Page 80 of Beautiful Life
Me: Fried chicken.
After looking at the bubbles on my screen for two seconds, I get a text back.
Tony: Done.
This makes my smile grow even bigger as I pull out of my apartment complex, leaving my mother who is a pain in my ass and after spending the afternoon with my sister in drug treatment. I steer my cute little blue car that I love to Tony’s.
Or if I allow myself to let it be, home.
*****
“You ever stand up to your mom like that before?”
It’s late evening and Tony and I are in bed, him with his back to the headboard, knees up with his feet to the bed, and I’m curled in between his legs wearing nothing but his t-shirt and a pair of panties. Finny is even curled up at the bottom of the bed, out like a light from his walk and then tossing the ball around with Tony in the backyard after our fried chicken drive-thru dinner which cured all remnants of my hang over.
When I let Finny jump up on the bed, Tony gave me a frustrated and meaningful “Leigh,” to which I gave him an “Oh, he’ll be fine,” to which Tony just shook his head, giving in.
“Not really,” I answer. “I normally tried to appease her because it was easier than arguing with her. I was the same with Tina, but she was different today. I can’t help but hope she makes a real recovery this time. I know it’s going to be hard for her, she seems exhausted from living her life not knowing what’s coming next. I think she finally wants to be healthy.”
Tony kisses my head. “I’m proud of you for telling your mom how it is, but I’m fucking thrilled she’s leaving. How you lived with that, I’ll never know.”
“I never knew any different. Not until I met Gabby. I saw how Luka and Meredith were with her and eventually how they loved me. That’s when I realized my mom was crazy with a capital C.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” he mutters as he starts playing with the ends of my hair. After a few moments of silence, he goes on. “I have some news.”
I feel my body go tight and I twist to look up at him, not able to read his face. “What’s wrong now?”
After pausing a few seconds, he says carefully, “I got a call from the DA on my way home from the press briefing. It was about Preston.”
I twist back forward and focus on my sleeping dog at the foot of the bed. “What about him?”
He gives me a squeeze. “I told you they thought it would be hard to get a Manslaughter charge to stick. It was.”
I feel my stomach turn as I close my eyes.
“There’s more,” Tony goes on. “The assault charges are his first offence. He made a deal with the DA’s office, pleading guilty to a lesser charge for no prison time. It’s all going to be finalized tomorrow.”
My stomach drops this time and I open my eyes to look at my dog. I’m not quite sure what to think of all this. I haven’t thought much about what would happen to Preston or how he would pay for what he did to me. I think I was just relieved to be removed from that life, all I could focus on was losing the baby. Then Tony inserted himself and I didn’t have time to focus on much of anything because it took all my energy and headspace to focus on him.
I shrug. “All right.”
“All right? That’s it?” He sounds shocked.
“I guess,” I start. “It went on for so long I was just relieved it was over. I never thought much about what would happen to him.”
I hear and feel him sigh since he’s surrounding me. “He’ll get probation. If he ever violates his probation, he’ll be in deep shit.”
“Okay.”
This time I hear and feel his frustration as he turns me in his arms. I move to face him and he pulls me into his lap. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m not thinking anything.”
“You don’t feel anything?” He’s baffled by my lack of response.
“What do you want me to feel?”
“Pissed, mad, scared, happy it’s over? I don’t know. Something.”
