Time Off for Good Behavior (34 page)

I stepped forward and extended my hand to the man behind her.

“
You must be Matt,
”
I said. He smiled and shook my hand.

“
I guess Elizabeth has mentioned me, then?
”
he asked, a hint of uncertainty in his voice as his eyes darted to Eliz
abeth, who wrapped her arms around his waist.

“
This is Matt,
”
she said.
“
Matt, this is Wanda.
”

“
Nice to finally meet you,
”
Matt said. It was a little disconcerting how much he was like a Ken doll come to life, but after checking out the smile on Elizabeth
’
s face, I decided not to hold it against him.

“
Sorry I lied about going to see my sister, Wanda,
”
Elizabeth said, looking like a kid who
’
d just got caught at a nightclub when she
’
d told her parents she was studying at the library.
“
I just wasn
’
t ready to l
et everyone know yet.
”

I waved my hand at her.
“
Don
’
t worry about it. I won
’
t say a word.
”
I gave them both a smile, pulled the dish towel off my shoulder, and headed back into the kitchen.
“
I
’
m gonna let you say good-bye to your sister.
”

Two minutes later
Elizabeth was in the kitchen with me, sampling my spaghetti sauce off a wooden spoon and gushing about her weekend with Matt.

“
We had such a good time. He
’
s so great.
”
She giggled.
“
Oh, God. I
’
m giggling. Slap me, would you?
”

“
No,
”
I said. I poured us eac
h a glass of wine and leaned against the kitchen counter.
“
George is dead.
”

Elizabeth straightened up.
“
Oh my God, Wanda. What happened? Are you okay?
”

I gave her a brief rundown of events, excluding the bit with Walter. I wasn
’
t ready to talk about him ye
t. She pulled me into a hug, and I patted her shoulder and pulled away, smiling and squeezing her hand.

“
It
’
s okay. It was rough at first, but I
’
m okay.
”
I turned my back to her, attending to the pasta I was cooking, not wanting my face to give away that I
wasn
’
t entirely okay just yet.
“
I mean, it
’
s over, right? That
’
s what matters. It
’
s over.
”

I heard Elizabeth draw in a breath to speak, but the sounds of the kids at the front door stopped her.

“
We
’
ll talk later,
”
she said, putting her wine down and rushi
ng into the living room. I followed her, coming in as she knelt down to hug the kids. Jack was standing on the front stoop, careful to stay outside until invited in.

Elizabeth stood up, ruffling Alex
’
s hair as he retreated to his room, and pulling Kacey to
her. She looked up at Jack and smiled.
“
Hi, Jack.
”

Jack smiled back at her, a surprised expression on his face.
“
Hi, Elizabeth. How are you?
”

“
I
’
m great. And you?
”

“
Good,
”
he said.
“
I heard the promos on the radio for your show. It sounds like it
’
s going
to be good.
”

She nodded.
“
Thanks. I
’
m really excited about it.
”

Kacey tugged at Elizabeth.
“
Mom, I want to show you the new chemistry kit that Grandma got me. Come on,
”
she said, pulling Elizabeth
’
s arm.

“
I
’
ll be right back,
”
she said with a grin, letting Kacey lead her away. I walked over to stand by the door, where Jack watched Elizabeth bound up the steps behind their daughter.

“
That
’
s the first time I
’
ve seen her smile in... I don
’
t even know how long.
”
He ran his fingers
through his hair and gave me a hopeful grin.
“
That radio thing must really be good for her, huh?
”

“
There
’
s someone else,
”
I said quietly. I didn
’
t want to blow Elizabeth
’
s secret, but it had to be said.
“
Don
’
t tell the kids. She
’
s not ready to tell them ye
t. I thought you should know, though.
”

“
Oh.
”
His smile faded briefly, then returned on a wave of determined effort.
“
Oh. Well, good for her. That
’
s good. Is he a nice guy?
”

“
I
’
ve only met him briefly,
”
I said,
“
but he seems like it, yeah.
”

Jack nodded.
“
Ok
ay. He makes her happy, then?
”

“
Yeah,
”
I said.
“
I think so.
”

He nodded again.
“
Okay.
”

There was a short silence. I tried to think about Jack and the various biddies, tried to remember that he had earned this in spades, but it didn
’
t make me feel any better
watching him standing there in the doorway while his family drifted away from him.

He clapped his hands together and faked a smile.
“
Well, hey, I need to go. Can you tell them I said good-bye?
”

“
Yeah,
”
I said with a small smile.
“
I
’
ll tell them.
”

He squee
zed my hand briefly, then disappeared into the night. I shut the door and hollered up the steps,
“
Somebody better haul their butt down here and eat some spaghetti with me!
”

***

“
What the hell did you do to yourself, Wanda?
”
Bones grumbled.
“
Your hair
’
s a
ll red. And short. You might be able to pull that off if you were black, but on a white girl... damn. You look like a big match.
’’

It was early Tuesday morning, and Osgiliath
’
s was just about to open. I swiveled around in the chair to see Bones, his skinny
little neck sticking up from the padded Santa suit, the wig and cap tucked under his arm.

“
Coming from a skinny black Santa Claus, I
’
ll take that as a compliment.
”

Bones grunted and settled himself into his Santa throne,

picking up a small device at his f
eet that I hadn
’
t seen before.
“
Get your ass over here.
”

I eyed him suspiciously, standing up but not moving.
“
What
’
re you up to, Bones?
”

“
I
’
m old, child,
”
he yelled back at me.
“
You take too long. I might not be alive by the time you get here.
”

I walked over to stand next to him, looked at the device in his hand and then back at him.
“
Bones, what the hell
—
?
”

He grabbed me, and before I knew it, I was sitting in his lap.
“
Bones!
”
I said, trying to get up. I would have never thought Bones could pac
k so much strength into such a small frame, but my struggling was pointless. I was going nowhere.
“
Bones, let me go.
”

He pointed to the camera.
“
Now, you look into that camera and you smile nice.
”

I crossed my arms.
“
Bones, what the hell are you doing?
”

“
G
ood God but you are a difficult woman,
”
he growled.
“
Just shut up and sit tight.
”

I relaxed, put my arm around his shoulder, and grinned to the camera. He clicked the device in his hand, and about two seconds later the flash went off. He loosened his grip,
and I got up.
“
What is that?
”

“
Remote control, so Kacey tells me,
”
he said, smiling.
“
Now, go print out that picture.
”

I walked over to the computer and looked down to see a woman I didn
’
t recognize. She was laughing and pretty and happy as she sat on the
lap of the oldest, blackest Santa Claus I
’
d ever seen.

“
You done printing that damn thing out yet?
”
Bones hollered at me.

“
Just a minute, you old goat,
”
I yelled back at him. I clicked through the borders and found a book theme, then hit print twice. When
it was done, I walked up and gave one to Bones, who inspected it through his bifocals. After a moment, he looked up and smiled.

“
What do you want for Christmas, girl?
”
he asked.

I leaned over and patted him on the shoulder, speaking in a breathless, Maril
yn Monroe voice.
“
I
’
d tell you, Santa, but I think it might kill you.
”

***

“
Hey, Wanda, what
’
s that envelope on the counter?
”
Kacey asked.

I glanced up from the kitchen table where Alex was whooping my ass at chess and saw George
’
s envelope. I
’
d dropped
it on the counter after I came home from clearing out my apartment and hadn
’
t touched it since. Elizabeth must have figured it was sensitive, because she
’
d been cleaning around it for most of the past week. I knew I
’
d have to deal with it someday but had
s
uccessfully procrastinated.

Until now.

“
It
’
s from my ex-husband.
”
I turned back to the chess game. Moved my queen.
“
Check.
”

Alex scoffed.
“
That
’
s not a check.
”

I stared at the board. He was right. Damn. I moved the queen back. I sucked at chess, but the ki
ds loved it, so I swallowed my pride and got killed in a tournament at least once a week.

Kacey was still looking at the envelope.
“
You know, you
’
re going to have to open it eventually.
”