Run Right Back

There was a distinct distaste on Patrick’s face. Their club just won the game by one goal, yet Kaner looked at Jonathan like he was going to hit him. The journalists had came and left. Now the boys were cleaning up and heading home. Jonathan sat down in his stall, leaning down and tying his shoes.

Patrick walked over and sat down in David’s empty stall. “Dude, what the fuck are you getting at?”

Jonathan mustered up his best derpy Tazer face, shaking off Patrick. A smack on the head didn’t even stop Jon from tying his shoes. “Just say it, Kaner. Stop trying to make me guess what you are talking about.”

“Hey. Toss me my coat!” David shouted from the other side of the room. One of the guys was walking by. Jon stripped the coat off the hanger behind him and draped the suit coat over his arm, watched it walk over to David, who yanked it off the guy’s arm. “Thanks.”

“You lied, Tazer. You said you went to Kim’s and found out that the kid isn’t yours. You didn’t just do that. You slept with her.” No response. “Dude, you cheated on Ginny and brought Kimmy to the game? How badly do you want to fuck up and get caught? Does Kim even know you have a girlfriend?” His voice was kept low as to not cause alarm from unsuspecting eavesdroppers. “The girlfriend I saw you with just yesterday?”

Scarlet spread from his cheeks to the rest of his face. Jon coyly looked up at Kaner. “When did you see Kim?”

“When I was lying on my ass after that check in the 3rd. I saw her in the crowd with that kid on her lap in the 5th row area. It was distinctly Kim. It couldn’t have been anyone else. That dumbass was in her movie Mighty Duck jersey. What are you playing at, Jon?”

Moisture was taken from his mouth. His tongue felt fat. He was at a loss with words. “Fuck if I know, Kaner.” Jon stood up and buttoned his suit jacket. “Excuse me, I’m leaving.”

“You are going to tell her. Kim is my friend. You are going to tell Kim about Ginny. Fuck if you tell Ginny, but you are telling Kim.”

It didn’t bother Jonathan that Kaner had no respect for Virginia. Jon knew that Kaner didn’t care half as much about Virginia as he did about Kim. Kaner cared deeply if Kim was hurt. “And if I lose her because of it? What if I lose her because I tell her the truth?” He had his back to Kaner, ready to leave the locker room.

Patrick closed his eyes. His head tilted to the side until it rested against the wooden locker panel. “You should have broken up with Ginny the second you saw Kim, Jon. You and I both knew you’d go back to her. If you lose her… Then tough luck, asshole. At least you were honest.”

“Sometimes, Kaner. Sometimes I want to punch you in your mouth for being smarter than me. The other times I want to punch you in the mouth just to shut you the fuck up.”
“This time?”
Jon snorted and kept walking.
--

Waiting for Jonathan in the parking lot was Kim and Simon. The two were standing next to Jon’s black Jetta. Simon was bouncing up and down, chattering about nonsense. Kim was dancing for him while beat boxing. Her hands shook in the air, arms swinging around in circles. Bumf chee bumfbumf chee.

Jonathan slowly approached them. “Are you teaching Simon how to rap?”

“You know me. I love rap. Simon is getting into it. We listen to the Beastie Boys together.” She grins at Jon.

“Your brother can’t like that.” The grin on her face broke wider. “Yeah, thought so.” He smiled slightly and then calmly collected himself. “Hey,” he scratched the side of his nose with his thumb. “I need to talk to you about something important. Privately?”

Kim crouched down and handed Simon something from her purse. “Hey mister. Can you do me a favor and sit on that thing and eat this lollipop?” The kid almost ripped her fingers off as he grabbed the lollipop. He waddled over to the cement block in front of Jon’s tires. Little Simon was just out of earshot from the adults. The grin returned to her face. “And before you ask, yes that was my stash of candy that I sacrificed for you.”

Jon’s hand swung out and instinctively took hers in his. He looked down at their hands. “I fucked up.”

“Dude, I am the queen of fuck ups. I am not sure if you remember a certain incident involving Sully and myself.”

“Yeah…” He rubbed his thumb against her palm. “I failed to mention something to you before. I… Fuck. I am a failure.”

Her other hand tucked under his chin and lifted his head. “Sweetie. How are you a failure? I just watched you carve the ice like a surgeon. That pass to Kaner down the middle was gorgeous. It led to him tying up the game for your team. What are you talking about, Jonny?”

He let her hand drop from his. “I know I’m going to feel worse telling you this than when I tell her,” he muttered under his breath. His eyes focused on their feet. Dress shoes and Doc Martens. She was still rocking her decade old Doc Martens. “I failed to mention that I am not single. When you and I were together, I had a girlfriend.” Slowly, he looked up at her. She was trying her best to not give off any emotion. “Actually, I am still with her. I have a girlfriend.”

Kim’s pink lower lip sucked in. She looked up, then down, then at Jon. “So you cheated on your girlfriend with me? I am the other woman. God. What the fuck? Why would you do this to me?”

“I didn’t plan this!”

“Do you ever plan anything?” The words were muttered under her breath. Both of her cheeks were bright pink. There was a glistening in her eyes. “Okay. So now what? You have a girlfriend. Great. What do you want from me, Jonathan?”

“You. I want you.” The way it was said, in a small and soft voice. Kim could feel herself unraveling. “I will leave her. Kimberly, I can’t be with her when I know you are here.”

The girl shook out her hands, taking deep breaths in and out. “You fucking cheated on her. She doesn’t deserve that. I don’t know her, but no one deserves infidelity. And I am the woman you cheated on her with. I—fuck. I feel disgusting.” Kim wiped at her eyes absently. “So you are going to leave this woman because you have found me again?”

“Yes. Kim, I know it is fucked up of me to do this to her, but I want a second try with you. I was angry with you, but that was because you left me. I want you back. You want me back, too. Ask me if I love you.”

The girl didn’t know what was going on. She felt like she had fallen into the ocean and the current was dragging her to the depths of the sea. “Do you love me?” The whisper was soft.

“O heaven, O earth, bear witness to this sound. And crown what I profess with kind event. If I speak true! if hollowly, invert. What best is boded me to mischief! I Beyond all limit of what else i' the world. Do love, prize, honour you.”

What was a small glimmer of maiden beauty switched to a bloom of aggression. “Do not use Shakespeare against me. Stop playing me like some sort of fiddle. You know Shakespeare’s words make me swoon so.” Her hands nervously touched her face. She twisted around and looked at Simon. “I am going. Jonathan, don’t bother calling me. Don’t. Work out your shit and then… find someone else. I can’t do this. I’ve been through this before. I have been in your girlfriend’s shoes, and honestly, fuck this. That girl is going to hurt and it is my fault. Our fault. I can’t do this. I am sorry.”

“Kimberly. My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite.”

Kim balled up her hand into a fist. “I will fucking punch you in the face, Jon. My knees are weak as is my heart. I am leaving now.”

“You get the last word again, Kim.”

Her body twisted back to face him. “Fine. Quote some more Shakespeare to me. Woo me with your words. Tell me about how you are going to leave your girlfriend because you fucked your ex-girlfriend. The ex-girlfriend that has a problem with walking away. The ex-girlfriend that is fucking unstable. The ex-girlfriend that is standing here trying to not cry because she doesn’t want you to comfort her.”

“The ex-girlfriend that is one of the few people to make me light up with happiness. I love being around you. Please. Don’t leave me right now.”

“Simon?” Her voice cracked. The little boy waddled over to them. “Say bye to Jonathan. I’m going to take you home, little man.”

By now the lollipop was devoured and there was a sticky beard on Simon’s face. “Bye Jonafun!” The little boy could barely pronounce Jonathan’s name. Simon then turned to Kim and reached up in the air. She bent down and scooped him into her arms. His sticky face collected strands of her hair. He tried to blow them away but they stuck with him.

Kim bit down on her lower lip. “Bye Jonny. Please don’t do anything on my account because I don’t wish to hear from you again. It pains me so, but stay away.”

The woman and child walked silently across the parking lot to the elevator. Jon felt his body become hollower with each passing step. And then the elevator doors shut behind her and she was gone.