FIFTEEN
CHAPTER
When my cell phone rang around eight o’clock, I knew it would be Theo. I’d already gotten an earful from Tania when I’d returned to the hot shop that afternoon: question after question about Kacey. I stuck to the story; she was leaving the next day.
“And the perfume bottle?” Tania asked, her lips curled up in a knowing smirk. “I don’t recall it being on the gallery manifest.”
“I added it.”
“Whatever you say, boss,” she’d said, and let the matter drop.
Theo on the other hand…
“Oscar texted me,” he said now. “You’re canceling tonight?”
“It’s Kacey’s last night—”
“So, it’s about that girl.”
“ Kacey . Yes. I—”
“Are you going to sleep with her?”
“Jesus, Theo.”
“Are you?”
I sat on one of the two stools at the kitchen that served as my dining table, turning away from the hallway bathroom where Kacey was washing her face.
“I’m being polite to my houseguest. I don’t want to invite her out, she’s trying not to drink, and I don’t want to leave her alone to be bored all night.
And by the way, newsflash…” I lowered my voice and made sure the water was still running in the sink…
“It’s none of your business who I sleep with. ”
“You know what Dr. Morrison told you,” Theo said. “You have to be careful. Don’t overdo it.”
“Theo…”
“And you have to use a condom, no exceptions.”
“I’m hanging up now.”
But of course, I didn’t hang up. Because he was my brother and beneath his tough talk, he was scared shitless for me. “I told Oscar and Dena we’d hang out on Wednesday to make up for it. You free?”
“I’m at the shop late Wednesday,” Theo said. “She’s leaving tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow.”
There was a silence on the other end.
“Hello?” I said. “Want me to tell her you said goodbye? Safe travels? How about an autograph?”
“I’ll talk to you later,” Theo said, his voice suddenly stony. The phone went quiet.
Kacey emerged from the bathroom, wearing a T-shirt that came to mid-thigh and nothing else. I stared at her long, bare legs and the bottom edge of a tattoo peeking out from beneath the hem.
“Don’t look so scandalized, Fletcher,” Kacey said, hauling up her shirt. “I’m wearing shorts.”
I blinked. Yes, indeed, she was wearing shorts. Short shorts.
“Your tattoo,” I said. “What’s that called? A sugar skull?”
“A voodoo sugar skull. See the top hat? I love voodoo mythology and magic. Marie Leveau. Vevé.” She held up her leg for inspection and I pretended to study her skull that was done in vibrant colors and two large blue flowers in the eye sockets.
“It’s nice.” I coughed. “So…movie?”
Kacey clapped her hands together. “The original Nightmare on Elm Street. 1984. I’ve seen it twice. Johnny Depp is a baby in this sucker.”
I watched her move into my kitchen and begin bustling around with pots, opening cabinets, and turning on a burner on the stove as if she’d done it a hundred times.
“You’re cooking too?”
She dangled a bag of popcorn kernels. “Homemade. No fats or preservatives or—”
“Flavor?” I finished and then laughed at her huffy expression. “Did I have popcorn stashed somewhere?”
“No, I bought it today,” Kacey said. “Can’t watch a horror flick without popcorn. But I’m using coconut oil. Low cholesterol, heart healthy. And I got you this…”
She handed me a canister from the counter. The label read Milton’s Salt Substitute.
“Sodium free,” Kacey said, shaking the covered pot on the stove. “Fake salt. I’m going to use it on my popcorn too, out of solidarity. Oh, and drinks.”
Kacey rummaged in the fridge, and I was afforded a generous glimpse of the smooth, flawless skin on the backs of her legs before she turned around and handed me a bottle of green tea with lemon and honey.
“Green tea is the healthiest thing ever, apparently. Personally, I never drink iced tea unless it’s of the Long Island variety, but I thought we’d give it a shot.”
I set my bottle on the counter and watched her shake the pot that was now bursting with popcorn. “When did you go grocery shopping?”
“While you were at the hot shop this afternoon. I love Tania, by the way. She’s a quality human.”
“Yes, she is,” I said.
“Popcorn’s ready,” Kacey said. She dumped it all into a larger bowl, eyeing me up and down. “What’s with you tonight, anyway?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re kind of scattered. Something on your mind? ”
“I’m just shocked you did all this.”
“That I went to the grocery store? Or that I braved the heat? I guess I have a lot of work left to do in the responsibility arena if buying popcorn and drinks comes as a shock.”
“Shocked was the wrong choice of words. I meant, I’m touched you did all this. For me.”
“It’s the least I could do since you let me crash here.”
She smiled at me and I smiled back, until the moment grew too long for friends to be smiling at one another. I tried some of the popcorn.
“How’s the fake salt?” she asked.
“Not bad.”
We moved our food and drinks to the couch. I sat at one end figuring Kacey would sit at the other. Instead, she set the popcorn bowl in her lap and curled up right next to me, tucking her legs under her. She was flush against me, shoulder to shoulder, her left breast soft against my arm.
“Is this okay?” she asked, taking up the TV remote. “It’s a horror movie, for one thing. And I’m kind of touchy-feely.”
“I noticed.” I could feel every place where we touched. “Why?”
“Ready for some pop psychology? My dad was a big believer in withholding physical affection. He hardly ever touched or hugged me. And he was always badgering my mom not to go overboard and coddle me. It would only make me weak and soft.”
“Are you serious?” My imagination conjured a sweet little girl, running up to her dad with a scraped knee or with an A on a spelling test and being coldly rebuffed. “Your dad never hugged you?”
She shook her head. “But his little plan backfired. Instead of making me tough, I went the other way. I want to touch everyone. To make contact, you know?”
“Is that why you hug people when you meet them? Like Tania, today?”
“I don’t hug everyone . Only good people. I have a sixth sense about it.”
“You didn’t hug Theo yesterday,” I said. “He’s a good guy.”
“Can you blame me? He looked like he wanted to bite my head off.” The glow of the TV turned Kacey’s eyes electric blue. “But he’s a good guy. I wanted to hug him, but I don’t think he would’ve liked that. I don’t think he likes me .”
“He doesn’t trust easily,” I said. “I’m sure he likes you fine.”
Kacey turned to look at me, and because she was practically sitting in my lap, her face was inches from mine. Her face was open, her features even more striking this close, free of the elaborate makeup she usually wore.
“Why would he need to trust me?” she asked.
Shit. Good question. “He doesn’t trust anyone new around me,” I said, infusing my words with as much nonchalance as possible. “Since my surgery, he’s become ridiculously overprotective.”
“Why? I mean, aside from the obvious reasons.”
“My regimen is pretty severe and he worries I’ll become distracted.”
“He’s worried I’ll corrupt you? Take you out for steak and booze?”
I glanced at this girl who wasn’t used to being trusted and heard myself say, “He doesn’t trust women around me. Because of Audrey. My last girlfriend.”
Now Kacey sat up and turned her full attention toward me. “Audrey. Is she the girl…?” She pointed at a framed shot of Audrey and me at Carnegie that hung on the wall next to the AC unit.
“That’s her,” I said. “We were together for three years. We traveled a lot and planned to keep traveling after graduation. To see the great cities of the world and be inspired by their art.”
“She worked in glass too?”
“No, a painter. We had a life planned out, and then it fell apart and she didn’t know how to cope with the chaos. She was with me in South America when I got sick and flew home with me while I waited for a donor heart. But being around illness or hanging around hospitals wasn’t her thing.”
Kacey leaned back, a shadow crossing her face. “What happened?”
“She stuck it out until I got the call that a heart had come available.”
Kacey’s eyes widened, “She left? While you were about to have a heart transplant?”
“More or less,” I said. “But the upshot is, she told Theo she was leaving, and it turned him into a paranoid guard dog…”
“What about you?” Kacey cut in.
I tensed. “What about me?”
“She left. Is that why you stick so religiously to your schedule? To protect yourself?”
Words stuck in my throat and I could only nod.
“I’m sorry if that’s personal,” she said. “I was thinking about how we’ve both been hurt by people who were supposed to love us. I protect myself too. By drinking, partying, making loud music.” She turned back to face the television. “I hate that people leave when they’re supposed to stay.”
I nodded, at a loss for words. We watched the movie and ate our popcorn, while the minutes ticked closer to tomorrow.
Onscreen, a young woman thrashed in her bed. Her boyfriend screamed as the girl died a bloody death, her body dragged up the wall and cut to ribbons by unseen hands.
Kacey buried her face in my shoulder. “Tell me when it’s over,” she said, her voice muffled.
“What, this scene?”
She nodded against me, clutching my arm. Her hair was soft against my cheek.
On the TV, the boyfriend’s screaming stopped. “Okay, she’s a goner,” I said.
Kacey turned her head to peek at the screen with one eye, then both. “Sorry. I’m a total wimp about horror movies.”
“It was your idea. ”
“It’s a great movie.”
“But you’re scared to even watch it.”
“So?” Her challenging eyes were bright and vibrant, as if backlit with a cerulean light. “What’s your point?”
“No, nothing,” I laughed, shaking my head. “Makes total sense.”
Kacey elbowed my side, then curled into it again.