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“That bad?” Lennox asked.
“My mom died,” I said, still pushing the fries around. “Our mom died. Mine and Vic’s.”
Lennox put down her drink. “Shit, I’m sorry.”
“I don’t know how I feel. I know I feel something, but I’m not sure what it is…” I drifted off, thinking about the emotion hiding behind my organs. I could feel its presence, but I couldn’t quite get to it. It was like a nymph hiding behind rocks.
I shook the feeling off, deciding to play hide and seek later, and turned back to Lennox. “Anyway, that’s why I came to find ya. I was looking to tell Vic. I know he left a while ago and hasn’t looked back, but I figured I should tell him. After talkin’ with ya, I’m not so sure.”
“He’s going to act like he doesn’t care and that he’s moved on,” Lennox said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. She let out a breath before continuing. “But it’s his mom. So he does care. I saw the way he reacted when she called to let him know your dad died.”
“Wait, she called to tell him?” That was news to me.
Lennox nodded slowly, not understanding my fervor. I’d been under the impression that Mama didn’t have any contact with Vic. Maybe she just didn’t want Daddy to know. I was really curious as to what she had talked to him about. Had she told him about me?
Lennox nodded. “A couple months before you arrived. She wasn’t very nice about it though, according to Vic.”
“I had no idea,” I said, completely bewildered.
Lennox laughed bitterly, but I knew it wasn’t directed at me. “Of course you wouldn’t. Vic never tells anyone anything they don’t need to know.” Lennox reached out and took one of my fries. “So you got a funeral planned?”
“I hadn’t even thought about it.” All I could focus on was getting out to Georgia.
Lennox nodded. “Well I’m here if you need help. We all are. Even Vic.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“He is. Even if he doesn’t do a good job of showing it.” Lennox stared at her whisky, her eyes betraying her. As I got to know Lennox, I saw that she was good at pretending to be unperturbed. She pretended that cyclones were nothing more than dust devils. Inside, though, she was being torn up.
“He’s a beautiful man,” Lennox said to me, looking up from her whisky. “He can be a right asshole sometimes, but he’s the only one who’s ever loved all of me. He loves deeply and uncontrollably and without thought to his own wellbeing. People like that don’t come around often.”
Not sure what to say to that, I turned the attention back to my mom. “I don’t know how to tell him.”
Lennox winked, taking a big bite of her burger, and said, “We’ll tell him together. Right after I finish my hamburger.”
Lennox stuck her key in the door, missing a few times at first. I thought she was drunk, though to be honest, she held her liquor pretty well. Not like Daddy, that’s for sure.
“One second…” Lennox stuck her tongue out slightly in concentration as she worked the lock. “It sticks sometimes. Old building, ya know?” She wiggled at the lock and in a few seconds, the door was open. I felt the draft of AC before I noticed anything else.
“You’re back early.” Vic’s cold voice drifted out with the air conditioning. “Thought you’d stay out late.”
“I’m not like you Vic,” Lennox snapped. “I don’t disappear for months.”
“It was one week!” Vic slammed the magazine he was reading down on the table, gearing up for a fight. I clenched and unclenched my fists, hoping desperately that they wouldn’t start fighting. It was going to be hard enough telling Vic what had happened. I didn’t need to shout in the middle of a fight, “Hey, Mom’s dead!” Lennox was supposed to be helping, not hurting.
I coughed, announcing my visit and hopefully diffusing the situation. As if remembering she wasn’t alone, Lennox looked at me, annoyed.
“Oh,” Lennox said. “Grace has something to tell you.”
“What?” I sputtered. That was the set up? That was the help?
“I mean,” Lennox sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I mean we have some bad news.”
Vic eyed us shrewdly. “What is it?”
I stepped forward, feeling like I was entering a spotlight. “Mama’s dead.” If Vic felt anything, he didn’t show it. There wasn’t one change in his demeanor. Not an eyebrow twitch or even a blink. He stared at me, like I’d just asked what was on television.
“She died last night. I just got the call this morning.” He nodded after I spoke again, so that was something; at least I knew he’d heard me. “I have to go back and plan the funeral. Eli and I are leaving tonight. You’re welcome to come back. It’s probably just going to be me and Eli anyway.” Shoot, Eli! I glanced at the clock on the wall, realizing I’d left Eli alone for a few hours when he’d probably only thought I’d be gone for less than one.
