Page 11 of Whatever It Takes

“Oh nothing.” Erica waved me off with a smile in her voice. “I was just showing Kenzie something on my Instagram.”

“Come sit down. We polished off all the wine, but we still have the Jack Fire and some snacks to chow on,” Mackenzie slurred and picked up a handful of potato chips from the bowl and started crunching away.

I sunk into the couch next to her and plunged a chip in the French onion dip. “I’m going to have to run an extra two miles tomorrow to work off all the booze and extra calories I’ve consumed in the last three hours.”

“Nonsense. You’re beautiful,” Mackenzie said and started studying my appearance. Then she reached over and grabbed her purse off the table. She took out a hairbrush and started to redo my messy bun until it was smooth with loose tendrils of hair falling along my face. You would have thought we were going out for a night on the town by the way she reapplied a coat of my lip gloss and stroked the powder brush across my cheeks with shimmering powder.

“What are you doing?” I pushed her hand away thinking she was acting weirder than usual.

She muttered something inaudible under her breath and walked away before I could ask another question. I knew I was feeling the effects of the alcohol, but I didn’t look that bad. Besides, it wasn’t like I was going anywhere other than when I put my drunken ass in an Uber at the end of the night. I wanted to get up early and get a few things done around the house before Emery got home from her sleepover.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Erica kept checking the time on her phone, which made me wonder where I had put my own. “Hey.” I urgently started to search the couch for the missing device. “Has anyone seen my phone?”

I dropped to my knees on the floor to look under the couch when Erica pointed to the kitchen counter. “Oh, I put it in the charger. I noticed your battery was low.”

“Thanks.” I sighed with relief. I wanted to make sure it was close by in case Emery needed me. “I’m going to order an Uber.”

“I’ll order you one from my phone. I got a gift card for my birthday, so save your money. Just don’t do anything to fuck up my five-star rating.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” she replied a little too enthusiastically and grabbed her phone off the table. I watched her tap into the Uber app and order my ride. “If that jerkass of a husband of yours taught me anything through all this, it’s to make smart choices.”

I touched the hair on top of my head, feeling uncomfortable. She had a point. And I knew I wasn’t responsible for what happened, but I was married to the son of a bitch, so it still struck a chord.

As if Erica could read my mind, she reached over and grabbed the bottle of whiskey, took a sip and passed it around. “Stop blaming yourself. Nothing about that night was your fault.”

“I’m sorry. I know tonight is supposed to be fun. Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer.”

“Hey.” Mackenzie reached out and gently touched my arm. “Look at it this way,” she said, handing me the bottle of Jack. “At least you’re finally free of the asshole.”

Free? Is that how I was supposed to feel? All I felt was stuck. The reality was, my husband was gone. I was now a single parent with a mountain of debt, and the small pile of cash that he left behind would run out soon because I had no job.

I applied for a few teaching positions, but the school year had already started, which meant finding a job was unlikely. When I tried to get on a sub list, no one wanted to take me on because of my last name. So here I was, stuck, yet I was supposed to feel free.

“You’ll get through this,” Mackenzie tried to reassure me. She placed her arm around my shoulder and drew me into her side. “Life sucks right now, but it will get better. Just take it day by day.”

“Right,” I said, bringing the bottle up to my lips. “I didn’t mean to bring you guys down tonight. I’ll get there. I promise.”

Mackenzie shook her head. “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m actually proud of you for coming out tonight, even if it was only to Club Erica.” She laughed and gestured around.

Erica snatched the bottle out of my hands. “I couldn’t agree more, but next time, we are going out clubbing.”

I laughed. “You know we’re not twenty-one anymore, right?” I reminded her.

Erica swayed to the side a little bit and pointed her bony finger at me. “See, that’s your problem. You’re at that in-between stage.”

“In between?” Mackenzie and I both asked at the same time.

“Yup.” She swung her long dark hair over her shoulder. “You’re too old to be hooking up with young twenty-somethings, but too young to live your life like a nun. You just need to get laid.”

“Erica.” I sighed. “I’m still technically married.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. At least she tried to. “We are going to fix that problem.”

The doorbell chimed, and I watched Erica and Mackenzie glance at each other simultaneously. “Well, speak of the devil.”

She swayed over to the door with a shit-eating grin on her face.

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