“Jason is married already. He has a wife and two kids in Oklahoma City. Another on the way. He’s not marrying Becca.”
I held my breath, waiting for the explosion.
Carla didn’t disappoint.
“WHHHAAATTTTT?” she yells, jackknifing up in bed. “What do you mean, he’s already married?”
She swings around and glares at me, mental bullets whizzing at my head.
Have I mentioned yet that Carla is scary when she’s mad? ‘Cause she is.
“Well, he got married about eight years ago,” I say, trying to answer her question. “I was a best man at their wedding, you know. Real nice gal – pretty as can be on their wedding day—”
“I KNOW WHAT A WEDDING IS!” she hollers, grabbing her pillow and whacking me about the head with it. “BUT HOW THE FUCK IS JASON ALREADY MARRIED?”
I instinctively raise my arms to shield my face and torso from her blows.
“Annnddddd…” more hits with the pillow – damn, she’s strong – “why is Jason talking about marrying someone when he’s already married? Did he think no one would notice he’s a goddamn bigamist?”
“I—”
Whack
“don’t think—”
Whack
“that he thinks—”
Whack
“that they’ll get married.”
Whack
Finally, she stops hitting me long enough to spit out, “So he’s just playing with her, like a cat with a mouse?”
“It’s just what he does,” I say with a helpless shrug. “Although, he doesn’t normally talk about marriage with the
girl. Usually, he just fucks ‘em and leaves ‘em. It’s what he does at every rodeo. I think he’s broken more hearts than Tim McGraw.”
Unfortunately, Carla isn’t hitting me anymore, because she’s busy getting dressed. Regretfully, I watch her shove her feet into her shoes and wiggle her way into her skirt. At least I get to see the jiggling, right?
“You motherfucking goddamn assholes,” she grinds out, “both of you. You didn’t think to say anything? You didn’t think to try to save Becca’s heart from heartbreak?”
Honestly, I hadn’t realized that Jason had taken it this far with her, but I keep my trap shut. Carla doesn’t seem like she’s in a listening mood.
“Enjoy Texas,” she says sarcastically. “Maybe in those parts, cheating on your wife is perfectly normal. The next time I hear someone from a fucking flyover state start talking about ‘family values,’ I’m going to tell them to piss off. Oh, and Chase? You can piss off, too.”
She slams the hotel door behind her, the sound reverberating through my heart.
Fuuuuccckkkk
54
Carla
Becca and I sit at a table at the Papillon, as far away from the live opera as we can get. Becca may love opera, but to me, it just sounds like someone trying to give a cat a bath. Don’t tell Becca that, of course. I like to pretend with the best of them. I even have a “favorite” opera, if anyone asks – Carmen. Never mind that I’ve never been able to get through a single showing of it without falling asleep. The important part is, I can name an opera.