Moeshut the tap off and grabbed for a dish rag to dry his hands. There were stillplates and utensils in the sink, but this conversation obviously required hisfull attention. So, I decided to give him mine.
“Iknow you and your dad’ve been bumpin’ heads a lot lately.”
“That’san understatement,” I grumbled, crossing my arms.
“Iknow, brother, I know,” he replied, so sympathetic and sincere. “I feel foryou. It’s rough and he has been dealt a terrible hand, that’s for sure. All ofyou have. You’re good people and you’ve dealt with enough as it is. So why yougotta go through this, too …” He shook his head, making his thick, dreadlockedhair sway. “I just don’t know. I don’t know why bad things happen to goodpeople. I really don’t.”
Ishrugged. “It is what it is, man. It’s just life.”
“Isn’tthat the truth,” he said somberly. “But you know, my man, you can’t do nothin’about the hard times you’re going through. But youcando somethin’about how you react to them. And you and Mr. Marino, man … you are both actin’like fools.”
Ipursed my lips and cast my gaze downward, teetering between the need to getdefensive and the desperation to agree and demand how to make it better.
“Youknow, my ex-wife and I—”
“Youwere married?” I looked up to him, unable to understand why I felt sosurprised.
Moesmiled, a hint of sorrow flickering in the golden specks in his brown eyes. “Iwas. And man, did we fight. I mean, things were good in the beginning, realgood. We had it all, man. Good money, good kids, a nice house. But then, one ofmy kids, my daughter, she passed away. And lemme tell you, it’s truly amazinghow quick one horrible thing can take all the good things away.”
“Fuck,Moe,” I muttered, swallowing hard. “I had no fuckin’ idea.”
“Ofcourse you didn’t,” he said good-naturedly. “It’s not exactly something Iadvertise, you know what I mean? But I’m just sayin’, that one horrible thingmade me and my wife fight a lot. I started drinkin’ and shootin’ up. I lost myjob, I lost my wife, and I lost my other daughter—man, I lost my whole fuckin’life.And I know you and the old man are hurtin’, brother, I know. But if the two ofyou don’t start fixin’ this shit before it’s too late, I’m worried you’re gonnalose a lot, too.”
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
ANDREA
“So, whatare you and the boyfriend doing this weekend?” Elle asked, twirling a longstrand of hair around her finger.
“Nothing,”I laughed, taking a bite of a taco.
“Nothing?Well, that’s boring.”
Ishrugged, swallowing. “He’s going upstate to visit his brother.”
“Youcould’ve gone with him,” Elle said, lilting her voice in sing-song fashion.
“Ihave to work!”
Ellerolled her eyes. “Girl, please. You could’ve called out sick.”
“Whatever,it’s fine.”
“Exceptit’s not, but like you said,” she shrugged, popping a tortilla chip into hermouth, “whatever.”
Iknew it wasn’t necessary, but I felt the need to add, “Vinnie just needed sometime away. I’ll see him on Monday.”
“Timeaway from you, though?”
Ishook my head. “No. I’m just—”
“Andrea,I’m just giving you a hard time, relax. But seriously, you should’ve gone. Youcould use some time away, too. Like, you’re always here. Play hooky once in awhile and spend a day in bed with your hot boyfriend. Nobody would judge you,believe me.”
Themention of sex left me with an increasingly uncomfortable gnaw in my gut. Inthe weeks we’d been seeing each other, we hadn’t found ourselves in a positionto even think about it. I guess that was just the nature of us both living athome with our parents. At what point would the opportunity arise without usfeeling like teenagers trying to sneak in a quickie? That didn’t mean I didn’twant to though, and I was fairly certain Vinnie felt the same. But how couldwe, given our circumstances? And how the hell was I supposed to bring it up tohim without sounding like a horny adolescent?
Afterlunch, Vinnie texted me when he arrived at Zach’s house. He told me he missedme and asked if I’d call the next chance I could. So, I told my patient and thetwo silent men lingering in her room that I’d be back to check up on her aftermy break. I went downstairs and headed outside to sit in the atrium.
“Hey,”I said after he’d answered the phone.
