Vice(32)

"Oh, honey, you don't need to do anything." She reached over and gripped  my elbows and somehow I resisted the urge to flinch and pull away. "I  wanted to say ‘thank you', from me and my daughter."

I stared at her unblinking for a long minute before saying, "Beth, I don't have a goddamn clue what you're talking about."

"You're the one who handled the thing with the cheerleading captain,  aren't you?" Before I could answer, she waved one hand absently, shooing  away any response I might have made. "Well, not you directly. Everybody  knows Mrs. Hansom was the one who put the call through to the principal  but everybody also knows the only reason she would have done it was  because Abraham asked her to and the only reason he would have done it  was because you asked him to do something."

"I don't know what's more impressive, the fact everybody apparently  knows everything about something which doesn't concern them or the fact  you got that entire summation out in one sentence without breathing."  Feeling light-headed myself from my own little bout of word vomit, I  gently eased out of her grip, rubbing my temple with one hand. "And I  honestly don't know what happened. All I know is this Tina Anne is on  some sort of power trip and doesn't care if she starts a whole group of  her peers down the road to an eating disorder. I asked Abraham what we  could do and he said his mother would take care of things. End of  story."

"Well, Mrs. Hansom more than took care of things." The gleam in Beth's  eyes was too similar to what I'd seen when we were in high school and  she was watching Lynn berate me for being poor or having the nerve to  have breasts and even though we were both long out of high school and  Beth actually seemed like a human these days, it was still enough to put  my nerves on edge. "Tina Anne has been suspended from the cheerleading  squad for the entire fall semester. Her mother is fit to be tied and her  daddy is raising all sorts of hell about the money he's given to the  team but the principal is standing his ground for the first time in...  Jesus, I don't even know how long."

"Well, that's... nice." It was a lame response and I knew it but I  honestly couldn't think of a better response. All I'd been hoping for  when I asked Abraham to speak to his mother was for someone to have a  come to Jesus talk with this Tina Anne. I wasn't petty enough to try and  ruin someone's life.         

     



 

That was a lie. I was petty enough to want to ruin someone's life but not a teenager's. That was just wrong.

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the Parent-Teacher Association  voted to give you some kind of award." Beth chuckled and rolled her  eyes. "Tina Anne makes me, Lynn, and Dana look like angels."

"I don't think that's possible." The retort was out before I even  realized it was in my brain and I slapped a hand over my mouth, more  than a little horrified at myself. It took a moment to process the fact  she wasn't yelling or even glaring but instead was laughing as if I'd  told her the funniest joke in the history of the world. Lowering my  hand, I said, "Beth, I am so sorry."

"For what? Telling the truth?" She patted the tears from her cheeks,  continuing to laugh. "Honey, I know we were horrible. We were absolute  little shits and cruel to boot. I can't speak for Lynn and Dana but I'd  like to think I've done some growing up since high school and I'm not  such a little shit these days." She trailed off with a sigh and a wink.  "Not that I'm a saint but I don't think I've made anyone but my husband  cry in years and that was because I finally told him he could buy the  boat he'd been wanting since we got married."

"Right." Not the most brilliant response but I'd be damned if I could  think of anything. I hadn't wasted a single thought on any of the people  in Cotton Creek-other than my family-in the last fifteen years but for  some reason I'd never really considered the idea that some of them might  have changed as much as I had. Clearing my throat, I said, "I guess  you're familiar with all this PTA stuff and extracurricular and teacher  conferences and all."

"I could probably plan and execute a bake sale or a car wash in my  sleep." She laughed again, shaking her head. "Let me tell you, after I  had to host the first team sleepover for the cheerleading squad, I sent  my mother the biggest bouquet of flowers and booked her an appointment  at a spa in Atlanta. I barely survived one and she dealt with it for  four years."

"Team sleepovers?" Pushing that particular horror aside for some later  time, I shook my head and said, "Never mind. Um, I don't have any  experience with that stuff. So I wonder if it would be okay if I called  you with any questions or-."

"Oh, of course, of course." She gave another absent wave before rolling  her eyes and laughing. "Anybody doing what you're doing is bound to need  a little help now and then. First your sister's kids and then Kitty  Haverty... you got more on your plate than half the parents in the  school."

"Great. Thanks." And although it felt weird-again, she'd been part of  the trio which had made a good portion of my life a living hell-I found  myself giving in to impulse and asking, "Do you maybe want to get a  drink sometime?"

"Depends." She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. "Are you talking  like someplace fancy with wine you have to wait five years to drink  because it has to ‘air' and ‘breathe' and all sorts of other crap?"

"No." I swallowed down the laugh threatening to bubble out and shook my head. "No, I'm really more of a tequila girl."

"Oh, thank you, sweet baby Jesus." She clasped her hands together in  mock prayer and looked toward the metaphorical heavens before lowering  her gaze back to me and beaming. "I love tequila. Give me a shot with a  lime and I'm happy as a clam."

"Then we'll have to see about doing a few shots next Friday night after  we survive the first week of school." I inclined my head toward the  trailer. "I better get inside and make sure Dolly and Conway haven't  drove Tammy up the wall while I've been gone."

"Kids will do that." I was almost to the screen door when she called my  name and I glanced over my shoulder to find her still smiling, although  it was somewhat wistful now. "It'll be nice to have a friend again."

"Yeah." Although I couldn't recall the last time I'd actually had a friend. "Yeah, it will."





CHAPTER TWENTY ONE





The next day was just as chaotic as I'd thought it would be but, as I  kept reminding myself, nobody died. Every time Tammy freaked out over a  box going in the wrong room, every time Kitty got emotional over the  fact she even had a room, every time Dolly tried to do cartwheels down  the main hall, every time Conway-quiet, sweet, easygoing Conway-screamed  because somebody touched his doll, I reminded myself that if nothing  else, nobody had died.         

     



 

It was a mark of how stressed I was that the thought wasn't nearly as comforting as it should have been.

When Abraham showed up on my front porch around eight on Saturday night  with five pizzas, I didn't know whether to kiss him or weep tears of  gratitude. I settled for simply saying, "You're my hero," and opening  the door wider, stepping to one side so he could come inside. "If you're  here, who's at the bar?"

"I closed down early." He brushed a kiss over my forehead. "You look like you've had a rough day."

"I've definitely had better days." I swung the door shut, turning to him  and opening the lid on the top box. "But you brought me pizza so it's  getting better."

"I've seen you eat a time or two so I know you can put some food away  but I don't think you can eat all of this by yourself." He nudged me out  of the way, taking the pizza with him, forcing me to trail behind him  like a lost puppy. "Besides, if you did you'd have to find something to  feed the kids and something tells me you're too tired for cooking."

"Oh, for sure." I frowned at his back as he made his way to the kitchen  without asking for directions, leaning against the doorframe and  watching as he set the pizzas on the kitchen island, the grease spotted  boxes a jarring contrast to the shiny granite countertop. "How did you  know where the kitchen was?"

"Uh, I might have snuck in here once or twice in my wild and misspent  youth." He moved to the row of cabinets hanging over the sink, shooting  me a grin over his shoulder. "Had a few daydreams about the girl who ran  the school newspaper."

"Aunt Jeannie has a magazine, not a newspaper." Dolly streaked in to the  room, throwing herself at Abraham hard enough he needed to grab the  counter or risk falling over. Wrapping her arms around his legs, she  looked up at him and said, "Hi. Where have you been? I missed you. You  should have come to see us."