I looked at him and smiled. “Get out of here, and go call Gretchen. She thinks you’re hot, but don’t tell her I said that.”
Sam winked at me and laughed as he left my apartment.
3
Luke
I was sitting on the couch when Sam came through the door and started in on me. “What the hell’s your problem, Luke?”
I looked at him as I took a sip of my coffee. “What the hell are you talking about, Sam?”
“You know what I’m talking about. Why do you have to be such an asshole to Lily?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said as I got up and walked to my bedroom.
Sam followed behind me. “Bullshit! You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Leave me alone, Sam,” I warned.
He walked out of my room and went into the bathroom, mumbling under his breath. I opened my drawer and noticed it was almost empty. Looking over to the corner of my bedroom, I noticed my laundry basket was heaping with dirty clothes. I can’t even remember the last time I did laundry. I picked up some clothes that were lying on the floor and shoved them into the basket. I picked up the basket and set it by the front door while I went to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. Sam came out of the bathroom just as I was walking out the door.
“By the way, Lily thought you were gay!” he shouted.
I stopped and put the laundry basket down. I turned around and looked at Sam. “What do you mean she thought I was gay?”
“What part of ‘she thought you were gay’ did you not understand?” He smirked.
I rolled my eyes, shut the door, picked up the laundry basket, and I headed down the hall to the laundry room. As I approached the doorway, I saw Lily putting clothes into the washer. She saw me and stopped what she was doing.
“Hi, do you need to use this?” she asked while pointing to the washer.
“Yeah, but it’s fine, I can do laundry another time,” I replied.
I couldn’t stop thinking about how I was an asshole to her this morning and how she must have mentioned it to Sam, otherwise he wouldn’t have went off on me like he did.
“You can throw some of your clothes in with mine. We can split the cost.” she offered.
“Didn’t you just move in yesterday?” I asked.
“A couple of days of ago,” she replied.
“If you just moved here, why are you already doing laundry?”
She looked at me with anger in her eyes. “I didn’t do—hell, just forget it. It’s all yours,” she said as she took her things out of the washer and stormed out of the laundry room.
I didn’t say anything wrong, so I don’t know why she got so upset, but it didn’t matter anyway; I didn’t care. I threw my clothes into the washer, started it, and headed back to my apartment. As I opened the door, Charley came running to me.
“Uncle Luke, look what my mom bought me!” she said as she showed me her silver butterfly bracelet.
“Wow, that’s beautiful.” I smiled and gave her a kiss on her head.
“She bought it for me as a present for my first day of school tomorrow.”
“That’s really pretty, peanut,” I said as I put her down. “Where’s your mom, Charley?” I asked as I didn’t see her around the apartment.
“She went to the store. She asked Uncle Sammy if he could keep an eye on me until you came back from doing laundry.”
My sister, Maddie, is a single mom, and Charlene, or Charley as we call her, is her nine-year-old daughter. They live in one of the apartments upstairs. Her so-called dad, who denied he was the father from the start, until a paternity test proved Charley was his, comes around every couple of years. He doesn’t pay child support; he doesn’t call her on her birthday, Christmas, or Easter. He’s nothing but a dead beat dad, and I wish my sister would get him to sign over his parental rights. He’s not a good influence for Charley, and I won’t stand by and let him ruin her life.
“Hey, Charley, why don’t you go take your crayons and paper over to the dining table and color me a pretty picture? I need to talk to your Uncle Luke for a minute,” Sam said.
I walked to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. I took off the cap and flung it at him. He caught it in his hand like he always does. I swear that boy should have been a baseball player. I think he missed his calling in life. I walked over to the couch, sat down, and put my feet up on the coffee table.
“I realized something today, and I want you to know about it,” Sam said.
“Yeah, what did you realize, Sam?” I asked, staring at the TV.
“I remember while growing up, my sister would come home crying because some of the boys were being mean to her.”
I looked over at him as I took a drink of my beer. “Yeah, and what’s your point?”
“I remember my mom telling her the only reason they were mean to her was because they liked her, and they didn’t know how to express it because they were scared.”
“Is there a point to you telling me this story, Sam?” I asked.
“Yes, Luke, there is. My point is that I think you have an attraction to Lily, and that’s why you’re acting like you are towards her.”
“Jesus Christ, Sam, do you listen to yourself? You have no idea what you’re talking about!” I spat as I got up from the couch.
“Luke, it’s been a year since Callie—”
“Stop! Don’t you ever say her name again!” I yelled.
Suddenly, I felt someone tugging on my jeans. “Uncle Luke, why are you yelling?”
I looked at Sam and shook my head. I bent down and put my hands on Charley’s shoulders.
“I’m not yelling, peanut; I just raised my voice by accident. I’m sorry.”
“Mommy always says to use your inside voice when you’re indoors.”
“I know, and I will; I promise. Now, go back over there and finish coloring that pretty picture.” I smiled as I kissed the top of her head.
“Look, man, I’m sorry I upset you, but Lily’s a real nice girl, and she doesn’t deserve to be treated rudely. She’s never done anything to you,” Sam said.
I looked at him, sat back down on the couch, and threw back my beer. “You act like you’ve known her your whole life when it’s only been two days. Do you want to date her or something? Are you trying to get my approval?” I asked.
“No, I’m not trying to get your approval, and I don’t need it either. If I wanted to date Lily, I would ask her on a date, but I’m really into her friend, Gretchen.”
I took the last sip of my beer as Maddie came walking through the door. I got up from the couch and kissed her on the cheek.
“Hey, sis, do you need any help?”
“Nope, I already took the bags upstairs.” She smiled.
We both walked over to the table where Charley was coloring and looked at her picture. “That’s a pretty picture, Charley. Can I have it?” I asked.
“Sorry, Uncle Luke, this picture is for my new teacher tomorrow.” She smiled.
“Ah, well, she’s one lucky teacher to get such a pretty picture,” I said.
Maddie and Charley cleaned up the crayons and paper then walked out the door. Charley stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned to look at me.
“Uncle Luke, are you going to come over tomorrow morning before I go to school?”
“You bet I am, peanut.” I smiled at her as she waved goodbye.
I loved that little girl more than anything in my life.
Later that evening, Lucky came over, and we headed to Bernie’s. It’s the bar my sister worked at during the day and some evenings, but it’s also where me and the boys played a little music. We can draw in quite a crowd when Bernie, the owner, tells people when we’re playing. We weren’t playing tonight; we’re just having a few drinks and shooting some pool. I’ve known Lucky and Sam since freshman year at college. The three of us were roommates. Lucky’s a womanizer. He always has been, and he always will be. His real name’s Thomas, but we started calling him Lucky when he scored with the hottest chick on our college campus. He knows just the right things to say to a woman, and they always fall right under his spell. After a few games of pool and a few beers, I was calling it a night. Lucky invited a few girls over to the apartment to play his version of strip poker. I rolled my eyes, hearing the girls giggle when he said that.