Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Jamie
My mind races as I stand in the middle of the bedroom I share with my husband trying to digest the terrible news he just told me.
Someone killed themselves on the nature path.
It’s so hard to believe. This is why I always tell Connor to keep his guns locked up tightly.
If the girls ever got their hands on one of those things, I don’t want to think about what may happen.
Thankfully, my phone rings, tearing me away from those terrible thoughts. I see it’s Maris and immediately answer, just in case something’s happened to one of the girls.
“Hey, Maris! What’s up? Is everything okay?” I ask as I start to pace across the bedroom floor.
“The girls are fine. I just wanted to know if you heard about that shooting that took place up on the trails. Five minutes ago, Alita called me to say she heard someone got shot up there. Have you or Connor heard anything about it?”
Oh, God. This is my worst nightmare come true. After all I’ve done to make sure Cassandra and Danielle are as popular as possible, all of my diligent work is about to be undone by one stupid thing. When everyone hears Connor was with that guy, they’re going to take it out on my girls.
I have to choose my words carefully here. Maris isn’t the type of person to immediately decide Connor’s guilty, but I need to lay the groundwork for any ugliness that may come later from some of the other mothers.
Forcing myself to smile and hoping I sound as casual and lighthearted as I usually do, I answer, “I heard about it at the coffee shop. It’s a terrible accident, I hear. The man didn’t mean to shoot anyone. He just made a mistake, I think.”
Maris lets out an audible sigh of relief.
“Oh, thank God. I was worried we had a hardened criminal in our midst for a few seconds there. I knew you’d have the dirt, Jamie.
Thanks so much for clearing that up. I feel like I can let the girls go back outside to enjoy the pool now that I know we don’t have a gun-wielding maniac running around. ”
“Absolutely! I think it’s just a tragic mistake all around. I’m glad you were looking out for my girls, though. Thank you for that.”
“Oh, it’s my pleasure. Your daughters are practically angels, so it’s always great to have them stay over. I’ll let you go enjoy your night off from being a mom. Do you and Connor have anything special planned? Maybe a candlelight dinner or going out to a nice restaurant?”
I wish. Knowing my husband, he’s going to sit and stew about what happened up on that path all night. The best I can hope for is ordering in a pizza from that new place in town.
She can’t know that, though, so I have to lie.
“Oh, I don’t know. Between you and me, I think that husband of mine is planning something special because he’s been dropping hints all day. I’ll be sure to give you all the details tomorrow morning, if I’m not hungover, or Monday when I drop the girls off at practice.”
Maris sounds genuinely excited for my surprise and says, “Oh, that’s great!
Enjoy yourselves tonight. I know how few and far between nights out can be when you have two kids.
Don’t worry about Cassandra and Danielle.
They’ll be fine here. We’re ordering pizza from Nico’s and making ice cream sundaes tonight.
I know they should be watching what they’re eating because of gymnastics and the big meet coming up, but they’ll burn off all those calories, don’t worry. ”
As much as I know I should be concerned with my daughters’ calorie intake, they’ve already made the team, so it’ll be fine.
It’s Tiffanie who should be watching what she eats.
She still hasn’t made the team, and if she doesn’t get that vault down pat, the only thing she’s going to have to make her happy is that pizza and ice cream.
“Thanks so much, Maris. You guys have fun tonight. I’ll be over to pick the girls up right around eleven tomorrow. Sound good?”
“That sounds perfect! Enjoy your night off tonight. You deserve it!”
I end the call and sit down on the edge of the bed. I can feel a headache starting because of all this craziness. Connor knows how hard I’ve worked to make sure the girls are successful and popular. Does he understand this one instance could upend all I’ve done? Then what are we going to do?
No, I can’t think like that! I’ve worked too damn long to have all I’ve achieved to go up in smoke over someone else’s mistake.
I need to get ahead of this right now. There’s no way I’m letting the rumor mill get a hold of this story without my controlling it. But how?
Let’s think. That guy obviously had some deep-seated mental problems. He must have to shoot himself. Then again, Connor said it was an accident, so maybe he wasn’t intending on killing himself.
That’s even better. I can work with an accident. I just need to know the man’s name, and then I can get to work containing this mess.
I hurry over to the bathroom door and knock on it. “Connor! Are you finished in the shower yet? I need to ask you a question.”
Nothing but silence.
Ordinarily, I’d wait and give him some privacy, but there’s no time for that now. Flinging the door open, I walk into the bathroom and hear the shower still running. Strange. My husband isn’t normally one for long, luxurious showers.
“Are you okay in there?” I ask before swiping my hand across the mirror to clear away the steam.
Behind the glass door, Connor says, “Since you can hear the water still running, I must be in here. Sometimes I wonder about you, Jamie.”
He really can be quite testy sometimes. Whatever. I’m not interested in having that conversation with him right now.
“Connor, what was the name of the man who got shot today?”
Making a low sound like a growl, he answers, “He didn’t get shot, Jamie. He shot himself. Try phrasing it correctly.”
“Fine. What was the man’s name who shot himself up on the path today?”
My husband doesn’t respond, so after nearly half a minute, I ask, “Did you hear me? I need the man’s name, Connor!”
Just then, the door to the shower flies open toward me, and out steps Connor, dripping wet and reaching for the towel. The look on his face says he’s not happy with my questions, but if he knew what I needed to know for, he’d understand how important this is to our family.
“I don’t ask for much, Jamie. I just want some peace and quiet, and I expect that when I come in here to take a shower, I’ll at least have a few minutes to myself,” he says gruffly as he begins to dry off.
“Fine, Connor. I’m not here to interrupt anything. Just tell me the man’s name, and I’ll be gone.”
My husband complains about not having any space of his own in a house filled with women instead of answering my one simple question. I swear this man makes me so mad!
Disgusted by his unwillingness to help me, I yell, “Just tell me the goddamned man’s name, will you? Give me the name, and I’ll leave you alone, okay?”
My screaming stuns him for a few seconds, and the two of us stand just a few feet apart looking at one another like neither of us knows what to say. Why does he have to make everything so damn difficult?
He finishes drying off, so I ask once more, “What was the man’s name who shot himself today?”
It’s not an outlandish question. I don’t know why he has to give me a hard time instead of simply answering me.
Connor sighs and answers, “Bryan Corsei. That was his name. Happy now?”
I can’t stop myself from rolling my eyes as I push past him on my way out of the bathroom.
Happy? No, dearest husband, I’m not happy.
I’m tired of dealing with you being miserable, and now it looks like all I’ve done to make sure our daughters get the best chance in this world is going to be ruined because of your stupid walking pal shooting himself.
So, no, on the whole, I’m not happy, Connor.
If I thought it would be worth the time and effort necessary to say all of that to him, I would, but I know Connor Jennings better than that. He’d just complain that I’m nagging again, and then he’d either storm out or we’d have a fight.
Definitely not the way I had hoped to spend a night without our girls.
Armed with at least the man’s name, now I can get to work. I have to do this right. It would be easier to start with one of the nicer mothers like Maris, but while that would be less painful, I know I have to call the biggest, baddest mother at gymnastics.
Vanessa Dennis.
Like all the other mothers, I usually refer to her by her initials behind her back. VD. It’s childish, but the woman is as awful as a venereal disease.
Vanessa Dennis is mean and intentionally cruel to anyone she doesn’t like, and her distaste for someone doesn’t even have to be something serious.
She once insisted everyone blackball Janine Matthews and her daughter because Janine didn’t have the time to buy a candy bar Allie Dennis was selling for cheerleading.
For three months, poor Janine got no invitations to join any of us for coffee after practice or the daily walk many of us used to take, and her daughter didn’t get to sleep over at any of the girls’ homes because no one asked her in fear that if they did, then Vanessa would make them a target for her wrath.
My hands shake as I scroll through my contacts list. When I stop on Vanessa’s name, I groan. Never once have I spoken to that woman without being miserable when the call is over. I can be catty, but she’s downright awful.
It doesn’t matter. All I have to do is plant the seed in her mind that Connor had nothing to do with what happened and everything will be fine.
After taking a deep breath and letting it out until there’s no air left in my lungs, I press call and try to keep calm, even as my heart races. Vanessa very quickly answers, which seems like a good sign, and I carefully listen to her voice. She sounds chipper enough.
“Hey, Jamie. What’s up? I saw your husband at the grocery store this morning before I brought Allie over to your house. He looked almost sick. Is everything okay?”
That’s her style. It seems innocuous and possibly like she’s full of concern for Connor’s health, but I know her too well.
That little comment was meant to make me apologize for something he did.
It was likely nothing important, like he didn’t say hello when she saw him, but I’ll do what I have to in order to get moving on to what I want to say.
“Oh, you know how men are. They get so cranky when you ask them to run to the store for you. He didn’t mention seeing you, so that’s why he didn’t say hi, I’m sure. Connor was just unhappy he couldn’t sit around and watch golf instead of doing me one, tiny favor.”
She has a habit of humming as people speak, something I’ve always found irritating, and today she’s so loud she almost drowns out my very words. Like with everything else she does, it’s always to make sure she’s in total control of the situation.
“Oh, well that explains it. I thought he was just being rude. I couldn’t imagine what I may have done to upset him. I even asked my husband, but John didn’t know what could be wrong.”
I’d bet a hundred dollars not a single word of that was a lie.
I can see her sitting down with her husband to discuss why Connor didn’t speak to her at the grocery store.
Sometimes she can be so ridiculous. Her husband, on the other hand, likely stared at her with his trademark look of disinterest he seems to wear every time I see him.
John Dennis rarely says anything whenever he’s around all of us, but I’ve always had the sense his indifference isn’t only what he feels when he’s in public with the other gymnastics parents.
There’s no time to focus on that now, though. I’ve got more important things to take care of today with her.
I have to phrase things just right, or this phone call will all be for nothing.
“Believe it or not, things actually got much worse for my poor husband after he had to run to the store for me. He and this man he knows from his work decided to enjoy the beautiful weather and take a hike along the paths around the area. I don’t know what exactly happened, but the man took out a gun and began shooting at small animals.
Then, and I have no idea why, he turned the gun on himself!
Connor was mortified and ran to get help from the community center. ”
Vanessa doesn’t say a word for a long moment, and every second I hear silence on the phone is a second I’m sure I’ve blown my chance to save the girls from any backlash that may come from what happened on the hiking path today.
I’m almost eager enough to continue talking, but thankfully, she finally starts speaking.
“Oh, my God! I heard something about a shooting, but I had no idea someone shot themselves. Even if it’s an accident, that’s terrible. How is Connor holding up? I can only imagine how awful it must be to see someone shoot themselves.”
Good. She sounds upset and worried, just as I hoped she would. Now to finish this off.
“He’s okay, but he’s terribly upset. It’s not everyday someone shoots themselves in front of you.
God, that poor man. He must have been dealing with some terrible demons.
Connor’s relaxing now, and I hope I can get him to talk about it later.
I just don’t think it’s healthy to keep things like that all bottled up inside. ”
“That’s a good idea. I imagine he’s very bothered after that. I know I would be. By the way, Allie had a great time at the party today. She’d love to have your daughters over for a sleepover next week. Sound good?”
Holy shit! This has turned out even better than I ever thought it could. I got to tell her about Connor and made it clear that he had nothing to do with that man’s death, and now she wants to have the girls over next weekend.
“Oh, that would be wonderful! I’m sure Cassandra and Danielle will be thrilled.
I’ll be sure to tell them when they get home.
I better go now. Connor just got out of the shower, so I’m hoping to make him some dinner and see if we can talk about what he went through today.
No good keeping it to himself, you know? ”
She chuckles for some reason and says, “Oh, definitely. Well, I’ll see you Monday at drop off. Tell Connor we hope he’s going to be okay.”
“Thanks, Vanessa! See you at drop off!” I chirp out, happier than I thought I could be this afternoon.
At least I was able to handle that. Now I just have to deal with that husband of mine.
And to think I was planning on telling him how wonderful I think he is after hearing that story Kelsey told me today.