29
JOHN WENT RIGHT to the liquor once he reached home. He studied the stiff one he’d poured and thought how wonderful alcohol was; it quenched no desire but took care of everything. He went to Katy’s room and watched her sleep for a while. So beautiful. He wondered about her dreams, if they were sweet, if he was in them. Funny how soundly children could sleep. He could shake her now with no effect. She could even wet the sheets and not know until morning.
He then took his drink and walked into Lisa’s room. He sat in the soft chair by the big window. He looked out over the roof of the studio and at the beach. The clouds were gone. His ice clinked like chimes in his glass.
It was the clinking that disturbed Lisa’s sleep. She came to slowly, then jerked at the sight of the figure by the window.
“Dad?”
“Yep. Just me.”
“You scared the shit out of me.”
“Sorry.” He took a sip of his drink. “Seems a habit of mine lately.”
Lisa sat up and switched on the bedside lamp. She glanced at the clock. “It’s two in the morning.”
“So it is. I thought it was later. I was just in there watching Katy sleep.”
“You were.”
“Yep.”
“Dad, are you drunk?”
He shook his head and sipped again. “My God, she is exquisite. You know, I’d do just about anything to protect her, to save her from being hurt.”
“I know.”
“So, tell me about it.”
“Pardon?”
“Tell me about—him.”
“Dad,” Lisa said. “Stop.”
“No, no, no. It’s time for the old man to hear the straight line. From the horse’s mouth, as it were. How long have you been copulating with Greg Yount?” John discovered his hand shaking quite noticeably, so he held the glass with both.
“Okay, so you know,” she said.
“I do? What do I know?”
“I don’t want to play games.”
“Why does that surprise me?” He laughed, shaking his head, then stopped. “Do you love this—um—man?”
Lisa was slow with a response, but she said, “Yes, I do love him.”
“I see.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
“I do, though. You love him.”
“Does that make it better or worse?” she asked.
“What kind of sick question is that?” He rubbed his face.
“I saw your Mister Yount earlier this evening. I had it in my mind to kill him.”
She licked her lips.
“Just an hour earlier and I could have strangled him.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about squeezing his throat with my fingers. I’m talking about watching him turn purple and become limp.”
She shivered with a breath.
“But I couldn’t do it. Or wouldn’t do it.” He paused with a pained expression. “What’s going on, Lisa? Do you love Elgin?”
“Yes.”
He smiled and let his face fall toward the ocean. “That’s precious. Well, who do you love more?”
“Please.” She adjusted the covers. “I have a family. I have a child with Elgin.”
“Soon everything will be even steven, though. Right?”
“What?”
“That’s Yount’s little bastard bulging under your nightie there, isn’t it?”
Lisa’s eyes swelled wet and a tear worked its way down her face.
“Isn’t it?”
She sniffed. “It was all over. It was. Then, just one more for old-times’ sake.” She laughed a breath through her tears and raked at her cheeks with her fingers. “Oh, my God.”
“So, what’s going to happen, Lisa?”
“I do love Elgin. But Greg… Greg is—”
“Shut the fuck up. I don’t want to hear about fucking Greg. Tell me what’s going to happen to my granddaughter. Tell me about her life. About my son.”
“Oh, my God,” she sighed, looking at the ceiling.
“Stop saying that. You’re going to leave Elgin, aren’t you?”
Lisa said nothing.
“Aren’t you?”
She used the sheet to wipe her eyes.
“This is all like a dream,” said John.
“Tell me about it.”
“Do you want this baby?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve got time.”
“Time for what?” she asked.
“Alternatives.”
“Plural?”
John swallowed the last of his bourbon.
“Greg wants it. He wants me.”
“Fuck him. I do not want to hear about him.” Anger pushed him up to his feet. He felt uneasy, unsteady. “I’m going to bed now.”
“Dad?”
He stopped and turned to her. “What is it, Lisa? Tell me exactly what it is you want me to do. Say it.”