One disaster at a time, I told myself. I'd just given Grandma a run-down of what had happened, beginning with Brittney's skank-show and ending with what I said to Keith.
I still wasn't sure how much I'd slept the previous night. Maybe not at all. The situation with Lawton tore at my heart and made me feel stupid, all at the same time. In a way, I barely knew him. But I had liked him way too much for my own good. What did it matter? It was over before it began.
And then there was the thing with my waitressing job. By now, all my short-term satisfaction had completely evaporated. How was I going to pay my bills? Or more to the point, how was I going to pay Grandma's salary for her non-existent job?
I could never tell her the whole envelope-stuffing gig had been a sham. There was only one thing Grandma hated more than Loretta, and that was charity of any sort.
If she knew how serious the whole thing was, she wouldn't be laughing. Even with the new accounting job, I'd be without a paycheck for at least a month, maybe more. I bit my lip. Maybe I could pawn something. There was only one problem. I didn't have anything of value.
"That old job sucked," Grandma said.
"Yeah." I blinked, hard. "But the pay was good."
"So what?" Grandma said. "Your boss was an asshole. Can't put a price on that."
"Yeah, I suppose."
"Hey," she said, "if it makes you feel better, tonight I'll go over and tell that Keith guy to fuck off too." She hesitated. "You'd just need to give me a ride."
At the image of this, I laughed in spite of myself. She wasn't kidding. She'd do it. In a weird, twisted way, it made everything just a little better. "I just might take you up on that," I told her.
"You know what?" she said. "In a couple months, this'll be ancient history. You'll be at your new job, meeting new people." She grinned. "Wearing regular clothes."
I nodded. "No more blue eye shadow."
"I sort of liked the eye shadow. But that hair." Grandma shuddered. "Hideous. Really."
By the time I walked out her door, I wasn't feeling too bad. Sure, I'd be without a job for a while, but I'd make it somehow. If I had to, I'd ask Erika for a loan. I'd never done it before, but she'd offered countless times. It wasn't like I didn't have options. I just hated the thought of using them.
I was halfway down the driveway when I caught movement in my rearview mirror. It was an all-too-familiar woman with short, brown hair.
I stifled a groan. It was Loretta. She wore tailored slacks, a black turtleneck, and a deep scowl as she barreled down the driveway, waving her arms to get my attention.
It was the middle of the day. A weekday. Why wasn't she at work?
With a heavy sigh, I shifted my car into reverse. Slowly, I backed up until my driver's side window was a couple feet from where she'd stopped.
When I rolled down the window, she wasted no time with pleasantries. "So, you come all the way out here, and you weren't even going to stop by?"
"What do you mean all the way out here?" It was hardly a cross-country trek. Besides, I wasn't exactly made to feel welcome whenever Ididstop by.
"Don't be dense," she said. "Every time you pull this crap, I'm the one stuck holding the bag, and I'm sick to death of it."
"What bag?" I squinted at her. "What are you talking about?"
"Fine, you wanna play dumb?" she said. "It's your Dad."
"What?"
"Yeah." She frowned. "I know you're Granny's girl and all, but would it really kill you to stop by and say 'hi' to your Dad as long as you're all the way out here?"
What Iwantedto do was run her over with my car. What Ididdo was grip the steering wheel and take a deep breath. Josh would probably be staying at my Dad's house tonight. While I could leave if I wanted, he couldn't. Or at least, he couldn’t go far.
For his sake, I had to be nice. Unfortunately, that ruled out vehicular homicide, no matter how cheery the thought.
"Hey!" She leaned in closer. "You listening to me?"
"Oh, I'm listening." In a fruitless bid for serenity, I took another deep breath. Then I turned toward her. "I'm sorry. I didn't know he was home." I summoned up a stiff smile. "But sure, I'll stop in and say 'hi'."
