Page 11 of Besties
He turned and went back to his bedroom, leaving me standing there, thinking about pizza, brownies, and life.
And the people with whom we share them.
I don’t remember going back into the bedroom, but I did fall asleep, finally. It didn’t last long, as the dreams of being arrested and sent to prison kept filtering through my mind. When I opened my eyes, the first rays of the sun were just peeking over the lake. I sat up, stretched, and yawned.
“Richie?” I called out, hoping to hell this wasn’t a dream.
“Hey, glad you’re up. Coffee’s here, if you want some.”
I got out of bed and threw on the same clothes I’d worn yesterday, even though there was a stack of boxes with more sitting in the other room.
“Yeah, definitely.” My voice was scratchy.
When I went out into the sitting room, Richie already had things spread out on the table. Colorful pamphlets, reams of paper, a laptop with a printer attached to it, and more touched every surface.
“What time did you get up?”
He grinned. “Never got to sleep. I’ve been making calls, doing some research, and trying to come up with a list of things we could discuss.”
I stared at him.
“Coffee is on the cart.” He hiked a thumb in the direction of the door. I turned and found another room service table, loaded up with eggs, bacon, hash browns, juice, coffee, and… brownies.
When I looked back, he wasn’t even paying attention. Instead, he was chewing on a pen as he pored through paperwork.
“Brownies?”
“Yup. Wasn’t sure what you wanted for breakfast, but I had a taste for brownies.” He peered up through his lashes at me. “Wish your mom was here with us.”
A swell of emotions swept through me. I went to the table and picked up my phone, found her number, and dialed.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Mom. I know it’s early, and I’m sorry if I woke you.”
“No, it’s okay. Is something wrong?”
“Uh-uh. It’s just….” My chest ached as memories of those bygone days filled my brain. “Richie and I were thinking about you.”
Richie reached out and took the phone from me. “Hey, Mrs. D. Yeah, he’s a little overwhelmed right now. … Oh, I’m good, thanks. How about you? … Glad to hear it. Walter is okay? … Great. Say listen, he’s giving me that look.” Richie chuckled. “Yeah, that one. Let me put you on speaker.” He pulled the phone back, tapped a button, then placed the cell on the table. “Okay, we’re all together now.”
“So what were you talking about me for?”
I could picture the scene so clearly: Mom coming into the room, her red and black bathrobe wrapped around her. Her hair was a mess, and her green eyes were bleary.
“We’re having brownies for breakfast.” I couldn’t understand why my emotions were such a mess. “And we thought about that day with you in the kitchen.”
She chuckled. “I gained five pounds that weekend and it was months before I could touch another brownie.”
“Me too,” Richie admitted, patting his belly. “Still, I wouldn’t trade that memory for anything.”
“You boys were quite the pair back then. I always thought Richie was a nice, quiet kid, but when the two of you got together? I saw an entirely different side of you both. Richie tried new things, and Max grew more serious. It was like the two of you played off each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”
Yeah, that was how I always felt with Richie. When things got too much for me to handle, he was there with a hug or words of advice. When he was hesitant to try a roller coaster, I took his hand and tugged him along with me. After the first one with all the shrieks of terror, he was hooked on the adrenalin rush. We’d go to Great America on occasion just to try the latest and greatest. Our favorite was the Batman, with its upside-down loops that left your stomach doing its best to pop out of your throat.
And he got me to buckle down and become a better person. I stopped fighting, I worked hard on my grades, and became a better kid at home. It wasn’t an overnight process, but when I did something Richie didn’t approve of, I got a knot in my stomach that didn’t go away until I made it right. For a few years, I spent a lot of time making things I’d screwed up right.
“Wish you were here to have brownies with us.”
