Nick
Penny, the friend of Roly’s who recommended Elijah and director of the Homeless Vets Association, looks at me with pleading eyes. “Nick, you know probably better than anybody else the problem of homelessness among vets. Sure, a lot of them are able to get jobs, but a lot of times those jobs aren’t enough to keep them off the street. And some of them have mental health issues and drinking problems, and they just fall through the cracks. Even though the percentage is small, it’s still thousands and thousands of servicepeople. Donation drives and charity dinners are needed because there aren’t enough resources otherwise.”
“Penny, I totally understand and have every intention of making a donation to the HVA, but… using Wrecked to hold a ball? How would that even work?”
“Well, first of all, it’s a dinner, not a ball, and second, you’ve got a huge warehouse at your disposal, and with the right help it actually is quite workable. I mean, didn’t Evie and Scout get married here a few months ago?”
“Yeah, but that was before the equipment came in. Thiswhatever you want to call itis two weeks away!”
Penny is sheepish. “I know! Look, we were going to do a whole poolside thing at some mucky-muck’s house, and Evie told me they were notoriously flaky and that I should have a backup plan, but I’d gotten along so well with the woman that—”
“—you decided against the backup plan, and then she flaked out, just like Evie told you she would.” It annoys me because people do that to Evie. Alot.
Penny drags her vegan leather sole along the ground. “Yes.”
“You know Eviesavedmy sister’s business, right? She’s hella smart.”
Penny holds up her finger. “I know that now. And, I may have let the lavender hair sway my original opinion. Also, a long time ago Ten tried to rope her in for a threesome and Scout shut that down pretty hard-core, so I wasn’t sure where she was coming from with her advice.”
I chuckle because I actually know this story. It’s how Evie’s rosemary-peach pizza came into my life. I give one moment of thought to the utter strangeness of our little friend group and then focus back on the issue at hand.
“Okay, Penny. I get it. Venues fall through sometimes. But what about the catering? The equipment? What the hell am I supposed to do with everything that’s in there?”
“Shit. She was supposed to provide the catering,” Penny says, chewing her fingernail. “Not to worry—I’ll get it figured out. And I was thinking that we could hire movers and have them push everything against one wall, block them off with screens, and then have them come back first thing in the morning to help you move everything back into place.”
“It’s a ball, Penny. And it means that I’d have to shut down the gym for two days.”
“It’s a dinner, Nick, and stop being so dramatic. You’d be down, at most, twenty-four hours.”
“There’s dancing, so it is a ball, and I doubt very seriously that this place can be taken down and put back together in less than a day.”
“Yes, there’s dancing, but to like, ’80s and ’90s music. Nobody’s going to bust out a waltz. I promise, you won’t have todoanything. I’ll have my guys move everything out of the way, I’ll have my guys take care of all the decorating, all you have to do is show up and say a few words… and maybe lift something heavy. For the men and women who like that kind of thing,” she says, looking off to the side.
“Don’t you have a lesbian at home to lift heavy things for you?”
“Sure. But Ten isn’t as pretty as you are, and she doesn’t have a prosthetic leg.”
“So… dance, monkey, dance?”
“Just a little bit of dancing. And… maybe some booty shaking.”
“No. I don’t shake my booty. Ever. I can put down a dance floor, I’m fine with that, but I do not dance.”
“But otherwise you’ll do it?” she asks, her demeanor brightening.
Fuck. I guess I just agreed to hosting a ball at my gym. “Fine, you beat me down. I’ll do it. But you’re hiring my sister for the catering and coordinating everything through Elijah. Keep me out of it.”
“Oh, that’s right! I’m so glad you hired Elijah. He’s such a good guy. All he really needed was a chance, and I knew he would do well. Sucks everything that happened with his aunt and his mother.”
I realize that she’s known him since before he got here, and I’d bet a helluva lot more than five dollars she knows some of the details Elijah has been so reticent to share. Like the fact that something went down with his aunt and his mother, which I’d picked up on the day he was crying on my shoulder. “Yeah, no doubt.”
She pats my arm. “Tell you what, I’ll reach out to him and we’ll plan everything. You don’t even have to lift a finger.”
Something tells me that I’ll be moving gym equipment in a mad rush hours before people arrive at this stupid ball.
* * *
Elijah
