Page 20 of Point of Contact

Larissa stared at him for a moment and gave a grudging nod. “I just didn’t know what to do, Trevor. I’ve said that over and over.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Liss.” Trevor reached out his arm and drew her in to his side. Larissa was heartbreakingly young and very immature, but she was the mother of his child, and Trevor vowed to be more understanding and supportive. He was gratified when she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his shoulder.

“Do you think I’m fat and ugly? Are you still in love with me?” she sniffed, and Trevor froze. What?

“Uh,” he floundered, not at all sure what he was supposed to say. “Well, you—you look like you’ve just had a baby, Liss—” he said, wincing when she yanked away from him to throw herself across the bed, weeping pitifully.

“I’m so ugly,” she cried. “Such a fat, ugly pig.”

Trevor stood there and gaped at her for a moment, his mouth working as he tried to come up with some words, any words. He finally sat down next to her on the bed, still balancing a sleeping Riley on his shoulder, deciding it was best to be honest.

“Larissa,” he began, putting his free hand on her back. She shrugged it off, and he just sat there awkwardly for a moment before trying again. “I’m your friend, sweetie,” he said softly. “And you know that’s all I can ever be. I’m gay, Liss. What happened between us was a—” he bit off the word mistake and amended it to “—was unusual. We were both drunk and stoned out of our minds, remember?”

She sniffed, and nodded.

“And what happened just happened. I do care about you a lot,” he said. “I want us to be friends so we can raise our son together. I’ll never abandon you, honey. I promise you that.”

Larissa wiped her eyes. “You promise, Trev?”

Trevor leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. “I promise. Now c’mere, let me show you how to fix his bottle.”

The shrill ringing of the phone at his elbow jolted Trevor out of his memories, and he closed the photo album before answering it, reassuring Carl that he was indeed having a good morning, and that reservations for seven at Fiorini’s sounded just fine to him. It was time to get some of his own work done, so Trevor carefully re-packed the albums away in the dusty box and returned it to the closet shelf, remembering the last time he’d ever seen Larissa.

“I can’t do it anymore, Trev.” She had thrust a red-faced, crying Riley at him through the open front door, and Trevor automatically took him, wrinkling his nose at the sour smell of vomit.

“What? I have to be at work in less than an hour, Liss!”

“And I was just up all night listening to him scream and puke,” she hissed. “It’s never gonna get better, and it’s not fair. It wasn’t supposed to be like this!”

Trevor bounced on the balls of his feet, trying to soothe Riley, who hiccuped and buried his wet little face in Trevor’s neck while twisting tiny fists in the front of Trevor’s polo shirt. Trevor took a deep breath, and said, “The pediatrician said lots of babies have reflux, and that he’ll most likely outgrow it by his first birthday, Liss. We just have to get through it.”

“I can’t do it for another six months, Trevor,” she cried. “Having to sleep sitting up with him, watching him Exorcist vomit all over everything.” She shuddered. “He cries all the time, and my mom screams at me to shut him up. It’s not supposed to be like this!”

“What did you think it was going to be like, Larissa?” Trevor demanded, at the end of his patience. He felt his aunt suddenly behind him at his shoulder, and did his best to modulate his tone. “A little doll for you to dress up and play with? Attention from your friends?”

Her eyes shifted from his. True fear slithered through him, and he reached out his free hand and put it on her upper arm. “I know it hasn’t been easy, hon,” he tried. “And maybe we can work something out where you can get a little more rest.”

Larissa knocked his hand away. “No! I’m sick of all of it! I’m bored staying home with him. I’m tired of not being able to dress up and go out. Everyone is having a good time except me! I’m going to LA with my new boyfriend. He plays in a band, and when he gets famous, I’m going to be right there with him.”

New boyfriend? Trevor looked toward the beat-up old van parked at the curb, getting the impression of tall and skinny with a mass of tangled long hair. His lip curled, and he forced out through gritted teeth, “You’re so stupid, Liss.”

She tossed her head. “You’re the stupid one, Trevor. You never figured out that I did it on a dare, and I knew exactly what I was doing. Fucking you, I mean.”

“What?” Trevor struggled to keep his expression neutral. “What dare?”

“This one guy at that party, he said I was hot enough to turn even a faggot straight,” she boasted, and Trevor reflexively reared back, hearing his aunt’s soft intake of breath behind him.

“Oh, I would never call you that word,” Larissa continued, watching him closely. “He said that. And he bet me twenty dollars that you couldn’t get it up for me. I mean, everyone knows Ricky Ditmore takes it up the ass, and he’s a flamer, but you’re so good-looking, and masculine. We all figured you swung both ways, and the guy bet me I could be the one to turn you straight. And I won the bet!”

Bile filled Trevor’s throat, the result of a twenty-dollar goddamn bet currently resting against his shoulder, making those little snuffling noises that Trevor had come to cherish. Larissa’s eyes were shadowed with exhaustion but also burning with cruelty, and suddenly Trevor just wanted her gone.

He closed his eyes and sagged against the doorframe. “Go then, Liss,” he said quietly. “But don’t ever come back. We don’t want or need you.”

She tossed her hair again and turned away. “Oh, don’t worry. I won’t ever come back to this fucking stupid town. I’m going to California to hang out on the beach, and live the good life, not be tied down. Outta here.”

She ran down the front walk and climbed into the passenger seat of the van, the driver leaning over and making a big show out of kissing her before putting the van into gear and squealing away.

Marilyn put her hand on Trevor’s shoulder. “Oh, Trevor. Don’t worry, my darling, please. You’re not alone.”