I didn't see hide nor hair of Kid or Lou the entire rest of the weekend but come Monday, Kid was waiting in front of the garage as I opened.
"Morning Kid," I said as if there hadn't been some huge dramatic scene just a few nights before. "You want to start the coffee for me?"
He just nodded and went over to get the coffee going. Not many people hung around while their cars was getting fixed but some just in for an oil change or something would take advantage of the waiting room and sit and have a cup of coffee while they waited. Mostly the coffee ended up being for me and Al. I was just setting to get under the hood of something, don't recall what when Kid finally spoke. I knew he had something on his mind before I let him in but I also knew that firing questions at him wasn't going to get him talking either. I said before we was like brothers. We went back a real long way, all the way to the start of grammar school. You stay friends with someone that long and you know when to talk and when to stay quiet. Quiet ain't ever uncomfortable between good friends anyway. But I knew he was going to speak eventually and he did.
"I wanted to thank you," he said, "For talking to Lou the other night."
I knew what he meant even before he clarified the point.
"No thanks needed," I said, "Can't let my best friend's wife stay mad at him and besides, I can't stand to see a woman cry."
He didn't talk for a bit and I thought to fill the space a little.
"Congratulations," I said.
He looked up and smiled a smile I wish he had given Lou before he hauled out the news about the Army. It was sort of dopey but he was so happy that I knew my suspicions that night had been right.
"Thanks," he said and that silly smile never left his face.
"I should've handled it better with Lou," he said, "All I could think of was how scared I was that I couldn't take care of them. There were so many things in my head and the last one was that this was the thing to make my decision for me. If all of the thoughts had come out, I might have been okay but the only one I said out loud was the part about the Army."
"Yeah, you made a mess of things," I told him, "But it wasn't that hard to clean up. I had a pretty good idea what you'd been thinking and once Lou understood I don't think she could find it in her to be too mad."
"She's still not happy about me joining up," he said.
"No," I agreed, "I don't imagine she would be. There's a war going on even if they won't call it that. I'd imagine she'd like some assurance that her baby is going to have a daddy."
He nodded and I guessed that she had already told him as much. He sat down with a heavy sigh.
"I could make decent money doing this and maybe even get some to go to school someday," he said, "I don't know what else to do and this just feels like the right thing."
"Did you tell her that?" I asked and he nodded. "What did she say?"
"She said she didn't like it but she'd learn to live with it," he looked at his hands kind of helpless. "Why do I feel like the bad guy for wanting to provide for my family?"
"You're not a bad guy," I assured him, "You're doing the best thing you know and she's just scared. I'd say you both have the right to those things."
Things stayed quiet between us for a while. I worked on the car and Kid handed tools to me. Al wandered in eventually and got himself some coffee and went into his office with the Freep. He wasn't one to get under a car and get his hands dirty too often. I didn't mind, I could usually handle the work that came in pretty well and the man was paying me. He owned the place after all and if he wanted to spend most of his day in his office with his feet up on the desk reading the paper and drinking coffee then I guessed that was his right. Al's entrance seemed to break Kid out of his fog though.
"Are you okay, Jimmy?" he asked, "You seem kind of, I don't know, down or something."
"It's Joanie's first week at school," I replied.
"She calls though, right?" he asked, "And you'll see her this weekend?"
"Yeah," I said, "I just worry she's around guys better suited to her than to me."
I hadn't told anyone about that fear before and I was a little nervous right then but it was only Kid and while we teased each other plenty about a lot of different things, the two of us always knew when something was serious.
"She won't find anyone who loves her more," he said finally, "Or anyone who thinks more highly of her."
I just grunted from under the car. I knew no other man save maybe her dad could love her more than me but I wasn't at all sure that would be enough.
"I don't think you have a lot to worry about, Jimmy," Kid said, "She loves you an awful lot too. I can tell. I figure someday the four of us-you and me and Lou and Joanie-will be sitting around playing cards or something and laughing ourselves silly over how worried we were about things we're doing now."
I nodded and hoped he was right. It was a nice thought though that we might all be just sitting around having a game of cards after all our kids was growed and laughing about the old times. I liked that thought a whole lot.
"So," I said feeling a little better and wanting to find a topic that was maybe happier. "First Buck and now you, we got us a little baby boom going on here."
"I know," he said with that dopey grin coming back to his face. "It's hard to think I'm going to be a dad."
"I don't think so at all," I said, "I can see it sooner than I can see a lot of other people. At least you're caring at all about taking care of it. That's better than most men we've seen-way better than our own dads."
"I can't even tell you how much I love even the idea of this little person," he said, "Maybe it's because we have Theresa around so I already know how much I can care about a kid. But it still sort of doesn't seem real, you know?"
"I'm sure it'll seem real when you're holding that screaming thing at two in the morning," I joked.
"That'll be Lou's shift," he joked back. The rest of the day we spent talking and joking around and it almost seemed like all those big changes hadn't happened to the both of us over the summer. I guess that's really the mark of a true friend, no matter what changes in your lives or even how long you might go without talking to or seeing each other, you can still slip right into that comfortable place.
"You think the Lions can do much this year?" Kid asked and I considered for a moment. Being a Lions fan is a dedicated form of masochism.
"They might pull off a winning season, looking at the schedule," I answered, "But they ain't going to be no Super Bowl champions or nothing."
He nodded. It was a safe answer most years, except for the years they couldn't even play .500, they'd usually eke out enough wins to keep fans from jumping off buildings but fall far short of any post season relevance. I swear, if it weren't for the Tigers and the Red Wings, there'd be no joy or hope at all in good old Motown sometimes. I'd say especially these days when there's so few jobs and the buildings and schools are all crumbling. If the Tigers and Wings wasn't giving some love, I don't know how anyone'd cope at all.
"Now the Pistons might be decent this year," I offered.
"Yeah, if they can get their rebounding together," Kid laughed. He had actually played hoops a couple years at school and was always a good rebounder. It's sometimes underrated but it shouldn't be. It's damned hard to win the game if you don't have the ball.
We talked more about sports and little things like that. I heard a sports writer talking about having a crisis one time. He said he hadn't been sure about his career choice and wondered if he shouldn't have chosen to write about important things. This was in Detroit this happened. Well, the writer was talking about this to an older sports writer and the older guy asked the younger if he knew what the guys down at the Rouge read first or talked about over their coffee breaks because it sure wasn't politics or the economy or even whatever war we might be fighting at the time. They read the sports section first and they spent those coffee breaks talking about the Wings and Tigers and Lions. Sports might not change the world but they make it a whole lot easier to live in. Besides, sports give men something to talk about. Most men like sports and so wherever you are and even if you don't know the other men around you, you can always haul out the good old, "How 'bout those Tigers/Red Wings/whatever team", it's a proven fact.
Our chatting didn't end until Lou walked up with Theresa. She was smiling so I figured she was coming to some kind of terms with the way things was turning out. Theresa ran into Al's office knowing that there was a candy bowl on his desk she was welcome to.
"One piece only," Lou called to her knowing that Al would sneak her more than that. "So what are you boys up to?" she asked focusing her attention on us and trying to sound as nonchalant as her words.
"Trying to figure if Howe and Delvecchio are enough to get the Wings the cup this year," I answered trying for the same relaxed tone. I wasn't strictly speaking lying. It was what we had been talking about most recently.
Lou smiled at me and understood that the tough stuff had already been hashed out between us. She knew I was upset about Kid's initial reaction to her news and I know she worried that we'd somehow stop being friends or something. Deep down, I hoped she knew better. It would take more than one of us acting dumb for a minute to tear our friendship apart. Everyone is entitled to a stupid moment every now and then. I know Kid had overlooked more of them from me than a body had a right to expect so the least I could do was give him the benefit of the doubt. Besides, I knew if positions were reversed, I wouldn't have done much better.
"Emma wanted me to let you guys know that dinner'll be ready about 5:30 so don't dilly-dally once you lock up."
We nodded to Lou as she collected Theresa and gave Kid a kiss goodbye even though it would only be another half hour or so before they saw each other again. I used to think that was strange but by that day, it made perfect sense. Still does. Life is uncertain and you don't want to be that person crying next to a casket thinking about how you missed that last chance to kiss them goodbye or tell them you love them. It's strange to get those thoughts at such a young age but age don't dictate love and when you love someone you think stuff like that. Probably didn't hurt that I'd heard Al talk about his second wife, Lucille many times. She got real sick and I'm not even sure what she had but he always said that the one comfort he had in his life was that he was there by her side when she passed and he had told her he loved her so she had that to take with her on her journey. He really loved Lucille. It makes you wonder about things though. Lucille, who was gentle and lovely and he loved so much was dead and Glenna, his first wife who was bitter and mean and he'd divorced was still alive. I don't get it but it makes you want to cling even more to the ones you love.
I finished up the car and its owner was waiting for me so I was able to have everything settled before I locked up for the night. Kid and I walked over to Emma's and I could smell the roast beef from the sidewalk. Lou was sitting on the front porch with Theresa reading a book to her. I saw that dopey, happy kind of smile hit Kid's face as he saw his future and his whole world at once in that image and I felt a little jealous. I could only hope there was something like that in my future as well but with Joanie at school I felt less and less certain of ever having that.
It was a nice dinner like it always was at Emma's. We talked about the baby and business and if Theresa was excited to start school again. There was no mention of the Army or Joanie and I was as grateful as Kid probably was. Lots of things need to be talked about but in their own time and not over an otherwise lovely dinner. Emma's cooking was good enough to not want to mess your digestion up with conflict.
I got back to my place and barely got a beer opened before the phone rang. It was Joanie.
"Hey there beautiful," I said and it nearly brought tears to my eyes how good it felt to hear her voice. I hadn't talked to her since the day I helped her move in. "How were your classes?"
"So far so good," she said and she sounded genuine. It took a while before I would trust her words on things like that. I like knowing when I'm about to be in the middle of a giant crapstorm.
"You sound happy," I told her honestly.
"I am," she said, "I think I was worrying over nothing."
Neither one of us knew how bad things could get around finals time for her. After a while I would just show up there and I will say that once she had an apartment off campus, things got a lot easier because I knew that come the end of each term that she was about to lose it. It was always better when I could sit with her and hold her at night and her grades were better when she was actually getting sleep too.
"I've got some news," I said, "Lou's pregnant."
"Oh she has to be so happy!" Joanie exclaimed.
"She was until it became the reason that Kid decided to enlist."
"Oh dear," she said and she sounded like she might cry. "I can't even imagine."
"She's doing better now," I told her, "Believe it or not, I was the one got her calmed down."
"I do believe it. You always make me feel better," she said. Her words made me feel good but I still couldn't fight off that gnawing at my gut. I almost said something stupid like asking if there were any nice guys in her classes or something that some jealous jerk might say. Just because it was my fear and it was something that might happen didn't mean it needed saying.
We talked a little more before she had to give the phone up for another girl.
"I'll talk to you soon, James," she said, "I love you."
"I love you too, Joanie."
I hung up that phone and wondered just how much longer I'd be able to look forward to those calls at night and those sweet words from her lips. I turned on the TV but spent more time staring at her picture than I did the tube. I couldn't tell you what was on, that's for sure. I was thinking far too much about her in that tiny little room with Sherry. At least I knew she wasn't alone.
I finally got sick of the noise from the set and turned it off and set to turning my couch into my bed. I laid down and looked at her picture on the table next to my head.
"I do love you Joanie," I said and in the dark all by myself it didn't even feel strange to be talking to a picture. "I know I've never loved anyone like I do you. I just hope that's enough because I think you might have ruined me for any other woman. I don't even think I could notice another besides you. If you left me and I know you'd probably be better off if you did, but if you did I think I'd have to just grow old alone. I hate being so selfish but I hope to God that Kid's right and knowing that no one could love you more than me is enough to keep you with me."
I put my head on the pillow and said a selfish and silent prayer than she'd never realize how much better she could do than me.
Hello again...I guess first off, the only real reference I think I put in here was the Freep...that would be what we Michiganders call the Detroit Free Press. There are two major newspapers in Detroit, the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press. Now that most things are digital, I usually read both and I buy the Thursday News when I get a chance because there is a 5-way sudoku puzzle that I dearly love. But I was raised with the Freep and at the time I was coming of age, I was a huge fan of a number of their columnnists. It is still the home of award winning author Mitch Albom. Um I am hoping that everyone already knows that Motown is a nickname for Detroit. So named because of the record label which created its name as a shortening of Motor City.
I think that covers everything that only a Michigander would know. But if there are any time or country specific things that aren't clear, let me know. On a happy note, the Detroit Tigers are officially the 2011 American League Central Division Champions! Oh you have no idea how happy this makes me. It was a beautiful game too. Fister went 8 innings and only gave up 1 run and Valverde got his 45th straight save. Picture perfect. Somewhere, my great-grandpa is sitting with my great-uncle and they are just pleased as punch. My Papa Dale (what I called my great grandpa) was a semi-pro manager and taught me about baseball when I was little. He would always be so proud of me when I would prove that I knew just as much as the men (and sometimes more). My great uncle is in the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Charlie Gheringer was his name. He was one of the Tiger greats and one of only five people to have their numbers retired by the team. There is a statue of him beyond the outfield fence of Comerica Park where the Tigers play. Piece of trivia, there are 6 statues there five for the ones who had numbers retired (Kaline, Newhauser, Gheringer, Greenberg and Horton) but there is also a statue for Ty Cobb but he didn't get his number retired because they didn't have uniform numbers way back when old Tyrus played. Anyway, I know Papa Dale and Uncle Charlie are just beaming and I'm thinking they've even found good ole Sparky Anderson to shoot the breeze with and maybe even got Ernie to do the play-by-play. Now that would be heaven indeed. So Go Tigers!-J