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“I’ll be right over,” he replied, not thinking about Beverly, who would normally be passed out at that hour anyway.
Instead, Beverly was sitting in the kitchen of the lavish new home her husband had recently finished building, drinking coffee with her son.
Sober, but just barely, she listened to Steve in disbelief.
“We’ve been married for thirty-five years,” she said. “I can’t believe it.”
“I know where they are. Do you want me to prove it to you?”
“No, I believe you. I’m just scared, Stevie.”
“Mom, you’re wasting your life. I sound like a broken record. Why do you drink? You drink to escape Dad. Face it. You should be enjoying life now. Maybe seeing it will help you move on.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, standing up to walk to the sink. “Why would I want to see my husband with another woman?”
“Mom, so you can get better. I want you to be sober. I’m going to need your help to raise my son. Annie and I are getting a divorce.”
“Are you purposely trying to upset me tonight? Why are you doing this?”
“Mom, not talking about something, denying that it’s happening doesn’t make it so. It’s still happening. Get your purse. We’re going for a ride.”
“I need to fix my makeup first.”
“Hurry up,” he said.
It took her a while, but when she came back out, she looked really nice, and Steve was happy he’d let her make the effort. When she saw Lola, she wasn’t going to be happy.
“Do you mind going in my truck?”
“No, it’s fine,” she answered.
They walked out the front door instead of through the garage, and that was when Steve saw his father’s car headed north on Main Street. He was alone.
“There’s Daddy’s car,” he said. “Hurry up.”
They got into the truck, and he pulled out onto the street in time to see the car make a right-hand turn.
“They must have moved from the apartment to her house,” Steve said, seething.
“Oh, I’m getting scared,” Beverly whined. “Why are we doing this?”
“Because you’re wasting your life, Mom. It’s time. This will help you move on.”
“You keep saying that. What if I don’t want to move on?”
“Just trust me,” he said. “You’re missing out.”
“I was happy.”
“No, you were drunk. That’s not happy.”
He saw his father’s car in front of a shotgun house. Parking across the street and down a few houses, he didn’t want his father or the girlfriend to see the truck and then hide and not answer the door. They needed the surprise factor.
Getting out of the truck, he went around to his mother’s side and opened her door. “Don’t be afraid, Mom.”
“Which house is it?”
He pointed to the shotgun. “I think it’s that one.”
