These Foolish Things (26 page)

“May I use your phone book?” The girl rummaged under the
counter and produced it. Liz turned to the name of a truck rental company
nearby. Millie returned with Liz’s purse as she connected to the rental agency.

“Hi. What do you have available right now?” As she talked to
the dispatcher, Liz fished out her wallet and handed a credit card to the desk
clerk. One of hers, not Ty’s.

“Let’s see, I have mostly clothing, some kitchen ware and a
couple of pictures and a fairly small amount of furniture.” A pause. “That sounds
good. I’ll need boxes, too.” The desk clerk slid the credit card slip across
the desk for Liz’s signature. As Liz signed, she concluded negotiations for the
truck. “Elizabeth Gardner. We’ll be there in 10-15 minutes.” She hung up and
handed the phone to Millie. “Millie, he lied to me.” Liz said the words
quietly, tonelessly.

“He told me he was scratching Beanie’s stomach while I was
paying to put him to sleep. That’s it. We’re over.”

Millie punched up a number on speed dial. “Hi, Sweetheart,
it’s me. Listen, can you drop whatever you’re doing and meet us at Ty’s house?”
Millie’s choice of words was not lost on Liz. “Great, see you in about a half
hour.”

They headed for the car in silence and drove to the truck
rental agency in silence. Their only conversation there was a discussion of the
size and number of boxes needed.

On leaving, Liz lead in the truck, Millie followed and they
met John coming into the driveway, followed by Joey DiDonato’s car. Liz parked
the truck and swung down from the cab. Joey saw the question on her face.

“Millie called me. Let’s go. Let’s get this done.”

Liz looked at her friends, “Look, this is between Ty and me
so resist the urge to give him a piece of your mind.

“Guys, please get my computer and books. Millie, you know my
kitchen stuff, including the cookbooks. I’ll start with the bathroom.” Liz’s
throat tightened. “Don’t forget Beanie’s things.” They entered the house.
Millie and John headed off to their assignments, Joey headed down the hall
towards the den, where a TV blared. Before heading for the den herself, Liz had
a quick look at Beanie’s feeding area. His food dish was completely empty, not
even crumbs around it and the water dish was bone dry. No wonder he’d been out
hunting. She steeled herself and headed down the hallway towards the den. Joey
met her in the hall and stopped her.

“Liz, I took a quick look. It looks like a crack den in
there. Brace yourself.” He gave her a quick hug. “We’ll get you through this.” He
headed upstairs and Liz entered the den. She was appalled by what she found.

The room reeked of stale beer, cigarette smoke and body
odor. Bottles in a variety of shapes and sizes littered the room, all of them
had contained types of alcohol at some point. The coffee table held an
assortment of Chinese food cartons, some had tipped over and spilled over onto
the beautiful green marble of the coffee table then dripped into stains on Ty’s
treasured rug. The rug’s beauty was also spoiled by cigarette burns, ashes and
used butts. Someone had taken the framed enlarged picture of Ty and Liz from
their first date and set it up on the coffee table, along with a photo of Liz
holding Beanie and smiling. Hidden behind the photos was the antique mirror
from the hallway. There were lines of white powder neatly chopped out on the
mirror, a razor blade, a straw and a crumpled piece of paper. There was an
overflowing ashtray hiding the mirror as well. Jimmy had apparently just done a
line because he was sniffing hard and surreptitiously watching Ty to see if he
had noticed.

“There, see? I set up her pictures in front of you so you
won’t miss ol’ Lizzie so much there, Ty,” Jimmy said with a phony smile on his
face.

Liz could hardly keep from throttling him. Liz watched him
dip two fingers into a glass on the table and inhale the droplets, all the time
watching an old college football game on cable. The hand not stuck up his nose
held a cigarette with a dangerously long ash. As she watched, Jimmy picked up
the glass from the table and took a big swallow. She wondered idly if he’d still
been doing coke the whole time he was supposed to be clean.

Liz looked around. Ty was sprawled on the other sofa, a
large glass of Scotch in hand. The glass was on the verge of spilling onto the
carpet. Liz looked at him from the door. He was wearing the same clothes he’d
had on when he’d gone to work two days ago. His hair looked greasy and matted.
Ty had a dark stubble across his face; Liz doubted if he had shaved in the last
48 hours. Or slept. Or really eaten. He turned his head to say something to
Jimmy and Liz saw the puffiness under his eyes. In turning, the Scotch finally
spilled onto the rug. Ty sat up, cursing. As he reached for the Scotch bottle
to refill his glass, he noticed Liz leaning against the doorway.

“Lizabeth! My Love! C’mere!” He waved her over unsteadily.
She came closer, but stayed out of his reach. This seemed to penetrate Ty’s
alcoholic fog because he looked at her as intently as he could.

“Victory party,” he said.

“I see. Pickup or delivery?” Liz asked, motioning to the
cartons. Well, now she knew how Beanie had escaped.

Jimmy answered, “Livery. We’re in no shape to drive.” Both
men found this hilarious.

“The new Emperor of China there, ol’ Ty Wan On,” Jimmy was
delighted with his own wit.

“Where’s Beanie? He didn’t greet me at the door.”

“I haven’t seen that damn cat since the Chinese food came,” said
Jimmy. He swallowed some more vodka. “I think that furry little shit hates me.”

Ty swallowed some Scotch. “He’s prob’ly asleep upstairs.” He
tried to look meaningfully at Liz. “We should be there, too.”

Liz pretended to look shocked. “Beanie? Asleep? With an
unguarded box of spare ribs in the house? He must be dead to the world. Are you
sure he didn’t get out when the delivery came?”

Ty paused in the act of drinking again. He stared at the
table. “You’re right.” He set down the glass instead of drinking.

Liz looked into Ty’s bloodshot eyes. She could see awareness
dawning. Liz walked to the table and picked up the Scotch bottle. Grabbing the
neck, Liz swung down onto the marble table, shattering the bottle.

“Fuck, Man!” from Jimmy.

“Here,” she forced the neck of the bottle into Ty’s hand,
the jagged edges still dripping Scotch. “You want to kill yourself with a
bottle, Hadley, I suggest you slit your wrists with it. It’s far more efficient
than the way you’re going about it. Just wait ‘til I leave, okay? I’ve already
cleaned up one of your messes today.” Liz turned and left. She could hear Jimmy
in the background.

“Crazy, fuckin’ bitch.”

Liz ran for the stairs, bolting for the bedroom. She could
feel her heart breaking.

Liz grabbed suitcases and flung the contents of her closet
into them. She was doing the same with the bureau drawers when a pair of hands
grabbed her and flung her onto the bed. Liz tried to scramble back up only to
find herself pinned under Jimmy.

“All right,” he said, “Now we’re gonna see what’s what. I
figure you gotta be really somethin’ between the sheets if ol’ Ty wants you.” He
tried to kiss her. Liz twisted her face away and tried to gouge his face with
her fingernails. Jimmy pinned her arms down and laughed.

“Ooooh, rough stuff. Hey, works for me.” He released one of
her arms to grab her hair and force her head still for a slobbery kiss. Liz
twisted again, ignoring the intense pain from her scalp and screamed, “TY!
Where are you?”

Jimmy slapped her across the face with all his strength. Liz
tasted blood from a cut on her lip.

Jimmy laughed, “He ain’t comin,’ Lizzie Baby. So why don’t
you relax and go with it.” He straddled her, letting go of her right hand to
grab at her sweatshirt. “Hell, you might even like me better than ol’ Tai Wan
On.”

“NO!”

Jimmy pulled his arm back to hit her again and Liz seized
the opportunity. She smashed the heel of her right hand into his nose, years of
suppressed rage driving her arm so hard, his head snapped back and Liz heard
bone crunch. As he grabbed his broken nose, Liz pushed him off of her and
scrambled to safety.

“FUCKING BITCH!!! YOU’RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!” Jimmy made a
move towards her, only to be hauled off his feet by Joey and thrown into the
hallway. Jimmy made an attempt to get back to Liz, finding his way blocked by
John and Joey’s big bodies.

“Get out,” snarled Joe. “Get out or I’ll throw you out the
goddamn window.”

John added, “Then I’ll drag your sorry ass back up here to
do it again.”

Jimmy tried again to get back at Liz, but Joey grabbed his
arm and yanked a bag of cocaine out of Jimmy’s pocket and tossed it to John.

“Gimme that!” Jimmy screamed.

“Leave now and we’ll flush it,” said Joey evenly, “Don’t
leave and John, the Assistant DA there will have you on possession with intent
as well as an attempted rape charge. You can see if your cell mate likes it
rough.”

Jimmy looked for a minute like he was going to challenge the
other men, but changed his mind. Blood was flowing freely from his nose. John
took a step forward and he changed his mind.

As Jimmy stumbled downstairs, he collided with Ty who tried
to pin him to the wall. Jimmy easily broke his grasp and shoved Ty out of his
way.

“Your fucking girlfriend broke my fucking nose!”

As Ty entered the bedroom, sounds of a gunning engine and
squealing tires reached the group upstairs. Ty slumped against the doorway and
took in the scene.

Joey was holding a sobbing, bloodstained Liz while John and
Millie were filling boxes with the items of hers that they recognized. Ty
stumbled forward, trying to push Joey away from Liz. Joey pushed him back and
Ty’s face darkened with drunken rage.

“I knew it! You were with him all weekend, weren’t you? My
ass, he’s like your brother. Now you’re runnin’ off with him. Christ,
Elizabeth, I thought I could trust you. God damn it!”

Joey started to move towards Ty, but Liz stopped him.
“That’s not true and you know it!”

“So, why you leavin’?” Ty was still angry and confused.

“Because I can’t live like this anymore, Ty,” Liz could feel
more tears rising.

Ty looked around and snorted, “Yeah, you’ve got it real bad,
Baby. Big house, new car, anything you want. Shit, you’re just like my mother
running off.”

“Yeah, well you’re just like your father, Tyrone. Success
demands sacrifice and I guess it was our relationship that had to go,” snapped
Liz, “that and Beanie.” She almost broke down again.

Ty blinked at her. “What? What are you talking about? What
happened to Beanie?” He looked at her sweatshirt and really saw the bloodstains
for the first time.

Liz rummaged in her purse and thrust Beanie’s collar and the
vet clinic invoice into his hand. “You were so busy getting plastered with your
pal that you let Beanie escape. I found him dying in the street.”

She saw the anger take control. Ty turned and smashed his
right fist into the wall, punching a hole through the sheet rock. Liz caught
her breath at the violence.

“Was that supposed to be my face, Ty?” she asked.

Ty pulled his hand out of the wall and sagged against the
door frame. He stared at her through bloodshot eyes, comprehension slowly
rising. “What have I done?” he said hoarsely.

“Shown me why I’m right,” said Liz, “you can either have me
or your Scotch: not both.”

John and Millie looked at her. Liz jerked her head towards
the door. Joe followed, pausing just long enough to ask, “Liz, you gonna be
okay?”

“I’ll be downstairs in a few, Joey, just as soon as I finish
this,” she said.

Joey looked at Ty and shook his head. “You need help, Man,” he
said. He pulled a card out of his wallet and stuck it into Ty’s shirt pocket.
“If you’re as smart as I think you are, you’ll call this number tonight.” He
took a step forward and pointed a finger in Ty’s face. “And if you come near
Liz again, I’ll fucking finish you. I don’t care how much she loves you.” He
left.

Liz looked at Ty. She was still shaking from the encounter
with Jimmy, in shock over Beanie’s death and ready to collapse. But she
couldn’t fold. Not yet. She took a deep breath.

“Don’t leave me, Liz,” Ty pleaded, “I need you. Please don’t
leave.”

“We’re done. I can’t fight a bottle. And I can’t watch you
drink yourself to death, either.” Ty made a move towards her, but Liz held up
her hand and he stopped.

“I can’t do this anymore. You said I could have anything I
want. Well, I want the man I fell in love with. I want the man who followed me
all the way down to the Cape because my love was that important to him. I want
the man who made me feel beautiful and desired and loved for the first time in
my life. But he’s not here anymore. So there’s no reason for me to stay, either.”

Liz picked up her purse and started to pass by Ty. She
paused, went to kiss his cheek and stopped. No, she couldn’t do it. Her eyes
met his briefly, both brimming with pain. She turned away, then walked out of
the house and away from Ty.

The doorbell rang. Liz paused to catch her breath. Damn it.
The bell rang again and she headed for the door, viciously stripping off her
rubber gloves and throwing them into the kitchen sink. She was in a foul mood.
Another round of nightmares had awakened Liz before dawn, leaving her sitting
up in bed, gasping and crying. It had been two months and part of her still
expected Ty to pull her into his arms to hold her and kiss away the tears. And
she’d cry even more.

Liz still blocked the front door as she came and went, only
to remember that Beanie wouldn’t try to escape ever again. She needed him now,
needed his playfulness and affection to ease her heartache. His absence was
part of her heartache and a part that made it even more painful.