Page 17 of Justice for JoElla

It was cool and dark inside the place when she got there, and she recognized a couple of the firefighters she’d met before. This time, there were some young women hanging all over them, so she just found a table and sat down. One of the guys?Pete maybe??waved at her and she gave him a raised palm in greeting.

The server got her drink to her in record time and took her order. JoElla checked her phone, but the alert still hadn’t come in. How frickin’ long did it take to send a video feed? Hell, she could do it in a few seconds on social media. It wasn’t that hard!

The potato skins had come and she was about to start on them when the door opened and a figure stepped inside. She blinked for a second and evaluated him?no, it wasn’t the firefighter brother. It was the EMT, the cheater brother. He seemed pleasant enough, but that really frosted her. She knew it was none of her business, but that kind of shit pissed her off so badly that it was hard to not say something. He stopped at the bar, spoke to the bartender, then turned. JoElla hoped he didn’t see her, but from the corner of her eye, she could tell he’d spotted her. Ignoring him was impossible when he said, “I guess it’s okay to crash your party this time?”

“No party here,” she answered, just a little on the sour side and hoping that would put him off a bit.

“Oh. Mind if I sit down?”

Holy fuck, I can’t believe this.“Sure. Go right ahead.”Say no, you dumbass!she heard her inner voice bark, but it was too late.

“So what are you up to tonight? I mean, other than eating and drinking?”

That was the most she’d heard him say since she met him. “Nothing. Gonna eat and drink and then go home, I guess.”

“Sounds like a good plan. Hey, can I ask you something?”

Oh, lord. Can’t wait to hear this!her mind yelled. “Sure.”

“So what could I do to apologize to a young woman for something I did?”

Now’s your chance, Tompkins, she told herself. “Oh, piss off your wife?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Don’t have a wife anymore. At least I won’t in a few weeks.”

She sat there for a few seconds, trying to come up with another way to formulate the question, and then she hit on it. “You don’t look like the type who’d like younger women.”What the hell does that even mean, Tompkins?she asked herself, but it was the only thing she could come up with.

“No. I’m not. It’s not like… I’m living with my brother and sister-in-law, and I wasn’t very nice to her in the past. She’s been super kind to me, and I’m wondering what I could do for her. I mean, she’s got a little baby and she works too, so she’s always busy, but she goes out of her way to be nice to me, even though I don’t deserve it.”

Boy, you hit that nail on the head, she thought. “Um, what about hiring somebody to clean her house?”

Brandon shook his head. “I’d love to do that, but between my ex-wife and my child support, there’s nothing left. At least not until the divorce goes through and that’s all sorted out. I was thinking more like, you know, a gift certificate to a massage place? Or a nail salon? Or something like that?”

JoElla didn’t consider herself a girly-girl, and some of those things didn’t appeal to her, but one of them did. “I’d say the massage. I mean, lying there, face down, letting someone knead your muscles with no baby crying, no washing machine running, any of that stuff. If I were her, that’s what I’d like.”

“That’s a good call. Thanks. I just feel so bad. I didn’t treat my sister very well either.”

“Maybe you should do the same for her,” JoElla suggested.

“No. That wouldn’t work. I don’t think she’d ever let anyone touch her that way, especially with her clothes off.”

“Oh.”Well, there’s a story there, I’m guessing, JoElla told herself. Then she hit on something that might work. “So what turned you around? Why all this sudden good will?”

“Because I’ve been an asshole, and I’d really like to make amends for it. You know, like that Twelve Step stuff about making amends?”

“So you’re a Twelve Stepper?”

“No. Not me. I mean, I was a doctor, so I know about that stuff, but no. I’ve never been to a meeting. No reason to. I’ve just heard it mentioned. Although if they had a special AA for Assholes Anonymous, I’d probably join, although I’m not very anonymous, if you know what I mean.”

Hit it hard!her inner bitch shouted. “No. I don’t know what you mean. How are you an asshole?”Will he tell me the truth?she wondered.

“Truth is, I was fucking around with a nurse at the hospital and my wife found out.” He stopped, then added, “Actually, everybody in the whole god damn town found out.”

“How’d that happen?”

“Because the nurse came barging into the operating suite I was in with a patient open on the table. Ruined the sterile field. Wrecked the place. Threw stuff, dragged the stuff in the cabinets off onto the floor. Had to have security come get her. And a group of med students from UofL was watching through the observation windows, so it was like a huge ‘what not to do in medicine’ show for them.” The guy’s cheeks were cherry red, and JoElla almost felt sorry for him.

Almost.

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