Page 53 of Something Good
I rolled to my side, finally allowing my mind to drift to thoughts of the boy I’d once loved. The reason I’d avoided coming back here for the last ten years. I’d searched for him on social media a few times over the last decade, usually when I was drunk and my guard was down, but it turned out Sammy Clark was a pretty common name. The profiles I’d found had pictures that either didn’t match or didn’t give me enough information to match them to the Sammy I’d known.
I wondered what he was doing now. When I left, he was still working at Walmart, barely staying afloat. Had he been able to survive? Had he been able to pull himself and Jimmy out of such shitty circumstances?
I’d asked Mom about him a few months after I left, when I’d finally come home for the first time over Thanksgiving break. She’d refused to answer, saying that what had happened was between Sammy and me and if I wanted to know about him, I could talk to him myself. I figured that meant she was still in touch with him, but I was too much of a coward to push further, and I sure as shit hadn’t reached out to him.
I’d been mad at Mom for a while, upset that she hadn’t automatically taken my side, but over time, I’d let that go. She’dalways had a soft spot for the Clark boys, and though the hurt caused by the end of that relationship had been deeper than I’d ever thought possible, I couldn’t help but be glad that maybe they still had someone like Mom in their corner.
As I allowed my mind to wander down memory lane, my eyes finally became heavy, and so it was with images of blond curls and a little cluster of freckles below one chocolate-brown eye that I finally succumbed to sleep.
29
SAMMY
I pulledup to Jimmy’s apartment building in my orange ’69 Dodge Charger a little after noon on Sunday. Moments later, he pushed through the door of his building and headed toward me. He must have been watching for me through the window. The same window I saw Steven peering out of right now. I rolled down my window, stuck out my left hand, and flipped him off. The curtain was hastily drawn closed.
“Why do you antagonize him?” Jimmy asked as he climbed into the car and shut the door behind him.
“Because he’s a dick, and he doesn’t deserve you. Why do you allow him to treat you like shit?”
I didn’t have to look at him to know he’d rolled his eyes. “You think every guy I date is a dick.”
“That’s because you have terrible taste in men.” It didn’t escape my notice that he’d ignored my question. I pulled out of the parking space but paused before heading out of the lot. “But that one.” I pointed toward the window. “He’s the worst of the lot.”
Jimmy huffed a breath and crossed his arms but didn’t argue because he knew I was right. I pulled out of the lot, turningus onto the route that would take us to Astaire. It was the last Sunday in March, and though the air still held the stubborn chill of winter, the sun was shining and the weather forecast predicted a warm-up later in the week.
“You ready to go back to school this week?” Jimmy was a school media specialist and had been off last week for his district’s spring break.
“Ugh. Don’t remind me.”
“I thought you liked working at Northfield?”
“I do. But I like sleeping in and reading under the covers with Lucy more.”
I snorted. Lucy—short for Lucifer—was his black cat, whom he treated better than most humans, though I couldn’t argue with his logic. Despite my best efforts to convince Jimmy to get a degree in chemistry or astrophysics, or some other smart-kid degree, he’d insisted on going into education and becoming a school librarian. I’d hated school, so I didn’t get it, but I could at least be proud that he’d had the option of getting a degree at all.
“How’d your meeting go yesterday?”
I flashed him a grin, then returned my eyes to the road. “I got the commission.”
“Sammy! That’s amazing!”
“They looked at my sketches and requested a few modifications, but as long as I have those done and approved by the end of the week, we’ll go forward with a completion date of July fourteenth.”
“I’m proud of you, Sammy. That’s really, really cool.”
I smiled wide as we cruised down the highway. This wouldn’t be my biggest or most lucrative project, but after spending my childhood dirt poor, I never took any commissions for granted. And despite everything we’d been through, Jimmy had never stopped being my biggest cheerleader. From the days when we’d had nothing to eat and I’d been trying to hide that I wasdrowning in heartbreak over losing Will, through my journey to becoming an artist, and all the hills and valleys in between, Jimmy had been by my side, supporting me, encouraging me, calling me out on my shit when necessary… Over the years, he’d become more than a brother. He was my best friend.
We talked about inane things, both of us avoiding any topics to do with Steven, and enjoyed a pleasant drive. I pulled into the driveway of Julio and Stephanie Salgado’s split-level and killed the ignition. A bright-yellow ‘86 Camaro with chrome rims and a ridiculous spoiler pulled in behind us. Rafi got out, then walked around to help his very pregnant wife out of the passenger side. It took them three tries to maneuver her into a standing position from such a low height.
“Man, when’re you trading that thing in for a minivan?”
He winced. “Never.”
His wife, Elise, shook her head, rubbing her hand over her very pregnant belly. “Don’t you worry. He’s under strict instructions to find a more appropriate car before this baby pops next month.”
Rafi groaned, but the way he smiled at her, as if she was the most precious thing in the world, told me he’d probably already been researching his next auto purchase. Hell, with his connections in the car industry, he might already have something on order.
They both approached, and we exchanged hugs and fist bumps before heading for the door. Elise and Rafi stepped in first with Jimmy and me close behind. We were immediately greeted by warmth and the scent of something delicious simmering in the kitchen.
