Page 31 of Demo
Hearing we have company, Kennedy wakes up and starts barking.
“I brought snacks,” Dee says as she plops down on the couch, and Kennedy jumps up and places his front paws on her lap and sticks his head in her crotch. She swats him away and he continues barking.
Grabbing him by the collar, I usher him into the bedroom and shut the door. When I turn back to my company, I see Dee pulling packages of Twinkies and Hostess cupcakes, as well as Dipsy Doodles from a brown paper bag, along with a box of cheap wine.
“I’ve got sweet, salty, andsaucy, as in alcohol,” she says. “Pick your poison!”
I snatch up a cupcake and make quick work of tearing open the wrapper and cramming half the treat in my mouth in one shot. “I’ll skip the alcohol,” I mumble around the chocolate cake and vanilla filling. “I’m already about as productive as a maggot these days.”
“What the hell are Dipsy Doodles,” Monty questions as he makes his way to the other side of the couch, coming from the kitchen where he thoroughly washed his hands. He picks up a package and pinches it open.
“Just eat it,” says Dee, who is munching on a Twinkie.
I lick cream from my finger. “You guys didn’t have to check on me. I’m fine. Really.”
Monty and Dee exchange a look, as he digs into the foil bag and she wipes the back of her hand across her mouth.
“Baby girl, we’re not worried about your little sabbatical from work,” she says. “But we know you and Knox are a little mixed up. I’m sure it was nice to be able to take your mind off things by going to work, and now you’re stuck in this apartment all by yourself with nothing to do but, well, think.”
I blow out a dramatic breath and plop down on the couch between the two of them, causing them to sink in toward me on each side. I slouch down and rest my head on the back cushions.
“I just hate him. I hate him so fucking much.”
Dee rests her head on my right shoulder while Monty rests his right hand on my left leg.
“That’s fair,” he says.
“Cock-sucking motherfucker,” Dee grumbles.
“Good, God, woman!” Monty leans over me to get a look at her. “You go around kissing men with that mouth.”
“And other things …” she mumbles.
I want to laugh, but nothing comes out. “I hate myself, too,” I continue. “I drove by his dad’s house the other day and saw a car in the driveway that I didn’t recognize and went mad wondering whose it was. How pathetic is that?"
We are all silent for a moment.
“Was that the night you mixed up the names?” Monty asks quietly.
“Yep.”
“Want me to go cut a bitch?” Dee asks from my other side.
I pause before answering. “Maybe?”
“All this shit started rolling downhill after the accident, huh?” she asks.
I nod.
Monty’s hand gives my leg a squeeze. “There’s no manual for how to navigate these waters, kid. You feel how you feel. You’ve been with Knox a long time, and I think it’s admirable that you haven’t just thrown in the towel.”
“Are you saying she should just roll over and take his shit?” Dee chimes in, annoyed.
“No, no that’s not what I’m saying,” he puts his palms up in surrender. “I’m just saying, sometimes to make it to the really good stuff, you have to dig through some bad stuff.”
I turn my head and look at Monty. He celebrated his 32nd wedding anniversary last year to his “bride.”
“How is Caroline?” I ask.
