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“Come on, it never stopped you before.”
“I was 17 back then. I didn't know much of anything,” I protested.
He clicked his tongue at me and told me that I was being ridiculous. Maybe I was. How else could I be when it came to him? I still felt just as much as before and he didn’t. Nothing had changed, nothing that really mattered, and that worried me. All of it worried me immensely.
“Fine, Jeff, but I never knew you to be so pushy.”
“Well, considering that it took you five years to come back, I now realize how important it is to say what needs to be said.”
I told him he was talking in riddles, and he didn't disagree.
“Are you going to tell me what it means?” I pressed him for an answer.
“No, you're just going to come see me. I've missed you. Are you really going to tell me that you haven't missed me too?”
“Of course, I missed you, Jeff. We were good friends.”
“Right, friends.”
He didn't seem to like that title, but that was the one he got, so I supposed it didn't matter his wants or desires.
“So, are you going to come out with me? Do a late-night swim?”
I was already in too deep. I knew it. “Sure, Jeff, what time?”
“How about nine?” he suggested.
It was late, but what else did I have to do? Sirens were going off in the back of my head, warning me from what I was going to do next. The easiest way to deal with Jeff was always to just not deal with him. It was hard, especially because of the way I felt about him, also out of my hands.
4
Jeff
“Who are you on the phone with?”
I put the phone back in my pocket and turned to Lester. “Just checking on something, what are you getting into?” I was shocked to see him standing there. How much had he heard?
My partner shrugged. “I don't know. If we don't get a call in the next half an hour, then I guess I'm going go out and see Jamie.”
“Was that the girl from the call last week?”
Lester had a huge grin on his face, and he shrugged. “What if it is?”
I told him that I didn't care either way. It was probably frowned upon, but we had saved a young woman from a house fire, and it was Lester who pulled her from the building. He had gone with her to the hospital, something that I hadn’t seen him do many times before, but this one was different. Jamie was a sore spot for him, but I couldn’t help but razzle him. He didn’t take it very well.
“Good for you, man. I'm glad to see that you’re getting out and about after Donna. She was a nightmare.”
It made him frown and I almost wished that I hadn't said anything at all. He just got this scowl on his face that was hard to get him away from. Donna was the one who got away or broke his heart, however he wanted to look at it. She was selfish and very quickly had him wrapped around her finger. That would have been all fine, if she hadn’t treated him the way she had.
“I thought we weren't going to say her name anymore,” Lester said.
“You're right, my bad. It slipped out. The thing is, I'm glad you're going out. She seems to make you less of an asshole, so that's always good.”
Lester agreed with the sentiment, but then somehow it got turned around on me and he wanted to know what I was doing for my Friday night. I told him that I wasn't doing anything, because I couldn’t tell him what I was really doing. He obviously knew that his sister was back in town, so he hadn't told me for a reason.
Lester suspected something so long ago, but then Beatrice left, and everything had just kind of leveled out. I wasn't ready to welcome his suspicions again, especially when Beatrice and I were just friends. I'd be the first to admit that I would probably take it to the next level, especially considering how beautiful she was now all grown up, but I knew better. It wasn't worth it.
We parted ways after there were no other calls coming in. I told Lester to have a good time, while I went home and quietly got ready to go out with his sister. I still felt just as guilty as before about it all. I couldn’t believe that I still felt this way. It didn’t make sense. Beatrice wasn't his 17-year-old little sister anymore. He was still my best friend though.
