Something deep in my chest growls and suddenly I want to kill one of my best friends. She sees my inner-Neanderthal, pulls her hand out of my grasp, and walks beside me as we head down the county road, nothing but knee-high corn for miles.
“You wanted to talk, so do it.”
“I screwed up. I’m sorry.” I don’t generally apologize and I have no idea if I’m doing it right.
“Sorry for what?” Her eyebrows go up as she cocks her head.
Fuck. This must be some kind of woman-test. “I should’ve told you about witness protection before filling out the paperwork.”
“Damn right you-”
“Hold on, there. It was the only way to keep the district attorney from arresting you.”
“How convenient. After you’re through with me, there’s no strings attached. You go your way, I go into oblivion.”
Her cold tone stops me in my tracks and I stare, dumbfounded. “How can you say such a thing? After what we shared?”
She snorts. “You fucked yourclientso guess I’m paid in full, now.”
Because she thinks so little of me and of her, I see red. “Jack’s in the lot. My mom’s made dinner. I’ll make apologies for you.”
I turn my back to her, my stupid insides bleeding all over the road. I think my eyes may be wet and it pisses me off so bad I scratch my face with my watch band.
This is what I get for breaking my rules.
When I get in the truck, my phone rings and it’s my Mom. “Dinner will be ready soon. Are Jack and the young lady coming?”
“Ah, no. Sorry. It’s just me and you tonight. I’ll be home in a bit.”
On the drive back, I call my happily married brother for some advice. “Hey, CJ.”
“Hey. What’s wrong?”
“What? I can’t just call you?” I turn into my mother’s driveway, turn off the key, and sit, banging my head on the steering wheel.
This is reminiscent of his situation a few years back. If I wasn’t so damn miserable, I’d laugh. “I fucked up.”
He must hear my pain because his voice takes on a serious edge. “Woman trouble?”
“Yeah. The girl you insisted I help the other night.”
“Ah, so I see. This is my fault, is it?”
“If the foo shits…”
He laughs at our childhood joke then there’s silence on the other line while he thinks about what to say. Unlike me, he’s a man of few words.
“Is she the one?”
“She makes me fucking crazy. Turns my world upside down. I don’t know if I’m coming or going.”
“You tell her you love her?”
I exhale out until my lungs empty. “We just met, bro. I didn’t want to scare her off. Instead, now I pissed her off. Not only that, I’m supposed to be her part-time bodyguard. Me and Jack are taking shifts.”
“How about you roll back to the beginning. Tell me everything.”
I bring him up to speed. “…so I brought her to Mom’s. You know how everybody knows everybody else down here. I figured she’d be safe. The sheriff is keeping a close watch but even more so, the old busy-bodies. Mom’s whole church group is probably honing in with binoculars as we speak.”
