Time Off for Good Behavior (24 page)

Twenty minutes later Lyle was heading out the front door with a check for six thousand of my dollars stuffed in his pocket, and I was putting on an oversize Santa suit and introducing
myself to my new employee, a teenage elf named Anne Marie.

***

“
You played Santa all day?
”
Kacey asked. Shed been sitting in the kitchen doing her homework when I came in at nine-thirty. I had my wine bottle opened and wa
s pouring a drink before I even noticed she was there.

“
Yeah,
”
I said.
“
I was. How
’
d you know?
”

“
Mom mentioned it when you weren
’
t at dinner.
”
She scribbled something in her notebook, then rubbed it out with the eraser.
“
How was it?
”

“
Okay,
”
I said,
“
but t
here
’
s a lot of work to do. I need to hire some Santas and some elves, and then I need to do something about the camera.
”

“
What
’
s the matter with it?
”
she asked.

“
It
’
s this crappy old Polaroid,
”
I said.
“
The film keeps getting jammed. Think you might be ab
le to fix it for me?
”

“
Probably,
”
she said, shrugging.
“
But you
’
ll be better off getting a digital camera and a laptop. You can do some cool stuff with that.
”

I sat down next to her at the table.
“
Really? Like what?
”

She flipped her book shut.
“
Borders ar
ound the edges. Cool themes. That kind of stuff.
”

I nodded. I had no idea what the hell she was talking about.
“
Think you might be able to help me with that?
”

“
Sure. PowerBooks are the coolest. Get a red one. Do you really hear music in your head?
”

I rolle
d my eyes.
“
Your mom tell you that, too?
”

She shook her head.
“
Nope. Alex overheard you guys talking.
”

I sighed.
“
Yeah, I hear music in my head.
”

“
What music?
”

“
I don
’
t know. Do you ever run out of questions?
”

“
How does it go?
”

“
Why do you want to know?
”

“
Maybe I know it.
”

I patted her hand.
“
It
’
s not by Justin Timberlake.
”

She patted my hand back, mocking the condescending manner in which I
’
d done it to her. I liked this kid.
“
Alex said you thought it was classical. I listen to classical music, too.
”

I sat
back and gave her a cynical look.
“
Name two classical composers. Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart don
’
t count.
”

“
Rachmaninoff. Berlioz. Handel. Tchaikovsky.
”

I held up a hand.
“
I said
two
.
”

I stared at her for a moment and finally decided that I had nothing to lose, and there was a chance it could kill a sticky note. I hummed the crescendo
—
as well as I could, anyway. I wasn
’
t exactly tone-deaf, but you wouldn
’
t wanna hear me do
“
Honesty
”
on K
araoke Night.

She shook her head.
“
Don
’
t know it.
”

“
Okay. Are we done with the grilling?
”

“
No. Can I be an elf?
”

I shook my head.
“
I think there are laws against a kid your age working.
”

“
Can I have some wine?
”

“
I
know
there are laws against that,
”
I said.
“
Where
’
s your mom?
”

“
She
’
s in the tub,
”
Kacey said, flipping her book back open.
“
She
’
s crying.
”

I put down my glass.
“
Why? Is she okay? Did something happen? Where
’
s Alex?
”
I glanced around, in panic mode.

“
Everything
’
s fine. Alex is at Dad
’
s tonight.
”
S
he gave me an appraising look. I could practically hear the gears in her twelve-year-old mind trying to decide if I was to be trusted with the family skeletons. Apparently, I passed muster.

“
It
’
s not a big deal. Whenever Dad comes to get one of us, Mom loc
ks herself in the bathroom and cries. She thinks I don
’
t know.
”

“
But you know everything,
”
I said, finishing the thought.
“
Why aren
’
t you at your dad
’
s tonight?
”

She rolled her eyes.
“
Dad read some self-help book about kids needing special one-on-one time.
Alex goes on Friday nights, I go on Saturdays, and then we all do something together on Sundays.
”
She paused, waiting to be sure she had my attention before she dropped the next bomb.
“
Like that makes up for him cheating on my mom.
”

I stared her down.
“
Th
is is not a confirmation, but how do you know about that?
”

Kacey rolled her eyes again. Rolling eyes seemed to be very big with her.
“
Why do grown-ups assume that being twelve means you
’
re stupid?
”

“
I don
’
t think anybody would ever call you stupid, Kace,
”
I said. She pushed her glasses up on her nose and smiled at me. I felt a small lurch in my heart, and I had a strange urge to wrap my arms around her and kiss the top of her head.

Christ. I stood up and refilled my glass of wine.
Develop a maternal instinc
t
was not on my wall, and I had enough to worry about right now without some kid making my uterus ache.

She put her pencil down in her book and closed it.
“
Are people always intimidated by intelligent women?
”

I smiled.
“
Not the good ones.
”

She nodded.
“
Can
I have some wine now?
”

I walked over to her and handed her my glass.
“
One sip,
”
I said.
“
And don
’
t tell your mother.
”

***

I crawled into bed at midnight, two hours after I sent Kacey to bed. I briefly c
onsidered going up and forcing Elizabeth to talk but decided against it. Instead, I busied myself in the kitchen on the off chance that she might come down. She never did, but I went to bed hoping she
’
d be pleasantly surprised to see her spices alphabetic
a
lly organized the next time she went looking for oregano.

I pulled the covers up to my ears and let my eyes float over the sticky-note wall, taking in all the crooked demands one by one.

Get a new haircut.

Go see parents.

Talk to Molly.

Do something meanin
gful.

Identify phantom music.

Figure out what I want.

I stared at them, reading them over and over again, until my eyes finally rested on the one that was set apart from the others, the one that would stay there until all the others were gone.

Tell Walter.

I bunched my pillow under my head and hugged it, falling asleep to thoughts of seeing Walter again and showing him who I really was. Of course, I
’
d have to figure that out for myself first. Details sucked.

***

“
Is Elizabeth here?
”

Jack Mackey was a tall
man, handsome, with a winning smile and a firm handshake. Under ordinary circumstances, I probably would have liked him. As it was, I stood in the doorway with my arms crossed, ready to use deadly force if lie tried to get near Elizabeth.

“
No,
”
I said.
“
I
told her I
’
d handle the switch this morning.
”

“
Oh.
”
He rocked back on his heels. He smiled, held out his hand.
“
I
’
m Jack. I take it you
’
re Wanda? The kids have been telling me about you.
”

My eyes flicked from his outstretched hand back to his face. I kept
my arms crossed.
“
Did they tell you I
’
m not into small talk?
”

His head turned slightly, and his eyes locked on me, seeming to sense a challenge.
“
No. As a matter of fact, they
’
ve had nothing but nice things to say about you. They really like you.
”

I thre
w a holler over my shoulder without taking my eyes off Jack.
“
Kace! You ready yet, kiddo?
”

“
Almost,
”
she called down. I could hear the sound of Alex
’
s stereo bound down the stairs, then retreat as he shut the door to his bedroom.

Jack kept his eyes on me.
“
You know, I
’
m not really the asshole Elizabeth says I am.
”

“
The only thing Elizabeth has told me is that you
’
re a good father to the kids,
”
I said.
“
I put two and two together and came up with asshole all by myself.
”

Kacey
’
s footsteps pounded behind me,
and I uncrossed my arms to give her a quick hug and send her off with Jack.

“
It was nice meeting you,
”
Jack said. I put on a smile for Kacey
’
s benefit and nodded, watching them as they headed to the car. He held Kacey
’
s hand and buckled her in gently, givi
ng her a kiss on the forehead before closing the door and going around to get in on the driver
’
s side. Once they were gone, I went upstairs and woke up Elizabeth to tell her that Alex was home, Kacey was gone, and I was heading out to play Santa.

***

“
H
oly Christ, if I have to make nice to one more damn kid today, I
’
m gonna lose my damn mind,
”
I said, slamming my Santa hat down on Bones
’
s desk as I took a long drink of my bottled water. The uterus ache from the night before had all but been obliterated b
y a series of selfish little brats demanding PlayStations and swing sets. I yanked open the top of my Santa coat.
“
I
’
m sweating bullets in this damn suit.
”