Part 9:
Please Don't Hate
Me
“Aim
to the left.”
“No
dummy, not that far left.”
“Okay
stop, stop it’s perfect”
“Yeah,
right there.”
“Five….four….three-“
“Oh
my hell Nick this isn’t NASA. Let him drop it when he wants to.”
“Do
you want me to count for you?”
“I
think he can count.”
“Was
I talking to you A.J.?”
“One….”
“Was
I talking to you A.J.?”
“Quit
mocking me Bone!”
“Two….”
“Quit
mocking me Bone!”
“I’m
a dork.”
“I’m
a…….hey I’m not falling for that Nick!”
“Three.”
Kevin let the large whip cream filled balloon drop from the ten-story balcony
of the hotel. It’s bright shiny red exterior aimed right for the bald tattooed
head of a guy who looked like he once must have been a card carrying member of
The Hell’s Angel motorcycle gang.
SPLAT
It
was official.
In
eight short weeks Kevin had given in to the dark side.
Kevin
had gone back to being one of the "Boys”……..and it felt so good.
“Run
you guys run!” Kevin yelled as he turned and ran away from the balconies edge
where Nick and A.J. still stood aruging.
“What
did Kev say?” Nick asked leaning out over the balcony a big goofy smile on his
face.
“I
dunno I think he said run or something?” A.J. replied as he too leaned over the
balcony.
“Why
would he tell us to run?” Nick asked just as his eyes set on the fluffy white
cloud of whip cream sitting on the head of the man below.
“Oh
shit he threw the thing.” Locking eyes with the pissed off Hells Angel Nick
backed away from the balcony, running in his own tracks just like a cartoon
before throwing back the French doors and disappearing inside A.J. right on his
heels.
“You
bastard.” Nick yelled doubled over with laughter on the floor of the sitting
room. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us you threw it!”
“Hey
I tried.” Kevin lay back on the couch pulling a couch cushion over his face to
smother his laughter.
“Yeah
well you didn’t try hard enough.” Stumbling across the room a huge smile on his
face A.J. dropped into a chair trying to catch his breath. “Oh my God he was so
pissed!”
“Now
tell me that wasn’t fun Kev?” Nick kicked his feet on the floor letting out
another hoot as Brian and Howie came walking into the room
“What
wasn’t fun?” Howie stepped over Nick while Brian stopped pretending he was
going to stand on Nick’s chest.
“These
two lunatics talked me into playing the ol’ Whip Cream Balloon Drop.” Tossing
the couch cushion at A.J. Kevin smiled.
“No
way?” Brian started to move away from Nick but was stopped when Nick grabbed
his ankle pulling him to the floor.
“You
guys suck. You said that you would call me when you played.” Brian whined as
Nick grabbed him in a headlock delivering a powerful noogie to Brian’s head.
The
ringing of the phone couldn’t even quiet the room down as the guys laughed back
and forth trading “war stories” about the good old days of European Whip Cream
Balloon Drop.
Reaching
for the phone Howie had to plug a finger in one ear to hear the voice of the
person on the other end of the line.
“Oh
yeah hey how are you doing……of course nothing but utter madness…….yeah sure let
me get him hang on……Hey Kev it’s for you its’ Leslie.”
Locked
in a bitter war of thumb wrestling with A.J. Kevin quickly wrapped up the round
with a nasty hard pin that made A.J. wince before pushing him to the side as
Howie handed him the phone.
“Leslie
and Kevin sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G…..” Nick and Brian sing songed as
Kevin flipped them the bird on his way to the bedroom where he was hoping for
some privacy.
“Hey
Sweet Girl how are things going on the home front.” Shutting the bedroom door
behind him Kevin turned the lock.
“Hey
there Boss Man, it’s good to hear your voice.” Leslie’s voice was soft and sad.
“I really need to talk to someone.”
*
* *
Lily
sat curled up on her bed in her main floor bedroom of the Richardson home a
glass of wine on her nightstand, Kevin’s picture in a small sterling silver
frame placed tenderly in the center of the pillow beside her.
In
the eight weeks since her arrival as the ‘perfect nanny’, Lily had not only
charmed the tiny infant whose care became her reason for living, but she had
also become fast friends and bosom buddies with Kristin as well as managing to
form a tight bond with Kevin when he would call to check in from various stops
along the tour.
After
the misunderstanding the first day Kevin was away he had written up and faxed
Kristin a calling schedule, listing the days and times he would be checking in
with the family.
Lily
and Kristin had shared a good laugh over the schedule all color-coded and
complete with bar graphs and pie charts.
“You
should hang it on the fridge.” Lily snatched the paper from Kristin grabbing a
big fat frog magnet.
“Right
here.” Smacking it down in the center of the fridge Kristin grabbed a red
marker placing an A+ in the upper right hand corner of the schedule.
“An
A+ for my husband on his schoolwork.” Both women giggled as they headed outside
to the pool.
Over
the next few days Lily had quickly memorized Kevin’s calling schedule to his
wife so she knew just when to position herself by the phone to take his calls.
At
first their conversations were filled with pleasantries but were quick and to
the point as Kevin anxiously asked to talk to Kris.
Then
slowly, as the weeks went on he warmed more and more to Lily. Asking her about
her likes and dislikes, why she'd moved to Florida, and how come some lucky guy
hadn't scooped her up yet.
Lily
loved the cheer in Kevin's voice when she answered the phone. "Hey Leslie
I'm glad it's you!" He would begin with a smile in his voice. Listening
with rapt attention as she told him stories of his son’s progress, knowing that
each time she spoke about some random goo, giggle or chubby cheeked smile she
was reeling Kevin in even more.
One
night they had even talked about Lily herself.
It
was late, Kevin and the guy’s had finished an awesome concert in Michigan
followed up by a rare night of dancing and drinking at a local bar. Kevin was
still on a high when he stumbled into his hotel room. Lonely for some female
company he had decided to call his wife.
Lily
had been lying in bed awake listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the
shore below when the phone pierced the night with its’ shrill ring.
She
snatched it up on the first ring.
“Yes.”
“Lovely
Leslie.” Kevin slurred his voice deep and sexy.
“Kevin?”
Sitting up in bed Lily smiled.
“Leslie
is such a beautiful name. Do you know what it means….it means cheese”
Giggling
Lily pushed her bangs from her face.
“Kevin
you’re drunk.”
“And
you’re beautiful.”
“You
don’t even know what I look like.” Tossing back the sheets Lily dropped her
bare feet to the floor and walked to the glass doors that lead out onto her
patio.
“Yes
I do.”
“Oh
you do do you?” Pushing her long blonde hair over her shoulder she padded to
the edge of the balcony.
“You
look like an angel.”
“Kevin,
seriously you’re drunk.” Resting a hand on the rail of the balcony Lily smiled.
“You should take some aspirin and go to bed.”
“………….an
angel letting the stars overwhelm her.”
Lily
froze.
“What,
what did you say?”
“Lily
I miss you.” Kevin rolled over on his stomach, smashing his face into the
fluffy white hotel pillow, the phone still pressed to his ear.
“Kevin-“
Lily found herself weak at the sound of her name on Kevin’s lips. It had been
so long since she had heard him say her name with such tenderness in his voice.
She
wanted to tell him the truth, tell him that she still loved him and that they
could take Nate and run away…..they could be a family.
And
then she heard the snoring.
He
had fallen asleep.
Walking
back into her bedroom Lily dropped the phone in its’ cradle without even saying
goodnight.
They
never spoke of the conversation, each word and memory had been lost in a
drunken haze.
He
never called her Lily again.
“Leslie what’s wrong?” Shaking her back to the present Lily
reached for her glass of wine.
“Kevin, please don’t hate me for telling you this.”
***
