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McCall:That’s the great fact you’re going to tell her about the man you’ve become? One-handed solitaire?
Booker:I’ve been laid up for weeks, other than texting the two of you, it’s the only way I can pass the time. My mom commandeered the TV in my room. She’d gotten really into some soap opera that doesn’t even have subtitles.
McCall:All right. I’ll drop off the cards. But I’m also getting her some whiskey to go with it.
Booker:I appreciate it.
McCall:I’m getting me some too. On your tab.
Booker:That’s more than fair.
Macie + Booker
Macie:One-handed solitaire.
Booker:It’s addicting.
Macie:You aren’t wrong. And the whiskey, from the night we got drunk with McCall on the football field.
Booker:I can’t take credit for the whiskey. McCall picked it out. He said a deck of cards was a dumb gift.
Macie:I like knowing how you pass your days. Even if it’s one-handed solitaire. We never played card games together. I don’t think I ever saw you play anything besides football and dominos. So it’s new. It’s who you are now.
Booker:I also read a lot. I wasn’t big on reading in high school. But I’ve learned to appreciate a good book.
Macie:How are you feeling? Any news on when you’ll be able to come home?
Booker:They’re thinking next week some time. I’m feeling pretty good. I’m not hooked up to any wires, tubes, or machines anymore. I can move around my room. My mom has even started spending her nights at a hotel nearby.
Macie:Your sweet momma. I bet she was beside herself.
Booker:She was, but she’s calmed down now that I’m out of the woods.
Macie:She’s at the hotel right now?
Booker:Yeah, why?
Macie:I have some questions about the man you are now. I figured it might be weird answering them with your mom in the room.
Booker:Go for it, baby.
Macie:I know you said there haven’t been any other women in your life, but does that mean that I was the last person you had sex with? Or does that mean you never dated anyone else?
Booker:I kissed one other girl, once. At a bar when we were on leave. It was about a year ago. It was a mistake, and I regretted it instantly. All it made me feel was how much I still missed you.
Macie:That’s it? In four years?
Booker:Well, for about the first year, I was convinced you and I were still together. After that I was too torn up, realizing you thought I abandoned you. Then I thought okay, we can each move on until I can get back home. And one kiss showed me that there was no one for me but you.
Macie:Are you going to ask me if there’s been anyone else?
Booker:I did ask you. You told me I didn’t have the right.
Macie:You didn’t.
Booker:But now I do?
Macie:I don’t know, Booker, I really don’t. But I feel compelled to tell you either way.
