Here on Earth
Page 43
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“I never thought I’d see you here,” Hollis says. For some reason, March can hear him perfectly above the din. “Not your kind of place, is it?”
“Maybe it is,” March says. “It’s not as bad as I thought it would be.” She wishes she had thought to wear something other than this dreadful black sweater and an old pair of jeans; she wishes she had combed her hair. “I hear you’re letting my daughter ride one of your horses.”
“Is that your daughter?” Hollis acts as though he hadn’t the faintest idea.
“As if you didn’t know.” Why is it that he still has to look so good? What gives him the right to talk to her with such arrogance, as though after all these years he continued to be the most important thing in her universe, the single shining star?
“Did she tell you I was still waiting?”
“Oh, sure.” March tries to be lighthearted, but that’s not the way she feels. “And I’ll bet you never looked at another woman again.”
People are pushing by them and there’s absolutely no privacy, so when Hollis nods March follows him over to a less populated space, beneath the mounted deer heads. The only people who crowd them over here are those weaving past on their way to the rest rooms. One guy, who’s quite loaded, greets Hollis and thanks him for his support on the town council, but Hollis doesn’t even acknowledge the council-man’s existence, and March is so distracted that if she were ever asked to identify the guy in a court of law, she wouldn’t be able to. She didn’t even glance at him. Standing there, she can feel the reverberation of the jukebox in her legs. Susie is right—she’s crazy. She’s completely deranged.
“You’re the one who didn’t wait,” Hollis says.
Over by the door, Susie spots March and she waves like mad, but Hollis has moved closer, blocking Susie from view.
“Me?” March says. “Why didn’t you write or call after you left here? Why didn’t you come back for me?”
She’s done it without thinking, and there’s no way to take those words back. She should have said, Screw you, I waited plenty, I waited years, and even that was too long. Instead, she has admitted some sort of defeat; she can tell because Hollis still smiles the way he used to whenever he won.
“You went to California,” Hollis reminds her. “You were the one who got married.”
“You got married too,” March reminds him right back.
Hollis drinks from a can of Coke, which is warm by now, not that the taste bothers him.
“That was nothing,” he says.
“It was definitely something.”
Hollis comes closer. “No,” he tells her. “It wasn’t. I got married because you wouldn’t leave him. That baby was more important to you than I was.”
“It wasn’t like that,” March begins.
“It was exactly like that.” He’s even closer now; March can feel the heat from his body against hers. “Or maybe I was more important but you couldn’t admit it.”
Susie has finally joined them; jostled by the crowd, she’s taken forever to get across the room. Now, she leans against the wall and observes Hollis in what she believes to be a nonjudgmental manner.
“Fancy meeting you here,” she says.
“Hey, Sue.” He nods without interest. She’s a bitch who’s never been on his side; he doesn’t intend to pretend otherwise.
“I was telling March how Alan can’t come here, not even on Founder’s Day, because you frequent the place.”
“Oh, yeah?” Hollis gives March a look. He’s extremely pleased; first March admits how much he hurt her, and now Susie reveals that she and March had been discussing him. Unless Hollis is mistaken, and he doesn’t believe he is, the only reason March came to the Lyon was to look for him. She came to him.
“Where couldn’t you go because of Alan? Let’s see. The dump? The liquor store on Route 22?”
A bitch, just like he thought.
“Alan made his choices,” Hollis says.
“That’s crap.” Susie is getting all self-righteous, but she can’t seem to stop herself. “He decided to lose everything that was ever important to him—have it all taken away—so he could drink himself to death in a shack? Some choice.”
“You feel so bad for him?” Hollis says. “Go visit him, Sue. I bet he’d love to celebrate Founder’s Day with you.”
“Fuck you,” Susie says. Her cheeks are bright red.
“Maybe it is,” March says. “It’s not as bad as I thought it would be.” She wishes she had thought to wear something other than this dreadful black sweater and an old pair of jeans; she wishes she had combed her hair. “I hear you’re letting my daughter ride one of your horses.”
“Is that your daughter?” Hollis acts as though he hadn’t the faintest idea.
“As if you didn’t know.” Why is it that he still has to look so good? What gives him the right to talk to her with such arrogance, as though after all these years he continued to be the most important thing in her universe, the single shining star?
“Did she tell you I was still waiting?”
“Oh, sure.” March tries to be lighthearted, but that’s not the way she feels. “And I’ll bet you never looked at another woman again.”
People are pushing by them and there’s absolutely no privacy, so when Hollis nods March follows him over to a less populated space, beneath the mounted deer heads. The only people who crowd them over here are those weaving past on their way to the rest rooms. One guy, who’s quite loaded, greets Hollis and thanks him for his support on the town council, but Hollis doesn’t even acknowledge the council-man’s existence, and March is so distracted that if she were ever asked to identify the guy in a court of law, she wouldn’t be able to. She didn’t even glance at him. Standing there, she can feel the reverberation of the jukebox in her legs. Susie is right—she’s crazy. She’s completely deranged.
“You’re the one who didn’t wait,” Hollis says.
Over by the door, Susie spots March and she waves like mad, but Hollis has moved closer, blocking Susie from view.
“Me?” March says. “Why didn’t you write or call after you left here? Why didn’t you come back for me?”
She’s done it without thinking, and there’s no way to take those words back. She should have said, Screw you, I waited plenty, I waited years, and even that was too long. Instead, she has admitted some sort of defeat; she can tell because Hollis still smiles the way he used to whenever he won.
“You went to California,” Hollis reminds her. “You were the one who got married.”
“You got married too,” March reminds him right back.
Hollis drinks from a can of Coke, which is warm by now, not that the taste bothers him.
“That was nothing,” he says.
“It was definitely something.”
Hollis comes closer. “No,” he tells her. “It wasn’t. I got married because you wouldn’t leave him. That baby was more important to you than I was.”
“It wasn’t like that,” March begins.
“It was exactly like that.” He’s even closer now; March can feel the heat from his body against hers. “Or maybe I was more important but you couldn’t admit it.”
Susie has finally joined them; jostled by the crowd, she’s taken forever to get across the room. Now, she leans against the wall and observes Hollis in what she believes to be a nonjudgmental manner.
“Fancy meeting you here,” she says.
“Hey, Sue.” He nods without interest. She’s a bitch who’s never been on his side; he doesn’t intend to pretend otherwise.
“I was telling March how Alan can’t come here, not even on Founder’s Day, because you frequent the place.”
“Oh, yeah?” Hollis gives March a look. He’s extremely pleased; first March admits how much he hurt her, and now Susie reveals that she and March had been discussing him. Unless Hollis is mistaken, and he doesn’t believe he is, the only reason March came to the Lyon was to look for him. She came to him.
“Where couldn’t you go because of Alan? Let’s see. The dump? The liquor store on Route 22?”
A bitch, just like he thought.
“Alan made his choices,” Hollis says.
“That’s crap.” Susie is getting all self-righteous, but she can’t seem to stop herself. “He decided to lose everything that was ever important to him—have it all taken away—so he could drink himself to death in a shack? Some choice.”
“You feel so bad for him?” Hollis says. “Go visit him, Sue. I bet he’d love to celebrate Founder’s Day with you.”
“Fuck you,” Susie says. Her cheeks are bright red.
