Chapter 16

Bill looked up from his math homework wondering what kind of twisted minds could come up with geometry. The people clearly had a high threshold for boredom because geometry had to be the most boring topic in the world. His eyes settled on the cat. It was curled into a ball beside his math book. It was just out of reach and watching him.

“Can’t you find something more interesting to do?” Bill asked the cat.

The cat raised its head and licked a paw. It put its head back down and continued to watch him.

“Strange cat,” Bill muttered.

The cat suddenly sat up and stared at the door.

“Is someone at the door?” Bill asked. The words were barely out of his mouth when the doorbell rang. “I guess so.”

The cat jumped down from the table and headed towards the door. Bill called out, “Hey, Cat! You need opposable thumbs to turn the doorknob.”

Bill got up from his chair and followed the cat to the door. He opened it and stared at the woman standing there. The cat stepped out and rubbed its head against the woman’s ankle. Bill looked down at the cat and said, “Traitor.”

“He’s a cat,” Selena said.

“I know who you are. You’re the woman from the bar,” Bill said.

Selena smiled at him. “That’s right. Is Guy home?”

“He’ll be home in an hour,” Bill said.

“Can I wait for him?” Selena asked.

“Sure. Come on in,” Bill said stepping back from the door to make room for her.

Selena entered the house and looked around. “This is a nice home.”

“It’s a broken home. I guess you knew that,” Bill said.

“I feel bad for you kids. My parents divorced when I was about your age. It’s rough,” Selena said.

“It is,” Bill said.

Selena said, “I was convinced that I was the reason my parents split up. It was only years later that I realized that I wasn’t the problem. My Dad’s drinking was the problem.”

“My mom said she was tired of being stuck in the house all of the time,” Bill said.

Selena asked, “Did you ever tell a teacher that your dog ate your homework when you hadn’t done it?”

“I’ve done something like that,” Bill said.

“That’s what your mother is doing. She’s making up an excuse for her behavior when there really isn’t an excuse. She’s blaming you just like you blamed the dog. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Selena said.

“She was stuck here because of us,” Bill said.

“Nonsense. Lots of mothers stay at home to watch their kids and love every minute of it. Other mothers go to work and the kids are just fine. The problem here isn’t the kids, it is the woman,” Selena said.

“Maybe you’re right,” Bill said. “There are times when I hate her.”

“No. There are times when you think you should hate her. I’ve been there and done that. When all is said and done, I still love my father even though he is a miserable drunk,” Selena said.

“Thanks,” Bill said. He gestured to one of the chairs and asked, “Would you like a seat?”

“I’d love one,” Selena said.

While she sat down on one of the chairs, Bill took a seat on the couch. The cat sat down next to him. Bill looked at the cat. It looked up at him and then back at Selena.

“The cat likes you. The only one I’ve ever seen the cat take to like that is your father,” Selena said.

“I know. The cat likes him, but I’m not too sure it likes me,” Bill said.

“Cats are like that. If they like you they’ll follow you from room to room, but they’ll keep their distance,” Selena said.

“If you say so,” Bill said. He eyed the cat and it looked back up at him.

“Did you know the cat was a sacred animal in ancient Egypt?” Selena asked.

“No,” Bill answered.

“It was,” Selena said.

After an uneasy moment of silence, Bill asked, “Are you my father’s girlfriend?”

“No, I’m not,” Selena said. “He’s just a friend.”

Bill said, “I saw the video of the robbery.”

“Not one of my most lady-like days,” Selena said. She gave him an embarrassed little smile with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Before the robbers came, you were glaring at my Dad like he had pissed you off,” Bill said.

Selena said, “I was mad at men in general that day. I had just caught my boyfriend in bed with a woman who was my best friend. I really wanted to hurt a man that day. We were lucky the robbers showed up or I might have gotten into a fight with your Dad.”

“So he hadn’t done anything to make you mad?” Bill said.

“I had never met him until that day. I didn’t even say a word to him until after we quit kicking the robbers,” Selena said. “We all became friends after that. You know – a shared experience binding us together.”

“I had wondered about that,” Bill said.

It was strange, but this single conversation was putting a lot of his fears to rest.

Ellie came into the room and noticed Selena. She said, “You’re the woman from the bar.”

“Yes. You must be Ellie,” Selena said. “My name is Selena.”

Ellie looked Selena over in the manner that women have when assessing the competition. She said, “I don’t think you’re my Dad’s type.”

“Put your mind at ease. Your father and I are just friends,” Selena said.

“She was just telling me about how they had met that day in the bar. It’s a neat story,” Bill said.

Curious about the strange voice coming from the living room, Sean came in and looked at Selena. More accurately, he looked at her breasts. His eyes never wavered.

Ellie glanced at her brother and said, “I might be mistaken about that. You do have one asset that men like.”

“They have to take the whole package and that tends to put them off,” Selena said.

“I didn’t mean to be critical,” Ellie said.

Selena said, “You’re going to have to practice a little harder at that if you’re going to be a lawyer.”

“Practice what?” Ellie asked.

“Lying,” Selena answered.

Ellie could have been angry or amused by that comment. She chose to be amused. She laughed. “Okay, you caught me.”

“You have a very pretty laugh,” Selena said.

“No one has ever complimented me on my laugh before,” Ellie said.

“That’s a shame. You have a very lovely one,” Selena said. “You should laugh more.”

“Things haven’t been very funny around here,” Ellie said.

Selena said, “I know.”