Текст книги "Wild Cards"

Автор книги: R.C. Stephens

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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 23 страниц)

Chapter 22

Vicky

Leaving for work without Luc felt strange. I still stopped by my apartment to check on Nessa but her bed was empty. After sending her a quick text, she said she had crashed at Brad’s place. I was worried about those two. They had developed some sort of relationship that included going to sex parties and screwing other people. I wasn’t naïve and I understood that monogamy wasn’t for everyone, but deep down I felt like Nessa wanted more for herself. I had a feeling that Brad did too, but they were both too lost to realize it.

My thoughts quickly drifted to Luc and me. We are also two broken people, we are still living with our fears, despite the risk we took with each other but at least we were open to take the risk of falling in love, and so far we were happy.

Luc insisted his driver drop me at the front door of Tyson, since he refused to let me take a cab this morning, or allow Bryce’s driver to pick me up. I had to notify Bryce’s driver that I wouldn’t need him. It seemed like it was important to Luc for his driver to take me around now that we were together. It was the caveman in him; he felt the need to protect me all the time.

As I entered Tyson, knowing that I wouldn’t have Luc to flirt with all day, or watch his beautiful body as he was busy at work, I felt off about being at work. Yes, I enjoyed my job more than anything, and I was so grateful, but it was spending time with Luc that had become the highlight of my day. Not that we were together all the time. We definitely weren’t. Luc was the boss, he was busy taking care of everything and running in and out of meetings, but he would always take a second, here and there, to step into my office. He would close the door and embrace me in his strong arms. He gave me a quick hug and a hot kiss before he stepped back out, but it was enough to reassure me that things were good and I wasn’t alone. We had fallen into a routine without even realizing it. One minute I was forcing myself to try something with him because he was lost and so was I, and in our attempt to save each other we found something real. Something worth fighting for.

“Good morning, Vicky,” Sheila, the secretary, lifted her head smiling at me.

“Good morning, Sheila.”

“Mr. Lebaum thought it would be a good day for you to visit the plant, they are putting a new model together,” Sheila suggested. Luc never mentioned anything to me, but sometimes he does things like this, so that I truly look surprised when confronted by coworkers and they won’t be suspicious of us.

“That sounds great, Sheila, I just have a few things to finish up from yesterday. Can you let the shuttle know I will be ready for noon?”

“Sure dear,” she smiled kindly and continued her work.

As I sauntered into my office I placed my purse on the floor and started up my computer. Thinking of my night with Luc made me feel warm in all the right places, but I put my dirty thoughts aside since I needed to get my work done.

As I went through all the building logistics the hours passed. By the time I noticed the clock on the bottom right screen of my computer, it was a quarter to twelve. Darn, I had to get down to the shuttle in fifteen minutes. I didn’t have time to eat lunch and I’ll probably be at the plant until the end of the day. I was grateful to Luc right now for my warm morning croissant. I quickly ran to the bathroom to relieve my bladder and headed down the forty floors in the elevator to the main lobby. Since the night of the sex party I hadn’t heard from Scott Wellington and I hadn’t seen him either. Luc mentioned that he brought up Scott’s name to Bryce and Bryce only mentioned that his company wouldn’t be a good fit for Tyson. Although I am guessing that Luc maybe convinced Bryce that Scott wasn’t a good fit for Tyson. Having been in the building for over a month there are some familiar faces. As I arrived in the lobby my cell phone rang. I figured it was Luc. He probably had a minute and wanted to check in with me, but when I pulled my phone out of my purse it said, No Caller ID. I figured it’s one of those telemarketers trying to sell me something, and I didn’t pick up. It was already five to twelve and I didn’t want the shuttle to leave without me.

“Hi, Maggie, is the shuttle here?” I asked. Maggie was one of the ladies that sat at reception in the main lobby, she directed people around Tyson and she was also responsible for setting up the shuttles.

“No, hon, he should be here any minute.”

“Thanks,” I said, walking outside. Working in an office means I didn’t get much fresh air, so I tried to get outdoors when I could. As I waited outside, the November air had a cold bite to it, but the sun was shining and I looked up to the beautiful blue sky. The wind picked up and sent a chill through my body. My cell phone rang again and once again I hoped it was Luc. It was ridiculous I knew, but I missed him. The same No Caller ID popped up on my screen and I began to worry.

Hesitantly I pressed the green button to pick up the call. “Hello?” I asked questioningly, not knowing whom to expect.

“Oh thank goodness, Vicky, I was trying to get a hold of you….”

As I heard the voice I tried to place it. It sounded familiar.

“Marie?” I asked, my voice turning up a notch.

“Yes, honey, Oh, Vicky….” she whimpered into the phone and my stomach dipped.

I stopped my pacing on the sidewalk. I’d been here before; I could hear the despair in her voice. Something bad had happened.

“Vicky…where are you, honey?” Marie pled and I knew she was asking because there was bad news. I could feel every bone in my body tensing.

“I’m in the middle of a sidewalk…” I muttered as my heart beat a mile a minute. “Please, Marie…” I pleaded with her to tell me. Whatever it was I needed to know. Was it Joe? Was it my father? What could it be? I felt like screaming at the top of my lungs.

“Can you go inside somewhere and take a seat?” she asked with a calm voice. I knew she was worried about me after everything that had happened with my mother, but I needed to know. I needed to know now.

“Dammit, Marie, just tell me,” I snapped and then regretted it. I knew she didn’t mean any harm, but my nerves were so on edge I thought I might lose it completely.

“Sorry, honey… it’s your papa. Hal went to check on him just now, and he didn’t have a pulse, honey. He died.” As her words rang in my ears, I knew they couldn’t be true; he could not have died. He was an alcoholic but he was okay. He would eat a little and spend his days drinking in the kitchen or on the balcony but he was okay. “Are you there, Vicky?” Marie asked frantically.

With the phone still to my ear, I fell to my knees and held onto my stomach. Pain radiated through my body. I couldn’t handle anything she’d said. It was too much to process. This was my fault. I had left him all alone. He needed me and I was angry with him. He had cared for me and loved me since I was a baby, and I didn’t do the same for him. I had tried to convince him to go to rehab, and he refused to admit he even had a problem. He ignored me and it infuriated me. He didn’t step up to help when Mama got sick. I loved him but he let me down, he let Mama down, and he chose to live his days searching for the end in a bottle. It was painful for me to watch. Marie and Hal tried to come over and help me get him to rehab, but nothing we said mattered. I knew deep down he didn’t want to live, and this was his way of ending it. I just couldn’t believe this was real. I heard myself crying loudly on the street, and I wondered how long I had been on the ground this way.

I was pulled out of my trance when I heard Bryce’s soft voice from behind me, he was trying to lift me, but I was fighting him.

“Vicky, its okay, what happened? It’s Bryce,” he whispered softly in my ear. His voice was soothing, but the news was too painful. This was my fault. I should have tried harder to get him into rehab. I shouldn’t have left him alone. Bryce lifted me up and cradled me in his strong arms. I placed my head into his shoulder and sobbed. He carried me back into the building and I thought into the elevator. I felt like I was on a cloud. This was not reality.

“Hush,” he whispered, still holding on to me. As we reached the top floor I could feel that I was getting heavy for him by the heavy steps he was taking. We made it into his office, and he walked over to the couch and placed me down gently. Then he got on one knee and caressed my head and looked at me through worried grey eyes. He looked fatherly, and he is my father, but the only father I had known growing up was now dead. “Vicky, what happened?”

“My papa back home died,” I responded through heavy sobs. I knew my eyes must look bloodshot and I felt slightly embarrassed now that I had come to. I must have made quite a scene. I think I saw cameras flashing, and I wondered if the media had taken pictures. I knew the reporters tried to follow Bryce around a lot, and he spent too much effort having to evade them.

“Oh, Vicky, I am so sorry to hear that,” Bryce said taking a seat beside me on the couch. “Tell me what I can do? Anything you need…” Bryce trailed off looking at me with sorrow filled eyes.

“I need to go home, there will be a funeral, I will need to make the arrangements,” I said with a monotone voice. I was scaring myself. Saying those words again was like reliving my mama’s death and that was the most traumatic experience of my life. Having to do it again scared me. I thought I would break and if I break again I fear there wouldn’t be any turning back.

“Okay, I will send my driver to get your clothes and I will have my jet ready for you, I wish I could go with you, Vicky, but I can’t leave right now,” he explained regretfully.

“I don’t need a jet Bryce, I will just buy myself a plane ticket and go home. And your driver doesn’t have to get me anything I will go back to my apartment to pack.”

“Vicky, you are taking the jet, trust me you will get there faster and you won’t need to deal with airport lines, but if you would like to pack I understand, my driver will be at your disposal and take you to the plane when you are ready. We just need to provide a takeoff time,” he explained. The truth was that I was so shaky I didn’t want to be alone, but I knew Bryce was a busy man. I’ve learned what I could and couldn’t expect from him.

“I appreciate your generosity,” I said, standing from the couch and swiping my tears away.

“Vicky, I am sorry,” he breathed out. He looked torn. “I have meetings this afternoon, I really do wish I could come with you and pay respects to the man that raised you. He did the job I was supposed to do, even though my gut tells me that you were probably better off,” he said, bowing his head to the ground.

“Thank you for helping Bryce, don’t feel bad. I know you have a lot of responsibility. I can see how torn you are between choosing family and work. Tyson is like your family, and they depend on you too,” I replied, giving his shoulder a squeeze while trying to reassure him.

“You’re a kind girl, Vicky. Your parents raised you well. I know you feel alone now, but I do want you to come back to New York. We still need to spend time together, and I hope to make more time in the future,” he said, giving me a sad grin. I understood in that moment what Luc meant about him being a good person. He was a good person, but his responsibilities to Tyson came first.

As I thought of Luc, I knew he was busy but I needed him like I needed my own breath. I sent him a text.

Hi, how are things with the Japanese?

I didn’t want to deliver my bad news through a text message. I would wait for him to call, and then I would tell him that I needed him. The idea of wanting to lean on someone and depend on them made me feel vulnerable, but I needed him so badly because I was in danger of falling into a dark place. I knew he could keep me grounded. I made my way back out to the elevators and back to the second tower where I collected my things. I notified Sheila that I would be leaving and to notify the shuttle that I wasn’t going to the plant today. She looked sad and worried and my lack of an explanation probably didn’t help.

Bryce’s driver took me back to the apartment. I went to my own apartment first, figuring I would pack my things then head up to Luc’s to get the rest of my belongings. As I opened the apartment door Nessa was in the kitchen wearing a pink tank top and short cut-offs. She was singing some tune on a high note while flipping pancakes. I almost wanted to laugh at the scene but I was overcome with sorrow.

Her spatula fell out of her hand and her hand flew to her chest holding her heart. “Shit, Vicky, what are you doing home in the middle of the day? You just scared the living shit out of me,” she said with a scolding tone. When she noticed I was at a loss for words her own face paled. “What’s wrong? What happened? Talk to me right now,” she demanded, with her sassy voice and her hands on her waist.

Without answering I walked over to the white leather couch at the center of the main room and fell back, my mental agony was draining everything out of me. “My papa died,” I finally managed to get out. Nessa’s hand flew to her mouth and she yelped. “Shit, that’s bad.” Her responses to things were sometimes unexpected because she tended to say exactly what she was thinking.

“Yes….I have to go home and arrange things…I’m the only one….” In that moment I realized that I had to find my brother, Joe. He had been gone too long and it was time for him to return. Nessa threw her arms around my neck, but it didn’t console me. “I need to pack, Nessa,” I said patting her hand. She released me and I stood up. I felt spacey as I made my way to my room to pack. I also realized that I wasn’t fitting all my new clothes into my old duffle bag. With nothing to look forward to but a funeral in Thunder Bay, I realized that once things were taken care of I would return to New York. Luc and Bryce were here, and now even Nessa was staying here. I grabbed a small backpack I had in the closet and filled it with as many clothes as possible. I figured I still had some clothes back home in my closet, so I would make do.

Before leaving my room, I checked my phone again to see if Luc had replied to my text message. There was still no response and I didn’t know what it meant. It was very unlike him not to get back to me. I wanted to drop by his apartment anyway to pick up some of my toiletries. If he didn’t respond by then I would call. As I walked back into the main room Nessa was still seated on the couch, twiddling her fingers and looking lost and sad. The smell of something burning immediately invaded my senses, and I quickly ran to the source of the smell to see what was wrong. “Shit, Nessa, you charcoaled the pancakes,” I said, quickly lifting the pan from the gas stove. Even the handle was burning hot and I dumped it into the sink. “Nessa,” I snapped again and she lifted her head and jumped to her feet.

“Sorry, Vick, you really threw me off. I think I should go back to Thunder Bay with you,” she offered looking pale and distant.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to, I will manage. I guess I usually do. You just started working at the deli, I don’t want you to jeopardize your job.”

“I could always find another one if you need me.”

“Thanks, Ness, I appreciate it but it’s okay. Bryce is flying me back to Thunder Bay on his jet. I will just grab my backpack and head up to Luc’s to grab a few things, and then I will leave. I should be back in New York right after the funeral.” I gave Nessa a hug and she squeezed me a little too hard. “I will keep you posted.” I patted her back hoping that she would release me from her vice grip. She looked as lost as I felt, and I knew why we were quite a pair.

“I can’t believe you are flying home on a personal jet. I want to squeal right now, but I know this isn’t the right time….oh…bye, Vick,” she waved as I walked out of the apartment. I hadn’t been living there long, but the place had begun to grow on me. For the first time in a long time, I was on a good routine away from my self-destructive days.

As I entered the elevator I sent a text message to the driver that I would be down in ten minutes. He replied that the jet was ready. As I walked toward Luc’s door I noticed it was open a crack. I wondered if he was rushing this morning and forgot to lock-up. It seemed unlike him to do something like that. He always checked the locks and made sure everything was secure at night. As I stepped into his apartment all the lights were off but the sun shone through the blinds providing enough light for me to see where I was walking. I made my way up the stairs quickly. When I reached the top step, I stopped dead in my tracks. Luc was sitting on an armchair in the hallway, he was leaning far off to the side, holding a tumbler with amber liquid. Beside the armchair was an old fashioned marble table with a large bottle of the same amber liquid floating inside. The bottle looked half empty.

“Holy shit, Luc, you scared the crap out of me, what’s going on?” I asked, knowing something was off if he was drinking alcohol. He hadn’t touched a drink in two years, his life had been about control and making amends. Something bad must have happened to him today for me to find him in this state.

“Get out of here,” he slurred. “Get out of here now, Vicky,” he screamed, his tone full of warning.

“Luc, you are drunk, what happened?” I asked, feeling like my nervous stomach was being tied into knots. This day kept getting worse.

“Vicky, get out of here, I am drunk and dangerous. I don’t want to hurt you,” he said through huffed breaths. His face had reddened and his green eyes were bloodshot. He was angry but it looked like he was trying to maintain his self-control.

“Luc, please talk to me, I’m not scared of you, what is going on?” I urged him to speak as panic enveloped me. Was he relapsing? I didn’t understand.

“Dammit it, you stubborn woman,” he said with a raised voice. Then he took the tumbler and smashed it into the wall behind me. The tumbler shattered into a million pieces of broken glass and I flinched taking a step backward.

His bloodshot eyes looked angry and consumed by a darkness I didn’t understand. I knew he threw the tumbler to scare me away but I wanted to show him that I wasn’t scared, that he wasn’t dangerous.

“Cut it out, Luc, tell me what the hell happened to you,” I demanded. I wasn’t his ex-wife; I knew him and I thought I knew him from the inside out. He said he became a monster when he was drunk. I could see that the alcohol had a negative effect on him, but I wasn’t going to turn my back on him.

“Vicky, leave, I don’t want you here,” he said, pointing his finger at the staircase.

I placed my hand on his arm, to show him I cared, to show him I wasn’t going anywhere but he whipped his arm back violently throwing my arm off. “What the hell has gotten into you?” I asked drawing my brows together. I now felt insulted by him.

“You, Vicky, you have gotten into me and now I need you to leave. I don’t want to be with you,” he said huffing into my face. At that point the blood drained from my face, and I felt like I couldn’t take his shit right now, not today and not ever. This is why I didn’t want to try to be with him, because I knew at the end of the day, I would be the one hurt. I would be the one left alone and today that realization hurt more than anything.

As Luc stood towering over me accentuating how big and bad he was, I relented. “Bye, Luc,” I said looking him squarely in the eyes. When he didn’t respond. I went into his bedroom tiptoeing over the shards of glass and got my things. When I stepped back out of his room he was still sitting in the same place throwing back more amber liquid and looking straight ahead so we wouldn’t make eye contact. Walking down the stairs I felt grim, like I was leaving a part of me behind with each step. I finally opened the front door and left his apartment. By the time I made it back down to the SUV I was a shaky mess. My entire life was crashing down before me, and I didn’t think I would be strong enough to handle the fall out.

“The jet is waiting,” Derek said smiling through his rearview mirror.

“Thank you,” I replied solemnly. As the SUV made its way through the stuffy traffic in New York, I tried to think back to my morning with Luc, but nothing stood out to me as a warning signal. He was so gung-ho about our relationship. He was willing to risk his heart and he was giving me everything he had to offer, which was himself open and true. Things were real and good. I know I wasn’t imagining it.

I sent Joe a text message about Papa and then I put my head back on the headrest and took a few long breaths. My chest felt so tight that it felt like I had forgotten to breathe. As we entered the airport, the SUV got on a side road and then turned onto what looked like a tarmac as it finally came to a stop in front of a gleaming white jet that said Tyson on the side. My mind was saying 'holy crap' on repeat. This was real. As crazy as my life had become, this was definitely an adventure I had never anticipated. I was grateful to Bryce, knowing I would be home to take care of things soon. I would also be forced to face my reality once again. Working at Tyson and riding on a jet, it all felt like an escape to me and it was so welcome.

“Vicky,” Derek said, holding the door open for me. I stepped out of the SUV. “There will be refreshments on board,” he said smiling while passing me my bag.

“Thank you,” I replied.

“You take care of yourself, Vicky,” Derek said with a solemn smile. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you, Derek. Bye.”

I climbed the steps and entered through the side door of the jet.

A blonde stewardess greeted me. “Hello, Miss Molino, I’m Kathy. I will be in charge of your in-flight service. Right this way, you can choose a seat or there is a bedroom at the back of the plane through the door on your left.” She motioned with a bright smile.

Before I had come to New York I had read a lot about Bryce on the Internet and I had seen the Tyson Towers and I knew how rich and powerful he was, but the jet somehow made the idea hit home.

“Thank you, Kathy, I will just take a seat up front,” I said getting into one of the chairs. The plane was beautiful with white leather seats and dark wood moldings.

“Sure, hon,” she replied with a smile. “You will want to buckle up, we are scheduled for take-off in five minutes and flight time is two hours.” I nodded my head and did up my seatbelt. Had the circumstances been different I may have enjoyed this adventure. Kathy walked off to the front of the plane, and I stared out the window as the plane reversed, and then picked up speed as we took off. I tried to close my eyes and get some rest but I was overtaken by anguish. Everything kept slipping through my fingers all at once: my father dying, Luc falling into some dark hole. I tried to make sense of what could possibly cause him to drink. He was right; alcohol did bad things to him. He managed to scare me, especially when he whipped the glass against the wall. Nonetheless, I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that he had complete control. That he made himself out to be a monster to push me away. I just didn’t understand, why now? After all that we shared and had been through, why was he pushing me away? His rejection had stung right through my heart.

***

Two hours later I was exiting the jet on a small tarmac in Thunder Bay. I didn’t even know that this little airport existed. It wasn’t meant to handle the commercial airlines, only local plane flyers. Bryce was right when he said he could get me home much faster. As I got off the plane, a cab was waiting for me. Bryce really thought of everything. Luc was right to say that he was a kind man. The cab driver took me to the home I grew up in. The home that had been filled with happy memories once, a home that was now empty and lifeless. As I walked through the front door, I felt overcome with loneliness and dread. I pictured my mother walking down the stairs at any moment and my father reading the paper at the kitchen table. The ghosts of them haunted me. As I turned to enter the kitchen, I heard the door creak open behind me, I startled and turned my head.

My eyes went wide and my heart warmed. “Joe, you’re here,” I said taking fast strides toward him before wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Yeah, Vick, I just can’t believe it,” he said shaking his head. His eyes were red. I could tell he’d been crying. Papa was not my biological father, but I loved him all the same even with all of his mistakes.

“I know Joe, I knew he was headed down a bad road but I didn’t expect things to unravel so quickly.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean, Marie called me a couple weeks ago…”

“You answered the phone for Marie?” I asked, sounding wounded.

“I knew something was wrong if she was calling. I knew you were just calling to talk everyday…” he answered hesitantly. He winced before I even had a chance to rebut.

“You saw my daily phone calls and you didn’t have the courtesy to say a small hello. 'Hey, Vicky, I’m alive no worries'…something, Joe, dammit.” My voice had raised about ten octaves and I felt my blood boiling. My older brother had always been responsible. I knew he felt just as broken as I did when Mama died. I knew she left him a letter too, but I didn’t know what it said. I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him that she wasn’t his biological mother because she treated him like a son in every way. I would never taint that. I didn’t know what he knew exactly, but I was pissed that he left without staying in touch. That was straight out selfish, he was the only older brother I knew. This wasn’t the time to attack him but we would need to talk soon.

“What did Marie tell you?”

“She said that Hal stopped by a week ago and Papa was looking thin. He thought he might have stopped eating…” he frowned.

“And no one thought to call or inform me of this? I just get the damn call. 'Hi Vicky but I’m sorry your father’s dead.' Maybe I would have come home sooner. Maybe I could have done something….” I threw my hands up in the air with frustration; my heart was beating a mile a minute. Joe was too damn infuriating.

“Marie asked me if she should call you, but what for Vicky? We both know he didn’t want to live anymore, or else he would have taken us up on our offers for help. He wanted to die and none of us thought it would be healthy for you to sit around and watch that happen. Especially since your reaction to Mama’s death had been drastic, and Marie said that you were just getting your life back together in New York,” he trailed off sounding defeated. Maybe this was a no win situation.

“What?” I winced. “I never told Marie about my life in New York,” I muttered angrily.

“She said you had your reasons for being there and to leave you be,” Joe argued back. My brother was a Molino through and through, tough and stubborn. “The truth was that I was on my way back here anyway. After spending a little too much time on the beach in Mexico, I felt the need to come home. I was staying in Toronto a few days when Marie contacted me to say that Papa died. I’m cursing myself because I should have come home sooner to say goodbye, but it was so hard to say goodbye…instead, I hung around Toronto because I was too damned scared to come home and see more death,” he said, shaking his head back and forth as tears filled his eyes. He was a big guy but a cuddly teddy bear at heart. I walked back over to console him. Clearly I was being too hard on him. He’s just as messed up as me. Now was not the time to tell him about Mama’s letter either. I was beginning to think I might never tell him. My older brother was the only family I had left and I didn’t want to push him away.

“Come, Joe, I’ll make you some tea,” I said, patting his back and walking into the kitchen. As I entered the kitchen I noticed the clean floors and counter tops. I’m sure Papa hadn’t kept it this way. Especially since he was in such bad shape. Joe took a seat at the kitchen table and I hit the kettle. I leaned on the counter waiting for the water to boil and watched Joe with his head between his hands. This was a fucking mess.

“What were you doing in Mexico?” I asked, trying to make conversation despite the dreary mood.

“I was trying to clear my head, run away, I don’t know, Vicky, but whatever I was doing wasn’t working and it began to weigh on me hard.”

“How was New York?” he asked, throwing me off. I couldn’t believe Marie told him I was in New York. I hoped she hadn’t told him about Mama’s secret.

“New York was good,” I answered solemnly.

“Isn’t New York like really expensive? Everything was dirt cheap in Mexico so I managed…”

“Yeah, you managed for a year and a half Joe. It wasn’t cool how you took off and you could have at least replied to my text messages. Shit! After everything I had been through, I didn’t expect for you to up and leave and forget I existed,” I bit out and I knew I was being too harsh again he had just lost his father.

“Shit, Vick, I’m sorry I was really messed up, I needed to get my shit together and I had a hard time facing you. You always have everything under control and I didn’t. I needed to find my balance,” he explained regretfully.

“You think I have my shit together, Joe?” I laughed, it was so high pitched I almost sounded like a hyena. “If you only knew. Yes, I stayed and worked in the diner to help keep this place running but I was lost and I did my share of fucking up. Look, I am not blaming you for feeling shitty or taking off, all I am asking is that you don’t forget me. You are all I have now,” I said sadly as I took a mug out of the cabinet. I dipped the tea in the cup and walked it over to Joe.

Joe looked at me with his droopy eyes. “I know, Vick, I’m sorry but that’s why I came home, we have to face this mess together.”

“I know, Joe,” I said walking over to the cabinet to make myself a tea.