Page 28 of The New Year's Party
“It doesn’t matter. It’s in the past.”
“But Phelps tried, right? He tried to get the money back?”
Will looked miserable.
Suddenly Bennett was remembering more about the two hundred dollars. It was back when Bennett wasn’t exactly swimming in cash himself. He was in college. He was living as frugally as he could, trying to save, because his parents had nothing, and Bennett knew big expenses were coming, namely student loan payments. He had wanted that money back, Phelps had promised to pay it back, but month after month, no money showed up. At the time, those two hundred bucks had given him some tortured nights. Ultimately, he’d decided it wasn’t worth bringing up. Not worth the cost to the friendship. But it hadn’t been as easy to let go as he’d just told himself.
“How much?” he repeated.
Will forced an apologetic smile, like he couldn’t believe what he was about to say.
“Fifteen thousand dollars.”
The door swung open to Phelps’s smiling face.
Immediately, Will shot Bennett a look—so quick Bennett might have missed it if he wasn’t paying attention, but he read its intensity perfectly.Don’t say a word to Phelps. Please.
Fine. He’d stay out of it.
“You guys just gonna stand there in the sleet?” said Phelps. “Hey, where’s Jenn?” His gaze moved behind them. “Still in the car? She okay? Need any help with luggage? Hey, what’s the vibe here? What did I miss?” Phelps’s eyes swiveled from Will to Bennett and from Bennett back to Will.
Bennett’s heart was pounding but he clapped Will on the back to urge him inside.
“Nothing, man,” said Bennett, stepping past his oldest friend, who had slept with his wife and stolen fifteen grand from Will. “We’re good.”
Chapter 13
Doug
“You look gorgeous, by the way,” Doug said as he worked on his tie in the car mirror. It was already dark, and his face looked soft in the yellow mirror lights. Hellie was driving. He’d never learned to do a tie without a mirror. “Sorry I didn’t have time to shave or anything. They’re just cramming my schedule with all these appointments...” He cinched the knot and smoothed down the silk. It was holiday-themed: green silk spotted with bright multicolored lights. Hellie had given it to him for Christmas.
The last gift she’ll ever give me, I guess, he thought as he tightened the knot, but he didn’t feel sad. Instead, he felt strangely euphoric.
Last.It sounded so epic. The last gift. The last time he’d see his friends. His last night as a married man. It had been a ride, and he was going to enjoy the final spin before it stopped.
“It’s good that you’re busy,” said Hellie in her thin sweet voice, her eyes never leaving the road.
Under her big puffer coat, she was wearing her green sparkly dress. She had done her hair with the curling iron and it fell in sleek waves to her shoulders. In general, she had been looking older these past two years. Small tight lines around the mouth. A boniness to her jawline. A sunkenness to her cheeks. But with a fresh hairdo and some makeup, Doug could see thatdelicate quality that, back when they met as teenagers, had made him want to scoop Helen Halloran into his arms and keep her safe forever.
“Busy is good,” he repeated. “Busy is good. How was your day?”
By design, they’d barely seen each other for five minutes before leaving for the party. Doug didn’t want to have to lie to her face for a single second longer than was necessary, so even though he could have gone straight home after leaving the bar, he didn’t. He napped on Ted’s couch and then they played a vintage version ofGrand Theft Auto. Ted was in good spirits.Greatspirits. Apparently, he had just inherited a lot of money. A “fuckton,” Ted kept saying as he laid the lines of coke out on the coffee table and passed a little straw to Doug.
Like it wasn’t even a question that Doug would do a line.
“Old granny die?” ribbed Doug, taking the straw like it was no big deal, even as everything in him rushed up to meet the experience. “Great aunt, great uncle?” He wasn’t born yesterday. He knewinheritancewas code formassive drug deal. He snorted the powder. He could weep, that’s how good it felt to fall this fast.
“Yeah, man,” said Ted, laughing. “A couple granniesandan uncle.”
If Doug’s story was a tragedy, which he was willing to consider it might be, Ted’s wasn’t far behind. He graduated high school with a 4.0. He was a Speech and Debate national finalist. Smart as a whip. Sarcastic and cutting and funny as hell. Then, instead of going to college like everyone assumed he would, he started dealing. At first, it was fast cars and expensive sneakers and weekends at the BlueChip casino. Fast-forward a few years... he got into some kind of trouble... Doug didn’t know the whole story. Just that Ted was convinced there was a bounty hunter after him for some old conviction. Ted hadgone to Will’s to hide out in Indy, but the bounty hunter must have sniffed him out, because out of nowhere, cops showed up at Will and Jenn’s door and their kids had to watch as Ted was dragged away. “I hate that mykidshad to see that,” Will kept saying in a kind of dazed voice. Meanwhile, Jenn was pissed, apparently. Middle-class bitch. Her Facebook posts made Doug want to murder her. Self-satisfied whore. She was probablygloatingas Ted was dragged off.
Will and Jenn didn’t deserve those three gorgeous kids—and they were gorgeous. You know who deserved kids? Hellie. His faithful, hardworking treasure of a wife, who would have kicked Jenn’s ass as a mom all the way around the block and then some.
Anyway, a year in the clinker, and now Ted was out, and apparently back in the game. He wouldn’t say how much his fuck-ton “inheritance” was, which either meant he was shitting Doug and it wasn’t much at all, or he was a fucking billionaire.
“You should come to the party tonight,” Doug told Ted spontaneously. After all, Ted used to kind of be part of the group. He’d been at the first party. Definitely at the second party. The third? Hard to remember... Anyway, he should buy a little baggy now, just in case Ted didn’t come. He pulled out his wallet. “Hey, what’s your current Friends Discount?”
Now, Doug glanced at his wife of ten years. Could she tell he was high? Nope, or she’d have called him on it. He reached into his pocket and let his finger brush the top of the bag. He would have bought more, earlier, it’s just he had limited cash available. Ted had better come tonight. Then he’d share, because it was a party, and Doug could save his baggy...
