Page 28 of Rough

“I need to get the game put up, and it’s 2:00. It’s time for your pills.”

He let out a long breath. “Sit down.”

I didn’t want to, but I did.

“You and me. Can we reach an agreement?”

“I’m sure we can, why?”

“Haven’t got any real reason to, but I’m going to trust you, kid. What we talk about? It stays right here. You don’t discuss it with the circus clown, or anyone else for that matter. Agreed?”

My throat had tightened into a dry knot.

Every man who had entered my life had left, and when they did, they took a small part of my heart with them. If Bradley was going to tell me what I was afraid he was going to tell me, I didn’t want to hear it.

But he wanted to tell me.

“Agreed,” I murmured.

“My heart’s a mess. It’s weak, weaker than anyone, short of me, knows. It started a few years back, and--”

“Have you had a bypass?”

“Several.”

I locked eyes with him and leaned forward. “There’s all kinds of things that they can do to make it--”

“I’ve got congestive heart failure. That’s what I’ve got to show for thirty years of smoking. I’ve had ‘em all. Bypasses. Angioplasties. Ablations.” He patted his cast against his chest. “Have a defibrillator in my chest to get it going again each time it quits, and lately, that’s been pretty often.”

I’d only known him for a week, but we’d made a strong connection in that short period of time. The thought of losing him caused my heart to rise into my throat.

I deeply regretted asking the question. I reached for the Scrabble box. “So now I know.”

I knew he could see my disappointment. My mother always said I wore my emotions on my shirt sleeve, and although I’d tried not to, I must have failed.

His face washed with sorrow. “Didn’t mean to piss you off.”

I pushed myself away from the table and stood. “I’m not mad. I’m just going to put this up.”

“You know where I’ll be when you’re done.”

I took a few steps and then turned around. “There’s nothing that can be done to--”

“Nothing short of a new heart, and no one wants to give an old fucker like me a good heart. Hell, don’t know that I’d take one if I was offered.”

At that moment, and for every moment that followed, I wished I had two hearts, so I could give him one.

“I see,” I said.

I walked to the pantry, slid the game into its place, and gazed blankly at the contents of the shelves, wishing I hadn’t asked the question.

But I had.

TEN

Pee Bee

I raked my hair away from my face and pulled on my helmet. “So, who are these motherfuckers?”