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She just thought Mark was hanging out with his friends or going to have a drink with the boys. He always came home happier than he left, never really seemed to argue, and seemed happy on the outside. It was the hidden signs that she never shared with anyone, only found when she had to move out of their apartment.
The ripped-up credit card bills, the dirty needles, the air freshener everywhere – which she now knew was to cover the smells, along with the apology notes that were never delivered to her, found stuffed in a drawer, that broke her heart.
Mark had been sick and didn’t know how to ask for help… and she took that hard.
Even her brother, Joshua, had no idea that Mark was still using drugs. Joshua had confronted his friend back in high school and had been told by Mark that he quit. The lies had obviously compounded. It explained the lost jobs, the living paycheck to paycheck, and why he insisted on keeping the checkbook himself. He wanted control so he could use anything extra in their account for his next hit, his next high…
Hitting reply, seething that someone had passed along her email address without her knowledge, June began to type.
Hello Mr. Selkirk,
I apologize that there may be some miscommunication, but I have never had a pen pal… nor am I sure how to communicate with one. I know it’s just letters between two people – but the idea never crossed my mind. I’m busy. The idea of just sitting down and casually writing a letter seems… odd and a waste of my time.
College basketball is good, I suppose? – But that isn’t a basis for suddenly striking up a friendship with a perfect stranger. I’ve seen the news, and have no wish to be a statistic.
I need a lot more information from you – including, how did you get my email address?
I mean, seriously, who are you?
Sincerely,
June
June clicked send and got up from her computer, shaking her head in disbelief and confusion. Once she got to the car, she was going to call her mother to see if she had arranged this whole fiasco like the last one.
Last time, her parents had invited June over for dinner on Saturday night and she had a showing already scheduled, passing on the invitation. She also happened to ‘blab’ that she was going to stop bySticks, a sushi restaurant in Tyler that she loved dearly, to pick up dinner before heading home.
She’d closed a deal and wanted to celebrate… only to have some man show up, claiming to be her ‘blind date from Mary Ellen’.
Her mother.
Her mother always tried to fix her up, pair her with someone, or give her pep-talks so she would ‘get out and meet a nice boy’. Why did she have to meet a ‘nice boy’? Why wasn’t it enough to just be ‘okay’ anymore?
Sliding into her beautiful Mercedes-Benz AMG GLE class vehicle, she sighed in sheer luxury. The white leather and sleek black exterior were ridiculously expensive, but oh-so nice to drive. The dash had a strip of grey burled wood, and it was spotless.
Starting it up, she called her mom.
“Hey Sweetie, are you in the car?”
“Yup. On my way over to Yonder to meet with a client.”
“Knock ’em dead, baby,” her mother cheered and then paused. “Is something wrong?”
“You tell me…”
“Junie, let’s not play these trivial mental games like Joshua does. I mean, do the two of you have to be so similar sometimes? I swear you are more like your father every day. Being married to him is like playing chess in my mind on a daily basis. Sometimes an apple is just an apple… you know?”
“Fine. We’ll do this your way. Did you set me up again?”
“Set you up with what?”
“You know…”
“Actually, Junie, no I don’t. What happened? I haven’t done anything, not since the last time when you blew up and wouldn’t talk to me for three days.”
“Because that wasn’t funny, Mom…” she snapped. “Do you know how freaked out I was having some pencil-necked geek following me around, spouting off all these facts ‘because he knew all about me from my parents’and was already falling for me? Mom – I don’t need someone in my life. I’m content with being alone, and really don’t want the drama that comes with being in a relationship.”
“Junie – I said I was sorry about Mario…”
