best
friend; he must have known she’d like him, but scrambled for a reason to get
her out of the house that day so he’d said she’d have to be his excuse to leave
early. Even his needing a place to crash made no sense now that she thought
about it; he’d been making good money and could afford his own place. She
realized he’d manipulated her from the day he showed up on her doorstep.
Like one of
those cheap marionettes you buy in Tijuana . “Dance, Maggie.”
When they reached the park, she
still pulled Kona along at a clipped pace. She wouldn’t let him stop and sniff
for picnic remnants, in his usual the-world-is-my-smorgasbord way. At one point
he tried to lift his leg on a tree, but she yanked his leash and stormed down
the path.
How dare he?
Does he think I’m so pathetic I can’t take care of myself? I don’t need my baby
brother holding my hand. I can’t believe he lied. Why couldn’t he just be
straight with me?
After forty minutes of marching,
she dropped onto a bench. Kona leaned against her legs, panting. With the cool
early evening air tempering the fever of her anger, she sat and thought.
She had sort of lost it when Dave
left. She’d shut herself up in the house; moped around for days, weeks, in her PJs;
done tequila shots when she couldn’t sleep. She’d become like Dave’s sock she’d
found in the laundry room, the sock she’d envied; tried to hide from it all. If
Kevin had been “straight with her,” telling her point blank she needed to get
on with her life, she’d have told him to get lost. No, instead he’d pulled her
out of her dark hiding place and pushed her out into the world, back into
circulation. And he’d done it in his own way.
If Shannon had come out, they’d
have had long talks, late each night, psychoanalyzing every move she and Dave
had made for the last several months before the marriage ended. But that wasn’t
Kevin’s style. Of course he wasn’t going to show up on her doorstep with hugs
and tearful sympathy. But he’d been there for her. She wondered now if he’d
gotten up early on purpose those first few mornings, urged by Shannon to make
sure Maggie didn’t pay any five a.m. visits to the liquor cabinet. And all the
lies he’d told, well, she was still angry at the thought of them, but she could
see how that was his way of getting her out her slump.
Now she realized how much he’d done
to help her and how much she had needed him.
How is it that
poor Kev always ends up taking care of the ladies in this family? First Mom,
now me. Reluctant nurse-maid to the broken hearted. I’m sure that’s a role he’d
rather not play. Wait a minute... Am I part of the
reason he told Annie he couldn’t move to Boston “right now”? I’m going to have to grill him about that .
She asked Kona, “What shall we do,
Buddy? Go home and make up? Eat cake? Good idea, let’s go.” They started to
walk back under the yellow street lights, after a short detour to check out the
picnic area.
~~~
By the time they got home, Maggie
could hear the whistle and pop of fireworks in the distance. She poked her head
through the front door, a bit embarrassed about her own earlier fireworks
display, and ruining Russell’s birthday. Shoot. I owe that
man a birthday dinner .
Kevin lay on the sofa watching
ESPN.
“Russell gone?”
He shut off the TV. “Yeah, he left
a while ago. Look, if you’ll just let me explain—”
“Oh yeah, you’ve definitely got
some explaining to do. I finally clued in to what’s going on around here, and I
don’t appreciate being lied to. But, what you did, it was sweet... mostly
sweet, anyway.”
Kevin opened his mouth, then closed
it again with a short exhalation through his nose. Maggie moved toward him with
her arms open, determined to wrangle a rare hug out of him.
“I really am sorry, Mags.” He
sounded contrite as he squeezed her.
Maggie thought she might cry, but
instead laughed as Kona wedged himself between their legs.
friend; he must have known she’d like him, but scrambled for a reason to get
her out of the house that day so he’d said she’d have to be his excuse to leave
early. Even his needing a place to crash made no sense now that she thought
about it; he’d been making good money and could afford his own place. She
realized he’d manipulated her from the day he showed up on her doorstep.
Like one of
those cheap marionettes you buy in Tijuana . “Dance, Maggie.”
When they reached the park, she
still pulled Kona along at a clipped pace. She wouldn’t let him stop and sniff
for picnic remnants, in his usual the-world-is-my-smorgasbord way. At one point
he tried to lift his leg on a tree, but she yanked his leash and stormed down
the path.
How dare he?
Does he think I’m so pathetic I can’t take care of myself? I don’t need my baby
brother holding my hand. I can’t believe he lied. Why couldn’t he just be
straight with me?
After forty minutes of marching,
she dropped onto a bench. Kona leaned against her legs, panting. With the cool
early evening air tempering the fever of her anger, she sat and thought.
She had sort of lost it when Dave
left. She’d shut herself up in the house; moped around for days, weeks, in her PJs;
done tequila shots when she couldn’t sleep. She’d become like Dave’s sock she’d
found in the laundry room, the sock she’d envied; tried to hide from it all. If
Kevin had been “straight with her,” telling her point blank she needed to get
on with her life, she’d have told him to get lost. No, instead he’d pulled her
out of her dark hiding place and pushed her out into the world, back into
circulation. And he’d done it in his own way.
If Shannon had come out, they’d
have had long talks, late each night, psychoanalyzing every move she and Dave
had made for the last several months before the marriage ended. But that wasn’t
Kevin’s style. Of course he wasn’t going to show up on her doorstep with hugs
and tearful sympathy. But he’d been there for her. She wondered now if he’d
gotten up early on purpose those first few mornings, urged by Shannon to make
sure Maggie didn’t pay any five a.m. visits to the liquor cabinet. And all the
lies he’d told, well, she was still angry at the thought of them, but she could
see how that was his way of getting her out her slump.
Now she realized how much he’d done
to help her and how much she had needed him.
How is it that
poor Kev always ends up taking care of the ladies in this family? First Mom,
now me. Reluctant nurse-maid to the broken hearted. I’m sure that’s a role he’d
rather not play. Wait a minute... Am I part of the
reason he told Annie he couldn’t move to Boston “right now”? I’m going to have to grill him about that .
She asked Kona, “What shall we do,
Buddy? Go home and make up? Eat cake? Good idea, let’s go.” They started to
walk back under the yellow street lights, after a short detour to check out the
picnic area.
~~~
By the time they got home, Maggie
could hear the whistle and pop of fireworks in the distance. She poked her head
through the front door, a bit embarrassed about her own earlier fireworks
display, and ruining Russell’s birthday. Shoot. I owe that
man a birthday dinner .
Kevin lay on the sofa watching
ESPN.
“Russell gone?”
He shut off the TV. “Yeah, he left
a while ago. Look, if you’ll just let me explain—”
“Oh yeah, you’ve definitely got
some explaining to do. I finally clued in to what’s going on around here, and I
don’t appreciate being lied to. But, what you did, it was sweet... mostly
sweet, anyway.”
Kevin opened his mouth, then closed
it again with a short exhalation through his nose. Maggie moved toward him with
her arms open, determined to wrangle a rare hug out of him.
“I really am sorry, Mags.” He
sounded contrite as he squeezed her.
Maggie thought she might cry, but
instead laughed as Kona wedged himself between their legs.
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