A/N: Another chapter
I Remember Everything
Chapter 2: Basement Couch
Mac kept Harm in her sights as they drove down the long, dark highway out of town. She was still shocked he was driving after drinking as much as he had, but at least he wasn't swerving or speeding. When they were about four miles from the bar, he turned down a gravel road. She kept up with him, relieved the road seemed well maintained and that he didn't drive so fast as to kick up dust and block her vision. After about two more miles, Harm slowed and turned onto a short dirt driveway that led to a small house, a shed only slightly smaller several feet from it.
Harm parked in front of the shed and hopped out of his pickup. As soon as he hit the ground, there was a sharp bark followed by the appearance of what looked to be a black lab who ran straight to its master's side. It was obviously excited to see Harm, who rubbed the dog's belly when it flopped onto its back. The two made for the house, and Mac quickly exited her Jeep and hurried after them, lest he shut the door in her face.
She scooted in behind man and beast, and then Harm shut the door.
"Do come in, Mac. Sally," he called to the dog, who had finally noticed Mac. "Go lay down." The dog, apparently female, obediently went to her bed in the corner of the minuscule living room.
Harm turned back to Mac and motioned around the room. "Welcome to my humble abode. What do you think?"
"What do I think? I think you're crazy!"
"Excuse me?"
"How much did you have to drink tonight, Harm?"
"What?"
"I asked you how much you had to drink tonight. What were you thinking, driving after that?"
"I was thinking I wanted to go home."
"But—"
"Mac, spare me the lecture. I'm not in the mood." He walked away from her, but Mac caught his arm.
"Harm, stop. Tell me you don't do this often."
"Do what?"
"Drive drunk!"
"I'm not drunk."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. It takes a lot more than that to get me drunk."
"Tell that to the highway patrol when they pull you over."
"Hey, that's enough. Look, I let you in. Don't make me regret it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to use the bathroom." He went down the hall off the living room and entered a door on the right. He left it open a crack, and Mac could hear him urinating.
Trying to ignore the sounds from the bathroom, Mac looked around the room. The kitchen was open to the living room, with an ancient refrigerator, a three-burner range, and a metal table from the nineteen-fifties or sixties. The top surface of the table was a faded yellow and it was surrounded by four vinyl upholstered metal chairs. The tiny living room was clean and sparsely furnished, with a weathered coffee table, two end tables with lamps, and a cracked leather recliner. There was also a couch.
A green couch.
An ugly couch in a shade of green somewhere between olive and forest.
A couch that used to sit in Harm's parents' basement, where he'd once sung love songs to her, and where he'd once made love to her. She'd shared her secrets with him on that couch, and why, oh why did he have it here?
Was it all he could afford? Or did he want to hold on to the memories too…
"Mac, honey?" Harm asked as they lay spooned together on the couch.
"Yeah?"
"Why do you never talk about your mother?"
The question surprised Mac. It came out of nowhere, and she was in no way prepared for it.
"I-I…I just don't like to talk about her. She left me. There's not much more to say about it."
Harm rubbed soothing circles on her tummy and nuzzled her hair. "You've never told me when she left, or how."
"Oh, I thought…I thought I had."
"Nope. Can you tell me now?""
"I…why do you want to know?"
"Because I want to know everything about you."
"The good, the bad, and the ugly?'
"All of it."
"Okay…"
"So, that's the whole sordid tale. My mom left when I was 15, on my birthday, no less. Ran off with the dog and then abandoned him too. She even pawned her ring."
"She did? How did you find out about that?"
"Eddie had a TV he wanted to pawn, and I went with him and saw the ring in a glass display case. Eddie offered to buy It back for me, and I almost took him up on his offer."
"Almost?"
"Yeah, almost. It belonged to my great-grandmother, and it was the one thing of value my father had ever had. I thought maybe I should bring it back to him, but then figured he wouldn't want a reminder of the wife who'd left him. He'd already told me I was just like her, just a whore, and I could just imagine how much worse he'd be if I showed up with the ring. I left it at the pawn shop, and now someone named Zelda is probably wearing it while she tells fortunes at the fair."
Harm gave a little chuckle but then pulled her closer to him. "I bet it was still hard to leave it behind."
"Yeah, it was. It had a ruby instead of a diamond, and when she took it off to do dishes or whatever, I would put it on. It was beautiful. Of course, Joe caught me wearing it one day and I got the spanking of my life."
"You always told me he never hit you."
Mac shrugged. "It doesn't matter now, and after my mother left, he only hit me once."
"Why?"
"It was one of the rare moments when he was sober, and I came home late after being out with Chris. He called me all the names, and when I smarted off to him, he slapped me. It was enough to knock me down and split my lip, and he apologized, even cried. I told him it was okay, but then the next morning, I left him too."
"Oh, Mac. I'm sorry."
"It's in the past."
"Is it?"
"Yes, and a large part of it is thanks to you."
"I didn't do much."
"Yes, you did, Harm. You loved me."
"Well, what do you think of the place, Mac?" Mac was so startled to find him at her elbow that she jumped.
"Sorry."
"It's okay." Mac couldn't take her eyes of the shabby sofa.
"So…" Harm said after a moment.
"So?" Mac replied absently.
"How do you like the place."
"Oh, yeah…it's nice."
"Nice? You think it's nice?"
"Yes, no, I mean, it's small."
"It is."
"Do you like it, Harm?"
Harm shrugged. "It's got four walls and a roof, and it was cheap."
"That's good."
"Yeah, considering I spent so much on my last vacation."
"Vacation?" she asked warily.
"Yeah, my vacation. I'm surprised you don't remember, given you were there."
Mac looked down in shame. "Paraguay," she whispered.
"Yeah."
"Harm, I—"
"Don't worry about it." He made his way into the kitchen area and opened the fridge. "Want a beer?" he asked, holding out a bottle to her. The tone of his voice told her he knew exactly what he was doing.
"I'll be going now." There was no point in continuing here if he was going to throw her history of alcoholism in her face. She turned on her heel and made her way to his front door.
"Mac, wait," Harm called after her. He caught her arm and turned her toward him. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."
"Then why did you say it?" she asked, eyes filling with tears.
"Because I…I…you know why, Mac."
"You're still mad at me."
"Yeah."
"Then I'll go. I'm sorry to have bothered you."
Harm sighed. "Maaac…it's late. It's dark. Take my room, I'll take the couch."
"No. I'll take the couch. As I recall, it was a little small for you."
Harm blushed a faint pink. "Oh, yeah. Well, I'll get some, uh, sheets and a blanket for you." He headed down the hall to a narrow cupboard at the end of it and out pulled out some linens, quickly returning to her side. She was dimly aware of him holding out the bedding to her, but she ignored him and slowly dropped down on the couch.
"Remember the night we spent here?" she asked softly, staring off into the distance. "You told me you loved me."
"Mac, don't."
"You played that song for me, the one you played tonight, only it was beautiful then. Tonight…it was mean, dark." She looked up at him, eyes blurry with tears. "That's not the you I remember…or the you I want to remember."
"Things change."
"They didn't have to."
"Well, between the brig and Paraguay, something did."
"Do you even remember what it was like before?"
Harm closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, they were hard, stony. "Not even a little bit."
He disappeared down the hall.
End Chapter 2