The Brat and the Brainiac (12 page)

“Hey, Jason,” he says. “Do you want to go for a walk with me? Bring your room key.”

I glance at the clock beside the bed.

“All right,” I tell him with a sigh, “but we don’t have much time.”

We take the smooth, mirrored elevator down to the lobby, and once we get down there, we go around to the pool entrance and step outside. The sun is bright and the air smells like chlorine. People are already splashing around in the pool and we find a couple of empty chaise lounges and sit down to watch them.

“What’d she do now?” I ask him. “Win the Lotto?”

“Man, don’t be like that.”

“Well, how do you want me to be? How do you people want me to be?”

“I want you to be happy. I want everyone to be happy,” he says.

“Would you please just tell me what I’m out here for?”

“I wanted to ask you what’s going to happen when we get home.”

“I don’t know yet.”

He glances out at the pool. His eyes are the same color as the water, a crystal clear blue.

“A guy in her class asked her out,” he tells me. “She asked me what she should do and I said you dumped her, it shouldn’t matter.”

My guts clench up and our glances meet. I’m trying not to let on how stricken and jealous I feel. In eight short days, my life has gone from great to crap, and it’s all by my own hand. I did all this to myself, and now I feel as if I’m about to lose her forever.

“It does matter, though, doesn’t it?” he asks.

For a moment or two, all I do is nod. It’s all I can do, because I know if I try to speak, I’ll break down and cry, but I eventually pull myself together.

“Who is this guy?”

“I don’t know. Some clown in her Economics class.”

“She hates Economics.”

“I know. Just give her a call, Jason. Tell her you want to mend things between you, and you’ll settle it all when you get home. It’s only a couple more days.”

“God, this place is hot,” I say, wiping the sweat off my brow. “I don’t know, Tommy. Maybe I should just let her go on that date.”

“That’d be the total wrong thing to do,” he tells me. “Knowing her, she’ll take it as some big sign that you two weren’t meant to be.”

“You’re right. Let me go back up to my room and talk to her.”

I call her up, but my call goes straight to voicemail. I realize she’s probably in class right now, probably in the very class where the guy asked her out. I’m about to leave a message, but then I chicken out. I don’t even know what I’d tell her anyway. I hang up, but then I take heart and call her back right away.

“Miranda, it’s me. I’d like to talk to you, if you get a chance, but there’s a game at four-ten your time, so I’ll be working most of the day. Try to call me later this evening. I want to tell you about a boat ride I went on yesterday and...I’d like to ask you not to go out with anybody else until I get home and we talk things over. Please? I love you, baby.”

I hang up then. The ball’s in her court, and it’s up to her whether we get back together or not. I hope she’ll choose me, but I don’t have any more time to think about it right now, because we have to meet the bus in ten minutes. I grab my bag, and then I go back downstairs with Brad.

“You look like shit, son. You’d better forget about that girl for the time being and get your head in the game.”

“I will.”

The game goes well until the eighth inning, when one of our guys gives up a three-run homer. We work hard and get a run back, but ultimately, we lose by two. It’s quiet on the bus back to the hotel and I don’t think the guys will be doing a lot of partying tonight.

Finally, about ten-thirty, my phone rings.

“Miranda?”

“Yes.”

I drop down on my bed, suddenly choked up.

“Thanks for calling,” I say at last.

“You’re welcome. You went on a boat ride yesterday?”

“Yeah. It was amazing. Have you ever been on a sailboat before?”

“Of course.”

“Then you already know.”

“I’ve never been to Baltimore before. How is it there?”

We talk about it for a while, and then I ask her about the guy who asked her out.

“Oh, Uncle Tommy told you about that, did he?”

“Yeah. You’re not really going to go, are you?”

She’s quiet for a moment.

“We already met for coffee, Jason.”

I’m speechless. My chest feels tight and my fists curl. If he was standing here in front of me, I know I’d punch him in the face.

“Who is this son of a bitch, anyway?”

“Calm down. He’s just a guy from class.”

“You like him, don’t you?”

She clicks her tongue, sounding annoyed.

“He’s all right,” she tells me. “Why?”

“Because I don’t want you seeing him again.”

“You are out of your mind,” she tells me. “First you dump me, then you tell me you can’t even get your keys from me because you can’t bear to see me. And now you’re telling me not to see a perfectly nice guy? Get the keys from Ignatius like you told me and leave me alone. You have no right to tell me who I can go out with.”

“Miranda, please. I made a mistake.”

“You bet you did. You never should’ve dumped me, Jason Weed. And the worst part is, you couldn’t even tell me to my face. You told Uncle Tommy and let him tell me.”

I hear the way her voice breaks, and I know she’s got that sorrowful expression on her face she gets when things feel hopeless.

“I know I should’ve told you myself,” I say. “I’m an idiot. Please, Miranda, let’s not argue about this over the phone. All it’s doing is making it worse.”

“How can it get any worse? How could you dump me over one little mistake like that?”

“All I can say is, I’m sorry, Miranda, and beg you to reconsider. Please take me back. I’ll make it all up to you, I swear. Just give me another chance.”

“Oh, like the one you gave me?”

“Let’s not get upset here, all right? We’ve got two more days on the road, and then I’ll come home and we can discuss this calmly, okay?”

“I guess so.”

“I...I miss you, Nanda.”

She lets out a strangled sob and hangs up the phone, and I think, at least she didn’t tell me to go screw myself this time.

I wipe my eyes on the back of my hand. I must be the dumbest girl alive. All I want is Jason back, and I blew it once again. He probably thinks I’m a total harpy. I wonder if he’ll still come over to talk to me when they get back. Two more days is going to seem like two more years.

I have to get my mind off it, so I go find Ignatius.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asks me.

“I just got off the phone with Jason.”

“Did you make up?”

“No. I yelled at him for breaking up with me in the first place.”

He shakes his head and says, “Miranda, you’re a priest who burns his own cassock.”

“I don’t know what that means,” I tell him.

“It means you cut off your nose to spite your face.”

“Well, I don’t know what that means, either.”

He laughs.

“Go pour yourself a glass of wine and I’ll explain it to you. Hell, bring me one, too.”

“Therefore, if you have a fish on your line that you want, don’t jerk it around and screw with it. Reel it in, for God’s sake.”

“So I should’ve just caved?” I ask. He takes a sip of his Chianti and sighs, like I’m being deliberately obtuse.

“It’s not a matter of caving. It’s a matter of getting what you want. Hell, take him back if you want him. You can always torture him later.”

I take a big slug off my wine, charm school be damned.

“Miranda,” says Ignatius disapprovingly. “You might as well just drink it straight from the bottle.”

“Sorry. I’m just...oh, these road trips are killing me.”

“You have nine more to go,” he reminds me, swirling the wine in his glass. He looks over at me, a wise, fatherly expression on his face. “Perhaps if you and he didn’t fight before every road trip, things would go easier.”

“There’s nothing easy about this relationship.”

“I see that.” He sighs and takes another sip. “Here’s how we can make the time go faster. Let’s drive up to Reno and play Roulette.”

“Can’t,” I tell him. “I have to go to work at three. I’m closing tonight.”

“In that case, let’s just order a pizza before you go.”

“Sounds good to me.”

The pizza guy dawdles, so I have to wolf it down and hurry out of the house to get to work on time. On the way out to the car, I pass Kevin in the driveway.

“Hey, Kev.”

“Hey, Nanda.”

“Something wrong? You look a little out of sorts.”

“Just a shitty day. You going to work?”

“Yeah.”

“Have fun.”

I hurry and get in my car, wondering what a shitty day at a dry cleaners looks likes. I wish we could go to Reno, like Ignatius said. I wish we could all go to Reno and win a bunch of money.

Later, when I get home, Ignatius is alone.

“Where’d Kevin go?”

“We had a fight.”

“You guys had a fight? Oh, my God. What was it about?”

“He was complaining about his job and I told him to go back to school. I guess it’s a touchy subject with him.”

“Is he coming back?”

“I don’t know.”

My eyes well with tears. The thought of losing Kevin as a friend and Jason as a boyfriend all in one day goes straight to my heart. I rush into Ignatius’s arms, crying my head off. The only thing is, instead of comforting me, he starts crying, too, something I’ve never seen him do before.

“I love him,” he tells me.

“What is with these men of ours?”

“I don’t know. I just want him back.”

“Call him up and apologize,” I tell him.

“You call Jason up and apologize.”

“Deal.”

We dry our eyes and both go for our phones, but both our calls go straight to voicemail.

“Looks like we’re screwed,” he tells me. “Let’s open another bottle of wine and cheer ourselves up.”

I like sitting here talking to Ignatius over a bottle of wine. He had some big adventures before he came to work for us, and he knows how to fight well.

“Maybe you should teach me some moves.”

“Go put on some workout clothes, and don’t you tell your uncle. He wants you to be a fine young lady someday.”

“Aw, I’m good enough for a sports guy.”

When I come back downstairs, dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt, Ignatius has taken off his shirt and is ready for me.

“Look at your chest,” I tell him, going up to him and running my fingers through the thick, silky hair to get to the muscles underneath. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Yes. Nice, huh? I’ve been working out extra hard. I tried to get Kevin involved, too, but he likes to sit around and play air guitar and video games. Youth is wasted on the young.”

“I know. Look at me. My uncle wants me to sit around acting like a lady, but I want some adventures, too.”

“You should quit your job,” he tells me. “It’s a waste of your time and talent. Nine dollars an hour, indeed.”

“I know. We could’ve been partying in Reno.”

“Let’s go anyway. We can spend a couple of nights and be back before your uncle gets here. They won’t be home before eight or nine on Sunday.”

“I thought you were going to teach me some moves. Besides, we wouldn’t even get there until, like, three in the morning.”

“All right. I’ll teach you how to throw a good right hook. But let’s get up and go early in the morning.”

“Okay. Sounds like a plan.”

“Yes. Just like that, Miranda. Keep your fist closed tight and follow through with your elbow.”

“Hit them with my elbow, do you mean?”

“No, but you can. The elbow is very hard.”

“Will Uncle Tommy make me eat wood, do you think, for going to Reno? I’m still going, but do you think he’ll get mad?”

“You win some money and he’ll be proud of you. Now pay attention and show me what you just learned.”

We drink wine and play-fight the rest of the evening, and even spend some time packing our bags. The good thing about Ignatius is, he hardly ever gets hung over, so he has no problem in the morning, although my head hurt
s
a little. Since his car’s kind of a heap, I let him drive my car and I spend most of the trip up sleeping. We make good time to Reno and check into our hotel.

“I just know something awesome is going to happen on this trip.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, but much more than would happen at home.”

Ignatius and I share a room, mostly so he can keep an eye on me, although he says it’s just because he’s lonely and needs my constant chatter to keep his mind off Kevin.

“Well, I need your big mouth to keep my mind off Jason, then.”

“Just unpack your bag so we can get down to the casino. Do you have your eighteen hundred?”

“Yes, and I’m putting it all on red.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?”

“Yes. Maybe if I win, it means Jason will come back to me and Kevin will come back to you and we’ll all be happy together.”

“All that from one bet?”

“Yeah. Plus, I can put it in the bank so I’m not broke until allowance day. Besides, I have to pay Jason back for buying me those clothes when Uncle Tommy kicked me out.”

“You have big plans, I see. Break a leg.”

“Of course, if I win, I’m going to keep a thousand aside so we can play slots and stuff.”

“I have some money tucked away. Don’t you worry about that.”

“Where’d you get money?”

“I pay no rent, and I save. That’s why I recommend a budget to you.”

“Uncle Tommy always says I’m kind of careless with my money, but I’ve learned something lately.”

“What’s that?”

“Not everybody has a lot of money to spend.”

He tilts his head back and laughs.

“Miranda, you are one of a kind.”

“No. For real. Like, Jason has to be on a budget, or he won’t have enough money to pay his car payment and his mortgage and stuff. Can you believe him, though? He was actually going to start paying my bills, too.”

“My God. You want to hold onto a man like that. Ready to go?”

“Okay, but I’m kind of nervous. If I lose, I’ll have to take an advance on Uncle Tommy’s credit card, and I’ll eat wood for sure if I do that.”

Lucky for me, I win. The ball hits on red, so I walk away from the table with thirty-six hundred bucks. We go right upstairs and put all but a thousand into the safe, and I even have Ignatius hang onto five hundred of that for me.

“See how good I’m doing at budgeting?”

“You’re doing spectacular. Come on. I’ll teach you how to play Craps. It’s better odds anyway.”

We have lots of fun that night, and it’s a pretty good adventure to be on. I wonder about Jason, if he ever gambles, or if he even knows how. I realize there are a lot of things I don’t know about him, but I’m looking forward to learning everything. I’ve totally decided to take him back, even if he does spank me even harder than Uncle Tommy does. I kind of wonder how he’ll feel about me gambling, since he’s kind of a straight and narrow type of guy, but he can’t punish me for something I’m doing while we’re broken up, can he?

Besides, if Ignatius thinks it’s all right, then it must be, because he’d never try to anger Uncle Tommy or go against his wishes.

We split up for a little while because Ignatius wants to try his luck at Blackjack, and I really don’t get cards, but he doesn’t stay gone very long. He’s keeping a sharp eye on me to make sure I don’t get into any trouble.

“God, quit watching me like a hawk,” I tell him. “I’m in a nice, safe casino. What could possibly go wrong?”

“You watch how much you drink, all right? I know it’s fun to get free drinks, but don’t go crazy.”

“Yes, Dad. Have you heard from Kevin?”

“No. Have you heard from Jason?”

“No. Not yet, but they’ve got an early game in the morning, so not even Uncle Tommy has called me tonight.”

“I’ll be glad when they get home.”

“Me, too.”

I’m sitting there playing the slots when two guys come up nearby arguing. At first, I don’t even pay attention to them, so I don’t know wha
t
they’re fighting about, but just as I turn my head to look, one of them picks up one of the heavy chairs and throws it at the other. It doesn’t quite go in the trajectory he intends, and it misses the other guy by a wide margin.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t miss me at all, and even though I sort of duck, it whacks me square in the side of the head and on my shoulder.

“Ow, you fucking freak!” I feel for a lump, but it’s worse than that. There’s blood running down the side of my head. “Oh, Goddamnit.”

I’m just about to jump up and practice my right hook, but before I know it, Ignatius is there. The two of them try to run away, but he catches the one who threw the chair and totally clocks him. The bouncers are all over both of the guys and drag them away, and suddenly people are swarming me, pressing towels and ice packs against my wound. They hustle me off the casino floor and into a little room where only the employees are supposed to be, and they sit me down at a scarred wooden table.

“Call an ambulance,” I hear, but that’s the last thing I want. One of the cocktail waitresses comes and holds my hand, and the floor manager has cashed out my machine and is giving my winnings to Ignatius to hold onto.

“I can’t go to the hospital,” I say. “I’m supposed to go home in the morning.”

“Shhh,” Ignatius tells me. “You need stitches.”

“Does this mean I’ll have another scar on my head?”

“Yes, I think so. Your uncle’s going to kill me.”

“It’s not your fault. I’ll tell him it’s not your fault.”

Before I know it, the ambulance has arrived and they’re carting me off on a stretcher.

Once I’m lying down with my neck stabilized and everything, I realize how tired I am, but they won’t let me sleep.

“Don’t go to sleep, okay, Miranda?” says the paramedic in a loud voice. “Stay awake for me.”

“Are we almost there?”

“We’re pulling up now.”

“Good, because that siren’s annoying. Where’s Ignatius?”

“Your friend? He’s following along behind. He’ll meet us here in a minute.”

“I think they hit me a lot harder than I thought.”

The ambulance stops and they get me out and wheel me into the hospital. I try to look around, but I can’t see much farther than the acoustic tiles on the ceiling.

“Bay seven.” “...X-rays of C1 through C7 and her shoulder.” “...CAT scan.” “...cut her braid off.”

“Oh, hell no,” I say. “Let me unbraid it.”

Since I’m conscious and still kind of lively at that point, they do, and I take the braid out while I’m lying there waiting to be taken to the X-ray department. I’m surprised they’re so worried about that when it’s my head that’s hurt, but whatever. They keep bugging me to stay awake, and I try harder now, afraid they’ll take the scissors after me if I go to sleep.