Page 63 of What You Left Me
But not tonight.
She smiles to herself. Small victories.
“Let’s try something.” Martin stands up. “If I tell you what I was planning on wearing to this actual party, maybe you can make it so that Iamwearing it. Because I’ve got to say, this look isn’t cutting it.” He’s in a hospital gown.
How had she not noticed? Maybe he wasn’t before. The rules are blurry. Everything is on a constant tilt, forever shifting into different focuses.
“I was gonna find my dad’s old Van Halen shirt for you,” Martin continues. “I know he has one lying around somewhere. It’s the one with a smoking angel baby on it. Do you know it?”
“Kind of.” She tries to conjure the image, and it appears on Martin, along with a pair of well-fitted blue jeans.
Martin looks down and cheers. “Petty Margs for the win!” He considers the look. “I’d have topped this off with my usual Cubs hat though.”
She gives him the hat.
He takes it off his head to examine it. “Whoa. This is pretty damn close to correct. You’regood.” He pauses. “One more thing. Some Nikes on my feet?”
“Okay, I’m not your personal stylist here. Plain socks will have to do.”
“Can’t have it all,” Martin says with a grin.
“Shouldn’t we be trying to teleport or fly or something?”
Martin sits back down. Their knees are touching now. “I don’t know about you, but I’m a simple person. I don’t need much more than what’s in this room right now. Maybe my family. That’d be nice.”
Petra thinks of them, and they appear: Mama Dorothy, Mr. McGee, Katie, and her husband Rick. They walk through the door, laughing. Katie carries a cake with a lit candle. “Congratulations, graduate!” she cheers.
The entire party focuses on Martin as Katie brings him the cake. It reads CONGRATS, MARTY in blue icing. A little frosting Cubs hat is over theM.
The whole room erupts in applause. “Fly! Fly! Fly!” they chant.
Martin stands to look at the candle. He makes a wish, and a puff of smoke clouds his face, making the room smell like a birthday. Like hope.
Mama Dorothy kisses Martin on the cheek and squeezes him. His dad gets in on the other side. While his parents hold him, Katie carries the cake over to the pool table. Plates and forks and napkins are there now. She starts cutting off a big piece. Just as Mama Dorothy and Mr. McGee let go of Martin, Katie takes the chunk of cake she’s cut and smashes it into his face.
“Love you, dummy,” she says. She gives him a hug. They’re both laughing hysterically.
Martin licks his lips. “Yeah. Love you too, loser.”
Rick waits behind her with a napkin. He hands it off to Martin once Katie lets him go.
“Always lookin’ out for me, Ricky,” Martin says as he wipes his face clean. Rick pats him on the back.
The family moves toward the pool table again. Mama Dorothy and Katie start cutting the cake up for the guests to enjoy. Jessica’s friend from day care is first to get to them, almost aggressive in her eagerness. The rest of the party forms a line behind her. It’s so pure, all these teenagers waiting for a slice of cake, Mama Dorothy and Katie diligently obliging, cutting squares and passing them out as fast as they can.
Only Petra and Martin are left behind.
“Don’t you dare ask what I wished for,” Martin jokes. His delivery lacks the usual sparkle. Tears are in his eyes.
“I know better than that.”
There’s a lot they aren’t saying. It’s too hard to speak about.
Martin closes the distance between them, pulling Petra in for a hug. It’s tight and personal, but it isn’t romantic. It’s more—sentimental maybe. It makes her want to cry. He’s right here, hugging her so tight she almost can’t breathe, and she misses him. She misses all the time they didn’t know each other. All the days she didn’t turn her head to the side or look around the lunchroom. How many times did she see him and not notice?
How many times did he see her?
She buries her head into his shoulder, trying to flatten out the aching feeling that’s ballooning inside her. He matches her for a moment, then lessens his grip. “I better go cross something off my checklist,” he says as he breaks the hug.
