Page 3 of Baby Blue
“So what did they say?” Turner asked when he made it to work right before lunch.
“Didn’t give me much hope. So my shit’s gone.” Blue was busy taking a wheel off a Buick in preparation to do a brake job. Damn, he hated brake jobs and they knew it, so they’d saved it for him. How sweet of them. It was a great place to work.
“That’s too bad, man. Oh, well, all you can do is work and hope to replace it.”
“On what you pay me, it’ll take years,” Blue growled as Turner strolled away.
“I heard that,” Turner called back. “You need a better attitude, Wallace.”
That wasn’t the first time BlueWallace had been told that, and he knew Turner was right. He also knew his head was pounding, he was hungry, and he really didn’t want to be there.
The afternoon dragged by, and when he got off work, Blue went straight home. He was so tired he couldn’t think. About halfway between the truck and the house he heard a voice. “Hey, mister?” Blue didn’t even turn, and the voice repeated, “Hey, mister? Hey, mister!”
He wheeled on his heel and found what looked like an eight-year-old boy staring at him. “Yeah, kid? Whaddya want?”
“Can I come over there and get my ball?” the little boy asked, then pointed out into the middle of the weeds.
“Sure, kid. Knock yourself out.” Blue straggled on up to the house.
A small voice called from behind him, “Thanks, mister.”
“Yeah, whatever. Go play.” With that, Blue shut the door behind him and dropped onto the sofa.
He woke up just in time to find the house growing dark and rose to pull all the blinds shut. As he stood at the kitchen sink, he could see into the kitchen window next door. The same little boy was moving around the table, setting out plates and glasses, and a girl who looked to be about ten or eleven was cooking something on the stove. He watched them working, talking and laughing as they did, and wondered where the woman was. Oh, work. Right. They were alone, but they looked happy and cheerful, and a pang of regret stabbed Blue right in the heart.
He and Bettina could’ve been that happy, but he’d driven her away. First he’d told her no kids?ever. Then he’d gone out and screwed that waitress in their bed, and he hadn’t even hadthe good sense to get the girl out of the apartment before Bett had gotten off work. She’d found them there and that had been the end. Having her in his life had thrilled him and terrified him all at the same time. He wasn’t familiar with the concept of commitments, and there she was, wanting one all the time. In the end, avoiding one had been his downfall.
Blue finally let the blind close and headed to the bedroom. He pulled off everything except his boxer briefs with the intention of rubbing one off, but he didn’t even have it in him. All he really wanted to do was sleep, and he didn’t want to dream about Bettina.
He just wanted a chance to forget.
Hate seemedlike such a strong word. No, she didn’t hate him. Did she wish he’d move somewhere else? Hell yeah. The yard so overgrown it had gone to seed, the empty beer cans everywhere, the way he carried on, coming in and out drunk or, worse yet, with those women, all rankled her. Were they hookers? If they weren’t, they could sure pass for call girls.
Anne stuffed her little thermal tote in the refrigerator in the nurses’ lounge and headed out onto the floor. While she worked, she thought about Polly and Toady at home alone, and she wished there was someone she could depend on to look out for them. She would be able to afford someone to stay with them if her asshole ex-husband would just pay his child support, but that wasn’t going to happen. He was a deadbeat if ever there was one, and a rich one at that.
The next thought that filtered through her mind made her shiver?the barbarian next door. If he ever touched her kids…well, he’d need to be admitted to the urology floor, that’s all she had to say aboutthat. She’d gone out one day and he’d been coming in. When she looked his way, he fixed her with a glare that was meant to let her know not to mess with him, but she’d been mesmerized by those eyes. They were the clearest, most beautiful shade of blue she’d ever seen. Just incredible. And they were super unusual looking as they peered out from under that mop of wild, dark hair.
Her break couldn’t come too soon, and she pulled out the small container of leftovers she’d brought with her and popped it into the microwave in the lounge. As soon as it was warmed and she’d settled in at the table, she called home. “Hello?” Polly’s tenuous little voice said.
“Hey, sweetheart, it’s Mama. You guys doing okay?”
“Yeah. Toady’s having trouble with his math. I’m not sure I’m doing it right, but I’m helping him.”
“You’re not doing itforhim, are you?” Anne asked.
“No, no, no! I’m just trying to work the problems so I can show him how, and they’re hard! But I got a load of towels done, folded, and put away, and we ate the tuna, mac, and cheese that we fixed,” she said.
“Hi, Mama!” she heard Toady call from across the room.
“Tell him hi. I’ve got to get back to work, but thank you, sweetheart. You’re such a good girl,” she cooed to her daughter.
“Thanks, Mama. I try. I’ll see you in the morning. Night.”
“Night, baby.” Anne hung up the call and sat there, trying to choke down her leftover spaghetti through the tightness in her throat as her eyes filled with tears. She missed her kids and they needed her at home, but she had to make a living. There were no other options.
It had been a shit week at work, and now there was more work?playing at the bar. Friday nights were the absolute worst. Everybody had been at work all week, they were sick and tired of the rat race, and they came in to cut loose. Problem was, they didn’t want to turn loose of any of their hard-earned cash, so there wasn’t much in tips, and the bar sure didn’t pay a lot. They only got about twenty-five percent of the cover charge, which wasn’t fair either, and all they really got out of the work was enough to pay for gas for the week. But every once in a while, someone would come in and decide to hire them for a party or something, and that was pretty nice. It was the best they could hope for.
Playing for four hours was quite a chore. It was tempting to repeat some of the songs close to the end of the set. After all, most of the patrons who’d been there early were gone, and theones left near closing time were so drunk they didn’t know the difference. The late set was an opportunity to play some of their original stuff, and it was usually well received, seeing as how no one could tell the difference by then anyway. That was the part of the evening Blue liked best. If he had to be stuck in that shit town, he might as well have some fun and do something he loved, and playing that bass was something he’d always enjoyed. It was still tiresome, though, after a long day at work.
