A Hole in the Universe - Mary McGarry Morris [122]
“Look, you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about you and Jilly Cross. Going on a trip together. How can you do that?”
Dennis shot out of his chair. “You don’t want my help and I don’t need yours, okay?” He picked up the bills and flung them into Gordon’s face. “So just get the fuck out of here!”
The bus ride seemed to take only minutes, the walk after that even less. He didn’t know if she’d be home, and it didn’t matter if she wasn’t. At least he’d have tried. At least he’d have done something. He couldn’t spend his whole life turning his back, not seeing, never doing the honorable thing. It wasn’t just Lisa and the children caught in his brother’s mess, but an innocent young woman as well.
Jimmy scootered alongside him down the street. “Come on out back and see the treehouse. Me and Dad, we just finished it yesterday.”
“Yes. But first I have to talk to your mother.” He rang the bell. Jimmy ran up and opened the door.
“Come on!” He gestured Gordon inside. “Mom! Hey, Mom, where are you? Uncle Gordon’s here! She’s probably working out downstairs.” He opened the cellar door. “Mom! Hey, Mom!” he bellowed down.
“What? What is it?” Lisa shouted back, running up the stairs with a look of alarm. “Gordon!” She hugged him. “Oh, Gordon, I’m so thrilled you’re here. What a nice surprise.” She looked at him. “Is everything all right?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Of course. Yes. Jimmy, you can go back outside now.”
“But I told Uncle Gordon I’d show him the treehouse. It’ll only take a minute.”
“Outside, now.” She ushered him to the door. “I’ll call you when we’re done.”
After Jimmy left, she offered him coffee, juice, water. No, nothing, he said, thanking her. Come sit down, then, she said, and he followed her into the kitchen but remained standing.
“What is it, Gordon? Something’s wrong, isn’t it.”
With his nod the color drained from her face. “What happened? Tell me. You can tell me.”
He kept looking at her. In all his indignation and anger, he had not planned what to say. “It’s all right,” she coaxed. “Whatever it is, I’ll help you. You know I will. You’re like a brother, my own brother.” She put both hands on his arms. “I mean that. And I hope you feel that way about me.”
“I do.”
“Because we’re a family, so we have to help one another, right?”
He nodded. Yes. That was it, exactly why he was here, and yet here he was again, paralyzed. He couldn’t, couldn’t do it, didn’t have the guts, courage, strength, whatever it took.
“Do you want me to call Dennis? If he’s between patients, he can probably—”
“No, that’s why I’m here. It’s about Dennis. He’s going out with another woman. He has been, and now he’s going on a trip with her.”
She closed her eyes, for a moment seemed to teeter back and forth. “How do you know? Who told you?” She looked dazed.
“Dennis. And she did too, in a way.”
“Dennis told you? He said that? That he’s seeing another woman?” She stared at him.
“I saw him with her. And when I asked him he admitted it.”
“So all those times he said he was with you he was really with her.” Her eyes raced over the room, as if clues were suddenly everywhere. “Do you know her? Who is she?”
“Jilly Cross,” he said, handing her the business card with the pretty face in its corner.
After Gordon left, she sat down with the phone in her lap. She was trembling. Trembling with rage and impotence. Her teeth chattered. Even her feet moved up and down, stamping. She doubled up and moaned. Why? Why? Why had he done that? Why had he told her what she’d always known? Now, with no more lies to tell herself, she had no choice. She had to do something, hurt someone, destroy everything important to her.
She dialed the number on the card, then waited through the voice mail message. “Yes. This is Lisa Loomis, Dennis’s wife. I just want you to know that I know all about you. I know where you work and I know where you live.” Afraid of what she might say next, she slammed down the phone. She called her mother, then hung up before it rang. She couldn’t do that to her parents. They