Blame it on the Stars (The Blame Game)

by Hill, Jamie

  He kissed the back of her hand. “Does that mean you’re ready to start working on the kids? I mean, Dana is not a big problem. She likes you, she just has, shall we say, issues.”

  She chuckled. “I think Dana and I are going to get along just fine. Now David, he’s another story.”

  “I talked to David. I talked to them both, in fact, and told them where things stood. David is not happy about the divorce, but what kid would be? He has promised me, though, to try to be nice to you, and get to know you.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  Steve shook his head. “Mind you, I said try. He is an ornery little cuss.”

  She moved behind him and started rubbing his shoulders. She spoke softly into his ear “Are you just realizing that?”

  He smiled over his shoulder at her. “I guess maybe I am.”

  Catlin threw her hear back and shouted “Hallelujah! The first step to recovery is realizing you have a problem.”

  Steve laughed, and reached for her hand. He planted a little kiss on it, and then sighed as she continued the massage.

  “I thought last night would have taken care of this tension!” She rubbed the kinks out of his neck.

  “That feels great,” he told her. “I’ll do you next.”

  She leaned forward, pressing her breasts into his back. “After you do me, will you give me a massage, too?”

  Steve roared with laughter, and pulled her into his lap.

  Chapter Seven

  Catlin’s phone rang on Halloween at nine o’clock. She looked at the Caller ID before she answered seductively, “I’m here all alone, just thinking about you.”

  Steve’s voice came back to her, “What are you wearing?”

  “Nothing,” she teased “It’s very hot in here.”

  “How hot could it be with you there by yourself?”

  “Well, I’m thinking of you...so it’s getting very hot...”

  “Okay.” His voice changed back to matter-of-fact. “So you have the fireplace stoked up too much, and you’re wearing sweats, big thick socks, and that fuzzy white robe.”

  She grinned. “Is this a picture phone, or are you developing your psychic abilities?”

  “No, I think I know you pretty well is all.”

  “Well, you’re right. I was just trying to turn you on a little.”

  “I’m on when I hear your voice, baby. You know the song, all revved up and no place to go. Western Kansas hasn’t gotten any more exciting, even on Halloween. My only saving grace was your trading cars with me for the week.”

  She laughed. “How is my car?”

  “We are both fine. I trust you can say the same?”

  “Sure, we’re fine too. The Beemer should be out of the body shop by the time you get back.”

  “Ha ha.” Steve replied sarcastically. “Well, hey, I’ve been a busy boy making plans for this weekend.”

  “Oh yeah? Anything that includes me, a bottle of baby oil or a hot tub?”

  “Well, I’m sure we can work those in. Bur first we need to go to Topeka on Saturday and pick up some supplies I’m getting from their newspaper.”

  “Oh, wow,” she deadpanned. “Now that sounds like too much fun.”

  “Hey, the weekend gets better. Barbara is going to meet us there—”

  “Oh my God, you’re right!” Catlin squealed. “The weekend is getting better! Maybe we can all go out clubbing or bar hopping together!”

  Steve suppressed his chuckle to speak again, “If you would zip it long enough for me to finish, please.”

  “Zipping it.”

  “Barbara is going to take the kids overnight, and she’ll bring them home Sunday. So all I have to do is meet her at the Hilton, drop the kids, and the rest of the weekend is ours. Just you and me. You know—hot tub, baby oil...”

  “Swimmin’ pool, movie stars! Hot damn!”

  “I thought you’d like it. The first part will be painless, and we won’t stay long.”

  “Okay, okay. I can go along with that. As long as I get to suck your toes in the hot tub all night long.”

  Steve laughed out loud. “How long do you think it would take me to get back home with the Jag? I bet I could be there in minutes, not hours.”

  She was laughing, too. “Nah, get some sleep. Get rested up. Saturday will be here before you know it.”

  “So how was your Halloween?”

  “A big ol’ party with me and a bowl of Snickers. I had a few trick-or-treaters, but not nearly enough to eat all the candy I bought.”

  “Hmm, Snickers you say? Save me one.”

  “It’s a little late for that. Sorry.”

  He laughed again. “Okay, so that’s how it’s going to be. I see now.”

  She chuckled. “My students were sure jazzed for Halloween today. I think some of them have plans to make a little mischief in the old town of Marshall tonight.”

  “Surely not.” Steve pretended to be shocked.

  She laughed. “Did you call David tonight? He may be one of them.”

  “Actually, David is not feeling well. I just talked to him a few minutes ago. He’s heading for bed.”

  “Sure he is.”

  “No, really, he is. He has a wicked cough. Now Dana, she’s at a girlfriend’s house, doing homework she says. That part I’m not so sure about. But I’m not too worried.”

  “Nah,” she agreed. “Dana’s got a good head on her shoulders.”

  “Yeah. Well, I do have something I need to discuss with you. Is now as good a time as any?”

  “I suppose. Is this bad?”

  “Not real bad,” he hedged. “I talked to my lawyer today. He’s trying to get a court date for the divorce on the judge’s docket. You know, the kids are going to have to testify as to which parent they want to live with.”

  “You’re not worried, are you? There’s no question they want to be with you.”

  “No, it’s not that. It’s just that the first available date is December 22.”

  “Oh. Merry Christmas, huh?”

  “Yeah. I can’t do that to them, Catlin. It’s not right.”

  “I understand. So what’s the next available date?”

  “February.”

  “So take February. It doesn’t matter.”

  “I thought it did matter.”

  “Not really, Steve. I mean, it’s not like we’re holding up any plans because of it.”

  “Aren’t we?”

  “None that I’m aware of.”

  He groaned into the phone. “I really thought an engagement ring would make a nice Christmas present for you. But I can’t do that in good conscience, before my divorce comes through.”

  She laughed. “Oh, but you can sleep with me, and that doesn’t bother your conscience any?”

  “Catlin,” he moaned again “Please don’t do this to me. I’m just trying to do the right thing.”

  “I’m teasing, darling. You’re jumping the gun on that engagement ring, anyway. You need to be a free man for a while after your divorce, play the field and all.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so. I’m happy with my little spot in the field.”

  She chuckled. They talked for a while longer, and then called it a night. Catlin was finally falling asleep when her phone rang again. She groped for the receiver, looking at the clock at the same time. Eleven p.m. “Hello,” she answered hoarsely.

  “Miss McCall? Is that you? It’s Clint...oh shit, no—don’t do that—Miss McCall?”

  “Clint?” Catlin sat up, wide awake. “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh Jesus, I’m in trouble Miss McCall.”

  “Clint, calm down. What’s wrong?”

  “Dana—”

  “What’s wrong with Dana?” Catlin almost shouted into the phone.

  “Oh shit. We were at a party. She’s really, really drunk. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Drunk? Damn it Clint, what were you thinking? Dana’s supposed to be studying with a girlfriend.” Catlin’s mind raced at on
e hundred miles per hour, figuring out what to do.

  “It was an accident. Someone put grain alcohol in the punch and Dana didn’t know it.”

  “Where are you?”

  “We’re at a frat house,” he said quietly.

  “A frat house!” Catlin screeched. “Oh my God, Clint! How much worse can this story get?”

  “Well, it gets worse. Dana’s in bad shape. I can’t take her home like this. Please, you have to help me.”

  “Tell me where you are, and I’ll come get you.”

  “I could drive her to you.”

  “Have you been drinking Clint?”

  “I had a couple,” he admitted.

  “Then tell me where you are, and I will come get you,” Catlin repeated firmly.

  “1725 Oakdale. My truck is out front.”

  “Stay there. Keep Dana there. Is she okay?”

  “Sort of. She’s throwing up right now.”

  “Oh, shit.” Catlin muttered as she threw her clothes on. “Clint, I’m on my way.” She hung up the phone, and slipped into some loafers, then grabbed a jacket and her keys. In the garage, she spotted Steve’s car. “Shit!” she muttered again, and found a bucket and some old towels. She didn’t need Dana getting sick in the BMW.

  Oakdale was in the heart of the college district. Catlin knew the fraternities and sororities that housed the Greek members were supposed to be alcohol free, but she also knew sometimes they weren’t. She graduated from this college, and she remembered frat parties. Her mind was still racing, trying to figure out what to do, but it kept coming back to “Oh, shit.” She turned on to Oakdale, and started checking house numbers. In the seventeen hundred block, she spotted Clint’s truck. Clint and Dana were sitting in the yard. Catlin pulled up behind them, and got out.

  “Man, you scared me,” Clint jumped. “What are you doing in her dad’s car?”

  Catlin shook her head. “Never mind. ‘What are you doing here?’ is the more pressing question.” She looked at bruised his face. “And what the hell happened to you?”

  Clint shook his head at her. “I’ll tell you everything, but we have to get Dana out of here. Can we just go, please?”

  Catlin looked at Dana, who by this time was lying in the grass. Her shirt was torn and she reeked of beer and vomit. “Dana? Are you awake?”

  The girl opened her eyes. “Hi Mommy.”

  Catlin rolled her eyes. “Oh Christ. This is going to be fun, isn’t it?” She reached down for Dana, and tried to lift her under the arms. “Help me out here, Clint.”

  They got Dana to her feet, and half-carried, half-dragged her to the car. Catlin spread out the towels, and sat Dana on them. She seat belted the girl into the back seat, and shoved the bucket on her lap. “Don’t you dare throw up in this car.”

  Dana looked around “Daddy? Is Daddy here?”

  “I wish!” Catlin muttered, and slammed the car door. “You better sit back there with her,” she told Clint, and he went around and got in the other side. “You’ll have to pick up your truck tomorrow.”

  “My folks are not going to understand that.”

  Catlin started driving and looked at him in the rearview mirror. “Your folks are the least of my problems right now. What am I supposed to do with her?”

  Clint leaned forward. “Please, can’t you take her to your place and clean her up? If she goes home like that, I’m dead.”

  “You might be dead anyway, kid. What the hell happened tonight? And start at the beginning, like how Dana’s evening studying with a girlfriend turned into... this?”

  Dana stirred at the sound of her name. “Oh no, I think I’m gonna be sick...” she moaned.

  “Use that God-damned bucket!” Catlin yelled at them, and pulled into her driveway.

  Dana managed to hit the bucket, and when she was through, Catlin and Clint dragged her into Catlin’s place. “Straight to the bathroom!” Catlin instructed, and they laid Dana in the dry bathtub with the bucket.

  Catlin sighed, and sat on the closed toilet. “Well, Clint?” she asked expectantly.

  He leaned against the wall. “We wanted to go out tonight, but Dana thought her housekeeper wouldn’t let her. She’s pretty strict, I guess.”

  Catlin nodded, not really knowing. She still had never met Teresa, at Steve’s insistence.

  “So Dana told her she was studying at a girlfriend’s house. And I picked her up.”

  “And the frat party was whose idea?” Catlin coaxed his story.

  “Mine,” he admitted. “Some guys from school were going. You remember Doug Henderson and Alfie Carter? They graduated last year, and they’re in this frat.”

  Catlin nodded. “Charming company, Clint.”

  “It started out harmless enough. The guys were playing video games and drinking some beer. I didn’t know someone had made a grain alcohol punch upstairs. I guess the girls were hanging out up there, since they didn’t want to play video games.”

  “So you left Dana alone?”

  He shook his head. “There were other kids from school there. But I didn’t know that there were some guys up there trying to get the girls drunk. That punch is really strong, and you can’t taste the alcohol.”

  Catlin nodded. “I remember grain alcohol punch.”

  Clint continued “After a while, I started looking for Dana. I found her in one of the bedrooms.”

  Catlin sprung up “Oh my God! Don’t tell me...”

  “No!” Clint shook his head. “There was a guy I didn’t know with her, though. He had ripped her shirt open and had further intentions, I’m sure.”

  “What did you do?” She sat back down.

  “I was so pissed. I pounded the little jackass.”

  Catlin buried her face in her hands for a few moments, and then looked up at Clint. “Looks like he got in a few shots.”

  “Yeah, but I won. I grabbed Dana and got the hell out of there.”

  Catlin looked at Dana, who was sleeping in the tub. She looked back at Clint. “Are you sure nothing else happened to her?”

  He nodded his head vigorously. “Sarah Michaels said Dana had only been gone for a minute. Her bra was still on, and she was still dressed below the waist. I’m positive nothing else happened.”

  Catlin put her face in her hands again, and then growled as she shook her head and yanked at her hair. “I am so damn pissed at you right now I can’t even think what to do. I can’t call Steve. He’d have a wreck racing to get back here. I can’t call Teresa, she doesn’t even know me.” Catlin glanced at the clock, eleven forty five. Dana was over an hour late. She had to do something fast, or Teresa would be calling Steve.

  She dialed their home number, praying that David would answer. Her mind buzzed, thinking what to say if he didn’t. Luckily, he answered.

  “Hello.”

  “David? It’s Catlin. Can you talk, or is Teresa right there?”

  “No.” He sounded sleepy and confused. “She’s downstairs waiting for the dingbat. Dana is late.”

  “Tell me about it.” Catlin looked at the girl lying in her tub. “She is here, and she is very drunk.”

  David perked up and answered, “You’re shitting me.”

  Catlin hated that expression, but it seemed to fit the mood of the evening. “I shit you not,” she replied. “Clint called me and I picked them up from a party. Your sister is a filthy, smelly mess.”

  David laughed. “Go Dana.”

  “No, no, no!” Catlin screeched at him. “This is not funny! What am I supposed to do with her? Your dad is going to have a cow.”

  “No, no, no!” David charged back at her. “You cannot tell my dad. We’ll both be grounded until age thirty. You have to take care of her.”

  “Well dammit, I’m going to take care of her, but what are we going to do? I’m surprised Teresa hasn’t called your dad by now.”

  “She wasn’t too worried, but she’s getting worse. I think you need to tell her Dana’s staying with you tonight.”

  “She
doesn’t even know me! She’s not going to go for that!”

  David formulated the plan. “I’ll tell her that you are Dana’s friend’s mother... Mrs..... Robinson. You can get on the phone and tell her Dana and your little....Suzie...were studying so hard, and then they fell asleep. Tell her you’ll take the girls to school tomorrow. Really sell it.”

  Catlin’s heart pounded in tune with her mind. ‘Bad idea’ was now mixing in with ‘Oh, shit’ and flooding her thoughts. “David, I can’t do this.”

  “Catlin, you have to. Dana needs you. Please help us, Catlin.” David was practically begging.

  Against whatever better judgment she had left, Catlin agreed. “I hate this, David, but I guess I’ll do it. On one condition. You, Dana, Clint and I are going to talk about this tomorrow, after school.”

  “Okay. I’ll get Teresa.”

  Catlin looked at Dana again, wondering if she was really doing the right thing. Before she could decide, Teresa spoke into the phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Uh- Mrs. Naughton?” Catlin started.

  “No, Senora, this is Mrs. Rivera, the housekeeper. I am the guardian while Senor Naughton is away for a few days.”

  “Oh, I see. Well, this is, Mrs. Robinson, Cathy Robinson. Dana was here studying with my daughter, Suzie? Well, I’m sorry to call so late. I guess I fell asleep. And when I checked on the girls, they’re asleep, too. Since it’s a school night, I thought maybe we should just let them sleep. I can get them to school tomorrow. Dana can wear something of Suzie’s.” Catlin was rambling.

  Teresa hesitated. “I don’t know,” she sounded unsure.

  “Dana’s fine, really.” Catlin’s lie was sort of the truth. “I’ll take her to school in the morning.”

  “All right then.” Teresa agreed. “Thank you for calling. I was worried.”

  “We’re so sorry to worry you. But she’s just fine. Goodnight, then.” Catlin hung up, and turned to look at Clint.

  He was suppressing a laugh.

  “There’s nothing funny about this!” Catlin shook her finger at him.

  “I know, believe me, I know.” He shook his head.

  “Now give me your phone number, so I can call and get you a ride home.”

  “Do I have to?” He appeared horrified.