A Tale of Two Carnies

36 - Three Little Dots

Cozbi called a few hours after arriving in the city to inform me one of the Urban Urchin staff members met her at the station as promised. Later that same night, she called again to tell me about her apartment in Queens. She told me it was smaller than expected, but it was furnished and would be good enough for the time being.

The following day, her first day on the job, I didn't hear from her. I thought about calling but decided to give her space, figuring she needed time to herself to adjust to her new world.

The day after that, Cozbi texted saying she loved the new job and would call later. When she did, it was to tell me she had been late on her first day. Using public transportation proved to be a lot slower than she anticipated and all the routes and stops were complicated. Marcus offered to pick her up until she learned to get around. Apparently, Cozbi was already on a first name basis with the boss. It did nothing to allay my suspicion that there was something slimy about the guy.

She buzzed my cellphone at one in the morning on Saturday, waking me from a sound sleep. "Cozbi, is that you?"

Loud music played in the background. "Jacey, I wanted to tell you taking this job was the bestest decision I made in my whole life. I'm having so much fun."

Bestest? I sat on the side of the bed and rubbed my eyes. "Cozbi, are you drunk?"

She giggled. "Maybe a little."

"Where are you? What's going on?"

"I'm at some posh club partying. I already forgot the name of the place."

"How did you manage to get into a club being only nineteen?"

"Marcus picked me up and got me in. He knows the owner."

It was her life, but I couldn't help feeling concerned. "Don't you think your boss is being a little too informal with you, especially so soon?"

"No, he's really cool. The whole staff is here. He didn't bring just me. He invited all of us."

"Cozbi, be careful."

"It's sweet of you to worry, but I'm calling so you can stop worrying. I've really adjusted. I'm going to be okay. Hey, when can you come visit? You can stay over at my place. I'll show you around."

I enjoyed the freedom of finally being on my own, but coming home to the cold, dark trailer every night after work left me with a hollow feeling. Much as I hated to admit it, I missed having Cozbi around. I needed time to adjust to her absence. "Thanks for the invitation. I do want to visit, but let's give it a while, okay?"

"Okay, Jacey, if that's what you think is best." She said it sounding sad.

I wanted to reassure her. "Call me anytime, whenever you need to talk."

"I know," she said, "you've always been there for me."

I had trouble sleeping after our conversation. I got the sense Cozbi harbored a lot of insecurity despite putting up a brave front. Saturday morning while I showered, I realized I shouldn't judge. It was her life, her decisions. She would have to stand on her own.

Time to take control of my own life.

Nearly five months had passed since my shopping trip with Shelly. It had been her plan to major in psychology. While eating my cereal, I thought about the best approach to restart things with her. If she wasn't seeing anyone, I really wanted another chance with her. We had parted on shaky terms, mainly because Cozbi was in the picture and Shelly didn't know what to make of it. To be honest, at the time, neither did I.

I remembered something Shelly had told me and knew what to say to break the ice. I just had to decide whether to call or text. I groaned realizing how pathetic I was, a twenty-one-year-old man insecure about asking out a woman.