Kat
“Thank you for coming with me. I hope it wasn’t too terrible.”
The quiet motor on the Jeep Wrangler hums while Chase and I sit outside my house. Elena’s Audi is parked in the driveway. The clock on the dash flashes 1:21p.m. Why isn’t she at work?
“I had fun. Your cousin and her husband are pretty cool.”
“Yeah.” I smile. “They make these family functions bearable.”
An eerie silence falls. This is the part where I’m supposed to exit the car, but Chase’s smoldering crystal gaze keeps me tethered to the seat. Our relationship turned a corner this weekend. Nothing romantic will happen between us, and that’s okay. Chase has demons that have yet to be slaughtered. If what he needs is a friend, then I’m here for him.
“Well, I should get going.” He leans forward and presses his lips against my forehead. “I’ll call you soon.”
“Okay.”
With my Victoria’s Secret tote bag slung over my shoulder, I push open the door and hop down. The damp grass tickles my toes, peeking out from cheap flip-flops.
“Mamá!” I call, my echo greeting me in the vast entryway. “I’m home! Why aren’t you at work?”
The slap of foam rubber smacking against my heels follows me through the house. Movement in the living room catches my eye. I drop my bag and continue forward, only to stop short in horror. “Jesus Christ, Ma!” I raise my palm to shield the sight of my mother’s naked body standing before me.
A sheepish look etches her face as she clutches the blanket around her shoulders. Still on the couch, her boyfriend holds a pillow on his lap. A thick wiry mass of salt and pepper hair covers his chest and legs. Someone is in serious need of a manscape. How can she not get rug burn rubbing up against that pile of shag? I shudder at the thought.
“What are you doing here, Katarina?”
“Uh . . . I live here.”
A disgruntled grunt curls her lips. “Just go downstairs, okay?”
“Good to see ya, Walt.” I offer a civil salute before turning on my heel and walking away. Gross! I guess I assumed my mom and Walt messed around, but I really didn’t need to see the proof.
The minute I walk into my room, Aphrodite goes into spaz mode. Squeaky little barks and ridiculous growls quiver from her shaky little body. “Hey, Aphro! Mama missed you so much. Did you have fun with grandma? Wanna go out?” When I pad over to the patio door and slide it open, the dog rockets out as usual. I light up a smoke then reach for my phone to open a message to Chase.
Dude. I just caught my mom and her boyfriend shagging on the sofa. I don’t know what I wanna do first—pour bleach in my eyes to erase the visual or drink an arsenic cocktail because my mom’s getting more action that I am. There goes my afternoon.
A few seconds later, the phone beeps in my hand.
Chase: So you thought I’d want to know about it? Thanks for sharing. What were your plans?
Kat: Well, since the house was supposed to be empty, I thought I’d take a bath and flick the bean for a while, but who could stay aroused after witnessing fogie fuck fest 94?
Chase: Not only is that TMI, but you weren’t even alive in ‘94! Lol. Do you ever think before you speak?
Kat: Nah. I like to be as surprised by what comes out of my mouth as everyone else. Makes life interesting. What are you doing?
Chase: Taking Zeus for a walk. Where are you now?
Kat: Confined to my room like a prisoner. I guess I’ll call Dev and see if she-bitch wants to go shopping or something this afternoon. Thanks for sharing my pain. You’re a pal. Xo
“Katarina!” My mom bellows at me from the kitchen window above. Shielding my eyes, I look up. “I have something to tell you. Come back up when you’re ready!”
“I’m not really into the group thing, Ma.”
Her face pinches into a scowl. “Just come upstairs, smartass!”
The last of my smoke fills my lungs, and I blow it out slowly before whistling for Aphro to come back in then join my mom upstairs. Walt sits at the table looking down at the floral mat. The guy’s nice and all, but he’s so friggin’ weird. He’s some kind of scientist. What that means exactly I have no idea, but he drives a hot car and is always taking my mom on fancy trips, so he must do all right for himself. Mom’s got herself a sugar daddy. Good for her, right?
“So how was everything this weekend?” she asks me, setting a cup of coffee down in front of the empty seat next to her.
“Fine. Dad’s still drunk, giagiá’s still short, Athena’s still hiding in the kitchen.” I lift the mug to my lips and blow the steam off the top. “What did you guys do?”
“Well. . .” Mom looks at her boyfriend with a sly grin. “Walt’s asked me to marry him.” Fractals of light beam off the giant rock on her finger when she lifts her hand, but I’m too in shock at the moment to look. My mom’s getting married? Married? They haven’t even been together that long! A year, maybe? Besides, she already did that once—why on earth would she want to do it again? “Say something.”
“Congratulations?”
“I know it’s sudden, honey, but I would really like your blessing on this. It means a lot to Walt and me.” Her warm hand covers mine, the brilliant diamond gleaming like the chandelier above us. It’s monstrous on her squatty finger. It must be two karats, at least!
Be cool, Kat. Be supportive. Walt’s a good guy, and your mom is happy. Don’t freak out.
“Of course, you have my blessing.” I lift my butt off my seat and throw my arms around my mother then reach across for Walt next. “Welcome to the family,” I tell him with a quick hug. “But I’m not calling you dad.”
When Walt chuckles and embraces me back, it dawns on me that I know nothing about this man. Does he have kids? Am I going to have siblings? Oh shit, what if they’re little? Will they move in here? Mother puss bucket . . . I’m not babysitting!
“There’s something else.”
“Please don’t tell me you're pregnant.”
She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “I’m fifty-four years old, Kat. I don’t think we need to worry about that. Walt commutes to New York for his job and needs to stay close by. Which means I’ll be moving into his house.”
A chill runs down my spine. “What about our house?”
“I’ve sold the house, honey.”
“You what?” The force of my jump knocks the chair clattering to the floor behind me. “What? How? It wasn’t even on the market!”
“One of the other nurses at the hospital is getting divorced and needs a place to live. The timing just worked out perfectly.”
“For you maybe! What about me?” Blood rushes in my ears; my heart feels like it’s about to burst from my chest and flap around the room. This can’t be happening.
“You’re an adult, Katarina. You have a good job. It’s time you went out on your own. It will be good for you.”
Tears spill over my cheeks. How can she do this? My own mother is deserting me! Throwing me to the wolves and leaving me to die! I can’t take care of myself. I can barely take care of Aphrodite, and she’s a four-pound dog that eats once a day! “How much time do I have?”
“You have a whole month to find a place, and I’ll help you. If you need money for a security deposit, furniture. Whatever you need, okay, koúkla?”
The pinball machine inside my mind slaps the thoughts around my head full speed, each one going ting-ting-ting as it flips to the next. I can’t handle this right now. It’s way too much. The room spins in full circles around me as I gasp for air that doesn’t seem to want to fill my lungs.
I stumble back and tumble over the chair lying on the ground behind me. Bam! I go down like a sack of bricks. Pain radiates up the length of my side, but nothing hurts as bad as the bitter sense of abandonment I feel knowing my mother is leaving me high and dry.
She rushes to my side to help me up, but I wince as she nears. Scrambling to my feet, I run to the basement, grab a bag, and escape through the patio door like a thief in the night.
Fuck shopping. I need a drink.
Today has been the day from hell. Yesterday started out so well. I woke up wrapped in Chase’s arms then we had a nice, quiet breakfast with my family. Chase even laughed when I begrudgingly told him what poústis meant. Everything was hunky dory. Until my mom had to go and blast her good news shitstorm all over me. All I needed was one drink—something to take the edge off—but one turned to two, two to three, wash, rinse, repeat. Needless to say, I was still drunk when I woke up this morning.
And late for work.
Mom sent me a text. She destroyed my life, and all I get in return is a fucking text message. Leaving for Bermuda in the a.m. We’ll make a plan when I get home. This isn’t the end of the world, koúkla. Love you.
In my drunken haze, I quickly responded, Don’t fuckin koúkla me. You suck at life! Normally, I’d be mentally kicking my own ass for blowing off at my mother, but lucky for me, it looked more like this—Don’t ducking kohls me! You sick so love!
I just want to go home . . . while I still have one.
“Katarina! Can I see you, please?” My boss waggles her bright red fingernail and turns to walk into the back room.
Dushka is totally posh from her Calvin Klein blouse down to her Louboutin-covered toes. I follow behind her, envious of her statuesque figure. “Sure, Dushka, what’s up?”
“I’ve had complaints.” She crosses her slender arms over her chest and glares at me. “You came in late. It pushed back all your appointments, you look like hell, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, you reek of alcohol.”
“I’m sorry, Dushka. I’m having a bad time at home. I won’t let it happen again.”
“This is a high-class establishment, Katarina. People come here to be pampered, cared for. They don’t want to be touched by a slovenly girl who smokes like a chimney and drinks during the day. The appearance of my staff reflects not only on me but the spa as a whole. I can’t have it. I have to let you go.”
My blood turns to slush. “You’re firing me?”
“You’ve given me no other choice.”
Once again, the tears well in my eyes. “Please don’t do this! I need this job, Dushka! I promise I’ll never do it again. You can’t fire me after one complaint!”
She drops her arms to her sides, her gaze softening. “I know you work hard, Katarina. You’re a very good esthetician, but coming into work under the influence is cause for immediate termination.”
“But I wasn’t drunk!” I sob.
“I’ll pay you for the rest of the week. Please take any personal things from your room before you leave today.”
“I’ve been here five years! I’ll have to start from the bottom!” This industry is cutthroat. It’s not as simple as getting another job. I’m responsible for not only obtaining my own clients but keeping them. Starting at a new spa makes the past five years of my life worthless. All that work for nothing! And if word gets around that I was drunk on the job, I’ll never work again.
Dushka’s platinum bob is a blur in front of my face. She pulls a tissue from the box on her desk and hands it to me. “Pull yourself together. This is undignified. Don’t go out the front. Use the back entrance.”
With nothing left to say, I sneak out the service door like an unwanted dog.
Jobless.
Homeless.
Worthless.
Loveless.
Used, abused, passed around for a piece of ass then tossed on the road like trash. My dad was right. No one’s ever going to love me. How could they? I’m a waste of space. A hopeless charity case. I don’t want to live like this anymore.