I nod and start wishing that she’ll hurry up. I don’t really want to chat. I want to drink away my sorrows and pay tribute to my friend.
“Katelyn will be just fine.” I’ll make sure of it.
“Yeah, I suppose with all your fancy music money you can step up and take care of her.”
I take a deep breath and roll my neck. I won’t lose my patience. When she finally tells me my total, I hand her a twenty and tell her to keep the change. Now she has a nice little tip from my fancy music money.
“Tell my mom I say hi when you see her.” I pick up my items and walk away and her mouth hangs open. Stupid town gossip. After today everyone will know I’m here and I can’t leave for another few days. I made a promise to Peyton and I intend to keep it.
The drive is familiar and when I pull into the field I let out a sigh of relief that no one is here. I climb the ladder, my beer and snacks in the plastic bag. I get to the top and hold onto the railing, looking out over the field. I never appreciated the view when I was spending every Friday night here. The view in the parking lot is what kept my attention. Josie and her long legs, always bare because we’d come right from the game. I’d change, but she always kept her cheerleading outfit on. She knew how much I liked it.
I sit in my same spot. My finger traces the heart with mine and Josie’s initials in it. I put that there after homecoming our sophomore yea
r. I knew that night I wanted this girl in my life forever and wasn’t afraid to tell her.
Until I left her when I should’ve packed her bags for her and carried her to my truck.
I wonder if Josie would’ve liked Los Angeles.
I down my first, than second beer. If I had my truck I’d be shooting the empties into the back just so I could hear them shatter. So I can have some type of relief from this building pain.
When a truck pulls in and backs up, I know my time is over. I close my eyes and wait for the laughter to appear. Mason and I were so loud the girls were always telling us to shut up. I don’t see who got out of the truck, but can hear them climbing the ladder.
Lovely.
“What are you doing here?” I look over and see Katelyn walking toward me. I stand and offer her my hand until she sits down in what would’ve been Mason’s spot, on my left.
“I should be asking you the same thing. Why aren’t you home with those beautiful babies?”
“They are with Mason’s dad tonight. He wanted to have them and I can’t say no. He’s lost so much in the past year.”
I look at her questioningly. She smiles sadly. “Mrs. Powell died last year.”
And the knife just keeps twisting.
“I’m sorry,” I say simply because I have nothing else to say. There is no excuse for what I’ve done.
“Where ya been, Liam?”
Well now that’s the million dollar question because if you watch TV or read the magazines while waiting to check out at the local mart, everyone knows where I’ve been.
“You gotta be a little more specific than that,” I reply as I throw my first empty into the bed of the truck. Katelyn reaches into my bag, grabs a beer and pops the top.
“What happened to you? Because when you went off to Texas everything was fine and then you show up one night and everything isn’t?”
I throw my second empty into the truck. My third follows and I open my fourth and chug it down to throw it.
“I got to school and hated it. I hated practice, the team, everything about it. And one night I went to this on campus hang-out and there was an open mic night so I gave it a try and I liked it and I don’t know.”
“Did you tell Josie?”
“Nah, our meeting didn’t go so well the other night. I was pissed and antagonized her a bit.”
We sit in silence, drinking and throwing our bottles into the truck. Katelyn’s throws get harder and harder the more she drinks and I imagine she’s taking out some type of anger.
“For the first time in twelve years I don’t have Mason by my side.”
I know she’s sad and I could hold her and let her cry or I can share in her misery.