Turn Me Bad

Chapter 8

”Ben, I’m afraid you and I are going to need to have a bit of a chat,“ Violet kept trying to say, but he wasn’t getting it.

”Sure!“ he would say, but then carrying on organizing the scoreboard for their bowling lane, or pointing out that it was her turn.

”Thanks for coming around to my place yesterday and meeting everyone,“ she tried again, ”but there are issues at work I really need to address.“

”Work, huh? That’s exactly why you need to unwind in the evening,“ he said, placing the bowling ball into her hands again, ”rather than hanging around with miserable Caitlin all evening.”

”Yeah, the problem is,“ Violet tried to hint again, right as she bowled another strike, ”she’s sort of the least of my problems at the moment.”

”Wow! You’re on fire, girl!“ Benjamin cried out. ”Glad I didn’t have a wager with you because I’d take you for a hustler.”

”It’s like some pro has possessed my arm,“ she reflected, genuinely astounded by her performance. It wasn’t just her lover who seemed to be distracting her from the conversation they so very needed, but the unexpectedly fabulous sporting performance of the evening. Maybe having something else on your mind entirely is the way to go about bowling well, because Violet had never bowled anything like so effectively. She lost to Benjamin by one lone point in the first round, then in the second thrashed him by a staggering 40 – and he clearly had a great technique, not to mention twice as much power.

”Show off!”

That comment had come from a neighboring lane where two sour-faced eighteen-year-old girls were bowling. They had obviously noticed the amount of strikes Violet had been chalking up, but throwing abuse around was really uncalled for considering she was not showing off in the slightest.

”What’s your problem, girls?“ Benjamin asked, refusing to ignore the comment, though they had tried to be vague about who it was really directed at. (Maybe they were really calling her a ”show off” because of the guy she was dating, Violet thought.)

”Ben, leave them be,“ she urged him. ”I’m not bothered.”

”And you’re not bothering them, so there’s no reason for the abuse.”

”They’ll grow up someday, never mind them.“ Violet noticed another pair of sour faces when she made that retort, but she was genuine about really not caring. ”Are you going to buy me another rum and coke or what? I’m done bowling, Ben, and I need to talk to you.”

At her request, they headed on over to the bar, offering no more responses to the silly girls, even though it was obvious their bitter faces remained aimed in their direction.

As they sat near the bar then, Violet had him alone and without distraction at last. Finally, she thought she could fix his attention on the conversation they so very needed.

”So Ben, as I was saying, I really need to speak to you.”

”Shoot!”

”This is serious, you know.”

”I’m all ears.”

”I have a problem at work.”

”You need me to sort it for you?”

”It’s not… that sort of problem,“ she replied.”‘What it is, Ben, is that I’m committed to my job.”

”Well, of course you are. And I know you’re brilliant at it – that’s why I love you – almost as good as you are at bowling, I’m sure.”

”Ha! That was some kind of fluke over there– Wait a minute,” Violet said, suddenly distracted herself, ”did you just say you love me?”

”Did I?”

”Yes!”

”I guess I did,“ he said, smiling as if the slip was just something to be amused by. ”It just came out.”

”So, did you mean it?”

”Of course, I mean everything I say.”

”But I mean, did you mean it, mean it? Or were you just saying you love spending time with me? Or, you know, you love me like a ‘Hey, love ya, buddy!’”

”You’re losing me now.”

” People say that too much these days,“ Violet went on, almost talking to herself. ” There were guys in college who used to point at us and say, ‘Love you, girls.’ It just became a trendy thing to say – and you sure are a trendy person, Ben, apart from them bowling shoes you’re sporting at the moment.”

”Violet, you’re really losing me here.”

She had lost herself too, but took the opportunity to get back to the point.

”Ben, I’ve been late for work day after day for two weeks now,“ she told him. ”Today, I was called into the manager’s office to be asked if there were any problems they should know about. Ben, this is serious, if I don’t get back to thinking properly I could lose my job.”

”So what do you need to do?“ Benjamin asked, appearing to show no comprehension that he was part of the problem.

”Ben, I can’t go on doing this,“ she tried again to connect with him. ”This evening after evening crazy lifestyle. You came along and swept me off my feet and I’ve loved every minute of it, but you and I are made of different stuff. I need order and stability. I need as many evenings sitting with my feet up, with a nice book or movie, as much as I need nights out being wild; more even.”

”You want to go see a movie?”

”That’s not what I mean. What I mean is…”

”Actually, Violet, this might have to wait.”

”Are you kidding? It’s taken me all evening to get you to take it seriously.”

”Yeah, but, they’ve got an even more serious look on their two ugly faces.”

”Huh?“ Violet turned around to find out what he was talking about and, just as he said, two miserable-faced men were coming their way. Then she saw why; the two girls who had been unimpressed by her bowling skills were not far behind them. Clearly, they now had male company and were vindictive enough to talk the guys into making more of a physical issue of their beef.

”You!“ the first of them, a man with a scar running down his cheek, said while pointing his finger aggressively. ”Did your chick tell my chick she needed to grow up?”