Page 22 of All In Good Time

“I meant every damn word I said.” He slammed the glass on the counter, drawing the attention of a few college students nearby, including Marty who pushed forward to be at her side.

Derek’s misty eyes rose to lazily catch Marty’s, and he swayed in his spot. “Oh look, you brought your pretty boyfriend.” He chuckled, his words slurring more.

“Okay, big guy, time to get up.” Marty wasn’t as impacted by the severity of Derek’s tone as Becca was.

Marty grabbed Derek by the shoulders and hoisted him off the stool he sat on.

“Get the fuck off me,” Derek said, brushing Marty off with enough force that Derek stumbled a step to the side. He caught himself before Becca could and glared when he saw her reaching out for him.

He took a step forward, until his face was a few inches away from hers, the bitter alcohol on his breath hard to ignore. Becca blinked, and tears finally rose to her eyes, unable to keep them back anymore.

He softened. His hard eyes lightened, and he leaned into her slightly, like he couldn’t resist. The anger was gone, replaced entirely by the broken boy she had seen many times. He didn’t have the energy to fight anymore.

“Please.”

She felt his fingers wrap around hers.

“Just let me live in peace.”

Then his head was on her shoulder, his body going limp.

She barely caught him as he started to fall, and thank god for Marty, because without him, Derek would have been on the floor. She knew from experience that he was not easy to carry alone.

They shifted him out of the bar together and into the heavy wind. Groups of drunk college students didn’t even notice them passing by. After some awkward shuffling and adjusting, they worked together to get his heavy body situated in the back seat of Marty’s car.

Becca reached into his pockets, making sure all of his possessions were accounted for. A thinning wallet and his keys were all he had.

“What about his car?” Becca looked over to Derek’s prized possession, hesitant to leave it behind. “Maybe I should take him in there instead.”

“No way. I’m not letting you drive back alone.” He took the keys out of her fingers and pocketed them. “Have someone come get it later or something. We’ll figure it out.”

Becca sighed but nodded, putting Derek’s wallet into her own pants pocket. Truthfully, even though she knew how to drive, she didn’t trust herself all the way to Highburg from here. It was already past three a.m., and neither of them had gotten any sleep. It would be better to take it on together and take turns if needed.

Marty opened the driver’s door and stepped in, but rather than taking the passenger side, Becca opened the back door and squeezed herself into the back seat where Derek was passed out cold. Marty didn’t say anything as he watched in the rearview mirror while she adjusted Derek’s head to lay on her lap, running her fingers habitually through his hair.

“You know you owe me big time for this, right?”

Becca was glad that, despite everything, Marty could still make her smile, even if it was a halfhearted one. “As soon as we get back to Highburg, I’ll even be your personal maid if you want it.”

He smirked and backed out of the parking spot to pull away from the bar lot and into the city in the direction of their home.

9

January 1985 | Before

The first day back to school after the winter break was the first refreshing sense of normalcy in a while.

Marty met her outside her place with his car, ready to drive her to the school as usual, and ready to tell her all about his week in Oahu and how warm it was. He chattered on happily, talking about the fish, how he got stung by a jellyfish and “apparently peeing on it helps,” as well as a bunch of other cool stuff Becca would love to experience one day. Maybe in Hawaii, or California. “How was your break?”

She knew he would ask eventually, and she was wondering what she would say. The very first thing that came to her mind was the curly-haired boy she was apparently friends with now. But then she remembered that Marty didn’t have the best opinion of Derek, since he’d moved here and stolen all female attention away from Marty. Maybe now wasn’t a great time to tell him about their strangely intimate encounters.

“Oh, you know, Mom came home for Christmas, a little bit on New Year’s, and of course, I spent most of the time raiding the video store like usual.”

He looked over at the arm that still had the same bandage Derek had wrapped around it. Just another reminder. “What about that?”

She lifted her arm up. “Slipped on some ice. Nothing too bad.”

He leaned his head back dramatically and sighed. “I leave you for two weeks, and this is what I come back to. I can’t even let you out of my sight.”

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