“Criminal?” she says.
“Hey, wait a minute…innocent until proven guilty. I watchLaw & Order,okay?”
She’s smiling as she pulls me along toward the cell. “Did you get someone to take care of things for you?” she asks.
“Yeah, my husband. I mean ex-husband.” She looks at me peculiarly. “It was the only phone number I knew by heart.”
She laughs. “Well, I guess you can’t call him ‘good for nothin’’ anymore, can you?”
“Funny.”
—
It’s been hours, I’ve been sitting here on a concrete bench staring at my hands. I don’t think I regret punching Beth, which makes me sad about the whole situation. I’ve never disliked anyone so much.
The deputy comes to unlock the bars. “Come on. Your ex is here.”
“Never thought I’d be so happy to hear those words.”
We both laugh. “By the way, the charges were dropped. I guess no broken nose and no hard feelings. It was all a big misunderstanding.” She lowers her voice. “Boy, oh boy, did you get lucky.”
I don’t think I would call it “luck,” but I’ll take it for now. As soon as we turn the corner, I see Alex. I sometimes forget how handsome he is. I realize more now that every once-in-a-while, you have to move away from a person to see why you were attracted to them to begin with. He’s standing with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall.
When he looks up and sees me, he smiles. In the beginning, Alex and I were like two opposite magnets in a drawer. My north to his south. We grew closer and closer together…until we fused. It was then that we became the same, too alike…too close. We were so close, so similar, we started to repel one another. We lost our identities and surrendered to being a couple. To being a mom and dad with no singular identities, no separateness, no autonomy. Now I’m seeing him again from the other side of the drawer and there are so many things I want to tell him.
“Hey, slugger,” he says.
“Hi,” I say with a mock frown.
The deputy hands me my things and I’m free. I follow Alex outside and it feels natural to be with him. It’s calming.
We get in his car and start driving out of the parking lot. I turn my body toward him from the passenger seat. “Thank you,” I say.
“Of course, Dani. Do you mind if I stop at the Mobil gas station by the freeway? I’m on empty.”
“Yeah, go ahead. Thanks for asking.”
“Sooo, Rocky Balboa, I guess we’re making this a family thing? We’re like an organized crime family now…minus the organized part.”
“Ha, ha, ha! I thought you’d be mad.”
“I’m not mad. Are you kidding? This is the most fun I’ve had in ages. I mean, bailing your ex-wife out of jail on Valentine’s Day? It doesn’t get better than that.”
“I’m not amused.”
“Why was Beth at the premier party anyway?” he says.
“I don’t know, probably to torture me. She must have come to her senses, though, because she dropped the charges. God, I don’t know why I let her get to me. Beth is like Comic Sans, you know? No one really takes her seriously…why should I?”
“Comic Sans? The font?” he says.
“Yeah, exactly.”
“What font am I?”
“You’re definitely Wingdings, impossible to read,” I tell him.
Alex laughs once and then begins fidgeting with the air conditioner. “Are you cold?”
