Sassafras, Part 40

Joan


A minute later I felt another hand on my arm, but this time it really was Rick. “Who was that?” he asked, looking at the table Steve was sitting at.

“Steve Majors,” I said. “I went to school with him.”

“Steve Majors,” Rick repeated, still staring over at him. It looked like he was putting Steve’s name on some sort of mental list. “What was he doing?”

“Just talking about Jenny, like everybody else I meet.” Rick still hadn’t taken his eyes off Steve. “Why? Are you jealous? Hello? Rick?”

“What?” he asked, putting his arm protectively, or was it possessively, around my shoulder.

“You’re jealous,” I said.

He glanced over at me then back at Steve. “No, I’m not.”

“If you’re not jealous why are you staring at him instead of looking at me?”

“He kissed you.”

“That’s right, he kissed me on the cheek, right here in front of God and everybody.”

Rick finally did really look at me, then bent over and kissed me. It wasn’t the same friendly peck on the cheek Steve gave me. I felt that nervous butterfly feeling I got every time he kissed me, dizzy and breathless. “Ok, so maybe I am jealous. What’s wrong with that?” he asked.

“Nothing, I guess. I’m just not used to it.”

“You should be.”

“Yeah, right,” I said and lit a cigarette.

“What’s wrong?”

“You’re jealous of somebody who couldn’t stop talking about Jenny. Steve never cared about me in high school, and he doesn’t care about me now. He’s just another member of the Jenny fan club.”

Rick looked back at Steve. “Well, he’s not blind, so he must be gay.”

That made me laugh. “Thanks, I needed that.”

“How was the viewing?" he asked.

What kind of stupid question was that? It was horrible, that’s how it had been. Every time I closed my eyes I could still see Jenny lying in that casket. And he wanted to know how it was. I had to bite my tongue before I snapped something thoughtless at him. “Awful,” I finally sighed. "So depressing I wanted to scream. I wish you had been there."

"Me, too," he said. "I kept thinking about you all day. How's Bill?"

"He seems like he's doing better. He's talking to me now at least."

"I thought he was supposed to be here, too."

"Yeah, he's here." I looked around, but couldn't see him. "He saw some of his friends and went over to talk with them."

"So we're alone?" he asked and leaned over and kissed me again.

"For now. Don't get too comfortable."

The bartender came over and Rick ordered a whiskey, then sat back and looked around. "Why don't we go get a booth?" he asked when the bartender came back with his drink.

"Sure," I answered, and picked up my soda. I was glad he picked out a booth by the pool tables. Maybe I could find a clue lying around if I just looked hard enough. Billy and another boy walked out of the bathroom right after we sat down. The other boy looked older than Billy, and more athletic. Must be a friend from school I thought. I wondered if he was the person who Billy had been drinking with last night. I remembered how I had felt about the Kennedy boys when I met them at the airport, assuming they were troublemakers just because of the way they looked. I didn’t want to assume anything about that boy. Just because he looked like a clean-cut young man didn’t mean he wasn’t up to no good. I remembered the athletes when I was in school. A more arrogant, conceited group of people never existed. Billy saw us and walked over and sat down across from us.

He didn't seem too glad to be there. He must be pissed that Rick was there. I wished they would get along. It was going to be hard coaxing him to New York; I didn't need him pissed at me over Rick.

"Do we really have to do this?" he asked. "I want to go home."

"Bill," I started, but Rick stopped me.

"Why don't you go play the jukebox, Babe?" he got up and handed me a couple of dollars. I looked from him to Billy and back again, then stood up and walked across the room to the jukebox. I kept an eye on them while I was picking out some songs. I could see them talking, and they didn't start punching each other, so I was happy. Eventually Rick walked over and stood in back of me, wrapping his arms around me.

"Crisis averted?" I asked.

"Just a simple misunderstanding," he claimed. "Everything's fine now."

"You have the magic touch," I said, and looked over at Billy. He was sitting with his back up against the wall, his legs stretched out on the booth. "What did you say to him?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "Just remember, you owe me."

"And what can I do to pay you back?" I asked as I turned around to face him.

"I can think of a couple of things," he said and kissed me again. "What did you play," he asked, nodding at the jukebox, which was playing Sweet Home Alabama.

"I played some of Jenny's favorites. This was one she always played. I played one for you, too," I said as I looked at the selections some more.

"Do we have a song now?"

"Maybe. If you can guess which one is yours." I picked the last song and we walked over to the booth. Billy actually smiled at me. Maybe this was going to work out after all.

The waitress came and we all ordered sandwiches.

"So, Bill, how's school," Rick asked him.

"Oh, school's great," he answered. "I have a teacher that was in NASA. He wasn't an astronaut or anything, but still. NASA. And the Tigers are going to the state championship."

"Do you like football?" Rick asked.

"Yeah," Billy answered. "Don't you?"

"I went to college at Mizzou in Columbia. They’re Tiger’s too. I used to go to all the games. I try to find time to go to some of the games here. Did you go to the Homecoming game?"

"Oh, man, that game kicked ass. We stomped them. Me and some of my friends snuck into the Mustang's bus and covered everything with shaving cream and toilet paper."

"You didn't!" I said.

"Yeah we did."

"Did you get caught?" Rick asked.

"No, we're silent like the Ninjas," he said.

"Do you remember what date that was?" Rick asked.

"It was September 12, they had a big ceremony for the anniversary of the Towers coming down."

"Yeah, that's right. I got in town right after that and people at work were still talking about it. One of the guy's at work is the homecoming queen's dad. That was all he talked about for a week."

We talked and ate. It was actually a pretty nice night. Every time the jukebox started a new song Rick would look at me and shake his head. He seemed to think it over when they played Sharp Dressed Man, but eventually shook his head.

When he was done eating Billy said he had to go. There was some stuff to do at home he needed to take care of. He was acting a lot better than when we got here, and I was sorry to see him go, but I liked the idea of spending a little time alone with Rick.