Tangled Web (2 page)

She walked to her bedroom so she could
change into athletic wear and out of the navy blue pantsuit she’d
worn to work today. She paused at the bedroom mirror to take off
her jewelry. Thanks to exercise and diet, Katie didn’t look
thirty-four; she looked like she was still in her late twenties.
She was thin, fit, and firm. Her straight shoulder-length light
brown hair framed her face and complemented her ivory skin and
light brown eyes. Gazing at her reflection, she tried to picture
herself in a white lace gown. Just last month, Grant had proposed.
Katie had accepted without much thought. They had been dating for
almost three years and were compatible, so she had no need to
wonder if it was the right decision; it had felt inevitable. It was
the next step one took in a relationship. But they hadn’t yet set a
date, and she still had problems picturing herself as a bride.
Grant had been married once, but Katie had never been married or
even engaged. It wasn’t that she hadn’t been in relationships;
they’d just never progressed to that point. She’d never wondered
why that was. She
knew
why.

Katie’s feet ached, so she slipped off her
shoes and placed them in an empty shoebox in her closet. She then
moved back to the dresser and had finally undone the clasp on her
necklace when the doorbell rang. She jumped; she wasn’t expecting
anyone. She placed the necklace in its appropriate slot in her
jewelry box and left her bedroom. Sam was sitting on the beige
living room carpet looking content. He was licking his lips and
blinking his eyes at Katie. She smiled at him, then continued
walking to the front door.

Katie unlocked the door and peered through
the screen. Dusk might have been approaching, but June’s stubborn
sun refused to give up. Bright sunlight shone on the face of the
man at the door, making it hard to discern his features. Katie
paused, then smiled. “Johnny?”

* * *

Katie Logan, a freckly-faced preteen, sat in
the dirt and overgrown grass beside an irrigation ditch that ran
along the length of the town of Winchester, Colorado. It was right
around the block from her house, and she had ridden her bike there.
It was August. The summer had wound down to boring, and Katie had
little to do. She was tired of video games and books. She was tired
of playing other games with the girls who lived on her street, and
she’d pretty much exhausted all the outdoor fun she could think of.
She was sick of swimming and roller skating. She no longer enjoyed
any of the activities she usually relished. Her family had gone
camping one week in July, and she’d visited her cousins out of
state for a week in June, but now all the summer fun was over.
Katie wouldn’t admit it to her friends, but she was ready to go
back to school. She’d begin fifth grade this year, and she was
ready to see her friends again, meet her new teacher, learn new
things. She wanted to get back into a routine. She appreciated
weekends when she had to work hard all week. Months of nothing to
do unnerved her, and she was ready to have tasks set in front of
her.

So she sat by the bank of the ditch, tossing
in small stones, just for the sake of doing it, not even aware that
she was. She started dreaming up stories in her mind to occupy the
time. She didn’t even hear the footsteps of the young brown-haired
boy; in fact, she didn’t even notice him until he sat next to her.
“So, is this what you guys do for fun around here?”

Katie looked over at the boy. Sitting next
to her, he appeared to be her build and even her height. His hair,
light brown, was short but a little shaggy, and his ice blue eyes
twinkled at her. She scrunched her nose as if she had smelled
something funny. Then she said, “No. I’m just bored.”

He smiled. “So what do you usually do for
fun?”

Katie shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno.
Normal stuff.”

“Normal stuff like what? Do you
have
anything fun to do around here?”

Katie looked over at him, as though
considering what she wanted to say. “It depends, I guess.”

“Depends on what?”

“On what you like to do. What do
you
like to do?”

“Video games. Softball. Other stuff.”

“Me too. If you like to swim, the public
pool is about five blocks that way.” She pointed to her right, in
front of the boy’s chest.

“My name’s Johnny, by the way.”

She smiled. “Katie.” The two youngsters
shook hands, a sight that would have had their mothers giggling.
The act may have seemed formal, but it cemented what would become a
lifelong friendship. Katie then proceeded to tell Johnny every
activity she had already participated in that summer and asked him
about his move to her town.

And Katie and Johnny spent the rest of the
summer together. Suddenly, swimming, video games, and playing
outside weren’t boring anymore. Johnny Church helped young Katie
find the fun in the world again, and when school began the end of
August, she was sad. But by then, she and Johnny--her new neighbor
one block down--were tight. Had Johnny’s mother moved to the small
town of Winchester a year later after puberty had set in solidly,
the two might not have ever become friends--hormones and mood
swings might have interfered with their budding friendship.
Instead, the two of them attended the same elementary school and
Katie had the pleasure of introducing her class to her new best
friend Johnny. The two remained close friends throughout middle
school; Katie thought Johnny was a better friend than her
girlfriends--there was less drama and fewer fights. By the time
they started high school, there was no question that Katie and
Johnny would be “Best Friends Forever.”

* * *

“Katie,” the man outside her door nodded and
smiled. “Good to see you.”

Katie unlocked the screen door. Johnny
wrapped his arms around her in a hug, lifting her off the ground.
She giggled. “Come in.” Johnny of today still looked like Johnny in
fifth grade, but with some noticeable differences. His lanky body
sometimes reminded Katie of a young Tommy Lee, when Mötley Crüe was
still touring for their second and third albums in the 80s. Johnny
had sinewy but not bulky arms. His right arm was hidden under a
tattoo sleeve of various colors and design, and the left arm was
well on its way to being fully covered. His hair was still shaggy
and short-ish, his face clean shaven, but now his ears were pierced
multiple times on both sides. And he was tall, well over six feet,
dwarfing tiny Katie who couldn’t even make it to halfway between
five and six. To this day, he had the sly, lopsided grin that Katie
had always found endearing; he still had the smallest hairline gap
between his front two teeth that would have looked goofy on anyone
else but somehow Johnny pulled it off. He wore a black Static-X tee
and faded blue jeans with a black leather belt that matched his
biker boots.

He walked through the front door into the
living room. “I’m glad I found the right place. I stopped by your
mom’s house and she gave me this address.” He looked around the
room, his blue eyes not seeming to miss any detail. “You live alone
here, or...?”

Katie nodded. “Yes.” She grinned. “Well, not
entirely. I do have Sam over there.” She hunched over and stuck out
her finger. Sam let out a little “mew” and sauntered over, rubbing
his cheek on her finger. She picked him up and held him in her
arms.

Johnny grinned. “Cool. You still have him.
Hey, Sam.” He patted the cat on the head. “So why such a big house
for little ol’ you?”

Katie laughed. “Why not?”

“But you don’t have a dog or anything,
right? It’s awfully domestic of you.”

“Yeah, no dog. But I’ve started gardening.
And this house is mine--I’m not renting. I got tired of paying all
that money every month for nothing.” She felt silly explaining
herself. “I’m in my thirties, you know...time to grow up.”

Johnny looked up at the ceiling as though
pondering what she’d said. “There is that, I guess.”

Katie set the cat back on the carpet. “Can I
get you anything to drink?”

“Sure. Whatcha got?”

She started walking to the kitchen, and
Johnny followed close behind. “So what brings you back to
Winchester anyway?” She tried not to think of the last time he
visited. She knew already, though, that whatever brought him back
to town this time wasn’t as bad as last time. She could tell that
just by looking at him.

Katie opened the door to the refrigerator
while Johnny spoke. “Mmmm...just needed to come back home for a
while.”

“Well, I have water, some tea, soymilk,
and--” she pushed aside a carton and two jars “it looks like one
beer--a Bud Light.”

“If you’re offering, I’ll take it.” Katie
nodded and pulled it out. She handed it to Johnny and indicated
that he could sit at the breakfast bar that looked over the living
room. She sat on the stool next to him as he twisted off the
cap.

He took a sip of the beer. “It’s more than
just needing to be home, though. The band and I decided it was time
to part ways. So I did a lot of other things for a while, but
music’s in my blood, Katie. I decided to come home to kind of clear
my mind, and then I’m going to start back up again.”

“You’re going to form a new band?” Johnny
had been a member of no fewer than three bands of varying degrees
of success since graduating from high school. Katie had hoped for
Johnny’s sake that his career choice would pay off, but it had
seemed to cause more pain and problems for him than it brought joy.
Still, Katie didn’t feel it was her place to tell her old friend
how to run his life. At least he was doing better now than a few
short years ago.

“Yeah. I have to. I’m not cut out for
regular work, Katie. I tried it.” She folded her hands in front of
her and stared at her knuckles. Even if Johnny was “cut out” for
regular work, he certainly didn’t look the part. He
looked
like he belonged in a band. What employer would consider hiring him
if Johnny happened to find another career he cared about? “But,
shit, I didn’t come here to tell you my plans or to catch up. I
just wanted to hang with my best friend. It’s been too long.”

“Do you want to stay for dinner?”

“I’d love to.” He took another sip of the
beer. “You know what? We could have Napoli deliver a double
pepperoni.” Napoli was a local pizza parlor, known throughout the
county for its pizzas and pasta. When the two had been in high
school, it had been their favorite hangout.

Katie winced. “There’s something I guess I
need to tell you.”

Johnny raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I’m vegetarian now. So how about cheese
instead?”

“Seriously?” He laughed. “My little Katie
who loved nothing better than a greasy cheeseburger covered in
bacon? Didn’t see that comin’.” He shook his head and laughed
again. “I have a better idea. Why don’t we go there instead? Then
you could get whatever you wanted. I haven’t been there in years
anyway. Besides, we could get a pitcher too.”

Katie stood up from her stool and smiled.
She thought it might be nice to get out of the house for a while.
Her workout could wait until tomorrow. “All right. Just let me
change clothes.”

“What’s wrong with what you have on?”

“A little overdressed, don’t you think?”

“I guess,” Johnny said.

“It’ll just take me a minute.” And it
did--she took off her suit jacket and skirt but left on the white
satin blouse. Then she slid into snug blue jeans with white
sneakers and grabbed her jean jacket out of the closet in case it
turned cool in the evening. She joined Johnny in the kitchen as he
set his empty brown bottle on the counter. She tousled the fur on
Sam’s head, grabbed her purse, and followed Johnny out the
door.

They finally made it to Napoli Pizzeria
after debating who would drive. Johnny only had his motorcycle, but
Katie had a gray four-door Camry. He told her she needed to live a
little. Playing to Katie’s core, he said, “Besides, it’s earth
friendlier,” placed his helmet in her hands, and sat on the bike
until she finally conceded. It turned out that the purse was a
nuisance, though, so she made Johnny wait while she removed her
wallet and keys, stuck them in her jacket pocket, and placed her
purse back inside the house. Johnny grinned at her, triumphant,
until she sat behind him and wrapped her arms around his taut
torso.

Napoli hadn’t changed much since high
school. It was a homey, poorly lit little place on Main Street that
would be forever infused with the smell of garlic and oregano.
Johnny had said he hadn’t been there in years, but Katie hadn’t
either, even though she could have gone any time she’d wanted.
Anymore, when she bothered to eat out, it was usually at the deli
in the strip mall or the little restaurant attached to the health
food store. She had avoided pizza parlors and burger joints since
she’d taken on a healthier lifestyle several years past. But leave
it to Johnny--anytime Katie ventured into what he called “boring
territory,” he managed to break her out of it when he was around.
She had always found it hard to tell him no. He was usually
spontaneous, creative, and lively, while Katie was grounded,
practical, and, yes, sometimes dull. And that’s why they’d always
been so compatible. Just as Katie needed someone to liven her up,
sometimes Johnny needed someone to tone him down or to tell him
that his bright idea was actually dangerous or mean, only because
he hadn’t thought his idea all the way through.

When she got off the motorcycle after Johnny
had parked in Napoli’s tiny parking lot, she removed the helmet and
handed it to Johnny. She ran her fingers through her hair, sensing
that the helmet had probably made it staticky and unwieldy. When
she dropped her arms to her side, she caught Johnny’s stare. He was
still standing in the same spot, still holding the helmet, just
watching her. A tentative smile crossed Katie’s face. Was her hair
that messed up? “What?” She reached up and began smoothing her hair
again.