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The smile turned to a grimace. “To hell wit’ you.”
She jumped off the stool and stomped over to the pay phone, but Belle was standing in front of it. “Go outside if you wanna make a call,” Belle told the woman.
Mel watched the woman leave the bar in a huff and kept his eye on Belle. She dragged uneasily on a cigarette, and her left arm, which hung free, quivered tautly. Her eyes darted around the room, and she glanced suspiciously at the last three men who had come in. She puffed a last drag of the cigarette and dropped it to the floor, grinding it beneath her heel. She was about to walk away when the phone rang. “Where the hell you at?” she asked. “You still comin? . . . Make that three hours. . . . Yeah . . . Uh-huh . . . I said all right, damn it . . . See you in a few.” She put the phone back on the hook, and their eyes met. Her eyes said, You didn’t hear nuthin’, and his answered, I damn shore didn’t.
She went back behind the bar to wait on the three new customers. Mel ordered another drink and waved Debra over to join him.
“You still gonna help me out on the rent? Big Boy’s showing his ass over what you did to Lillian, and I’m stuck.”
“Yeah.” Mel stood up and pulled out his wallet. “I got paid today so I can help you out, but I wish you wasn’t so dependent on him. Can’t you find a job in a regular bar?”
Debra took the money and jammed it into her bra. “I been thinkin’ about that.”
“Don’t just think about it. Make a move.”
She nodded in agreement and then changed the subject. “We miss you at the games.”
Mel grinned. “I’ll be back when things simmer down a little bit. I don’t wanna have to kick your man’s ass.”
“Ain’t nobody fightin’ in my house,” Debra said sharply, “and you can’t duck Lillian forever.”
“I don’t have to. She got on my bus last week with two little kids.”
Debra’s eyes widened as he described the brief encounter. “I would have slapped the shit out of you,” she said when he finished.
Mel shrugged. “That’s cuz you ain’t got no class.”
“Maybe not, but your face would still be on fire.”
They shared a laugh and a lot more drinks before Mel staggered home.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Adrienne woke up in the morning to find Mel stretched out beside her, his inert frame still in the blue uniform he had worn the day before. The only sound in the room was Mel’s deep snores. He and the room smelled like old booze. She felt like kicking him once to get him off the bed, and several more times to roll him right on out of the house and into the streets, where he obviously wanted to be. Instead, she punched him hard in the chest, more to ease her frustration than to wake him up. Mel responded to the blow by jerking slightly. His eyelids twitched and his face turned sideways as he settled back into slumber. Adrienne remembered that the baby used to react the same way if she or Mel made a loud noise while Delilah slept in her crib. Mel’s face was just an older, harder picture of his daughter’s. All of a sudden, Adrienne didn’t want to kick Mel anymore. He was the only part of Delilah she still had.
She craned her neck to look over his body at the clock. It was almost 8:30, which meant she was running late. She jumped out of bed and went to brush her teeth. The bristles were soft and slid across her teeth without offering any real resistance to the food particles that could be lodged between them. That meant it was time for a new toothbrush. She had read somewhere that bristles were supposed to be stiff. She spit out the toothpaste, rinsed, and then poured mouthwash into a Dixie cup and let the minty green liquid fill her mouth. It tingled the inside of her cheeks.
Even though she made a great deal of noise getting ready for work—slamming drawers, running water for a shower—Mel never moved. She left without kissing him good-bye.
Lloyd called her late in the day. “I’d like to talk to you about something. Can you stop by my office?”
“I’ve got to finish a report for Regina. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Lloyd chuckled. “I’ll wait here until you’re done.”
It was after six when Adrienne got to his office. His face lit up as she walked in. He stood up, walked around his enormous desk, and gestured toward the sofa. “Let’s sit there,” he said. “It’s a lot more comfortable.”
She sat.
“Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Tea? Soda? Hot chocolate?”
“Hot chocolate.”
“I’ll be right back.”
He returned with two PWE mugs filled with the hot liquid and sat down beside her. “You look positively wounded tonight. Is Regina working you too hard?”
Adrienne shook her head no, picked up her mug, and took a sip.
