Page 39 of Army
Playfully hitting his arm, she chuckled. “I didn’t tell you what you could and couldn’t say.”
“You told me I couldn’t say anything about you being a woman. You wanted me to treat you like a buddy.”
“I think you’re trying to get out of telling me what I asked.”
The waiter put a steaming and sizzling plate of steak fajitas in front of her and a dish of Mexican steak and shrimp in front of Army. His twinkling eyes resembled chips of blue topaz glittering under the sun. Picking up his fork, he winked at her then dove into his food.
“You’re not getting off that easily,” she said, pouring salsa over the steak and green peppers.
Army raised his finger while chewing as if to say, “Give me a minute,” then he picked up the beer bottle and took a swig.
“Okay. Let’s see. My dad collects wives.” He put another forkful of food in his mouth.
“How many does he have?”
He raised four fingers.
“Which number was your mom?”
“The first. He’s divorced again and working on number five. He met her not too long ago, and he already moved her into the house.”
“How old were you when your parents divorced?” Mia picked up a corn tortilla and filled it with steak and guacamole.
Army kept eating and chewing … and looking everywhere but at her.I think I found his dark spot.“Divorce is really hard on kids,” she said.
“My mom didn’t wait around for the divorce, she fuckin’ blew.” Another large bite.
Waiting until he’d swallowed, Mia asked, “Did you get to see your dad a lot when you were growing up?”
“My brothers and I lived with our dad. My mom left all of us for a sonofabitch.” Army nodded as he looked at Mia. “You’re surprised and you fuckin’ should be because moms aren’t supposed to do that shit.”
“How old were you?” she asked softly.
“Nine.”
Her heart ached for the nine-year-old boy who was still trapped inside the man. “That’s real tough.”
Army shrugged. “It’s whatever.”
“Is your dad a bigamist?”
His face crinkled in laughter. “I gotta tell my brothers that one. I wish he was—that’d be fuckin’ awesome. You know, raising your middle finger at the establishment. Unfortunately, my dad plays by the rules, so he divorced my mom. He found out she was living in Madison, Wisconsin, with the asshole, so he served the papers there.”
“Have you ever tried to get in contact with her?”
His expression tightened. “No fuckin’ way. My dad’s lived in the same house we grew up in. She knows it.”
Sensing that he was more than bitter and angry, she decided to back off. “Have you ever been married?”
He jerked his head back and laughed. “Fuck no. Never plan to either. It’s a crock of shit invented by the establishment to get more taxes and stick their fuckin’ noses into people’s personal lives.”
“Ooo … kay.” Her eyes widened and she looked sideways.
“What about you?”
“Not yet. I bet you have a lot of girlfriends.”Why do I care about the women in his life?
“I don’t have girlfriends, but … yeah … I have a lot of chicks wanting to hook up with me.”
