Page 29 of Let It Be Me

Cash calls an hour later.

“Hey, man, sorry,” he says quickly. “It’s been a shit show here.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I got drunk and fell off the roof.”

I wait, hoping he’s messing with me, but he offers only silence. “Jesus, Cash. What the hell is wrong with you? Did you get hurt?”

“Messed up my ankle a little, but it’s not broken. Guess how many hours I had to spend at urgent care for them to tell me that?”

“What’s ‘messed up’ mean? You going to be able to start?”

“Yeah, of course. It’s just a little swollen. Coach doesn’t need to know, okay, Lor?”

I try to hide my irritation. “Obviously. God, you are so fucking lucky. That’s a career-ender right there.”

“No shit,” he says, laughing like he’s forgotten I just got out of a surgery that could end my career.

“So what now?”

“Just ice and rest for a day or two. I’ll get back down there once I can drive or I can get my sister to give me a ride. Can you hang tight until then? Ruby’s around, right?”

I glance at her nestled into my couch. “She’s around. Don’t worry. Take care of yourself. And when you do show up, plan on making me something better than crusty boxed mac and cheese, you hear?”

“I’ll do you one better. Got some magic weed right here in my pocket. It’ll blow those prescription painkillers out of the water.”

“Sounds like a great way to fall off a roof,” I tell him. “Keep it, man. Just get here when you can.”

When I hang up, Ruby turns to look at me. “Ease up. You look like you’re about to crack a tooth. What’s wrong?”

“Dumbass Cash got wasted and almost broke his ankle falling off a roof. Can you believe that?”

“Honestly? Yeah. Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. Can’t drive for a couple days, that’s all.” I flop onto the couch.

“Relax.” Ruby slides a hand down my good shoulder. “I’m here as much as you need me.”

“It’s not that,” I snap. “I just can’t get over how fucking stupid my friends can be.”

“Like you’ve never gotten drunk?” Humor flashes in her eyes, and I know she’s remembering the many nights we spent doing things that should have gotten us jailed, hospitalized, or at least beaten up.

“I don’t anymore, do I? Not like that.”

“Cash is okay. Let it be.”

“He’s okay this time. What’s it gonna take for him to get it?”

She pats the back of my hand. “Some people have to learn the hard way. You know that better than anyone.”

“Yeah, well, it shouldn’t be that way. Let people learn from my stupid mistakes.”

The night Anthony and I ended up with my car wrapped around a tree, he was the one driving, but I was the one who handed over the keys to my drunk younger cousin. The one who wanted to go get weed. Anthony was the one who lost his license and his spot on his high school football team and, in turn, the college scholarship everyone knew he would have gotten once he was a senior. Me? I got sympathy for ending up with bruises that kept me off the football field for a whopping two games.

“You learned. That’s something,” Ruby says.

I did. I learned how one stupid move can fuck up one person’s life and leave the other totally unscathed. And then I learned again with this shoulder injury. Not that I can blame it on partying, but in the last year or two I’d started to loosen up a little, drink more than I should, be less vigilant than I should. Getting hurt was a blow, but it was the reminder I needed: Everything can change in a blink. “Yeah, and my friends act like I’m so uptight.”

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