“Dude, Uncle Tex is gonna talk to my Mom tonight. First time they’l have talked since he got back from Vietnam.” Vance’s eyes flashed, then they warmed. Then, he reached out and traced the curve of my ear.
“Good news,” he muttered.
“You better believe it.”
I heard the loud thud of a beer bottle hitting a counter. I turned in time to see Hank’s back as he left.
I looked to where Eddie and Lee stood at the bar.
Eddie was smiling at me.
Lee was glowering.
I turned my back on them, trying to pretend none of this affected me.
Which, it did, like, a lot.
But I’d decided, just then, with the happy news that Uncle Tex was going to cal my Mom, that I was going to live in a pretend world of bubble gum goodness.
At least until I drove over the Colorado border, then it was Joni Mitchel and Van Morrison al the way through Nebraska.
Chapter Twelve
Hank and My Wild Ride
“Hi Mom,” I said.
Uncle Tex was sitting across from me, at his dining room table, his leg bouncing, his hands running up and down his thighs, his eyes wild.
We’d had our pork chops and rice and Tex had had three shots of hooch and two beers. I thought he was primed but he looked like he was going to spontaneously combust.
“Hey there, honey. What’s up with you?” Mom said in my ear.
I smiled reassuringly at Tex.
“I have two pieces of real y good news,” I told her.
“Yeah? I can always use good news.”
“Wel …” I drew it out, “Bil y and I are done. He’s gone.
Real y gone this time.”
My Mom was silent.
Then she breathed, “Oh sweet Jesus.”
Then, she took the phone away from her mouth and I heard her shout, “Herb! Herb, come here! Roxie’s broken up with Bil y. Oh sweet Jesus. The sweet Lord Jesus heard my prayers.”
Mom carried on like this for a while.
I waited patiently, mainly because I was accustomed to this behavior from Mom. Mom went to church on Sundays and she was a Christian for sure but she only invoked the sweet Lord Jesus on special occasions (of which there were many) that demanded a bit of a flair for drama.
Such as this one.
The phone was jostled and my Dad was there.
“Roxie?”