Delores nods. “Matthew said Drew told him everything that went down between you two.”
Okay. This is a good thing. If Drew is telling his family I’m pregnant, maybe he’s changed his mind. Maybe all he needed was some time to get used to the idea. And Matthew’s a great person to talk to in this situation. Not as good as Steven or Alexandra, but still-he’s pretty levelheaded. At least compared to Drew.
“What did Matthew say?”
Delores grinds her teeth together. “He said he couldn’t believe you would do something like this to Drew.”
“What?”
Cue the music.
It’s the Twilight Zone.
In the end, I knew Team New York would take Drew’s side-I said they would. But I thought . . . maybe . . . they’d defend me. Or at the very least, be pissed off about his methods.
Delores puts her hand over mine. “Don’t let what Matthew said get to you. It’s only natural that he’d back Drew up-just like I’d help you bury the body, even if it was my own dear mother we were tossing into the ground.”
“Delores, that’s sick.”
“Oh, really? You weren’t the one who walked into the house and heard her mother knockin’ boots with Sheriff Mitchell!”
My mouth drops open.
Delores continues disgustedly, “And they were loud. Like surround-sound, IMAX-theater loud. I’m totally scarred for life.”
Let’s pause here a moment.
You’ve never met the good sheriff, so I’ll explain. Growing up, Sheriff Ben Mitchell was the thorn in our sides, the rock in our shoes, the pain in our asses. He had nothing better to do than follow us around-breaking up our beer bashes, pulling Billy’s car over and searching it for weed.
He always thought we were up to something . . . and . . . well . . . he was right.
But that’s beside the point.
Even though Sheriff Mitchell was about the same age as our parents, to us, he always seemed older-like that grumpy neighbor with a cane who never lets you get the baseball that accidentally lands in his yard. Mitchell was never married and didn’t date as far as we knew, so it was always assumed that his wrinkly face and piss-poor attitude came from his extreme inability to get laid.
Amelia Warren is the opposite of Mitchell in every way. She’s a free spirit. An official card-carrying member of the Healing Power of Crystals Club. A flower child for the modern age.
The very idea of them getting it on is equal parts horrifying and peculiar.
I shudder. “You’re right. That is sick.”
Billy hops down the stairs. “What’s sick?”
Delores drops the bomb. “Amelia and Old Man Mitchell screwing-on the kitchen table.”
Billy grimaces. And whines, “Aw, man . . . I ate on that table this morning.”
I turn to him. “Did you know about this?”
“I had my suspicions. But I was hoping I was wrong.”
Delores agrees, “Weren’t we all. I don’t know what was worse-having to listen to my mother moaning in ecstasy, or hearing him beg for more and having to visualize what the fuck she was doing to him.”
I cover my mouth.
And laugh.
We all do. It starts off small, and then builds-to a table-smacking, eye-tearing, bent-over-at-the-waist crescendo.
“Oh . . . my . . . God!”
And even though Delores is cackling, she insists, “It’s not funny! I think my girl parts are broken. Every time I think about it, my vagina clamps down like a littleneck clam fighting to stay closed.”
We howl louder. And it’s the first real, genuine laughter I’ve had since this all began. My cheeks hurt and my sides ache-and it feels wonderful.
You know, sometimes I try and picture what my life would be like if Dee Dee wasn’t in it. And then I stop.
Because I just really can’t imagine it.
Chapter 13
After we got Delores settled in my room, Billy put a call in to his manager. He planned to do a show here at a little bar called Sam’s Place, where he used to play in high school. He wanted to honor the place where he came from-give something back to the locals, like Bruce Springsteen always does at the Stone Pony.
And Sam’s Place is where we are right now.
It’s packed-standing room only. Delores and I are in front, our arms bumping against each other as we dance and sing. Billy’s up on stage, a few songs into his first set. He looks fantastic. Dark jeans, a crisp white button-down, and a clean-shaven chin.
He knows just how to work the crowd-when to get them fired up with a guitar-screaming riff or settle them down with soft ballad.
I’ve never been more proud of him.
The song ends and someone in the back yells that they love him. Billy looks down and laughs, a little bashful. Then he brings his mouth to the microphone. “I love you guys too. So this next song is new. I haven’t played it for any of the suits yet, but I wanted to play it for you tonight. It’s for someone . . . who believed in me . . . even when there wasn’t much of a reason to. And I want her to know that I’ll always have her back, that she’ll always be in my heart, and she’ll never be alone.”
His eyes find mine in the crowd. And he winks. I nod, message received. Then he starts to sing.
Years feel like yesterday
And I can’t believe how fast time flies
Don’t want to let another second go
Without letting you know
What you always should have known
I’ll catch you if you stumble
Pick you up if you fall
Hold you when you’re hurting
But baby, most of all,
I’ll be there . . . so you’ll never be alone
Don’t ever feel alone
The beat pulses in my stomach. And I listen to the words. And I think about how lucky I am to have all the things I do. Priceless, precious blessings. I have a family that loves me. Friends who would kill for me. Literally.
And I think about who I am. I survived my father’s death with my soul intact. I graduated Wharton School at the top of my class. Remember when I first started working at the firm? And Drew Evans was the golden boy? And I put him right in his place-kicked his ass from one end of the office to the other.
I did that.
Because I was stubborn. And smart. And because I believed I was capable. Drew once told me you can change the color of the walls, but the room would still be the same.
And he was right.
I was all those things before him-and I’m still all those things now.
Without him.
From now on, each day that goes by
Gonna give it my best try
To show you what you mean to me
‘Cause if I don’t have you on my side
None of this means anything
Don’t want to let another second go
Without letting you know
What you always should have known
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.