Page 36 of Play of Love
He looked at me and blinked several times. “Can you pay the strippers? I think there were two or possibly three of them.”
“Wake up!” I screamed at him and caught his attention.
He wasn’t going to do this to me. This wasn’t going to happen. I would get him there even if I had to dress him myself.
I moved with lightning speed up the stairs and into his room where I found his clothes all laid out on the bed. He’d actually prepared them.
So what happened?
Maybe he had a change of heart or something. I grabbed the clothes and some towels I could dampen to wipe his face.
He’d drifted off to sleep again by the time I got back so I got some cold water and doused him with it just like the other day. However, unlike the other day it didn’t have the same kick. He only woke up a little, just enough for me to get him to sit up so I could wipe his face and run the towel over his hair to get the brewery smell off him. As I started undoing the buttons on his shirt he smiled and reached for my waist.
“That’s more like it, Kansas. I want to take my time to undress you and relish your perfect body.”
Well at least he could form words.
I moved his hand away but he only returned it. Instead of fighting with him I just focused on getting his dirty clothes off and the new clothes on.
I managed to get the shirt off and evade his attempts to kiss me.
“Josh, I need you to focus. We have to get to the studio.” We were already late.
“Why are we going there, baby? Let’s just go someplace nice. Just you and me. Perfect Amy.”
This was ridiculous, and crazy.
“Josh, think of football. Think about football. We need to go. Please stand up.”
“Football.”
He seemed to consider this and looked like he’d just remembered something, then tried to stand. I took the opportunity to help him. He was able to get the pants on but no more. He sat on the sofa holding his head.
“I can’t do it,” he muttered. “Baby, I’m sorry I can’t do it.”
I wanted to feel sorry for him but my annoyance took over. “Yes you can.” I grabbed the jacket and helped him get it on, and did his tie.
All he needed was shoes and we’d be ready. He didn’t look as sharp as I would like, but he was dressed.
Since I knew I would need help, I grabbed that phone book on top of the fridge and called Corey. He said he’d look out for us when we arrived.
I just hoped like hell I could pull this off.
* * *
Josh slept the whole journey there. I allowed him to with the hope that it meant he would wake up when we arrived. In the meantime, I tried to keep my fury under control.
I couldn’t believe he would do this. No matter what had happened he knew we had to be here early today, and if we weren’t it would jeopardize everything. Absolutely everything. I doubted that if he knew my situation it would have mattered to him, but surely he cared enough about himself to worry that he’d be cut from the team.
Maybe they wouldn’t cut him off. Maybe that’s what he thought, but if he did, why then did he make such an effort yesterday. It didn’t make sense. My feeling was that he would get cut from the team, he just didn’t think of the impact when he decided to drown himself in booze last night.
I hated relying on people. In my life, I’d never done myself any favors by putting my trust in anyone. My father was to blame for that. When I was little I used to believe he could do anything, and that as long as he was there everything would be alright. I wouldn’t suffer or go through any form of disappointment.
I remembered the last time I saw him.
Like Josh, he was drunk then, too. Always drunk and off-his-face wasted. At the time, we lived in a little house in West Atlanta and I remembered him having the worst argument ever with Mom. My father took everything she earned. He spent it on booze and women. My mother knew this but still gave willingly. That last day, with that terrible argument, he just walked out of the house with his bags. I ran after him. I was only eight years old at the time. I threw my arms around him, told him how much I loved him, and begged him to stay. But it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t enough and he just picked me off him like a bug and tossed me into the heap with the garbage. That was what I was to him.
To this day I still remembered how I felt as I watched the back of his pickup truck drive away, never to return.
