her friend’s face light up as she walked over to the bed.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d be sleeping or if Glen and Peter were here.” Claire pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down.
“Glen! Don’t mention that name. You wouldn’t believe what he did tonight. Are you hungry? He left some food.” Her eyes widened. “And flowers! Can you find something to put them in?”
Claire rose and looked around the room. “Flowers? From Glen? I thought the only way you got flowers from him was by giving birth.” Her head ducked between the curtains surrounding the other bed in the room.
“Or almost dying.”
She disappeared and then emerged carrying a blue plastic, water jug, wearing the smile of victory.
“You know my new boss, Ted Hogan? I told you about him at lunch. Glen kicked him out tonight. I swear I thought he was going to hit him.” She raised her voice to be heard above the running water in the bathroom.
“What? Are you sure it was Glen in here earlier? Flowers and getting all HE man?” She scooped the triangular paper package off the bed and set the jug next to the Subway bag.
Her fingers gently removed the wrapping, shooting glances at Abby, question marks in her eyes.
“Yellow roses? He knows I like red. Maybe you’ve got a point. What the hell is up with him?” She folded her arms across her chest.
“Aren’t yellow roses linked with jealousy? You know, red for love, white for innocence. I’m pretty sure yellow is jealousy.” Claire leaned over and sniffed the flower heads she had set in the jug.
“I don’t know... What would he have to be jealous over?” Her face muscles scrunched tight.
“Who knows? Men! I’ve stopped trying to read their minds. Too much like a comic book and I’m too old for comics.” Claire rolled her eyes and took a seat.
“How are things at work? Still going to the gym even though I’m not there to nag you?” She really didn’t want to listen to Claire’s long bitch rant about men. Anything, to get her off that subject.
Claire started to tell her about work and all the latest gossip. Now it was Abby’s turn to use selective hearing, muting most of Claire’s chatter. What was going on with Glen? He’d lost it when he got here tonight and saw Ted. He couldn’t be jealous. Could he?
Chapter 14
“That’s him, there!” Glen was in the passenger seat of Barry’s Dodge Caravan.
Not the most inconspicuous vehicle when you’re doing a stake-out like they’d been doing for the last hour. Frig, he felt rough. Too many beers and passing out on Barry’s second hand sofa the night before was taking its toll on his body. He wasn’t a kid anymore.
The few beers he’d had that morning – a little hair of the dog—was wearing off only making him tired and cranky. As for Barry…well maybe he was used to drinking like that.
“The guy with the dark hair, dark blue coat?”
“Yeah.”
“Jeeze, he looks pretty young to be bangin’ Abby.” Barry turned and peered at him through bloodshot eyes. The stale beer on his breath made him wince.
“He was in the hospital with her last night. When I’m through with him he’s going back there—as a patient. Now don’t pull out right after him. We got to keep some distance.” He watched as Ted Hogan got into his dark Honda.
“Hey! I watch cop shows too! I got it.” Barry turned and scowled at him.
“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t get too close.”
They’d follow Teddy Bear and see where he lived. When he parked his car, he’d have a word with Ted.
Barry waited until a car immediately followed the Honda out onto the street before he put the van in drive. They were now driving along the street with the Honda in sight.
“Look. He’s turning right. Hurry. Catch the light.” Glen was hunched forward in the seat, his eyes never leaving the Honda.
“I’m on it.” Barry’s voice was terse, just like in the detective shows he’d seen.
They drove another couple of blocks. The Honda had stopped, the left indicator light flashing, about to turn into a parking lot.
“Park the car. Pull over.” Glen raised his hand and pointed to a vacant parking spot on the street. He could see the Honda clearly as it pulled up to the building at the back of the lot.
What the hell! A young blonde woman got into the Honda.
“Looks like Teddy Bear has another piece of fluff on the string.” Barry’s voice was low as he hugged the steering wheel, peering out the front window.
What? Abby’s banged up in the hospital and lover boy can’t wait for her? HE’S screwing around on Abby! Glen’s mouth had dropped open and he shook his head. Oh boy, when he got his hands on Teddy Bear, the fur was going to fly.
“Quick Barry! He’s pulling out!”
“Roger that.” Barry glanced in his side mirror and squealed out onto the road, cutting off a city bus.
“Careful!” Glen slid the seatbelt across his chest, clicking it firmly into place, before frowning at Barry.
“Shut
up already. We don’t want to lose him.” Barry just missed an old lady and her dog. She flipped them the bird.
“His signal light’s back on. He’s parking the car. Drive by. I’ll keep an eye on ‘im. Find a spot to park will ya?” Glen looked straight ahead, his hand at his face, elbow resting on the window as they passed the Honda. Maybe Ted hadn’t seen him when they passed. Good. There was a parking spot half a block away.
He loosened the seatbelt and swiveled around, peering at the Honda through the back windshield.
Ted got out of the car the same time that the girl did. What a jerk. Didn’t even have the courtesy to open her door for her. Putting his arm on her shoulder, they walked to a bar and disappeared inside.
“The Cock and Bull. They just went inside. Let’s go!”
“Wait.” Barry lifted the coffee thermos from his crotch where he had propped it.
Glen watched him tilt it upward draining the flat, warm beer inside it. How he could drink that piss after the night before was beyond him. Sure, a few straighteners… but at some point the beer just tastes bad.
Barry threw the empty plastic thermos on the floor and got out of the van. “I’d better go in first. He doesn’t know me and I can scope the place out. You come in behind so he can’t see ya, if he’s facing the door.”
Sounded like a good plan even though it would be great to see the look of shock on the lying sack of shit’s face. He trudged along the slushy sidewalk after Barry, his fists balling and flexing.
Inside the dimly lit bar, Barry stopped short. Just in the nick of time, Glen stopped, avoiding running into him. Barry turned his head and nodded indicating a booth to their right. Glen was about to slide in when Barry’s hand stopped him. Again with the nod. He was supposed to sit on the other side.
He bent and slid along the smooth, dark green vinyl, bracing himself against the scarred, wooden table top.
When Barry was seated, he pinioned Glen with his beady green eyes. His mouth opened and his lips moved but no sound came out.
That’s him behind me? Glen’s eyebrows rose. His thumb jerked indicating the couple sitting in the booth behind them.
Barry signaled for the bartender to bring them two beers. There weren’t very many people in the bar and it was easy to hear the conversation behind him.
“I know. He’d kill me if he knew. Sometimes I think that I should leave him. Ted, I don’t know what I’d do without you.” The woman’s voice.
Glen turned his head so that his ear was closer to the conversation. So this one’s married as well. Hmph. Likes the married ones, does he? That broad isn’t half as pretty as Abby even if she IS younger. He’s screwing around on Abby with HER! The dickweed.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll always be here for you. You know that.” It was Ted’s voice now.
That son of a bitch! Playing two women for fools. It was time for him to play with a man. Glen pressed his fingers into the table top and eased out of the bench to stand in front of Barry’s wide eyed face.
He turned and with the swiftness of a cobra he had Ted’s coat collar bunched in fist. With a jerk he lifted him out of the bench seat and threw him onto the dirty, wet floor.
“What the hell? Who are…You’re Abby’s husband! What the hell is your PROBLEM?” Ted raised his upper body, leaning on his elbow, about to get to his feet.
“Stay away from my wife, sleezeball! And you’re screwing this one too!” Glen’s face was tight, his jaw muscles working. Let the little sack of shit get up. “Get up!”
A pair of thin arms snaked around his waist and pulled him back. “Stop! He’s gay! Don’t you lay another hand on my brother you brute!” The girl swung Glen around and let go. He staggered into Barry.
She knelt next to Ted, trying to help him to his feet.
“What! You’re screwing my wife and you’re GAY?”
An arm on his shoulder caused him to turn.
“C’mon buddy, let’s get out of here.” Barry’s hand was pulling his shoulder, tugging him to the door. “Sorry folks. He’s under a lot of pressure. He ordinarily wouldn’t do something like this. His wife came close to dying. Please, just forget this happened if you can.”
Glen was already walking, pushed along by Barry’s hand in the middle of his back. Oh shit. What had he just done? Well if it wasn’t Ted, then WHO was she playing around with?
Chapter 15
Peter watched the elevator buttons light in succession as he rode up. Mom would be happy to see him, especially when he told her he thought he’d done well in the mid-term. He hoped she wouldn’t ask about Dad; he hadn’t seen him since yesterday.
The doors slid open and he stepped into the ward where his mother was. There were a couple of doctors at the nurses’ station when he passed. If he kept up the marks in school maybe he’d be a doctor. How hard could it be? People looked up to them. And check out the nurses! Some of them are hot! Those two doctors probably had nurses falling all over them.
He opened the door to his mother’s room still picturing the nurses he’d bang when he was a doctor. The look on Mom’s face wiped out any daydreams about playing doctor. She looked mad. Really, really mad.
“Hi Mom. How’r—“
“Hand me your wallet.” She extended her arm towards him and snapped her fingers.
His mouth dropped open. What was going on? What’s she pissed off about? The vein in her forehead was sticking up. She WAS pissed. He took a few tentative steps closer to the bed.
“C’mon. I want to see your wallet. Now.” Again the snapping fingers.
“Do you need money? All I have is a ten dollar bill.” His voice was low, directed at the floor while he fished his wallet out of his jeans.
He lifted it in front of him only to have her hand snatch it from his fingers. Well, this wasn’t the welcome he’d been expecting.
He watched wide eyed as she rifled through it; hell, searching it! She pulled out his student card, the ten dollars and driver’s license, flicking each onto the bed’s white blanket.
She pulled it open and gazed into each section of it. “Just what I thought. You don’t have a condom in here.” Her eyes were like a sword through his body, impaling him. He held his breath.
“You were with some girl fucking in my rec-room and didn’t use a condom. Do you think that was very smart, Peter?”
“Uhhh…” He would run from the room but his feet weren’t getting the message.
Her face muscles softened. Now she looked disappointed; like he just came home with a report card full of ‘F’s’. This was harder to take; he wished she were still mad.
“No.” His voice was almost a whisper when he answered, looking down at his shoes. Oh God, this was SO not what he’d expected. Please lord, just let her drop it now. The ‘talk’ with Dad had been bad enough. But NOW with his MOTHER!
“Look Petey, it won’t be the last time you’re… with, some girl, although hopefully not in the rec-room, so you need to use protection. There’s STD’s and pregnancy. If you get some girl pregnant that’s pretty well the end of your school career. Now promise me, you’ll take the ten dollars and stop at the drug store on the way home.” She fingered the money on the blanket.
He just had a condom check? By his MOTHER?
“I will. Sorry Mom about the rec-room thing.”
“Here. We’ll talk about that later.” She stuffed the cards and money back in and handed the wallet to him. “Where’s your father?”
“I’m not sure? He told me yesterday he was staying over at Uncle Barry’s and I haven’t seen him today yet. Maybe’s he’s still at work?”
Abby flopped against her pillow and looked aside. “Uncle Barry’s a good man, but sometimes he can be a real asshole.”
Asshole? Mom? Did she just say asshole?
Abby waved her hand. “Fuck it.” She looked up at Peter. “When you see him, tell him I’m able to go home tomorrow.” It was the first time she’d smiled since he walked into the room. “I’m being
discharged at noon and I need a ride.”
Fuck it? Mom?
“Great. I’ll call him right now.” Peter slid his hand into the inside pocket of his jacket.
“No. Don’t bother. Tell him when you get home. Now how’d that exam go today?”
***
After the visit with his mother, he was sitting in the living room, in the dark, trying to figure things out. The front door opened and he heard the familiar squeak and thump as the closet door opened and closed.
When his father’s burly figure tiptoed across the hall in front him, he called out. “Dad?”
He jumped like someone jabbed a needle in his ass. “Peter! What’re you doing, sitting there in the dark? You scared the shit outta me!” His father turned and flipped a switch illuminating the room.
“It’s Mom.”
“WHAT ABOUT YOUR MOTHER?” His father stopped dead in his tracks.
“She’s coming home tomorrow. She wants you to pick her up at noon. But she’s different, Dad.” He looked at his father’s face trying to gauge his mood.
“Whaddaya mean ‘different’? She’s okay, probably still shook up by the accident and wanting to get home is all.” His father took a seat in the easy chair across from him.
“No. She said ‘fuck’.
“Who the hell said fuck? One of the nurses?”
“Mom.”
“Your Mom?”
“Yep. And used the word in context.” He looked up from under his eyebrows and glanced at the floor once more.
“She said fuck?” His Dad’s eyes were now wide.
“She brought up the whole rec-room and Josee thing. She’s got her memory back. She gave me hell for not having a condom in my wallet.” Again, Peter’s shoes were the subject of his gaze.
“What! We’ve had that talk. I did the talk. She’s not the one who does that talk, I do!” Glen sat back in the chair and chewed on his thumbnail for a moment. “That IS weird.”