Page 62 of Shake the Habit

“They eat then because my dad’s shift starts so early in the morning,” she said sullenly, and then I definitely heard her mutter, “He was right about the shutters.”

“I have no doubt that Marc shares some blame. He admitted to me that he kept fighting over stupid stuff when he should have quit. I’m aware that he wasn’t texting you when he was going to be late, and I hate the guy he wanted as his best man just as much as you do.”

She perked up a little. “He’s an ass, right?”

I nodded. “But you have to be able to talk to each other, not just to me, and not to your parents because they’ll agree with you no matter what and then they’ll hate him more. If you love Marc, you have to grow up. I’m not saying any of this to hurt your feelings and Lord knows, I’m not saying it to make you cry more. Please don’t cry more,” I begged.

She stood up and from her expression, I could tell that I’d offended her. “I’m not an adolescent. Unlike others, I went through the normal stages of development and I’m now a fully functioning adult!” she informed me, but she was dabbing at her eyes with another tampon as she spoke and that detracted from her words. Also, she reached out to hug me, and she sobbed onto my shoulder that she knew that she was an idiot and she didn’t deserve Marc, anyway. Sir took to howling.

“I’m over relationships,” I texted when Taygen was gone, taking more of my feminine products with her. I’d watched her walk to her car to make sure that she was steady and I’d watched her back up and drive away, ready to run out and stop her if she wasn’t steady with that, either.

I didn’t get a response but after a few minutes, Sir picked up his head and barked. I’d given him a piece of cheese that had calmed him, but this happy sound was due to the arrival of the old truck in our parking lot. The driver got out and was looking concerned as he strode up to the door.

“Hi,” I said, and the dog practically fell over in happiness. “I didn’t expect to see you until tonight.”

“I got your text,” Caleb announced.

“About Taygen and Marc,” I said, nodding. “She was over here crying for about an hour. By the way, do you have any napkins in your glovebox?”

“No. We cleared out all that junk of my mother’s, but it was mostly maps. Why?”

I kind of had to go to the bathroom, that was why. “No reason. Do you have time to run to the Greet ‘n Gobble? I need to get some tissues and toilet paper, and also more supplies for my next you-know day.”

“Your what day?”

The three of us went to the truck as I explained Aunt Amber’s unusual terminology for the menstrual cycle and why I was out of tampons. “I was nice at first, and trying to sympathize,” I explained as we rode toward the grocery store. With the windows down, you could smell the engine a lot more strongly, but I liked it. “I said that I understood that her family was putting pressure on her, and how it was hard that Marc was busy. I got nowhere. I ended up telling her that she was acting like a child.”

“So is Marc. He told me that he nearly fought with her brother over where he was allowed to leave his truck in their driveway,” Caleb said. “I asked him, ‘You want to throw hands over a parking space? What in the hell are you really fighting about?’ He may not be much better.”

“We’re very old compared to them.”

“I think I have a few good years left in me. Hell, Sir, please don’t.”

“Why is he licking your pants like that?” I snapped my fingers and the dog gave me a hurt look, but he stopped.

“I went to the taco truck for lunch and I must have spilled something. I also went by my mother’s bank.”

“You did? What was in the safety deposit box?”

“The woman who handles them was taking lunch too, so I said I’d come back. Do you want to go there after we get toilet paper and tampons for your you-know day?”

I really did, so after I made my purchases at the Greet ‘n Gobble, we headed to the bank. Sir wasn’t happy about waiting in the car but we promised him that we’d be fast. We parked in the shade and left the windows down, and Caleb tied his leash to the save-me-Jesus handle above the door.

“Don’t get your hopes up about finding crown jewels, or even ersatz ones,” he warned me as we walked in from the parking lot.

“They’re not up.” I didn’t have expectations about finding any kind of jewels, but I didn’t mention what I was actually hoping for. I’d already decided that the best thing would have been a letter from Lara-Lee to her son, one that was heartfelt and full of apologies for her treatment of him and expressions of love and pride over how he’d turned out. Or maybe there would be something that she’d saved for him, an important family heirloom for her only child. I just hoped for a tangible memento that would acknowledge him in the way that he deserved, andmaybe I was wrong but I had the feeling that he was also hoping…no, I was probably wrong.

We got the safety deposit box without much trouble and went into a special little room, like I’d done with my mom when we’d opened my nana’s box at a different bank. That had been hard, because even though it had been a few months after the funeral, my mother had been on the verge of crying and I’d been trying to support her and also not give her any reason to think that I was going to do something crazy out of grief. I’d talked about good memories of Nana while we’d driven together and while we’d opened it, and that had made things a little easier.

“What’s your happiest memory of your mom?” I had asked Caleb after we’d left the grocery store, and he’d had to think for a long time before he’d finally answered.

“Uh, she was happy once when we had a bad storm but it didn’t damage her trees. She said we could stop sandbagging and covering them and I got to go inside and sleep for a while,” he reminisced. My Lord, the happiest thing was her allowing him to get out of the rain? I gave up on trying to evoke pleasant memories, but I still had hope about what we’d find at the bank.

That was dashed when he flipped back the lid of the long, narrow box and looked at what was stuffed in its interior. It was exactly like the former contents of her desk.

“Oh,” I said. “She saved more old papers.”

“Sorry,” Caleb answered. “I was afraid that you’d be disappointed.”

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