Chapter 49

We both turned as Karen came into the room. She walked over to me, put her arm around my waist, and said, “Yes, Daddy, I’ve had sex with Pete, and it’s the only thing that kept me from going nuts around here. He showed me that having sex could be a wonderful, loving thing, not the insanity that I’m used to seeing around here, especially between you and that bitch.”

Mr. Gilroy’s face clouded, and he said, “What insanity? What have you seen?”

Karen was holding me tightly and she was shaking. She said, “I’m not blind or stupid, Daddy. You told me about the stuff that happened when you first met her, and I know what used to go on in the room over the garage before I moved in. I sleep in the chair all night some nights, because I don’t want to be in that bed.”

Mr. Gilroy’s mouth dropped open, and he cried, “Oh my God!” and he rushed to her and wrapped her in his arms. Karen started crying, and hugging him, and he looked at me with an agonized look on his face. He said, “Would you leave us, Pete. We have a lot of talking to do. I’m sure Karen will speak to you tomorrow.”

I looked back at the big fancy house as I drove down the long driveway. It was hard to believe that it could be such a cold and lonely place amidst such beautiful surroundings, and my heart went out to Karen.

Mom was on the phone and Erin was in her room when I got home.

I wanted to talk with Amy about what happened at Karen’s, but she wasn’t home yet. I called Bill, but there was no answer, so I watched TV until Amy came home. She was frowning when she came in, and I followed her into her room. We sat on her bed and I said, “What happened? Did the tennis guy give you some crap?”

“No, not really. Wayne is a good guy, but he wants things that I can’t give him right now.” It bothered me when she said it, but I knew that it was just a matter of time before she was going to have sex, so I took her hand and said, “I can’t blame him. I’d think he was crazy if he didn’t want to have sex with someone as beautiful as you.”

She furrowed her brow, and said, “Would it really bother you if I had sex with someone?”

“Of course it would. You know how I feel about you.”

She stared at me for a minute, then she shook her head and said, “Yes, I do, Pete, but sex is not the problem; we never got to that point. He’s a third-year college guy, and he asked me to be his date at a party next week. I was flattered at first, but I said no after I thought about it. This time in my life has been better than anything I could have imagined. I’ve never been this happy, and I don’t want to complicate things right now.”

“Is that why you didn’t go on tour with Kristen?”

“Uhh, yes, that’s part of it, but let’s not talk about me. What happened at Karen’s?”

I told her what went on, and we talked about it for quite a while. I told her about Clair being missing, and how upset Karen was about things at home. She said, “You like her, don’t you?”

“Yes I do, but not as a full-time girlfriend. I’ve been through that lately, and I think I’d like to cool it for a while.”

“That’s good. I just got your other girlfriend broken in. I don’t want to have to start on another one for a while.”

“Do you talk with Kristen a lot?”

“Every day. She’d like to see you while she’s here.”

“How’d she do last week?”

“She’s terrific, Pete. Her voice is so beautiful that it makes you want to cry. The audiences eat it up. She’s going to be a big star.”

“I, uhh, kind of miss her.”

“I know. She misses you too. We talk about it a lot, but she knows that the opportunity will probably never come again if she doesn’t go for this right now.”

Mom came to the door just then, and said to Amy, “I talked with Tomaso about what your duties would be and how much time you would be spending on things. You don’t have to do it, and I wish that you wouldn’t, but Tomaso says you’re wonderful at it, and I know that you want to give it a try. We’ll help in any way we can if you insist.”

Any nodded and said, “What did Dad say?”

“He doesn’t like it either, but Tomaso talked with him as well, and he assured him that he would cut back on things or completely stop it if it cut into your schoolwork.”

I couldn’t stand it anymore, and I interrupted with, “What’s going on?”

Amy said, “I’ve been doing the scheduling, booking, and most of the bookkeeping for Tomaso since Las Vegas. It’s exciting as heck and he wants me to continue.”

“Does that mean you’d go back on the road with him?”

“No, I just need a telephone, a fax machine, and a computer for E-Mail, and I can do it all here.”

“When would you do it?”

“I could do the back east stuff in the morning because of the time difference. I could take care of the rest after school. I’ve been meaning to look for a part-time job anyway, and this would take less time, the pay is a lot better, and I would have most weekends off.”

Mom went to her and said, “I hope that you know what you’re getting yourself into,” then she hugged her and said, Goodnight, Kids, and left.

Amy looked at me and said, “Pete, I’m going to need your help with something. This job pays extremely well. I’m having the money sent to my trust, and trust is going to send half of it back to the family. I want you to try to make sure that they don’t spend it all on me or save it for me. Dad makes good money, and my trust helps a little, but our family is pretty big, and there is not a lot of extra money.”

It hit me like a ton of bricks. I had never even thought about money since that thing with Erin’s braces, and Dad said that it was just a temporary setback. I made my mind up that I would start looking for a job right away, and I said so to Amy. She said, “I asked Dad if you were looking for a job, and he said that you probably would, but he didn’t want to mention it, because you had already given him some money. What was that all about?”

“Oh, it was just some extra money I got from a job I did.”

Tuesday

I got up and went into the kitchen when the alarm went off. Mom and Amy were sitting at the table. Mom was nicely dressed, and she was just hanging up the phone.

I asked Mom, “What’s going on?”

“I’m going to follow Amy to school and fill out papers to have her excused from homeroom in the mornings.”

I was thinking about next season’s early morning football practice, and I asked, “Does that mean that Erin will be riding to school with me?”

“No, I was just talking with Kelly’s parents. She’ll ride in with her starting tomorrow.”

We started for the door, and Mom said, “Dad will be home today. Don’t plan anything tonight. I’d like us all home for dinner.” I was parked behind Mom, and she was starting to open her car door, when she suddenly bent over. I said, “Are you okay. Mom?”

She waved her hand at me, “Yes, I’m fine, I uhh, dropped the keys.”

Things were more normal in school today. Only a few kids wanted to talk about my ‘marriage’ to Kristen. I looked for Karen, but I didn’t see her. I saw one of her girlfriends during lunch period, and I asked about her. The girl said that she didn’t come to school today, so I called her at home, but there was no answer.

I was coming out of my last class when Bill showed up. I said, “Hey, Buddy, where have you been?” as he walked up, then I looked at him close. He was tired-looking and his clothes were wrinkled. He seemed nervous, and he said, “Man, am I glad I found you. I need to borrow some money.”

“How much?”

“I need a couple hundred, just until tonight.”

“A couple hundred! I don’t have that much cash on me. What do you need that much money for?”

“You’re not gonna believe where I’ve been for the last three nights! I’ve been in a motel with this wild woman. You know her, and you’re gonna shit when I tell you who she is.”

I almost automatically said, “Clair Gilroy!” His eyes got wide, and he said, “How did you know?”

“Never mind. Tell me what’s going on.”

“I was at a 7-11 Saturday night, and I saw Vince’s car. I went over to say hello, and he was arguing with someone. He rolled the window down when he saw me, and asked me if I had any Quaaludes. He leaned over, opened her door, and pushed her out When I said I did, then he just drove away and left her standing there. She got in my car, and she had this wild look on her face! I offered her a Lude, and she said, “Why don’t we go somewhere where we can enjoy things?” I asked her where she wanted to go, and she pointed to the Comfort Eight Inn across the street. Just like that, Pete! She doesn’t even know who I am, and she invites me to go to a motel! We’ve been there every since. You wouldn’t believe it, Pete! She’s a madwoman. I never screwed so much in my life.”

I thought to myself, ‘Yes, Bill, I can believe it’ and I said, “So, what do you need the cash for?”

“Well, when we checked in, I gave them cash for one night, and my credit card for snacks, but I told them not to run it, that I would pay cash when we left. The place has a restaurant as you know, and I thought that we could have some food sent up. The rooms are cheap there, but that was three nights ago, and the remainder of the bill has to be a couple hundred by now.”

“But you always seem to have plenty of cash. What happened?”

“We, uhh, took all the Ludes, and she wanted something a little different, so I jumped in the car and went to the guy who sells me the Ludes. I got some coke and it took all the cash I had with me, but I have plenty more at home, so if you can lend me the money, I’ll get it back to you tonight.”

“Why don’t you just put everything on your credit card?”

“I don’t want the credit card bill coming to the house. C’mon, Pal, you gotta do me this favor.”

I sat thinking for a minute, then I asked, “Where do your folks think you are?”

“They were out Saturday night, and things were looking so good with Mrs. Gilroy, that I called and left a message that I was going with Vince to his parents’ place in the mountains, and I would be back Monday night. I called them last night and said that we were caught in a snowstorm, and I’d be back today.”

“But, what about you missing school?”

“Ahh, they don’t give a shit as long as my grades are okay.”

“So, where is Mrs. Gilroy now?”

“She’s unbelievable. Room service was busy, so I went to the restaurant to pick up some food. I was only gone about a half hour, but she had been in the courtesy bar in the room when I came back, and she drank a bunch of those little bottles of liquor, and she was passed out when I left her.”

I thought for a minute, then I said, “Wait a minute,” and we went to a phone and I called Karen’s house. Her dad answered on the first ring.

“Hi, Mister Gilroy, it’s Pete. Is Karen okay?”

“Yes, she’s sleeping right now, and she’s back in her old room. We spent last night and most of today talking about things. I’ve been a fool, and I promised her that I would change things around here. You uhh, haven’t heard from Clair have you?”

“Yes, Sir, I have. I just found out that she’s been for the past three nights, and I’m a little concerned about her. I can meet you there if you’d like.”

There was a long sigh, then he said, “Sure, but why are you concerned about her?”

“She’s been drinking, and she may have taken some drugs.”

“Damn! Who gave her the drugs?”

“She’s been with a guy I know, Mister Gilroy. He says that the drugs were her idea, and I believe him. He’s a high school kid, and he promised me that he wouldn’t tell a soul about this. I trust him, and I’d like to keep his name out of things.”

There was another sigh, and he said, “He’s probably right. She’s had a problem with drugs since I first met her, but I thought that we had it whipped. Tell him that I don’t even want to know his name. Now, where do we go to get her?”

I told him where she was, and said I’d meet him there. Then I said, “There’s a matter of the hotel bill, Mr. Gilroy.”

“All right, all right, I’ll take care of it. I’ll see you there in thirty minutes.”

I looked at Bill, and said, “Okay, he’ll even take care of the bill, but you heard what I said about you not mentioning this to anybody, right?”

“Unbelievable! I owe you a lot for everything, Pal. You’ll have to tell me how you know about her one day, but I promise that I won’t say a word to anyone in the meantime.”

I called home next, and Dad answered the phone. I started to tell him that I’d be a little late, but he said, “Your mom and I have to go somewhere. If we’re not back by dinner, Amy will fix something. But don’t go anywhere tonight. We want to talk to you,” before I could.

His voice sounded a little down, and I asked, “Is everything okay?”

“I’ll tell you tonight.”

I turned to Bill, and said, “I’ll take care of things with Mrs. Gilroy. Did you leave anything there?”

“No, but why are you doing this?”

“I’ll tell you about it sometime, but not now. I gotta go. Give me the room key. I’ll make sure they rip up your credit card stuff.”

Mr. Gilroy and I pulled in at about the same time, and I let us into the room. We both stopped and stared in amazement. There were empty food plates lying around everywhere, and the place smelled like a mixture of booze, sweat, and who knows what else. Clair Gilroy was lying face down on the bed, naked. I was reminded of the pretty woman I saw in Cantil for a split second, but this was a different person. She looked dirty, and her hair was sticking out at weird angles. There was an empty potato chip bag by the bed, and she had potato chip crumbs all over her. But worse of all, she must have urinated after Bill had left, and the bed around her was sopping wet. Mr. Gilroy stared at her for a long moment, then he said, “Cocaine?”

“I think so; also some Quaaludes and booze.”

He shook his head, then he handed me some money, and said, “Take care of the bill. I’ll look after Clair.”

I paid the bill and retrieved Bill’s credit card form, and Mrs. Gilroy was sitting up when I went back to the room. Mr. Gilroy had a syringe in his hand and was injecting her with something. He looked up at me after he finished, and said, “Help me with her.”

We took her into the bathroom and sat her on the toilet. I held her steady while Mr. Gilroy started water running into the tub. She was awake now, but she could barely hold her head up. She looked at me at one point, but there was no recognition in her eyes. We gently placed her in the tub, then Mr. Gilroy stood up and said, “Okay, Pete. I can take it from here.” His eyes were moist when he said it, and I could tell how upset he was.

I said, “I know that she’s sick, Mr. Gilroy. Isn’t there something that can be done?”

“Yes there is, Pete, and I’ve held off too long. I’ll have to put her into long term, intensive therapy.”

“Why haven’t you done it before now?”

“Because I love her more than you can imagine, and I’d miss her, Pete. She’d be in there for at least a year, possibly more, and I wouldn’t be able to even visit her for the first six months.”

“But, I’ve seen you with another woman Mister Gilroy.”

“I know that you saw us at the garage the night of the party, and I’m sorry. Clair liked those kinds of things, and she was the one who arranged to have your dad and the other woman there. I know that it must sound strange to you, but I didn’t even want to participate that particular night. She said that she’d leave me if I didn’t.” I shrugged as though I didn’t know what he was talking about, but knowing Clair, it sounded exactly like something she would do, and I felt sorry for him.

Amy had already started dinner when I got home, and she was strangely quiet. She said that Mom and Dad would tell us when they got home when I asked her why.

They got home shortly after dinner and called us into the living room. Dad sat on the corner of the couch, and he looked upset. Mom went to Amy, put her arm around her, and said, “I haven’t been feeling good lately, Kids, and I’m going to have to have an operation. I don’t want you to worry. I’m going to be fine, but I’ll be laid up for a while. I’ll be in the hospital for a week or so, and I’ll have to rest in bed for several weeks when I get home.”

Erin screamed, “Mom!” and went running to her. Mom took her arm from Amy, wrapped it around Erin, and made soothing noises, but Erin was upset. She glared at Amy and said, “You bitch! You knew about this and you didn’t tell me.”

Mom grabbed Erin by the shoulders and said, “Stop it, Erin! Your sister has given...” Erin interrupted Mom and screamed, “She’s not my sister! I knew that there was something wrong with you. My sister would have told me what was the matter!” and she started sobbing.

Amy got a horrified look on her face, and she started to go to Erin, but Mom held her hand up. Erin started to calm down After a minute, and Mom said, “Amy is a member of this family, Dear, and don’t you ever forget it! I’m the one who told her not to say anything because I didn’t want to worry you kids. She was supposed to go with Kristen on what would have been a dream job, and she gave it up to be with me.”