Seventeen

AFTER EVERYONE GOT BACK and we had dinner Friday night, we got online and got Melody a ticket to accompany her mother back to Boston. We managed to get bereavement fare, which wasn’t any cheaper, but gave her the option of setting a return later. Can’t believe the airline called the hospital to see if Harold was in the morgue. Sheesh!

Saturday, we relaxed, though I went over to the club to work out in the morning. Since it was a holiday weekend, there was no Pilates. That afternoon, Melody took me by the hand and we went into the bedroom where we made sweet gentle love while the family was just a couple of rooms over. It was a real release for Melody and she cried herself to sleep in my arms. I followed quickly after her.

We hadn’t been to Carmine’s yet, so when Melody and I got up we took everyone to our favorite restaurant for dinner. Wendy shuffled things with another waitperson so she could serve our table. It was after the meal that things got weird.

I had to get over to the campus to take my watch at ten. Everyone going home could have fit in the Mazda, but Melody jumped in my car.

“I’ll take this car home after I see where you work, darling,” Melody said. “Someone will come back to pick you up in the morning.”

We parked and I checked in with Andy and then with the guy on duty at the gate. When I got back to the tent, Melody was still there, sitting in the chair.

“It’s not as big as the one in our living room, is it?” she asked.

“No, but I guess it’s big enough to serve the purpose.”

“Hi,” Bree said as she came around the tent. “Oh! Melody! Did I mess up? I didn’t mean to interfere.”

“Relax, Bree,” Melody said. She held out her arms to her near-twin. Bree went right to her and they hugged.

“Are you okay?” Bree asked. “I’m so sorry.”

“It doesn’t get okay overnight,” Melody said. “But I’ve got family to help me. Tomorrow I’m going out to Boston with Mom for a while.”

“Melody, I ... I don’t know what to say. I kept imagining that it was my father and I just fell apart.”

“That’s not what I remember,” Melody said. “What I remember is my strong friend picking me up and carrying me to my mommy. She was so gentle and so concerned for me.”

“Well, then I fell apart,” Bree insisted. “Oh, Melody.” The two girls hugged in the chair and I sat in the desk chair at the table. I hadn’t brought any homework with me.

“Tony, don’t you usually sit here?” Melody asked.

“Yes, but I didn’t want to interrupt. You needed some time.”

“We’re cold,” she complained.

I shook out the blanket, but before I could spread it over them, they were both standing beside the chair waiting for me to sit down. Getting the idea of what they had in mind, I moved the chair a little so that it would hit the wall before it tipped. We might get overbalanced.

I sat down and Melody sat on my left leg and Bree wiggled her way in on my right. They did some kind of in-place foot dance that left them with their legs tangled together and their bodies turned slightly toward each other. Finally, I pulled the blanket up.

“Mmm. This is cozy,” Melody sighed. We just reclined there like that for about fifteen minutes and I thought both girls went to sleep.

Melody lifted her hand and petted Bree’s cheek.

“Are you okay, Red?” she asked. I’d never heard Melody use a nickname for Bree other than when she refused to refer to her as anything but “bitch.” I wasn’t sure how Bree would take it.

“Yes, baby,” Bree answered. “But I’ve been so worried about you. And I had a lot of nightmares Thursday night.”

“So did I,” Mel said. “Is it better now?”

“I think so. I woke up screaming late at night. I was so panicked. Then, Dad came in and he held me until I went back to sleep.”

“You’re so lucky, Bree,” Melody said sadly. “You made up with your dad while he’s still healthy and will be around a while. Mine was dying when we buried the hatchet.”

Bree leaned forward across me and kissed Melody—first on the cheek and then on the lips. As they pulled apart, they froze for a few seconds with their lips barely touching, pulled together like magnets.

“It looks like you two have buried the hatchet, too,” I whispered.

“Sometimes in each other,” Bree said.

“But yes. We’re learning how to be sisters,” Melody said. She turned and kissed me. It was light and not passionate, but her tongue slipped out to lick my lips and touch the tip of my tongue as well. She pulled back with her eyes glued to mine.

“Now kiss Bree,” Melody whispered. Bree froze, looking at Melody. Whatever she saw apparently put her mind at ease because she turned her lips to mine and gave me a kiss as soft and sensuous as Melody’s.

“What are you up to, Melody?” I asked when Bree and I parted.

“I’m going to be gone for a while,” Melody said. “I don’t want the two of you to have to wait until I get back before you get to kiss each other.” She leaned in and kissed Bree again. “I don’t want you to feel guilty about kissing each other.”

“We’re still not going to be making out here,” I said firmly. “It just isn’t a good idea.”

“That’s fine,” Melody said. “There are lots of other places. Just ... don’t go to third base yet, okay? I want to be here for that.”

“Third base?”

“I can’t imagine either of you kissing for very long without getting to second,” Melody giggled. I hushed her. Bree’s eyes were glistening as Melody looked at her. “I want to be first to lick you before Tony does,” she whispered. I felt Bree shudder on my lap.

“You don’t have to do this, baby,” Bree said. “I can wait for you ... as long as it takes.”

“That’s what you’ve shown me. But it’s more fun this way.”

Both girls cuddled against me, kissing me on either cheek and then moving their mouths enough so we were all three connected lip-to-lip-to-lip.

“Mmm. About no making out at the tent,” I reminded them.

They settled against me with their hands held against my chest and went to sleep.

Bree’s phone vibrated at a quarter till midnight. She stretched and started to move but Melody caught her hand and held her close to us.

“Take good care of my baby,” Melody whispered to Bree. “Tony, please don’t ever stop loving me.”

She pulled herself together and stood up. Bree started to follow but Melody held up her hand.

“I need to get going before the next shift arrives,” Bree said.

“There are no other shifts tonight. I, on the other hand, have two other lovers waiting for me at home. Can you bring Tony home in the morning?” Melody asked. Bree nodded. Melody leaned down and kissed each of us, and headed for the car.

I had to paint it. There was no way around it now. With Harold’s death, the image of the autopsy was constantly swimming in my head. But time was a precious commodity. I had no time to paint.

I took Melody, Lexi, Mom, and Dad to the airport Sunday morning at ten. They were headed to different gates, but it didn’t really matter since I couldn’t pass through security anyway. I wondered what it was like in the ‘old days’ when you could kiss your lover goodbye at the gate. Or like in Casablanca where you stood at the foot of the stairs as she climbed up to the door of the plane. Shit! I’m so fucking sentimental. Lexi stood patiently until the last minute as Melody and I clung to each other, kissing like I’d never see her again.

I didn’t have a chance to nap before we left and driving home from the airport, I found my eyes bleary and hard to focus. I realized I was crying again. I pulled off at an exit on the south side of town and wound around until I found a little mall. I went in for a cup of coffee at Starbucks. It was an odd kind of place—not your usual shopping center. There was a huge second-hand store on one corner, every cell phone carrier in the world, a food court, bank, European deli, Radio Shack, and a place for buying trailer hitches and car racks. Walmart was on the other side of the parking lot next to a fitness center.

I called Lissa and told her I had some errands to take care of on the way home and I’d be a couple of hours.

I just needed to be alone for a while.

I wandered into the second hand store and it was pretty intense. Yeah. What can possibly be intense about a second hand store? It has all kinds of stuff from crystal vases to trays full of unmatched silverware to clothes for men and women. There were shoes, suitcases, kids’ games and toys. A small collection of furniture occupied one corner of the store while nearby there were sheets, curtains, and towels. Who buys someone’s used towels?