Читать книгу Nowhere Yet - Edward Inc. Cozza - Страница 3

The phone in Grant Pettitte’s living room rang. It startled him, because the phone never rang. In the stillness of the mostly empty room, amidst the furniture that he had made, the ringing phone sounded like a gun going off. Grant wondered why he hadn’t had the thing disconnected before now. Its presence added nothing to the nearly bare environment of his living quarters. One less cord to trip over would be fine. The loud intrusion into the quiet confines made him flinch in his worn leather chair before he answered it.

“Hello.”

“I knew you’d be there.”

It was his friend Rex Schmidt. It took Grant a few seconds to gather his words, as Rex had been missing for a couple of years. But he easily recognized his voice, his East Coast accent.

“How did you know I’d be here?”

“You never go anywhere.”

“How would you know? You’re not here.”

“I just know. Glad to hear from me, aren’t you?” Rex laughed.

“You don’t know shit these days. I’m indifferent to hearing from you.”

“That’s mighty fancy talk from a cowboy. I know you used to go lots of places when I was around to get your sorry ass moving, but that’s been quite a while ago. Why the indifference?”

“What do you want?” Grant asked.

“The usual, money, food, booze, women. I’m a little bored, but bored is good right now.”

“The only one of those you were ever any good at was food. Bored? Read a goddamn book. Get a dog.”

“You’re the one that really should get a dog. You are such a fucking hermit, and even fucking hermits have dogs, but back to me. I still am good at food.” Rex sounded like he was opening some sort of cellophane bag, followed by crunching noises.

“That’s great to know that you still know how to eat, and thanks for providing the audible proof. I’ll sleep much better tonight.” There was an awkward pause.

“Right, I’ve been meaning to call you—”

“That so?” Grant injected bitterly. “I left you a message—sorry, no, make that six or eight messages. I forget what the messages were about, since it’s been a few years.”

“It’s pretty complicated, Grant.” Rex was still crunching food on the other end.

“It always is with you.”

“No, really, that’s one of the reasons I’m calling, but both are good reasons.”

“Ah.”

“Listen, I understand you being a little pissed, but things have been, well … they have been, eh, there has been some kind of serious shit at work. I didn’t want that to spill over onto you.”

“Hmm, always looking out for others,” Grant said.

“Without going into all the shitty details, the firm I was working for got into some trouble. Some of the people at the top might end up doing some jail time. It has been a pretty shitty couple of years, pretty harsh all the way around, and I didn’t want anyone to know, or seem connected to me for their own good.”

“You do anything illegal?”

“No.”

“That’s hard to believe.”

“The law firm did some wacky shit, but I wasn’t involved. They got in with some rather shady characters, and that’s what got the Fed boys’ attention. I’m sorry I didn’t get back with you, but I think radio silence was actually a good thing for you, as well as for anyone who knows me. It has been pretty miserable. Hell, I don’t know. All I can think about is if I make it without getting popped, I’ll throw one ginormous party, you know, to make-up for lost time. All kinds of things went through my head, I don’t expect you to understand, and I actually would prefer to talk about it in person, just in case someone is listening to our conversation, if you know what I mean. Anyway, I kind of wanted—wanted to get together with you, with you and Annie. Talk about all the crazy shit that we did, which I know Annie didn’t like, but maybe she can laugh about it now. Hell, I’m just rambling,” Rex said, sounding out of breath.

“You are always just rambling, and somebody listening to our conversation? I think you may have finally and completely lost your fucking mind. What might be good would be for you to tell me something I don’t know … like what does Annie have to do with this?”

“The point is, it came to me that with all the things that have been going down at work, it was boiling down to those bastards telling me they might take away everything, and everyone I ever cared about, and maybe end up in….”

“End up in Texas?” Grant asked, laughing.

“No, jail, or worse. Texas. Always the cowboy.”

“You could survive jail, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t survive Texas. What do you mean worse?” Grant paused. “And why are you bringing Annie into this conversation?”

“Yeah, that’s one thing we agree on. We never had good luck in Texas. By worse, I mean the Fed boys, some shady characters might be after me, because I wasn’t—look, I’d rather tell you in person, not on the phone. They got ways of, aw shit, just let me tell you when I see you, it would be safer. As for your other question, you were going to marry her, weren’t you?” Rex asked.

Grant said nothing.

“Hey, it’s not my fault she married someone else.”

“She didn’t marry someone else!” Grant was instantly upset. It was never beyond Rex to say things to get him excited, and he was mostly certain that Annie had not married. Still, though, this was not something he wanted to joke about.

“I know she didn’t, I’m just fucking with you, but you are pissed that she didn’t marry you.”

“I don’t know for sure that she didn’t, but I don’t think she did.” Grant paused. He was unsure of himself, and did not want it to be a reality that Annie was married. Rex was always difficult to keep up with, and this was no exception. Those two things made the conversation difficult.

“Look, I know you were in love with her, may still be. You two were going to get married, and you may still. Anyway, I just have sort of been thinking and, well … looking at things differently.”

“I’m not sure I understand, but that’s normal for the things that you always seem to get yourself involved in. If you are thinking at all, that is a big upswing for you. How ’bout we leave Annie out of the conversation? I am still skeptical about you looking at things differently, considering the part of your anatomy your head is used to residing in...” Grant looked around his living room.

“Hey, it’s not too late. You could see Annie and we could probably have a pretty good time. I haven’t forgotten how to have a good time, but I can’t speak for you. Unless you have a better offer, but I’m guessing you have no offers.”

“I thought I said to leave Annie out of the conversation. It’s been a couple, probably three, maybe four years since I even knew where she was. I ... she wouldn’t see me, I’m sure. Hell, I haven’t talked to you in a couple of years, and her for a couple before that. In your case, it probably hasn’t been fucking long enough.”

“You seeing a trend here in the behavior you bring out in people? I mean the ‘haven’t heard from in a while’ part? After people get out of school, the time really hauls ass. I think it’s because there aren’t any breaks any more. No spring break, no summer break. The only break, is break your ass to make money. Anyway, I talked to her,” Rex said.

“Just because I haven’t talked to you in a while doesn’t mean I now accept bullshit as legal tender.”

“It’s not bullshit. I have talked to her, quite a bit actually. That seems to be more than you can say,” Rex said, sounding more proud of himself than usual.

“I stand by my previous analysis, that you are completely full of shit.”

“I have talked to Annie several times. You will be pleased to hear that, well, for one, she is not married, and two, though she made me jump through some hoops, she agreed to meet us in Palm Springs for a weekend. She was always the good soul, pretty smart and such—well, certainly smarter than you, but that’s not saying much. She cares about everybody. I don’t know how she does it, never did. Hey, she’s a full on doctor now, unless you messed her head up by being around her and she quit entirely since I talked to her last. Maybe she lost faith in humans; could have become a veterinarian possibly. Animals are much better than people. Animals care, people don’t. We need more vets, for that reason alone. Still, maybe she can fix us—err, fix you., I’m fine, mostly,” Rex said. “I still think you should get a dog.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me. You, on the other hand, that’s different. But where did you, how did you—now what?”

“The Ritz, Palm Springs.”

“I know where Palm Springs is, dim bulb.” Grant paused. “Annie and I went there once. I think it was our first trip to California together. Stayed at a small place, built in the thirties, I think. Annie told you she would….”

“She told me she would meet us there. She said she still didn’t trust me, so she was bringing or meeting some friends there, I forget which. Said if I flaked-out, she still was going to go out there and have a good time. Annie did mention something, about some little shitbox motel where you two stayed. Well, we ain’t staying at some little stick-it-inn on my watch. We’re going to the Ritz. You two get there, you can wax nostalgic with each other about some deadbeat place where you saw stars in each other’s eyes. It might actually give you one last chance with her. Plus, give me a chance to buy drinks and shit, and make—” Rex stopped.

“She didn’t say shitbox. Give you a chance to make what?”

“I forget. Plus, I haven’t seen any nice girls in quite a while either, so this ain’t all about you, you know. Nice girls might do me some good. A not-so-nice girl might do me even more good.”

“I get that part, I just—Annie said—she knows I’ll be there, and that you’ll be there, and she still agreed to show? She hates you,” Grant said.

“We both know Annie, unlike us, is not capable of hate, which I never understood. Besides, even though I have been in the middle of the worst ordeal of my life, I can still be quite charming. Let’s just say I charmed Annie into showing. Besides, I just want to get my life back. To do that, I have to put some air in your flat fucking tires, in which case, Annie is the air.”

“You are thinking of someone else with the charming stuff. I don’t know whether to pound the hell out of you before I see her, or after. Both might be better. But Palm Springs, you sure that’s the place to go?” Grant said.

“Why do people always think that they need to go to Nepal, or the top of some fucking mountain somewhere to get insight? Me, I just like to go different places once in a while. It doesn’t need to be all woo-woo and shit, just someplace fun. If a person goes someplace fun once in a while, they are bound to find some sort of, I don’t know … direction, so I’m pretty sure it will come to you. You have two weeks to determine the sequence. If you don’t show up, I’m going to be so fucking pissed. Goodbye,” Rex said, then hung-up.

Grant sat there in the silence of his empty house. This kind of banter with Rex had been a constant with the two of them. They had known each other since high school, and this was always how they spoke with each other. He looked around the room, holding the phone as it began to beep at him. He was having a hard time believing he was going to see his best friend Rex. If Rex were telling the truth, and Grant doubted that he was, he was going to see Annie Sims, the woman he almost married, the woman he still thought about, even after all the time that had passed since they had been together. The vision of the small motel he and Annie had stayed at the last time they were together in Palm Springs came into his mind. He wasn’t even sure how long ago it was. He remembered how great it had been when he was with her, and worries were few when they were together. He knew if he thought about it more, he could remember exactly how long it had been, but it also would remind him how much it pained him to not have Annie in his life.

Grant noticed how quiet his living room was, how confining the room suddenly seemed, despite the conspicuous lack of furniture. He was here all the time, but he was suddenly pained by the absence of conversation, the absence of anyone ever in the room but him. What he would have given to be back at that little motel with Annie, and their life together ahead of them. He would have done things differently this time around, so he could be having the conversation with Annie right now, instead of thinking about this mysterious trip to Palm Springs that his newly-resurrected friend had concocted, and what would Annie say when she saw him, and how long had it really been since she walked away from him that night in the dark? He thought about pulling the telephone out of the wall, but that would serve no immediate purpose, save for a quick release of his now overwhelming anxiety.

As he looked around his living room, he could hear the wind blowing outside and the churning of the nearby ocean. So many things and so much time had all come and gone so quickly. There had always been goals. Go to school, get out of school, go to more school. Get a job, get a better job, get an even better job. He wondered what the goal was now. Along with pursuing and achieving these goals, there was no mention of the good things that came and went and that might never return. No mention that there would, or would not be, better times ahead. Grant was haunted by the absence of his friends, wondering if the best times were now past him, if this was all he would have, all he would be. He gently laid the beeping phone back in its cradle.