“What the hell took you so long?” Hav pats my back as he catches up. “Did you have to rub one out, or what? It didn’t smell in there so you must not have taken a shit. You jerked off, didn’t you? I can tell ‘cause your hair’s messed up and your zipper’s open.”
I zip and debate whether or not to tell him about the interaction. He’d probably run out back, but wouldn’t come across anything and I’m in no mood to ruin his night after he just proposed to Alyssa. “I was thinking,” I respond.
“Whatever you want to call it is fine with me. Make sure you lock the door next time you decide to think so you don’t get caught by anyone and arrested. How does your hair get windswept from yanking it anyway? There must be a move I’m unaware of, right?” he laughs as we walk back to the table. “Come on, let’s finish our dinner. It’s almost time to head to the Scarlett.”
The women are into a deep discussion about their mothers. A rare occasion for Sophia who has nothing nice to say about the woman, and from what I can tell, Alyssa’s in the same boat. I eye my wife’s cell and delete her App then turn off all of her GPS settings. She looks at me inquisitively, but stays in the conversation with Alyssa.
“One time, my mother left me in a park. I was on the swings and she just drove away,” Sophia motions high into the air. “I waited for a good two hours but she never came back. It took forever to walk home. I was like, six or seven-years-old. She hated me and I felt the same about her.”
“I went through that kind of hell too. Only, my ma dropped me off at her friend’s house. The lady kept calling her to come get me, but she said, ‘No, you keep the bitch. I’ve had her long enough. Someone else needs to care for her now. I’ve got shit to do.’”
“No way? Finally I can relate to someone about my past. Most people I meet don’t understand, or don’t believe me when I tell them what I went through with my mom.”
“For realz? Oh girl, you gotta hang out with my friends and me. Let me tell you something, we’ve got stories that are so scary they’ll make your vagina muff turn white.”
Sophia cracks a smile and Haverty and I both shake our heads. He moves the wine bottle teasingly away from her and finishes his meal.
“I’ve never heard you talk about your family, not even your father. I tend to picture you in your younger years as a homeless orphan,” Haverty says to Sophia.
“Ha, that’s exactly how I felt too.”
“What are your siblings like?” he questions. Unlike the rest of us, Haverty comes from a large Catholic family. He told me in private that his father was a drunken bastard who used to beat all twelve of his kids with a belt, but he never mentions any of his siblings, except for one sister who still lives in the area and works in a factory. On the other hand, he speaks very fondly of his mother, and I know he’s been caring for her since his father died.
“Sibling. I have one, a brother who’s married and has a son. They live in Philly close to my mother, which is one of the reasons I don’t have much contact with him. We were always very competitive growing up, especially for my parents’ love. The two of us have been distant since I had a final falling out with my mother a couple of years ago. I don’t enjoy speaking to her, or my brother.”
“Trust me, Hav, you should stop there. I’ve tried to talk to her about her family and she becomes raging mad. There aren’t even any photos of them around our place.”
“Why the hell would I have any desire to look at their faces each day? Do you honestly want to wake up with a photograph of my father next to our bed? Or see my mother hanging on our wall?”
“Fuck no.”
“Well, then give it a rest.” Anger stirs in her voice as she pokes at her salmon. “My mother’s in her own little world that’s surrounded by a spiked iron fence. You have to be careful when you enter or you may find yourself tossed in the air only to land with a spike through your heart. And my brother? He’s the type of person who would stand next to you while you’re stuck on that fence and laugh in your face at your pendulous arms and legs.”
“Shit,” Alyssa, Haverty, and I all whisper.
Sophia taps her watch at the time. We need to finish and be at the Scarlett in thirty minutes.
“Jimmy... dang it, I love calling you by that name,” I grin. “When we’re finished with dinner, can you follow us to our building so we can get rid of our car for the night?”
“Sure thing, boss,” he winks. “I’ve missed driving the two of you around. Let me drop Alyssa off first and then I’ll be right over.”
The screen on Sophia’s cell lights up and a text appears. I capture it before she has a chance to react, only to feel a stab of jealousy upon seeing Evan’s name and the words see you tonight sent to her phone. It’s that guy from her Facebook site. I toss it on the table in aggravation, but grab it again with a sudden change in mood, making a split decision to conceal the cell inside her purse. ‘Evan’ doesn’t need to be hanging out between us on the table while we eat. I catch a glimpse of the folded check inside an open pocket before placing the purse on the floor between us. She’s got the money, and some random guy is contacting her. This is bullshit.
“What the hell just happened?” Haverty asks.
“That’s what I’d like to know. What’s wrong with you? I’d never look at your messages and fling your cell around like that. It’s rude.”
“That’s because I’m not hiding anything; you are,” I speak sharply.
“Excuse me?” she says in a drawn out tone with her eyebrows raised. “Every day I find something that you’ve hidden from me.”
“Oh, hell no. You two aren’t going to end the evening in a brawl,” Alyssa pushes her empty plate away and leans back. “Come on now, spill the beans. Whatcha got going on?”
I stare at Sophia and exhale. I’ll keep my cool... give her the benefit of the doubt... let her answer before I fume. “Who’s Evan and where and why are you meeting him tonight?”
“Oops. Shit girl, for realz? So you’re the one with another love interest? There’s always someone in the group, you know? Is he a blowup doll like Jimmy’s got?”
“He’s not a love interest. Just an old friend,” Sophia says to Alyssa without looking at me. “You’re a snoop, Cove,” she whispers with her head down while finishing her meal.
“If some woman sent me a text two days in a row and you knew I was going to meet her, but I didn’t even mention her to you, what would you think? Seriously, you can’t be angry over this. I’m the one who should be annoyed.”
She sets her fork down, unclips her hair, letting it fall gracefully over her shoulders and flashes an embarrassed smile across the table toward our guests. “Why didn’t you tell me about the advertising deal with Kaitlyn?” she asks.
“Because it was business. Some things are unnecessary and pointless to have a discussion about. We don’t need to spend hours going over work orders and contracts we have with outside companies.”
Sophia stands and places her purse over her shoulder. Her smile is clearly forced as she turns and sets her eyes upon mine. “Evan and I attended college together. We were good friends and even dated for a while, but we never had any strong feelings for one another that went beyond our friendship. Love wasn’t shared between us. That’s the backstory,” she stops to take her final sip of water. “He owns a painting company and I asked him to take a look at the front of the Scarlett to give us an estimate. The area around the window that was replaced is a mess and he’ll give us a discount because we’re friends. It’s business. And you and I, Cove, we don’t need to spend hours going over contracts we have with outside companies. Now if you’d excuse me, I’ll wait for everyone outside.”
“Wait, I’m coming girlfriend.” Alyssa sets her napkin on the table and they walk out the same way they came in, arm-in-arm, full of fire and life. They’re badasses and I’m a dick.