Rick accepted Jesse one hundred percent. And Jesse still loved his mother. Coco wondered why blood ties were so strong, and how it was that sexual bonds between a man and a woman could be so weak by comparison. It seemed to her that blood ties could easily break down walls of hatred, and sometimes that they could almost make time stand still.
She was a little ashamed of herself for having told Jesse he knew nothing about women. Perhaps there was nothing more straightforward than the love between a man and a woman, and if that love was a physical love, a sexual love, two people could forgive each other anything.
For that reason Coco thought that if Jesse were a grown man and she were having a sexual relationship with him, then most of these problems wouldn’t even exist. Right now she needed a man. She needed a man’s body. A man to console her, a man to take her in his arms and comfort her.
“Someone’s at the door!”
The sound of Jesse’s voice brought Coco back down to earth again and she hurried to the door. There was Greg, her old boyfriend, standing on the doorstep looking sheepish.
“How did you find me? How did you know I was here?” she asked.
“Hey,” he shot back. “I’m the one with the questions. I thought we were friends, but I had to hear it from Kay that you had become a mother.”
It was typical of Greg to turn up out of the blue like this when she was feeling so down.
Coco invited him in.
“I hear you’re having a hard time with the kid.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Okay, just leave it to me. I’m a dad myself now.”
“I didn’t know you had a kid!”
“Sure, I even had to marry the mother in the end!”
Greg smiled and gave her a wink. Instantly, Coco began to feel at ease
“Hey, man, how ya doin’?” Greg called out in greeting to Jesse.
Jesse looked apprehensively at Greg’s large, muscular frame. Coco couldn’t help laughing to herself as she went into the kitchen to make them some drinks. Jesse’s usual tough-guy routine had suddenly vanished—he couldn’t get away with it in front of someone like Greg.
Greg’s size belied a relaxed, laid-back manner, and he was one of the few men Coco enjoyed spending time with even after they had split up.
When she came back with the drinks, the two were companionably en-grossed in a TV game. Whenever Jesse swore at him, Greg just roughed up his hair and swore back. It was the first time Coco had seen Jesse this happy, and the first time she had actually seen him behaving like a normal child.
Coco smiled as she watched the two concentrating on their game.
Anybody who saw them might mistake them for a close, happy family, when they really didn’t know each other at all. There were no blood ties between any of them, and the only link between Greg and Coco was their feelings for each other.
Coco felt as though she had been rescued.
“Okay, I think it’s time for all good children to be in bed,” said Greg finally. “How about you go brush your teeth?”
Jesse didn’t look too happy about it, but Greg moved over to the table and sat down with Coco.
“He’s just a normal boy,” he said when Jesse had gone.
“Greg, you’ve just met him for the first time today. That’s why you think he’s normal. But I’m with him every day, and he’s not like this most of the time. I can’t sit and play video games with him all day, can I?”
“Like I said, he’s just a normal boy. He’s just sulking,” said Greg, savoring his glass of Crown Royal. Coco remembered how much he loved that particular whiskey, and how, when they were together, she automatically poured him a glass when he came by to see her.
“I find it really easy to fall in love with guys,” she confessed. “And sex just seems to solve so many problems—after sex, a lot of the crap just disappears.”
“But you don’t need sex in a relationship for it to be good, do you?”
he replied, glancing up at her. “Take us, for example. You still enjoy being with me, don’t you?”
Coco paused for a second, then nodded.
“And since we split up, you and I haven’t made love, but from time to time when I think about you I start smiling and I just can’t stop.”
Coco burst out laughing.
“Greg—you’re still in love with me, aren’t you!”
“Of course I am,” he replied. “Platonic love is such a sad thing.”
The whiskey was making Coco feel warm and relaxed.
She laughed and said, “I love you, too.”
“Thanks,” said Greg. “Hey, why not show the kid a bit of love, too?
Love him like a brother, the same way you love me?”
It was a new way of looking at the situation. Greg had always had the ability both to surprise and delight Coco with his spin on life. It was one of his talents.
By this time she was feeling much better. She knew how lucky she was to have a good friend like Greg so close by.
They laughed and drank together till it was late, talking about their friends and their jobs. To Coco it felt as though it had been a long time since she had been this happy, and she thought how much more fun they might have if they could finish the evening by falling into bed together.
But as soon as the thought entered her head she realized it was wrong, and she crossed her legs tightly, defending herself from her urge to move closer to him.
It was obvious that Greg knew Coco was interested, but he pretended he didn’t notice, so they sat together all evening, just enjoying each other s company until it was time for him to leave.
At the door, as he was about to say good-bye, Greg had the same sheepish look on his face he’d had when he had arrived earlier that evening.
“Even if it has to be platonic love, we’re still allowed to kiss each other, aren’t we?” he suggested with a grin.
Coco realized that he had seen through her attempt to disguise her feelings for him, and she felt her face burning with embarrassment. She tried to think of something to say, but before she could open her mouth she felt Greg’s lips pressed tightly against her own.
They kissed each other passionately, hungrily, and it was several minutes before they managed to pull themselves apart.
“I wonder if this is against the rules?” he asked her, and he chuckled to himself as he turned to leave.
Coco stood at the door and waved good-bye to Greg. She didn’t feel even the slightest bit guilty. The whiskey was still spinning around in her head, making her feel dizzy and a little tired, but it was a nice feeling. She tried to be serious but a dirty smile came over her face, embarrassing her even more, and she found herself chuckling as she closed the door behind her.
Coco screamed. Jesse was standing there pointing a gun at her.
For a moment she was paralyzed with fear and couldn’t say a words but she quickly realized that the pistol was just a toy.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she yelled. “Don’t frighten me like that, do you hear?”
Jesse stood motionless in front of her, his lips taut with rage, and he glared at her through narrow eyes, accentuating his Japanese features.
“Put the damn gun down, will you! I don’t like it.”
“What did you do?” demanded Jesse menacingly.
“What?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about, you bitch!”