I Made You My First (19 page)

“Okay,”
I said.

He released my face and left me standing w
hile he took a path I didn’t recognize. I went inside to the sofa and sat down.
What’s going on
? I thought.

Paris was still standing where
Irish had left her, sobbing. Torn, I wasn’t sure what to do.

Finally I sto
od up, looking at her and asked, “Is there anything I can get you?” She looked up at me. Her eyes had dark trails of mascara running from them.
She has the same blue eyes as Irish, but she doesn’t share the same facial features
, I thought.

“Who are you again?”
She asked.

I stared at her for a moment and suddenly felt uncomfortable
. I gulped, “I’m Jurnee Sampson.”

She turned away from me reaching for a paper
towel to wipe her face. With her back to me she said, “What number are you?  It’s got to be in the hundreds by now,” and she blew her nose.

I took a deep breath t
hat caught me off guard.  There were so many things I could say to her right now, but I stopped myself and tried to remember.  One, I didn’t know her and two, she was obviously upset.

“I’
m not sure what you’re talking about, but I’m pretty sure that I’m number one to Irish.” I could feel the heat flowing into my face.

She tur
ned to me and I watched her wad the paper towel in her hand.  “Sampson? You’re John’s sister?”

I’d rather
be a number in Irish’s book than John’s sister
, I thought. “Yes, I’m John’s sister,” I admitted. She looked at me differently now, as if she’d somehow decided that she’d treat me like a person rather than one of her brother’s hook-ups. I stared at her face, waiting to see if I’d have to verbally defend myself.

“
You’re cute,” she said, turning to take her water bottle.

I refused to respond
.

Before I knew it
, she was plopping herself down on the end of the sofa.  “Sorry for being such a bitch.”  She uncapped the bottle, “I’m not having the best of days.”

That was an understatement
, I thought. I sat back and reached for my purse. I wanted a cigarette but quickly decided to look for a piece of gum instead.

“Sorry about your aunt,”
she said and we looked at each other.

“Thanks,”
I said. She sounded sincere. I went back to looking for my gum.

“
So you’re John’s little sister. That explains why Irish has you here,” and she took a sip from the bottle.

I had that uncomfortable feeling again.
  I could feel her eyes on me. I didn’t like it, so I looked at her. 

“
Are you hot for my baby brother too?”

What
’s this chick’s problem
? I thought. I felt a look of confusion cross my face. I hoped that she didn’t see it as I continued to stare at her. 

“I’
m just asking because I make it a habit not to get close to the girls he’s dating. I did that a few times and they were gone within a week.”  She wasn’t smiling but waiting for an answer. I looked away and reached for my cigarettes and lighter.

I stood
up, “I’m going outside to smoke a cigarette,” and walked to the door.

“Can I have one?”
I heard her ask.

I just kept walking.
Where in the hell is Irish
? I thought. Before I could light a cigarette, Paris was standing next to me. I handed her the lit cigarette and lighted another.  We both stood there on the porch looking at the trees.

Out of nowhere Paris finally blurted, “I’m pregnant,”
and I felt myself freeze. I know my eyes grew big but I managed to keep my mouth from falling open.  I didn’t want to look at her, but I felt I had to after hearing her words.

Before I had a chance to move
, she continued. “My Dad’s rule, well one of them anyway, is no children out of wedlock. Stupid rule, but he pays the bills.”

I turned to look at her.  “
So what’re you going to do?” was all I could say.  I was at a loss for anything else to say. The way she’d been acting in the house didn’t warrant gushing buckets of comfort. 

“
Well I was going to have an abortion because even if I did know the father, I’m not marriage material, and definitely not mother material.”

I
continued to look at her and listen. My life was sounding more
golden
with each word from her mouth.

“
My Mom’s looking forward to a huge wedding one day and this unfortunate situation screws up everything. My Dad’s worried about what everyone’s going to think, and if my doctor hadn’t called him, I’d have had an abortion and my life wouldn’t suck like it does now.” She dropped her cigarette and stepped on it, reaching down and picking it up.  I stood there trying to process what she’d just said. Without a word, she turned and walked into the house carrying the butt. I took a long drag and my eyes caught a glimpse of movement on the side of the house.              

Irish was carrying a blue-flowered tote bag and
smiling at me. I returned the smile. He went straight into the house, and I put my cigarette out and followed him. I closed the door and stood waiting for Irish to let me know what we were doing. I was ready to go.  I saw Paris take the bag and give him a hug but couldn’t hear anything they were saying. Irish walked toward me, picked up my purse, and joined me at the door. “You ready?” 

“I was born ready,”
I said with a nervous laugh, taking my purse from him.  “It was nice meeting you, Paris,” I said as I followed him outside.

“Me too,”
was all I heard.

When we got to the c
ar, Irish opened the passenger door. I climbed in the car and he looked at me.

“I’m so sorry,”
 he said.

I looked
at him, really wanting to kiss him.  “You don’t have anything to be sorry about, Irish. My brother hit you, remember? Families are sometimes messy,” and I smiled at him. When we were only five minutes into our ride, Irish reached for the radio knob and turned off the music.

Both
hands on the steering wheel and his eyes straight ahead, he said, “Paris is three years older than me. For the last year, she’s been to rehab three separate times for crystal and coke, and maybe other stuff, I really don’t know.” He stopped for a moment, looking over his shoulder while he changed lanes. I waited for him to continue, trying to look sympathetic.

This couldn’t be easy for him
, I thought.

“
Before rehab she worked for my dad’s company and attended classes. She was going to college and doing fine, but right before she was supposed to graduate, she changed her major, meaning she needed more classes. My dad put his foot down about her remaining in college and so she dropped out. She didn’t have the responsibility of school, so she partied. Then she quit coming to work. My dad blew a gasket, and my mom got her into rehab.  Paris would do really well for a couple of months and then she’d regress into drugs. Finally my dad set it up that Paris had to take a urine test every week and if she didn’t pass it, he wouldn’t give her money for her bills.  She has a house on our property, but she moved in with some friend of hers about a year ago.” He finally looked at me, maybe to gauge my reaction to what he was telling me. I gave him an encouraging smile. 

“
Anyway, I guess the doctor called my dad to give him the test results and told him she was pregnant.”  Irish stared out the window.

“Was she at least clean?”
I asked. 

“I guess not,”
he barely said. We were both looking out the front window, Irish dropping his hand to mine. I squeezed tightly.

“I’
ve done everything there is to do, Jurnee, but when I found out that Paris had to get help and that she couldn’t stop on her own, I quit everything, even smoking cigarettes. I didn’t want to see that look of disappointment in my mother’s eyes.”  He squeezed my hand.

“So that’
s what’s going on at my house,” he turned and looked at me.

I mouthed,
I love you
, and he smiled back. “I’m starving, are you?”  I asked.

He released my
hand and began changing lanes.  “Yes. I’m going to take you to one of my favorite places.”  He reached for my hand again.  It was eight o’clock already as Irish pulled into the parking lot of an unfamiliar restaurant.  The sign read Bully’s East.

After he
parked, I reached to the floorboard for my purse. When I sat up, Irish hadn’t moved and was staring at me, waiting for me to look at him. “Before we go in here, I need to tell you something.”  I watched his face. After my
talk
with his sister, I was sure I knew what he was going to say.

My stomach tight
ened and I took a deep breath.  “Irish, I know you’ve dated women up and down the coast. I know that we’re going to run into them now and again. If that’s what you’re worried about, don’t be.” And I reached for my door handle.

He chuckled.  “
Jurnee, thanks for being so understanding,” and he gave me a silly grin, “but I was going to say that John’s girlfriend works here, and I dated her before John did. I just wanted you to know before we went in there.”

Now I did stare at him.
 
That’s something I definitely wanted to know
, I thought. Irish came around the car and opened my door. I was still processing that my brother had a girlfriend that was Irish’s ex.

“Jurnee, you coming?” he said,
laughing at me. I took his hand and stepped out of the car. Irish pulled me to him and folded me into his body tightly.  “No matter what, please remember that I love you, okay?”

I looked up at his face
. “Okay” and we headed for the restaurant.

When Irish o
pened the restaurant door, I took a couple of steps inside and had to slow my pace to let my eyes adjust. Irish stepped in front of me now and reached for my hand, gently pulling me to the hostess station. A blonde with oodles of makeup stood in front of us smiling, holding a stack of menus. “Hello, Irish.  I haven’t seen you in a while,” she said gushingly.

“Yeah, I’ve been pretty busy,”
he said smiling back at her. “Can we have a booth in the back, please?” and he pulled me in a little closer.

“Sure, let me check and see what’s open.  I’ll be right back
.”

I looked up at Irish, wanting to know if
she was the one, and he smiled, nodding. “Her name’s Jennifer,” he said in a whisper.

“Of course,” rolling
my eyes. “At least it’s not Tiffany,” I said under my breath.

At that moment the hostess returned, “
Follow me, Irish,” she said, with a perky little smile. We followed her to the back of the restaurant, and she placed two menus on the table.

After Irish
and I were seated, she held her hands together in front of her and looked at him. “So who’s this?” she asked.

“Jennifer, I’
d like you to meet my wife, Jurnee,” and he held his hand out pointing to me. I stared at his face. I could feel myself growing warm, and I hesitated but finally looked up at her and smiled, lifting my foot under the table and kicking him.

She smil
ed back at me now, at a loss for words.  “Congratulations, Irish,” she finally said.  “Debbie will be your waitress tonight. Enjoy your meal,” and she walked away. Irish smiled at me and reached in his pocket for his phone.

He lo
oked at it and turned it toward me. “What time is it?” he asked.

I squinted using the light from the
table candle. “It’s eight-seventeen.”

He smiled devilishly
as he set his phone on the table. I looked at him confused.

“Your wife?”
And I rolled my eyes at him.

Just then Debbie our waitr
ess was standing at our table.  “What can I get ya’ll to drink tonight?”

Irish looked at me and grinned.
“I’ll have an iced tea, please,” and he turned his eyes to me.

I grinned back at him. “I’ll have a glass of your
house white wine, please,” never taking my eyes off his.

Beep
and I turned to find my phone. I fished it out of my purse and it stopped before I could see who’d called.

Now Irish’
s phone rang. He reached for it and turned it toward me.

“Who is it?” I squinted.

“It’s John.”  He leaned back and smiled but didn’
t answer it. “What time is it now?” he asked. I looked at my phone. It was eight-nineteen. My head flew up and he was chuckling.

It was funny
, I thought.  “You know that was mean, don’t you?” and he grinned back at me.
He was so flipping adorable
, I thought, looking at him.  This was the first time I’d ever felt as if I had someone on
my side
when it came to John and I liked it.