Center Courtship (26 page)

“Seriously? I was with Elsu until late, when he left I went to bed. I have Millard
and
Elsu to back me up on that. Carl is just grasping at straws now.”

“So you didn't do it, Mae?”

“No, I did not do it,” I said in disbelief.

“Well, this Cary…”

“Carl, mom,” said Christopher.

“Carl, this Carl said you have been nothing but a nuisance ever since you went up to Elsu's house on Saturday. It sounds like you're becoming a bit obsessed. That's not healthy.”

“I have not become obsessed, mom. Ignore anything Carl says. He's worried that I'm going to hurt the team by seeing Elsu. We're not going to be threatened by him, or anyone else for that matter.”

“You should listen to him Mae. He said you're causing trouble and will have to file a restraining order if you don't step away.”

“The only one who can file a restraining order is the person who is being threatened. Did Elsu look like he was here under duress?”

My mom sighed as she looked at her two children. “I just don't think I could stand the embarrassment of you becoming the local team stalker.”

“I am not a stalker, mom.”

“Well, you do know this whole thing with Elsu is a ploy for attention, right? He wants to show the town he likes the simple folk and you're as simple as they can get.” Bonnie's mouth dropped open. She had scooted her chair closer to the door to clear a paper jam from the printer. I was sure it was an attempt to hear the conversation.

My mom had said some pretty nasty things in my time, but that one stung. “Mom, you can leave now.” I started to walk out the door.

“He doesn't like you, Mae. I can see it in his face. It's all fake. And what about that Casper? You can't go hopping from bed to bed. You're going to tarnish our family name by becoming the town tramp.”

“OH MY GOD, MOM! I haven't hopped in ANYONE'S bed! EVER! If you want to talk family slut, look at the golden girl over there. She's had more one night stands than the furniture store!”

“What does that mean?” asked Candice.

I rolled my eyes at her. “Please, all of you, leave!”

“Mae, you really should break it off with him. He's going to break your heart,” said my mom.

“Like you ever cared about my heart, mom. I wasn't perfect so you made yourself a replacement. Tell me what you think that did to my heart! I'm surprised I even have one left after growing up in the shadow of your ideas of perfection. Now GO!” I pointed to the front door and finally looked up to see Steve standing just outside my office door. Bonnie was my savior.

“Gwen, Mae has asked you to leave twice now, you need to go,” he said.

“You're going to regret this. Plus, I don't know why you didn't just give your invitation from Casper to Candice, she's much more capable of acting like a respectable lady in that kind of situation than you are, apparently. Your asparagus demonstration was absolutely humiliating.”

“Don't you worry mom, I took one for the team last night. Carl was wrong, Casper really did attack me after dinner. I have the bruises to prove it.”

Just before she exited, she turned to me and glared. “I'm not surprised, you were dressed like a whore. Who wears a jumpsuit to a formal dinner?” She opened the door and left with her two children in tow.

“UGH!” I yelled as I turned to Steve in utter frustration.

“Wow, just wow, Mae.” He gave me a hug. Steve was one of the few people I allowed to hug me and it was definitely what I needed.

“How did you turn out so normal?” asked Bonnie as she came to me and rubbed my back.

“I wasn't raised by her, that's how. Grandpa, dad and Max raised me.” I paused briefly. “And Bonnie, I'm in no way normal.” We both laughed.

“I don't know how your dad stayed married to her for so long,” said Steve.

“Because he didn't have to see her, that's why. It wasn't until she came back that their relationship started to suffer. I think he learned how much of a bitch she was and decided he'd had enough. He and his wife are happily living down in Mansfield.” He remarried, moved out of town, and opened a Grandpa's Garage; one of the chains that I had started a few years before. I didn't see him as much as I would have liked and I was mad that he left me to fend for myself against my mom. But, he deserved
to be happy and his new wife was a good enough person, so I couldn't hold a grudge for long.

I returned to my desk to change my shoes. I only had a few rules in my shop but most of the ones I did have were for safety. If you were working in the garage, you had to have on steel toes. I had worn tennis shoes to work with plans to change when I got there. I looked at my phone and saw I had missed a phone call from Elsu while I was dealing with my mom. I checked the voicemail.
“Mae, I'm a jerk, I should have stayed. But I really had to go. But I really should have stayed. I'm pretty sure if I had stared into her eyes for long I would have been turned into a stone statue. Damn, that's your mom, I shouldn't talk like that. You're strong, I know that's what you're saying right now, but I want you to know, I want to be with you when you have struggles. That's my job now. Speaking of which, I can't wait for lunch. I'll text you when I'm on my way. Have a good day until I get there and no matter what you decide on the picture with Aaron, you always look beautiful.”
I smiled and clutched the phone to my chest.

I replied with a text. “T
HANK YOU FOR THE PHONE CALL, YOU
'
RE FINE, DON
'
T SWEAT IT
. I
T WASN
'
T
PLEASANT, BUT SHE
'
S
GONE NOW
. I'
M LOOKING FORWARD TO LUNCH, TOO
. J
UST COME WHEN YOU CAN IF
I
DON
'
T
REPLY
. S
URPRISE ME
.
”

I turned my phone to vibrate and stuck it in my pocket. I went to the garage, jumped on one of the cars, and immersed myself in my work. Stripping the cars was therapeutic to me. I tried to keep an eye on the clock so I could give myself some time to make myself look somewhat presentable for Aaron at eleven thirty. As I was bagging up a pair of windshield wiper motors I heard Bonnie call me over the intercom to come to the office.

“Grr,” I said as I quickly cleared my work space and noticed it was eleven.

“What do you need, Bon?” I asked as I walked up to the counter while rubbing degreaser into my hands.

“There's a package here for you. It says to open before eleven thirty. Some big burly guy dropped it off. Thick muscles.” I knew her taste in men, and that was it. She pushed the box to me and I looked at it without touching it.

I went and washed my hands and returned to the box. “Hmm, what do you think it is?” I untucked the flaps and opened it to find a black sweatshirt with the Whoopsters name and logo embroidered on the front. “Ha, I think I know who this is from,” I said as I held it up in front of me.

Bonnie came over and eyed the shirt. “That's one of the pricier ones, too. I wanted to get one for my niece but that's like a hundred dollars or something.”

I shook my head and looked in the box to find a pair of track pants in black. An orange stripe went down the outer seams and the word ‘Whoopsters' ran down the front of the left leg. “I can't accept this,” I said.

“Bullshit, Mae,” said Bonnie. “Thank the man and be happy.”

“Ok,” I went to put the new clothes in the box and saw a piece of paper with my name on it.
“Dear Mae, I know you don't have time to go home and change for your picture, so I figured you might like something to wear. I hope these things fit. You can wear them tomorrow, too. See you about one. –Elsu.”

I grinned so hard it hurt. I took the clothes, ran to the bathroom and changed quickly. The pants were a bit long, but otherwise, everything fit just fine. I grabbed my phone and texted Elsu.

“I'm spending my whole day thanking you. The clothes are perfect! I guess my orange Grandpa's Chop Shop shirt won't make it to the game. See you at one.
”

I took note that he hadn't replied to my last message and hoped he was getting them. I returned to the counter carrying my coveralls and steel toes to see Aaron talking to Bonnie.

“Hi fan girl,” laughed Aaron.

“Is this ok? Elsu just sent it over,” I was suddenly worried that I'd look too fanatic in the outfit. “I can wear a jacket if you want.”

“You look perfect!! Come on! The photographer is outside.” He held out his hand to me and we walked out to his piece.

The photographer looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn't place him. His name was Scott and seemed to be older than me by a few years. He took several pictures close up of the mini Little José and then some of Aaron and me standing beside it. I
answered a few questions about how Aaron and I met and what I felt about the sculpture.

“So, you're the infamous Mae,” said Scott as his demeanor seemed to change a bit. “I think I could create an article about you as well.”

“No, I'm not interested.”

“What about one about the shop? It's been here forever, hasn't it?” He asked as he packed his camera away.

“Everyone in town knows about the shop. It's not that big of a deal.”

“How long has it been here?”

“Over seventy years, my great grandfather opened it and it was passed down to me by my grandfather.”

“Wow, I didn't realize it was
that
old. I think this would make a great story. The junkyard bitch turned basketball tramp.”

“What did you just say?” asked Aaron.

“It's just a joke. You don't remember me, do you?” he asked as he eyed me and I tried again to place him.

“No, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to. If you're done here, I have work to do.” I started to walk away and Scott ran to stand in front of me.

“Mae, I'm Scott. Jeremy's best friend. Bart's brother?” It finally hit me.
Shit.

“Damn, I can't get away from him no matter how hard I try.”

“See, Jeremy and I have been best buddies since kindergarten. He tells me everything. So when you had the gall to put Bart in prison, I'm the one who got to drive Jeremy to visit his brother every month because he was driving a piece of shit that wouldn't have made the trip.”

“You do know what Bart did, right? Everyone wants to defend him and no one wants to listen to my side of the story.” I stepped to the left and he stepped to his right, blocking my path.

“Jeremy got married while Bart was in prison. Guess who his best man wasn't.”

“I don't care. Please go. If you don't want to use my pictures in this thing with Aaron, that's fine. Just leave me alone.”

“Unfortunately for me, I'm working for the paper. So I don't get to decide what gets put in the article and what doesn't. So
Aaron is safe, I've come to like the dude. He's a talented, nice guy.” He looked over my shoulder and smiled at Aaron.

I turned to look at Aaron who was standing with his arms crossed across his chest.

“Please leave, Scott,” said Aaron. “I'll see you tomorrow at the reveal.” His tone was forced.

“Fine, fine.” Without another word, Scott turned and walked to his car. “By the way, the paper might be calling you about your involvement in Elsu's house fire.”

“House fire?” asked Aaron. I rolled my eyes and just walked into the shop with Aaron behind me. “What house fire?”

“Elsu thinks Casper torched his house last night.”

“Shut up! Why?”

“I told you last night, he attacked me after the dinner. He left these.” I pulled my sleeve up and showed him my bruises and then the hickey on my neck.

“Holy hell, girl! That bastard!”

“Elsu told him to get his stuff out of his house last night and instead, he thinks Casper went and burned it down.”