The Universe is a Very Big Place (25 page)

"Turns out Bob here is our peeper." Lanie nodded to Mr. McClure who blushed under her gaze. "He thought I had kidnapped his cat. Turns out, he was seeing my pig."
 
Bob chuckled in the background and Spring was still confused.

"His cat ran off a few weeks ago," Lanie went on. "And he saw me petting something and assumed it was his kitty. We worked it out last night and then I invited him in for coffee."

"Coffee is my favorite hot beverage," Mr. McClure added, smiling sheepishly at Lanie. "After your mother apprehended me..."

"What?" Spring pictured Lanie throwing the man down, cuffing him like he were on an episode of
COPS.

"Well, she saw me in the window and needed to make sure I wasn’t a pervert. After she caught me, we figured out there had been a terrible misunderstanding. And all is well that ends well." Mr. McClure sat his coffee cup down and straightened his tie. "I must confess though, I did peer a little longer than necessary."

Spring’s fingers locked onto the doorknob but she could not open the door.
 

"You okay?" Lanie asked.

"No. No, I’m not okay. You don’t date for 20 years and all a sudden you’re having sex with a man you’ve never met before in
my
house." Spring pulled herself upright, adjusting her sheet so that Mr. McClure, the peeper, would not be getting any more free looks.

"Oh, we’ve met before," Lanie winked. "Bob and me shared a past life. I was a Gypsy slave girl and he was my master."

"No," Bob corrected her, shaking his head. "That wasn’t a past life. That was our role play from last night."

"Oh yeah." Lanie smiled wickedly, batting her eyelashes.

Spring finally collected herself and found her way outside for air. But the air was hot and dry and not a bit of relief. "Fucking Arizona," she muttered.

Sam stood at the entrance to the bathroom, watching Spring splash water across her face. "Our home has become a den of iniquity and sin," he said, raising his eyes to the heavens. "Allah will not be pleased."

"Fuck, Sam. I’m not pleased either. But she’s a grown woman. Who am I to say she can’t have sex?"

Sam shuddered. "Well, that’s not our call. But she needs to do it someplace else. He has a house. Let her do it there."

"For once, Sam, I completely agree with you."

Spring sat on the couch a very long time, a phone in one hand, a broken toy pig in the other. Lanie was sitting outside with Bob, tickling his pointy chin. She had never seen her mother so flirtatious, even with her own father, and the sight was unnerving. Spring thought about closing the blinds to block the sight, but she could hear their pillow talk everywhere in the house.

She dialed the number.

"Hey, Debs, this is Spring. I can’t come in today. I’m feeling kinda sick." A pang of guilt stabbed at her, but she willed it away. It wasn’t a complete fabrication. She
had
been sick this morning, after all.

"What? Oh, Spring, don’t do this to me. Kimberly is acting really strange. She keeps circling me and asking me if I’ve ever considered getting highlights?"

"Sorry, Debs. I haven’t taken a sick day in a long time and I need one. I mean, I really, really need one."

"Okay." Debbie sighed into the phone. "But I’m getting someone else to deliver the news...there’s no way I’m telling that woman...hey, Becca, wait up. Okay, Spring, gotta go. Feel better."

Spring hung up the phone. In the kitchen, Lanie and Bob were trading Eskimo kisses. Spring went into her bedroom, where Sam was fixing his tie.
 

"I’m not going to work today," she said.
 

He shifted his gaze from his own reflection to hers.

"Why not? You can’t let Kimberly bully you forever."

"I really need a break, Sam. I’m running on empty."

Sam turned to look at her and Spring detected a note of concern in his eyes. "Pookie, if you use up this day you won’t have another for when you really need it."

Spring grunted in frustration. "I could use some support here, Sam. Not a lecture. You aren’t my...” She let the word hang in the air.

"What, Spring? Finish out that lovely sentiment, please."

"Father."

Sam paused, narrowing his eyes. He almost spoke, caught himself, and started again. "I never meant to act like your father. But sometimes you act like a little girl. I need you to be aware of that."

Spring nodded absently and went into the bathroom and returned with a brush. He was being condescending, but she would think about that later. She had more important things to attend to now.

"Why do you need to comb your hair to hang around the house?" Sam raised an eyebrow suspiciously and stopped grooming himself while he waited for her answer.
 

Spring considered carefully what she would say.

"I have some errands to run. And I want to look respectable." Spring knew she had answered right. Being respectable was one of Sam’s top priorities.
 

He snapped his fingers and dashed for the closet. "I know exactly the little number you should go with. You haven’t even tried on the navy pants suit with the gold embroidery."

"It will make me look like a cruise director."

"It will make you look," he corrected, holding it up against his frame. "...Snazzy."

Spring grunted but obliged. She would acquiesce to anything, if it would shut him up. The suit was uncomfortably warm, too tight in some places and too loose in others, but Sam seemed to like it. Once she dressed and got Sam’s nod of approval, he left for work. When she was sure he was gone she picked up the phone and dialed.

"Trevor? It‘s Spring. I really need to see you today. Are you free?"

Spring drove around the city for several minutes before heading to the apartment building where Trevor said he was staying. She wanted to gain focus and clarity before seeing him. If she had learned one thing about men, it was that they ran at the first sign of drama. When she had finally calmed herself enough, she headed in the direction of his address and cringed.
 

This was the apartment building where John Smith said he lived.
 

"Of course." Spring put on her sunglasses, tied her hair up in a ponytail, and sat in the car, wondering what to do next. She prayed like hell that John wouldn’t see her. She had no idea what apartment he lived in. For all she knew, the two roomed together.

Spring surveyed the apartment. It was an old, well-cared-for, brick building. The lawn was short but lush and must have cost the owner a pretty penny in water bills to maintain. The property sat in stark contrast to the shiny, metallic dwellings that surrounded it.
 

Spring reached into the backseat and pulled out a dress, a flowery number Sam despised. Ducking down into the seat she shimmied out of her pantsuit––not an easy task, as it clung needily to her body. She discarded it onto the floorboard of the passenger seat. Spring slid the roomy dress over her head and sighed deeply, feeling more like herself. After a brief face check in the rearview mirror, she left the car and headed up the three flights of stairs to the floor where Trevor said he lived. As she scanned the hallway she heard a whistle behind her and jumped.

"You are lucky I’m a gentleman," a familiar voice said and Spring turned to see John behind her.

"Don’t you have a job?" She glowered at him as she quickened her pace, trying to make her way towards apartment 314. Any friendship she had felt for him that night at her house dissipated in her embarrassment over being caught slinking off to see Trevor.

"Nope. I got let go a few days ago. Turns out I’m not Penny Saver material." He smiled good-naturedly, shoving his hands into his front pockets. "You should be nicer to me, young lady. I could save you a whole lot of embarrassment."

Spring turned to regard him, raising an eyebrow. He was toying with her. She thought about kicking him but doubted that would help her much. "What now?"

John backed away, grinning. "No, no. If you don’t want my help, far be it from me to offer my services. I was trying to be a nice guy, but you don’t have much interest in those do you?" He turned and started walking in the opposite direction, mumbling and shaking his head.

Oh Jeez. She wasn’t sure if he was still playing or she had hurt his feelings. Why were men such trouble?! Spring clenched her teeth and ran after him.
 

"Wait! John. Wait, I’m sorry. What is it?"

"Well," he said when she caught up. "The back of your dress is stuck in your underwear. You might wanna fix that."

Spring looked over her shoulder at her bottom and was horrified to see that he was right. Worse. She had forgotten to change into the slinky, sexy ones she had brought along and was still wearing the large white sacks Sam had purchased for her during his last shopping spree.
 

‘Modesty panties’ he had called them. If more young women wore them, you could mark his words, unwanted pregnancies would be on the decline!
 

She tugged the dress out of its undergarment prison with as much dignity as she could muster and gave him her cruelest scowl. "Every time I start to feel some humanity towards you, you have to go and be a jerk!"

"Hey now," he said. "I brought you your earring and I gallantly saved you from bearing your rather cute soul to the world. You could be more grateful." John smiled as Spring marched past.
 

At last she found Trevor’s door number, made sure John wasn’t still watching, and knocked.

"Who's there?" Trevor’s voice called from the other side of the door. The sound of it made her jittery.