Part 11 (1/2)

The waitress left.

”Cool,” she said, bouncing a little on the cushy red vinyl. ”This is the kind of c.r.a.p I missed most when I was married.”

”How do you mean?”

She waved her palm in an arc, taking in the place with a sweep of her hand. ”See all these people? None of them are looking at me. None of them are gonna stay up all night wondering where I am if I don't call to check in with them. And I don't have to worry or wonder about any of them either. Because-” She raised her voice. ”I don't care! We're strangers and we're also grown-ups, so we can do whatever the h.e.l.l we want without answering to anybody.”

I thought of my apartment, empty of anyone who'd miss me if I disappeared for a day...or for forever, and my heart clenched. ”That's what you liked best about being single? Not having someone around who cares about your well-being?”

”h.e.l.l, yeah.” She paused. ”Well, kind of. I mean, there are no more restrictions. No expectations. n.o.body else's standards that I have to deal with every G.o.dd.a.m.n day. I'm free.”

I squinted at her. ”What did Alex do to you, Di?”

She looked at me, startled, then looked away. ”Nothing. He was just an idiot.”

”C'mon,” I said. ”Tell me the truth. This all didn't come out of nowhere, did it?”

The waitress returned with our food: thick shakes, platters heaped with greasy fries and burgers that would've toppled over if not for the gooey cheese gluing them to the bun.

Di doused her plate with half a bottle of ketchup and slurped on her chocolate milk shake. ”Mmm,” she said, ignoring my question.

I decided to let it go. It was a b.l.o.o.d.y miracle the two of us were even sitting in a restaurant having what would appear to anyone on the outside as a cordial meal together. She didn't want me psychoa.n.a.lyzing her and, h.e.l.l, I'm sure nothing I came up with would've even been close.

Jane, of course, had her own theories.

Ask your sister if her husband was in any way an abusive man, Jane urged.

Uh, no. There were few things I knew with certainty about my sister, but one was that she'd break the bones of any guy who'd try to hit her. Even our brother, as a toddler, knew better than to raise his hand at Di.

”Want my onions?” I asked Di instead, picking mine off the burger.

”Nope,” she said. ”I plan to be making out with some hot-blooded man before midnight.” She wrinkled her nose. ”Not an early-to-bed wimp like Alex.” She mumbled something about men who'd lost touch with their dreams and didn't believe in having fun anymore.

Perhaps Mr. Evans was unfaithful, Jane proposed. That would be most intolerable.

Boy, I doubt he was, I told Jane. I never got the sense that Alex would- Ask her, Jane insisted.

I sighed. ”Was there someone else in the picture?” I said aloud. ”For either of you?”

Di attacked a couple of ketchup-covered fries and snorted. ”Not hardly.”

Might it be possible, then, Jane said, that she is with child and afraid?

I choked on a mouthful of milk shake.

”You okay?” Di asked, shooting me a strange look.

”Um, yeah,” I said, wiping my lips with a paper napkin. ”I just swallowed too fast.”

She shrugged. ”Look, I appreciate your concern and everything, but it's not like there was any one thing that caused this. Alex and I are just different people now than we were four or five years ago. He's been acting like a f.u.c.king control freak for the past few months, but it's not like he screwed around on me. I'd have killed him.” She took a huge bite out of her burger and the juices dripped down her chin.

”So, you already tried working things out with him? Talking about it?”

”Oh, yeah, we talked about it all right. I told him last week if he didn't give me some G.o.dd.a.m.n s.p.a.ce, I'd walk. And he didn't give me any s.p.a.ce.”

Ah, Jane said in her Appraising voice. Mr. Evans may have been attempting to compel your sister, and rightly so, to act in a more ladylike manner and- Di belched. ”Sorry,” she said. ”Anyway, it's time for me to meet someone new. The four-and-a-half-year itch and all.”

”So, you're really serious about replacing him?” I said. ”You're really ready to move on?”

”Yep,” Di replied. ”But I'm not looking for a new husband. I just want to get laid.”

I nodded. Jane didn't offer further suggestions.

An hour later we walked into the club.

The Dragon's Lair thrummed with energy and loud dance-mix tunes. Colored lights flashed around us like comet streaks, and I could feel the compulsive beat of rhythm all the way to the tips of my boots.

We found a free spot near the bar, and Di went to grab us a couple drinks. ”Jack Daniel's straight up for me. Fruity wine cooler for you.” She rolled her eyes. ”Boring, but then again, you're driving us home.”

I accepted my bottle. ”Thanks. Next round is on me.”

She waved her hand as if dismissing the idea. ”Don't worry about it. I've actually got a lot of money saved, and I'm getting another raise in three weeks.”

Di had been working at Fas.h.i.+on Plate, a suburban clothing store, for close to a decade. I'd never thought about it before, but she must've been pretty good at her job to be at it that long and to get so many promotions. She was now a senior manager.

”Congratulations,” I said.

She grinned at me. ”Thanks. You done paying off grad school yet?”

”Yeah. I'm finally beginning to build up my savings account.”

”Good. You do that. You can't trust a guy to provide for you. Even marriage isn't a guarantee.”

I raised my eyebrows, wanting to ask her more about Alex, but she gave me a Don't-Go-There look and so I took a long drink instead.

Still, this conversation had my head reeling, and it was clearly uncharted territory for both of us.

Di and I, discussing our finances.

It felt so bizarrely adult. And it kept forcing me to look at my sister in ways I'd never before considered.

”Are you thinking of going back to school?” I asked her. She'd squeaked through college and gotten a four-year general business degree, which was impressive given her lack of study habits in high school, but she'd vowed never to do the grad-school thing.

”Nah, I don't think so. I'm pretty happy where I am. Well, with my career and all.”

”Gregory seems to like his job, too,” I said. ”All those computer-techno thingies he does.”

”Yeah, but-” She made a face. ”He and Nadia are getting too serious, too fast. Those guys are practically living together, you know.”

I didn't know, although I'd suspected. Gregory couldn't keep his hands off his latest and most curvaceous girlfriend, not even in front of our parents, to Mom's eternal agitation.