Chapter 35

I heard Mary call out "Jackie!" as I closed the front door.

Jill was standing halfway between the house and the curb with a puzzled look on her face. I put my arm around her waist and kissed her. Not a two minute goodnight kiss, but not the peck on the cheek I gave her when I got home, either.

I felt good. Better than in weeks.

"New car?"

"Yeah, we came over from the dealer's."

We got in the back seat and John turned around, smiling.

"Nice," I said.

John had once told me there's a lot of money in women's pussies. At the time I laughed, thinking it was a joke. Now I was starting to believe him.

The car was a 2006 BMW 760i. The kind of cherry apple maroon color. That's the 12 cylinder model. The basic car is over $111,000 plus delivery. I knew the 6 CD changer he had going was optional and wouldn't be surprised if he had a couple of packages to bring it up another twenty grand or so. True, you couldn't get a house for that kind of money these days, but you could for two of them. Or make a hell of a down payment.

"So, Jill, do you get the Mercedes?"

"No. Daddy traded it in. He said I have to wait till I get a license before he buys me a car. Life's a bitch."

That was a concern I didn't have. I wondered if my hundred bucks a week was going to mean anything to anybody.

We pulled into the hospital parking lot. "Are you sure your mom's OK with bringing you home?"

"Yeah, John. She gets off at 8."

"OK. See you later, Jill. I'm going to try this baby out. You've got your key if I'm not home."

"Have fun, Daddy. Don't get any tickets."

He drove off and we headed towards the hospital entrance.

"It's a nice car, Jill. I've never felt as safe and secure in the back seat of a car as I do in that one."

"Well, you should. I can't believe how much money he spent on that stupid car. Some people just don't have any concept of money."

Maybe she would appreciate my working for our times together.

"Speaking of money, I'll be staying on the swim team."

"Oh, that's great, Jack. What are you going to do?"

"Coach has some money he can spend. I'll be keeping the gym neat. Picking up towels, balls and stuff, mopping the floor each day."

"What about days you have to go out of town for a meet?"

"He said he never did it on those days so it's OK for me not to. I'm getting a hundred bucks a week, tax free."

"Well, you should be able to put some money aside for college."

"I'm making it for us, Jill."

"Jack, I don't want you spending that kind of money on me. I'm not going with you for your money. Sure, we can go to a movie or get something to eat and you can get me presents for my birthday and Christmas, but I don't want you to think you have to spend everything you make to keep me interested. You don't. It's just like the first day we went to the mall. You were so concerned we were going in a seven year old Chevy. I could care less what kind of car we went in, I wanted to be with you.

"It really bothers me that you spent so much on Bozo. I'm not going to insult you by trying to pay you back for him, but I could have gotten along fine with the dog you brought home today. By the way, you never told me about that dog."

"I got him for Mary. She's staying in her room, she won't talk to me, she's not getting any better that I can see. I figured if she had someone she has to take care of it'll force her to at least put him in the back yard to go to the bathroom."

"Boy. You give her a puppy, then disappear for three hours and leave her home alone. Kind of 'Sink or Swim.' You're either real smart or you're a real asshole."

"I'm smart. Or Mary's going to have a room full of shit."

"What are you going to do if she can't get the courage to let him out? Are you going to clean up for her?"

"No, Jill, I'm not. I'll give her the stuff to clean up after him, but she's going to need to take care of him. And I think she'll be up for it."

"I hope so. Speaking of being up for it, it's time we went inside."

"OK. It's not going to get any easier. Let's do it."

We took the elevator up to the third floor. Mom had given me directions to Charlie's room so I knew where to go.

John had used his influence to get Charlie a private room. We knocked on the door and he looked over at us. He had to roll his head all the way over on its side because the eye closest to us was covered with a bandage. As was most of his face.

"Come on in." He sounded muffled and nasal yet cheerful at the same time.

The whole right side of his face was covered with a big bandage that was secured by tape wrapped around his head at forehead and chin levels. His right eye was covered as was his nose. His whole torso was one mass of bandages, probably because of the broken ribs. For some reason, I was surprised to see the hair on his head. No reason it shouldn't still be there and be visible but I was surprised anyway.

"God, it's good to see you guys. You don't know how bad it gets being in here all the time. There's just so much TV you can watch and so much reading you can do before you go batty." It was weird to see him smile when I could only see half of his mouth.

Jill went around the bed to his good side and leaned over, kissing him on the cheek and giving him a hug. "I'm sorry, Charlie. I shouldn't have left you in here alone."

"Hey, I'm not complaining. I don't even know if they would have let you in. I've been doped up a lot of the time, I eat out of a tube, they've been trying to put me back together. Heck, I don't even know if I would have been able to see you if you showed up."

"Charlie, I'm sorry I haven't come to see you, either. I know we hardly know each other but I want to thank you for what you did for Mary."

"You would have done the same thing for Jill. We all know that. It's no big deal what I did for her. She was in trouble and I did what I could. I just wish I could have stopped it."

"I know. I hope we can put those assholes away for a hundred years."

"I just hope we can put them away. I've seen too many people get off in the last few years. How is Mary?"

"She's not real good, Charlie. She can't handle having any men around her. She gets physically ill if I stay in her vicinity. She's been staying in her room since she came home. Sometimes she'll talk to me if I'm not too close but she's always on the lookout like she expects me to come after her or something. She has been talking to Mom and she says she's not happy with the way she's behaving but there's nothing she can do about it."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I guess I shouldn't expect her to come visit me any time soon."

"No, I don't think so, Charlie."

"Hey, you never know. That trick you pulled today might just change her mind."

Charlie looked at Jill. "What trick?"

"He gave her a puppy and then left to come here. His mother is working till 8, then she's going to drop me off before they go home. Mary's going to be home alone for almost three hours. And I can tell you from experience, new puppies won't make it for three hours without needing to go outside. And you know he's not going to let her sit there and mope. He'll be attacking her and licking her and she'll have to show him some affection. I don't care how bad off she is."

"That's good. You guys are going to have to tell me how it works out. Maybe you should get me a dog so I have somebody to lick my face after I get out of here. How are you two holding up after this mess?"

It blew me away. For a minute, it was all I could do to stare at the guy. Broken ribs, broken face, broken nose, lost eye and he was concerned that it might have affected Jill and me. I looked at the expectant smile on his face and I felt small. I was making it a big problem that Mary had trouble talking to me, holding me, letting me in her life. All her dreams had been shattered in one nightmare of a night and I was feeling sorry for myself.

I pulled Jill into me. "We're doing good, Charlie. We got to spend some time together at her house on Sunday. It wasn't all fun and games but we did have time for a little touchy feely."