Run Right Back

The apartment building that Kim lived in was nice. It had white marble carvings of lions on the outside ledges. It was a dark red brick building with a stony cement staircase. It opened to the inside hall with a brass elevator and wood square staircase. Jon’s footsteps echoed in the stairwell. He went up to the top floor, the sixth floor. There were two apartments, 6A and 6B. Heart palpitations nearly keeled him over. It took him two days to build up the courage to go to her place. It took him 38 minutes to get out of his car after he parked it 2 blocks away from her apartment building. He deliberately took his time getting up each step. Jon was regretting this decision, but not knowing who that kid was would be a greater regret.

After Kim broke up with him he wanted so badly to see her again. He was denied that luxury. Kimberly disappeared off the face of the planet. She wasn’t even on Facebook. Isn’t everyone on Facebook? Jon isn’t but that is because he didn’t have time for social networking.

Jon finally pulled his hand up and knocked abruptly against the heavy oak door. He heard a TV and Kim behind the door. It sounded like she was watching SpongeBob SquarePants. “Tam bo li de say de moi ya. Hey Jambo Jumbo! Way to party o we goin’. Oh, Jambali!” She was singing ‘All Night Long’ by Lionel Richie. Jon wasn’t surprised. It pained Jon that her singing made him smile.

The little boy from the ice rink opened the door. His little head poked from a distance in between the door. It wouldn’t open more than a few inches, Kim had the chain on. “I don’t know you. Mimi!” The kid should then dashed away. Jon’s throat was in a knot at the sight of the boy. He looked so familiar, so like Kim.

“I don’t know who would come to see me, little man. Is it daddy?” Kim opened the door. Her grin slipped slightly. “Jon? Jonny?!” She shut the door and crouched down to the little boy’s level. “Hey, Si. Go back and watch some Spongy, okay?” The chain was flung off. The door swung open again. “Jon,” she said one more time.

He bit down on his lip. Seeing Kim in her own environment was different than when she was on the ice. Instead of sweatpants she was wearing red tights, a black dress, and a white and black striped sweater on top. She looked prettier than when he was with her. Jon wanted to punch her in the face for not getting uglier. He really wanted to push her down to the ground and –

“I need to talk to you.”

“Um, okay. Come in.” He walked in cautiously. “How did you find out where I live? Wait, don’t answer that. Kaner. It had to be Kaner.” The two walked into her spacious apartment. They walked through a small hallway that opened up into a living room, another hallway to the right with a bathroom and bedroom, and a bedroom and a kitchen to the left. The place looked big and nice. In the living room was a large flat screen TV with two closed cabinets encasing it. There was a large gray suede couch, a plush purple Lay-Z-Boy with rabbits printed on the fabric, and a small couch with Batman on it. The little boy, Simon, was camped on the Batman couch with a box of Juicy Juice.

Kimberly guided Jon to the kitchen. The appliances were stainless steel. It was a clean kitchen, like Jon’s. There was a bowl of fruit sitting on the counter. Kim grabbed an orange and began unpeeling it. “Excuse me, I am just super hungry. I was waiting until that little bugger left to go get Chinese food from this place on 5th Ave. The smell of Chinese food gives him headaches.”

“Who is he?” Originally, in his head, Jon had a more tactful way of approaching the questioning. Once there in her apartment his plan went out the window. He needed to know that second.

A silly grin was smacked onto her gob. “Simon? He is Simon.”

“Did you have a kid and not tell me?” He whispered the words, trying to not catch the attention of the little boy in the living room. “I mean… That kid. He looks familiar. He looks like… And it has been three years. He just…”

Kim’s lower jaw hung low, her mouth screwing into a wide open grin. Her eyes sparkled. “Oh my God.” The orange was abandoned. She grabbed Jon and dragged him into her bedroom, the bedroom closest to the kitchen. The door shut softly behind them. Jon sat down on the white pillow top bed. Most of her things from the sorority house were absent from this room. She lost a lot of it when she was kicked out. Lost her replica Storm Trooper phaser and Doctor Who cookie jar. The X-Men comforter they used to wrap around their bodies was still there, bundled in a mass near the head of her bed.

Kim covered her mouth with her hand. “I am sorry, but you think Simon is my son?” Short nod. “And you think he is yours?!”

“Well,” Jon felt stupid, “he looks like us. You are toting around a little kid. We broke up three years ago. He is that age, isn’t he? I am a guy! Why wouldn’t I think that? We constantly worry about having kids out there. And I here I see you years later with a kid running to you like you are his mother. Can you just explain this in the simplest terms for me?”

She wanted to laugh. A giggle was bubbling in her throat. Kim crouched down and kneeled in front of the moping Jonny. She placed her hands on his knees. “Of course that is why you would visit me,” she mumbled. “Simon is my nephew. His father is my older brother, Teddy. Teddy and Charlie, Simon’s mom, went to Milwaukee to visit Charlie’s sister. Her sister had a baby. They didn’t want to take Simon because he gets car sick really easily. So I am taking care of him for the week. His parents should be back sometime soon. They left early in the morning to pick him up before his midday nap.”

A jagged sigh slipped through his parted lips. An elephant weight lifted off his heart. Jon looked down at Kim, smiling. “Fuck. So you didn’t have a kid?”

“God no. Imagine me with a kid. I was a wreck when we broke up. Me with a kid? That would have been disastrous.” Kim bent her head down. “If I was pregnant with your kid, I would have told you. I am not that callous.” She solemnly held onto his knees. The girl wanted to rest her head in his lap, have him pet her hair, and forget everything that transpired between them.

His hand instinctively went out to brush her hair behind her ear but he caught himself and retracted that hand. “I guess I was overreacting, over thinking, like I always do. Sorry to bother you, Kim.” He didn’t want to leave just yet.

There was knocking at the front door. “Mimi!” Simon shouted from the living room. He ran around the length of the apartment and stopped at the front door.

Kim patted Jon’s knees. “I should go get that.”

This time Kim opened the door instead of Simon. Teddy was drooped over in the hallway. His shoulders were heavy. “Hey. There is my little man.” Simon propelled himself into Teddy’s arms. The old man grunted as his son hugged him tightly around the neck. “He didn’t give you too much trouble, eh?”

“Little man was a basket of sunshine. Is Charlie in the car?” Teddy nodded. Teddy wrapped his arms underneath his son’s bottom. “Call me later, okay?”

“For sure, Kimmy. Thanks for looking after him. Charl and I appreciate. You’ll get a ‘thank you’ bag from Charlie within the week.” He started to turn away. “Love you, Kimchi.”

“Love you, Teddy Bear.” She shut the door softly after her weary brother disappeared into the elevator.

When she turned back Jon had emerged from her room holding a picture. “Teddy. That explains it. He looks a lot like you.” The picture was of Teddy, Charlie, and Simon.

“Teddy has better cheek bones.”

“I meant Simon.” He set the picture frame down on the kitchen counter.

A strong silence was woven between the two. Kimberly had a thousand words in her head but none of them had the courage to translate into spoken word. Jon was paralyzed again by the sheer sight of her that he didn’t know what to say. All he knew is that he wasn’t ready to leave. He would be ready to leave when he realized that she was worse off without him. Somehow that would make him feel better. If she wasn’t with him, he wanted her to regret it. She was the one that left him after all.

Jon scratched his chin. “Sorry, I am intruding. You were jonsing for some Chinese food.”

“Would like to get some with me?” Kim’s heart was racing. She felt stupid for asking. He was going to say no. All he wanted was to know that he didn’t have an illegitimate child running around; he didn’t want to spend time with her.

“I am actually really hungry, so that doesn’t sound half bad. Yeah, let’s get some food.”