Just Another Job (3 page)

“To put it
simply and heroically, I saved a boy
’
s life today. There
you heard it and it
’
s the truth. Ask
everyone you see. I
’
m sure it will be on
the news tonight and all over the internet tomorrow or
reversed,
”
said Chris.

“Okay,
”
said Louise.
“
Please be home
for dinner tomorrow. The tomatoes were like
charcoal.
”

Sadie walked
in.
“
It added flavor, thank you very much. Besides
tomorrow
’
s Friday.
”

Gerry turned
his head sharply from his mom to his dad. Chris did the same turn
to look his son in the eyes. Then they both shouted in
unison,
“
Pizza Night!
”

“Okay,
okay,
”
said Sadie.
“
Kiss your dad
goodnight.
”

Louise and Gerry dumped their plates in the
sink and then walked back to their father to say goodnight. Chris
pushed his chair out from the table and pulled each of them in at
the same time.

“I love you
both this much,
”
said Chris, as he squeezed them
tightly.

“Ow!
”
said both children with a slight
giggle.

“Love you too,
Dad,
”
said Louise, and left for her room.

“Love you too.
You need to finish reading
The Graveyard Book
with me,
”
said Gerry.

“I thought you
were reading it on your own,
”
said
Chris.

“I want to
hear the voices,
”
said Gerry.

“You get him
for fifteen minutes and then he has to read to me. I want to hear
the voices for my book too,
”
said
Sadie.

Gerry raced to his room. Sadie slinked over
to her sitting husband and draped her arms and head on his
shoulders.

“I think you
missed me,
”
said Chris.

“Never,
”
said Sadie, but then abruptly stood
up.
“
Especially with that pickle breath. Ugh. Hurry up and
eat. Your son
’
s
waiting.
”

“That
’
s the smell of
desire.
”

“Then desire
yourself.
”

No matter how
much excitement Chris put into his voice work, it only took a
couple minutes to knock Gerry out. Chris tucked his son in and
instinctively went to check on his daughter. Chris barely got his
head around Louise
’
s door when she
called from her bed.

“I
’
m almost done. Five minutes
max.
”

“Just
don
’
t forget to turn out your light,
”
said
Chris.

“I
don
’
t forget. I just fall asleep.
”

“Totally,
”
said Chris, drooping his mouth and
rolling his eyes in as overstated a form as possible, which
elicited a small chuckle from the teenager. He then made his way
down the hall, touching various picture frames hanging on the
walls.

Sadie waited in bed, tucked in with her
favorite blanket and iPad. Chris crawled over her legs to get to
his side of the bed and bumped her hand.

“I thought you
wanted me to read to you?
”
said
Chris.

“You took
forever. I had to do something with myself.
”

“Good.
I
’
m going to read my book.
”

“No. You can
still read to me.
”

Sadie dropped the iPad onto her bedside
table and turned to her husband. Her eyes opened wide. He groaned
in understanding, grabbed the book off his table, thumbed through
the pages unnecessarily, and then turned to where they left
off.

“’
The Little
Hangletons all agreed
–“’

“You
’
re going to stay home
tomorrow, right?
”

“It
’
s Friday.
I
’
ll be done early.
”

“We should
start a Harry Potter marathon again.
”

“I
don
’
t know how to break this to you honey, but Hogwarts is
fake. Dumbledore was brought up on charges of conspiracy to corrupt
the youth. Come on. The kids are getting burned out on
them.
”

“So.
It
’
s good for them. They shouldn
’
t always get
what they want.
”

Chris stared at his wife, waiting for her to
finish interrupting. She stared back and Chris imagined a flood of
thoughts walled up behind her forehead. The dam would burst sooner
or later. He just had to wait it out, but she squinted her eyes as
if she saw the plan formulating in his head. It could have been a
staring contest for the ages. Yet Sadie switched tactics and poked
Chris under the rib.

“Hey. Do you
want me to continue or not?
”
said
Chris.

“I want you to
talk to me. I didn
’
t see you all
day.
”

“I know, but
it was an emergency.
”

“That
doesn
’
t matter. You
’
re here now. You can
talk to me now.
”

Closing the book, Chris stalled for time to
think. Sadie usually broke the silence and he would catch on to her
conversation. She waited for him this time. He started lamely.

“I
can
’
t believe I didn
’
t get her signature.
I don
’
t want to go to her house and have her thank me or
anything.
”

“Uh-huh. She
should thank you. That was a pretty big deal that you did that, but
I don
’
t want to talk about that. Take a sick day tomorrow.
Come on, please.
”

“I only have
so many. And I have to get her signature.
”

“Uhh.
It
’
s all about you. When are you going to quit your job
and stay home with us all day? You know you want
to.
”

Chris
couldn
’
t help laughing at her fake tantrum.

“I
’
m serious,
”
said
Sadie.

“I know you
are. You tell me this once a month.
”

“Come on. Just
quit. We
’
ll figure something out. You always talk about
writing. Come on.
”
Sadie grabbed
Chris
’
s sleeve and shook it roughly.
“
Dig out those
stories you wrote me when we were dating. Or the ones you made up
for the kids.
”

“I
don
’
t have time and we wouldn
’
t be able to survive
if I just quit all of a sudden. This is a horrible
plan.
”

“You so have
time, especially if you stopped working out with Frank.
I
’
ll still love you if you don
’
t have a
six-pack.
”

“It
’
s not about a
six-pack. It
’
s about staying
healthy. I don
’
t want to leave you
and the kids at fifty cause of a heart attack.
”

“Stop over
exaggerating. You are healthy. I can
’
t even tell you have
muscles with the stupid extra-large polo they make you wear to
work. You just do it to hang out with Frank.
”

A shuffling of
leaves outside caught Chris
’
s attention. He used
it as an excuse to stop the conversation and walked over to the
window. Nothing but a slight wind and streetlights creeped across
the road. Sadie wouldn
’
t let him end the
topic just yet.

“Just imagine
staying at home and writing in the mornings then spending the rest
of the day with us.
”

“Of course
that sounds great, but we need money. Money to keep our home and
buy things with.
”

“Think about
it.
”

Chris sighed
deeply before responding.
“
Well your little
booty
’
s gonna help me dig them out of the garage this
weekend.
”

“Okay.
”
Sadie gave Chris her
‘
I got what I wanted
’
smile.

Chris
pretended to give his best glare. So Sadie puckered her lips to
mend his broken will. Chris switched tactics and quickly rolled on
top of her to pin her to the bed, but Sadie defended herself with a
sharp poke into his ribs. Squealing and playful shouts of
‘
no
’
ensued from the wrestling
match.

“Some of us
are trying to sleep!
”
came from down the hall.

“Then turn off
your light, energy waster!
”
said
Chris.

“I
didn
’
t forget!
”
said Louise.

Chapter Three

The alarm sat silent
and had been silent for close to five years. Instead,
Chris
’
s cell phone buzzed and beeped on the table next to
his sleeping head. Monday through Friday, Frank woke Chris with
encouraging text messages like:
“
Wake up fuck
head,
” “
Better be at your front door,
” “
I
’
ll honk until you show. Don
’
t care how
mad Sadie gets,
”
and
“
Get ready to have
your ass kicked.
”

Usually a
couple of miles to warm up and then an hour or two of weights
marked the men
’
s typical morning.
Frank hated working out alone and Chris needed someone to push him.
It was a perfect match.

A black pickup
parked in front of Chris
’
s house with a slight
squeal of the breaks. Chris jumped from the kitchen and out the
front door. He raised his hand to signal Frank, who had his hand
ready to slam the horn. Chris turned to lock the door and realized
he had his coffee ready to go, but no keys. He ran inside and as he
put his hand down on the keys, Frank tapped the horn to make a
quick series of short and long bursts. The annoyance made it easily
through the open windows of the house and Sadie reacted even while
half asleep.

“Gonna kill
him!
”

“Love you,
honey,
”
said Chris, and jumped out the front door one
more time.

Frank sat smiling and sipping on his own
coffee when Chris hauled himself in.

“What
’
d she say this
time?
”
asked Frank, and then gunned the pickup down the
street.

“That
she
’
s going to kill you. I
’
d be careful. She
might actually go through with it one of these
days.
”

“Ha.
She
’
s more dramatic than me.
”

“I forgot my
keys. You didn
’
t have to wake her
up.
”

“She
’
s probably back to
sleep already. It
’
s good for her
anyways. She should work out with us too.
”

“She says she
gets enough exercise getting the kids to school and yelling at you,
of course.
”

Frank
chuckled.
“
Did you see the new video? Of course not. You
were probably looking up trade rumors again. Who fucking cares?
Just watch the damn game and be happy.
”