Sassafras, Part 58


Joan


“I saw Rick was at the funeral,” Deana said after he left. “Did you keep him up all night or what?”

“Deana!”

“Well, he looked rough.”

“He had been working. He didn’t spend the night or anything. Lord knows I tried,” I admitted.

She laughed. “Tell me the truth, Joan. Are you really staying?”

“I don’t know. Bill wants to stay here, and Rick has to stay here. He told me last night he’s on parole. He can’t leave Missouri for four years. I don’t know what I’m going to do. If I don’t stay here, I might never see him again.” Just thinking about that was painful.

“You really like him, don’t you?”

“A lot. I just don’t know how he feels. He says he wants me to stay, but we’ve never talked about what would happen if I do. What if I’m making a big mistake moving here?”

“The way he was looking at you at the funeral you’d be crazy not to move here.”

“What are you talking about? How was he looking at me?”

“Oh, are you blind? Like a puppy. You’d have to be blind not to see it.”

I was silent for a minute. I remembered how good it felt to lean against him, to know he was there. What if he hadn’t been there? “What do you know about Rick, Deana?”

“I remember when he moved here. You should have heard the gossip. Everybody loves a bad boy.”

“But is he a bad boy? What do you think of him? Did you ever meet him?”

“I’ve seen him around town a lot, but I only met him twice. He was at the St. James parish picnic. Do you remember Tony and Mary Bellamy? Jenny used to baby-sit them. Tony lives in the same apartment complex as Rick. They were at the picnic with Tony’s girlfriend.”

“I met Tony last night. I didn’t even recognize him.”

“Well, no wonder, the last time you saw him he was what, 8, 10? I never would have thought Tony would end up in prison. He was always so quiet. Anyway, he was there with Tony’s girlfriend and their baby. I went over to see the baby and ended up sitting with them and watching this really lame band that was playing. They were so bad you couldn’t even understand what song they were playing half the time. Rick kept making up his own lyrics and singing along with them. It was hilarious.”

“Then I ended up trapped in Wal-Mart with him.”

“How can you get trapped in Wal-Mart?”

“There was a storm and the electric went out. They wouldn’t let anybody leave because the security buzzer thingy wouldn’t work. He helped keep Brian and Ashley from throwing a fit. He’s good at peek-a-boo.”

“Great. He can sing and play peek-a-boo. Everything you want in a boyfriend.”

Billy walked back in and sat down, handing me the paper. Peek-a-boo. That’s a talent I wouldn’t have expected.

“Well, I’d like to get a peek at his boo,” Deana laughed.

“My what?” Billy asked.

“Nobody wants to see your boo, little man,” Deana told him. “We were talking about Rick.”

“You want to see his boo? Wait till I tell him.”

”You will do no such thing,” I warned him.

“Oh, Aunt Jo, you’re no fun.”

“You know, I’ve been thinking. If you don’t want to move to New York I’m sure I can find a nice military school somewhere you could transfer to.”