"Stranger, there is no quirk or evil in you
that I can see. You know Zeus metes out fortune
to good and bad men as it pleases him.
Hardship he sent to you, and you must bear it."

"The Odyssey," Fitzgerald Translation. Book 6, Lines 201-204. Used without permission.
 

MICHAEL:

I've done the first day of the semester now, and from it, I draw one inevitable conclusion.

I will lose my mind before it's over.

For bio, we got assigned like 100 pages of reading-done by Wednesday. Quiz on it, too. The instructor says she wants to make sure we really read this stuff. I see Kelly for a few minutes and ask her about this, but she had a different instructor last year.

"You took Johnson? She's supposed to be a killer." Kelly says this to me when I ask her what I need to know. We get about ten minutes together to stuff some burritos down our throats.

This comment did not make me happy.

Chem, the reading's not so bad, looks a lot easier. More systematic. But bio is gonna be a bitch. It's brute memorization, and that's not my favorite way to learn something.

The calc class, piece of cake, but a real shitty time, 5 to 7. Everyone looks half dead in here, including the instructor. Plus I had to go to a tutoring meeting today-they don't have it the first day, it doesn't start till Wednesday officially, but you had to show up for this, and that was four hours, you had to show what you were gonna do and all that. I'm doing
writing and calc.

I am going to go insane.

Sometimes, first day of class, you get to get out a bit early, but this guy, we go all the way till ten to seven. You get ten minutes passing time, which is ridiculous.

Guess it doesn't matter, because for me, this day is over. I've been here since before 8 this morning, and I wanna get out. But I got to go and see Dad first. Hope he's in a better mood tonight.

Hope SHE'S not there.

Lucky thing Fairfax is near to school, so it doesn't take me so long to get there, and it's pretty much past rush hour. Meaning you get to cruise up to 45 sometimes instead of crawling at 15.

I used to bitch about the 4 bucks for parking, but since they charge 11 at Georgetown, I should keep my mouth shut.

He yells at me, I'm gonna demand my four bucks.

I get there, and Jo's there, which is cool. She's looking good, if sort of lopsided.

Don't know how long she's gonna look good. She starts chemo in two weeks, she says. She's not looking forward to it.

No duh!

I ask her how it's going, and she's like, she's not sure, she's not even sure she's gonna have a job for very long. Seems like students with disabilities is getting to be a contradiction in terms. She's actually a lot more bummed about that than that she's gonna have to do chemo.

And she and Dad, they're just talking, he seems like he's okay, and that's good.

And SHE isn't around. Yay.

Jo's like, she's off now, she has to go run her support group she does on Mondays (amazing, she's doing this and she's just been through something major, and she's like, don't be so surprised, the best thing you can do when you need help is help someone else).

Okay, whatever.

As soon as Jo's gone, I'm wishing she'd stayed.

Dad is like, he gives me this look like he is SO mad at me. I mean, real mad. Not just like he's irritated that I took the last razor blade or something, but MAD.

What the fuck did I do now?

"You!" He points at me.

"Yeah, what about me?" I'd like to know what this is about.

"I could strangle you, you little brat!"

"Dad, I think you're supposed to be avoiding tension here-"

"You listen to me, you little shit. What the hell are you doing, going around and telling everyone that Martha and I have something going on?"

"I didn't say that!" I didn't.

"Well, then why is everyone thinking that? You tell me!"

This is pissing me off, so bad. All I said...was that he was hot for this lady.

Which he is, and if he tries to deny it, I'm gonna throw it in his face. It's so obvious it's almost funny.

Almost.

"Hey, you mope around like an idiot, and she shows up and you're like a puppy in heat, what're we supposed to think?"

I'm not close enough that he can slap me, and he's only got one good hand right now, anyway. And he can't sit up too well.

"Michael, just because YOU'RE constantly hormonal doesn't mean everyone is!"

"No, just you!"

"And where did you get this idea, anyway?"

You have to admit, he's not exactly denying the allegations here.

"I just..." I am not gonna make Jo take the fall. She had real good intentions about telling me, I'm not gonna make her hurt for it. "Just figured it out."

"Why don't you try using your perceptual abilities for something worthwhile instead of speculating on every woman that comes to visit me?"

"Gee, Dad, I didn't think women did that!" Sorry, Jo's a bud, she doesn't count.

Good thing I'm keeping my distance, and he can't get up...this might be the moment I get bitch-slapped again.

"For your information, dear boy, Martha is going to be helping me out for a while after I'm sprung from this godawful place!"

"I bet."

"She's a very competent nurse."

"And she's got a shitload of problems, case you're too taken up with her to notice! She's like so broke she can't pay attention, and did you know she got arrested for being a phone sex operator?" Let's see if he denies this... we know who posted her bail.

"Her life is none of your business!"

"Never stopped you, Dad! You just waiting for her husband to die so you can move in on her, huh?"

He's really, really, really pissed now. "Get out."

"Fine, I'm leaving."

"And don't come back until you can address me with a little respect, dear boy! And if I find out you're spreading these little rumors around, God help you, you'll wish you'd never been born and come of age!"

"Not a challenge, Dad, I've wished that a lot in my life, no thanks to YOU!"

"Get. Out."

"Why, you expecting company?"

I got the last word at least.

But it's sort of a hollow victory. As I leave the room, I notice HER in the hallway.

And she heard all of it.

Well, serves her right.

But it sort of freaks me out that he really was gonna have company.

Shit, shit, shit.
 

I head back for the offices. I need to see Kelly. I hope she's back from work.

Shit, she's not! Ally says she's not there yet. She asks me if I want a beer, I look like I could use one.

At least one, Ally.

"Didn't you stop to see your dad?" she asks me.

"Yeah."

"He seemed to be okay today. At least well enough to appreciate a Playboy."

"Yeah."

"Michael, what's wrong?"

She hands me a beer. Dos Equis. No Sam Adams. Damn.

"What's wrong is, he hates my guts."

"No, he doesn't."

"Well, he's being like this major bastard to me. And it's all her fault!"

"Whose fault?"

"That lady Martha!"

Ally smiles at me. "What's wrong with Martha?"

"She's like bugging my dad!"

"I think if she was bugging him, he'd tell her to leave. Your dad isn't shy about telling people to get lost."

"Don't I know it." At least not with me. "Hey, where the fuck's Langly? He's home by this time."

Ally shrugs...and I notice she's downed an entire beer in the few minutes I've been sitting with her.

Uh-oh...something wrong with this picture.

"I figured he'd call...but he hasn't...I'm getting a bit worried."

And probably, knowing Ally, more than a little pissed off. Don't forget that red hair. I don't think it's accidental she got that color.

"Michael, would you like some dinner? I have plenty, and it looks like Langly's going to be late."

"Sure." You don't refuse an Ally meal unless you're dying.

Eggplant parmigiana. Good stuff. I can deal with this.

"Unless you want to wait for Kelly."

"Nah, I'm hungry."

She sets some salad in front of me, and pulls some foccaccia out of the oven, and then, the piece de resistance. Eggplant parmigiana and farfalle pasta. (Hey, I know this stuff. My mom's half Italian, which makes me a quarter Italian, which means I ought to know this stuff).

She calls Patrick, who yells back that he's on the computer, he's not hungry. Ally tells him to get his butt in here or she's gonna whack it.

She should've done that with Miranda.

"Where's your daughter?"

"Out with Shelby and her sister. Enjoying their last week of vacation with a vengeance."

"Did Kelly call?"

"Not in the last five minutes...and believe me, I've been checking the voice mail."

I bet she has.

Patrick finally stomps in, and he's like real happy to see me, he wants to crawl in my lap and that's a drag because I'm real hungry, but I let him for a minute.

Ally gives him some salad, and he yells, "Don't like it!"

"Eat it," she says to him.

"No!"

"Yes."

"No!"

"No computer then."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Where's Daddy?" he whines.

"If I knew, I'd tell you, sweetie." She's a little more sympathetic to him now.

"Want him!"

"Me too. Eat your dinner."

"Don't like salad!"

"I don't care. Eat it."

"No!"

This continues on for a while. Ally just rolls her eyes, but at least she's not backing down on him.

She made that mistake once. Miranda can work her like nobody's business.

"Not eating it!" He yells at her.

"Hey, dude, I ate mine. You should eat yours. It's good."

He thinks about this a while. Then he takes a few forkfuls, dropping about half of it in the process, but it's enough that Ally's happy with him, then she gives him some pasta and sauce-she knows he hates eggplant, she won't make him eat that.

Ally sits down with us and has a fresh beer, she asks me if I want another.

No, I can't keep up with her tonight, and I'm not even gonna try.

"Mommy, you drink lots of beer!" Patrick says to her with a mouthful of pasta.

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" She looks kind of embarrassed, though.

"You okay, Ally?"

"No. Not really." She shakes her head. "This whole thing...makes me nervous."

"What whole thing?"

She sighs. "I wasn't supposed to say anything to you...but since we seem to tell each other all sorts of verboten information, here's your catch of the day. Langly's been transferred. To Langley, Virigina-and no jokes, Michael, I'm not handling it well."

"CIA." No wonder she's not happy.

"Yes. And I keep wondering if he's still at work...or what the hell is going on."

"Well, somehow I doubt he's out at a Japanese hostess bar. Kelly didn't call at all?"

"Michael, I've checked the voice mail all day...no word from either of them."

Now I'm worried. Maybe I will have another beer. I sure as hell could use one after a day like this.

"I saw your dad earlier," she says between bites, which she's not taking a lot of. Mostly she's pushing her food around her plate and sipping her beer.

"Thought so. It was the Playboy."

She grins. "Well, seemed like the least I could do for him."

"You could really get your ass kicked for that, Ally."

"Not half as bad as Dexter could." Dexter's the newsdealer. "God, this is sick. I'll tell you, I don't know what Langly and I would do if we had to rely on contraceptives...I don't know how you and Kelly and Byers and Juliet deal with it. Particularly you guys. Almost impossible now for unmarried people to get their hands on anything."

"Don't I know it...hey, Ally? Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"You promise not to say anything?"

"Yes."

"Especially to my dad."

"I said yes." She does sort of expect you to take her at her word.

"Um...well...other night, Kelly and me, we're like, you know?"

"Ah, yes." At least Ally gets it. She doesn't require gory details.

"Well, we sort of had this...accident..."

"What sort of accident? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to-"

"Well, we used a condom, like you're supposed to and all, but it broke."

"What's a condom?"   I forgot Patrick is there.

"Patrick, are you done?" She says to him.

"I want dessert!"

"Later. Go play on your computer."

"Don't wanna!"

"Then play Playstation."

"Don't wanna!"

"Patrick, find something to do!" She's like losing her patience, real fast.

"Don't wanna!"

"Patrick..." she's gritting her teeth. He bails.

Ally shakes her head. "Good thing I got practice on Langly first." She grins, a little unhappily, I think. "Okay. So you had a broken condom. This was just a few nights ago?"

"Yeah." Three, to be exact.

"Too soon to tell, unfortunately. Does Kelly know where she was in her cycle?"

"She thinks about 19 days."

"She's probably okay. I mean, I can't swear to it, but I think she's probably all right. Now if you'd said something like 12, I'd really be worried. Of course, that assumes some regularity on her part."

"She's sorta regular. Like within a range."

"What kind of range? I have a range...but not one you'd want to hear about, you'd feel pretty bad if you did."

"Like 25 to 34 days."

She thinks about this. "Ovulation is two weeks before you menstruate...I wish I could tell you everything was cool, Michael. But it's so hard to say."

This is what I was afraid of.

"And it's virtually impossible to get a legal abortion anymore. That is so sick!" This really pisses Ally off. And me.

However, I got another complication. "I don't think...I bet she wouldn't have one. Kelly wants kids."

"She's got plenty of time to have kids."

"No...like remember your birthday?"

"Vaguely." She grins.

"Well, Kelly was like...she told me...that night, she's like, she wants to have a baby."

Ally kind of muses over that. "She just lost her family not long ago...seems reasonable that she would want her own family, in a way."

"Yeah, but I'm not ready, and I don't think she is, either."

"Well, I'd have to agree with that."

"God, what am I gonna do, Ally? Something happens, my dad finds out, I'm gonna get killed."

She lights up a smoke. God, I hate cigarettes...but it's her house.

"If...something should happen, Michael...let me know...I'll help you guys. I mean that."

That should make me feel better, somehow, it doesn't.

But at least it's more than I'd get from Dad. He'd just go ballistic on me and tell me I'm irresponsible and stupid...

And he'd make me live with it. He would.

"I hate her, Ally."

"Hate who?"

"That woman."

"Martha? She seems nice enough."

"God, she's barely got her husband stuffed in his coffin and she's out trying to put the moves on Dad!"

"How do you know?"

"Did you see the bear?"

"What bear?" Guess she didn't.

"She brought him this teddy bear, for Christ's sake!"

"Well, it does last longer than flowers."

"Hey, you don't just bring a bear to somebody!"

"Sure you do. She was probably just trying to be nice."

I hate it when Ally goes all rational on you. It's like, you're pissed, and she just sits there like calm and tries out every logical argument she can think of.

It's really annoying. I want her being as pissed as I am.

She sips her beer and she gets the look she always gets when she concentrates on something. "Michael...why do you hate this woman so much?"

"In case you didn't notice, Dad doesn't have real good luck with women. Langly says Dee messed him up but good."

"I don't think that's entirely true."

"Yeah, well, he doesn't need that shit in his life. Probably this lady just wants somebody help her pay off her bills or something. She's like even more broke than we are!"

"I didn't talk to her much when she was caring for Byers, but she didn't strike me as the type."

"Yeah, well, Dad's got enough problems without her."

She gives me this tiny smile. "I think you're jealous of her."

No fucking way!

"No, I just don't need my dad hanging on some girl like he's 15 or something, and that's what he's like with her!"

Now she laughs. Sometimes I really hate Ally.

"Michael, he's got a crush on her...let him enjoy it."

"Right, so he can get another ulcer or another heart attack or something, then he's dead and then I don't have him and-"

She smiles again, at least she stops laughing. Bitch.

"I think you should talk to Miranda about this."

Talk to Miranda, towel-sucking monster, princess of bitchiness, bossy as hell?

No thank you. Okay, she can do hair. But when she's not doing my hair, I like to stay away. That girl is vicious.

I don't know why, I'm real pissed at Ally now. And I don't like that, because she's really a nice lady and all, but sometimes she's just so annoying.

Saved by the bell...Kelly's finally here.

I can breathe a little bit again.

She looks so tired. I jump up to hug her, I'm like, where the fuck were you?

She kind of glares at me. "We had problems in the lab...look, I'm sorry, I know I should've called...I really have to study. Are you coming?"

To study?

Is she joking? After a day like today?

Guess not.

I follow her.

Just like I always do.

END OF PART 22