The Watch

The fog had just begun to fade, and I was beginning to feel the
weight of fatigue settle on my shoulders. The sun was smiling on a new
day, and I thought to myself, this is a new day, the perfect beginning
to a new life.
I was moving, trying to get away from everything. My wife had left me,
and taken the kids, my parents had been killed in a car accident a year
before, and I was laid off from my job in a welding rod factory, where
I was in charge of the shipping department. It wasn't much of a job; we
only employed nine or ten guys and two ladies in the office, but I had
been doing my thing there for about twenty years, or so. I took the job
right out of high school, and I was happy with my life, until my wife
started talking about how she felt her life was going nowhere.
I suggested she get a part-time job; she did have her Pennsylvania's
teaching certificate. To make a long story short, she grew fond of one
of her colleagues, and they ran off together, taking my children with
them. I decided it was time to move on. That brings me to the
present.
I'm going to live with my sister in Philadelphia, and start anew. She
says I can get a job with her fiancee's brother in a nuclear power
plant. It scares me that they would just hire some stranger off the
street, no experience or anything. Just the thought of me, someday, at
the helm of a slew of nukes really blows my mind.
I arrived at Deb's house. Dan, the kids, Danny and Danielle, and the
dogs greeted me promptly. I stepped out of my truck.
"How the fuck's life been treatin' ya?" Dan asked, slapping me
politely on the shoulder.
"Well," I answered, "not too good, but you know all about that,
right."
"Yeah. Deb told me what was up. Welcome to stay as long as you like,
Dick." I hated it when he called me "Dick." I would have gone by
anything else: Richard, Rich, Richie. Anything but Dick.
"Well, grab yer shit, and come on in."
"Thank you," I said.
We entered, and my first impression was that these guys were loaded.
Everything was electronic. I knew that Deb worked for an advertising
firm, but I wasn't quite sure what Dan did.
"Down the hall, and to the right," Dan said, pointing towards the
kitchen. "Deb's fixed it up real nice for you."
I made my way to the guest bedroom. I unpacked, put my things in the
dresser, and lay down on the bed for a moment, to gather my thoughts. I
thought about my wife, and how I missed her. I started to cry. Then Dan
came in.
Dan intimidates me. He is a very macho man, and for him to see me
crying would be like him walking in on me doing something like trying
on women's underwear. I quickly dried my eyes, and feigned a
yawn.
"Everything all right, man?" He asked.
"Yeah, just feeling a little tired. That drive was hell. All six hours
on the turnpike, 'bout bored me out of my mind."
"Kinda like what I feel when we go to see my folks in Orlando. Try,
like, twenty-three hours with Deb nagging, the kids fighting, and the
dog barfing. That's hell. If I go to Hell when I die, that'll be my
punishment. Driving around in the middle of August, in a cramped
minivan, a hundred degrees outside, no A/C, the van breaking down every
fifty miles, for the rest of eternity. Well, I just wanted to let you
know that I got some business to go take care of, so I'll be gone for a
couple of hours. There's food in the fridge, not much, Deb's stoppin'
at the store after work. There's some Keystone Ice in the fridge, and
some booze in the cupboard. When Deb gets home, after we put the kids
to bed, I'll show you the bowl I just bought."
"Sounds good. I think I'm just going to lie down. Wake me up when you
get back."
"Will do. See you in a bit."
"Yep," I said, rolling onto my side, and getting comfortable. Dan shut
the door behind him, and I fell into a deep sleep.
I slept for what I estimated to be about two-and-a-half hours. During
that time, in a dream, my wife came to me. She told me that all that
had happened was a mistake. All that she said was a mistake. Leaving me
was a mistake. She and I embraced, and I felt a warm rush of love flow
over my body. I woke up crying again.
I woke up to the kids arguing and Deb sending them both to their
rooms. Deb was cooking dinner. It smelled like fried chicken. I could
feel a slight film of grease that had accumulated on my forehead. I
decided to get up and make my way to the kitchen.
I saw my sister. She looked just like mom.
"Wow, Deb, something smells damn good." I looked over. "I thought it
was chicken. Mmm."
"Hey, you. How are you doing?"
"Good." I walked over and kissed her on the cheek. She smelled just
like mom. "Thanks, again."
"Any time. Any time," she said.
"I'll try not to be too much of a burden on you guys."
"Nonsense. You stay as long as you like. We wouldn't have it any other
way, right, Dan?"
"You betcha," he affirmed in his burly voice, as he entered the
kitchen from the living room, looking like he had started without
us.
"I can't believe how much Danny and Danielle have grown up. Last time
I saw them it was...."
"Too long," she interrupted.
"Yeah, it has been too long, hasn't it?"
"Well, I hope you can be a part of all of our lives, now."
"That's one thing I promise."
"Come here. Come check this out," Dan interrupted.
Dan and I went into the living room and sat on the couch across from
the television. Dan pulled this box from under the couch. He opened it,
and pulled out a sandwich baggie, and handed it to me. "Smell this," he
said.
"Ahh, that's nice," I replied, inhaling.
"That's what they call 'headbanger boogie'. One hit, man, I'm tellin'
ya, one hit."
"You said you got a new bowl?"
"Oh, yeah," he said, getting up. He left the room for a few seconds
and came back with a brown paper bag in his hand. "Me and Deb went to
this little shop on South Street last night. They had all you can
imagine."
"Yeah, I heard all about South Street."
"Fuckin' crazier than you'd ever believe. All right, it's time to get
this goin'. Deb, you in?"
"Go ahead. Start without me. I'll be in in a sec,"
Deb shouted from the kitchen.
Dan packed the bowl, and gave it to me for the first hit. I lit it,
and toked it twice. It tasted sweet at first, then a little bitter as I
exhaled.
"I'll bet you never had anything like this?" Dan said.
I passed the bowl to him, and he toked it a couple of times. Deb came
into the room, and said, "I hope you offered our guest the first hit,
Dan."
He exhaled, like a nuclear power plant smokestack. "Of course I did. I
think he likes it."
"Was that the stuff Jimmy gave you?" she asked.
"No, I got this while you were at work. I bought it from Len."
"Len?"
"Yeah, Len. He works at the plant with Donny." Donny, I had taken it,
was Dan's twin brother. I had met him once before. They looked nothing
alike. Deb explained to me that they were fraternal twins, unlike Deb
and I. Even as far apart as we had lived, Deb and I were still as close
now as the day we were born.
Deb sat down on the couch next to me, and Dan passed the bowl to me,
where, in turn, I passed it to Deb.
"You want some?" I asked her.
"Of course," she replied.
"Deborah, I didn't know you smoked."
"Best way to relieve stress. Best way to relive youth."
"Why do people always sound so fuckin' insightful when they smoke?"
Dan blurted out, probably not realizing he was talking instead of
thinking.
"You wouldn't believe some of the shit I come up with when I smoke," I
said.
"Yeah, are you still keeping the journal?" Deb asked me.
"Sometimes I think that's all I do is write in that think. I get
going, and my pencil just won't stop. Then, later, after I come down, I
read back what I wrote, and I think 'I fuckin' wrote that?' Sure
enough, I did."
"I'd love to read it, if that'd be okay," Deb said, informing me of
her interest in what runs through my head.
"Sure, later, when the grass takes over. It'll make more sense."
Dan interrupted, "You two are killing my buzz. Will someone pass the
bowl? Who took the last hit?"
"I think it was Deb. She's still holding it," I replied.
"Yep, it was me. Who's next?"
"I am," Dan declared. Deb passed it to him, and he took three long
draws, one after the other, holding them in for as long as possible.
After he was done, he passed it to me. I hit it, and passed it to
Deb.
"Did you say that Donny gave you this grass?" Dab asked, her eyes
beginning to slowly seal themselves shut.
"No, no," Dan said, giggling a little. "Len gave it to me. He owed me
a favor. He said it was the best shit he had come across in a long
time."
"Well, that was nice of him," Deb said, taking her second turn.
"Yeah, like I said, he owed me a favor."
By this time, I was just starting to feel the effects. I began to get
a little bolder.
"What kind of favor," I asked, not really knowing whether or not it
was my place to ask.
"Well, let's just say that I helped him get a job."
"Speaking of jobs, what, exactly, do you do for a living," I inquired,
forcefully, but politely.
"Well, I do all sorts of odd jobs. I work for a couple of people, and
I do what they need to be done."
"Kinda like hanging up pictures and replacing old shingles?"
"Well, not really."
"No?"
"Not exactly."
"I'm sorry, but I'm confused."
"Hey, babe, how's that chicken coming along?" Dan asked Deb, changing
the subject.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Take this. I'll go check." She got up and left
the room.
"We can talk later, when she goes to bed. Should be around ten, or
so."
"Sure," I replied. All kinds of thoughts ran through my mind. What was
he trying to hide? Did Deb know what was going on? Was she totally
oblivious as to what we were talking about?
"Okay, guys, time to eat," Deb hollered from the kitchen.
"Where are the kids?" I asked.
"Oh, they're spending the night over at Denise's house."
"Don't they have school tomorrow?"
"Yeah, they took they're stuff, and Denise will get them ready in the
morning. We have this arrangement with her. She watches our kids when
we want some time to ourselves, and we watch Robbie when she does
whatever she does when she's alone."
"Alone?" I asked, thinking of a woman, all alone in her home, and
thinking that she might like some company.
"Yeah. She got pregnant, and her fiancee left her standing at the
altar. She's one bitter woman. Never lets a man near her or her son.
Sometimes, me and Deb joke around with her that she needs to find
herself a good woman."
"Is she into shit like that?"
"I don't think so. But, if she were, I wouldn't mind watching," Dan
replied, letting out a hearty laugh, slapping me on the knee.
"Why do you say that?" I asked, smiling politely to show him that his
humor had not gone unappreciated.
Dan looked me in the eye. "She's one fine woman. Believe it or not,"
he said, peeking in the direction of the kitchen, "if any guy had a
chance with her, it's me. She loves me. Check it out; she's a little
taller that Deb, thinner than Deb, blonde hair, brown eyes, and a set
of knockers that makes me wish that I still breastfed."
"Wow."
"Yeah. I tell you what, I'll take you over there. I'll make some shit
up like Danny forgot his, I don't know, his... whatever. And I'll
introduce you two. If it's cool, I'll invite her over to dinner, and me
and Deb will have to take the kids somewhere, and you two can get to
know each other. You know what I mean?"
"Sounds like a good plan, but what about what you said earlier, you
know, about her not trusting men?"
"Come on, you're Deb's Twin brother. What's not to trust. And with
that shit with you're wife, and you being on the rebound, she won't
feel threatened."
"Okay, I'll go with you on this one. But...."
Deb shouted from the kitchen, "Are you guys coming sometime tonight?
The foods getting cold, and I don't feel like letting everything go to
waste. I worked hard today, and then I go to all this trouble to cook
this. At least you guys could get in here and eat."
"Okay," Dan and I said simultaneously.
We entered the kitchen, and saw more food than I could have ever
possibly imagined, and I was ready to eat. I was ready to eat
everything.
"Rich, you sit over here," she said, motioning to the foot of the
table. I sat down, and we began to pass everything around. Fried
chicken, green beans, salad, rolls, sweet potatoes.
"I made yams. I know how much you like yams."
"Well, this is nice, babe," Dan started, "but, what are you two gonna
eat?" He laughed, and Deb back smiled at him. I looked at her, and saw
how happy she really was here. I often wondered if she still loved this
guy. These two reminded me so much of my wife and me. They were married
just two years out of high school, both went to the same college, and
never really got the chance to experience life without each other. I
wondered if Deb ever felt like my wife did; I wondered if she felt as
if her life were going nowhere. I wondered if she would ever leave Dan.
I was thinking so much that I hadn't touched my food.
"What's wrong? You haven't touched your plate. I thought you said you
were hungry."
"Yeah, I was just lost in thought."
"I think the grass is getting to him, babe. Look, Dick, we've both
finished our plates, and you haven't even started."
"Wow. How long have I been out of it?"
"Looks like a good fifteen minutes," Dan said, looking at his wrist,
then taking note that he didn't have his watch on. "Hmm. Must've left
it in the bathroom."

The Watch