Chapter Twenty-One
Garrett
On the first Friday night in May, I'm wearing my gray suit, leaning against the wall outside my downstairs hall bathroom. I hear the water running inside, then silence. And a few seconds later, Callie comes out.
Her skin is a mixture of pale white and green--like mint chocolate chip ice cream, minus the chips.
"Did you puke?"
The question brings a little pink to her cheeks.
"Yeah. But just the one time." She tucks a tiny pouch, with a miniature toothbrush and toothpaste inside, into her purse.
Athletes have rituals before games. Callie has a ritual before a performance--she pukes up a lung. She always did, even back in high school. And apparently that ritual now extends to her students performing too.
Because tonight is the opening night of Little Shop of Horrors by the newly christened Lakeside Players Group, at Lakeside High School.
In spite of the recent heave-ho-hurl, Callie looks stunning in a cream-colored skirt and jacket, with her hair pulled back in a low, loose bun that manages to be elegant and sexy as fuck. It makes me want to bite her neck, suck on it . . . preferably while she's riding me.
But--the happy times will have to wait until later. It's almost show time.
I call Woody into his crate and he trots in happily.
"Be good, Wood--we'll be home in a little while."
He attacks the rubber goose chew toy Callie got for him last week, with a vengeance. The pain of losing Snoopy still lingers--we kept his ashes and they sit in a simple silver urn on the fireplace mantle. But like the grief of all losses, time and good memories make it easier to bear.
I hold out my hand to Callie and she slides hers into it. Then I kiss her cheek.
"Let's go, sweetheart. Time for you to break a leg."
~
A few weeks ago, David Burke's plea deal was finalized. Me and Callie and Jerry Dorfman wrote letters to the prosecutor on his behalf. And they were literary masterpieces if I do say so myself, because the prosecutor agreed to let David plead as a youthful offender. If he stays out of trouble for the next two years, completes his probation and community service, his record will be expunged.
He was also allowed to come back home and return to school . . . contingent on the active participation and supervision of a legal guardian he could live with.
Anda oh man--he got a doozy of a foster parent.
She's showing him how to tie his necktie right now . . . or trying to strangle him with it.
"No, Burke, the rabbit goes in the motherfucking hole! In!" Miss McCarthy yells at him. "Jesus, are you deaf?"
Yep, David lives with her now. It's better than jail . . . though I bet some days he wonders.
He makes eye contact with me across the lobby outside the high school auditorium. And mouths help me over Miss McCarthy's bent head.
I give him the thumbs-up.
"Pay attention, god damn it!"
The little punk rolls his eyes . . . and then he straightens up and pays attention.
~
After Callie heads backstage, I jog out to the Jeep and grab a few things from the back. Then I find David heading towards his seat in the auditorium. I grab his arm and pull him to the side. And I smack a bouquet of roses against his chest.
"Rule number one--when your girl's in a play, you get her flowers. Every night. Got it?"
David looks down at the flowers. "Layla's . . . not my girl."
"Do you want her to be?"
Over the last few months, while David was in the Boy's Home, Layla told Callie he would sneak out of his room to the pay phones, to call her after lights out.
Frigging stupid? Epically so.
Romantic? To a teenage girl . . . absolutely.
He glances at the still-curtained stage, like he half-expects Layla to be there. "Yeah, I do want her to be."
I nod. "Flowers are a good start to making that happen. Keeping yourself the hell out of jail will go a long way too."
He grins, rolling his eyes again, and taking the flowers. "Got it. Thanks, Coach D."
"Anytime."
David lifts his chin towards the other bouquet of roses in my hand. "Those for Miss Carpenter?"
I nod. "Damn straight."
~
The show is fantastic--and I'm not just saying that because I'm doing the theater teacher. It's genuinely good. The sets, the songs, the kids--they're all so energetic . . . so awesome. By the time they take their curtain call, everyone in the auditorium is on their feet, clapping. When Callie appears center stage the applause get louder, I press my fingers to my lips and whistle.
She shines on that stage--looking so lovely--she was born to be there. And standing amongst the kids who gaze at her with adulation in their eyes, it's even more true.
Afterwards, backstage, it's all chatter and laughter as the kids change out of their costumes and take off their stage makeup. They talk about the cast party, make final plans on where they're meeting up and what they're going to do. Back in the day Callie and her theater friends used to drive down to the beach after a show, to watch the sun rise. She must've told them about it, because the kids' plans tonight are the same.
"Don't be idiots!" Callie calls after them, as the big, heavy school door closes behind the last one.
After he sweeps the stage, Callie sends Ray, the janitor, home, promising to lock up. And then it's just the two of us--here, together, where it all began.
The auditorium lights are dark, and the overhead stage lights are dim--a soft, golden glow. It's all quiet, peaceful, and still.
I hold out my hand to her. "Come on."
Callie grasps the roses I gave her in one hand and takes my hand with the other. I lead her onto the stage, our shoes clicking on the old oak floor. My fingers slide across my phone, and I find the song I'm looking for. "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran pours clear and distinct from the speaker, filling the silence with the strumming guitar and meaningful words. Words about finding love when you're just a kid, and not really realizing what you have until the second time around.
I set my phone on the stage and look up at Callie. "I heard this the other day, and it reminded me of us. I figured it could be our new song--officially."
Her pink lips stretch into a smile and her eyes shine on me. "I love it."
I stand up and hold out my hands. "Dance with me, Callie."
She comes quickly, eagerly, stepping into the circle of my arms, threading her hands behind my neck. We press close and rock together, turning slowly in the halo of the stage lights over our heads.
I gaze down into her eyes, breathing slow. "I've been thinking."
"Dangerous," she teases.
"Sexy," I tease back, making her smile gr
ow.
And then I basically crack open my chest and let her see my heart. The one that beat for her when we were kids, the soul that breathed just for her--and now does again.
"I know you'll never ask me--so I'm just going to tell you. At the end of the year, when you go back to San Diego . . . I'm coming with you."
She breathes in quickly, gasping.
"I'll sell the house," I tell her. "I'll put my resume together . . . find a teaching job in San Diego."
Her face is all soft and tender. Her fingers toy with the hair at the back of my neck, and she swallows. "Garrett . . . you don't have to do that."
I touch her cheek, stroking down her jaw, as we rock together to the music.
"I've thought about it, turned it around in my head, trying to figure out a way that this will work. This is how. I don't want to live across the country from you, Callie. And there's no fucking way I'm letting you go . . ."
Slowly, she shakes her head, tears rising in her voice and her beautiful green eyes.
"You love this town."
I nod softly. "Yeah, I do."
"You love coaching this football team."
"That's true."
One lone tear slips down her cheek.
"You love this school, these kids . . ."
"Also true." I catch her tear with my thumb, wiping it away. "But you know what else is true?"
A hiccup shudders in her chest.
"What?"
"I love you more than all those things. That's what I've realized this year, Callie--I can live in another town, teach at another school . . . I can live without coaching football if I have to." I dip my head, leaning in closer. "I can't live without you. Not anymore . . . not ever again."
Callie's face crumples, because my girl's a crier. But I know, this time, they're happy tears. She presses her forehead to mine.
"I didn't want you to have to give up anything for me."
"I'm not, baby. It doesn't feel like I'm giving up a damn thing. I'm getting you . . . I'm getting the chance to build a life with you . . . and that's all I really want."
I kiss her lips, tasting the warm salt of her tears. My arms squeeze tighter and her hands grasp my shoulders, clasping us together.
"The way I see it, I've been living my dream job for the last thirteen years. But you're just getting your shot at yours. And I want you to take it, Callie. I want to watch you and love you and be there, while all your dreams come true."