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RING!!!
A second one. I was across the room in a flash, sitting
on the bed,
one hand on the phone.
Finally, on the third ring, I picked it up. “Hello?”
“Tori?”
I collapsed back on the bed, limp with relief. “AJ ...”
“Hey ... how’re you feeling? How’s your head?”
“Better ... it hurts, but they gave me drugs, so it’s cool.”
“I’m surprised you checked out so soon,” he told me, a slightly
admonishing tone creeping into his voice. “That was a nasty bump
you
got.”
“Well ... even though I was paid for, they still don’t like keeping
people without medical insurance. Thank you, by the way.
You didn’t
have to do that.”
“Yes, I did. I remembered you didn’t have a job, so you
probably
didn’t have any insurance. I already felt bad about leaving you;
I didn’t
want to leave you with thousands of dollars of debt, too.”
“Thank you,” I said again.
“Anyway ... are you still coming to see me in New York?”
Did his voice sound ... hopeful? I drew in a deep breath.
“If you
want me to ... yeah, I’d like that.”
“Great!” I could almost hear the smile in his voice.
“You know, I
miss you already. Which is probably weird, since I’ve only known
you
since Saturday.”
His note flashed back into my head, and suddenly, I felt shy.
“Yeah,” I finally said, “I miss you, too. It’s lonely here by
myself.”
“Then, let’s get you up here to New York. We just got here
ourselves ... I would have called you earlier, but we had the show
in Philly
last night, then we drove all night to get here.”
Ah, yes, I thought to myself, a little embarrassed that I hadn’t
remembered. All that worrying had been for nothing. “How
am I going to
get there?” I asked. “My car is totaled, remember?”
“Well ... you’re not too far from Pittsburgh ... if we can think
of a
way to get you there, I’ll buy you a plane ticket.”
I sighed. “You’re spoiling me, AJ. I’m never going
to be able to go
back to being a poor working girl again.”
He laughed. “What good is having the money if you can’t
spend it
on the people you love? Now ... how to get you to the city ...
a cab would
be outrageous ...”
“Yeah ...” Suddenly, I had a brainstorm. “Wait --
I got a ride here
with the guy who hit me, of all people. He was really nice, told
me to call
him or his wife if I needed anything. Maybe they can give me
a ride.”
It sounded like a good idea to him, so he promised to go off and
buy
my ticket while I called and asked them. I hung up the phone,
feeling
euphoric. I was going to New York! Now that it was a done
deal, it was
less frightening and more exciting. “God,” I said aloud to myself,
“you’re
not having mood swings these days or anything, are you?”
Just as I reached for the phone to call Vince, the phone rang
again. I
picked it up. “Jesus, you’re fast.”
“Victoria?”
Oh, no ... “Mom?”
“Yes ... what’s wrong? Where are you?”
“I’m in Pennsylvania ... but, I’ve kind of solved my problem from
last night.”
“You have? Victoria, where *are* you going? I’m so
worried about
you!”
I felt very guilty. I hadn’t called her since my breakdown
on
Saturday ... I’d probably been putting her and my dad through hell
for half a
week. “Okay, Mom ... here’s the story in a nutshell. Last
week, I found
Steve and Heather in bed together.”
“Oh my god ...”
“It’s okay, Mom, just listen. Well, it wasn’t okay then.
I kind of
freaked out. I threw all my stuff in my car and just drove.
I was in Illinois
before I stopped to think. But, then ...” Okay, Tori, think
... how to explain
AJ to your mother? “Well, I met someone that I’ve been traveling
with.
We’re going to New York now.” A bit simplistic, leaving out some
key
details, but it was the best thing I could think of. At least,
it was the
explanation that would net me the least yelling.
“You’re traveling with a stranger??”
“It’s okay, Mom, really ... I’m fine.” I was trying desperately
to
avoid all male pronouns in this conversation ... that wouldn’t go over
well
at all.
“Why are you going to New York?”
“Because ... it’s there? I don’t know, as long as I’m traveling,
I
might as well see New York.”
“Oh, Victoria ...”
It took a few more minutes to convince my mom I was fine, that
I
didn’t need any money, and that I’d call her the minute I arrived in
New
York. She was still in shock, I supposed -- she’d come to expect
the wild
and unpredictable from my older brothers, but not from me. I
knew I’d be
in for the tongue-lashing of my life the minute I set foot in Wichita
again.
I busied myself dialing the phone. Parental disapproval
aside, I had
to find myself a ride to Pittsburgh. I had a sexy man waiting
for me in New
York -- explanations to the family could wait.
