Page 18 of For a Goode Time Call…
“Wow. I never knew.”
“They weren’t outright troublemakers, and you never spoke of any real issues at Amy’s house, so I never saw enough reason to keep you from them.”
Cassie frowned. “We rarely left Amy’s room if we were there.” She thought, eyes going up and to the left. “Now that I think about it, Amy was pretty cagey about her family. We tended to just stay in her room. If we wanted something, she’d get it for us.” A glance at her mom. “What do you know about her family?”
A shrug from Liv. “Nothing concrete. But there were lots of rumors about her dad. The other moms would talk in the pickup lines and later on chat boards. The rumors were he drank a lot, and there were a few who suspected he hit her. But nothing ever concrete, like I said. Helen never seemed to me like an abused woman, and Bruce was never drunk when I was around him, so I couldn’t stop you from going over there based on rumor and hearsay.”
Cassie shook her head. “Weird to know what you weren’t aware of, you know?” She glanced at me. “You built this place?”
I nodded. “Yep. Had a lot of help from my endless supply of cousins.”
Liv was looking around. “Very simple and attractive layout. Good use of space. Lots of storage. In order to be more widely and commercially available, you’d probably need to include an eating nook or something.”
I shrugged. “I eat at the coffee table.”
“I know, and a lot of people would do the same. But I know from personal experience that most people want a dedicated eating area.” She gestured at the end of the cabinets on the sink side of the space, where there was a few feet of empty space. “Build in a table there with a bench along the wall, picnic table style, and a bench on the other side. Wouldn’t take up much room and would give you somewhere other than your couch nook to eat.”
Cassie laughed. “Mom is an interior designer, so you’re getting her professional opinion, free of charge, unasked for.”
I nodded, thinking. “That’s a good idea. I rarely have guests, so I didn’t think it was necessary for me, but if I was gonna build one for someone else, I could do that.” I laughed. “My cousin Juneau is the person I’m closest to, and even she rarely comes over here. You two are the first guests I’ve had in a long time.”
“No girlfriend?” Liv asked.
I shrugged, looking away. “Nah.”
“Sweet, multitalented guy like you, I’d think you’d have your pick.”
I snorted. “You’re thinkin’ of Juneau’s boyfriend and his family. Ain’t nobody lined up for this mess,” I said, slapping my belly.
“Mom!” Cassie snapped. “Don’t be rude.”
“I’m not being rude, I’m being complimentary,” Liv answered, her voice calm and quiet, but hard.
“You’re prying,” Cassie insisted.
“It’s fine. No harm, no foul.” I ladled myself some soup, ate standing up.
Liv nudged Cassie with her shoulder. “So, are you up to going home today?”
Cassie nodded, not looking at her mother. “Sure. Just…don’t push things, okay?”
“Push what?” Liv asked. “I don’t push anything.”
Cassie snorted. “Um, yeah, you do. You want to talk about things. You want me to tell you how I’m feeling every moment of every day. You want me to get back on my feet. You want me to process and cope and make healthy choices and…it’s exhausting.”
Liv looked down at her empty bowl. “I just want the best for you. You’ve been through a lot.”
“And I just want to cope with it my way, okay?”
I kept quiet, knowing this conversation wasn’t about me, and wasn’t meant for me. I busied myself in the kitchen, not wanting to pry, but I’d admit to being a bit curious about Cassie’s past since I knew almost nothing about her. I was trying to make myself invisible—pretty much impossible—but I was surprised at how open they were with one another. It was almost as if I wasn’t there at all.
“I get that, Cass, but I’m worried your way of coping is to not cope at all.” A pause. “Or to cope through overindulgence.”
“Mom, god. Come on. I’ve been brutally strict about every aspect of my life, my whole life. You know how many Friday nights I stayed home and went to bed early instead of going to parties with my friends because I had dance in the morning? You know how much I missed out on? How often I sat and watched my friends have milkshakes and fries while I ate a salad or dry chicken breast? That was my childhood, my early teenage years, and my entire adulthood thus far. And it’s fine. I chose it. I wanted it, I wanted dance and I willingly sacrificed all that to get there. But now dance isgone, Mom. It’s gone. It’s never coming back.”
“You don’t know that, Cass,” Liv said. “Maybe—”
“Idoknow that. I have a hardware store’s worth of metal in my right leg, Mom. It tookweeksof PT just to be able to use it atall.Weeks after that, I still can’t walk more than a couple blocks without it hurting. Shit, sometimes it hurts just sitting doing nothing, like right now. If Ieverdance again, it’ll be…months, at best. And that’ll require a level of work I’m just not sure I’m up for. I worked so fucking hard to get where I was, and it was taken away from me in a matter of seconds. And now I have to start all over again? I don’t know. I just…I don’t know that it’s worth it.”
