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EXCERPT ONE
It was ten minutes before Derrick received a text, not a call from Erin. ‘I’m not really going along with Megan’s plan, as Bobby said. He was just trying to come off as the grown-up for once. I don’t think he realizes how serious Megan is about doing what she wants to do tonight. Actually, I’m very worried if she does this alone. Please answer your phone. I’ll call you in an hour’. The call came in 55 minutes and Derrick did answer.
“Looney bin. Are you calling to confirm your reservation for three?” “Very not funny, Derrick,” a deliberate-sounding Erin said. Hearing this tone helped remove the frivolousness from the conversation. “Sorry. So, I got Bobby’s ‘guy’ take on it and I sense it’s something else for you. Your friend really just wants to have sex with some random guy and then throw it in her husband’s face?” “Yeah, as she’s handing him the divorce papers. Bobby said he told you the asshole has done this to her before and she feels so stupid for believing he’d change if they changed the time zone that they lived in. Christ, it hadn’t even been eight months since the last time and they’ve only been back East three.”
“Does she know the woman?” Having already lied to Derrick during this phone call, truthfully in the least defined way, Erin replied, “No. But that doesn’t make it any easier.” His voice carried the regret Erin knew very few men would express. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply not knowing the woman made it easier.” “I know you didn’t, but since you did say it, I’m using such an ‘insensitive’ statement as leverage to get you to go with us tonight.” Derrick felt the failure of trying to say ‘no’ approaching quickly.
“Look Derrick, Bobby and I really can’t stay out too long. My mom’s watching the kids and she works in the morning, so we’d have to leave by ten, ten-thirty. And besides, Megan may irritate you to the point you do help her follow-through. Then you can gloat when it goes horribly wrong. But really, you’re our only hope in talking her out of doing this. Besides, I want to get a little drunk.” She could imagine the grin hearing all this caused for Derrick.
“How do they let you be a guidance counselor?” Laughing, Erin replied, “Not many kids listen to a guidance counselor, and the ones that do know my input is flawed and ignore it anyway. I do it for the health insurance.” “Nice. You are my favorite mercenary. Alright, I do this only if I can try to talk her out of it.” “Fine, I truly…very truly…want to see that happen. I am going to tell her you will be expressing a contrary opinion to her plan. I think a part of her, a small, almost unmeasurable part, doesn’t want to go through with her plan and I clearly don’t want her to do it either.” Erin paused before elaborating.
“She just needs something to do with how angry she is. What I’m afraid of is that when the anger is dealt with, the pain is going to overwhelm her and she is going to crash. A lot more can go wrong than having her husband find out she knows he’s cheating again. If for some reason that happens tonight, if what Megan is dealing with was happening to me, I’d want someone like you there to break the fall.”
With Erin not realizing how Megan and Derrick never having met each other might not make it possible for him to keep Megan from getting hurt more than she already was, it was a detriment to Erin’s hope which Derrick chose not to voice. “Alright, then. I’m in. Text me the time and place. And tell your husband I hate his wife.” “I can do that and I love you, too. Bye.”
EXCERPT TWO
Had the wound run so deep to be too deep and unable to heal? To think Derrick would miss Mary Alice’s birthday would not have them, them being Megan, Erin and Bobby, find fault with Derrick. All effort would be made to overcome the difficulty Derrick’s absence would cause for the birthday girl. The party was into its second hour and he was the only invited guest still not in attendance.
It approached blowing out the candles time for Mary Alice’s birthday party. The party-goers had gathered around the dining room table, 18 in total and Erin would make 19 once she came from the kitchen with the cake. The total actually climbed to 20, though, when Erin didn’t return alone but with the late-arriving twentieth guest who had entered the house through the kitchen door.
“Uncle Derrick!” an ecstatic Mary Alice called out as she rose from her seat of prominence and rushed past everyone to her godfather. He scooped her up into a binding hug. “Happy Birthday, Scooby Doo.” “I knew you’d be here. Daddy said you had to work, but I knew you’d get here. Hey Mister, where’s my present?”
“It’s in the kitchen. I left it in there when your mom was about to take off her shoe to count to 11 to make sure she had enough candles. I didn’t have to lend her a hand, just a finger.” The grown-ups appreciated the small joke more than the kids. Bobby smiled inwardly, quite aware of which finger Derrick was entitled to lend.
Mary Alice sat once more and ‘Happy Birthday’ was sung with the ‘What’s your boyfriend’s first name’ stanza included to Mary Alice’s mortification, with the recently re-instated Timothy back in Mary Alice’s good graces oblivious to his connection to that part of the song. Derrick focused solely on Mary Alice, avoiding eye contact with everyone to avoid eye contact with Megan during the singing.
When Mary Alice made her wish and blew out the candles, Erin moved in to help cut the first slice of cake with Mary Alice and dispense the slices that followed along with ice cream. As this concluded and everyone seemed supplied, Mary Alice asked to no one in particular, “Where did Uncle Derrick go?” Everyone looked around and saw he had departed, with Erin, Bobby and Megan pinpointing a reason, and Erin’s mom a dejected fourth.
For Bobby and Megan, each saw that as brief as his appearance was, he could say that he had made one and Mary Alice need never question what she meant to him. As Mary Alice headed for the kitchen to search for Derrick, an upset Erin tried to stave off her daughter’s coming disappointment. How could he be so callous to use this as a way to tell the three co-conspirators he was still angry with them? An Irish goodbye was beneath him.
“Honey, Uncle Derrick probably had to get back to work,” Erin said to her daughter. Mary Alice’s sadness had a short stay, with Mary Alice never saying aloud that not for a moment did she believe Uncle Derrick was working. She knew he was still angry with her parents and her Aunt Megan and they deserved it, at least according to Mary Alice’s grandmother. “Well, I wonder what he got me?” Mary Alice remarked as she took Derrick’s present off the counter.
Happy to see her daughter’s quick recovery, Erin said, “That’s right, we have to open presents, don’t we?” “I’ll open Uncle Derrick’s first. I bet it’s cool.” They returned to the dining room and the opening of the presents. Mary Alice did open Derrick’s first. Her expression was one of confusion. It was a box of Milk-Bone dog biscuits.
Mary Alice looked at her parents, but before any explanation could arrive, Derrick walked back in from the outside through the kitchen, carrying a Beagle. “Just to clarify, Mary Alice, the biscuits are not for your dad, but for Hero. And Hero is for you.” Mary Alice yelped in delight at her new pet. Quite an unexpected arrival, Bobby and Erin understood that the dog was primarily a gift, but with a hint of payback for them for being a part of the night at Reckless. As revenge went, it was benign, albeit work added to their everyday.
Derrick knew Bobby would be okay with the dog arriving without parental permission, but the satisfaction Derrick took from Erin’s weak glare was much. To that end, he slid up to Erin and said, “As you can see, he’s not a puppy. He’s about four, the people at the shelter said. He’s housebroken, doesn’t get on furniture unless invited, and has all his shots. You have a huge backyard and he loves to play outside. He’s neutered and was scheduled to be euthanized in about two weeks. I can take him back if you want.”
Having been outmaneuvered thoroughly and deservedly paid back, Erin put her arm around Derrick and said, “I should have you euthanized. Look how happy you’ve made my daughter. Jerk.” Derrick absorbed the long-missed affection before turning to Erin’s other half. “Hey, Bobby, I just walked him in the backyard before I came back in. Your present is out on the lawn.” The adults laughed as Mary Alice showered her attention on her new Hero with the other kids gathering around. Hero loved the attention.
“Hey, Mary Alice, why don’t you let me get to know Hero why you open the rest of your presents.” It was Megan trying to re-focus the party on the other gifts so no one felt slighted. As Hero happily licked a giggling Megan’s face, Derrick couldn’t keep himself from looking her way. In a moment of objective appreciation, ‘That is such a pretty giggle’, he told himself. She happened to look his way and they held each other’s gaze for a flash of time.
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