Arizona Allspice (14 page)

“I…Now is not the right time to tell you. It’s nothing you need to worry about. I’ll tell you as soon as I can. You know I could never keep a secret from you for long,” he chuckles.

To distract myself from the distress of being kept in the dark, I change the subject. “I feel weird, Manny. I read Joey’s journal today.”

“Really!
How did you get a hold of his journal?”

“His mom left it and wanted me to read it aloud to him.”

“Wow. You reading Joey’s journal.
How perfect.”

“How?”

“I don’t know what I’m saying, Sis.”

“I feel guilty about this. It’ll be kind of awkward when he wakes up.”

“It should be pretty interesting, yes.”

“Did you know that when he was fourteen he fought off his stepdad and
he
almost…”

“Yup.
I know everything.”

I’m quiet. I was so wrong about Joey. I once thought he was a woman abuser, but the way he defended his mother from Mason makes that impossible to believe. “How did you two become such good friends anyway?” I wonder aloud. “You started working together and all of a sudden you guys are inseparable.”

“We just realized that we could help each other. That we were the friends we’d needed long ago.”

“Cute.”

“Yes I am.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Sis. I’ll try and call you tomorrow or something.”

“Call me every night you can. I’ll be home.”

“
Alrighty
, I will. You won’t be lonely for long, Laney. Uncle Frank will be there soon.”

I smile at Manny’s ability to read me. “Goodnight.” I hang up the phone, set my alarm, and drift into a comfortable slumber.

SEVEN

“I hope that fool rots in jail.”

“Marisol! Don’t say that about him,
Cuzzo
!”

“I don’t care what his situation was. His mom died, his dad’s crazy and his sister is a stuck-up witch.
That don’t
matter. Everybody was cool with Joey. Even if they didn’t like him, he was a good guy and they knew that. He looked out for a lot of girls, including you Denise, so don’t tell me I shouldn’t be pissed off at Manny.”

“Yeah, Joey is one of the sweetest people I know, but his temper is off the charts sometimes. And Manny is really nice too. I can’t imagine Manny hurting Joey on purpose.”

“Manny was nice to you because he wanted to get some.”

Denise giggles. “That may be true, but he knows we will never be more than friends.”

“Ha! So that’s what you were telling him that night at the party, but you tripped and your lips connected with his, right?”

Grinning, Denise says “I was vulnerable!
And tipsy, too.
That kiss didn’t mean anything. He knows that. What about you, young lady? You ain’t innocent either!
I
seen
you talking to Raul at the game.”

“I’m sexy. What can I say?” Marisol said smiling devilishly.

“Yeah, but Elaine, his
girlfriend
, was sitting right there on the sidelines. Raul was taken.”

“Not anymore. He broke up with Elaine a couple days ago. He came over to chill at my house this afternoon.”

“Nah.
You’ve got the story twisted. Elaine broke up with
him
.”

“Whatever. He never wanted her. End of story.”

“They went out since forever, since high school. What do you mean he didn’t want her? He loved her.”

“Ha! Sure. He loved her so much he asked me out right in front of her face. She liked to think she was better than everybody, yet she’s too stupid to get a clue. Her dumb ass let him disrespect her like that in front of everybody so she deserves it.”

“Be nice. Raul was, like, her only friend in school. He’s the only one she talked to outside of her family.”

“And whose fault is that! As soon as her father started running
Merjoy
she started
smellin
’ herself and didn’t talk to none of us no more. You, me,
Ariella
; She stopped talking with all of us.”

“I don’t know. Everybody changed once we started high school.
Even you.”

“No. I didn’t suddenly think I was better than everyone else.”

Denise sighs. “Anyway, I’m really worried about Joey. Every time I think of him lying in that hospital bed I just…”

“I know, cousin. It sucks. He’s the best player on
Las
Chupasangres
, too. I think they stopped all the soccer matches out of respect for him.”

“I wish there was something I could do to help him. He helped me so much.”

“
Ooo
!
We could have a fundraiser or a benefit for him! We could raise money for his hospital bills and stuff. Give it to his mom!”

“That would be perfect! I have a great idea for a flyer already!”

“Yeah, I can pass them out to everyone for you. Stick them up on doors and store windows and stuff. Hold on, my phone is beeping.” There is a pause as Marisol looks at the caller ID, followed by an agitated groan.
“Surprise, surprise.
Guess who’s calling again?”

“Raul?!
This is the second time in forty-five minutes! What is his deal? Tell him to stop interrupting our Girl Talk.”

“He’s
buggin
’ out about his family problems. I keep telling him to stop worrying because he’ll figure out the right thing to do eventually, but as you can see he’s too damn clingy to take advice and then go away to actually use it.”

“
Estoy de acuerdo, prima
. I
agree
,
cousin
. “

“I’ll call you back when I’m done talking him down.                        

******

No flight delays, so I expect to see him walk through soon; at 10:10 AM precisely. I sit waiting in my tank top and pajama bottoms by the luggage claim conveyor belts. Thankfully and unfortunately I’d slept later than expected. I was grateful to experience a full night’s sleep for the first time since the accident.

It occurred to me that everyone I ever loved had left me. I decided I was either cursed or unbearable.
Or both.
Why else would death and sickness and accidents fall upon every person in my life? They were the flowers that wilted and withered underneath the grim strangulating shadow I cast onto them.  With that grave insight I found myself an insomniac.

 The only reason I slept last night was the knowledge that someone I cared about wanted to see me. I overslept and, in a panic that Uncle Frank would think I’d forgotten about him, hopped into the truck wearing the clothes I’d slept in and rushed to the airport. I arrived early. Shifting my weight does little to make the chair I sat in comfortable. My eyelids are heavy with sleep. Mid-yawn, I spot a familiar head of hair in the advancing group of ex-passengers walking towards the luggage conveyor belt. His hair is salt-and-pepper, but much more pepper than salt and more of a dark brown color than black. The green Hawaiian shirt he wears clashes with his black jean shorts. Sleek black sunglasses shade his eyes, but I already know it is him; he’s wearing brown steel-toed boots.

I watch him advance as I sit in my chair almost bursting with the anticipation of him recognizing me. He scratches at his lined forehead and then rakes his fingers through his thick hair. His line of sight finally falls in my direction. My leg is bouncing and I can’t control it. I watch a wide smile splash across his face. He separates from the pack. I stand up from my seat just as he pulls the sunglasses off of his face and hooks them onto his collar, revealing his clever green eyes. I laugh at the sight of tan lines from the glasses at his temples and lose all composure as he uses his free arm to hug me. “Good to see you, too,” he chuckles at my loss for words as tears stream down my face and I laugh out a cry. We walk over to the luggage claim area to wait for his other bags and I still can’t stop blubbering. I lean my head into his shoulder. He rubs mine and repeats, “It’s alright. I’m here.”

 Walking towards the parking garage elevator he asks, “What happened to your lip?”

“I got caught in the middle of the fight, took a punch from Joey that was meant for Manny.”

“Damn. Did you sock him back?” We step into the elevator.

“Oh sure.
Couldn’t let him get away with that,” I kid. Joey and I were both equally startled by his punch.

I push the button for the sixth floor. At the truck Uncle Frank hauls one of his suitcases over into the back. I take the other smaller bag and lug it over as well. It meets the floor of the truck with a thud.

“Whoa! Laney! What if I had my heirloom crystal poodle figurines in there?” he laughs.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize how hard I swung it over.”

“Where are your glasses, by the way? Last I heard they were stuck on your face like an oxygen mask.” We go inside the truck.

“Oh. I just stopped wearing them, I guess. Things change, but only when I allow them to, or when it somehow slips under my radar.”

 
“Ha
ha
!
You wish. Well, good. People can see your face better without the glasses, and your eyes. You have beautiful brown eyes, like your mother, like
Marna
. You’re strong like her, too.” Uncle Frank sighs as he drums his fingers on the passenger door. “Your dad was a very lucky man.”

I hold back a grin, proud to hear I have her likeness. She was a timeless beauty.

“How’s Edward doing since he came home? You left him home to come pick me up from the airport, so he’s good then?”

Slowly, I shake my head. “No.” I see him look over at me out of the corner of my eye. I can’t look back at him.

“No?” he asks. “Do you mean, ‘No, he’s not doing well’?”

“No.”

“No, you didn’t leave him at home and he’s actually huddling in the back of the truck as we speak?”

“No,” I smile.

“No, you didn’t actually pick me up from the airport because you’re not really my niece, you’re a
Laneydroid
?”