Chapter 9 #7
“That’s not the baby in the basket. That’s my girlfriend’s daughter.” It was the first time he’d called Anne his girlfriend to anyone else, and he’d thought it would sound odd, but it felt very good to say it. “Her name is Paulina, but we call her Polly.”
Turner’s eyes were baseball sized, and apparently his hearing had stopped at girlfriend . “You’ve got a girlfriend? Don’t you mean a piece of pussy?”
“Hey! There are kids here!” Blue pointed out.
“Since when has that meant anything to you, you dumb son of a bitch?”
“You know what?” Blue stood and glared down at Turner. “I made a mistake sitting here. I meant to sit up there. You know―with the humans.”
Turner glared back. “Just because you shaved doesn’t mean you don’t still look like a big ape.”
Don’t do it, Wallace. Don’t let him bait you.
Be the bigger man and walk away. “You know, since I’ve been sitting here for, oh, less than two minutes, you’ve called a little girl ugly, called my girlfriend a nasty name, and called me stupid.
I don’t want to sit here with somebody who’s that pitiful.
You need something in your life to help you be a better person.
” Then he realized something. “You have a kid here?”
“Yeah. The pretty one right there in the blue dress,” Turner said sourly and pointed to a girl wearing a blue sundress. She was cute, but not like Polly and Crystal. She lacked… class. That was it.
“I’m so sorry for her, having a dad like you.
I hope you treat her better than you treat the rest of the world or she’ll be in a hurry to get out of the house.
Right now, I need to move. The air is foul right here.
” He turned to go, but he heard Turner say something that made a ball of barbed wire take up residence in his stomach.
“I’m glad I fired your ass. Still drawing unemployment?”
Blue chuckled and turned to stare him in the face.
“Nope. ChuckWentworth hired me as the service department manager at the big Vanguard dealership in Macon. I’m in the process of getting my ASE certification and when I do, my salary will increase from the thirty-five it is now to sixty.
If I get my third certification, it’ll go up to seventy.
And benefits. And vacation, and sick leave, and three personal days.
So thanks, Turner. You firing me? It did me a big favor.
It taught me that I really needed something better than what you doled out, and look―I did it.
Oh, and did I mention they’re paying for my certification too?
Well, they are. So you just suck on that, you miserable piece of crap. ”
As he turned to climb the bleachers, he was sure Turner would yell some kind of insult at his back, but that didn’t happen, and he hoped the asshole was thinking about everything he’d said.
He took a seat again, still a little raw from the encounter and trying to calm down, when a voice said, “Hey, come on up and join us.” Turning, he saw a man sitting there, a smile on his face, and the guy motioned to three others.
“We’re sitting here waiting for the dance.
” Blue rose and headed that direction. When he reached them, the man held out his hand.
“I’m RandyCarver. This is DaleSettles, and that’s KevinLassiter.
And that,” he said, leaning out and pointing to the fourth man, “is my brother, Roger. We’ve all got kids here. I haven’t seen you around here before.”
Blue took his hand and shook it. “BlueWallace. The girl in the pale blue dress down there, the one with the daisy in her hair? That’s my girlfriend’s daughter, Polly.”
“PollyBlack? Yeah, she and Rosy were on the soccer team together in elementary school. The girl in the peach-colored dress is Roger’s daughter, Moira.
She’s a sophomore. Dale and Kevin have the two girls down there in the pink dresses, Annalise and Dorothy.
They’re juniors. You and Anne been together long? ”
“Not long. Her kids are great.”
“They are good kids. Anne’s a wonderful person. She was Abigail’s―my wife’s―nurse when she had surgery. Took really good care of her. I’m glad she’s getting around. I mean, getting out and… Wow. I’m botching this conversation!” Randy said, his face reddening.
Blue couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey, it’s okay! I know what you meant. I was her next-door neighbor. We got to know each other that way.”
“You have kids?”
“Yeah. Baby girl. Indigo.”
“What a cool name! Blue and Indigo. I guess your eyes?” Randy said, pointing at them.
“Yeah. My name’s really Brent, but everybody’s always called me Blue.”
“I don’t care what they call me, as long as they call me for dinner!” Randy said, laughing. “My wife… Uh-oh. It’s time for the dance. Come on, guys. Make our girls proud!” Randy said and hopped up. Blue followed the other guys, not knowing quite what to expect.
By the time they got to the floor, the girls were all waiting, and Blue was feeling the panic seeping in.
He’d never danced with a teenage girl. Most of what he’d call dancing was grinding against some chick he’d just met as a prelude to fucking her into unconsciousness.
That wasn’t going to work in this instance, that was for sure.
As soon as he stepped up in front of Polly, she smiled up at him.
“Could you dance with Crystal first, since she doesn’t have a dad here? ”
“But that means you won’t either,” he reminded her.
“Yeah, but I can wait. It’s no big deal.” There was a look in her eyes that told him she wasn’t kidding. She didn’t want her friend to feel left out, and he was immensely proud of her for that.
Blue glanced around quickly, then grinned. “Hang on. I’ll be right back.” Before she could ask what he was doing, he took off toward a guy standing near the door who was wearing an ID badge. “Hey. Are you a teacher here?”
The young man turned toward him. “Yeah. American history.”
“We’ve got a girl over here who doesn’t have a dad. She came with me and my girl, but I can’t dance with them both at the same time. Would you mind…”
“Of course not! Sure thing! Lindsey, can you watch the door for a few minutes?” the man called to a woman at the table.
In three seconds, Blue came back to Polly with the fellow in tow. “Where’s Crystal?”
“She’s right there,” a stunned-looking Polly said and pointed to her friend.
“Okay, Mr.… What did you say your name is?”
“Mr.Cox. I’m the American history teacher,” the guy said and smiled at Polly.
“Mr.Cox is going to dance with Crystal, if that’s okay.”
Polly nodded. “Sure. I bet she’d like that.” Polly and Blue watched as Mr.Cox headed toward Crystal and a second or two later, they were on the dance floor.
Polly smiled up at Blue. “Thank you.”
“For what? Being selfish? I wanted to dance with you.” The smile he gave her back was the warmest he could manage.
He loved the girl for her sweetness and kindness, and he loved her because he loved her mother too.
“If I’m going to be your dad for the night, I want to dance with you.
” He glanced around to find most of the dads in a classic dance stance, but a few of them were hugging their daughters to them, and he was touched by the love in the room.
Taking Polly’s hand, he took up the stance he was seeing, but she leaned into him and rested her cheek on his chest.
Blue wanted to laugh. He wanted to cry. He wanted to kiss her on the forehead and tell her what a lucky guy he was to have a daughter like her, but she wasn’t his daughter.
Not yet anyway. If he had any say in it, she would be eventually.
Almost as if she could hear his thoughts, Polly asked, “If you and my mom stay together, would you ever consider adopting Toady and me?”
“Your mom and I have talked about it, and I’d like to, but we need a little more time to make sure this thing will fly.
” He hesitated for a second, then pulled back to look down into her face.
“Polly, I just want you to know… I feel so lucky to have you and your mom and Toady in my life. You guys… you’ve given me a life I didn’t know I could have.
I want to make you proud of me, and I want to be somebody you can count on, you know?
And I don’t know how to do that, but I really want to. I’m trying.”
“You already are. You’re here with me. Without you, I wouldn’t have gotten to come.
I’m not like Crystal. She didn’t care. But not having a dad…
It’s been hard for me, and especially for Toady.
And Mom. She’s done everything herself. I love you being there with us while Mom’s at work.
We’re not so lonely anymore, and Mom’s not so lonely anymore, and Indie is our little sister.
So thank you. I meant it when I said you’re the best dad I’ve ever had, but I’d say that even if I’d had another.
I love you, Blue. I don’t want you to ever leave us.
” Polly leaned into him again and Blue’s heart melted.
“I love you too, sweetie,” he whispered against the crown of her head.
“And I won’t leave unless you guys ask me to.
I want to be with you. You’re my family now, and I’m so, so proud of you.
The way you wanted me to dance with Crystal first?
That was really kind of you, Polly. Your mom has done a great job of raising you and Toady. You’re good people.”
Polly craned her head just enough that she could look up at him. “You did Crystal a huge favor, you know.”
“Oh, it was nothing. No problem. She’s welcome to come along any time and―”
“No, no! That’s not what I meant! She’s dancing with Mr.Cox!”
“Yeah? So?”
“So, he’s the hottest teacher ever! All the girls have crushes on him, and Crystal’s getting to dance with him! Everybody’s going to be so jealous of her now!” Then she giggled and went back to leaning into him.