My Dad's College Friends - Cassandra Dee Page 0,5

we’re used to one another. Old Joe has gotten older, and Paolo appears to be shrinking, but they’re fine fellows.

“You sure you guys don’t want to stay a little?” Mike, our host, asks. “I’ve got some beer in the fridge.”

Old Joe and Paolo make their excuses, but Reese and I look at one another.

“Sure, why not?”

Once the other men are gone, we kick back and relax a bit. Mike rubs the bridge of his nose ruefully.

“So, how are you guys? Time flies, huh? If you had told me twenty years ago that I would be a divorced, single father with an eighteen-year-old daughter about to graduate high school, I would have laughed in your face. Just goes to show that college students are shit at predicting their futures.”

We laugh at his words because they’re true. Mike used to be a romantic. He was head over heels with his college girlfriend, Cindy, and they got married straight after graduation. We all thought they’d be together forever, but clearly, life has its own way of knocking you on the head.

I smile at my friend.

“It’s not all bad. Amelia is a beautiful young lady with a good head on her shoulders. You should be proud of the fine job you’ve done raising her.”

Reese nods.

“Ryan’s right, bro. You’ve done an amazing job raising Amelia. I remember when she was this cute, sassy little girl with a button nose and wild curls running to you with skinned knees. Now look at her…a grown woman. Ryan’s right, you should be proud of the woman you’ve raised.”

Michael replies gruffly.

“Thanks guys. She is definitely something to be proud of. After the craziness with her mother, I didn’t know if I would be able to raise Amelia at all, especially with Cindy fighting me for custody. But I guess all’s well that ends well. That ice cold bitch is out of our lives, and even better, Amelia doesn’t seem to miss her.”

Heading to the fridge, Mike opens the door, and then stares in consternation. “Hey, I’m going to grab some beers from the garage as we don’t seem to have any in the fridge.”

Reese and I look at each other and shrug.

“Sure, no problem. We’ll wait.”

Mike disappears for a moment, but when he comes back, there’s a grimace on his face.

“I’m so sorry. I’m out of beer in the garage too. I guess we cleaned out my stash during the poker game. I can run out to grab some more, if you guys don’t mind waiting. It won’t take long. I’ll need to go downtown, but there shouldn’t be any traffic this late at night. The joys of living outside of city limits, right?”

Raising my eyebrow, I look at Reese, but he shakes his head while getting up.

“No worries, Mike. Don’t stress because there’s no need to put yourself out. We’ll be back in a week for more poker, so sit down and relax.”

But Mike is already getting his coat and keys.

“No, no,” he says. “I’d be a bad host. I’ll just be gone for fifteen minutes, and even better, the beer will be ice cold when I’m back. Hang tight. We never get a chance to talk anymore, what with Old Joe and Paolo staring at us. I’ll be back in a sec.”

With that, he’s gone, the door closing firmly behind him. Reese and I look at each other.

“Okay, that was weird,” says Reese.

“You’re telling me,” I remark. “What is up with him?”

Reese looks grim.

“Drinking problem?”

I shake my head.

“I’m not sure, but now we’re here in an empty house … with Amelia upstairs.”

My friend’s face grows pensive, although he doesn’t move.

“Yeah … so, Amelia, huh?”

Refusing to take the bait, I turn to stare at him,

“Yeah?”

He shrugs.

“You know exactly what I mean. She’s not the little girl we both remember.”

I agree with a somewhat grim look on my face.

“Yeah, but I can still picture her as a little girl: wild curls and a button nose, getting into one scrape after another as she tried to keep up with Michael. She was a cute one, that’s for sure. You remember how often she would put her hand on her hips as she lectured us on what we were doing wrong? Boy, was she sassy then.”

My friend shakes his head.

“She’s still sassy, buddy. Yes, we’ve watched her grow up, but she’s far from that little girl now.”

“Amen.”

Rolling his shoulders, Reese remarks in a casual tone.

“Speaking of Amelia…what do you think was wrong with her tonight? We both know that something happened.