Paint It Black (7 page)

Afraid Tori could hear him yelling over the phone, I clamped it to my ear and turned my back. “Tuck was called in,” I said softly. “I’ll be home around eleven or twelve. I’ll get some sleep before I take Abby to school. You’ll just have to pick her up tomorrow afternoon.”

“What about Tiger or Panther or whatever the hell you call him? What about Bill?”

“Cougar’s sitting with him tomorrow, and Bill is with Tucker. I really have to go.”

I hung up the phone before he could say anything else. Tori kept her head down, pretending to study her next move, but I could tell by her reddened face that she’d heard enough.

“I really can stay by myself,” she said.

“I know that, honey,” I said. “But I don’t want you to.”

“I don’t want you to get in trouble with your husband.”

“Don’t worry about him,” I said with a wink. “His bark is worse than his bite.”

Or so I thought, until Angel’s door burst open an hour later. A glassy-eyed Grady barreled inside, with a nurse clutching at the back of his jacket. Tori screamed and scampered toward the corner. Angel jumped, but stared sightlessly ahead.

“Sir,
sir!”
the nurse shouted. “Visiting hours are over. If you don’t leave, I’ll have to call security.”

“I’ll leave, but first I want to know the truth” he slurred. Pointing at Angel’s bed, he said, “Necie, were you sleepin’ with this guy? Is that why you spend so much time here?”

“Grady!” I gasped, mortified.

I pushed past Tori and seized Grady from the nurse’s grasp. “I’ll handle this,” I told her.

“He has to—”

“I’ll
handle
it,” I snapped, and pushed Grady out into the hall.

He stank of sour sweat and Scotch.

“Where’s Abby?” I demanded. “You’d better not have left her alone.”

“What kind of father do you think I am?” he said, his green eyes hurt. “I took her to Mom’s.”

“You took her to your mother’s? On a school night? Were you drunk then? So help me, Grady, if I ever catch you driving with her—”

“I’m not drunk now.”

“Oh, really?”

He gave a defensive shrug. “Well, you weren’t there. Mom doesn’t mind taking her.”

“I mind, Grady. She’s our kid. We’re responsible for her, not your mother.”

“Then act like it.” He seized my throat in his hand and held my head against the wall. “I asked you a question. Are you sleeping with this guy?”

I kicked him hard on the shin and he let go of me. “Don’t be stupid! Angel is a friend. That’s all.”

“Something’s wrong with our marriage,” he said, and I laughed, my fury kindled like a forest fire.

Not even caring that the nurse was watching, I grabbed the front of his shirt and pushed him backward. He stumbled and nearly fell. “This is what’s wrong with our marriage. Your drinking.”

“I drink because my wife is never home.”

“That’s not true.”

“Your work gets most of your time, then Abby. Then some vegetable in a hospital bed who doesn’t even know you’re there. When’s my time, Denise?”

“I’m calling security,” the nurse said, and stalked off.

“Go home, Grady. We’ll talk about this later. You
don’t want to go to jail. Are you driving?”

“No. I got a cab.”

“Is he waiting?”

“I think so.”

I rode the elevator with him to the lobby, nearly sick with anger and frustration, but helpless to do anything about it. Grady’s drinking was getting steadily worse. I didn’t know if it carried over to his work or not, but I didn’t see how he was going to try a case in the courtroom tomorrow. I loaded him into a cab and paid the driver to take him back home.

“I love you, Necie,” Grady said. “But I hate the way you make me feel.”

He slammed the door and left me staring after him when the cab pulled away.

I tried so hard not to cry while I took the elevator back up, but I couldn’t stop the tear that slipped out when Tori rushed over to hug me.

“Necie, are you okay?” she asked. “Was that your husband?”

“I’m okay,” I said. “Look, Tori, please … don’t tell the others about this. I’ll keep him away from here.”

She stared at me with big, solemn eyes, then nodded. “Would you like a Coke or something?”

I forced a smile. “That would be great.”

She scampered away, and I dragged my chair close to Angel’s bed. Those sad, vacant eyes seemed to reflect
the despair I felt inside. I dropped my head into my hands and sobbed.

When I felt a hand in my hair, I thought it was Tori, but it wasn’t.

It was Angel.

CHAPTER
5

A
ngel?” I said, and he blinked.

My tears forgotten, I gripped his cool hand. “Angel, can you hear me?”

He blinked again, and his fingers twitched in mine. I sensed movement in the doorway and glanced up to see Tori shove the door open with her hip. She backed into the room, clutching a soft drink in each hand and a bag of chips between her teeth.

She dropped the chips on the tray. “Hey, I hope diet is okay. They were out of regular Coke.”

My heart pounding, I ignored her and stood over Angel. “Blink twice if you understand me.”

Angel’s dark lashes fluttered closed once. Twice.

Tori dropped one of the soft drinks. The can clattered against the floor and rolled under the bed. With a squeal,
she grabbed his other hand. “Angel, this is Tori.”

We both squealed when his head turned toward her and he blinked twice.

“We should call Mama.”

“We should call Cougar,” I said simultaneously, and we laughed. “Go!” I shooed her toward the phone.

In moments, I heard Mrs. Angelino’s excited chatter over the line. Tori grinned and held the phone away from her ear. When she got off the phone, I tried to call Cougar’s cell twice. I got an out-of-area message both times and thought about having the central office page him, but decided to wait. In a couple of hours, he would see for himself.

I was getting off the phone with Ubi when Angel’s mother arrived. It finally occurred to me that maybe I should page a nurse.

A male nurse came in a hurry when I told him over the speaker what was going on. “Move over a sec, ladies,” he said, and I tried. Angel gripped my hand with a strength that surprised me. From the look on Tori’s face, he had hold of her, too.

The nurse laughed. “Be that way, then. If I had a hold of two pretty ladies like this, I guess I’d hang on, too. So, let’s do this like the movies. Blink once for yes, twice for no. Do you understand?”

One blink.

“Are you in pain?”

Two blinks.

Angel’s mother jumped up and down and crossed herself.

The next few hours passed like minutes as we peppered him with questions. The most we got in response was a strained “uhhh” or a blink, but he was trying. Better than that, he understood.

When Cougar walked through the door at midnight, Mrs. Angelino, Tori, and I grinned at him like idiots.

I laughed when he looked down to check his fly. Giddily, I stood and launched myself at him. He staggered backward under my momentum, but managed to keep us from falling.

“Whoa!” he said, clutching me. “You been hitting the caffeine again, Neese?”

I grabbed his hand and dragged him to Angel’s bedside. Angel lay flat on his back, staring at the ceiling. I placed Angel’s hand in Cougar’s and snapped my fingers. “Hey, Beavis, Butthead’s here.”

Cougar sucked in a breath when Angel squeezed his hand and turned to face him.

“H-hey there, buddy! Can you hear me?”

Angel blinked, and Cougar gave a loud war whoop.

“We need to call your grandmother,” Mrs. Angelino told Tori. “Help me dial out on this thing.”

While they hovered over the phone, Cougar asked, “Well, what happened? Why didn’t you call me?”

“I tried. And I don’t know. I was crying, and he—” I paused, embarrassed I’d let that slip. Cougar frowned. “—he patted my head.”

Cougar stared at him, then back at me. I felt pinned by his gaze, much as I had Maria’s. Then he asked the question I didn’t want to answer.

“Why were you crying?”

I flushed and looked at Mrs. Angelino. She was yelling and laughing into the phone receiver.

“It’s nothing,” I said quietly, so she wouldn’t hear. “Grady was here, drunk, making an ass out of himself. He asked if I was having an affair with Angel.”

Cougar stared at me for a long moment, then gave me what looked like a forced smile. He clucked his tongue at Angel. “Look at you, man. Lying here in the hospital and still having jealous husbands bust down your door.”

I appreciated his attempt to make light of it, but the mood in the room suddenly seemed tense. I hung around until Mrs. Angelino got off the phone, then made my escape.

“Wait!” Cougar said. “I’ll walk you to the parking lot.”

“That’s not necessary—” I began, but he was already moving toward the door.

We walked side by side down the hall. Cougar kept his head down, his hands jammed in his pockets. I wondered what he was thinking.

When we stepped onto the elevator, he said, “So, ah
… this thing with Grady … you okay to go home?”

“What? Oh, yeah.” I shook my head. “He’s probably sleeping it off by now.”

“Are you sure? Because you know you and Abby can stay at my place—”

Touched and feeling wildly emotional, I kissed his cheek. “Don’t you ever get tired of being such a hero?”

He grinned and pressed his hand to his cheek. “Nah. The hours are long, but the fringe benefits are outta sight.”

We laughed and he said, “But seriously … you know I’m here for you. If you need somebody to talk to. If you just want me to whup his ass.”

I giggled. “Whup his ass? Let me guess … another Southern thing?”

He snapped his gum and winked. “You betcha. A good one, too. We do that when we see people we care about getting hurt.” Slanting his eyes, he said, “Besides, I can’t talk Boston thug like Angel … or wait, maybe I can.” He cleared his throat, and in a voice that sounded more Rocky Balboa than John Angelino, he said, “Hey, Neese, you want I should throw tha’ guy a beatin’?”

I snickered behind my hand. “That was terrible.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay … it was. I’ll stick with whup his ass. Sounds manlier, anyway.” His eyes shone when he said, “Angel’s really coming back to us, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he is.”

“Look, Necie … If staying at the hospital is causing you trouble at home—”

“No.”

“—we could do something else.”

“No,” I said, louder this time. “I won’t abandon my friends. Grady will have to get over it.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

I shrugged. “Then he’ll have to get out. I can’t live like that, under someone’s thumb. I won’t.”

He walked me to my car. For a moment, we simply stared at each other in the amber glow of the security lights. Being this close to him, seeing the concern in his eyes, made my heart do this crazy little jitterbug it had no business doing. I swallowed hard and reached for the door handle. He grabbed my wrist. Only inches separated us. I felt a funny pain in my chest and realized I was holding my breath.

He squinted at me. “Man, I hate to let you go like this. Are you sure you’re gonna be all right?”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Our whole team was tight, but whether it was because of our ages, our poor upbringings, or simply the fact that we got thrown on more assignments together, I’d always felt particularly close to Cougar and Angel. Now something was changing between Cougar and me, at least on my part. I tried to tell myself it was nothing, that I was only imagining things because of my troubles with Grady,
but lately, every time I was with Cougar, I found myself thinking of how
easy
it was to be with him. Maybe it was some kind of safety mechanism. After all, only an idiot would fall for a guy like Cougar, a handsome charmer who had his pick of women. But I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be involved with a man who accepted me for what I was. Somebody who not only accepted me, but maybe even admired me a little, too. Grady didn’t even respect me anymore.

“Necie?”

I shook my head, clearing the cobwebs. Cougar folded me in his arms, and for a moment, I lay my head on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart.

Finally, I pulled away. “I gotta go,” I whispered, and he nodded.

“Do you promise you’ll call if you need me? If he starts any crap—”

“I promise.” I climbed inside the car, expecting him to walk away, but he simply stood there. When I pulled away, I dared a glance in the rearview mirror. He hadn’t moved.

“Get it together,” I said, and flipped on the radio.

While scanning the stations, I became annoyed by the inane banter of the evening DJs and switched it off again. My thoughts returned to Grady and his humiliating accusation. In place of the anger I’d first felt, I was consumed by an unrelenting sadness.

Was my marriage over? Did I want it to be? Was he
too greedy, too needy, or was I the selfish one? I could no longer be sure.

When I got home, I found a fully clothed Grady sitting on the toilet seat with his face in his hands. I walked into the bathroom and propped against the bathroom sink. “We need to talk.”

“Not now,” he mumbled.

“Yes, Grady, now.”

For some reason, I found myself staring at our reflections in the mirrored shower door. This wasn’t love. Not anymore. This was something scary and angry and bitter and heartbreaking. I was tired of walking a minefield every time I stepped through my front door. Still, the words jolted me when I spoke them out loud. “Grady, I’m leaving.”

His blond head snapped up. “What? Necie, no!” Tears filled his eyes, and I twisted around, unable to look at him.

“I can’t live like this anymore. It’s killing me.”

“Necie—”

I hugged myself and faced him. I felt like I was outside myself. This couldn’t be me. This cool, flat voice didn’t even sound like me. “Grady, you had no right. I’ve never cheated on you, and I’ve never given you reason to think I have.”

His face reddened, whether from embarrassment or anger, I couldn’t tell. I could no longer read him.