Against The Wall

Chapter Three

"Talk or beer first?" Mel asks as I walk Ito her house without knocking. I stopped dealing with those formalities in junior high, when we practically started living at each other's houses. Not much has changed since then. She's married now, but we still have plenty of bestie time.

"Beer!" As if there was any doubt.

"That bad, huh?"

"Yes, that bad." Thinking about Matty, I change my mind. "Well part of it was good. But still, give me a frickin' beer."

I watch as Mel pours me a beer into a chilled pint-sized glass. She slices up some oranges and squeezes a few into my drink before dropping them in. We should've been bartenders. Making drinks for people while listening to their problems sounds so much more appealing than having issues of my own.

I guzzle half the beer before putting it down. "Yum. That hit the spot." I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and settle in at her dining room table.

"I should hope so. If you're gonna drink like it's Quarter Beers night, we should hit the store before we get to shitty and can't drive." Not a bad idea.

"How many do you have?"

"Twelve pack."

"Should be good. If I still wanna drink, I can move on to that bitch ass wine of yours." I hold out my beer to clink glasses with her rather large goblet of sparkling red bubbly. It may as well be a vase.

"Hey, where are the pooches?" I ask her, looking around the kitchen. They're never too far away from their mama.

"They're resting in my room. I just bought them a new bed and they love it," she explains.

I nod, peeling the wrapper of my beer. "So what's up with Nick? He should pitch a tent and love at the office."

"Don't remind me," she sighs. "If I didn't have you, I'd be alone all the time. I may as well be single." How many times have I heard that? But I guess it's the price you pay for marrying such a successful attorney.

"Oh stop," I tell her. "I envy you. You have a great husband who takes care of you. You only work because you love it, not because you have to. So he's not at home all the time," I pause to take a drink. "At least you don't have him here all day nagging you about cleaning the house, or washing the dishes. You get to have a drink with me, and when he gets home, if you feel like it, you can let him 'manhandle' you."

"Yeah, well I guess there are some perks." she gulps down the last of her wine and pours herself some more, while I hit the fridge for another beer. "So tell me what happened that's so bad you're liquored up and crashing on my sofa tonight?"

"Hmm, where should I start?" I tell her, squeezing some more orange juice in my beer.

"Tell me about lunch. I know it was good because you were giddy as hell when I talked to you during fifth period."

"I was giddy wasn't I?" I smile remembering lunch with Matty. "But I ruined it, Mel. I think I hurt him. See. That's why I told you I shouldn't go out with him."

She shakes her head at me. "Shels, it was just lunch for crying out loud. You aren't getting married. Just tell me what happened already."

I try to focus on the good stuff. Matty looked so cute today, and he smelled so damned good. "Okay, so he showed up right after the bell rang. He was adorable. He brought me a Rice frickin' Krispie treat for desert."

Mel turns her head to the side, and bats her eyelashes at me. "Wow," she admonishes. "He's in it big time. He's never shared his cherished treats with me before."