Page 20 of Ten Years Later
“Can I borrow five hundred dollars?” he asked when Zane answered, not even bothering with saying hello.
“Dude, you haven’t paid me back for the last time you borrowed money.”
“Is that a no then?”
“Yeah, it’s a no. Call Mom.”
“I’m not calling Mom.”
“Then do a better job of budgeting. I don’t know what to tell you.”
They hung up. Keaton brought his mom up on his phone. His finger hovered over her name. She’d give him the money, but there would be strings. So many strings.
He selected Cora’s name instead and with a resigned sigh, he dialed.
She picked up on the second ring. “Did your mom tell you I’m hosting a dinner tonight in honor of my mom?”
“Yes.”
“You coming?”
“That’s, um, not why I’m calling.”
“If you’re calling to try and convince me that girl is Vivian, you might as well hang up now.”
“I’m calling to borrow money. Five hundred bucks. I’m about to start a new job with Zane and I can pay you back by the end of the month.”
“Oh…”
“It’s for the house,” he lied. “Some repairs that can’t wait.”
“Let me guess, Zane turned you down because you didn’t pay him back for the money you borrowed last year.”
When did Keaton become such a loser?
“Correct.”
“You don’t want to ask your mother because she’ll expect you to sign a loan agreement, with interest, plus dinner once a week, and whatever else.”
Cora knew his family entirely too well.
“Correct again.”
“Okay, I’ll give you the money. But only if you promise to come to tonight’s dinner. I’ll give you the money there.”
“Deal.”
At one that afternoon, Keaton walked intoPaint Away the Day!to find Sharon tying balloons to chairs. Keaton jumped in, setting up easels and laying out supplies for today’s birthdayparty where kindergarten kids planned on doing paint by numbers.
As the children and their parents began to arrive, Keaton noticed Emily’s absence. He asked Sharon, “I thought Emily worked today?”
“Mia called. Emily’s not feeling well. There’ll be lots of parents here though, so plenty of help.”
He tried not to show how disappointed it made him not to be seeing Emily.
More children arrived. The birthday painting party launched into full excited chaos. Like last time, Keaton lost track of time as he meandered through the kids, helping them match paint to numbers, and smearing fat brushes across the mounted paper. Gradually, pictures took shape of puppies and kitties, seahorses and crabs, ponies and lambs.
“Zane!” Sharon called from the counter, waving the cordless phone. “It’s Emily.”
