Laying her head back, Maggie closed her eyes for just a moment. Exhausted by the previous five days, she soon dozed off to sleep. Her mind relaxed, she began to dream about being back at work. In her dream, instead of getting a note from Mrs. Watkins, the woman appeared in her classroom. Maggie tried to get her out of her room, but she wouldn’t budge. The door slammed shut and would not open. Maggie got scared as Mrs. Watkins began berating her in front of her students. She tried to defend herself, but was not able to say a word. She walked to the door and banged on it. Maggie could see the principal outside the door, head shaking and finger wagging in admonition. Panicking, Maggie pushed the buzzer on the wall, even with the principal just in the hall. She kept pushing the buzzer, waiting for someone to come and remove her intruder. Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Maggie woke with a jerk. She sat up, still hearing the sound. Shaking her head slightly to rid the cobwebs of dream, she realized it was her doorbell. She had forgotten to call an electrician to see about it and it was still making that horrid sound instead of chiming. The noise upset the dogs and they took off towards the door, ready to rip apart whoever was there.
She opened the massive front door, making a face as it stuck on the floor and pushing back her two large dogs.
“Hi!” She said, her eyes brightening on seeing Kevin.
“Hi,” he replied. He held up a bottle of wine in offering. “It’s my birthday. Interested in helping me celebrate?”
“Yeah, come on in,” she told him, waving him in. “You can put that in the fridge if you want. I don’t have an ice bucket. I do have an ice chest, though.”
“The fridge will be fine,” he said, laughing.
“Go and make yourself at home. Not like you’re a stranger here, huh? I’ll be back in a minute.”
Maggie went into her bedroom, closed the door and threw herself across her bed. Picking up the phone, she dialed the number without even looking at the keypad. She hummed to herself while waiting for an answer.
“Hello?”
“Leah, it’s me. You and Elbert go any plans tonight?”
“No. You know how he hates for you to call him that, Mags. Why? Do you?”
“Maybe. Listen close and don’t say anything until I finish. I’ve got this friend whose birthday is today. He’s sort of new in town. I don’t want it to be like a date-date, but I want to take him out. Will you two go with us?”
Silence.
“I’m finished, now, Leah. Say something.”
“Ooooh, Mags! Is it that guy I’ve heard about? Someone told me they’d seen you at the game with him.”
“We happened to have run into each other once or twice. It wasn’t like we were together or anything,” she told her friend, twisting a strand of hair unconsciously.
“That’s not the way I heard it,” Leah commented.
“LEAH! I’m serious. Do you and Bobby want to go or not? He’s really nice. I think it would be fun.”
“Yeah, we’ll go. How about we meet y’all at seven? That too late?”
“Let’s see,” Maggie said, rolling to see her clock. “It’s six now. No. That’s perfect. We’ll see you then. Thanks a bunch. I owe you.”
“I know.”
She hung up the phone and padded in bare feet down the hall. She found Kevin in her red living room, playing with the dogs.
“How old are you today?” She asked.
“Why?”
“Just curious. How old?”
“Thirmmmmmm,” he said, rubbing a hand over his mouth, making the number unintelligible.
Maggie laughed and he grinned at her.
“Oh, since you’re turning thirmmmmm,” she said, emulating him, “you need to go out to celebrate. What do you say to that?”
“I don’t know,” he said hesitantly.
“Sure you do. Kevin, I’m not taking no for an answer. My best friend’s coming over in a little while with her husband and we’re all going out to party on your birthday. My treat!”
“Oh, Maggie, you don’t have to do that,” he began.
“I know I don’t have to. I want to. Give me a little while to get ready. Turn on the TV, listen to the radio, fix my doorbell, whatever you want!”
“Can I watch you take a shower?” He asked hopefully.
“I don’t think so,” she answered in her best Julia Sugarbaker impersonation.
“Worth a shot,” he called after as she went back down the hall.
Maggie quickly showered and dried off. She stood in front of her closet, searching through her clothes. She decided on a pair of black jeans and a matching long-sleeve pullover. Her black boots with silver buckles and a strip of silver metal on each toe finished the outfit. She put on a pair of sterling silver earrings and held the matching necklace in her hand as she rejoined Kevin.
“Would you put this on me?” She asked, handing him the necklace and lifting her softly curled hair.
“Have you grown?” He asked, putting the chain around her neck. “I recall you being shorter when you left.”
“It’s mah boots,” she drawled, holding out a foot to show him. She almost lost her balance, making him laugh.
“You’re a nut. Turn around, let me see,” he told her, spinning her.
She held her arms out to the side, over dramatizing the motions of modeling. He rubbed his chin, appearing deep in thought.
“Well?” She urged.
“Phat.”
“I look fat? How?! Black is supposed to be slimming!”
“No, not f-a-t fat. P-h-a-t phat. Pretty hot and tempting. You lookin’ fine, woman.”
“Oh,” she said, standing up straighter and shaking her shoulders. “Then I guess for once it’s OK to be called that!”
A car drove up outside. She grabbed his hand, dragging him out the door. “That’s them. Let’s go.”
************* Leah grabbed Maggie’s arm, holding her back as they were entering the Oasis Café. The bar was located in a city nearly an hour away. “He’s a cutie!” Leah whispered. “Where did you find him?”
“He’s not a puppy,” Maggie said, rolling her eyes at her best friend.
“Pretty close from what I heard. He followed you home, didn’t he?”
“Leah, what are you talking about?”
“Mags, it’s all over town about him spending a lot of time with you at your house.”
“He has been helping me with things there.”
“Every single weekend for a month? Exactly what has he been helping with? Hmm?”
“Leah! You’re hopeless! C’mon.”
They walked to the table where Kevin and Bobby were waiting. Kevin stood up, pulling the chair out for Maggie.
“Why don’t you do that for me anymore?” Leah asked her husband, popping him on the arm.
“We’re married. That goes once the ring goes on the finger. Take my word, Kevin, don’t ever get married. If you do, don’t do a lot of romantic things while dating, because once you say ‘I do,’ it’s over. Trust me,” Bobby said, laughing and ducking a hand from Leah.
Kevin laughed, resting an arm on the back of Maggie’s chair. He looked around, wondering where they had brought him. The atmosphere was one of a bar, but it was decorated just one step above that. He ordered a beer when the waitress came by. Maggie ordered a Pina Colada and received a strange look from Leah.
“What? It’s a special occasion,” Maggie told her friend.
“Can you not have that?” Kevin asked, wondering if she harbored some problem.
“She can’t hold her alcohol,” Leah whispered loudly.
“I can too,” Maggie insisted.
“Five bucks say’s she’ll be out by the time we leave,” Bobby said.
“You’re on,” Leah agreed.
Maggie shook her head. She looked at the menu, her eyes widening slightly at the sight of the prices. Kevin caught sight of her expression out of the corner of his eye. He quickly immersed himself in the menu when she glanced at him. They ordered when the waitress came back with the drinks and made small talk.
“You come here often?” Kevin asked, taking a drink.
“First time ever,” Maggie confessed. She took a big gulp of her drink, shivering as it went down her throat.
“Not so much at first,” Bobby reminded her. “You keep going like that, Leah’s gonna get my money!”
Nearly thirty minutes later, their meals arrived. Kevin had put away a few beers and some mixed drinks, too. He was having so much fun. Suddenly, the lights dimmed and a spotlight shone on a stage.
“What’s going on?” He asked Maggie.
“Karaoke.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope. They have the worst people here,” she told him, her head feeling light from her second drink.
“I thought you’d never been here.”
“I haven’t. They show it on a local cable channel. It’s hilarious. Shh, they’re about to start!”
Kevin sat back, watching a woman massacre “Any Man of Mine.” When she was through, a man of about twenty-three began doing his version of “Ice, Ice Baby.” He looked at Maggie who dissolved into giggles. He started laughing too. This was just too much. Feeling his phone vibrating in his pocket, he glanced down sharply. Excusing himself, he took the phone out and flipped it open.
“Yeah,” he said into it.
“Kevin. It’s Brian.”
“It’s my cousin Brian,” Kevin told the others at the table. The thumping bass line was still going strong from the stage.
“Wassup, cuz?”
“Where are you?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I’m in a karaoke bar!” he said, laughing. “Here, listen.” He held the phone towards the stage as he sat there, moving his head in time to the music. “You hear that, man?”
"Are you serious? I can barely understand you,” Brian said, static on the line.
“Hang on. Let me go outside,” Kevin told him.
“I’ll be right back,” he told Maggie.
Once outside, the reception cleared. The cool night air hit him in the face, taking his breath a little.
“Kev? Kevin? You there?” Came from the phone.
“Yeah. I’m here.”
“Happy birthday, man. Sounds like you’re having a great time.”
“I am. It’s been wonderful,” he told Brian, nodding at a couple as they entered the building.
“You coming back?”
Kevin had been wondering if that was going to come up. “Yeah. You know I will. I have too much fun. I’ve got to.”
“What are you talking about? Are you drunk?”
“Not yet,” he told him.
“Kevin, are you all right? I mean, really all right? We all said some things that night. You know what it stemmed from.”
“Yeah,” Kevin told him, his voice growing quiet. “I know. It was stupid. We were stupid. You talked to the others?”
“Yes. We’ve met a couple of times since then. They’re ready. I’m ready. We’re just waiting on you.”
“I know. I need a little more time.”
“Kevin, we don’t have much before the holiday season.”
“I know. There’s just a few loose ends here. When?”
“Two weeks. That’s all we can give.”
“All right. My phone’s going dead. I’ll call you later. Brian?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks, man.”
“I know. Happy birthday again.”
Kevin flipped his phone closed and walked back inside. He stopped at the register. He called the guy over.
“Listen. I need you to do me a favor. See that table where I am? That pretty brunette is going to pay for our night. Here’s the thing. You take my card and charge whatever the damage is to it. Take her money, but put it in an envelope and mail it to this address.” He wrote it on a piece of paper. “Now, to make sure you do this, I’m giving you a little ‘bonus’. You understand?”
The man nodded as Kevin slid him some money. “Oh, yeah, you do not know anything about this or my being here. Follow me?”
Kevin returned to the table and took a big swig of his drink. He winced as it burned going down. Looking at Maggie, he grabbed her hand. “I want to do some karaoke.”
“I’m not doing it,” she told him.
“Yes you are. It’s my birthday.”
She followed him to the stage, bowing to the hollers of the audience, especially Leah and Bobby. Kevin asked her which song she wanted to do. Scanning the list, she couldn’t decide. It was so funny to be up there, she wondered if she could go through with it. The alcohol had warmed her and she decided she could. It didn’t matter tonight what anyone thought of her.
"Do that one from when we were kids, Mags!” Leah yelled. “You know, the one we used to sing when we were in third grade!”
Maggie’s face lit up as she found the song on the list. She programmed it and took a microphone from Kevin. He watched the screen as the music started and the words lit up. “You take the first part,” she told him. He began to sing:
Baby when I met you
There was peace in mind
I set out to get you with a fine-tooth comb
I was soft inside
There was something going on.
Maggie joined in on the chorus, singing slightly off-key:
Islands in the stream
That is what we are
No one in between
How can we be wrong?
Sail away with me
To another world
Where we rely on each other, uh-huh
Making love with each other, uh-huh
Getting into the song, they started dancing on stage, bumping hips and looking into each other’s eyes, trying to keep a straight face. When it was over, they left the stage to a standing ovation by Leah and Bobby.
“Damn, man, you can really sing,” Bobby said,amazed. “Dolly, you need a little work, though.”
Maggie stuck her tongue out at him. She was laughing so hard at their antics. When it came time to leave, Kevin waited with Maggie while she paid the check. She tried to keep from showing shock at the price, but a little slipped through. They went into the night and climbed into Bobby’s Cherokee. The entire ride back to Maggie’s house consisted of all four singing along with the radio. If they didn’t know the words, they made them up, laughing uproariously at their own silliness.
********
"Maggie, you be careful,” Leah called after her friend.
Maggie gave a thumb's up as they pulled out of her driveway. She fumbled with her keys, trying to get them in the lock. Finally, she got it unlocked and pushed the door open hard. It bumped into the wall, setting the dogs to barking again. Finding that funny, Kevin went in and let them out into the back yard.
He found Maggie sitting in her favorite chair in the living room. He glanced at his watch. “Hey, it’s still my birthday. Would you join me in this wine?”
“Do you think we’ll both fit?” Maggie asked, laughing at the stupid joke.
“I don’t know. Let’s try and see,” Kevin told her, pouring them both a glass.
“Here’s to getting what you want,” she toasted, winking at him.