The Denver Cereal (17 page)

Jill curled her lip in
disgust. “Trevor is such a weirdo. Everything is someone else’s
fault. Trevor never makes a choice and is never, ever
wrong.”

“
I know plenty of men like
that,” Valerie said. “But Jill, you have to know a few things so
you can be prepared.”

Jill nodded.

“
First, Jake had no idea
you were our stepsister’s fiancé’s anything. In his boy mind, you
lived on a whole other planet than them. He knew our stepsister was
serious about someone through our father. Jake promised Dad he
would pay for the girls’ weddings. So Dad let him know she thought
she might get married soon.”

“
Huh,” Jill said. “Jake
paid for the engagement party.”

“
Jake paid for the
engagement party.”

“
I wondered because no one
expected to get paid . . . for their work, you know?
Because of me. But everyone got checks. That was Jake.”

“
That was Jake. He wasn’t
going to go to the engagement party, but Delphie talked him into
going. He brought some friends along to keep him company. He
figured he would hang out with his friends, write a check, and go
home.”

“
Dr. Drayson said he was
at the party. He helped us at the hospital.”

“
John’s married to Alex
Hargreaves. Our lawyer, Max, is Alex’s identical twin.”

“
Twins? Really?” Jill
said. “Wait. I know them. They come into Pete’s. I call them ‘my
lucky twins.’ Brown hair, big eyes, tall but very thin?”

“
That’s them. They’re kind
of hard to miss.”

“
Are you friends with
them? They’re like the Catholic elite here in Denver. Their brother
Colin testified this morning at the restraining order hearing and
their dad helped find me in Costa Rica. Anyway, I like them, but
I’m a little intimidated by them.” Jill blushed and looked down.
“But then . . .”

“
What?”

“
I was terrified to meet
you! I watch
Our Loves, Our Lives
whenever I can. Candy, my sister, tapes it for
me. She watches it for Mike. We’d do anything for Mike. Then we got
hooked. Candy’s a pastry chef because of Mike. Oh!”

Jill put her hand over her
open mouth. Valerie smiled.

“
Putting things
together?”

Jill nodded. “You paid for
Candy’s school after Mike died.”

“
I promised Mike I would
always take care of his family. I tried to get you to go to
college, but Meg said Trevor took your first semester
tuition.”

Jill nodded.

“
We have to talk about
Jake,” Valerie said.

“
Okay,” Jill
said.

“
Jake didn’t know you were
divorced until he came to the apartment right after the New Year.
The owner was going to tear the building down and sell the lot.
Jake came by to see if he wanted to refurbish the
building.”

“
This place?” Jill looked
surprised. “There’s nothing here a wrecking ball wouldn’t
fix.”

“
Exactly. But Jake gets
called because he pays top dollar and saves owners a lot of
hassles. Anyway, he had just finished touring the building when you
came home from the market. You were bawling in your car. The
elderly lady who lives on the first floor saw Jake gawking at
you.”

“
Mrs. Robinson,” Jill
said. “She’s a menace but has a big heart.”

“
She told Jake your
husband divorced you the day before, leaving you penniless with a
baby. That’s how he found out. But he didn’t know that your husband
was marrying our stepsister.”

“
Why do you keep saying
that?”

“
Because Trevor is going
to say Jake knew about it all along.”

“
Oh, I see. He was just
waiting to pounce at the engagement party. For a pouncer, he was
very . . . sweet.”

“
Jake’s very sweet.
Anyway, Jake carried your groceries up to your apartment that day.
You don’t remember?”

“
Those days are a complete
blur. I remember some guy, but when I went to thank him he was
gone.” Jill’s face flushed with the memory of those painful days.
“Trevor came that day for his stuff . . . He took
the car. Oh. You’re saying Trevor saw Jacob.”

“
He must have,” Valerie
said.

“
Oh,” Jill
said.

“
Jake bought the building
so you wouldn’t have to move. He thought losing your home would
send you over the edge.”

“
Jacob’s the new owner?
Really?” Jill chuckled. “He fixed my dishwasher. We’ve lived here
five years and the dishwasher has never worked. Huh. Mrs. Robinson
told everyone I was the reason we didn’t have to move but I thought
she was just a crazy old nuisance.”

“
She was right,” Valerie
said.

“
But Valerie, what
happened this morning?”

~~~~~~~~

“
He says to me that he’ll
tell Jill I set everything up so I could fuck her and dump her.
Another bitch on my list. Because that’s how guys like me
operate.”

Mike tugged his side of
the window. The window slid across the paper-wrapped sill. They set
the window onto the floor. Jacob went to work on the next
window.

“
I thought you were
gay.”

“
Oh, that too. I gave her
AIDS.”

“
I told you he was awful,”
Mike said. “Did he go off when he got the restraining
order?”

“
I’ve never seen anyone
get like that. Ever. We left the room.” Jacob set his tool down to
wipe the dust from the wood. “How did the hearing go?”

“
Did you know Colin works
for Homeland Security now?”

“
I thought he still worked
at the bakery,” Jacob said.

“
Colin gets up there and
describes in detail exactly what Trevor said and did. The judge
signed the order right there.” Mike laughed. “Trevor’s going to
have a hard time going against a Homeland fucking Security senior
agent.”

“
There’s some good news. I
can’t imagine having to deal with Trevor . . .
ever . . . let alone every day.”

Jacob shook his head and
returned to popping the trim from around the window.

“
So what got to you?” Mike
asked.

“
Valerie
called?”

“
No,” Mike said. “I came
to put another coat of varnish on the railing and found you here. I
thought you’d be with Jill and Katy. You guys seemed pretty hot
this morning.”

“
I have to take these
windows out,” Jacob said.

He yanked off the last
piece of trim. Mike stepped forward to help pull the window from
the sill. Mike set his end down and pointed to a rotten area of the
frame.

“
I have a piece that will
match,” Jacob said.

“
What did Trevy say that
got to you?” Mike asked again.

“
He told me he was going
to tell Jill that I was responsible for all of this. Even Scooter!
I took Scooter from them to make him look bad. She would believe
him because she belongs to him. She will always love him and only
him. He said . . . He said their souls are joined.
Trevor owns her soul. But it wasn’t what he said as much
as . . . “

“
The confidence he had
when he said it? Yeah, that’s how those guys were in Afghanistan. I
mean, logically I knew they were lying. Val would never forget me
or give up. I knew someone someday would come for me. But they were
so sure, so confident in what they were saying . . .
I . . . I believed them.”

“
Right.”

They pulled the last
window in silence.

“
What are you going to
do?” Mike asked when they set the last window down.

“
Kill myself?”

Mike laughed. “Come on,
lover boy. I brought a work truck. Let’s load up these windows.
You’re taking them to the workshop?”

“
To the window shop. They
need to measure the frames to make the double panes,” Jacob
said.

“
Ok, let’s call the girls
and tell them we’ll bring lunch,” Mike said.

Jacob nodded. “Valerie
said to take a shower.”

“
Oh well, you wouldn’t
want to wash off the stench of Jill would you?”

Jacob laughed.

~~~~~~~~

“
But why would Trevor say
all of that?” Jill asked. “I . . . We’re divorced.
He hasn’t wanted to have anything to do with me or Katy since the
day he left.”

“
He found out his rich
wife is only worth about forty grand a year,” Valerie said. “Now
she’s lost her trust because she violated the confidentiality
agreement. But Jacob won’t follow through on that.”

“
Why? Because she’s
pregnant?”

“
How did you know?”
Valerie said. “I was afraid to tell you.”

“
Oh, I know the man.” Jill
waved her hand in the air as if having a baby was like swatting a
fly. “We were in high school and he wanted a baby. I’m the only
reason we don’t have fifty. Children are things, possessions, toys,
not living, growing beings. Speaking of which, I need to give Katy
her medicine. I’ll be right back.”

Valerie nodded her
head.

“
I mean, you can come and
meet Katy. I’m sure she wants to meet you. She’s just still very
sick.”

Following Jill into the
apartment, Valerie marveled at the way Jill had made everything
feel like home. She watched Jill wake Katy and negotiate the
medicine. Half asleep, Katy took the meds, then let Jill kiss her
before falling back to sleep.

“
I think she’s happy to be
home,” Jill whispered.

“
There’s no place like
it,” Valerie said.

Jill smiled. They refilled
their water glasses and returned to the balcony.

“
I’ll tell you this,
Valerie. I’ve never told a soul. I knew he was with someone else. I
refused to believe it, but I knew it. And when he gave me the
divorce papers? We were in bed, of course.”

“
You mean he asked you for
a divorce after you . . .?”

“
Yeah,” Jill said. “When
he gave me the papers, the first feeling I felt was relief. Sheer
relief. Stupidly, I signed them right there. My lawyer will never
let me forget that stupid act. But Trevor? He was stunned. I took a
shower. When I got out, he was gone. I’ll tell you — I cleaned this
place of every single item he owned. Everything. I would have
chucked it, but I knew he’d throw a fit. He filed the papers and
then came here! He expected to spend the night here!”

Jill laughed.

“
What
happened?”

“
The manager threw him
out. I . . . You know, Delphie said this morning
that I know the truth when I hear it. And she’s right. I might not
always know a lie, but I always know the truth. I know you’re
telling me the truth, Val. Can I call you Val?”

Valerie nodded.

“
Trevor said, that day
after New Year’s and after he fucked me, he said, ‘You and Katy are
better off without me,’ and I knew it was true.”

Valerie smiled. No wonder
her mother loved Jill.

“
When do you think Jacob’s
coming back?”

Dread is a five-letter word

“
I know, can you believe
that crap? It’s that Valerie Lipson. I mean, who cares?” Sandy was
saying as Jill opened the door to the apartment. “Hi, honey. How’s
our Katy?”

“
Asleep,” Jill said.
Hoping to silence her friend, Jill held her arms out for a hug.
Sandy hugged her.

“
Oh, I know! She’s a total
D-lister,” Heather said. “Hey, Jill, did you see the paparazzi
around that mansion? The radio says it’s that soap slut Valerie
Lipson. You know, ‘Denver’s own star.’”

“
What’s she doing?”
Tanesha asked. “Taking her clothes off again?”

The girlfriends
laughed.

“
Hi, you guys,” Jill said.
“Why don’t you come in and meet my brother’s wife?”

Stepping out of the
doorway, she raised her eyebrows in a “shut up” look. Her friends
were so caught up in their world that they missed her
signal.

“
You know what Perez
says . . .” Heather started. Her mouth fell open
when she saw Valerie standing in the living room. “What?
What?”

Heather stopped walking so
suddenly that Sandy and Tanesha bumped into her.

“
You’re right. I’m a total
D-lister.” Valerie shrugged. “I don’t have any idea why anyone
would give a shit what I do.”

The women gawked at
Valerie.

“
I’m Val,” Valerie
said.

“
Here’s my question,”
Tanesha said. “Why would you work porn? I mean your daddy’s rich.
Was it like a phase or some rebellion?”

“
I never worked porn,”
Valerie said. “Listen, you came to see Jill and Katy. I can
just . . .”

“
No,” Jill said. “I’m not
going to kick Valerie out because you guys are being rude. Knock it
off.”