Another text from her pops on my phone.
–Kim: I expect you to memorize the story and play your part accordingly.
–Me: What about you? Can you handle it?
–Kim: You don’t have to worry about me. I’m a professional.
Her disdain is palpable. I’m skeptical. Most women I know are terrible at hiding their feelings, especially when they include hate and contempt.
I’d feel a lot better if she’d just taken the damned chocolate with a smile. Regardless of her claim that she’s a pro, I bet she was fuming about herpes the entire time she was texting me.
If the potential roommate hadn’t shown up when he did, I might’ve turned around and tried to fix things. Or maybe gone back after dinner to have a calm, rational conversation. Might’ve even taken her a slice of the pecan pie Vi and I had, so Kim couldn’t claim it’s contaminated with a virus. Even she would have to admit I wouldn’t give a piece of contaminated pie to my child…
The sound of a door slamming pulls me away from my thoughts. Normally I’d tell Vi not to slam doors, but I decide not to at the moment. I need to stop obsessing about Kim, the wedding and the guy, and it’s a good interruption.
“Job done!” Vi says loudly, then washes her hands at the kitchen sink. Toweling them off, she adds, “By the way, did you know Kim got a roommate?”
What the…? The guy moved in that fast? He only just saw the place a couple of hours ago! “No…”
“Well…she did. We met in front of the garbage chute.”
“Did you guys talk?”
“Yeah. I mean, just to say hello.” She shrugs. “Seems nice enough.”
“Appearances can be deceiving,” I mutter. He’s probably dirty-minded. A pervert.
“What?”
“Nothing. Are you finished with your homework?”
“There is no homework.” She rolls her eyes. “We’re on summer vacation starting tomorrow, remember?”
I clear my throat. “Right. I remember.” I just got distracted by that roommate. Another mark against the man.
Maybe I should force him to move out. It’d be doing the entire floor a service. The guy looked slick, and people who look that slick are bad news. Just ask Dane.
Right. Because who does Dane think is good news?
Shut up. I’ve already decided. Nobody likes noisy neighbors. I go grab my toolbox and pull out some nails and a hammer.
Vi looks at me. “What are you doing?”
“Gonna nail this wall.” I size up the one between our unit and Kim’s.
“Uh… Why?”
“Hang some pictures.”
“We don’t have any pictures. Not to hang.”
“Yeah, but later we will. This is prep. Being prepared is half of success.”
Shaking her head, she goes into her room.
I start banging with more noise than necessary. And I don’t stop with one. Why should I, when I have a box full of nails?
After I bang twelve or so into the wall, Vi comes out. “Dad, can you knock it off? It’s after ten.”