The Anniversary

Chapter 8

Carl was shocked. Simone had been trying to do something loving for her husband and he had found out and taken it the wrong way. It would explain the way they were around each other but Carl was surprised they hadn’t approached the subject before. His dad never shied away from an awkward topic; he had been the one to give Carl an honest, unedited version of having safe s*x. It had been embarrassing but Toby had said he preferred it to be embarrassing but informative rather than edited and resulting in confusion and Carl getting a girl pregnant before they were even ready.

So to hear his father had been avoiding a subject and had come to a conclusion without everything in front of him was a surprise. That didn’t sound like him at all.

“Whoa. But why didn’t he ask you before?”

Simone sighed.

“You know your father isn’t a confrontational man. Although I’m surprised it took him this long.” She paused. “But then he gave it a double whammy and accused me of having an affair with Emil.”

Carl snorted. That was the stupidest thing he had heard so far.

“You’ve never slept with Uncle Emil. You’d hand him his balls on a platter.”

“I sure would. But Toby doesn’t seem to realize this. Now he’s threatening me with divorce if I have cheated.”

“What?” Carl sat up. “Dad’s gone crazy. You love him.”

“Try telling him that.”

Simone looked like she was about to cry again. Carl squeezed her hand again. He wished he could do more.

“If it’s simply a surprise you’re keeping secret, why don’t you tell him?”

“I was planning to. But he kept walking away before I could tell him. I was going to tell him tonight but the way he was with me I’m going to wait until he calms down. He wouldn’t believe me right now.”

Carl hoped she wouldn’t stay away too long; Toby might not calm down at all. He didn’t want his parents to split because of a stupid secret that was misconstrued.

“I hope he doesn’t turn into Mike.” He said as he slouched in his seat. “Mike’s a bas*ard.”

“Carl, language!”

“Well, he is. I saw him at the pizza place today. He was staring openly at Charlie and she was really uncomfortable.”

Simone growled. Her hand tightened around his enough to hurt.

“Mom, that’s hurting.”

“Sorry, love.” Simone released his hand and put hers back on the wheel. “If your miserable excuse for an uncle has had anything to do with Toby’s frame of mind I’m going to forget I’m a woman with manners and I’m going to beat the crap out of him.”

“Get in line because I want to go at him first.”

With the last remark they sat in silence for the rest of the trip.

*****

Simone dropped Carl out in the parking lot at the park. She said she would drive around for a bit and he was to let her know when he wanted picking up. Carl wanted to tell her not to hang around but then he thought about his father at home. Simone didn’t look in a fit state to go home so he didn’t say anything.

He was worried about her. Simone was always smiling, a warm, bubbly person. He had never seen her cry. Carl wanted to go home and knock some sense into his father. No one should treat the person they loved the way he had.

If it was the last thing he did, Carl was going to make his father listen to his mother.

Louise was sitting on one of the swings in the children’s playground when Carl arrived. He vaulted the fence and walked over to her. She looked very pretty in a denim skirt and pink t-shirt, a sequined butterfly shimmering on the front. Her legs seemed to go on for miles, finishing off with her sneakers.

Carl swallowed and fought back a wave of something he didn’t quite recognize. If she knew she was tempting him more than she should that would be their date over as quickly as it had started.

Louise looked up as Carl reached the swings and smiled.

“Hi.”

“Hey.” Carl sat in the swing beside her. “I haven’t kept you waiting long, have I?”

“No, I’ve only just got here.”

Then her cell phone buzzed. Louise fished it out of her pocket and glanced at the text message. A slight frown appeared between her eyes. Then it was gone and she shoved her phone back into her pocket.

“Was that Jason?”

“No, I’ve blocked his number.” Louise tucked her hair behind her ear. “It was from my mother. She’s very protective of me.”

“She’s not upset that you’re meeting me, is she?”

“On the contrary, she’s delighted. She thinks you’re a nice boy.”

“Really?” Carl raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t think she’d met me.”

Louise laughed.

“Of course you have, silly. She works in the canteen.”

Then Carl was reminded of a petite blonde woman in her late forties with a sunny smile and booming voice. She was his favorite dinner lady. He smiled.

“I’m glad she likes me.”

“She’s just protective of me after everything I went through with Jason.” Louise shrugged. “It’s just made her a little wary of other boys I date.”

“Then I hope I live up to expectations.”

Louise smiled back.

“I’m sure you will.”

*****

Carl couldn’t think of a more pleasant evening. After sitting on the swings talking for a while they had walked across the park to a diner nearby and had a burger each, Louise surprising Carl by choosing the burger with everything on it. She managed to eat everything and wolf down half of Carl’s when he felt he had finished. Carl had never seen any woman put away that much food except for his cousins; they were like trash cans when it came to food.

Then they had gone for a long walk around the park, Louise taking Carl’s hand as they walked along the path by the river. Carl hadn’t objected; it had been nice. This was making him feel like he had won a prize. And Louise was certainly a prize.