Sassafras, Part 44


Rick

I couldn’t believe I was taking Joan to my apartment. Not after hearing her talk about the senator and his apartment, and how everything in New York is so fabulous. Oh well, it was too late to turn around now. I always knew I never really had a chance with her anyway. This was never going to be a permanent thing. I might as well let her see what she was going to be escaping when she went back to New York. At least tonight I was prepared. Before I picked up Joan I stopped at the liquor store and bought some condoms. Yesterday I had just been expecting dinner, not spending the night with her. The way she kissed me in the parking lot I was pretty sure she had more on her mind than picking up some tools. At least I hoped she did because I couldn’t get the image of her lying in the moonlight next to me with nothing on but that little pearl necklace out of my mind.

Part of me still thought it would be nice to see her pregnant. I thought maybe then she would stay, but I knew that wouldn’t work. Either she would just have an abortion, or have the baby in New York. Even if she did stay here she would end up hating me for ruining her life. I was better off using condoms and hoping nothing happened last night. We were both better off.

When I pulled into the parking lot at the Monte Vista I could see she was impressed. It was a real dive. It looked even worse in the dark, with all the shadows and people hanging out. Tony and a couple of his friends were sitting in front of his apartment drinking. Other than that the place was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday night. I told Joan she could just stay in the car if she wanted while I ran up and got the tools, but she didn’t seem to think that was a very good idea. I was glad she wanted to come inside with me. Those condoms were burning a hole in my pocket.

“Hey, Pops, bringing home another hooker?” Tony asked when he saw us walking up. Just the person I wanted to introduce Joan to. What wiseass shit was he going to come up with tonight? I prayed he wouldn’t say anything about the cops or Tanya’s brother.

“No, you asshole. This is Joan. Her car broke down at Tanner’s. Joan, this is Tony, the guy I ride to work with.”

“So this is Joan,” he said as he got up from his lawn chair and gave her a hug. I could see him checking her out, and knew he liked what he was seeing. She was wearing a black and white dress. The top looked like a black tuxedo jacket over a long flowing white skirt. I noticed she also had on those pearls. “What on earth are you doing with this ugly fuck?”

“Don’t pay any attention to him, Joan. I think all those tattoos gave him brain damage.”

“Hey man, this is art,” he said, pointing to the tattoo of a naked woman on his right shoulder. He flexed his muscles a little. “Look, she can even dance.”

“Yeah, but can she cook dinner?”

“That’s what Tanya’s for. She’s going to be here in about ten minutes if you want to stop by. She’s bringing Kelly with her. I can’t wait to see them. I wish Tanya’s mom wasn’t such a bitch. She doesn’t think I’m good enough for her little girl, just because I made one mistake.”

“One mistake? You were a coke dealer.” I glanced at the other two guys with Tony, and wondered if they were friends or business associates. I hoped he was smart enough to stay clean. He was a nice kid most of the time, once you got over the tough guy attitude he liked to think he had.

“You make it sound like that’s a bad thing, man. At least I wasn’t one of those meth heads. Those fuckers are just creepy. They give drug dealers a bad name.” His friends both agreed with his opinion on meth heads. I have to admit, I did too. They were creepy. Of course, I thought drug dealers in general were creepy. “Hey, Pops, you want a beer?”

“No, Tony. We’re just getting some tools and going back to Tanner’s. If Tanya gets here before we leave we’ll stop by for a minute.” Joan and I started walking again. I saw her look over her shoulder at Tony and decided to make sure she understood he was a fellow graduate of the state penitentiary.

“Hey, man, stop by after you get done taking care of business,” he said. “Hey, Pops, you going to need a wake-up call?” I just flipped him off and kept walking.