Portal House - Chapter 14
The Phone Number
PEPPER:
“You want another?” Gary slid a shot toward me. Somehow I grabbed it just as it tipped, saving all but a couple of drops.
“I can keep up.”
“Sorry, what were you saying about my mom, I mean your mom?”
I smiled. He was already slurring. It was a rare treat to see him drink, and whenever Rita and I were getting along, we both encouraged it.
“My mom,” I said. “I don’t know, man. I don’t know. I think…”
Someone bumped my chair from behind, but when I looked, some guy was sprawled out on the floor. Gary lifted his eyebrows as if to ask if I needed him to spring into action. I definitely did not.
“Poor guy just needed a hard reset,” I said to anyone around, including the bartender.
Shanda rolled her eyes in understanding and pointed to the guy’s car keys behind her, attached to a note with his information.
“Come on,” I said to Gary after I paid the tab. I grabbed his wrist and walked him outside. We sat side by side on top of the old stone picnic table, each resting our feet on the bench.
Gary reached into the back pocket of his work slacks and pulled out a half-empty pack of menthols. He had a lighter tucked into the pack and one cigarette turned upside down. His lucky one. He pulled out the lighter and a regular. The lucky one always stayed until all the rest were gone.
“Stop it, I can see you judging,” he said. “It’s no different than your vapor … thing.”
I sighed, joining him for a smoke. “She’s just so angry. My mom. The things she says to me. It feels like she hates me sometimes, you know? Like she’s not the person I knew when I was little. It doesn’t matter what I do or say; it’s just not good enough.”
I took a long drag from my vape and blew it upward, out of our faces. Gary blew his cigarette smoke out toward the dumpster a few feet away. “She texted you again?”
“Earlier today, yeah. All I did was ask her for my dad’s phone number, and she blew up on me. Called me an ingrate and a disappointment. She said a lot, and it was all so mean. I don’t get how she could be so damn mean.” I pounded my fist on the stone table, feeling a little sting in my hand. I laughed under my breath and did it a second time, just to make sure the feeling stayed in my hand.
“Did she give you the number?”
“She said she was at work and couldn’t get to it today, then she blocked my number ‘cause none of the other texts went through. God, she makes me feel like I have to qualify for her affection. It’s messed up. It’s always been a little messed up, I guess, but like, waking up out of this fog of thinking we’re normal? It’s sad.” My voice broke at the word sad.
Gary swung his arm around my shoulders automatically, unleashing all the emotion I thought I was containing pretty well. He didn’t look at me or say anything. He just listened to me cry.
I steadied my breath after another big vape. “I actually hate how much I still love her when she’s like this. She’s selfish, she’s angry, and she makes me feel bad for wanting to grow as a person. As if it’s my responsibility to drag her forward with me, but all it would do is keep us both stuck.”
He lifted his head so slowly that it looked like it had doubled in weight. Then he turned toward me, letting his arm drop off my shoulder. “Want me to fight her?”
I laughed and wiped the tears from my face. “Yeah, I kinda do a little. She fights dirty, though, so you should sober up and eat first.”
“Mm. Fine.”
I had long cried away any hint of a buzz, so I was ready to leave. I helped Gary buckle his seatbelt and drove us back home.
“Gary? Are you good?” Rita was already outside when we pulled up, witnessing Gary tumble out of the car.
“It’s been a day,” I responded for him. “We went to Charley’s.”
She shook her head and helped him sit sideways on the passenger seat. “It’s been a day, all right. Your mom stopped by earlier.”
My face began to sweat. “What?”
Rita folded her arms across her chest as a show of disdain that somehow made her more attractive. “Yep. She banged on the door like she had a search warrant. Asked me all kinds of questions about how many people live here, who you’re ‘whoring around’ with, and got Ruby all kinds of agitated. She was barking like crazy; I had to hold her back the whole time.”
“Lemme fight her,” Gary chimed in.
Rita continued, “Then she had the nerve to come in and clog our toilet. That’s when Ruby really started growling at her.”
My jaw dropped. “Rita, I’m so sorry, I didn’t even give her this address because of how awful she is.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it. Turns out I don’t have very good grip strength in my right hand, because somehow Ruby got free and chased the bitch all the way to her car. That was after she handed me this.”
I frowned as I unfolded the scrap of paper she presented. It was a phone number beneath the words, “He won’t answer, but here you go.”
My eyes welled with tears as I pocketed the note and gave Rita a hug that shocked both of us. She hesitated for a few seconds before hugging me back.
“Your mom sucks,” she said into my fluffy hair.
“I know. Thanks for being an asshole to her.”
Rita pulled back abruptly, acting offended by my comment, then she immediately smiled. “It was my pleasure. Truly.”
A crashing sound rang through the yard and echoed into the night, pulling our attention toward the house.
“I think…” Gary said with his head between his knees, “I’m gonna puke.”
And then he did. All over my car.
To Be Continued…
Really great. Thank you so much for sharing!